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#KajoReviews Pixelberry’s Choices: Stories You Play

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For some light and interactive reading, Choices: Stories You Play by Pixelberry Studios offers up an addictive array of choose-your-adventure books.

At first glance, you may think that their book gallery features mostly Young Adult reading as there’s high school romances, and light fantasy stories like ‘The Elementalist’, but the steamy exclusive scenes in some of these stories are decidedly R-Rated.

#KajoReviews Pixelberry's Choices: Stories You Play
Choices may come off at first glance like YA lit, but there’s a genre for every mood.

If you’re more into mysteries or high-speed chases, you can opt for The Haunting of Braidwood Manor or The Heist: Monaco.

Meanwhile, if you’re missing some vampire fantasy, you can try out Blood Bound. For more more light adult reading that lean more towards Hallmark, you can try out Save the Date and Home for the Holidays. There’s something for every mood you’re in.

You can either play as a VIP member (you’ll get unlimited keys and 185 diamonds with your purchase) or you can play for free, and learn the art of patience and the true value of decision-making (especially when you use a bunch of diamonds you’ve been scrounging for on a dress which you could have saved for an exclusive scene instead).

VIP membership will also allow you access to books solely reserved for VIP members. On top of that, you will also get rewarded more diamonds at the end of the chapter compared to those who don’t opt for VIP membership.

How to play

#KajoReviews Pixelberry's Choices: Stories You Play
A cute outfit like this is going to make you wish you loaded up on diamonds.

You get to choose your character’s ethnicity, hair and outfit. Diamonds will help you purchase the more dynamic hairstyles and wardrobe, but you’ll still get by being a plain Jane.

You also get to choose your names, although I have been happy with the random names the game has provided. I personally liked the name Dr Casey Valentine for my character in ‘Open Heart’.

Some stories will also allow you to choose the appearance of the main love interest, making it even more interactive.

You need keys to open up chapters, and for those who are playing the games for free, your keys will typically regenerate after 2 or 3 hours, while diamonds help you open up exclusive scenes within those chapters which can help you deepen your relationship with that special someone or find out more of a character or event’s backstory.

You can Watch Ads or complete daily and one time challenges to score diamonds.

You can have several love interests going, and even though you have zoomed in one specific love interest or don’t choose the main love interest, the game will offer up an exclusive scene with another character. Sometimes there will be opportunities for threesomes, so spend your diamonds wisely.

#KajoReviews Pixelberry's Choices: Stories You Play
How to collect diamonds between chapters.

So far there are no terrible fallouts from not spending diamonds on exclusive scenes, but there are some events where a friend needs some proper counseling and you don’t have the diamonds to spend on an exclusive shoulder-to-cry-on scene. In those cases, you would just look like a jerk in real life.

Purchases are not necessarily limited to outfits and exclusive scenes, you can even purchase a pet or opt to live in a swankier place.

In others, like the vampire Blood Bound series, your selected outfit could impress an opponent or help you in a life-and-death situation.

Meanwhile, some stories like ‘The Crown and the Flame’ will challenge your patience and make you think that it wouldn’t hurt if you just purchased a few keys to find out what happens in the next chapter.

To download or not to download?

#KajoReviews Pixelberry's Choices: Stories You Play
What does your choice say about you? Bryce the surgeon from Open Heart.

What makes Choices addictive is that you feel the weight (and the satisfaction or regret) of your decisions. The artwork, from backdrops to character illustrations, are polished and immersive, allowing you a temporary getaway from the humdrum of daily life.

You will definitely feel the weight of your decisions and interaction with other characters in stories like ‘Courtesan of Rome’ where you play a Gallic princess bent on Julius Caesar’s downfall, making it a story that’s hard to put down.

Meanwhile, the cover for Open Heart may look cheesy at first glance, but if you like Grey’s Anatomy’s earlier seasons, you will enjoy the storyline.

The Nanny Affair and Save the Date’s steamy scenes were definitely worth a read-through. (Isn’t that why people download Choices in the first place?)

Blood Bound’s writing, especially the dialogue feels underdeveloped and cheesy by comparison, and your character will say things that make you look like a fly in a hurricane. But I still feel compelled to go through books 1 to 3.

What’s the verdict? Choices: Stories You Play is a definite download.

#KajoReviews Pixelberry's Choices: Stories You Play
There’s more reading under the VIP section.

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#KajoPicks: 10 South Korean legal dramas you must watch

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#KajoPicks: 10 South Korean legal dramas you must watch

If you enjoy a few doses of courtroom dramas, here are 10 Korean legal series for you to check out:

1.While You Were Sleeping (2017)

This South Korean legal drama has a dose of fantasy in it.

Hong-joo (Bae Suzy) lives with her single mother and helps her run a pork restaurant.

She looks like any other woman of her age working as a reporter, but Hong-Joo is haunted by seeing the future deaths of others in her dreams.

However, she does not know when the deaths will happen. She tries to stop her dreams from becoming reality.

Things took a different turn when Hong-joo dreams about the death of her own mother. Can she prevent it from happening?

Meanwhile, Jae-chan (Lee Jong-suk) is a rookie prosecutor. Jae-chan and his younger brother move to new house and they become neighbours with Hong-joo.

One thing leads to another, Jae-chan and police officer Han Woo-tak (Jung Hae-in) together with Hong-joo all have the ability to see the future through their dreams.

Putting aside the trio fantasy adventure, the drama also highlights the corruption and office politics which goes behind a prosecution office.

Watch the trailer here.

2.I Can Hear Your Voice (2013)

When Jang Hye-sung (Lee Bo-young) was in high school, she testified as a witness and her statement caused the murderer of Park Soo-ha’s father to be convicted and imprisoned.

Ten years later, she becomes an apathetic public defender who does her job only for the salary.

In the meantime, Soo-ha (Lee Jong-suk) gains the supernatural ability to read people’s minds by looking at their eyes after witnessing the murder of his father.

After meeting Hye-sung during the trial of his father’s murder, he develops a crush on her.

However, when he meets her again after ten years, Soo-ha finds her completely different from what he has expected.

Things turn deadly when the murderer is released from jail and now is holding grudges on both Hye-sung and Soo-ha for getting him convicted of murder.

In a previous article, we picked this drama one of our favourite ‘noona’ romance. The chemistry between Lee Jong-suk and Park Bo-young in this drama is undeniably compatible.

Originally set for 16 episodes, due to its successful ratings, the series was extended by two more episodes.

3.The Good Wife (2016)

By the title, you can tell that this is a Korean legal drama based on the famous American series The Good Wife starring Julianna Margulies.

The Korean remake of the drama has only 16 episodes and stars Jeon Do-yeon. The drama marked Do-yeon’s first comeback to the small screen after 11 years.

Her last role on television was in the famous 2005 Lovers In Prague.

Do-yeon’s return as it turned out worth the buzz as her performance as Kim Hye-kyung was impressive.

She plays the role of a housewife who is forced to return to her job as a lawyer after her husband is put behind bars.

There are differences between The Good Wife and its original plot in the American series. For example, the sex scandal scene has been shortened to accommodate the storyline into 16 episodes.

While the American series, Margulies’s character Alicia Florrick, works with her tech-savvy son to discover the truth together, the Korean version, Hye-kyung does not involve her children in the criminal cases.

If you enjoy the drama and scandal in the American The Good Wife, this Korean legal drama is definitely worth watching.

4.Suits (2018)

Here is another Korean legal drama based on an American television series.

It follows the story of a distinguished lawyer Choi Kang-seok who recruits a young man Go Yeon-woo. Yeon-woo has a retentive memory but not a law degree.

Kang-seok (Jang Dong-gun) is the equivalent of Harvey Spector in the American version while Yeon-woo (Park Hyung-sik) is the equivalent of Michael Ross.

The Korean equivalent of Jessica Pearson is Kang Ha-yeon (Jin Hee-kyung). Before Megan Markle became the Duchess of Sussex, she was known for her character Rachel Zone in Suits.

Her equivalent character is Kim Ji-na (Ko Sung-hee), a paralegal who is perfect in what she does.

