The Best Korean Dramas of 2013

Annyeong! It has been a hot minute since I've posted last, but here I am sharing my year's Korean drama-watching work. This year there was a good assortment of dramas to suit viewers' varying taste buds. This year also featured some of the most hyped Kdramas ever (Gu Family Book and The Heirs). Even though I found some great dramas to watch in 2013, not every drama was watchable. So, look forward to my "The Worst Korean Dramas of 2013" list in a few days. But, let's get back to positivity and celebration for now. Here's to an even better year for dramas in 2014!

5. That Winter, the Wind Blows

Jo In Sung and Song Hye Kyo

That Winter, the Wind Blows was the first, what I consider, "blockbuster" drama of the year. It features Jo In Sung, Song Hye Kyo, Jung Eun Ji, and Kim Bum. The music was divine (download the OST here), the aesthetic was soft and breathtaking, and this drama, while not the best of the year, was never dull. Read my full review here.

4. Good Doctor

Joo Won and Moon Chae Won

Good Doctor fills the void of feel good medical drama better than any I've seen before. The chemistry between Joo Won and Moon Chae Won made the fact that Park Shi Won (Joo Won) was autistic seem like just another obstacle that any couple faces. I am pretty sure that I cried at least once during each of the 20 episodes of this sweet drama.

3. The Heirs

Lee Min Ho as Kim Tan and Park Shin Hye as Cha Eun Sung

When I first started watching The Heirs/ The Inheritors, I was in disbelief. I had a hard time accepting that Lee Min Ho was still playing a high school kid (he's 26 now!). I was also put off by the strange scenes that they filmed in California. I decided to let my skepticism go, though, and allow the story to wash over me. This drama is a blatant combination of all things that viewers want to see, rich kids, love triangles, birth secrets, Cinderella story, coming-of-age, I could go on for pages. What I think makes this drama great, though, is that the actors managed to shine through the achingly cliche plot lines and dialogue to show us genuine feeling and the pain that comes with transitioning from childhood to adulthood no matter how rich or poor you are. Also, the sheer volume of popular Korean actors is enough to make my list, The Heirs had Lee Min Ho, Park Shin Hye, Kim Woo Bin, Kang Min Hyuk, Krystal Jung, Choi Jin Hyuk, Lim Ju Eun, Kim Ji Won, and Kang Ha Neul... MIND BLOWN.

2. Heartless City

Jung Kyung Ho and Nam Gyu Ri

Heartless City/ Cruel City was the drama that I looked forward to watching the most every week while it aired. It was the most exciting and sexiest drama of the year, in my opinion. It wasn't, though, an epic romance drama. There was a strong connection between the two leads Jung Kyung Ho and Nam Gyu Ri, but it seemed more like a plot-driving relationship than an a heart-wrenching love like the one from my number 1 drama of the year. Read my full review of Heartless City here.

1. Secret

Hwang Jung Eum and Ji Sung

Ahhh yes, Secret Love, what year of drama isn't complete without a high-intensity melodrama? My year certainly wouldn't have felt complete without Secret. Hwang Jung Eum pulled off her best performance yet as the wronged Kang Yoo Jung who lost years of her life in prison, her son, and her bright-eyed optimism. Yet, she was able to love again and make the best decision for herself and her child. I just loved this drama and it's fast moving action and romance.

What were your favorites?

That Winter, the Wind Blows FULL OST [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Hello my lovely blog readers! You have been asking for it, and now I have found the ENTIRE That Winter, the Wind Blows OST (그 겨울, 바람이 분다 OST)! This drama features some of the best ballads and instrumental songs of any Korean drama I have seen. I downloaded the rar file, unpacked it, and uploaded each file for you, so pleeeease love me ^__^ I have posted the links below to the individual tracks. Enjoy!

