He Is Psychometric (Korea, 2019) [사이코메트리 그녀석]

♥♥♥♥/♥ 

TITLE: He Is Psychometric [사이코메트리 그녀석]
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 3/11-4/30/2019  
WIKI: http://asianwiki.com/He_is_Psychometric 
SEASONS/EPISODES: 1/16, about 1 hour apiece 
US AVAILABILITY (as of 2019-04-21): Viki (free) 

The written teaser of this drama starts with something like "Lee Ahn is a boy with the power to see people's secrets with a simple touch. Yoon Jae In is a girl who'll stop at nothing to hide a traumatic secret. What will happen when their world's collide? A romantic thriller about how these two teenagers love, heal, and support each other through big and small events." I expected, from that, to watch a drama where the main characters are teens in highschool for at least most of the drama, and the female lead is either unaware of the male lead's power and the plot is forwarded by him not telling her he knows her secrets because she would freak out, OR she knows about his power and the plot is forwarded by how she avoids letting him touch her physically as they grow closer emotionally.
Yeah that's not how it actually went down. If you've been here since I reviewed Bride of the Water God then you know how much it bugs me when the trailers and written teasers are so far off base you go into it thinking you're watching one thing and find out after a short bit that you're actually watching a whole 'nother drama. Basically if the whole drama was Episodes 1-3, then the writeup would be somewhat accurate-ish. 
Allow me the indulgence of a not-too-spoiler-y summary of the first 3 episodes, to show you what I mean. (If you prefer to avoid even minor, teaser-level spoilers in even the first 3 episodes, feel free to skip ahead to the Flow and Sequence section.)

In episode 1, we meet our main character  Lee Ahn as a little boy. As he's heading out of the apartment with his overindulgent parents to reward his temper tantrum with a puppy, tragedy strikes: their apartment building suffers an explosion and fire. This is a tragedy that is referred back to a bazillion times throughout the drama, and it's a tragedy during which we are introduced to a lot of characters who we will find out later were more important than we knew.
10 minutes into episode 1, we skip ahead 11 years. Ahn is a ditzy and not terribly bright nor serious teenaged delinquent who has spent his life since the fire partially in an orphanage and partially raised by the older boy (Kang Seong Mo) who saved him from the fire. He's a serial truant and about to get kicked out of school permanently. He really wants to work as a psychic for the police, but at the moment he lacks the focus and maturity to actually land such a job. Meanwhile JaeIn has spent her entire life running away. She's a good student, serious and hardworking, but as soon as anyone finds out her father is in prison convicted of that apartment fire, she changes schools. She's sure her father is innocent, framed, and the horrible things people say to her and about him are too much for her, triggering severe panic attacks.
Meanwhile now-prosecutor Kang SeongMo's partner JiSoo (whom Ahn calls noona, and who also knows about Ahns power, and whom is not-so-secretly in love with the stoic and unemotional SeongMo since forever) isn't entirely happy with the resolution of their latest case. She can't get over the similarities between it and the apartment fire case from 11 years ago. 
For the rest of the first 3 episodes we get flashbacks that flesh out some of the details of the day of the tragedy 11 years prior and some bits and pieces from the time in between then and now, Ahn and JaeIn go from enemies to friends-with-a-spark over the course of these first few episodes, and solve a school mystery together shortly before they are separated and we get one of those "2 years later" captions. (Which signals our leap to the present, and the beginning of the main story.) In the remaining 13 episodes, our main 2 characters are adults who mostly already know each other's secrets and are trying to unravel a tangled string of cases that tie together more people's lives than you might imagine...
So basically: a mere 3 episodes of like it says in the Viki description and then 13 episodes of no more of them being teenagers and no more of JaeIn 'stopping at nothing to hide a traumatic secret.'

