Honey and Clover Review

Finally, I have time to write a complete review for my favorite anime; Honey and Clover. I wanted to write about this serial since years ago, but I just couldn’t find time to write earnestly because I don’t want to write a shallow review for this amazing series. Luckily, I have some spare time and just re-watched it yesterday and I still love this anime like I used to be several years ago.

Honey and Clover is a story about friendship and love among five art college students in Tokyo, the story itself is very refreshing and inspirational. Somehow you can relate to each character’s problem and worries, it’s simply one of the best anime of the decade. Honey & Clover is very funny as well, I literary rolled over my chair constantly when I watched it.  The only annoying thing is the unrequited love among characters and how they are unable to move on, somehow it’s a bit unreal or maybe I’m just a type who is easy to move on.

Other than its comedic situation, the strongest element of Honey and Clover is the friendship between the characters. College is the time for self-discovery and if you are lucky you will build a friendship that last for life-time. Self-discovery is an inevitable process when we are young, I honestly have been through it back in college. I remember I was very confused and insecure about everything, I was lost about my purpose and destination in life. Fortunately, I’m pretty much sure about my path in life now.

I think I was similar to Takemoto, the main character of this Anime. He is a good person and a hard-worker, but he lacks of real talent in arts unlike Hagu and Morita who are superbly talented. Takemoto somehow is a representation of ordinary people in our society, someone who works hard without real purpose. The self-discovery journey that he went through in the end of season one was a great attempt to truly understand himself and eventually encouraged him to confess his love for Hagu.

I understand why Takemoto loves Hagu, this girl is very talented yet very naive, which entice everyone to protect and cherish her. But of course, Hagu is too talented for Takemoto and only consider him as a good friend. She is in love with Morita, someone who is equally talented as her, he is also a bad boy and we all know girls tend to prefer bad boys. They have a weird relationship though, kinda like a rival to each other, but it is clear that Morita reciprocated her feelings. It’s just natural for two talented people to be attracted to each other no?

Tag:Hachimitsu Clover, Hagu, Hanamoto, Honey and Clover, Honey and Clover review, Mayama, Morita, Nomiya, Takemoto, Yamada

My Princess Review

My Princess akhirnya tamat juga! Drama ini tentu tidak sempurna dan untung gua sudah mengantisipasinya dengan tidak berharap banyak. High expectation on Korean drama is a big no-no! Dan sekarang gua akan menulis reviewnya berikut dengan analisis karakter dalam drama ini.

Secara singkat drama ini menceritakan Lee Seol yang seorang mahasiswi biasa, namun hidupnya langsung berubah total saat mengetahui kalau dia adalah seorang putri dari monarki Korea yang sudah punah sejak lama.  Presiden Korea lalu menugaskan Park Hae Young yang seorang diplomat untuk menjadi tutor sang putri. Hae Young sendiri menentang restorasi monarki di Korea karena itu artinya dia akan kehilangan warisannya.  Ini karena kakek Hae Young adalah pelopor rencana restorasi tersebut dan berniat memberikan semua hartanya ke publik setelah Lee Seol resmi menjadi putri. Seiring dengan waktu Hae Young mulai jatuh cinta pada sang putri begitu juga sebaliknya dan mereka pun harus dihadapkan pada pilihan yang sulit.

Sampai akhir cerita dinamika pasangan Hae Young dan Lee Soul membuktikan kalau mereka adalah fondasi paling kuat dari My Princess, tanpa mereka drama ini bisa babak belur karena plotnya yang lamban dan hampir bikin gua frustasi. Seperti biasa let’s talk about the good things first:

1. The Funny-Cute-Beautiful Couple

Without a doubt they are the most beautiful couple in K-drama History! Tapi selain itu mereka juga adalah pasangan dengan chemistry yang kuat, interaksi di antara mereka sangatlah dinamis dan menghibur. Hubungan mereka diawali sebagai partner in crime yang tidak tertarik pada satu sama lain. Hae Young punya Yoon Ju sedangkan Lee Seol menyukai professornya. But from their interaction and constant bickering, we can see that they are gradually drawn into each other charm. Pelan tapi pasti mereka mulai tertarik pada satu sama lain, banyak cobaan yang menerpa namun mereka akhirnya memutuskan untuk bersama dan tetap konsisten dengan karakter dan dinamika masing-masing.