Album info
Artist: Various
Language: Korean
Genre: OST
Release Date: May 16th 2013

Click here to download: 1. Gray Paper 먹지

Click here to download: 2. Snowflakes눈꽃

Click here to download: 3. Winter Story 겨울사랑

Click here to download: 4. Tears Fallin' Guitar Version

Click here to download: 5. And One 그리고 하나

Click here to download: 6. Winter Story Piano Version 겨울사랑

Click here to download: 7. Tears Fallin' Piano Version

Click here to download: 8. Winter Story 겨울사랑

Click here to download: 9. Blind Love

Click here to download: 10. I Wanted to Live 살고 싶다

Click here to download: 11. With U

Click here to download: 12. Goodbye Happiness

Click here to download: 13. 78 Billion (억)

Click here to download: 14. I Don't Need Your Love 사랑따윈 필요없어

Click here to download: 15. It's Over

Click here to download: 16. Winter Wind 겨울바람

Click here to download: 17. Chamber of Secrets 비밀의 방

Click here to download: 18. Open Your Eyes

Click here to download: 19. Poker Face 포커페이스

Click here to download: 20. Misunderstanding 오해

Click here to download: 21. Black Jack 블랙잭

Click here to download: 22. Warm Eyes 따뜻한 눈빛

Click here to download: 23. Room's Spirit 영이의 방

Click here to download: 24. Winter Story Orchestra 겨울에 만난 사랑

These are all links to my personal 4shared account. If there are any issues with the downloads please comment on this post because I am much more likely to check here. Also, if you could comment when you download them to let me know that they do work or don't I would greatly appreciate it! Saranghaeyo!

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The Best Korean (and Taiwanese!) Dramas to Watch When You Want to Cry

I don't know about you guys, but sometimes it feels good to just completely let go and bawl your eyes out.  This is especially true when you're not crying about something horrible happening in your own life, but about something horrible happening to beautiful Asian actors. I have come up with a list of a few dramas to watch when you are looking to cry your eyes out. So get your box of tissue, roll of toilet paper, or whatever you use to blow your nose ready because it's time to start the water works. Note: this list is a work in progress because I am always finding new dramas to cry about so I will update it periodically.

I'm Sorry, I love You
There once was a hot ahjusshi and a sad woman who looked like a little girl. This drama is the epitome of melodramatic Asian entertainment. If you don't cry while watching this, then I don't think you have a heart. Watch it on DramaFever.com

49 Days
This drama is about what happens after death and death's devastating affect on those who remain living. The beautiful lead actors give heart-wrenching performances and the plot of this drama is so unique that it lays the perfect foundation for complete emotional immersion into the world between life and death. Watch it on DramaFever.com

Summer Fever
This is the first Taiwanese drama that I really loved, and it initiated my Tdrama obsession. I describe this drama as a miracle because it appears, on the surface, to be an ordinary story of young summer love, but it becomes a beautiful account of a woman's struggle to live and love. I cried so hard while watching this one night that the next morning my eyelids were so puffy and crusty that they would barely open. I had to use the cold spoon treatment to lessen the swelling. I promise I'm not being dramatic. Also, I listen to the opening and closing themes from this show almost every night. They are amazing songs. Watch it on DramaFever.com.

Nice Guy
This drama ends up on a lot of my lists mainly because it's so great and all-encompassing. The push-and-pull love story between the two leads is emotionally draining, but their shared fate keeps them together and makes for a glorious tearjerker. Watch it on DramaFever.com.

Fated to Love You
This Taiwanese drama begins with an over-the-top story about two people who slept together completely by mistake. I wasn't fully convinced of their love at first, but this show took me by surprise. Episode 12 is so sad it will break your heart. Unfortunately the last half of the drama drags on for way too long, but there are enough good scenes in this drama to make up for the unnecessary ones. Watch it on DramaFever.com

Full House
This is one of those unfortunate tales of two people who are forced together, hate each other when they have a chance to start something, and then love each other when it's extremely inconvenient. Song Hye Kyo and Rain make such a gorgeous couple that it's easy to forgive their naivety in the beginning. I cried a lot while watching this mostly out of sheer frustration and sadness for them. Watch it on DramaFever.com.