Watch the trailer here.

5.Lawless Lawyer (2018)

Who doesn’t love a bad boy lawyer?

Lawless Lawyer (2018) is set in the fictional city of Kisung which is known to be lawless and corrupt.

The plot follows Bong Sang-pil, a former gangster who has a career change to become a lawyer. On top of using his skill and knowledge as a lawyer, he uses his fists and old gang connection to win a case.

Meanwhile, Ha Hae-yi is an idealist lawyer full of integrity but ends up being temporarily disbarred after after attacking a corrupt judge.

The villain of this story is Cha Moon-sook. She appears to be a caring, noble judge but it is all just a facade. Little the public knows, she orders murder to be carried out, conducts rigged trials and run a corrupt charity.

While fighting against Moon-sook, Sang-pil and Hae-yi falls in love with each other.

The drama is a commercial hit and became one of the most highly rated Korean dramas in cable television history.

It stars Lee Joon-gi, Seo Yea-ji, Lee Hye-young and Choi Min-soo.

Watch the trailer here.

6.Innocent Defendant (2017)

You are the top prosecutor at your office, then one day you wake up and find yourself on death row. What would you do?

Park Jung-woo (Ji Sung) is a prosecutor of the violent crimes investigative division who never loses a case. One day, he finds himself in a prison without any memory of what happen.

His hope lies in Seo Eun-hye (Kwon Yu-ri), a public defender who always lose her court case every single time.

Uhm Ki-joon plays the antagonist, a psychotic killer who kills his own twin brother.

The drama was a hit, all thanks to its plot and impressive performance by Ji Sung.

Watch the trailer here.

7.Ms Hammurabi (2018)

How about a Korean legal drama that was written by a real-life judge?

Ms Hammurabi is written by Moon Yoo-seok, the chief judge of Seoul Eastern District Court who also wrote the book version of this story.

It stars Go Ara, Kim Myung- soo and Sung Dong-il.

The drama circles around the life of judges and the various disputes that they have to settle.

While Moon is known for his novels, Ms. Hammurabi is his first script writing work.

Due to its new perspective on the role of a judge and its real-life depiction of people daily struggles, the series was well-received by Korean viewers.

Watch the trailer here.

8.Witch At Court (2017)

Ma Yi-deum (Jung Ryeo-won) is the ace prosecutor who walks a fine line between legal and illegal investigation.

Using personal attacks, evidence fabrication and inciting perjury, she goes all the way to win her case.

In the same time, she is hot-tempered. One day, she is assigned to the special task force for child sex crimes against women and children.

Joining her on the team is Yeo Jin-wook (Yoon Hyun-min), he is a newbie prosecutor who graduated from law school at the top of his class.

He does not like how Yi-deum carries her job. However after he learns about her painful past, Jin-wook comes forward to protect her.

Thanks to the chemistry of the two main leads, Ryeo-won and Hyun-min won the Best Couple Award in the 31st KBS Drama Awards.

Watch the trailer here.

9.Suspicious Partner (2017)

The Korean drama industry has a gift of throwing in an almost random serial killer in the middle of a seemingly normal storyline.

Suspicious Partner (2017) follows the story of prosecutor Noh Ji-wook (Ji Chang-wook) and prosecutor trainee Eun Bong-hee (Nam Ji-hyun).

Like most main characters in a K-drama world, Ji-wook has a tragic past in which his parents died in a fire.

Then the tragic past somehow get entangles with his present when he finds out. After love starts to blossom between Ji-wook and Bong-hee, Ji-wook learns that it was Bong-hee’s father who set the fire causing his parents’ death.

When the drama was aired, it was famous among the 20-49 demographic. So if you fall into this age group, you might enjoy this drama.

10.Diary of a Prosecutor (2019)

While Ms Hammurabi is written by a real judge, Diary of Prosecutor is based on the essay written by a real-life prosecutor Kim Woong.

Set in the fictional city of Jinyoung, it explores the competitiveness and over-working lives of prosecutors.

Lee Sung-jae plays the role of Jo Min-ho, the Chief of Jinyoung District Prosecutor’s Office Criminal Unit 2.

Unhappy that his team always comes in second when comes to work performance, he brings in a prosecutor from the city, Seoul with hope that it will raise his team’s results.

The prosecutor from Seoul is Cha Myung-joo (Jung Ryeo-won). Her working style is straight forward without spending any extra time on cases, hence her colleagues think she is to careless in her work.

However, the person that Myung-joo unhappy the most in the group is Lee Sun-kyun (Lee Sun-woong).

He was Myung-joo’s senior back in university but entered the prosecution one year later than her. The duo often fight in disagreement when comes to work.

The actual filming scene of the drama took place in a small city of Tongyeong with a population of 139, 869.

There, more than 150 members of the cast and crew actually stay during the five months of filming.

Watch the trailer for this Korean legal drama here.

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10 things you might not know about Memories of the Alhambra (2018)

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One of the highest rated Korean series in cable television history, Memories of the Alhambra (2018) is also Korea’s first augmented reality-gaming drama.

Set in Spain and South Korea, the story follows a CEO and a hostel owner who get entangled in a series of mysterious incidents surrounding an augmented reality (AR) game.

The CEO, Yoo Jin-woo (Hyun Bin) travels to Granada, Spain to meet the creator of a groundbreaking AR game about medieval battles, Jung Se-joo (Park Chan-yeol).

However, he discovered Se-joo is missing and meets his sister Jung Hee-joo (Park Shin-hye), owner of an almost run down Hostel Bonita instead.

Things get complicated around Jin-woo as he finds the border between the game and his reality starts to blur.

In the meantime, romance begins to blossom between Jin-woo and Hee-joo.

With its unique storyline, impressive computer graphics and beautiful cinematography, it is no surprise how Memories of the Alhambra can keep the audience captivated up to its last episode.

Here are at least 10 things you might not know about South Korean drama Memories of the Alhambra (2018):

1.Memories of the Alhambra was inspired by Pokemon Go

In an interview, the writer Song Jae-jung revealed the story started about a man from the future, Yoo Jin-woo. She was playing with the idea of Yoo Jin-woo staying in a hotel room and opening the door to a stranger who would shoot him with a gun.

However, there was one problem. The idea was not motivated enough for her to carry on with the idea.

When she was searching for ideas to write about, Pokemon Go was the in thing at that time.

Song stated in the 2019 interview, “I didn’t think of doing a video game theme because it didn’t seem possible to create a virtual reality like the movie Avatar. But if it were to involve augmented reality with items on the screen like Pokemon Go, it seemed doable. That was when I dropped the time travel idea and decided to only keep the character Yoo Jin-woo.”

In another interview with The Korea Times, Song revealed that she was really impressed by Korean digital special effects technicians’ skills.

She further stated, “I was afraid of taking on the challenge of AR gaming genre. Since there was no prior drama to take reference, people I’ve talked with painted different pictures in their heads. But when I first saw the first episode, it was really beyond my expectations how realistically those technicians embodied the AR world in the drama. Memories of the Alhambra introduced the AR genre to viewers, applying only basic gaming concepts like doing missions, level-ups and alliances. I think maybe I can tell another gaming story in my next project applying more advanced gaming rules.”

2.Another source of inspiration is Elon Musk

In the same interview, Song revealed that the male lead Yoo Jin-woo is inspired by CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk.

She admitted that she seldom read books like novels, preferring books and magazines focused on the humanities.

When Song was reading Musk’s autobiography, she was inspired to write a character similar to him.

3.Hyun Bin’s character is also inspired by Odysseus from Greek Mythology

As you watch Memories of the Alhambra, you cannot help but notice the episodes of hardship after hardship that Jin-woo experiences throughout the drama.

This is because Song drew a similarity between Jin-woo and Odysseus from Greek mythology.

“Although Odysseus was a great king, he suffered serious repercussions from war and also experienced inexplicable situations. Jin-woo also faces troubles and strange incidents. What mattered to me was how Jin-woo becomes a hero in the end, after bearing all the consequences of his previous decisions.”

