Welcome to my humble site....

Hajimemashite minna san....welcome to my site on my fave Japanese Pop Culture likes such as dramas, movies, magazine scans, promo events etc. Mainly concentrate on my faves...Risa Watanabe... Kyoko Saito... Yui Kobayashi....Miyuki Watanabe.... Nene Shida.... if you're a fan at all of any of them then you've come to the right place(!) but many others are featured here besides them. Do mainly quick reviews on things I've watched, try to make the reviews brief, quick to read through with not too many spoilers, just whether they're good or bad and why I thought so plus whether you may find them enjoyable. Many, many screenshots are included from everything I've watched plus any video trailers if they're available. Hope you find something that interests you, don't hesitate to comment, arigato gozaimasu!

Search This Blog

Friday, July 21, 2023

"My Perfect Stranger" drama: Episode twelve of sixteen recap

 


 Air Dates: May 1st until June 20, 2023 on KBS 2, Monday and Tuesdays nights at 9:45 pm
Director: Kang Soo-Yeon, episodes are 65 minutes in length and subs done by iTs
Rating for this episode: 4.6%, not high ratings as KBS2 is a cable network which means the numbers are actually very respectable. 


Main Cast: This drama was originally scheduled to air in the Autumn of 2022 but got pushed back twice. Have been looking forward to this series as it stars my second favorite Korean actress who is Jin Ki-Joo and hasn't seen her in any show for two years. Writing much of this up after viewing the first episode, there will be a lot of editing to the characters and more of them will be added in. This is a time travel drama, it began off in 2021 when the main male star Hae-Jun found a car that can travel in time either forwards or backwards! But think most of the drama will be set in 1987 and it could be nostalgic for any older K-drama fans who may visit here. 

**** When Yoon-Young was transported back to 1987 it was the evening of May 9th, dates will be important as a serial killer murders his first victim on May 14th.... or will he be stopped????


Kim Dong-Wook as Yoon Hae-Jun.... 32 year old KSBC anchor who one night happened to find this time travel car at the entrance to a tunnel! He believed in only facts but thought why not read the user manual to see if this car could travel in time... it could as Hae-Jun went to the year 3089! Shortly after returning to the year 2021 Hae-Jun took another trip and this time to 2037, what he found out is one of the main stories to this series. Hae-Jun discovered he was murdered in 2022 by a serial killer and went to visit this killer in prison upon returning to 2021. This man Go wasn't the true killer of many people way back in the year of 1987 but had been framed for the killings, Hae-Jun believed this man and to clear his name and also to save his own life Hae-Jun went back to the year 1987 to find out who the killer really was and to possibly stop the murders. The location will be the smallish country city of Woojung.


 Jin Ki-Joo as Baek Yoon-Young.... Editor in chief for a very popular woman author of murder novels though Yoon-Young seems to do most of the work. In the first episode she was fired by this author who was named Mi-Sook and it had to be a relief to be fired! Right around the time of Yoon-Young being fired her mother killed herself and she blames herself for the death, also her alcoholic father. A few days after her mother's death Yoon-Young was wandering near a tunnel when the time travel car driven by Hae-Jun came close to hitting her, at the time the machine was set to travel to 1987 which is where the pair ended up at. Of course Yoon-Young thought it was a dream but when she realized she had travelled back in time she was thrilled! The second main story will be of  Yoon-Young stopping her parents from meeting each other and getting married, if so what will happen to her???? Like Hae-Jun's story it will be set in the smallish city of Woojung. In the third episode Yoon-Young began to impersonate as a high school student to get closer to her mother. Yoon-Young is around thirty in age but claimed to Hae-Jun she could pass for being 22, she told everyone she had to stay back a few years because of family problems.


**** The above two are from the year 2021 but most of the action will take place in 1987, here are the main characters from that year. The location is a smallish city named Woojung-ri.

Seo Ji-Hye as Lee Soon-Ae.... In 1987 she was 18 in age and the top girl in her senior high school class. However she had no true friends and spent her time writing stories as she was such a fan of novels. Soon-Ae is actually Yoon-Young's mother and now that she somehow ended up in the year 1987 she's trying to prevent Soon-Ae getting married to Baek. So you have to wonder if Yoon-Young is successful would that mean she never existed?


