Review: Shut Up Flower Boy Band

Shut Up Flower Boy Band
Aired: 2012
Starring:
Sung Joon as Kwon Ji Hyuk
Jo Bo Ah as Im Soo Ah
Kim Myung Soo as Lee Hyun Soo
Kim Min Suk as Seo Kyung Jong
Yoo Min Kyu as Kim Ha Jin
Lee Hyun Jae as Jang Do Il
Jung Eui Chul as Seung Hoon
Special Mention: Lee Min Ki as Joo Byung Hee
Plot: Byung Hee is the crazy, free-spirited leader and vocalist of the popular underground rock group, Eye Candy. Joining him is mood-maker Ji Hyuk, chic Hyun Soo, playboy Ha Jin, silent Do Il and baby-faced Min Seok. These boys rule their school until a redevelopment plan forces the delinquent-ridden school to close down. They’re all assigned a transfer to Jungsang High, but debate whether it’s even worth returning to high school at all. However, due to an outside confrontation with Jungsang’s current ruling band, Strawberry Fields, Eye Candy decides to attend Jungsang out of spite and rule the school once again.
[Source: Wiki]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I first saw the articles about this show before it started airing, I was mildly interested. I’d seen Sung Joon’s acting before and while I enjoyed it, I was unsure of how well he would pull off a rocker. As it came closer to the time for the drama to air, my interest grew exponentially.

The first episode had me completely hooked within five minutes. For me, that’s saying something. I usually find that dramas tend to keep the story pace fairly slow in the first two episodes, thoroughly setting up the drama. That has always annoyed me, but then again I’m a very impatient person. So to see this drama really setting things up in the first two episodes with plenty of action… Needless to say I was thrilled.

Putting it simply, Shut Up Flower Boy Band is superb. It takes bromance, first loves, music, and the struggles of being a high school student and rolls it all into a big ball of indie rock love. Each character has their own unique struggles to discover themselves. It shows the difficulties of coming into adulthood and having to balance friendship, love, school and work. I found myself laughing one minute, then crying for the next ten. Other times I was on the edge of my very uncomfortable seat, anxious to see what would come of their newest dilemma. More than once during an episode I found myself shouting at the screen, telling characters what an idiot they were, and getting just as frustrated as they did when things didn’t turn out the way they’d – and I’d – hoped.

Perhaps the best part about this drama is the sheer imperfections. The characters aren’t perfect. They aren’t bubbly and cute. They are hard, raw and almost violent in their passion for life, love and music. That may be what makes it so addicting and fascinating to watch.

To start with, Kwon Ji Hyuk. Dear, abrasive, sensitive Kwon Ji Hyuk with his crazy hair and husky vocals. Sung Joon, you’re a god and I love you for it. Previously, I’d only ever seen Sung Joon in a drama called Lie to Me (Yoon Eun Hye and Kang Ji Hwan). Now, I enjoyed his acting there. As Kwon Ji Hyuk, though, he’s gold. He captured the anguish of losing a friend, the inner torture that comes with being torn between loyalty to your friends and the feelings for a first love, or just a love, period. And the love of music, of having something to count on when everything else goes to hell. Kwon Ji Hyuk has a very large responsibility placed on his shoulders, having to speak for his friends in the band and protect them as their leader. It is a lonely path and takes a great deal of inner strength, especially when they’re all so young. This man has earned a spot on my forever loved list of actors, which is very short, and he earned that spot for one role.

On to our breakout star, Kim Myung Soo. Or for Infinite fans, “L”. Not only is this guy absolutely delicious to look at, but his acting chops are fantastic. And his voice when he sings is light and sweet. He completely broke my heart in episode 13. Between him and Sung Joon, I swear to whatever powers that be that my heart was ripped out and pulverized with a meat tenderizer. Strangely enough, there was a sense of satisfaction that came with all that crying. There’s an emotional release of sorts, as everything comes to a head during episode 13, and it ends with the lovely, sculpted Lee Hyun Soo crying his poor heart out. I thought. I was going. To DIE.

Lee Min Ki is one definitely worth noting as well. {SPOILER} He was only in the first two episodes, but his presence was powerful and the delivery of his character’s complex yet insane and frankly endearing personality was perfect. His untimely death in the last seconds of episode 2 left me in such a state of shock that for ten minutes after the episode finished airing, I just sat in my seat. When I did manage to emerge from the shock, the tears commenced.

Everyone else did spectacularly, though those two are the ones most worth noting because they left the most lasting impressions on me throughout the entire drama. One complaint… and don’t shoot me through my computer for this… Jo Bo Ah, who admittedly did quite well playing Im Soo Ah. I would have loved to see a bit more emotion play over her features from time to time.