Flow and Sequence:
First 3 episodes depict the baseline-normal for the relationships between the characters, something for us to compare to as the story grows and changes. (More on that in the Writing/Directing section though.)
The next story arc is episodes 4 to about 10 and this shows how the various relationships strengthen or deteriorate under the "normal" pressure of adult life plus Ahn's psychometric ability. Ahn and JaeIn are reunited of course, or there wouldn't really be much of a romance here. JiSoo still loves SeongMo but he still doesn't give her the slightest encouragement.
We start getting flashbacks of the original incident again now, the apartment murders and fire, but this time in reverse. First we get flashbacks of incidents in the last hours leading up to the event, then farther and farther back as the show progresses. Rather than feeling like we are getting farther ahead with these flashes, it's a case of the more we know the more we realize we don't know.
The actual storyline for this arc is still relatively lighthearted. It's more serious than the highschool intro arc and there are a couple shocking incidents, but overall still fairly fluffy. (Don't worry, we get into thriller territory soon enough.) JaeIn and Ahn solve small side cases together while putting together clues from the big overarching case in parallel with JiSoo and SeongMo.
This story arc comes to an end with some inevitable relationship fallout that we've seen coming for a long time.
Our final story arc, from episode 10 on, is the darkest one yet. All the dreadful hints we've been getting, all the fragmented clues, come to fruition or clarity. This is where the cute little Nancy Drew side mysteries are gone and we're fully into "thriller" territory. As we get more and more of the final pieces of the long history of which the apartment fire was only a step along the way, the villain is finally given a name and a face (which certainly does not lessen his scary-ness). We see the character development in Ahn; he's more mature, more serious, and smarter. The storyline gives us twists and turns, revelations that temporarily make us more confused rather than more enlightened, before finally dropping the last pieces of the puzzle into place. 

Cast/ Characters/ Acting:
WOW. The actors and actresses in this did a phenomenal job! They really blew me away!
Jinyoung as Lee Ahn If you think "Idol singers can't act" then prepare to eat your words. I can't remember the last time I saw such fabulous character development either. I will be eagerly on the lookout for his future roles!
Shin Ye Eun as Yoon Jae In I wish there had been more character development for her character. I felt like I didn't get to see as many facets of her acting as I would have liked. When she smiles full-on (rare) she is breathtaking.
Kim Kwon as Kang Seong Mo Another unusually awesome example of character development. He needs to play lead in something like NOW. I'm already going through withdrawals... I was SO invested in his character!
Kim Da Som as Eun Ji Soo If only acting was as easy as she made it look! She wasn't just playing a character, she WAS the character. I liked her immediately and my affection for her character only grew from there. 

Lee Seung Joon as villain Kang Geun Taek He was utterly chilling in this drama!
Jeon Mi Sun as Seong Mo's mom Kang Eun Joo This lovely lady always changed roles so thoroughly she was like a chameleon. She was fully immersed in this role, a professional as always.
Choi Duk Moon as Kim Gab Yong the identity thief gangster A character you think is just passing by and later realize was more important than you thought.
Park Chul Min as Senior officer Nam Dae Nam I liked him better respectable and in charge than lazy and gross, but he pulled off both.
Jo Byeong Gyu as child Kang Seong Mo His acting was so good, so in sync with Kim Kwon's, that together their portrayal of SeongMo's younger and older self was absolutely seamless and believable. 

Writing and directing: 

As I mentioned above, the character development for the characters Lee Ahn and Kang Seong Mo were fabulous.
I liked the perfectly arranged flashbacks and the stairstepping story arcs: First a teen crush with an angsty mini-mystery... progressing into young adults trying to prove themselves to the world amidst Nancy Drew level sleuthing and a budding first love... then they've had to grow up and decide what's important, bonded stronger, faced terror and tragedy, and figured out their path to change the world.
In the world of fiction writing, there's a concept of setting a baseline-normal for your characters lives in some way, usually either by the first few chapters depicting their life-as-usual before things start to get dramatic, or (less common) by later flashbacks. The purpose of this is for the viewer or reader to have something to contrast and compare to later when everything's topsy-turvy and the characters are living through the inevitable drama-turmoil that seems to hit peak-boil about 3/4-4/5 of the way through the story.
The first 3 episodes, as I mentioned above, are just such an intro that is there to set the "normal" for the relationships between Ahn and JaeIn, and Ahn and SeongMo, and SeongMo and JiSoo. After that you're thinking you are watching this serial killer thriller and then when things are at their most dramatic, that's when you realize that what you're watching is (surprisingly) deeply about relationships, and you look back on the relationships as depicted in those first 3 episodes often, comparing and realizing things about the story by realizing and understanding things about the characters and their relationships.
I thought overall it was very well done, the writing, the directing, the acting. Everyone obviously gave it their all from beginning to end and it shows. 