 Lee Won-Jung as Baek Hee-Sub.... Yoon-Young's father though he too was only eighteen in 1987. He was a bit of an innocent lad and actually was quite nice back in 1987, Hee-Sub loved music but never began a band. He eventually became such an alcoholic and that was one of the reasons for Soon-Ae committing suicide in 2021. Hee-Sop is also a new transfer student at Woojung high school, he began on the same day Yoon-Young did.


Hong Seung-An as Baek Yu-Sub.... Hee-Sub's older brother who attends college in Seoul where he lies in a boarding house and also works PT at a leather factory. He does visit Woojung on the weekends to see his brother and is another suspect in the killings, the pair of brothers have quite a colorful past.


Park Soo-Hyung as Hyung-Man.... Soon-Ae's father who owns a combination tea shop, general store and bus stop for travelling to and from Seoul.

Kim Jun-Young as Ok-Ja.... Soon-Ae's mother and has two other children.

Hong Na-Hyun as Lee Kyung-Ae.... Soon-Ae's 22 year old sister who works at a hair salon. She loves to party and for so long had dreams of being in the Miss Korea pageant! In the seventh episode Kyung-Ae was supposed to be the second victim of the still unknown killer but that was thwarted by Hae-Jun, besides that show she may not have much screen time.



Kim Ye-Ji as Kim Hae-Kyung.... Friend of Soon-Ae's, like Hae-Kyung the other girls Soon-Ae hangs out with none of them are 'true friends' and all love to party which at times has gotten Soon-Ae into trouble. On the left below is Hae-Kyung, the other two are her cronies Eun-Ha in glasses and Yu-Ri, all bully Soon-Ae.


Ji Hye-Won as Ko Mi-Sook.... Another 'friend' of Soon-Ae's who we met near the end of the second episode. She's the same woman who became a popular writer many years later and of all things Yoon-Young was her editor in chief! Mi-Sook's first novel was a huge hit but she had actually stolen the story from Soon-Ae who never said a word. Mi-Sook was such a creep back in 1987 and was even worse in 2021! Mi-Soon does come from a very wealthy family so her snobbery began on the day she was born!


Kim Yeon-Woo as Ko Min-Soo.... Mi-Sook's older brother and the same man Hae-Jun met in 2021. In that year Ko had just been released from prison after serving 34 years for murders he never committed. Though innocent for those crimes Ko is still such a creep who may have raped some girls back in 1987 and almost did so to Yoon-Young!


Choi Young-Woo as Dong-Sik.... Hee-Seop's tough uncle who is a detective. We learned in the third show Hee-Sop's parents are dead and he's now moved in with his uncle. Baek is married with two young children.


Joo Yeon-Woo as Yoo Bum-Ryong.... High school student who became Hee-Sub's first friend in Woojung and we didn't meet him until the third episode. Bit of an oddball who is on the suspect list of some upcoming murders!


Jung Ga-Hee as Lee Joo-Young.... We met her in the fourth episode, she's attending school at Seoul University. Joo-Yung arrived in Woojung on May 12th, that's her below on the right. She's going to be a student teacher at the high school working with Hae-Jun. He knows that on May 14th she'll be the first victim of the killer, can he possibly prevent it? That happened and on May 15th Lee returned to Seoul.


Kim Jong-Soo as Yoon Byung-Gu.... Principal of the Woojung high school, on the left above and his son was attending school in America but returned to Korea in episode eight.

Jeong Jae-Kwang as Yoon Yeon-Woo.... The son of the above man who has just returned to Korea after attending an American university for three years. Yeon-Woo is very intelligent and has been asked by Hae-Jun to fix his Time Machine car, he's on the right below. There's one other common link between them which is that he's.... Hae-Jun's future father!



**** The below group of characters we met in the first episode who are from the year 2021, unsure if we'll be seeing much more of them as most of the drama takes place in 1987.

Lee Ji-Hyun as Lee Soon-Ae.... Yoon-Young's mother and the pair didn't get along so well, it was a reason for Soon-Ae committing suicide in the first episode.