4.The relationship initially draws inspiration from Mathilda and Leon

What makes Jin-woo different from typical Korean drama male leads is that he has gone through not one but two divorces.

At first, Song imagined a Mathilda and Leon in Leon: The Professional (1994) kind of relationship. It is one that stands somewhere between love and friendship with the woman being the saviour of Jin-woo.

The 1994 film is an English-language French action-thriller film that follows a professional hitman named Leon. He reluctantly takes in 12-year-old Mathilda (Natalie Portman’s first film) after her family is brutally murdered.

After the cast was finally decided, Song decided that the relationship would be on the romantic side.

10 things you might not know about Memories of the Alhambra (2018)

5.The scriptwriter is known for her fantasy dramas circling about different dimensions and time travels.

The reason why the initial idea behind Memories of the Alhambra was a time-travel story is because Song is known for this kind of story line.

Her drama Nine: 9 Times Time Travel (2013) is about an anchorman who obtains nine incense items which allow him to travel 20 years back in time.

Another drama Queen In-Hyun (2012) by Song is about a noble man from the Joseon Dynasty who winds up in present-day Seoul.

Memories of the Alhambra is not Song’s first drama in which she plays around with the idea of a different dimension.

W: Two Worlds Apart (2016) is about the romance between a webtoon character and a real-life surgeon.

6.Some of the scenes were actually not shot in Granada, Spain

While the drama supposedly set in both Spain and South Korea, there are plenty of scenes which were not shot in either of these two countries.

When Hee-jo and Jin-woo meet up in a restaurant to discuss Jin-woo buying the hostel, the eatery is actually a steak restaurant located in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

And when Jin-woo accidentally ends up in a small town train station which is supposed to be in Spain? The rustic train station is actually Kisterenye Railway Station in Hungary that dates back at least to the 1870s.

Again, the Granada train station in the drama is not even in Spain but in Hungary. Opened in 1858. the Mezotur Railway Station is about 2.5 hours away from Budapest by car.

7.The story behind Recuerdos de la Alhambra

The title of the drama actually alludes to Spanish guitarist Francisco Tarrega’s classical guitar piece Recuerdos de la Alhambra.

The piece also serve as the drama’s original soundtrack.

Tarrega wrote and dedicated it to his patron Concepcion Gomez de Jacoby, commemorating their visit to the Alhambra palace.

The melody supposedly represents the water of the fountains inside of the Alhambra.

8.Park Shin-hye learns how to speak Spanish for her role in the Memories of the Alhambra

If you have been following the works of Korean actress Park Shin-hye, she is known to take up the role of a poor girl who cries a lot.

In this drama she still plays a poor girl who cries a lot but knows how to speak Spanish and play the classical guitar.

She reportedly took up Spanish and classical guitar lessons for her role in the drama.

When filming in Spain, Shin-hye put some effort to create an authentic pronunciation by learning from the native speakers there.

9.And yes, Alhambra is a real palace and fortress

Alhambra was originally constructed as a small fortress in 889 on the remains of Roman fortifications.

Then, the fortress was neglected until the mid-13th century by the Arab Nasrid emir Mohammed ben Al-Ahmar of the Emirate of Granada.

The name Alhambra has its origin in an Arabic word meaning ‘red castle’. This is perhaps due to the colour of the towers and walls.

Today, Alhambra is known to be the only surviving palatine city (a royal territorial center) of the Islamic Golden age.

Additionally, the palace became a remnant of the Nasrid dynasty, the last Islamic kingdom in Western Europe.

10.Will there be a second season of Memories of the Alhambra?

While the fans are rooting for the second season of this Korean series, there is no confirmation yet.

Watch the trailer here.

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KajoPicks: 10 serial killers from Korean dramas who terrify us

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There is one thing you should know about serial killers in Korean dramas; they do not usually appear in thrillers or crime dramas.

Sometimes, they appear in romance or even comedy dramas.

Regardless of which genre they appear in, some of these serial killers from Korean dramas are terrifying to watch.

Here are 10 serial killers from Korean dramas who terrify us:

1. The Painter Killer in Born Again (2020)

The main theme of this drama is reincarnation; about three people who remain entangled in a love triangle and murder even after being reincarnated.

In the 1980s, Gong Ji-chul (Jang Ki-young) was a lone wolf living under a controlling father.

Meanwhile, Jung Ha-eun (Jin Se-yeon) and Cha Hyung-bin (Lee Soo-hyuk) are a couple very much in love with each other.

Ha-eun is the owner of a secondhand bookstore called ‘Old Future’ and Hyung-bin works as a detective.

While chasing the true perpetrator behind a string of murders, the three of them get caught in between the cases and eventually died.

30 years later, the three of them are reincarnated. Gong Ji-chul becomes Cheon Jong-bum, a medical student. Hae-eun is reborn as an archaeologist named Jung Sa-bin while Hyung-bin is a prosecutor named Kim Soo-hyuk.

What happens when the string of murders that took place in the 80s repeat themselves? Did the original killer die, get reincarnated and start murdering again? Was the real killer never caught in the first place? Or did the murderer find a protege to carry on the murderous torch?

As for the terrifying serial killer in this drama, the culprit kills in the name of ‘art’. He paints his victims after laying them down in their graves the way he wants.

While this serial killer is terrifying, what is more disgusting are his cult followers who love his ‘works’. They even have secret chat group to talk about their ‘fandom’.

This reminds of us serial killers such as Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer and Aileen Wuornos who have secret online groups for fans on social media platforms such as Facebook.

Watch the trailer here.

2. The Genius Killer in Gap-dong (2014)

Speaking of real-life serial killers, here is a drama inspired by one.

Set in 1986 in fictional Iltan city, a young girl is found brutally murdered. Since then, a series of murders has been found committed in the area.

The police nicknamed the suspect “Gap-dong”. The authorities also mistakenly identify the killer, causing the wrong suspect to commit suicide to prove his innocence. His death inspires his son Moo-yeom to become a police officer to clear his father’s name.

Seventeen years later, a new victim shows up sharing a similar pattern with the victims of Gap-dong. Are they the works of Gap-dong or a copycat killer?

These cases were evoked by the Hwaseong serial murders, a series of rapes and murders that occurred in the rural city of Hwaseong in Geonggi Province between Sept 15, 1986 and Apr 3, 1991.

The victims – all women – were found bound, gagged raped, and strangled to death with their own clothes.

The cases remained unsolved for 30 years until Lee Choon-jae was identified as the suspect in 2019.

Watch the trailer here.

KajoPicks: 10 serial killers from Korean dramas who terrify us
Lee Joon in Gap-dong (2014)

3. The Psychopath Killer in Hello Monster (2015)

The drama circles around genius profiler Lee Hyun (Seo In-guk) who returns home to South Korea after receiving an anonymous email.

The email comes from a serial killer who purposely sends him clues about a series of murders targeting women with similar appearances.

Apparently, it is somehow related to Lee Hyun as his father was murdered and his brother disappeared.

The culprit behind the past is a teenage serial killer named Lee Joon-young, perfectly played by Do Kyung-so.

Working with him on these cases is Cha Ji-an (Jang Na-ra), a police officer whose father mysteriously disappeared together with Lee Joon-young.

This drama gained wide praise for its performance particularly Park Bo-gum’s performance.

4. The sexy CEO Killer in Voice Season 1 (2017)

While Kim Jae-wook’s portrayal in this drama is sexy and dangerous, it also took a toll on the actor’s mental and physical health.

He plays the role of Mo Tae-goo, a CEO by day, and a serial killer by night. Tae-goo not only enjoys killing people, but also flaunting the bodies of his victims.

In an interview, Jae-wook revealed “After shooting the gory scenes in which I had to torture and murder a person, I had breathing problems and I couldn’t stop shaking.” He also couldn’t bear to look himself in the mirror after shooting this drama.

This police procedural series centers around Kang Kwon-jo (Lee Ha-na) who works at an emergency 112 call center. Together with police detective Moo Jin-Hyuk (Jang Hyuk), the duo try to catch Tae-goo.