Happy Ending Factor? 

Well for a thriller it did well for itself as far as the ending. I'd say it was probably a 7 out of 10 for happy ending factor. If you want an ending where everything's fluffy and perfect and everyone lives happily ever after, I'd suggest a rom-com. I don't really have anything bad to say about this drama, but realistically everything wasn't perfect rainbows and puppies and roses for everyone in the end. 

All in all, not only would I say you should totally watch it, but I'd say your friend, your sister, and even your boyfriend or husband could get interested in this drama. 

Check out He Is Psychometric on Viki!
Check out the He is Psychometric OST on Spotify!
**Above links based on US availability. Dramas may not be available on certain sites for certain countries. It depends who acquired the license for a specific drama for your country and who did not. Drama may be available on Netflix in your country but not even show up in mine, so check there if you have a Netflix acct. Ditto for Viki- may be available in your country but not mine.

Click HERE for a list (not mine) of legal Kdrama streaming sites and what countries they work in. 

Click HERE to request me to review a specific drama.
Kind, positive comments are always appreciated! :) 

I Picked Up a Celebrity On the Street (Korea, 2018) [나는 길에서 연예인을 주웠다]

♥♥♥/♥♥ 

TITLE: I Picked Up a Celebrity On the Street [나는 길에서 연예인을 주웠다] 
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 11/01-11/30/2018 
WIKI: --
SEASONS/EPISODES: 1/10, about 1 hour apiece 
US AVAILABILITY (as of 2019-04-21): Viki (free) 

Lee YeonSeo is trying to live a life that will make her mom proud... but all that means to her at the moment is making lots of money. So in order to survive the corporate shark tank and hopefully eventually climb the ladder, she lets herself be taken advantage of by coworkers and her boss, and doesn't even defend herself when she's made the scapegoat for their various inadequacies and mistakes. She just keeps letting it bottle up and bottle up and bottle up... and then one day she's fired when her boss and coworkers throw her under the bus with the higher boss. Of course she snaps, because of all the bottling. She drunkenly follows her boss out of the bar where they're having her goodbye party and bashes his head with her shoe from behind. She didn't really intend to kill him, just give him the beating he deserves, but that one smack with the shoe seems to have rendered him... dead. And that's when she realizes that the man she's just whacked isn't her boss. Yes, that man lying face-down in the alley there in front of her, blood pooling under his head, is the country's biggest celebrity. She just killed a bazillion fans' beloved Oppa and now she'd better not get caught or else! 

Flow and sequence: 

For the first story arc of the drama, YeonSeo first proceeds to run away from the body of Kang JoonHyuk, the celebrity she thinks she killed, then she proceeds to drag the body home and internet-search how to dispose of a body, then she spends a while freaking out and re-"killing" the poor guy every time he wakes up, before finally settling on keeping him hostage indefinitely. JoonHyuk is a very uncooperative hostage and keeps screaming for help and trying to escape, until YeonSeo proposes a contract. She works herself half to death trying to keep her extremely rude, high-maintenance, and expensive hostage happy so he won't escape. For his part, despite seeing his life going down the toilet watching the news each day while chained up in YeonSeo's apartment, JoonHyuk begins to feel empathy and affection for YeonSeo. Ah yes, the Stockholm Syndrome seems to have set in. But he still wants to escape to set the mess of untrue rumors in the news about him straight!
The next story arc: After escaping, JoonHyuk discovers that there is a real actual murderer trying to kill him and that person not only isn't YeonSeo, but also may want her dead too. The second half is more of a murder mystery where nobody's actually murdered yet but someone keeps trying to kill JoonHyuk and YeonSeo and they have to figure out who. A subplot is JoonHyuk trying to get YeonSeo to quit letting herself be abused by her employers. I confess I enjoyed the second story arc a whole lot more than the first. 

Cast/ Characters/ Acting: 

Sung Hoon is a fabulous actor, as usual, but why does he always have to play an @$$hole? :p His character was less of a jerk in the second half of this drama. There was less slapstick type comedy in the second half. The second male lead was a lot more appealing when behaving as an adult with a job in the second half, as compared to being the annoying mooch of the first half (though he was even likable as the mooch!). The female lead was more confident and less mentally unstable in the second half. Basically everything was better in the second half.  

