drama ranking! 17: - 25:

17) Bad Family

Na Rim is the youngest child of an affluent family. Na Rim and her family are about to go on a family trip when an employee from the family company shows up who has apparently done something wrong. He begs for forgiveness but Na Rim's father refuses. The family leaves but the employee (assistant CEO) follows in his own car, leading to a car accident where everyone in the car dies, except for Na Rim. Na Rim's surviving uncle begins to suspect that the assistant CEO of the company is responsible for the death of his family, but the only one alive to tell what happened is Na Rim, who suffers from amnesia. In order to restore her memory, the uncle hires Oh Dal Gun, an ex-gangster, to create a 'similar family' for Na Rim. If Na Rim is happy then the chances of her getting her memory back are higher.

Oh Dal Gun has a large debt and in order to repay his debt, he has established a company that provides fake families for people in need. Actors are hired to play the parts of family members for events such as weddings or funerals.

Kim Yang Ah is an orphan with 3 younger brothers and makes a living as a fisherwoman. Although cute, she has a temper. By chance she meets Dal Gun while he is being chased by the men he owes a debt to. Even though Yang Ah helps Dal Gun escape, they eventually find him and beat him to a bloodly pulp, and end up accidentally setting Yang Ah's boat on fire. Yang Ah returns to find her boat in tatters.

Jang Hang Gu, Park Bok Nyu, and Um Ji Sook all owe debts to the man that Dal Gun use to work for. In order to pay their debts, Dal Gun's coerces them to work for him. Hang Gu is a dance instructor, Bok Nyu sells potstickers and Ji Sook sells coffee for a living. Bok Nyu and Ji Sook really dislike each other and bicker all the time. Gi Dong works for a debt collection agency. Gong Min appears to be a homeless youth that Dal Gun finds on the streets, but is fact from a very rich family. Having ran away from home, he works at a salon as a shampoo boy.

With the majority of the family in place, Dal Gun goes to find the person to play the part of Na Rim's sister. He decides on a girl that happens to be Yang Ah's friend, who resists Dal Gun. Yang Ah realizes who Dal Gun is and goes after him. Although not originally chosen to be the sister, since Na Rim has already met Yang Ah and has been told that she is her sister, Dal Gun has to take a long time to convince Yang Ah to play the role.

Yang Ah also happens to meet Ha Tae Kyung when he knocks over her squid stand. They end up getting into an altercation that results in Yang Ah dumping a bunch of raw squid into his car. They later meet again as well when she is playing the role of Na Rim's sister.

note: 3* for the funny idea!


18) Firebird

Love is timing. Love needs just the "right time". It's not because you loved him or her less that you parted. Heaven brings you your soul mate when the time is just "right". Phoenix shows you this heaven's work.

There is a young couple who desperately fell in love but who couldn't be together because the time wasn't just right for them. Years pass by and these two meet again. And the trick of fortune switches their situation and environments. A daughter of a millionaire (Lee Eun Joo) has now become an helper suffering from the grim realities of life. On the other hand, an orphan self-supporting student (Lee Seo Jin) is now an accomplished wealthy businessman. Now these two people are looking at the world with different eyes. The childlike girl has finally learned the harshness of the world and the guy with once twisted mind has learned to enjoy the latitude of mind. In the end, these two start to understand each other, thus arriving at the "right time".

note: 3* i think eric did well on his first drama!


19) Successful Story of a Bright Girl

Jang Nara plays a cute and innocent country girl who often daydreams of rescuing her prince. One day, she meets Jang Hyuk who accidentally falls into her bath tub while she was taking her bath. Not off to a good start they started arguing over the matter. However, the story goes on to tell how Jang Nara arrives in the big city due to her plan to settle her irresponsible parents' debts. She moves into Jang Hyuk's house as a hired servant hence begins to teach the rich spoiled brat (Jang Hyuk) some manners through her down to earth scoldings and no-nonsense attitude. This drama gets totally hilarious in many scenes where Jang Nara and Jang Hyuk's combination comes out as refreshingly cute. Jang Hyuk plays a rich and proud man who inherits his father's business but is later betrayed by his own cousin and uncle leading to his downfall. On the other hand, Jang Nara plays a girl that he meets who help him pick up the pieces in his life, from defeat to success. A very well written drama with a story many will enjoy!

note: 2,5*, the beginning was good, the ending bad!


20) Sang Doo, Let's Go to School

Growing up as the best of friends, Bi and Gong Hyo Jin make lots of lasting memories during their shortened high school years. When Gong's family goes into bankruptcy, debtors rush into their house to grab all of her family's belongings away. When somebody takes her fathers old record player that she really loves, Sangdoo goes after the guy. In a physical fight, the man falls off the bridge and enters a coma. Gong, not knowing this, runs away from the town. Bi goes to jail, returning to find out that his family and Gong have left him. Years later, he becomes a gigolo (with his uncle) in order to raise the hospital bills for his sick daughter (Hong claims that Bori is his daughter). Eventually, he meets his long-lost first-love, Gong as a high school math teacher. In an effort to never lose her again, he returns as a high school student (to finish his last years of high school) and gets placed in Gong's class. In numerous funny yet heart-touching moments, Sangdoo vows never to become a gigolo again. Yet, his past deeds have caught up with him, and he is soon sought after by the police. Gong's boyfriend, Lee Dong Gun, also does not want to let go of Gong. First love is something beautiful yet painful to these two lovers, who have reunited after ten years to find out that everything is not the same anymore.

note: 2,5* the ending was very unique!