Hubungan kedua karakter ini sama sekali tidak seperti cerita Cinderella. Lee Seol by blood is a princess, it’s her destiny and she’s not a poor bimbo. While Hae Young is not your ordinary prince, he’s a diplomat with high intelligence and excellent political knowledge. Mereka berdua adalah equal partners yang saling membantu satu sama lain, tidak ada ketimpangan dalam hubungan mereka dan mereka selalu terbuka sekaligus yakin dengan perasaan mereka masing-masing. Semua faktor ini adalah sesuatu yang langka untuk ditemui di dalam sebuah hubungan (baik drama ataupun real life). Lee Seol also can handle Park Hae Young cockiness very well, I love it when she tampered his pride with her cheeky reply, she’s one sassy girl!

Tag:Kim Tae Hee, korean drama, Lee Seol, My Princess, My Princess Drama, My Princess Review, Park Hae Young, Song Seung Heon

2ne1, It Hurts

Gua lagi suka banget dengan lagu 2ne1 yang berjudul It Hurts dan setelah tahu liriknya, lagu ini jadi lebih jelas makna dan pesannya. Kurang lebih liriknya bercerita tentang cewek yang patah hati karena pacarnya meninggalkannya dengan cewek lain. Walaupun liriknya terdengar cengeng tapi lagu ini dinyanyikan dengan emosi dan vokal yang kuat dari tiap member 2ne1. Berikut adalah terjemahan liriknya ke Inggris dan gua juga akan menerjemahkannya ke Bahasa Indonesia. Karena baru pertama kali menerjemahkan lirik lagu, gua harap kalian maklum kalau ada kesalahan

English Lyric:

2Ne1 – It hurts

Tag:2ne1, 2ne1 It Hurts, 2ne1 It Hurts Lyric

MBLAQ – Underrated Chicdol

Note: Going to write this in English to reach international readers.

This is my first time to talk about K-pop group and I choose MBLAQ because they deserve more popularity. MBLAQ is a group created by Rain, the famous pop-star who also starred in my favorite drama; Full House. They debuted around 2009 and honestly I just know about this group recently. I was bored and found their Idol Army Show in youtube, decided to watch it with no expectation because I thought no one can beat 2pm wackiness in this show.

I was wrong though, they were really funny and adorable in idol army. They showed a total different side from their chic image, the show was all fun and entertaining thanks to them. Afterward I watched their MVs and other shows, gradually I start to like them as a group and I must admit that their songs are all good along with unique and energetic dance. But I am aware how they are not famous enough, kinda underrated I must say.

In terms of popularity 2pm is much more popular thanks to Again&Again and their leader controversy. And there is also this group called Beast with growing popularity, hence MBLAQ is kinda the underdog between the three. But in the future I think they will become more popular, they just need to find the right song because they have all the materials to be on the top. And 2pm songs kinda suck lately, I’ll be back is so generic and what’s with the drag-queen make up? Bring back the edgy beastly song like Again&Again and Heartbeat!

Being underrated is suck that’s why I don’t write about 2pm, I love 2pm but they’re already super-famous, so they don’t need any kind of endorsement from me. I also love Arashi, they have been around for more than 10-years and I’m really glad that they are on the top of the world right now. Arashi boys deserve that, they have strong bonds, hard workers and very entertaining. And I see the similarity between Arashi and MBLAQ, hence I have the feeling that this group will gain enormous popularity in the future.

Tag:MBLAQ, MBLAQ boys, MBLAQ idol army, MBLAQ review

2011 New Obsession: My Princess

I found a new obsession this year! A drama called My Princess, Korean drama addict syndrome here I come LOL! Sebelumnya gua mau curhat dulu tentang WGM, sempat sedih karena Adam Couple keluar dari acara ini huhuhu, karena gua suka banget liat interaksi mereka yang kocak dan seru. Tapi mudah2an setelah keluar dari WGM, they can date for real! Setelah Adam couple keluar, feeling gua seh Yongseo juga bakal segera bubar, karena hubungan mereka sudah hampir setahun, apalagi setelah melihat foto Yonghwa yang terbaru.