“Merciless” is the perfect word to describe Jae-wook’s portrayals of Tae-goo in the drama. Imagine a killer who treats his victim like a cat playing with a barely alive rat – that is how Tae-goo kills his victims.  

Watch the trailer here.

5. The manipulative killer in Voice Season 2 (2018)

Voice was so good that it was renewed for a second season. In the second season, Kwon Yul appears as Bang Je-soo who is a serial killer that goes around collecting body parts of his dead victims.

Using his intelligence, Je-soo manipulated others to kill too.

Overall, the drama sets record for the highest premiere rating of an OCN drama.

It also surpassed the first season’s ratings.

The drama has Lee Ha-na reprise her role as Kang Kwon-jo while Lee Jin-woo plays the role of a new team leader Do Kang-woo.

Watch the trailer here.

6. The Don’t-Act-Up Killer in When The Camellia Blooms (2019)

The main focus of this drama is Oh Dong-baek (Gong Hyo-jin), a single mother who moves to the fictional town of Ongsan and opens a bar named Camellia.

She captured the heart of a young, playful detective named Hwang Yong-sik (Kang Ha-neul).

In the same time, Kang Jong-ryul (Kim Ji-seok) who is the father of Dong-baek’s son is trying to win her back.

This seems to be a normal love triangle until it is interrupted by a serial killer targeting Dong-baek.

His signature move? Writing the word ‘Don’t Act Up’ on a wall to scare his victim.

Putting aside the dead bodies lying around in the drama, When the Camellia Blooms is one of funniest and highest rated dramas in 2019.

Watch the trailer here.

7. The bar code killer in A Girl Who Can See Smells (2015)

Adapted from the webtoon of the same title, this drama stars Park Yoo-chun, Shin Se-kyung, Min Nam-goong and Yoon Jin-seo.

When Choi Eun-seol (Shin Se-kyung) arrives home, she finds her parents murdered.

They are found with a bar code carved into their skin, all indicative of the work of the ‘bar code’ serial killer.

On the same night, Choi Moo-gak (Park Yoo-chun) is at the hospital visiting his younger sister. To his horror, he finds her dead with her throat slit.

How are these murders connected?

As for the title, it refers to Choi Eun-seol who wake up with the ability to see smells as visible colours and shapes after the deaths of her parents.

Using her unique ability, Eun-seol tries to find the bar code killer.

8. The serial killer who still kills after his death in Possessed (2019)

How committed are you to your job? Would you possess someone just to continue your ‘life’s work’ even after death?

The serial killer in Possessed (2019) is so committed to killing people that he even possessed others to kill after he died.

The story focuses on Kang Pil-sung (Song Sae-byeok), a police officer who was abandoned by his family.

Just like Pil-sung, Hong Seo-jung (Go Joon-hee) was also abandoned by her mother at a young age.

Besides their sad past, the duo also shares a supernatural ability. Seo-jung is able to read people’s minds and see ghosts while Pil-sung can see ghosts too.

Using their supernatural traits, they try to catch the serial killer who possessed others to kill.

9. The Evil Twin Killer in Innocent Defendant (2017)

First of all, all applause to Uhm Ki-joon who plays two complete characters in this legal drama. He takes up the role as Cha Sun-ho and Cha Min-ho, identical twins who are heads to a major company.

Min-ho is the evil one who suffered from abuse as a child and constantly being compared to his twin.

The end result is he becomes a psychopathic maniac who kills people without mercy.

Overall, the drama is about a prosecutor who is wrongly convicted for murder and now is on death row.

Despite his knowledge in laws and prosecution, Park Jung-woo (Ji Sung) is having a hard time proving his innocence because he is inconveniently suffering from amnesia.

The story continues as he struggles to clear his name and catch the real killer.

Watch the trailer here.

10. The Masked Kidnapper in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (2017)

Althoufh this drama is not about a serial killer per se, the villain in this series is just pure creepy.

Strong Woman is inspired by a French folktale about Bluebeard and his seven wives, a wealthy man who has the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of one wife to avoid the fate of her predecessors.

In this drama, Kim Jang-hyun (Jang Mi-kwan) is the psychotic kidnapper who keeps on targeting young women.

Mi-kwan revealed in an interview that he was inspired by Christian Bale in the movie American Psycho for his role as Jang-hyun.

After capturing a number of helpless women, Jang-hyun finally meets his match in Do Bong-soon (Park Bo-young) who was born with superhuman strength.  

Watch the trailer here.

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What is an Imoogi, the villain in K-drama Tale of Nine Tailed (2020)?

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Are you watching Tale of the Nine Tailed (2020) right now?

What is an Imoogi, the villain in K-drama Tale of Nine Tailed (2020)?
Tale of the Nine Tailed (2020)

The drama focuses on 100-year-old gumiho (nine-tailed fox) named Lee Yeon (Lee Dong-wook) who abdicated his position as the mountain spirit of Baekdudaegan for the reincarnation of his first love Ah-eum (Jo Bo-ah).

She was killed by Imoogi, a serpent beast in human form and Lee Yeon’s arch-nemesis.

This romance fantasy series is interesting to watch, especially if you love folklore and urban legends. It stars Lee Dong-wook, Jo Bo-ah and Kim Bum.

But first, what is an Imoogi? Is it as evil as it is depicted in Tale of Nine Tailed?

Imoogi, a Korean lesser dragon

According to Korean folk mythology, most dragons were originally imoogi or lesser dragons.

While other dragons are related to fire and destruction, the Korean dragon is associated with water and agriculture and can bring on rain and clouds.

It is said that imoogis resemble gigantic serpents. In some depictions, imoogi is depicted carrying a yeouijui in one of its claws.

Remember the Philosopher’s Stone in the Harry Potter series? A yeouiju is sort of like that.

Essentially, Korean mythology describes these imoogis as dragons in training. It will take them over a thousand years to become a true dragon. If (or when) they do catch a yeouijui falling from the sky, then they will become a full-fledged dragon.

Some legends say that the Korean Sun Goddess created imoogi from human girls. When they are born, the girl is marked on her shoulder with a dragon symbol. When the girl turns 17, she turns into an imoogi.

Legend of Kim Si-min and imoogi

While the battle is between a nine-tailed fox and imoogi in the drama, the fight is in fact between a soldier and the creature according to legend.

Kim Si-min was a soldier who fought during Imjin War or the Japanese Invasions of Korea (1592-1598).

When he was nine, his village was terrorised by a large imoogi that lived in a nearby cave. It often came out to frighten people and harm their livestock.

One day, Si-min decided to kill the imoogi. After reading a book about how a snake was caught using a mulberry bow and a sprouting arrow, Si-min had an idea.

At once, he gathered the local children and ran to the stream near the cave where the imoogi hid. They also placed a large stone to cover the entrance to the village.

Then, one of the children climbed a tree right next to the stream and the shadow of the child was reflected in the stream.

When the imoogi saw the reflection of the child in the stream, it came out from the cave. The moment its head popped out, Si-min shot it using the mulberry bow and a sprouting arrow that he brought.

The imoogi was killed and its blood turned the colour of the stream to red for days.

Imoogi’s power

It was believed that if a lake, pond or river had more than 2,500 fish, an imoogi would appear to become the king of all living creatures in that fresh water.

While a dragon was believed to have power to bring rain, typhoon and thunders, an imoogi, being the lesser dragon, could only bring clouds.

The good thing is that the spring water would not dry out if there was an imoogi living nearby.

Additionally, this mythical creature tended to be territorial. There were many cases of imoogis fighting each other over the rights of a lake.

Naturally, the stronger imoogis dominated the larger lakes with more fish while the weaker imoogis had to live in small ponds and rivers.

According to Lisa Graves in her book Mythical Beasts and Beings, there are theories that the imoogi could have actually been a titanoboa, a giant and thankfully, extinct snake that lived 58 million years ago.

Titanoboa was the longest and heaviest snake to ever exist.

However, the titanoboa was native to areas around South America and not Korea.

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KajoPicks: 10 classic Korean dramas you should watch

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If you are new to Korean dramas and you have no idea which drama to start with, we highly suggest watching the classics.