21)A Love to Kill

The story begins with a man named Kang Bok Goo (Bi), a tough fighter who has had many relationships with many women. But his main girl is Han Da Jung (Kim Sa Rang), much like Bok Goo, she's tough and she spends her day collecting money from people that owe her. Bok Goo's older brother, Kang Min Goo (Kim Young Jae), left Bok Goo ten years ago when they got into a fight. He had never seen him in ten years.

One day, he meets his brother for the first time in ten years. They chat on a tall building, talking about how their lives had been for the past ten years. On a giant t.v. screen, it announces the wedding of the famous superstar, Cha Eun Suk (Shin Min Ah) and Kim Joon Sung (Lee Ki Woo), the youngest son of a powerful company. Min Goo, in delusion that the Eun Suk he sees on the t.v. is the real Eun Suk, walks to the t.v. and falls of the building. Bok Goo sends his hyung [older brother] to the hospital and finds out that the damage done to his brother was so great, most of his brain is ruined and his brother is now a human vegetable. Bok Goo also finds out that the only reason his hyung did this was because Cha Eun Suk is his ex-girlfriend, though they broke up, he still loves her as she still loves him.

This marriage was only made because Eun Suk was drunk and she slept on stairs, Joon Sung only tried to wake her up, but he fell over her making it look like he was raping her. Someone caught footage of this and revealed it to the public. Joon Sung's father was ashamed of his son and got angry at him, and the only way to clear things up with his father was to marry Eun Suk though she strongly disagreed, she had to anyway to avoid shame to her family.

Bok Goo gets angry with Eun Suk because he believes she is the reason her brother is a human vegetable. To get her back for it, he applies to be her bodyguard and finds a way to make her fall in love with him by doing all the things his hyung had done for her in the past to help her remind herself of Min Goo. Bok Goo, in the act of making her fall in love with him, falls in love with Eun Suk and from time to time, forgets what she had done to his hyung. Eun Suk falls for it though, although she resisted. Little does she know that Bok Goo only plans to break up with her so she can feel the pain his hyung felt when she broke up with him...

note: 2*, only for the ending! it got worse with each episode. but the ending was nice!


22) Green Rose

Lee Jung-Hyun (Go Su) is accused for murdering Oh Soo-Ah's (Lee Da Hae) father. He runs away and becomes a fugitive. Later, he returns and seeks out revenge. Oh Soo-Ah who is the successor of the enterprise "First Electronic" falls in love with Lee Jung-Hyun.

note: 2* for go soo, the drama was just not my type!


23) Ireland

A westernized Irish adoptee, Joong-Ah inevitably flies back to Korea to confront her past and to see the country she is really from, only to fall in love with her brother, Jae-Bok. Their love is painful, as they are never meant to be together as lovers, but merely as brother and sister. The show’s message is that there is no such thing as noble innocent love and that love is adversity itself. Therefore, love mustn’t be impeded by so-called "destiny" or family, no matter how ironic or difficult the case may seem. Although destiny is cruel and arduous, the two young lovers radiate pure happiness. The show describes how love survives the tragic bondage of family, destiny and romance.

note: 1,5* my poor hyun bin. felt so sorry for his character and i wanted to smash the female's head so many times for giving only pain to hyun bin. i didn't like the story at all. it was in no way understandable and acceptable!



24) Tokyo Juliet

Lin Lai Sui (Ariel Lin) had her design, Daisy, stolen by Chu Xing when she was five. She vowed not to fall in love till she beats Chu Xing. But, she meets Ji Feng Liang (Wu Zun) who has the ability to change her way of thinking. They started dating and it wasn't long till Sui discovers Ji Feng Liang's father is Chu Xing!

They meet many obstacles in their relationship. This includes, Ai Li Ou, Guang Xi & the newest rival, Lu Yi Ming.

Liang is spotted by a fmous designer and decides to go to Italy to further his skills. Sui is also given this opportunity, but she turns it down as she had agreed to help Lu Yi Ming with his new designer brand. She is shock to realise that a new designer in chief has been appointed in place of her.

How complicated can this whole affair be?

note: 0,5* for the beautiful fashion. i haven't watched it to the end yet, because the subs aren't out so far. all the twists and turns make me mad.


25) What Happened in Bali

Lee Soo-jung (Ha Ji Won) is a travel agent who is seeking her good luck in Bali after a harsh and unforgiving childhood. She meets Jae-min (Jo In Sung), Kang In-wook (So Ji Sup), and Young-joo (Park Ye Jin) in Bali, three seemingly perfect people entangled in a triangle of love. When Lee Soo-jung finds herself back in Seoul, her desire for success leads her to seek Jae-min for a job, unwittingly setting off a course of events that further complicate the love triangle.

What Happened in Bali is a drama that reveals the inner materialistic desires of people. It reflects upon the sometimes ugly (but truthful) side of man where nothing matters more than money.

note: 0*, the worst drama i ever saw. it's crazy, so ji sup plays part in both, my favourite and my most-hated drama. the ending was unpredictable, which is actually nice, but in this drama it didn't make sense!