Writing and directing: 

I don't usually enjoy what I call "stupid comedies" - what I mean by that is that the comedy is derived from the characters acting stupid, looking stupid, or the plot gimmicks are stupidity-driven. I find slapstick to be particularly unpleasant. I prefer witty comedies myself- I don't usually even mind dark comedy as long as it's more cerebral and less physical. So I'm saying outright that this drama wasn't really my style, especially at the beginning. I don't really feel comfortable critiquing the writing and directing of a genre which I basically don't like and don't watch, even if this time I found the drama enjoyable enough to stick it out and take the time to review!  

Happy Ending Factor? 

4 out of 5 on the happy ending scale, and that's mostly just because of the Second Lead Syndrome! Lol! 

Final Summary: 

Despite not really being my cup of tea, genre-wise, I found this drama quite cute and entertaining! I don't think I'd watch it a second time, but I didn't skip-forward through anything the first time and don't regret the time spent watching it. Well, if I could get my sister to watch it with me I might watch it a second time. I think she'd like it more than I did actually, because she can appreciate the kids of comedy that bug me and also she liked Sung Hoon in My Secret Romance. :) If you're not allergic to dark comedy or slapstick then you might really enjoy this cute drama. 

Check out I Picked Up A Celebrity On The Street on Viki!
(Above links based on US availability. Dramas may not be available on certain sites for certain countries. It depends who acquired the license for a specific drama for your country and who did not. Drama may be available on Netflix in your country but not even show up in mine, so check there if you have a Netflix acct. Ditto for Viki- may be available in your country but not mine. Click HERE for a list of legal Kdrama streaming sites and what countries they work in.)

Sumika Sumire [スミカスミレ]

♥♥♥♥/♥ 

TITLE: Sumika Sumire (Japan, 2016) [スミカスミレ] 
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 02-05-2016 to 03-25-2016 
WIKI: asianwiki.com/Sumika_Sumire 
SEASONS/EPISODES: 1/8, abt. 45 minutes each
US AVAILABILITY (as of 2019-04-19): Available to watch FREE on Viki. 

Sumi (Sumika) is 65 and she's spent her entire life taking care of her aging and ailing relatives. When her last remaining relative, her mother, passes away, Sumi feels the full weight of regret for the things she never got to experience... especially going to college and falling in love. Sumi has lived a noble life, but also sad and lonely. Her virtue and loneliness have won her another chance at youth when she accidentally sets in motion an agreement which will free a trapped spirit cat from a painted screen in exchange for granting her wish: a do-over. Now in order to complete her half of the agreement, Sumi, now called Sumire and physically reverted back to age 20, must attend school for the first time in 4 and a half decades, as well as navigate modern technology and culture, make friends, fall in love, and marry. 
This is a sweet romantic melodrama, not very realistic, even beyond the de-aging magic and the spirit cat. It's cute but emotional, and certainly strange, but also quite charming in it's own way. 

Flow and sequence (Some SPOILERs in ONLY this SECTION! SKIP to Cast/ Characters/ Acting section to skip the spoilers!): 

