Autumn's Concerto Taiwanese Drama 2009

Starring: Wu Vanness, An Ady, and Bin Xiao Xiao 

Rating: PG-13, mild sexual content

Watched: 21/21 episodes 

Synopsis: Ren Guang Xi, a cocky law student, seems to lead the perfect life. He's the sole successor to a huge and famous business and a talented ice hockey player. But in reality, his lonely life lacks joy, laughter and motivation. That is until he meets Liang Mu Cheng, the new bento seller at his school canteen. Although orphaned at a young age, Mu Cheng does not let her past affect her and lives life with great passion and determination. A harmless bet brings the two together and Guang Xi slowly changes as Mu Cheng teaches him how to give and love. Tragedy strikes when Guang Xi suddenly has to go through a major brain surgery which causes him to lose his memory. His mother begs Mu Cheng to leave him and the latter has no choice but to do so. Little does she know that she already has Guang Xi's child. Six years pass. Mu Cheng lives a quiet life with her young son in the countryside while Guang Xi is now a successful lawyer and is engaged to He Yi Qian, the kind and beautiful doctor who took care of him after his surgery. A strangely familiar piano piece stirs Guang Xi's heart as he struggles to recall his past romance with Mu Cheng. How will the couple make up for six years of lost time? Happiness, which stop do I alight at? (Honestly this is the best synopsis ever and I couldn't write it better if I tried so giving credit to Dramalist/Dramawiki) 

My thoughts: So many tears cried over this drama. I felt like it dragged just a tiny bit at the end like they were trying to make up excuses to be mad at each other and then all of a sudden it was resolved, but that was really the ONLY problem I had with this drama and for 21 episodes that's a hard feat. The story line, pacing, and the way twists played out was better than I could have ever imagined. I mean do you ever just wish sometimes that you could have your memory wiped so that you could watch it again "for the first time"? That's how amazing this drama was to me. I've already re-watched it 2-3 times! It really is one of the best Taiwanese dramas out there. It's different from the rest. 

My conclusion: 

Watch ☺

Not Watch 

Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru Japanese Movie 2007

Starring: Matsumoto Jun and Eikura Nana

Rating: PG-13, mild sexual content and thematic elements

Synopsis: Yori and his twin sister Iku were always really close from the moment they were born. Lately though Yori has been giving Iku the cold shoulder and Iku can't figure out why. Yori is behaving this way because he's in love with Iku. It's only made harder for him to resist by them sharing bunk beds. He confesses his love for his little sister, but he can't help feeling it's wrong still when she accepts him without restraint. Yori tries to push Iku away by dating a classmate of hers, but this only hurts Yori more when he sees Iku in pain.

My thoughts: ...... Well. All I wanted was the exact English translation of Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru and instead I end up starting to read the manga, which, hell's bells, is way worse than the movie in terms of "explicit" content. It's not porn, but the couple of things I read go much deeper into their, uhm, inner thoughts while they, cough, do stuff.

Anyway, the plot synopsis is strange on Dramalist and Asianwiki. Maybe that's how it is in the manga (because I noticed he actually does go to a type of boarding school situation it seems), but in the movie Yori does not sleep with Iku's "best friend." In fact they're not really friends at all, more of acquaintances who shared the same class one year. Also the boyfriend troubles I don't think necessarily bring on the internal conflict between the two siblings. Like he said he had "reached his limit." As mentioned earlier as well he doesn't apply for a boarding school either. Her feelings to me are not necessarily apparent in the beginning, but after he makes a move she makes it quite clear where she stands and she never wavers again. So to me this movie is mostly about his inner struggle. He loves her, but he can't help feeling it's wrong to love her. There were a lot of scenes where there was very minimal talking done or at least the responses were extremely.... drawn.... out.

I've watched dramas and movies before with the theme of forbidden sibling love. Usually though they're adopted, brought into the same home, and raised together at a young age. Then later torn apart only to find each other again in their adult lives. Falling in love in this instance makes sense to me. First of all, they're not related. Second of all, they have fond memories of each other where their childhood was the happiest time of their life and that other person was apart of it. In this movie they're twins. I went into this movie saying I wouldn't be judgmental, but I just couldn't help thinking what if she gets pregnant?

If you're a big fan of Matsumoto Jun then yeah I would go ahead and watch this, but if you just want a good forbidden family romance drama then pick up One Fine Day or Autumn Tale. The latter will have you crying for days. 

My conclusion: 

Watch 

Not Watch ☹

A Moment to Remember Korean Movie 2004

Starring: Son Ye Jin and Jung Woo Sung

Rating: PG-13, mild sexual content and violence

Synopsis: A woman coming from a heartbreaking split from her affair with a married man, finds herself depressed and lost until she meets Chul Soo (Jung Woo Sung). Through fate they meet again and she finds herself falling for him. They begin dating and eventually get married. Soon after she discovers that she has a rare case of Alzheimer's disease. The rest of the movie shows how she slowly loses pieces of her memory and how Chul Soo watches and agonizes over the loss of his wife whom no longer can recognize him and his fight to make her remember.  

My thoughts: Damn how much did I effin cry just now? My eyes still felt swollen 3 days after. It's safe to say, this movie will make you cry a whole bucket of tears (and then some). It's about a woman (Son Ye Jin) who had an affair with a married man (although I feel that's back story that doesn't really effect the main story). She meets Jung Woo Sung's character after this and they fall in love (that part's really cute). Later on in the story she is diagnosed with a rare case of Alzheimer's, the reason for it being rare is she is still very young. I knew coming into this movie that it was a melodrama, but I don't feel like I watched her being sick for that much of it. It's still heartbreaking to watch the characters deal with the fallout of finding out about her condition and I don't mean to bring the person reading about this down, but that's just what this kind of movie is. If you need a good cry watch this movie.

My conclusion: 

Watch ☺

Not Watch

Love 911 Korean Movie 2012

Starring: Han Hyo Joo and Go Soo 

Rating: PG-13, mild sexual content

Synopsis: The story of a fire fighter who lost his wife and is closed off from the world; and a doctor who has a hot temper and doesn't listen to others easily. Through fate they meet and begin to heal each other's wounds.

My thoughts: I can't believe this movie came out so recently??? I don't know why that matters to me, but I feel like it's been in my PTW list for awhile now (at least a lot longer than a year).
I have discovered that everything Han Hyo Joo is in is gold. This will be the third movie of hers I have put into my favorites. It's starting to get a little ridiculous. Every role she plays, she plays flawlessly. I loved her especially in this movie, with her fiery temper and stubborn attitude, it was really easy to like her. I've only seen Go Soo in one drama (that I put on hold) so I wasn't really watching it for him at all, but after this movie I fell in love with him too. Maybe their chemistry was just so magnetic, but it really took me by surprise. I'm going to pick up that drama I put on hold and I've already put other things he's in, in my PTW list. Ah! The power of watching couple magic on screen! I didn't really talk much about this movie, but if you haven't watched it, it's a MUST watch. I'm not biased either. I'm sure that if I showed this movie to my friends who don't, let's say, share the same interests in Asian entertainment as I do, I still believe they would fall in love with it. If you're stuck in a drama/movie rut, pick this one up. It'll renew your hopes in finding "the good stuff."

My conclusion: 

Watch ☺

Not Watch