The Heirs

Here I am again, deviating from my usual order of posting to write my review of this drama while my brain is still buzzing from the high after binge-watching this for 3 days.

This series is relatively old. Not the "oldest" Korean drama that I've watched (that honor goes to Moon Embracing the Sun), but this was shown on October to December 2013. It starred Lee Min-ho, Park Shin-hye, and Kim Woo-bin and written by Kim Eun-sook (yep, same writer of Goblin and Descendants of the Sun).

The story follows a group of rich, privileged kids who are trained to take over the businesses of their parents (thus, the title) and their daily struggles to become what their parents want to be and what at the same time, be what they want to be.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT

Lee Min-ho

He was 26 years old when this series was shot and he played an 18-year old. If there's one thing I can say about the Korean race (actually, even the Chinese and Japanese people), they truly have good skin.

His character, Kim Tan, was exiled to the US (I laughed when I realized this as apparently, it's a shared "best practice" among dramas. The shows here in the Philippines send their erring children to the US too. Hehe) by his brother, Kim Won. It took time for me to figure out why but Won wanted to avoid fighting with his brother over the ownership of the family company.

Tan struggled while he was in California as he missed his family and friends. It was refreshing for him to meet Eun-sang and he fell in love with her (and this was when he already has a fiancee *eye-roll*). I liked how he pursued Eun-sang even when she pushed him away because of the disparity of their respective backgrounds. Never did his love waver even when they broke up.

Let's not forget the kissing scene!



This is his second drama that I've watched and I have yet to tackle Boys Over Flowers where he really became well-known. But I prefer a mature LMH so it might take time before I will watch that.

He is indeed so charming. He even sang a song which was included in the drama's OST. Here's a video of him singing the song during one of his fan meets in Beijing. And looks like he sang it live. Heart! Heart! Heart!




Kim Woo-bin

Kim Woo-bin
(Pic from DramaFever)

I've heard of friends rave over him and watching this, I now understand why. He really grows on you. It's sad though that he's currently on hiatus due to his illness. Last I heard, he's currently on the mend so I hope he does recuperate soon.

I like his bad boy look in The Heirs before he took down his bangs to make it look that he changed. I still can't get the hang out of the bangs hairstyle that is favored among oppas. What is wrong with your foreheads?

But truthfully, I liked how his character developed and changed throughout the series. He started off as a bad boy but there was still goodness in him as evidenced by him falling in love with Eun-sang. I even found their first meeting touching. Eun-sang left the house where they were staying and was still half-sleep. She sleep-walked her way to the nearby convenience store when she drank something and went out to sit outside and sleep. Young-do sat with her and watched over her as she slept. A couple of rowdy boys passed by and he even scolded them as Eun-sang was sleeping.

I'm actually shipping him more with Park Shin-hye. They look better more together. Check out the BTS below that I found in Youtube.





The Story--sort off

As noted above, the series was written by Kim Eun-sook and she's known to have written quality and good dramas. So far, this is the third drama of hers that I've watched. One thing I noticed about her work is that she likes writing settings outside of Korea. Goblin started off in Canada. Descendants of the Sun, most of the story was set in a fictional town of Uruk--which was actually filmed in Greece (somewhere in the Middle East). As for this one, the series started off in California with a very tanned Lee Min-ho.

Kim Tan (Lee Min-ho) and Cha Eun-sang (Park Shin-hye) played star-crossed lovers where the former is a chaebol heir while the latter is the daughter of a housemaid. With the hierarchical system in Korean society, calling their relationship "stormy" is an understatement to the nth degree.

Eun-sang went to California to visit her sister who was supposed to get married to her American boyfriend. However, when she got there, she discovered that her sister has been lying to them all along. After getting her passport confiscated due to a misunderstanding, she was left in the mercies of Tan who has been living in the Orange State for the past 3 years in exile.

Long story short, Tan and Eun-sang met again in Korea wherein Eun-sang's mother happened to be a maid of the Kim family. The father of Tan discovered the relationship of the two teenagers and wanting to put the girl in her place, sponsored her scholarship to their exclusive family-owned school to make her realize the hopelessness of their relationship.

Eun-sang met Choi Young-do (Kim Woo-bin) in school (but he actually saw her previously without her knowing) and he bullied her because of her relationship with Kim Tan, his long-time enemy. In the long run, he found himself falling in love with her as well.

As it's a non-tragic drama, Eun-sang ended up with Kim Tan with all loose ends tied up.

Though I'm not comfortable with the concept of young passionate love (please see my note on what I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT below), I appreciated the underlying theme of the drama. In the second episode, one of Tan's professors said this line:

The British council conducted a survey of 102 non-english speaking countries about what was the the most beautiful English word in the world. The word that took first place was MOTHER.

I wondered why Eun-sook included that line in the drama and I figured out later on why.