Lee Kyu-Hoe as Baek Hee-Sop.... Yoon-Young's father who is such a waste as all he does is drink, him and his wife lived off what their daughter sent them in cash and he's the other main reason Soon-Ae killed herself.

Kim Hye-Eun as Go Mi-Sook.... Popular writer of murder mysteries, Yoon-Young was her editor who seemed to do most of the work until she was fired in the first show. Mi-Sook also lived back in Woojung in 1987 and had known Yoon-Young's mother, actually she stole the story for her first novel from her!

Im Jong-Yun as Ko Min-Soo.... Man who was accused of killing many people in the small city of Woojung back in 1987. However Go was innocent and after 34 years is about to be released from prison. No one had listened to Ko's pleas for all those years until Jae-Hun visited him the day before his release and has vowed to discover who the real killer was. 

 Whew, big cast and sure more characters will be introduced so that section above will be increasing for the first few shows and of course will also be updated.

Links to the previous recaps, may help to read a few of them and especially the first.




Short promo video for the twelfth episode.
 

   


 Been wondering some things about how history changed in 1987 and because of that how will the lives of the characters be different in 2021? I have dozens of questions and perhaps some will be answered in the final episode or two. Such as now that Mi-Sook has been exposed as a fraud writer does that mean Soon-Ae will be attending college? If so does that mean she won't get married to Hee-Sub and if they do get married later on does that mean there will be no Yoon-Young? And what about Mi-Sook who is right above, she's a popular writer in 2021 so what ever became of her? Plus what would happen if the Time Machine car cant get repaired, does that mean there may be two Hae-Jun's and a pair of Yoon Youngs?! Many more besides those and while I much prefer a drama being sixteen episodes instead of twenty maybe a few more shows would help if episodes 18-20 showed us all of what history changed.

 So as mentioned that is Mi-Sook above and the last episode ended on that note as she reported to the Woojung police that her brother Ko is the man who killed two women! She has been such an enigma up until now for myself and also the main character of Hae-Jun, is she or isn't she involved in the two murders? There will be a slight answer to that but as it turns out Ko was framed and you'll learn the details in this recap. This was another episode that began off a but slow but after the fifteen minute mark the intensity again was sky high. These slow starts do serve a purpose as we did learn more about Hae-Jun and Yoon-Young, no romance which I hope doesn't happen but they do naturally have feelings for each other and let's finally get to recap. Don't think any new characters will be added in from here on out and didn't do any editing for the above section but will have to for the next recap.









 Two incidents ended off the last show, one had to deal with Hae-Jun meeting his future father Yeon-Woo in his garage and will that Time Machine car ever be repaired? Yeon-Woo had found a matchbox from the Bong Bong Teahouse which is owned by his girlfriend Chung-A. She's also Hae-Jun's future mother who abandoned him and Yeon-Woo shortly after his birth. In the matchbox was the message 'Women who read are dangerous' and that's the calling card of the killer who has recently slain two young women, Yeon-Woo wondered why would Hae-Jun have one of those matchboxes and was actually a bit petrified of him. That matchbox was from 2021 and was found near the dead body of Yoon-Young's future mother Soon-Ae, confused yet? Hae-Jun was able to convince Yeon-Woo that he had nothing to do with the murders, he can't explain what's going on yet to Yeon-Woo but if he can have a bit of patience everything will work out fine which seemed to satisfy Yeon-Woo. Shortly after Hae-Jun did take a stroll to the riverbank with Yoon-Young which was to date the slowest scene of the series. It did drag on for a bit but perhaps was needed as the pair did discuss their feelings for each other but would have been more effective if it was shorter.