That Winter, the Wind Blows Final Episode 16

Zo In Sung (Jo In Sung) as Oh Soo

***************SPOILERS*****************

Before I really delve into this drama, I want to get my two main critiques out of the way. First, I think 16 episodes was not long enough for this particular story to unfold. I don't think that Oh Soo and Oh Young shared enough sweet, intimate moments or enough painful moments for us viewers to really build a strong emotional attachment to them as a couple. If this drama had 20 episodes, I think we could have also seen more of Jin Sung (Kim Bum) and Hee Sun's (Jung Eun Ji) characters and their cute romance. Kim Bum and Eun Ji are two popular actors who are building quite a large fan base, but neither of them had more than a few minutes of screen time per episode. As for my second critique, I wish That Winter, the Wind Blows would have kept the same feeling of the first 3 episodes throughout the entire show. Those first scenes were  pretty but had a dark, twisted side lurking beneath the softness that the show's aesthetic displayed. To me the later episodes relied heavily on the typical Korean drama tropes like the sick person in love, the evil mother (or mother-like figure), the self-sacrificing bad guy, and the jump through time in the last episode in order to sort things out without really explaining anything, and it lost the magic I felt during the first week it aired.

Song Hye Kyo as Oh Young

Now let's discuss the final episode. It began in a rather gruesome fashion. Oh Young was bleeding in a bathtub after just having cut her wrists, and Moo Chul (Kim Tae Woo) was stabbed by a thug and proceeded to violently break the thugs shoulder and arm. Of these two bloody scenes only one is fatal, and I am sad to report that Moo Chul died. Even though he was a bit of a douche, I liked him. He was busy protecting everyone without taking any credit for it. Again, his character could have seen a lot more development had there been 20 episodes in this series. But, the important thing about the first part of this episode, I suppose, is that Oh Young survived that bloody night, and, happily her surgery a few days later.

Of course she forgave Oh Soo for lying to her about being her brother. He was the first person who came into her life and really had fun with her and made her feel loved and happy. Even though Secretay Wang (Bae Jong Ok) had taken care of Young for most of their lives, Young didn't trust her because of the deceptions she carried out surrounding her sight. I had trouble believing the resolution of Secretary Wang returning to Young because I'm not sure how Young found the strength to forgive her, and I felt the plot line involving her, Myung Ho, and the company was left unresolved.

Kim Bum as Jin Sung and Jung Eun Ji as Hee Sun

The ending that came about in the final 10 minutes of the series was a happy one for most characters. After stabbing Oh Soo to save his family, Jin Sung moves to the country with Hee Sun to live the simple life away from the city and gambling. We see this after the show jumps about a year into the future. At this point Oh Young has survived surgery and can see. Her vision isn't perfect, but it looks like a soft filter from Instagram so she seems to be pretty satisfied with it. And after a fake-out conversation between Jin Sung and Hee Sun that makes it sound like Oh Soo is dead, it is revealed that he is serving tea near Oh Young. At first I had a horrible thought, "Oh no. He better not have lost his memory." Thank god they didn't use that trick again because Oh Soo and Young needed another hot kiss to end the drama. On that note, another positive thing to add about That Winter, the Wind Blows on top of my many critiques is that Zo In Sung and Song Hye Kyo shared some soft, sexy kisses in the final episode, redeeming them from the forced kiss that happened a few episodes earlier.

Soo and Young, fighting!

Don't forget to download the beautiful and addictive That Winter, the Wind Blows OST just click here!

Watch That Winter, the Wind Blows with English subtitles DramaFever.com

That Winter, the Wind Blows OST

NEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For the full OST Please see my new post The Winter, the Wind Blows FULL OST

Zo In Sung and Song Hye Kyo

A big part of what makes That Winter, the Wind Blows enjoyable is the music and how well it is placed throughout the drama. This is impressive considering that the OST is comprised of only 5 songs. The most important songs being "Winter Love (겨울 사랑)" performed by The One (더 원) and "And One (그리고 하나)" by Taeyeon of SNSD (태연 of 소녀시대). Each of the 5 songs that make up the OST are slow, sad, and beautiful, but "Winter Love" and "And One" are special to me. Just like any song from a good OST, they bring back memories of especially emotional scenes from the drama. Below I have compiled some links to download each of the songs. I personally downloaded the songs from those links so they work as of when I am posting this. Stay tuned for my blog post about this drama after the final episode airs in just a few weeks! NEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For the full OST Please see my new post The Winter, the Wind Blows FULL OST