The obsession for Korean dramas would not be here today, if it were not for these series which introduce K-dramas to audience outside of South Korea.

You can say, these classic Korean dramas are responsible for the start of Korean wave which is the increase in global popularity of South Korean culture.

Here are 10 classic Korean dramas that somehow never gets old:

1.Full House (2004)

This classic Korean series is considered the romantic comedy genre in Korean drama.

Ji-eun, an aspiring scriptwriter, lives in a house called “Full House” built by her late father.

One day, her two best friends trick her into believing that she has won a free vacation.

While she is away, they sell her house. On the plane, she meets a famous actor named Young-jae.

They get acquainted during her vacation and when she returns, she discovers that her house has been sold to him.

Although they do not get along with each other due to their contrasting habits, they agree to live with each other.

At first, Ji-eun works as his maid in order to buy her house back.

However, they enter into a contract marriage as Young-jae wanted to make his crush, Kang Hye-won, jealous.

Rain, who plays the role of Young-jae, won the Best Actor Award at the KBS Drama Awards for this drama.

The main filming site of this drama, the Full House, was especially built for the series.

It cost approximately USD1 million to build. The house was a tourist attraction until it was torn down in April 2013 due to irreparable damage from a typhoon.

2.Coffee Prince (2007)

Who knew Gong Yoo in his pre-Goblin days? The current generation was introduced to Gong Yoo through Goblin or Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016) or Train to Busan (2016).

The older Korean drama fans still remember him and his 2000s hairstyle from Coffee Prince (2007).

He plays the role of Choi Han-kyul, who is the grandson of chairwoman Bang (Kim Young-ok) of Dong-in Foods. It is a company that has a thriving coffee business.

Acting like a stuck-up chaebol, he has never had a job and does not care for responsibility.

In the meantime, Go Eun-chan (Yoon Eun-hye) is a 24-year-old tomboy who is often mistaken for a guy.

Her father died when she was 16 years old and since then she has taken over as the breadwinner in her family.

When Han-kyul and Eun-chan meet, he, not knowing that she is a girl, decides to hire her to pretend to be his gay lover so that he can escape the blind dates arranged by his grandmother.

Wanting to prove himself, Han-kyul takes over a rundown old coffee shop, later renamed “Coffee Prince”.

To attract more female customers, he only hires good-looking male employees.

Eun-chan, desperate for money, continues to hide her gender to get a job at Coffee Prince.

Soon, Han-kyul starts to develop feelings for Eun-chan. Believing that Eun-chan is a man, Han-kyul starts to question his sexuality.

This series was remade in different countries including Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia.

In 2020, the cast of Coffee Prince returns to the cafe of their drama for a documentary called “My Dear Youth – Coffee Prince”.

3.Secret Garden (2010)

Taking a typical Cinderella story to a different twist, Secret Garden (2010) follows the love story between stuntwoman Gil Ra-im and CEO Kim Joo-won.

The pair are from two different worlds. One is a poor orphan and the other is a rich man with a secret phobia. As their worlds collide, Ra-im and Joo-won begin to understand each other’s lives.

And what better way to do that other than magically swapping with each other’s bodies?

The drama was purchased by numerous countries after its release including Peru and United States, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

4.Autumn in My Heart (2000)

If Full House is the pioneer of romantic comedy in Korean dramas, Autumn in My Heart is the pioneer of Korean melodramatic series.

It follows the story of two girls who share the same birthday, are raised in the same village and going to the same class.

One leads a happy life with loving parents and a brother. Her name is Eun-suh (Song Hye-Kyo).

Meanwhile, the other girl named Shin-ae (Han Chae-young) is raised by a single parent and is living in poverty.

One day, Eun-suh has a car accident and a blood test finds hat Eun-suh and Shin-ae were swapped at birth.

The girls are then returned to their biological families. Eun-suh’s brother Jun-suh (Song Seung-Heon) is especially saddened by this.

The two girls meet years later by twist of fate. What happens when Jun-suh sees his long lost ‘sister’ again?

The series has been broadcast in Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and many more.

5.Winter Sonata (2002)

We cannot talk about classic Korean drama without mentioning Winter Sonata (2002).

The story begins with Joon-sang (Bae Yong-joon), who moves to a small town. There, he meets Yoo-Jin (Choi Ji-woo) in the local high school.

They fall in love, but Jun-Sang gets killed in a car accident.

Ten years later, Yoo-Jin meets a guy who looks just like her Jun-Sang.

Yoo-Jin has to choose between her current boyfriend and a person who reminds her of her dead sweetheart.

Winter Sonata is credited for improving the image of South Korea among the Japanese. It also sets fashion trends throughout East Asia.

6.Princess Hours (2006)

This classic Korean drama is also known for contributing to the Korean Wave.

In an alternate reality of 21st century South Korea, the country is ruled by a monarchy.

The crown prince, Lee Shin (Ju Ji-hoon) is a smug and insensitive high school kid.

After getting rejected by his girlfriend Min Hyo-rin (Song Ji-hyo), he decides to proceed with his arranged marriage to Shin Chae-kyeong (Yoon Eun-hye).

Though he was initially annoyed by her naivete and enthusiasm, he gradually begins to open his heart to her.

First of all, can you believe how young Running Man’s Song Ji-hyo in this drama? And Ju Ji-hoon’s acting definitely improves since this drama. His later performances in Along With the God series and Kingdom are just amazing.

7.Temptation of Wife (2008)

In this revenge drama, Jang Seo-hee plays Ku Eun-jae, a lady that was nearly killed by her husband Jung Kyo-bin (Byeon Woo-min).

Kyo-bin believes that Goo Eun-Jae did indeed die. However, he is astonished to meet this woman who looks identical to his former wife but with a completely different personality.

Despite the many controversies concerning the questionable plot, the series is one of the most viewed dramas to date.

The series eventually had two remakes by China and Philippines.

8.Stairway to Heaven (2003)

Han Jung-suh (Choi Ji-woo) and Cha Song-joo (Kwon Sang-woo) grew up together. They were always there for each other.

One day, Jung-suh’s father (Ha Jae-young) marries an actress named Tae Mi-ra (Lee Hui-hyang).

Mi-ra takes in her two children from a previous marriage, Tae-hwa (Lee Wan) and Yoo-ri (Kim Tae-hee).

Yoo-ri is envious of the life that Jung-suh leads and is determined to take everything away from her, including Song-joo.

Meanwhile, Tae-hwa (disturbingly) begins to develop feelings for his stepsister.

Five years later, Jung-suh gets into a car accident causing her to lose her memory. Song-joo is led to believe that she is dead.

Stairway to Heaven was so famous that some of its filming sites are now tourist attractions. This include the carousel where Song-joo and Jung-suh rode as children at Lotte World.

Like many of the classic Korean dramas on this list, Stairway to Heaven was remake in Philippine, Indonesia, Cambodia and Russia.

9.Lovers in Paris (2004)

Today, South Korean screenwriter Kim Eun-sook is known to be her works such as Descendants of the Sun (2016), Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2017) and The King: Eternal Monarch (2020).

Her work which catapulted her into a household name is actually Lovers in Paris (2004).

It follows the story of the chairman of GD Motors, Han Gi-ju (Park Shin-yang) who is a divorced man working in Paris.

He has a housekeeper named Kang Tae-young (Kim Jung-eun), who is a poor international student.

In the meantime, Han Gi-ju’s nephew, Yu Soo-hyeok (Lee Dong-geon) meets Tae-young by chance, and falls for her.

Tae-young ends up returning to Seoul, soon after, Gi-ju and Soo-hyeok also return to Seoul separately.

When they return, Tae-young asks Gi-ju for a job and in time, the two fall in love.

As the family secret involving Gi-ju and Soo-hyeok is disclosed, the relationship between Tae-young and Gi-ju is in crisis.

To this day, Lovers in Paris is one of the most highly rated Korean dramas of all time.

10.Dae Jang Geum (2003)

This is the only historical drama on this list and its based on a true story of Jang-geum.

She is the first female royal physician of the Josean Dynasty.

