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

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Lee Joong Ok as Hong Nam Bok

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Hyun Bong Sik as Ahn Hee Joong

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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

MUSIC&NEW 뮤직앤뉴

The Vane - Room No. 303

MUSIC&NEW 뮤직앤뉴

Blow Off

MUSIC&NEW 뮤직앤뉴

Isaac Hong - Ruin

MUSIC&NEW 뮤직앤뉴

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

Korean Drama - Because This Is My First Life

Hello

안녕하세요 

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは 

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

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Because This Is My First life is a South Korean romance drama television series written by Yoon Nan-joong and directed by Park Joon-hwa.
The series aired on tvN every Monday and Tuesday starting from the 9th of October 2017 and concluding on the 28th of November 2017, the series contains 16 episodes.

Main Cast:
Lee Min Ki as Nam Sae Hee

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Jung So Min as Yoon Ji Ho

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Supporting Cast:
Esom as Woo Su Ji

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Park Byung Eun as Ma Sang Goo

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Kim Ga Eun as Yang Ho Rang

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Kim Min Seok as Sim Won Seok

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Kim Eung Soo as Nam He Bong

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Moon Hee Kyung as Jo Myung Ji

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Kim Byeong Ok as Yoon Jong Soo

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Kim Sun Young as Kim Hyun Ja

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Noh Jonghyun as Yoon Ji Suk

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Yoon Bomi as Yoon Bomi

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Kim Min Kyu as Yeon Bok Nam

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 Like with a majority of the dramas I watch, this drama also had an amazing soundtrack, that when I listen to the songs, I'm transported back into the scenes.

U Ji - 별 그림 (Star Figure)

Windz Oz

Haebin - Everyday

MelodicKpopSubs

MeloMance - 사랑하고 싶게 돼 (I Want To Love)

Lifeinabottle

MoonMoon - 결혼 (Marriage)

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Moon Sung Nam - This Life

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Ryu Ji Hyun - Tomorrow

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Ben - 갈 수가 없어 (Can't Go)

Stone Music Entertainment

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This drama is about different points of view on careers, relationships and marriage.

What can a house-poor man and a financially strapped woman do? Nam Sae Hee is a single man in his early 30's who has managed to buy his own home. But his mortgage takes all of his disposable income and he has little left to do much else. Yoon Ji Ho is a single woman in her early 30's who barely makes enough money to get by and has given up on dating because of her financial situation.

Through unexpected circumstances, Ji Ho becomes a renter in Sae Hee's house, and they become housemates. Can they help each other grapple with their own individual financial issues?

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There was a few familiar faces for me in this drama, but only because I'd watched a few of them once in other dramas, except for Jung So Min, who was the reason why I decided to give this drama a go. I love the whole concept of this series, many drama's show how easy it is to fall in love, get married or even become friends, but I enjoyed that each episode was someone's first, highlighting the whole this being their first and only life. I felt that the drama definitely took some rather unexpected turns and also touched topics that I've not seen touched in a drama before, foe example how lightly women are taken when it comes to sexual abuse or even sexual harassment, whether it be at home or in the workplace. This drama had comedic moments and heartache as each of the characters had to come to terms with their lives and plans not going as they expected.
This is my first drama with Lee Min Ki and my first impression of his character Nam Sae Hee, was that he was a socially awkward nerd, when in fact as the drama progressed you come to learn that he becomes the way he is because of heartache in his past. I love that Yoon Ji Ho opens his eyes and heart back up to a world of love and friendship, I love that by the end of the drama that even though he's still the same he's less reserved and happy to enjoy more firsts.
I've watched a few dramas now with Jung So Min, and I think she did amazingly yet again in her role. Poor Yoon Ji Ho from start to finish is on a rollercoaster, with her life and emotions, she's often faced with tough obstacles and decisions, but one thing she always makes sure is that she does whats best for her. There were times when my heart broke for her and I could only hope things would work out well for her. 
I think one of the main character developments for me was Esom as Woo Su Ji, working in a man's world she's often harassed at work, which to work peacefully has always took on the chin and accepted, until she meets Ma Sang Goo, who finally makes her understand she's worth so much more and doesn't need to be viewed as someone who is vulnerable. While she shows of a hard exterior, I love that has the series develops we get to learn and see that she's soft at heart and just struggles to let people in and open her heart, family and future to those who love her.
I think Park Byung Eun was one of the cast members that was there to add comedy, Ma Sang Goo's friendship with Sae Hee, is unexpected but heartwarming at the same time, they're both chalk and cheese and really bounce off one another. He also likes to make sure he does whats best even if those involved don't initially agree. I loved watching his and Su Ji's relationship blossom, they both brought out the best of one another, while making you laugh.
Kim Ga Eun did a great job as Yang Ho Rang, but I personally couldn't agree with her character and at times thought she was selfish, if she didn't get what she wanted she threw a tantrum and when effort was put in she was ungrateful. She was a woman that knew what she wanted but never once stopped to see if it was what those involved wanted too. I felt that a majority of this drama was either her yelling or crying.
I loved Kim Min Seok as Sim Won Seok, his friendship with Sang Goo was hilarious, with him often turning to him for advice, which was more than enough ill advised and had you laughing. I felt bad for him as he was often trying his hardest to achieve his goals and dreams but he was always met with failure. He was clueless when it came to his relationship and tried his hardest to gain Ho Rang's approval. I think he did the best for their relationship as it helped them both to step back and re-evaluate what they wanted and how they were going to get there.
I thought Bomi's character was another that was there to add comedy to the series, she made me laugh with how abrupt she was with whatever she was saying, I loved that she was serious and hard-working by day and a party girl by night, it showed that she was human and more than meets the eye.
The little plot with Kim Min Kyu's character Yeon Bok Nam was weird and really funny, the whole is or isn't he a bad guy was fun to try and figure out.

I loved the ending for the drama, it closed it off perfectly for each of the characters, as well as keeping the premise of the whole series, is that you find what works for you and that's how you keep creating firsts with those around you. 

Have you watched Because This Is My First Life?

Did you like the casting?

Were you a fan of the plot and meaning?

Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye