As a promise to their fans, celebrity couple Paolo Contis and LJ Reyes made honest reviews on hit romantic-comedy Korean shows they have watched, like “Descendants of the Sun”, “Crash Landing on You”, and “Itaewon Class.”
LJ revealed that quarantine has somehow had a good effect on her as she was able to persuade her partner Paolo to binge-watch K-dramas.
During their conversation, Paolo recalled the time when he first appreciated K-Pop groups and K-dramas.
“Natatandaan mo noong New Year na nasa New York tayo tapos nanonood tayo ng countdown sa New York, tapos BTS?”
“Sabi ko, ‘Bakit sila ang [main act]? Sa New York, BTS? Ang opening nila, bago sila, Post Malone. Tapos BTS? Anong kalokohan to?’
“Tapos noong napanood ko, alam nila kung ano ‘yung ginagawa nila, blockings. They don’t just sing, they perform.
“So doon, medyo na-appreciate ko, pero hindi pa ako ready tanggapin.
“Hindi pa ako ready mag-ganyan,” Paolo added.
“So nitong quarantine, fine, let’s watch K-Drama, and I can’t wait for my next,” he continued.
Descendants of the Sun
Paolo started his review of the 2016 Korean drama by saying, “Ang Descendants of the Sun, maganda ‘yung shots. Parang binusisi, pinaghirapan.”
Since he’s not familiar with the names of the characters of the original Korean version, he used the ones from the Philippine adaptation starring Dingdong Dantes, Jennylyn Mercado, Rocco Nacino, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith as the basis for naming the characters.
“Mas na-hook ako sa character ni Rocco, si Wolf, at ‘yung character ni Jasmine, more than si Doc at si Dingdong, si Big Boss,” he admitted.
Rocco breathes to life the character of Diego Ramos or Wolf, which was originally played by Korean star Jin Goo as Seo Dae-young, while Jasmine portrays as Moira Defensor, which was originally played by Kim Ji-won as Yoon Myung-ju.
While Dingdong portrays Lucas Manalo or Big Boss, which was originally played by Song Joong-ki as Yoo Si-jin, Jennylyn plays the character of Maxine Dela Cruz or Beauty which was originally played by Song Hye Kyo as Kang Mo-yeon.
“Mas na-hook ako kasi mas painful, it was very well acted, ‘yun,” he mentioned.
LJ agreed with her partner’s observations regarding the love story of the second lead but she admitted that she got hooked with the portrayal of Song Hye Kyo as Dr. Kang.
“Actually, I agree with you na maganda talaga ‘yung story nung second lead, ‘di ba?
“Pero kasi nga, dahil sobrang charming talaga ni Song Hye Kyo, si Dr. Kang, sobrang natuwa ako sa kanya.
“Kasi very charming talaga ‘yung mukha niya, magaling siya umarte, tapos kinikilig ako sa kanila ni Song Joong-ki,” she revealed.
Furthermore, LJ described the story of Descendants Of The Sun as “rich” and “realistic” because of its love story and relatable conflicts.
In the end, LJ gave the series 8 stars out of 10 while Paolo gave 7 stars.
Crash Landing On You
The second K-drama that the couple discussed was Crash Landing On You where LJ and Paolo had contrasting views regarding the setting of the story.
As much as she enjoyed the story, LJ admitted that she was not satisfied with the whole plot as she believed that the conflict between North Korea and South Korea was not justified accordingly.
LJ stated, “Ako kasi, ang point ko, gusto ko kasi ‘yung malalalim ‘yung story.
“Siguro dahil nauna nga ‘yung Descendants, tapos ito, North Korea and South Korea ‘yung tension, doon nanggagaling ‘yung conflict, so parang medyo nag-expect ako na magiging malalim na malalim ‘yung magiging kuwento.
“Pero for me, hindi masyadong na-justify ‘yung conflict ng North and South Korea,” LJ said.
Nonetheless, she appreciates the love story between Captain Ri Jeong-hyeon and Yoon Se-ri although the characters failed to woo the actress.
“Pero ‘yung love story okay naman, cute naman,” LJ explained.
“Tsaka parang hindi ako masyadong attracted doon sa dalawang bida,” she added.
Paolo, on the other hand, believed that the conflict between North Korea and South Korea was only used to be the setting of the love story, but the whole series focused on the love story, and not on the conflict or war.
He said: “’Yung North and South Korea na conflict is basically just the setting, for me, it is the setting of the love story.”.