In the first story arc, our heroine Sumika-turned-Sumire is excited and terrified about her reincarnated youth. The spirit cat, Rei, is living with her in human form until their contract is complete. He seems to be portrayed as an unknown regarding his intent and loyalty... he's referred to as a "demon cat," he can mind-control the nosy neighbor lady, and Sumire seems to be somewhat afraid of him. Rei won't allow her to go back on her request and essentially pushes Sumire out of her nest for the first time in her life. At school, Sumire encounters a nice and cute boy named Yusei Mashiro with a heart-stopping smile, and a trio of the quintessential mean girls. She's awkward because she still has certain mannerisms of an elder despite her beautiful 20 year old body. After trying to run away and call it quits, Rei encourages her that she's lived 45 years longer than them but she's cowering from them and running away, so to own her mental-age as an advantage and get back in the game. Thereafter, Sumire has taken Rei's admonition to heart and has begun to be somewhat more confident, though she's still a very meek person by nature. Her fiesty side shows through a little more, she learns more about navigating the modern world, makes friends, and her relationship with Yusei turns into a budding romance. Meanwhile Rei is avoiding the obnoxiously smitten neighbor lady and hilariously (and embarrassingly) constantly pushing Sumire and Yusei together. Sumi's Buddhist priest is trying to get to the bottom of why there's suddenly a 20 year old living in Sumi's house and why he senses a demonic presence there. He comes up with various ideas for exorcism, which cause problems for Sumire and Rei, and less directly for Yusei. By now Sumire has decided Rei is trustworthy, even though nobody can find any record of why he was imprisoned in the screen in the first place- therefore it must have been something unspeakably horrible according to the priest. The second story arc begins with Sumire and Yusei beginning their dating relationship. Everything is hunky-dory for a bit, but Rei interrogates to be sure Yusei isn't going to abandon Sumire the second he finds out she's a 65 year old woman in the body of a 20 year old. Rei doesn't see Sumire as an awkward old lady in a young body (which is how she sees herself), he sees her as a beautiful and innocent young soul who can finally live as who she really is. He feels a kinship with her in that while he was trapped in a painted screen for a very long time, Sumi was trapped in her home and caregiver role her entire life. After understanding that Rei is questioning his loyalty and ability to protect and take care of the naive and innocent Sumire (but still not understanding the real reason for that), Yusei wants to prove himself to Rei but feels like he's coming in second to him all the time, as Sumire gets into trouble here and there and it's always Rei showing up like a guardian angel to save her. Alas, this posturing and proving is cut short by a tragedy that comes to claim the life of a main character, and despite death being narrowly avoided for one, we end this story arc with first Yusei having found out Sumire's secret and then all of our main characters separated and/or presumed dead! 
In the third story arc, 5 years have passed. Sumire is working in film, hoping to become a movie director someday. She still has some mannerisms of an elder; sometimes overly polite, typing with one finger, carrying cough drops in her purse. Her status at work is apparently intern-level and her boss lectures her all the time. She nearly loses her job but makes a comeback after using the benefit of her knowledge- being a 70-year-old in-mind. She's not really happy... she's just been living day by day and trying to be thankful for another chance, but not truly happy. Lonely, and not letting herself build or grow any relationships. Sumire has resolved that she is really just an old lady who has no right to fall in love, and she's certain that it would have been wrong for her to wind up with Yusei 5 years ago anyway- selfish even, for someone with the mind of a 65 year old to pair with a 21 year old man in the glory of youth. It's at this point where lost characters come back into play and we find out that Sumire's unfulfilled agreement with Rei has reached the point of quantum instability- if Sumire's wishes don't get wrapped up in a neat little bow within an indeterminate but very short amount of time, not only Sumire's renewed youth will be at stake, but also the lives and futures of other characters. 

Cast/ Characters/ Acting: 

Okay folks, the fact is here that "Rei" stole the show. If you're not completely smitten, or at least fascinated with him by a few episodes in, you might not be human! Unintentionally in tune with the theme of the show, Mitsuhiro Oikawa at 46 years old did a splendid job with the character, his natural charisma and youthful good looks powerful enough to be crush-worthy no matter your age. Yes, seeing his character Rei rescue the gentle and naive Sumire from danger repeatedly throughout the drama most definitely made my heart flutter! He has a very pleasant voice as well, and his eyes convey a lot of emotion in his acting. 
Mirei Kiritani's role as the young Sumire was well done. She was able to capture the essence of someone who was too young to be old and too old to be young. It would be quite difficult I think, to play the part of this sweet and awkward soul struggling between making peace with her age and wholeheartedly embracing a new youth. 
Keita Machida was not bad in his portrayal of Yusei, and his smile could melt a heart of stone, but there were moments when I could read the awkwardness when he needed to act as though the elder Sumika/Sumire was the same person as the younger. 3 reasons why I think you shouldn't hold that against him, nor do I think you'll even notice it: 1) It was very well hidden, 2) I imagine it would be extremely difficult to act opposite two people as if they were one, since every person will "click" with your own soul in a different way and create different chemistry, and 3) I think most folks wouldn't notice it at all because I think I only noticed it because that's my strength. I read micro-expressions and body language very well, naturally, and have had this ability since childhood. I am a socially awkward mess and have many weaknesses, but this is my strength. I try to "turn it off" to a degree when I watch movies and dramas, but sometimes... 
Also I felt the writers could have given the character Yusei more development over the course of the series. I would have enjoyed seeing more of Keita Machida's range of acting with a more diversified character. 
Keiko Matsuzaka as the elder Sumi was very good in her role. She did a great job of portraying a woman who experientially never had the chance to mature beyond graduating highschool, but yet had lived 65 years and felt the weight of doing the responsible thing her entire life. She also has very expressive eyes, and a kind looking face that makes one want to empathize with her. 
There was a character introduced about halfway through the series that I kept waiting for to have a purpose. Her purpose within the drama was never very clear, except possibly to fill the role of someone who makes the right verbal slip-ups to the right people at the right time to further the plot. Possibly also to call into question another character's motives OR transversely to clarify that other character's loyalty. 