Despite her poor background in the male-dominated society, Jang-geum overcomes social and gender discrimination and becomes a royal cook.
From there, she works her way to become the physician in charge of the king.

Thanks to this drama, the Korean public renewed their interest in traditional Korean culture especially royal court cuisine and traditional medicine.

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The lovers’ suicides which inspired the K-drama Hymn of Death (2018)

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The lovers’ suicides which inspired the K-drama Hymn of Death (2018)

Think there’s no real-life Romeo and Juliet? Then you’ve never heard of the Korean drama Hymn of Death (2018).

It depicts the tragic romance between Korea’s first soprano Yun Sim-deok and legendary playwright Kim Woo-jin.

Starring Lee Jong-suk as Kim and Shin Hye-sun as Yun, the drama is directed by Park Soo-jin.

The background story behind Hymn of Death

Yun was born in Pyongyang (now the capital city of North Korea) in 1897. She was the second of four siblings.

Meanwhile, Kim was the son of a big landowner in Jeolla Province (now in South Korea). He was in an arranged marriage set by his father.

Since they lived so far apart from each other, how did these two meet and fall in love?

At that time, the Korean peninsular was under Japanese colonial rule.

After graduatIng from Gyeongseong Girls’ High School and working for a teacher for a year, Yun arrived in Japan as the first Korean student who earned a scholarship of the Japanese government general.

There, she studied in Aoyama Gakuin before entering Tokyo Music School to study vocal music. Yun was also the first Korean who attended the school.

Some reports stated Yun and Kim met while participating in a student drama association in Japan. Kim was at Waseda University to study English literature at that time.

Other reports stated that Yun was on a two-month road tour in Korea in 1921 when she met Kim.

Either way, the two fell in love and became inseparable.

The ups and downs of Yun and Kim’s affair

Yun established herself as a singer in Japan before returning to Korea.

Once back in her home country, she made her debut as the nation’s first soprano singer at the Central Youth Center in Jongro, Seoul.

Despite having a number of performances, Yun was still struggling as a singer. Like those who went abroad to study under a scholarship, Yun was supposed to work as a teacher.

Unfortunately, her teaching job never arrived. Furthermore, the country was still unfamiliar with Western classical music.

Due to financial difficulties, Yun became a pop singer and actress.

With the rise of her fame, many began to show interest in her including the media and interested pursuers.

One of them was a millionaire named Lee Yong-mun. The media began to report about Yun and Lee’s alleged relationship.

In the meantime, Kim had returned to Korea trying to pursue his career as a poet and playwright.

However, his family was against his career choice. Hence, he left Korea and went to Japan in 1926.

Despite being physically apart for some time, the couple maintained their affair. When the media began to speculate about Yun and Lee’s relationship, the news arrived to Kim who was in Japan.

Refusing to take Yun’s phone calls, Kim determined to end his affair by sending her a goodbye letter.

The recording of the ‘Hymn of Death’

What Yun did after receiving Kim’s breakup letter was what any rational woman would do while suffering from a heartbreak – she went travelling.

She spent several months in Manchuria before deciding to return to her lover’s side.

Around the same time, Japanese recording company Nitto in Osaka wanted to record her songs in July 1926.

When she was in Japan, Yun sent a telegram to Kim while she was in Tokyo to meet her in Osaka. She threatened to kill herself if Kim did not show up.

Her recording with the Japanese company was completed on Aug 1.

However, Yun requested to record one more song.

Written based on the western classic and a Romanian tune ‘The Waves of the Danube’, Yun wrote the lyrics to the song herself.

She called the song ‘In Praise of Death’ (in some translations it is ‘Eulogy of Death’).

The lovers’ suicides

At that time, nobody knew that Yun wrote the song as if it was her final words.

On the night of Aug 4, 1926, Yun and Kim jumped into the sea while boarding a passenger ship en route from Simonoseki to Busan, Korea.

The lovers were both just 29 years old.

After their suicides, rumours had it that the couple was in Italy starting a new life together and running a music store.

Yun and Kim both had dreams about going to Europe to study. Reportedly, Kim used to tell his lover, “I’ll go to Germany to study drama and Sim-deok, you’ll be in Italy to pursue music.”

He even suggested, “Let’s get together once a month somewhere in between like Switzerland, to talk about each other study and travel around the continent.”

To that, Yun only answered, “I think that is going to be only a dream.”

Unfortunately for the couple, Yun was right.

Their tragic love story fueled the sale of Yun’s final album. Upon its release, the album was selling 100,000 copies which was an unprecedented number at that time.

Today, her gramophone record is being sold for the highest price among any Korean musicians. As of 2016, only four copies of The Praise of Death were found in South Korea.

The lovers’ suicides which inspired the K-drama Hymn of Death (2018)
The official poster by Netflix for Hymn of Death (2018)

Watch the trailer here.

KajoPicks: 8 Chinese coming-of-age dramas you need to watch

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A coming-of-age story is a genre of film and literature which focuses on the growth of a protagonist from youth to adulthood.

In Chinese dramas, a typical coming-of-age story starts when the characters are in their secondary school, then during university, and ends when they become working adults.

While in real-life it is rare to have the same body size from your teenage years into adulthood, some of these Chinese drama characters even have the same hairstyles throughout the years.

Nonetheless, most Chinese coming-of-age dramas manage to capture the real essence of growing up from their teenage years to adulthood in an Asian country.

Although these dramas are set in China, some of the conflicts and inner struggles that these characters experience are relatable, especially if you are from a typical conservative Asian household.

One example is how some of the characters are advised to get “real jobs” like becoming a doctor or lawyer.

While the main storyline is typically about the love story between two main characters, these Chinese coming-of-age dramas also showcase how good friendships can grow over the years.

In real life, some of us still do keep in touch with our high school friends.

If you are looking for heartwarming Chinese coming-of-age dramas, here are eight of them that made it to our list:

1.A Love So Beautiful (2017)

Based on the novel To Our Pure Little Beauty by Zhao Qianqian, this Chinese coming-of-age drama stars Hu Yitian and Shen Yue.

It circles around Chen Xiaoxi and Jiang Chen who are classmates in high school and neighbours since they were in kindergarten.

Their characters are polar opposites. Chen Xiaoxi has a cheerful personality but does not study much, while Jiang Chen is the popular kid known for his good looks and high grades.

After losing his father at an early age, Jiang Chen becomes very distant towards people.

Despite this, Xiaoxi still expresses her crush towards Jiang Chen.

The story also follows their friends, a swimmer Wu Bosong, a tomboy Lin Jingxiao and Lu Yang, who has heart disease.

Even until when they are in university, Xiaoxi still crushes on Jiang Chen. Will Jiang Chen’s heart finally soften?

What happen to them when they finally made it into adulthood?

Like many other coming-of-age, A Love is So Beautiful focuses about these characters discovering themselves and their places in the world.

2.Rush to The Dead Summer (2017)

Starring Chen Xuedong, Zheng Shuang and Bai Jingting, the drama is based on Guo Jingming’s novel of the same name.

After winning a scholarship, Li Xia earns her place at Qian Chuan secondary school. There, she meets the two popular boys Fu Xiaosi and Lu Zhiang.

She also befriends a boyish girl named Yu Jian and the rich girl in school, Cheng Qiqi.

After they graduate, things seem to go fine, at least for some of them. Li Xia starts to date Xiaosi who is now a famous artist. Meanwhile, Qiqi becomes a celebrity after winning a singing competition.

Then, comes death, and betrayal after betrayal. Can their friendships survive all these hardships?

This Chinese coming-of-age drama was praised for its realistic life of youth and on campus as well as beautiful cinematography. Hence, it is definitely worth watching.

Watch the trailer here.

You can watch this drama on Youtube here.

3.With You (2016)

Speaking of realistic portrayal of youth, here is another Chinese coming-of-age drama that received high reviews.

Hailed as ‘best youth drama’ by critics in recent years, the drama tackles issues relatable to viewers such as family problems, school struggles as well as the ups and downs of friendships.

One of the most realistic scenes in the drama is when the students draw lots to answer objective questions during the exam. (Raise your hand if you did that in your high school years.)

