Snow Lotus (2015)

This drama is short and sweet and two episodes was all it really needed. Honestly I skipped most of the first episode because the start was just so slow. However, reincarnation is one of my all-time favorite plot lines so I didn't give up on this. And I'm glad because this was a very nice short drama ( drama special? )

Story: As I mentioned, I love the theme of this drama. It's done well and there's a good balance between the scenes in present time and those in the past. It even has a nice twist at the end and the ending is satisfying. The only reason why I can't give this a 10 is because some things were a bit over the top -- and it did get on my nerves at times.

Acting: I won't say that Ahn Jae Hyeon completely redeemed himself but I didn't mind his acting here. As for the other actors it was my first time Ji Jin Hee (weird, I know!) and Lee Ji Ah. They played their characters well but it was nothing special. The chemistry felt a bit forced at first but by the end it was ok.

Overall: I'm giving this drama a 9 because it was nice and I'd definetly recommend it. I don't think its worth re-watching just because its such a cliche drama, there's not really anything new and exciting going on. Watching it again will just not be that fun.

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Fated love, reincarnation, cross-dressing—this drama should have been hitting all my weak spots. But the story comes off as bland and tired at best. If you enjoyed watching Blood non-ironically, then you would love this almost-reunion work. Snow Lotus is nothing special, but so bite-sized you might be tempted to give it a try.

The cross-dressing though—that was done very, very well. Lee Ji Ah's character actually felt like a male in drag (and a lovely maiden in a dress), to the point where the scenario started feeling like BL. Any comedic moments that made their mark came straight from here. Coffee Prince and Bromance have nothing on Snow Lotus. The story's one stab at uniqueness, combining this trope with reincarnation, made the whole thing watchable.

Ji Jin Hee seems to have taken up his character from The Man Who Can't Get Married, minus the humorous self-deprecation. This was the first time I saw Lee Ji Ah, but she did quite well as a dull pushover. It was hard to feel any romance between the two, but not for lack of their trying. Seo Ji Hye and Ahn Jae Hyeon had so little range that I don't feel comfortable commenting on their performances, but what little they showed was OK.

I can only hope director Song Hyun-Wook (Super Daddy Yul, Haeundae Lovers) and writer Min Ji-Eun (Old Goodbye) had temporary amnesia or some sort of terrible head cold for this project. They're better than this.

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