Click here to download: Gray Paper by Ye Sung

Click here to download: Winter Love by The One

Click here to download: Snow Flower by Gummy

Click here to download: Tears Fallin' by Kim Boa of SPICA

Click here to download:  And One by Taeyeon

NEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For the full OST Please see my new post The Winter, the Wind Blows FULL OST

Watch That Winter, the Wind Blows with English subtitles DramaFever.com

That Winter, the Wind Blows Episode 1-3

Zo In Sung as Oh Soo and Song Hye Kyo as Oh Young

I am completely hooked on That Winter, the Wind Blows. It has everything that I value in a Korean drama: hot Korean guys, layered plot lines, a romantic coupling that seems impossible at first, crazy rich people, and a very dramatic OST. So far, I am feeling a strong connection between this drama and last fall's Nice Guy (Innocent Man). The first similarity that stood out to me right away is the music. The opening theme music which is used often throughout Nice Guy is almost identical to the music that plays during dramatic moments in That Winter. Other similarities I noticed: the fragile yet strong leading lady, Oh Soo is a man doing bad things because he was wronged by a woman (his mother who abandoned him and ex-girlfriend who sent him to prison) like Kang Ma Roo (Jae Hee, the girl he loved, caused him to spend years in jail), and the muted but vibrant coloring. Maybe I am stretching to compare the two, but that's what I've noticed so far.

Zo In Sung and Song Hye Kyo

In the first 3 episodes that have aired so far Oh Soo was falsely accused of embezzling millions of dollars by a psychotic girlfriend (played by the queen of crazy-eyed girls Seo Hyo Rim), spends a year in prison, is stabbed and beaten over the money, and takes on the identity of his recently-dead friend of the same name. By a twist of fate, his dead friend is Oh Young's long-lost oppa which leaves him an opening to get the money he needs to stay alive. Oh Young is the blind daughter of a dead billionaire. So, from that summary it is easy to see how complicated the relationship between Oh Soo and Oh Young will become.

Song Hye Kyo is so perfect at portraying the beautiful sad girl (see Autumn in My Heart and Full House) that I feel like the role of Oh Young was written for her. Whereas Moon Chae Won as Seo Eun Gi in Nice Guy had a bitchy bite to her that made her soft-hearted love for Ma Roo slightly hard to believe at times, the sadness in Hye Kyo's eyes makes it seem like the lonely Young will be open to trusting her fake oppa.

Zo In Sung, on the other hand, makes up for the bitchy bite that Hye Kyo is lacking. Though I love Song Joong Ki as Ma Roo, his extreme self-sacrificing pissed me off sometimes. The whole reason Ma Roo got himself into the intial mess of being accused of murder was because he took the fall for Jae Hee. I don't see that personality trait in Oh Soo at all. He appears to be much less of a "nice guy" than Ma Roo, and his aim to entangle himself in Oh Young's family problems is not for revenge, but because he needs the money to save himself. It's too early to predict how he will evolve throughout the course of the story, but I hope that he doesn't become unbelievably selfless for Oh Young's sake. Loving her is one thing, but taking it the extreme kills the sincerity.

Jung Eun Ji as Moon Hee Sun

Kim Bum as Park Jin Sung

The lighter side of That Winter is brought to you by Jung Eun Ji (Reply 1997) and Kim Bum (Boys Over Flowers). They act as Oh Soo's side-kicks that are aware of his true identity. Kim Bum is adorable and silly and he looks like a cute little elf when standing next to the over-six-feet-tall Zo In Sung. Eun Ji portrays a spunky florist who has been keeping tabs on Oh Soo ever since he dumped her older sister who subsequently died in a motorcycle accident. At this point in the drama they are helping Oh Soo in pretending to be the deceased Oh Soo. I doubt they will contribute much to the overall plot, but only time will tell.

Watch That Winter, the Wind Blows with English subtitles DramaFever,com