It follows the story of Geng Geng (Seven Tan) who just move into Zhen Hua High School and is seated next to top student Yu Huai (Liu Haoran).

Unlike her who struggles in her studies, Yu Huai is the smart kid in class.

At first, the duo fights a lot but soon become friends. They also become close friends with the rest of their classmates, each of whom has their own interesting background stories.

However, things start to change after graduation when Yu Huai ghosts everyone in the group.

This drama gives a great reminder that even though high school memories might be sweet to look back on but there is not much to it other than memories. Sometimes, you just need to let go of your past in order to enjoy the present.

With You (2016) is based on the novel The Best of Us by Ba Yue Chang An.

Watch the trailer here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQTThM21J4Y

4.My Huckleberry Friends (2017)

Here is another Chinese coming-of-age drama based on a novel by Ba Yue Chang An entitled Hello, Old Times.

The story starts when Yu Zhou Zhou starts her first day of primary school and becomes friend with a boy named Lin Yang.

Something happens and the two start to drift apart.

They meet up again during high school. At first there is an obvious awkwardness between them but soon they begin to reconcile.

It starts Li Landi and Zhang Xincheng as Zhou Zhou and Lin Yang respectively.

Watch the trailer here.

5.When We Were Young (2018)

If you spent your high school days in the 90s, you might enjoy this drama.

It is a story that revolves around high school students in the year 1996.

While chasing down a bike thief during the summer break, Yang Xi gets injured after a nearby lab explosion. This caused her unable to compete in a long-distance run.

When her school opens, she finds out that the culprit behind the lab explosion has transferred to her class. His name is Hua Biao and he even takes Yang Xi’s position as the class president.

Hua Biao is also known to be a hot-blooded genius.

Since the drama is set in the 90s, expect a lot of retro vibes in it from the hairstyle to 90s furniture and appliances.

Watch the trailer here.

6.Just An Encore (2019)

Yan Ze and Xi Ye are two best friends. Yan Ze does not see herself as beautiful and her grades are just okay. Meanwhile, Xi Ye is known in school for her beauty and grades.

Yan Ze has a secret crush on Ji Xiao who is the top student in school and unfairly handsome too.

She grows jealous of Xi Ye when she discovers that Ji Xiao might like Xi Ye. Then, another person comes into the love triangle, He Xin Liang.

He is the transfer student who always appears by Yan Ze’s side whenever she needs help.

Xi Ye, however, has a crush on Xin Liang.

Little that Yan Ze knows that her best friend Xi Ye is secretly jealous of her for her friendliness and how easy she gets along with everyone.

Remember those days when you do not have to worry about work or bill but only crushes and fights with your best friend?

Watch the trailer here.

7.All I want For Love is You (2019)

Gu Xiao Man is nothing like your average high school girl. She is a sanda (Chinese kickboxing) fighter. While she excels in sports, Xiao Man struggles with her grades.

Lucky for her, her crush, who also happens to be the school’s top student Zuo An (Liu Yu Han), is willing to tutor her.

To impress her crush (and improve her grades), Xiao Man is willing to study hard.

Thanks to Zuo An’s help, Xiao Man not only manage to graduate but she gets into the same university as Zuo An.

Their story continues in university as the duo adjusts to campus life together.

Watch the trailer here.

8.Le Coup De Foudre (2019)

This Chinese coming-of-age drama is based on the novel I Don’t Like This World, I Only Like You by Qiao Yi.

It has uplifting life lessons and a heartwarming storyline. In 35 episodes, it manages to cover various themes such as the impact of divorce on the children, the preference for sons in China, domestic violence, and the real struggles of startups.

Do not expect perfect main characters who could never go wrong in this drama as they rise and fall throughout this story.

It follows the story of Zhao Qiaoyi, a kind-hearted but timid girl and Yan Mo, a quiet and extremely disciplined boy who excels in his studies.

Qiaoyi has a twin brother, Zhao Guanchao who is an easygoing person but hides a secret pain from his past. Their circle of friends is joined by Hao Wuyi, a tomboyish girl who loves to write and Fei Dachuan, a tough-looking but kind guy.

There are plenty of realistic and relatable moments in the drama. Wuyi, for instance, is told off by her class teacher, Teacher Gao to let go of writing and focus to find ‘a real job that actually pays the bills’. As it turns out, Teacher Gao himself let go of his dream to become a musician and chose to become a teacher instead.

If we were to pick our must-watch drama from this list, it has to be Le Coup de Foudre (2019).

Watch the trailer here.

KajoPicks: 8 Chinese coming-of-age dramas you need to watch

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KajoPicks: 12 Korean silent vloggers you should subscribe to on YouTube

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Raise your hand if you love watching vlogs but cannot stand loud vloggers.

As much as it is interesting to watch strangers living their normal lives, some vloggers out there really go all out with the TMI (Too Much Information).

Besides showing their daily activities, they talk about their ex-boyfriends, sex lives and family issues. For some, it may be cathartic or even therapeutic to hear that other people are having the same, or even more, problems than you.

Then we have the silent vloggers. Unlike other vloggers who unload their lives in front of the camera, these vloggers remain silent.

They do not talk to the camera but communicate with their audience through subtitles.

The country which offers so many silent vloggers on YouTube is none other than South Korea.

Most of these Korean silent vloggers are freelancers, stay-at-home mums and college students.

They document their lives doing normal activities such as grocery shopping, cooking and going to class.

At the same time, they promote slow living and minimalist lifestyle.

KajoPicks: 12 Korean silent vloggers you should subscribe to on YouTube
Most of these Korean silent vloggers have similar concept of living in a minimalist home.

If you are looking into a change of scenery on your YouTube channel subscription, here are 12 South Korean silent vloggers you should watch:

1.Sueddu

Sueddu is a freelance videographer and writer. Expect nothing but aesthetic vlogs from her.

The cinematography and colour tone that she uses are a whole other level from most vlogs.

Living alone with her pet dog Bebe, she enjoys cooking and painting.

With 772,000 subscribers, Sueddu is one of the most followed Korean silent vloggers on YouTube.

2.Hamimommy

This YouTuber is one of many Korean silent vloggers who proves that being a stay-at-home mom doesn’t have to be boring.

She spends her time doing the usual household chores like any other stay-at-home mom, except she does it in front a camera.

This housewife, who is in her 30s, is taking leave of absence from work to take care of her 4-year-old son.

Besides showing her 378,000 subscribers how she cleans, gardens and organises, Hamimommy also share useful tips on living a zero waste life.

3.Heejo

Before her career as a vlogger, this fashion design graduate worked as a designer.

Now, she juggles between running a bedding brand, producing videos and writing.

Her videos are mainly about her daily activity, minimalist lifestyle and recipes.

4.Jihyunkkung

We bet that when you were a campus student, the last thing you would thought is to have 1 million people watching you living your normal life.

Most of her videos are of her preparing meal in between her classes.

This business administration student started her Youtube channel with cafe vlogs when she was working as a part-timer.

Now, her channel has grown to have 1.18 million subscribers.

Jihyunkkung is signed under CJ&EM DIA TV, a company in-charge online content creators.

5.Suzlnne

Here is another Korean vlogger who is a college student. With 480,000 subscribers, Suzlnne started her channel with Gongbang. It is where people broadcast themselves studying in almost total silence.

During this Covid-19 pandemic, she shows how she goes through her daily life as a university student.

Her days mostly circle around cooking, eating, doing assignments and attending online lectures during the South Korea lockdown.

6.Haegreendal

The most popular video of this Korean silent vlogger has 7.7 million views. Interestingly, it is a video about her trying 11 different egg dishes she has tried for the first time.

The second most viewed video is a video entitled “Vlog that makes you want to clean” and it has 4.5 million views.

She spices up her life as a stay-at-home mum by filming aesthetic videos of her cooking and doing chores.

7.Eyol

Eyol proves that one can be funny even without uttering a single word as she is cute and hilarious in her subtitles.

Like many South Korean silent vloggers, her vlogs are ‘food diary’ entries, what she eats in a day.