 Yoon-Young has been having these dreams or perhaps even nightmares where she sees what took place in 2021 after history had been changed in 1987. One of those dreams is the third to last screenshot where her parents Soon-Ae and Hee-Sub are living an entirely different life and a happy one! She's a novelist thanks to what took place in the last show and Hee-Sub isn't a useless alcoholic yet it appears Yoon-Young may never have been born! Plus she had searched high and low in 2021 for Hae-Jun but never could locate him, did that mean he too was never born? That thought really depressed Yoon-Young and while I don't think a relationship will be starting the pair have grown to really care about each other. In the best bit of this too long scene Hae-Jun did reveal what truly took place in his future and it wasn't pleasant. As mentioned his future mother Chung-A abandoned Hae-Jun after his birth, shortly after so didn't his father Yeon-Woo! He returned to America where he became a professor and would return to Korea once or twice a year to see Hae-Jun who he despised for some reason. Hae-Jun was raised by his grandfather Yoon who in 1987 was the principal of the Woojung High School and it wasn't a happy upbringing for Hae-Jun. So while some important details were revealed to us viewers I was waiting for the real action to start which it did right after that scene.









 The other key incident that ended off the last show and is an ongoing story through this episode was the arrest of the murderer! That's Ko who is in the second screenshot above, the one above that shows the police finding some red rope in his room which was the same kind used to tie up the victims. Ko's sister Mi-Sook had been the person who alerted the police of what her brother may have done and she's the one who planted the rope in his room! Mi-Sook despises her brother Ko to no end and would do anything to make his life a living hell which did happen for Ko did eventually serve 34 years in prison for two murders which he never committed and it was an excellent frame up by Mi-Sook. Ko had been quite drunk when picked up in an alley by the police and questioning him that night would be fruitless so he was just thrown into a cell. Not all believe this is an open and shut case, the detective Baek has some serious questions as things just don't add up. For one the matchboxes found in Ko's room had no messages written on them plus the handwriting on the previous ones didn't match the writing of Ko. Baek's superior could care less if they arrested the right man or not as he was in line for a promotion but there are others who believe in Ko's innocence though he truly is one lowlife.

 From reading Mi-Sook's future murder/mystery novels Hae-Jun has been able to deduce there was a witness to the first killing which was of the student teacher Lee. But words from a novel aren't evidence and Hae-Jun did confront this possible witness who is above. Her name is Hae-Kyung and you saw plenty of her in the last recap. She was at Lee's murder scene but is too afraid to reveal what she knows or may have seen. Hae-Jun told Hae-Kyung he's someone she can confide in but for now Hae-Kyung won't utter a word about the killing but so much more will be coming up about it. In the bottom three screenshots above is Soon-Ae, two are with Hee-Sub and they have a budding relationship. Life is going well for her ever since she exposed Mi-Sook for stealing her story "Small Door" and soon that novel will be coming out with Soon-Ae's name on it. We didn't see much of her until the end but she was involved in a very intense finale!!!! Below is Yeon-Woo asking his father a bit about the mysterious Hae-Jun. He's even a slight mystery to the father Yoon who told his son Hae-Jun just appeared one day in Woojung and is known most of all for being a savior(?). That's because to date Hae-Jun has saved at least five lives in a month and it's rare for someone to save even one person in their lifetime, last we saw of either one in this episode.










 Because of the slowish and long scene to open this episode we're already past the halfway point. In the final 25-30 minutes there were just two scenes but both were long and quite intense, what an odd ending. As Yoon-Young says above she and Hae-Jun shouldn't expect any help from Hae-Kyung in solving the two murders. But right after that comment appearing out of nowhere was Hae-Kyung, she needed to speak to Hae-Jun in private and the pair headed to the Bong Bong Teahouse. There Hae-Jun did see his future mother Chung-A but ignored her, Hae-Jun has never liked her even before he discovered she will be his mother. Hae-Kyung up until has been a bit of a rough gal who with her two mates has bullied Soon-Ae and in the tenth episode even gave a classmate quite the pop in the nose! However Hae-Kyung does seem so know right from wrong and can't live with herself unless she tells a trusted person her secret, that person is Hae-Jun who helped her out so much in the tenth show. There's many screenshots above of Hae-Kyung's story and it did involve Mi-Sook, as mentioned this conversation took place at the Bong Bong Teahouse. In the eighth episode when Ko was pushed off a bridge stumbling across him a few minutes later was Hae-Kyung, Ko asked her to get his sister Mi-Sook to help him which she did. But Mi-Sook did not want to help her brother who she hates with such a passion, she'd just as soon see him die from the fall but the injuries weren't that severe.

 As you can see above Mi-Sook also told Hae-Kyung to forget about calling the police, she had a plan in mind and what was it? Mi-Sook did ask to be brought to Ko's location but it wasn't to help him, he had hurt his hands in the fall and that did clear him from Hae-Jun's list of suspects. Before arriving to where Ko was it began to pour heavily, right after the two girls stumbled across another scene and what an important one it was!!!! Down near the riverbank there was a hooded man attacking a woman, not just any female but the student teacher Lee. She was the first victim of the killer and the pair did witness the killing! But actually Hae-Kyung didn't see the murder take place as Mi-Sook had turned her face away from it, Mi-Sook though did see the killer's face and there's no way she'll admit to that! So while the identity of this hooded figure is unknown least now Hae-Jun knows the culprit is a man and that Mi-Sook is in the clear for the murders but she's still such a lowlife! After that incident Mi-Sook did reveal to Hae-Kyung that her brother Ko had been abusing her badly for five years and even had many scars to prove that. Don't know if anything sexual took place but being beaten by her brother is the main reason Mi-Sook is trying to frame Ko for the two murders. That ended Hae-Kyung's tale and after Hae-Jun related all to Yoon-Young, lot of new info but what can they do with it? The ending was long and quite intense, it began with Hae-Jun receiving a call from Bum-Ryong.










 That afternoon Soon-Ae had been on the main mountain overlooking the small city of Woojung, she had her first novel with her and just wanted some peace and quiet. Passing by was Bum-Ryong and if you recall the event from four episodes ago you know that Soon-Ae hates the 18 year old. Bum-Ryong was just heading further up the mountain as that's where the student teacher Lee's ashes had been spread and he wanted to give his final respects. When Bum-Ryong returned Soon-Ae was gone yet her novel was still there, did something evil happen to her? Bum-Ryong searched high and low for her with no success, he eventually went to the main road to call Hae-Jun to let him know of the situation. Hae-Jun knew the killer was still on the loose, he told Yoon-Young to tell Hee-Sub of what is happening and to get his detective uncle Baek to meet him on the mountain. Meanwhile Bum-Ryong returned to the mountain's forest and stumbled across that abandoned house where Soon-Ae's sister Kyung-Ae had been killed. When he entered Bum-Ryong saw a tied up Soon-Ae with that hooded man standing over her, Bum-Ryong grabbed a pole and smashed it over his head. But Bum-Ryong made a key mistake in not making sure the man was down for good as he went over to see if Soon-Ae was okay, the man wasn't hurt bad enough and soon leapt at Bum-Ryong. The two tangled and at least that gave time for Soon-Ae to run away, that's her above fleeing the house while still tied up. Sadly it looks like it was the end of Bum-Ryong and you can see that above, that man gave him such a beating. He soon gave chase to nab Soon-Ae again but appearing was Hae-Jun, the man saw him coming and fled back the other way.

 Arriving mere seconds later was Yoon-Young with Hee-Sub, now that Soon-Ae was safe Hae-Jun ran into the forest after the killer. As one of the detectives says above the police thought the killer was caught but there was no way Ko was the culprit! Hae-Jun gave chase through the forest but couldn't catch this unknown killer but did come across the abandoned house. To his horror he discovered the badly beaten Bum-Ryong who by this time was dead, you wouldn't think so but Hae-Jun touching the body was a major mistake. Shortly after arriving on the scene was Baek and though a tough man also has a lot of common sense. But he didn't this time around as when Baek saw blood on Hae-Jun's hands he pulled his pistol and said to put his hands up! Baek then searched Hae-Jun's pockets where he found a matchbox from the Bong Bong Teahouse, the killer's calling card! For some inane reason Baek thought that Hae-Jun could be the killer and placed him in handcuffs! Baek began to drag Hae-Jun away and right at that moment dashing up was Yoon-Young and she too was stunned at what was taking place. That ended this episode and what an ending, still can't believe that Baek could think for a moment that Hae-Jun could be the killer. Four more episodes to go and I'm really looking forward to seeing how things turn out, the next pair of recaps will be in a week. 






























No comments:

Post a Comment