Kim Tan had the (mis)fortune of having two mothers--his biological mother, Han Ki-ae (beautifully played by Kim Sung-ryung) who was the mistress of his father; and his mother-on-paper, Jung Ji-suk (Park Joon-geum) the second (legal) wife. He was registered as the "son" of the current wife of the chairman to make Tan a "legal" heir.

Kim Sung-ryung
(Pic from aminoapps)

Han Ki-ae was vain, self-centered and beautiful but her love for her son was unquestioned. She sacrificed her pride and freedom so that her child can have a good life. As she's the mistress, she was given "permission" by Jung Ji-suk to live in the family house. After all, the latter was, by all means and purposes, actually separated already from her husband but chose to remain married for business reasons.

Park Joon-geum
(Pic from dramabeans)

Jung Ji-suk, on the other hand, had no children of her own and agreed to have Kim Tan registered as her son and was known throughout society as his real mother. She's the headmistress of the school where Tan and Eun-sang goes to. She's rather cold and I haven't seen her express any other expression except for disdain and anger. The exact opposite of Tan's biological mother.

Kim Mi-kyung
(Pic from MyDramaList)

Then there's the mother of Eun-sang, Park Hee-nam (Kim Mi-kyung). As the housemaid of the Tan family, she's trusted by Ki-ae as she literally cannot speak thus being unable to tell any secrets of the family. Her love for her daughters was indisputable based on the sacrifices that she made. She used the deposit of their house to send the money to her eldest daughter in the US who needed it. And she agreed to have her youngest daughter go to the high-end school so she'll have a better future with the diploma that she'll earn.

Choi Ji-na
(Pic from Soompi)

Another mother was Yoo Kyung-ran (Choi Ji-na), the eomma of Young-do. Though it was not clear why she left her family (I assume it was due to divorce and her husband's infidelity),  but Young-do missed his chance to have a last meal with her before she disappeared from his life. When the time came for him to be reunited with her, he was immediately unable to face her and when managed to pull himself together, it was quite a tearful reunion.

My take on this is that there are different mothers in this world. We may all rear our children differently but we do so because of love. Moreover, sacrifice is something common for all mothers--giving something up to ensure that our children will have better lives.

This struck a chord in me being the mom of two boys. Ever since I got pregnant with them, it has been one sacrifice after the other and I never did regret my choices. My fervent hope is that they'll grow up to be god-fearing and contributing members of society and be the best version of themselves.

The Supporting Cast

Most of the supporting cast I've already watched in previous shows. It's interesting to see how they were before in the recent dramas.

Park Hyung-sik

Park Hyung-sik was just so lovable here. His character, Jo Myung-soo, was playful and quick-witted, which was like his character in Strong Woman. He would usually act as mediator between Young-do and Tan whenever they would get in fights.

Kang Ha-nuel
(Grabbed from pinterest)

Kang Ha-nuel played Lee Hyo-shin, a senior who got caught in the unwanted dreams of his parents. He suffered from depression which made him almost end his life before if not for the intervention of Tan. His last scene with Tan was so touching when the latter bade him goodbye before he left for the military.

Kim Ji-won
(Pic from Aminoapps)

Kim Ji-woo was Rachel Yoo, the school's "Paris Hilton" and fiancee of Kim Tan. They were engaged by their respective parents which doubled as a business partnership. As the daughter of a fashion giant, she certainly lived and played the part to the hilt. She was sexy and haughty and was bitchy as she can get. This is her third drama that I've watched and I prefer her in Descendants of the Sun more (even if she was second lead).

Choi Won-young
(Pic from Dramabeans)

And Choi Won-young is consistent with his roles. This is also his third drama where he played a "good" supporting cast. I first saw him in Kill Me Heal Me as a secretary of the Chairman. In Hwarang, he played the surrogate father of Park Seo-joon's character. And now, he's a secretary once again.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT

Youthful Passionate Love

I'm a mother before a fan and I was uncomfortable with the concept of two teenagers fighting for their young passionate love. They were so in love with each other that they were really going against all odds despite of what other people say. Though I admire Tan's guts for sticking to his resolve and loving the girl up to the point of going against his father, they were just too young!  When I was 18, all I wanted was to graduate from College!

Oh and when Tan and Eun-sang separated, he was so devastated that he was on a path of self-destruction. A part of me really wanted to beat him up so that he'll wake up and get his life in order. He was only 18! He still has a long life ahead of him and he's sulking over a girl. Ugh!

RATING

I give this four tissue boxes. I binge-watched this so it was really riveting. It was just when I reflected about it afterwards that I realized that I didn't like some of the lessons that the drama was imparting.

Watched: September 17-19, 2018

Goblin (Guardian: The Lonely and Great God)

The first Korean drama series that I watched and the one that got me hooked into this. It came out on December 2016 and ran until January 2017. It stars Gong Yoo as the title character, Kim Shin, together with Kim Go-eun (as Ji Eun-tak), Lee Dong-wook (as the Grim Reaper/Wang Yeo) and Yoo In-na (as Sunny or Kim Sun).