Her most popular video is of her going to a BTS concert with 2.9 million views. That particular video really attracts other BTS’ fans out there.

Other than that, her 265,000 subscribers just enjoy her daily vlogs as a university student.

8.Nebom

Most of these Korean silent vloggers rely on their foreign subscribers to help in the translation of their subtitles.

While it is a good thing since it is a free service, but an error in translation can go very wrong.In one of Nebom’s video which supposed to be about ‘Delicious food with boyfriend’ was translated as ‘delicious boyfriend’.

Anyway, who are we to say if her boyfriend is delicious or not. Nonetheless, the wrong translation on the video’s title turned out to be a good thing for her as it gathered 1.4 million views.

Her daily vlogs circle around her cooking at delicious-looking food at home and enjoying them at the end of her videos.

By doing that alone, she has gathered 221,000 subscribers with a total of 11,947,287 views since May 3, 2018.

9.Hyonyeo

Are you curious about the life of a cafe owner when she is not in her cafe? Hyonyeo give her 157,000 subscribers a glimpse of her daily life working in cafe and her off days through her Youtube channel.

From learning how to play the piano to a play session with her cat, Hyonyeo seems to live a fairy tale life.

Plus, her apron collection which is part of her working attire is just too adorable.

10.Cardsu

Here is another aesthetic silent vlog channel with soothing background music for you to subscribe.

Cardsu lives with her husband and two sons (one of them is away for college). The former interior designer promotes minimalist lifestyle through her vlogs.

She also shares recipes, interior designing tips and her life with minimal waste as possible.

11.Seungahne

With only 28 videos, Seungahne has already gathered 269,000 subscribers.

Similar to other Korean silent vloggers, she focuses on home-cooking videos and decorating her room.

Her most popular video is about her making over her home for winter with 1.7 million views.

12.With Anna

This YouTube is perhaps the most popular figure on this list. She is not exactly a South Korean but of Swiss nationality. Her children Na-eun, Gun-hoo and Jin-woo are perhaps among the most famous toddlers in South Korea.

Anna is the wife of professional footballer Park Joo-hoo. Joo-hoo and his children are the cast of The Return of Superman, a variety show about celebrity fathers spending times with their children.

She just started her YouTube channel last Sept 19, 2020 but her content already looks promising.

Anyway, do not forget to subscribe To KajoMag’s YouTube channel for our silent vlogs.

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Filem Tempatan “Aku Bukan Gila” Dibintangi Beto Kusyairy & Fasha Sandha Kini Disiarkan secara Eksklusif & Percuma menerusi Perkhidmatan Penstriman WeTV iflix!

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  • Sempena pelancaran “Aku Bukan Gila” yang mengujakan, tetamu media, selebriti dan tetamu kehormat berkumpul di Flamingo Hotel Ampang untuk menyaksikan pratonton filem eksklusif
Filem Tempatan “Aku Bukan Gila” Dibintangi Beto Kusyairy & Fasha Sandha Kini Disiarkan secara Eksklusif & Percuma menerusi Perkhidmatan Penstriman WeTV iflix!
(Kiri ke Kanan): Vijay Munisamy (Executive Producer of WeTV iflix Malaysia), Beto kusyairy, Rahila Ali, Dato’ Normashayu, Fasha Sandha, Wanna Ali, Sissy Imann, Heng Aik Kuang (Country Manager of WeTV iflix Malaysia) di pelancaran Aku Bukan Gila

Kuala Lumpur, 7 Oktober 2020 – Berita baik buat peminat filem tempatan! Filem terbaharu WeTV iflix, “Aku Bukan Gila” yang diterbitkan oleh Pencil Pictures and Records dan diarahkan oleh Rahila Ali, akan disiarkan bermula hari ini secara eksklusif dan percuma menerusi perkhidmatan penstriman WeTV iflix.

Pada majlis pelancaran media eksklusif di Flamingo Hotel Ampang, seramai ahli media dan pencetus pengaruh berpeluang menyaksikan pratonton “Aku Bukan Gila” buat julung kali, sekaligus meningkatkan lagi keterujaan sebelum tayangan perdananya hari ini.

Bersempena pelancaran filem ini, para tetamu media, selebriti dan tetamu kehormat juga berpeluang bertemu barisan pelakon filem yang sangat dinanti-nantikan ini. Turut hadir pada majlis berkenaan ialah Fasha Sandha, Beto Kusyairy, Wanna Ali dan Rahila Ali.

Filem Tempatan “Aku Bukan Gila” Dibintangi Beto Kusyairy & Fasha Sandha Kini Disiarkan secara Eksklusif & Percuma menerusi Perkhidmatan Penstriman WeTV iflix!
(Kiri ke Kanan): Beto Kusyairy, Fasha Sandha, Wanna Ali semasa sidang media Aku Bukan Gila

“Saya berbangga untuk menjadi sebahagian daripada filem ini dan menghidupkan watak Andra, seorang wanita dengan personaliti yang kompleks lagi kuat, yang bergelut dengan kesedihan serta cabaran kehidupan seperti kita semua,” kata Fasha Sandha, pelakon utama “Aku Bukan Gila”.

“Peluang keemasan untuk bekerjasama dengan pengarah filem wanita, Rahila Ali, dalam penerbitan ini turut memperkasakan saya. Saya bersyukur dapat bekerjasama dengan WeTV iflix untuk menyebarkan keterujaan serta mesej yang disampaikan filem ini, dan berharap dapat menyertai lebih banyak lagi kolaborasi sedemikian pada masa depan.”

Filem Tempatan “Aku Bukan Gila” Dibintangi Beto Kusyairy & Fasha Sandha Kini Disiarkan secara Eksklusif & Percuma menerusi Perkhidmatan Penstriman WeTV iflix!
Ucapan Heng Aik Kuang, Pengurus Negara WeTV iflix Malaysia

“Kami sangat bersyukur untuk menjadi platform yang membawakan kisah menyentuh hati, ‘Aku Bukan Gila’ kepada rakyat Malaysia, yang pasti akan tersentuh oleh mesej cintakan diri sendiri daripada filem ini,” demikian kata Aik Kuang Heng, Pengurus Negara WeTV iflix Malaysia. “Memandangkan penstriman media telah menjadi pengaruh yang berkuasa dalam industri perfileman, serta penerapan media ini yang sangat tinggi di Malaysia, kami berharap untuk membawa pilihan kandungan premium yang lebih luas dari rantau Asia kepada penonton kami, di samping memperkasakan industri perfileman tempatan.”

Dibintangi artis tempatan yang berpengalaman, Beto Kusyairy dan Fasha Sandha, “Aku Bukan Gila” mengisahkan Andra (Sandha) yang merantau ke perkampungan Beddgelert di North Wales untuk melarikan diri daripada kekangan kekeluargaan dan mengubati hatinya selepas kematian ibu tersayang.

Tanpa diduga, takdir mempertemukannya dengan Andre (Kusyairy) dalam latar belakang yang menampilkan keindahan lanskap Wales. Walaupun pada awalnya, Andra banyak berselisih pendapat dengan Andre, mereka akhirnya berjaya mengatasi perbezaan yang wujud di antara mereka.

Namun, apabila Andra cuba masuk campur dalam kehidupan silam Andre, jejaka itu bukan sahaja mula berasa tidak selesa bahkan meragui kesihatan mental Andra.
Ciri kompleks kedua-dua pelakon utama filem ini akan membuka mata penonton kepada isu kesihatan mental, yang akan diterokai lagi dalam sebuah babak khas yang ditayangkan selepas penutup penghargaan. Ia pasti akan menyentuh perasaan penonton, dan meningkatkan penghayatan terhadap dua watak utama yang dihidupkan oleh Beto dan Fasha.

WeTV iflix akan terus berusaha menyokong bakat tempatan dan menjadi platform premium untuk mengedarkan kandungan tempatan yang bermutu tinggi. Tonton “Aku Bukan Gila” sekarang juga secara percuma menerusi penstriman eksklusif di WeTV iflix di iflix.com, atau aplikasinya yang boleh dimuat turun dari Apple Store dan Google Play Store.

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