Showing posts with label Lee Jung Eun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lee Jung Eun. Show all posts

Friday, 8 August 2025

Korean Drama - The Frog

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

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The Frog is a 2024 South Korean mystery crime thriller series written by Son Ho Young and directed by Mo Wan Il.
The series was released on Netflix on August 23, 2024 and has 8 episodes.
Main Cast:
Kim Yoon Seok as Jeong Yeong Ha
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Yoon Kye Sang as Koo Sang Jun
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Go Min Si as Yoo Seong A
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Lee Jung Eun as Yoon Bo Min
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Ha Yoon Kyung as Young Yoon Bo Min
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Supporting Cast:
Park Ji Wan as Park Jong Du
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Park Chanyeol as Koo Gi Ho
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Ryu Hyun Kyung as Seo Eun Kyung
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Cha Mi Kyung as Kim Kyung Ok
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Hong Ki Joon as Ji Hyang Cheol
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Special Appearances:
Joo In Young as Restaurant Owner
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Kim Sung Ryung as Lee Seong Ran
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Roh Yoon Seo as Jeon Eui Seon
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Jang Seung Jo as Ha Jae Sik
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There's a song we hear throughout the series and it's Bobby "Blue" Bland's Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City.
Owned by Bobby "Blue" Bland

During the summer in the present day, Jeon Yeong Ha runs a vacation cottage located deep in the woods. His peaceful life is shaken by the sudden appearance of a mysterious woman named Yoo Seong A.
In the early 2000's, Koo Sang Jun ran the same vacation cottage as Jeon Yeong Ha did years later. Koo Sang Jun and his family also lived there, but during the summer, something happened at his vacation cottage and Koo Sang Jun lost everything because of that. At the time Yoon Bo Min, worked as a police officer at the nearest police sub station from the vacation cottage.
20 years later, Yoon Bo Min is transferred to the same police sub station where she worked before and she begins to work there as the chief. She enjoys solving things and begins to observe Jeon Yeong Ha closely.

I saw this be teased and knew I wanted to give it a go with it being a thriller and mystery crime drama. I really enjoy this genre so I definitely had high hopes going into this drama. I mainly wanted to watch this because Go Min Si was starring, and especially because I've never seen her in a dark role, so I was looking forward to what she would bring. I loved the cast, and I thought the drama itself was really good. My only criticism was that at times it was a little confusing on how the past timeline and the present timeline connected, and whether it was supposed to connect as it was two different stories.
I thought Kim Yoon Seok did a really good job as Jeong Yeong Ha. Yeong Ha is definitely a man that is set in his ways and wants to make sure that no matter the issues he can deal with them himself without asking for any outside help. Even when it comes to something that the police would be of use with.
I think Yoon Kye Sang did a great job as Koo Sang Jun, his story shows us how wrong things can go after something tragic can affect your family and business. It shows how society let him down, when it came to his business as well as his mental health in the aftermath of someone being murdered in his establishment.
I absolutely loved Go Min Si as Yoo Seong A. She's the typical can't do no wrong because her family has power and money, so they can wipe and hide away any of her crimes. But even then they eventually come at a price when father stops trying to protect her. Even when the police become involved, she is seen as harmless because she's a woman, even when they witness her ram her car into Yeong Ha. She plays crazy so well, I would love to see her in more roles like this.
I really liked Lee Jung Eun as Yoon Bo Min. She's a police officer turned chief that has learnt from her past cases, especially after seeing the aftermath of the murder at Sang Jun's establishment. She sees how odd Yeong Ha acts, and finds Seong A to be the cause and starts looking into it more. You can tell she doesn't want what happened 20 years ago to happen again and tries to encourage Yeong Ha to open up more, while keeping a close eye and investigating on who Seong A could really be.
I loved Park Chanyeol as Koo Gi Ho. When he was younger he was a witness to Hyang Cheol bringing in his last victim into their vacation cottage. Leading him to grow in a dysfunctional family with his father ending up in a care home as he ended up mentally unstable, as well as a mother who turned to drink from finding the woman's body in one of their rooms. His main goal is revenge on Hyang Cheol, not for himself but for his parents that were ruined by what he did. While bringing his plan to life he meets Yeong Ha, who helps him get a second chance, as well as gives him the parental figure he lost so many years before.
I absolutely loved Roh Yoon Seo as Jeon Eui Seon, she really brought her character to life. Eui Seon is pretty much like her father in that she's independent and makes sure if there's any issues she can deal with them herself. She's really close with her father and even shows how badass she is when she confronts Seong A and tries to play her at her own game. I definitely held my breath at the scenes that involves the two of them.
Even though he's only in a few episodes, I feel like I have to mention Jang Seung Jo as Ha Jae Sik. He leaves his son with Yeong A, and we meet him in the first episode of the drama. We don't see him again, which hints at the fact that she murders him. Something that she holds over Yeong Ha, as he cleans up after her, and is in denial that she's done something so horrible. His main goal is putting a stop to her and her shenanigans as well as getting revenge for her murdering his son.