Di situ rambut Yonghwa berwarna hitam dan menjadi lebih pendek, I have a strong feeling that it’s a sign of something (because I remember Seohyun said she likes her Yong-oppa with longer hair), maybe the end of Yongseo’s contract? Mudah-mudahan feeling gua salah karena hubungan Yongseo akhir-akhir ini makin akrab saja, tapi tentu saja all good things must end soon or later. Untungnya masih ada Khuntoria, si pasangan super romantis yang gua harap masih akan bertahan lama. I love these three couples so much and I swear I will have a withdrawal syndrome after all of them left the show

Anyway enough about WGM, sekarang mari kita bicara tentang obsesi gua yang terbaru yaitu drama My Princess. Pemainnya pasti sudah banyak yang kenal yaitu Song Seung Heon yang bermain di Endless Love (Damn, inget judul dramanya aja udah bikin gua sedih! Kalian semua pasti familiar dengan karakternya yang menjadi kakak Song Hye Gyo saat itu) dan Kim Tae Hee, si cewek cantik yang menjadi pemeran utama di Love Story in Harvard (cewek ini menurut gua cantiik banget dan katanya sih natural loh wajahnya, no-oplas!)

Drama ini belum selesai masa tayangnya dan baru ada 8 episode, rencananya drama ini akan tamat dalam 16 episode.  Review yang gua tulis sekarang hanya berdasar 8 episode yang sudah gua tonton. Dan karena drama Korea itu unpredictable (usually it becomes very draggy after 10 episodes) jadi gua tidak terlalu menaruh harapan tinggi, but I still hope it’s going to be better and better unlike Boys over Flowers (I still refuse to watch Playful Kiss because of my traumatic experience with Kim Hyun Joong awful acting!)

My Princess bercerita tentang Lee Seol (Kim Tae Hee) seorang mahasiswi biasa yang hidupnya berubah saat tahu dia adalah putri Korea yang hilang, Park Hae Young (Song Seung Heon) adalah seorang diplomat yang ditugaskan untuk menjadi tutor bagi sang putri, walaupun begitu dia tidak setuju dengan keputusan Lee Seol untuk menjadi putri. Alasannya karena dia akan kehilangan semua warisan yang seharusnya menjadi haknya, soalnya Kakek Hae Young (yg menjadi pelopor restorasi keluarga kerajaan) secara sepihak memutuskan untuk menyumbangkan semua hartanya bila Lee Seoul resmi menjadi putri.

Tag:Kim Tae Hee, korean drama, korean drama review, My Princess, My Princess Korean, Song Seung Heon

Rapunzel; A tangled tale

Hai semua I’m back with movie review, sebenarnya sudah lama mau nulis tentang film ini tapi ketunda terus, I’m such a procrastinating queen *sigh*

Pertama-tama gua itu suka banget nonton film-film Disney. Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, Aladin, you named it. Gua tumbuh dengan menonton film Disney dan walaupun sekarang gua sudah berumur 23 tahun, I still love Disney Animation movies. Film terakhir Disney yang gua tonton itu Wall-E and it’s such an inspiring and touching movie. Menurut gua film-film Disney itu timeless dan cocok untuk ditonton semua orang. Selain animasinya yang dibuat seapik mungkin, selalu ada pesan moral di balik semua ceritanya tanpa terkesan sok mengajari.

Enough with my rambling about my undying love for Disney movies, sekarang gua akan membahas tentang film terbaru Disney yang berjudul Rapunzel/Tangled. Rapunzel adalah seorang putri yang diculik karena rambutnya memiliki kekuatan ajaib, dia kemudian dikurung di sebuah menara tinggi oleh Mother Gothel, seorang penyihir yang mengaku sebagai ibunya Rapunzel, padahal sebenarnya dialah yang menculik Rapunzel untuk kepentingannya sendiri.

Tag:Rapunzel, Rapunzel Resensi Film, Rapunzel Review, Tangled

Robsten (Robert and Kristen) Best Video

I’ve been a fan of Robsten for a while and I just found an awesome video of them. I’m glad that they are together now coz they meant for each other. I know they are young and may not be together forever, but what’s really matter is the present, their love is totally undeniable.