Writing and directing: 

The story is weird, no getting around it. It's got some plot holes. If you go into it knowing it's an unrealistic fantasy melodrama then the holes and strangeness are certainly overlookable! It's a fairly quick binge watch: about 6 hours total. Despite my minimal qualms with character development in the previous section, I was surprised that there was as much plot development and character development as there was, considering there were only 8 episodes!

Other: 

This is either the ultimate in what Kdrama (I know this is a Jdrama, don't @ me!) fans would call a "Noona Romance"... OR it's completely crossing the line between eliminating age-ism and just plain creepy. I think that's going to be a matter each viewer will have to hash out for themself. I myself wavered between the two opinions a few dozen times while watching, but in the end I think I can appreciate that despite having lived a good many years longer, Sumi was still mentally young because of her lack of life experience, making this drama work somehow despite the mental age gap. 
I found it odd that Sumire was to a degree portrayed as not being as mentally quick or able to learn new skills and technology because of her mental age. To me this is an odd premise because if her entire body was reverted back to age 20, then the brain is part of her body and would be as capable of learning as any other 20 year old brain. Not only that, but my own mother was learning and utilizing new skills her entire life. She died young (cancer), in her early 50's, but one of the last things she did before she passed away was to go to college for the first time (yes, first time attending college was in her 50's) and get her CNA license. Meanwhile one of my grandmothers is in her 80's and she's hiking and biking and doing all sorts of touristy things, and constantly reading and learning when she's not adventuring. People tend to think that learning stops, or that it has an age range where it becomes too challenging, and it's simply not true. Even an old brain can learn new tricks. If Sumire had a 20 year old brain in her 20 year old body, then saying that she couldn't learn certain new things as easily seems silly, even if the intent was merely to say that she had 45 years longer to cement in bad habits like 1-finger typing. 


**TRIGGER WARNING: There is an attempted rape in an early episode. We see Sumire follow a potential new friend into a club but she's intercepted by 2 men who forcibly take her to a private lounge and try to convince her to drink alcohol which we obviously interpret to be drugged. She refuses and tries again to leave, so they attempt to force themselves on her anyway. Her new friend tries to save her but almost becomes a second victim. Rei arrives to save them before they are harmed! 

Happy Ending Factor? 

Happy ending lovers, you're going to be happy: I give this drama a perfect 5 out of 5 for happy ending factor! While there are some strange happenings and some plot holes, and of course the always-present-in-dramas almost-armageddon where all hope seems lost a few episodes from the end, in the end it's a big fat happily-ever-after! 

Final Summary: 

In summary, I enjoyed it and I'd watch it again or suggest it to a friend. As I said at the beginning of this review, it's cute but emotional, and strange but charming. A fairly quick watch, with an interesting (if unbelievable) story and lovable characters, and of course the fairy-tale happy ending. 

Check out {Sumika Sumire} on Viki!
(Above link based on US availability. Dramas may not be available on certain sites for certain countries. It depends who acquired the license for a specific drama for your country and who did not. Drama may be available on Netflix in your country but not even show up in mine, so check there if you have a Netflix acct. Ditto for Viki- may be available in your country but not mine. Click HERE for a list of legal Kdrama streaming sites and what countries they work in.)