I definitely recommend this drama if you're a fan of a crime thriller, but also because the cast is amazing and the story is told really well. I do feel it concluded really well and you're not left feeling with unanswered questions, even when some of the things you see are questionable. I definitely think you need to get stuck into this thriller, but just remember you'll be on the edge of your seat and possibly at times holding your breath.

Have you watched The Frog?
Were you a fan of the cast?
Did you enjoy the plot?
Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!


안녕
(Annyeong)
さようなら
(Sayonara)
再见
(ZaiJian)
Bye

Thursday, 2 July 2020

Korean Drama - Strangers From Hell

Hello
안녕하세요 
(Annyeonghaseyo)
こんにちは 
(Konnichiwa)
你好
(Ni Hao)


Strangers From Hell which is also known is Hell Is Other People, is a South Korean psychological thriller TV series. The series is based on the Naver webtoon series of the same name by Kim Yong-ki. It's also the 2nd series of OCN's "Dramatic Cinema" project which combines film and drama formats.
The series was written by Jung Yi-do and directed by Lee Chang-hee.
The series ran for 10 episodes, airing from the 31st of August 2019, and concluding on the 6th of October 2019.

Main Cast:
Im Siwan as Yoon Jong Woo
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Lee Dong Wook as Seo Moon Jo
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Supporting Cast:
Lee Jung Eun as Eom Bok Soon
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Lee Hyun Wook as Yoo Gi-hyeok
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Park Jong Hwan as Byeon Deuk Jong/Byeon Deuk Soo
Park Jong-hwan (박종환) - Picture Gallery @ HanCinema :: The ...
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Lee Joong Ok as Hong Nam Bok
Lee Joong-ok (이중옥) - Picture Gallery @ HanCinema :: The Korean ...
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Hyun Bong Sik as Ahn Hee Joong
Hyun Bong-sik (현봉식) - Picture @ HanCinema :: The Korean Movie ...
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Ahn Eun Jin as So Jung Hwa
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Kim Ji Eun as Min Ji Eun
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Noh Jonghyun as Kang Seok Yoon
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Cha Rae Hyung as Shin Jae-ho
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Kim Han Jong as Park Byeong Min
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Oh Hye Won as Son Yoo Jeong
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Park Ji-han as Go Sang-man
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The first script reading for the series took place in April 2019, in Sangnam-dong, Seoul.

The soundtrack for this drama for me was amazing, each track takes me back and I can feel the hairs standing on the back of my neck when I listen to them.
The Rose - 타인은 지옥이다 (Strangers)

MUSIC&NEW 뮤직앤뉴
The Vane - Room No. 303

Blow Off

Isaac Hong - Ruin

Strangers From Hell tells the story of a young man, Yoon Jong Woo in his 20's, who moves to Seoul after landing an internship in a company. While looking for a place to stay, he stumbles upon Eden Studio, an ominous cheap dormitory and decides to stay there as he is low on money. Though not thrilled about the quality of the place and it's abnormal residents, including his next-door neighbour Seo Moon Jo, he decides to tolerate it until he saves enough money to move out.
However, mysterious occurrences start occurring in the studio causing Jong Woo to start fearing the studio's residents.

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I was so excited for this drama as soon as I saw that Lee Dong Wook had been cast, I'm also a fan of psychological, thriller and horror genre's, so as soon as I read that this was going to be a dark drama, I knew I had to watch it. I screamed way too loud when I saw that Netflix here in the UK had got it hands on it meaning, I could finally get comfy and check it out.
I was blown away by this drama, for me everything was perfect from the cast, to the script, to the soundtrack, for me everything was spot on. In all honesty, I struggled not playing the next episode when the one I was watching finished. There was also heartbreak for me in this drama as I adore one of the actors and was devastated when we got to see what happened to him, I shed a few tears. While I was left feeling slightly confused with the ending, it was nothing a quick google search couldn't fix, it was also nice to see other people's point of views on how the story concluded.
One thing I've never really thought about until watching this drama is how some people can be groomed into becoming serial killers, we often here about young girls, boys, women and even men being groomed into submission, but I don't think I've ever heard about people being groomed into becoming evil. 
Now let me get into the cast.
This is my first drama with Im Siwan and I will say it won't be my last, to say this was his first acting role since he was discharged from his military duties, it shows how he's still able to do his craft, even after having time away, he really is an amazing actor. His character always had me guessing how his story would conclude, out the outside he seems to be really timid, but on the inside there's a beast that wants to be unleashed, making him possibly an easy target for Seo Moon Jo. The little flashes into his past, as well as seeing how he truly wants to react to situations, makes the viewer also think he will eventually snap.
What can I say about Lee Dong Wook, apart from WOW! The only roles I have seen him in, have always been quite similar, he always seems to be one of the sweet good guys, so knowing he was playing a bad guy this time, not only got me excited in a new role but intrigued on how he'd pull it off. While watching the series, I did get slightly worried as I've seen actors say they really struggled getting out of character, when playing someone evil, and it seemed I was right to be worried. I read an article with him saying how he really struggled pulling away from Seo Moon Jo, and that even his friends would ask why he was staring at them the way he was, I hope now he's moved passed it and I hope he knows how he really did an amazing job, it really made me look at him in a different way as an actor. One thing that still haunts me from this drama his Seo Moon Jo's smile, it still send shivers down my spine whenever I think about it.
Next we have our sweet but not so innocent landlady played by Lee Jung Eun, I was really surprised with the characters development, I really thought she was someone that knew about what they did but turned a blind eye, never did I think her story would develop the way it did.
I was actually really surprised with Lee Hyun Wook's character as I was also shocked with his development, he seems to be  Seo Moon Jo's doing, but once he comes across Yoon Jong Woo, it's like he realises that he can do better. Yoo Gi-hyeok also seems like he doesn't take instructions well and would rather be solo than groomed to be someone else based on someone else's ideals.
I need to talk about how amazing and believable Park Jong Hwan was a twin brothers, that were completely different, which meant double the hard work and double the acting. While one seems to be level headed but quick to react, the other his slow and seems to lean more towards special needs, which for me I think makes that brother a lot more scarier. If I had to pick one of the twins to be wary of, it would definitely be the second. His constant giggling often had me on edge and I think it was a good move to have a character that could be seen as sweet an innocent but have a dark desire.
I will honestly say Lee Joong Ok's character really creeped me out, to say how obsessed he is about pornography and women, would make him seem more likely to attack and rape women, which we see he already committed this crime and been caught. With those desires I wouldn't expect to see a desire to kill and torture anyone other than women, but straight away he seems to take a disliking to Yoon Jong Woo and really seems to enjoy sending him down the crazy path.
I have to say I really disliked both Kim Ji Eun's and Cha Rae Hyung's characters, he was ready to swoop in on his so called friends girlfriend, and often made Yoon Jong Woo feel bad about how living in Eden made him react to things, because as he kept pointing out he had his internship because of him. The fact that both Min Ji Eun and Shin Jae-ho practically turn their backs on him and keep making out that he's being stupid and making things up, while Eden is making him paranoid and starting to bring out the violence he wants to keep at bay inside. One thing I will say is for one of them I did say, you deserved that.
Lastly I want to talk about Noh Jonghyun, I've watched him in both He Is Psychometric and Because This Is My First Life, and I have to say that his character in Strangers From Hell is my favourite. One thing I will say is, that like Yoon Jong Woo, when we first meet Kang Seok Yoon, I had my guard up and questioned whether he was to be trusted. But I quickly let my guard down and seeing him be so scared and crying for help was heart breaking, I really had my fingers crossed for him. But in a place like Eden can someone as innocent as Kang Seok Yoon really get out of there alive.

I really wish I was able to watch this drama last year, as it would have been a part of my Top drama list for 2019. If you haven't watched it yet then I really recommend getting stuck into this drama series. I don't think they could have gotten a better cast, and I look forward to what each of them do in their next project. While I would love to see Lee Dong Wook take on another dark character, I don't think he has any interest in taking on that kind of role again, in all honesty he doesn't need to, Strangers From Hell for me has shown he's an amazing actor and can really pull of any character.

Want to see who makes it out of Eden alive? Then head over to Netflix to see how the series unfolds for each of the characters.

Have you watched Strangers From Hell?
Did you like the casting?
Were you a fan of the plot?
Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!


안녕
(Annyeong)
さようなら
(Sayonara)
再见
(ZaiJian)
Bye