The soundtrack. Oh, how I love the soundtrack. I spent episode after episode wondering just what ‘that song’ was, until finally Sung Joon made his official “Wake Up”  debut with.. you guessed it. “Wake Up!” Don’t even ask me what the play count is for this song on my iTunes. It’s on every playlist I make. Kim Myung Soo’s duet with Kim Ye Rim? Oooooh it’s so sweet. Kim Min Suk’s song is equally endearing. Lee Min Ki’s “Not In Love” is yummy, for lack of a better term. Sung Joon with Jaywalking is wonderful too. However, the song that is most notable for me from the entire drama will always be “Wake Up”. Sorry. I love it. Can’t help it. It’s like a music shot to my veins.

To sum everything up, Shut Up Flower Boy Band is a must watch. I highly recommend it – and a box of tissues.

Review: To The Beautiful You

To the Beautiful You/For You In Full Blossom/Beautiful You
Aired: 2012
Starring:
Choi Sulli as Gu Jae Hee
Choi Minho as Kang Tae Joon
Lee Hyun Woo as Cha Eun Gyeol
Plot: The fourth adaptation based on the shojo manga Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (For You In Full Blossom). It tells the story of how Gu Jae Hee sees Kang Tae Joon jump on television and idolizes him as a result. When Tae Joon has an accident and stops jumping, she heads to Korea and disguises herself as a boy to enter his school with the hopes of helping him jump again. But will she be able to hide her gender in an all boys school?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve seen every version of Hana Kimi that’s been done now, so I figure it’s probably about time I write a review on one. Eventually I’ll make my way through reviews for all of them. Starting with the most recent one, here we go!

I have to say the Korean Hana Kimi is without a doubt my favorite. I was entirely caught up in it from the start, and that’s saying something. Normally it takes quite a bit before I’m fully interested in a drama, most of the time the entire first episode. With To the Beautiful You, I was hooked within ten minutes. It had nothing to do with the fact that I love SHINee and Choi Minho. Nor did it have to do with my being a big f(x) fan. I wiped those slates clean before I sat down to start watching the show. My opinion is based entirely upon the story, music, and acting.

To start, I love how well they seemed to stick to the major points present in the Hana Kimi storyline. They added just enough to keep it interesting, and while some people have said they felt it dragged on through the sixteen episodes, I love how they organized it. I would rather have it stretch over all those episodes than end at eleven episodes. I always felt the Japanese versions needed a little more to them, though I’m still a big fan of Oguri Shun and Maki Horikita’s Hana Kimi.

Choi Minho was perfect for the role of Kang Tae Joon. Apart from being drop dead gorgeous, his acting was superb. I’ve never been able to picture Minho as a prickly, arrogant man before. Now I can, quite easily. He took the role and made it his own. Let’s not even get me started on his ability to cry. ( -rips her own heart out- “I don’t need THIS anymore!” ) I am eager to see that man in many more dramas. Let’s see what else he can tackle, shall we?

Sulli was a very pleasant surprise. I admit, while I had been excited about the Korean version from the second they announced it, when I found out that Sulli was going to play the female lead I was more or less “Meh..” about it. It wasn’t that I didn’t’ like Sulli, but I wasn’t sure how well she’d live up to her role. Now that I’ve seen the entirety of the drama, I admit I should have given her the benefit of belief right off the bat. Well done, Sulli. Really. I’ve never had anyone wrench tears out of me as easily as Sulli, especially when she and Minho are both crying. Talk about heart wrenching. I thought I was going to die.

There were a lot of comedic moments throughout the drama, and they were well balanced with the angst. I absolutely adored Lee Hyun Woo as Cha Eun Gyeol. He’s hilarious, and while I spent the better part of the first half of the drama wanting to cut his hair out of that ridiculous mushroom-like ‘do, he was endearingly bubbly and sweet. Never in all of my times of rewatching the other versions of Hana Kimi have I rooted so much for the second male lead to get the girl. It was very difficult. I was constantly torn between cheering for him and cheering for Tae Joon, and felt guilty each time I cheered for either of them.

The rest of the cast was very well chosen. I loved them all. Each character was unique, whereas in some of the versions of Hana Kimi there have been few I’d been able to actually recall by face and name.

As for the music… Let me just take a moment to fall in a puddle of happy goo on the floor right now. I love it! J-Min’s ‘Stand Up’ was perfectly matched, and when you add in ‘Butterfly’, Onew’s and Taemin’s solos… Oh yum. I have the soundtrack on repeat on my ipod even as we speak. Total love for this soundtrack.

I’d definitely recommend to anyone that watching To the Beautiful You is more than worth the time. I’ve already rewatched it four times myself. And for all you EXO fans out there, take a good look at the poster for the drama. Your boys are in it.