12 Years Promise (2014)

GENRE: Family, Romance, Comedy

SYNOPSIS: After Jang Guk’s father passes away from a car accident, her family moves from Busan to Seoul to live with her grandmother and help run a dumpling shop. There she meets fellow high school senior Yu Jun Su and two of his friends. Jun Su and Guk fall in love but Jun Su’s friend Joo Da Hae becomes jealous of Jun Su’s attentions toward Guk and starts a fight. In an attempt to get the two girls to make up and resolve an awkward sitution for the four friends, Jun Su and his buddy Mu Cheol secretly invite the two girls to Jun Su’s house to watch the 2002 Soccer World Cup. Complications arise and Da Hae and Mu Cheol are not able to attend, leaving Jun Su and Guk alone, resulting later in a pregnant Guk and both families in turmoil over how to resolve the responsibilites of the issue. In the end, Guk decides to move to America to live with her aunt after making a promise with her mother that they would both try their best to improve their lives and let no one treat them in an ill manner again.

Twelve years later, Guk changes her name and returns to Korea to work as the “dark horse” for HK Department Stores to help fix the company’s financial stability and as fate would have it Jun Su and his friend Mu Cheol also work there. With several other oddly fated entanglements between the two families, will the two get back together despite their families’ disputes over what happened so long ago, or will they drive each other crazy?

STARRING: Yoon So Hee (Jang Guk/Jang Dal Lae), Lee Won Geun (Yu Jun Su), Ryu Hyo Young Ju Da Hae), Bae Jong Ok (Choi Go Sun), Ra Yoon Chan (Jang Hun), Seo Woo Rim (Yeo Il Suk), Kim Young Ran (Yeo Sam Suk), Uhm Hyo Sup (Jang Guk’s Father), Park Hae Mi (Pyung Bum Seok), Chun Ho Jin (Yu Jung Han), Choi Won Hong (Yu Jun Seong), Danny Ahn (Yu Su Han), Jung Kyung Soon (Yu Jung Sook), Ji Soo Won (Kim Young Hee), Lee Han Wie (Ju Chul Su), Nha Phuong (Ha Mi), Jung Chan (Heo Se Min), Lee Young Eun (Kang Ham Cho), Han Min (Park Mu Cheol), Lee Do Yun (Park Moo Hee), Shin Dong Mi (Yeo Ok), Jung Kyu Soo (Mr. Kang), Lee Roo Ri (Jang Woo), Hong Ji Min (Jang Guk’s Homeroom Teacher), Baek Jong Gun (Jang Woo’s Friend), Park Sung Min (Jang Woo’s Friend), Kim Sung Chan (Jang Woo’s Friend), Lee So Yeon (Adult Jang Guk/Jang Dal Lae), Nam Goong Min (Adult Yu Jun Su), Lee Tae Im (Adult Ju Da Hae), Oh Seung Yoon (Adult Jang Hun), Kim Shi Hoo (Adult Yu Jun Seong), Choi Ro Woon (Ju Hong), Song Young Kyu (Lee Joo Ho), Jung In Sun (Adult Kang Ham Cho), Lee Yong Joo (Adult Park Mu Cheol), Ah Young (Adult Park Moo Hee), Lee Seo Yun (Assistant Manager Kang), Choi Sung Joon (Assistant Manager Park), Song Young Kyu, Kim Ye Joon, Lee Shin Ae, Kang Ji Sub (Adult Jang Woo), Jung Ga Eun (Jung Hee), Im Ji Hyun (So Ra)

EPISODES: 26

VIEWING SOURCE: Netflix; September-October 2016

She Was Pretty (2015)

GENRE: Romance, Comedy

SYNOPSIS: As a child, Kim Hye Jin was the pretty girl in school that all of the boys wanted to be friends with. Ji Sung Soon is an unattractive boy who relocates to Hye Jin’s school. When the other students are mean to Sung Soon because of his appearance, Hye Jin befriends Sung Soon and protects him. Even when Sung Soon moves away with his family, Hye Jin’s correspondence gives him the self esteem and courage he needs to keep improving himself. Eventually the two lose contact and after several years go by, Hye Jin receives a request from Sung Soon to meet. When she discovers that over time the quality of each of their appearances has reversed, she chickens out on the meeting and convinces her best friend and room mate, Min Ha Ri, to go in her stead and pretend to be her. Just when she thinks she’s off the hook, fate finds her working a new job for a fashion magazine with Sung Soon at the helm as her boss.

STARRING: Hwang Jung Eum (Kim Hye Jin),Jung Da Bin (young Hye Jin/Kim Hye Rin), Park Seo Joon (Ji Sung Joon), Yang Han Yeol (young Sung Joon), Go Joon Hee (Min Ha Ri), Lee Ja In (young Ha Ri), Choi Shi Won (Kim Shin Hyuk), Kim Ha Kyoon (Boo Jong Man), Jo Chang Geun (Kwang Hee), Jin Hye Won (Lee Sul Bi), Hwang Suk Jung (Kim Rara/Restaurant Owner), Ahn Se Ha (Kim Poong Ho), Shin Dong Mi (Cha Joo Young), Park Yoo Hwan (Kim Joon Woo), Kang Soo Jin (Joo Ah Reum), Shin Hye Sun (Han Sul), Cha Jung Won (Sun Min), Bae Min Jung (Lee Kyung), Im Ji Hyun (Eun Young), Park Choong Sun (Kim Jong Sub), Lee Il Hwa (Han Jung Hye), Lee Byung Joon (Min Yong Gil), Yoon Yoo Sun (Cha Hye Jung), Seo Jung Yeon (Na Ji Sun), Ahn Sang Tae (Convenience Store Worker), Ray Yang (Woman Mistaken as Hye Jin), Kang Sung (Ha Ri’s Date), Kim Sung Oh (Man At Pub)

EPISODES: 16

VIEWING SOURCE: DramaFever on Roku; October-November 2015