Kim Shin was once a warrior who was killed and as recognition for his unjust death, was cursed/blessed to live an immortal life and be a goblin--a god who protects souls. His existence can only be ended when he finds his bride.  Eun-tak is a girl who has lead a harsh life and summoned the goblin by accident and falling in love with him in the process.

The other main cast has their own love story to share and it's as heart-breaking as that of Kim Shin and Eun-tak's.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT (Possible Spoilers for those who have not watched it)

Gong Yoo

Grip Reaper and Goblin

I was never attracted to any Oppa. Even when one Oppa after the other visited the Philippines, I never gave them a second glance. However, seeing him act with his expressive face and eyes, I can't help but succumb to his charms and eventually fall in love with him.

I first knew about him in Train to Busan. I wanted to watch it when it first came out but I was pregnant then so I delayed watching it. My colleague at work starting telling me about him when she saw him in Goblin. It was because of that that I found myself watching it as well.

He can sing too! He did not lend his vocals in any of the songs in the OST but I managed to listen to some of his songs. His voice is so cool and soothing and made me want to learn Korean more!

Lee Dong-wook

He was perfect as the Grim Reaper and his back story with Sunny was as heartbreaking. I love his bromance with the Goblin. I always look forward to any of their interactions and scenes. Though they profess their dislike for each other, they end up watching over each other.

The story

There's a saying that nothing worth comes easy. The love stories in this series were definitely not easy. But seeing them overcome all odds made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  I cried so much in the four days that I was stuck in my chair watching this. The writer, Kim Eun-sook is indeed talented to be able to come up with a story that intertwined so many lives and with lines (even if translated) that can skewer a cold heart. I'm so amazed how it managed to really hook me until the end.

I guess what really got to me was the premise of someone living an immortal life and looking for the person who can end it, only to fall in love with that person in the process. And when he tried to extend his life because he wanted to spend more time with her, she started getting into accidents because she has no reason to live if her purpose cannot be fulfilled.

Grim Reaper and Sunny's story is more tragic as it involved their past lives. I'm happy how it was resolved at the end but I still have some concerns with Shin and Eun-Tak's story. What would happen to the goblin when Eun-Tak finishes all her 4 lives? 

The OST

This was a surprise. Considering that I don't understand Korean, I was expecting that I will not appreciate the music but I felt otherwise. I guess music will always be universal--like love. Even if you don't understand the lyrics, the melody can become an earworm.

There were several songs that I like: 

- The opening theme, Round and Round by Heize and Han Soo-ji. Though it reminded me a bit of Evanescene, the song captured the mystery and fantasy of the drama.

- Beautiful by Crush. It was played during poignant scenes involving the two main leads. 

- Who are You by Sam Kim. Whenever the chorus is sung, I could see in my mind, Eun-tak running towards the goblin.

- Stay with Me by Chanyeol (EXO), Punch. The result of the collaboration of the aforementioned artists is just beautiful. Now if I can speak Korean so I can sing of the parts that I like.

Fashion

I don't consider myself a fashionista. I have a basic fashion sense but nothing that would warrant me a place in Project Runway. However, I was entranced by the winter attire, especially that of the male leads. They look oh so cool and dashing--especially when they were wearing those long coats. I heard that those coats were sold out after they wore it in the series.

The Poetry

The poem above was read by the Goblin when he realized how much he has grown to love Eun-tak. I'm not sure if the translation did justice to the original poem.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT

Some say that the ending can be left as is. But I really wanted to find out what would happen to the goblin when Eun-tak's lives run out. Also, will his wife keep on getting into accidents if she postpones killing him? Will she have a different purpose when she's reborn? After all, the purpose of the goblin bride is to kill the goblin.

There was a time that I felt uncomfortable of the age gap of the two leads. She's a 17-year old high schooler (although in real life, she's older than that. But thanks to their inherent good skin, she really can pass herself off as a teenager) while the guy is in his late 30's (well, technically, he's more than 900 years old). But I managed to ignore it when they did not make any mention of it in the series which was a big relief. Other writers would've made it a source of contention between the leads, for sure.

RATING

I rate my dramas with the amount of tissue that I have consumed while watching the series. 

Five Tissue Boxes - Awesome! Exemplary! More! More! Standing ovation! Finished a whole tissue box from all the crying! 

Four Tissue Boxes - Great! Good job! But something missing.

Three Tissue Boxes - Ok. Not great but just ok.

Two Tissue Boxes - Not ok but not bad either. The disadvantages outweighs the redeeming factor.

One Tissue Box - Meh.

Since this was my first, I felt that the next ones really paled into comparison (except for Moon Embracing the Sun). So I give this five tissue boxes!

Watched: June 7-10, 2018