“Pero, siyempre, the fact na mabigat na nga ‘yung North and South Korea, siyempre kailangan nilang pagaanin ‘yon.
“And na-achieve nila ‘yon because of the rich characters na nakakatawa.”
Paolo also admitted that he found Captain Ri’s soldiers funny, while citing one thing he didn’t like about the series.
“Ako mahirap ako patawanin in terms of comedy. The fact na hindi ko sila maintindihan magsalita at tawang-tawa ako doon sa mga sundalo ni Captain Ri tapos ‘yung mga babae sa labas.”
He added: “The only thing I don’t like is it’s too long per episode. Parang nanonood ka ng isang pelikula per episode.”
In the end, Paolo gave Crash Landing on You 9.5 stars while LJ gave the series 7 stars.
Itaewon Class
The last K-drama that they have reviewed was Itaewon Class.
“Ito naman, ‘yung latag ng kuwento for every character, even doon sa mga naging waiters niya sa mga naging staff niya, lahat may back story, lahat may kuwento,” Paolo remarked and added, “You will get to love them.”
For LJ, while ‘Itaewon Class’ is a love story, it is also a revenge story.
“Kahit na sabihin natin na kasama pa rin sa genre na love story itong Itaewon Class, ang pagiging unique niya is it’s a story of revenge at saka ‘yung paninidigan niya sa sarili kung panoo ka mag-i-stick doon sa tama,” LJ said.
When it comes to length per episode, Paolo also pointed out that Itaewon Class’s episodes are shorter compared to Crash Landing on You.
“Ang comment ko dyan, ‘yang show nila, is about what 59 minutes to an hour and two minutes, ‘yan ‘yung perfect length na bawat putol noong episode, tama, sakto lang,” he explained.
Paolo and LJ both gave ‘Itaewon Class‘ a decent 8 stars.
Comparison
Just before their vlog ended, Paolo and LJ gave their summary and compared the three K-dramas.
Paolo admitted that he favored Crash Landing On You among the three K-dramas by explaining that the series’ dramatic structure got him hooked until the end as it started with a simple exposition, but ended with a grand finale, compared to Descendants Of The Sun and Itaewon Class which both failed to meet the denouement he had expected.
Furthermore, the comedian and mainstay of gag show Bubble Gang shared that he found K-dramas interesting because it’s a “right mixture of a good story, good casting, good story flow, and character build-up.”
“I must say, yung pagiging wholesome ng K-drama is ver refreshing sa mata na hindi ka matatakot na may dumaang bata dahil wala kang makikitang cleavage,” he stated.
LJ agreed with Paolo and said, “It only proves na good acting and good story can compensate.”
LJ chose Itaewon Class as the best among the three.
https://youtu.be/i5ujzg_v07g
The Korean Wave has hit the Philipines hard as the K-Pop and K-drama fanbase is one of the biggest in the country.
That’s why it was no surprise that when Netflix showed its “Top Ten Most Watched Programs” in the Philippines, half of which were Korean dramas.
The result, however, did not please renowned director Erik Matti who described Koreanovelas as “faux Cinderella stories” with “Belo-fied actors” with a warning that Philippine shows and movies will be doomed in the future, should Filipinos patronize Korean dramas more than our own.
On Twitter, he wrote, “The daily top ten most viewed on #Netflix shows us how our movies and tv are doomed in the future. K-drama galore. Faux cinderella stories with belofied actors whiter than white. And it’s all about love in the midst of this pandemic.”
Out of the top-ten list on Netflix, Born Beautiful starring Maritn Del Rosario was the only Filipino drama that made it to the list.
The daily top ten most viewed on #Netflix shows us how our movies and tv are doomed in the future. K-drama galore. Faux cinderella stories with belofied actors whiter than white. And it’s all about love in the midst of this pandemic. 🥵😠😫😤
— Erik Matti (@ErikMatti) April 14, 2020
Unfortunately, netizens and K-drama fans were not pleased with how the critically-acclaimed director described K-dramas. Netizens responded to his controversial tweet by defending the genre and story flow, saying that K-dramas are not just about love and fairytale stories, as it provides a sense of variety, inspires viewers to dream big, and teaches life lessons.
Some of them even suggested K-dramas which story plots are not centered on romance like Reply 1988, Signal, Oh Bye Mama, Doctor Romantic, Chicago Typewriter, among others.
