Memories of Alhambra Drama Review

Memories of Alhambra tells a story about a groundbreaking AR game about medieval battles in the Alhambra (a real place in Spain). Yoo Jin Woo (played by Hyun Bin), CEO of an investment company that specializes in optical devices, travels to Granada, Spain to meet the creator of the game, Jung Se Joo (played by Park Chan Yeol). However, Se Joo has gone missing and there, he meets his older sister, Jung Hee Joo (played by Park Shin Hye), who is the owner of the hostel he stays in and a former guitarist. Both get entangled in mysterious incidents, as the border between the real world and the AR world built by Se Joo begins to blur.

This drama deserves a real appreciation for its plot and fresh new story ideas. We haven't encountered an augmented-reality games drama like this for years and I give a standing applause for Hyun Bin. He rocks the role of Yeo Jin Woo so much *applaud* that I have no idea who's gonna fit Yeo Jin Woo other than him. 

It was really exciting to play a game which happens in our reality, Zinu (Yeo Jin Woo's username in the games) gets so excited to explore the game and got level up, but then it's a new game and it is not completed yet. The problem appears when Jin Woo had a fight within the game with Cha Hyeong Seok (Jin Woo's ex-best friend who had an affair with Jin Woo's ex wife - Soo Jin). Jin Woo proceeds to defeat him in the game after leveling up to level 5, where Cha Hyung Seok was. Before their last battle, Jin Woo made a deal with Hee Joo to buy Hostel Bonita, which is under Hee Joo's name. The deal was made because Se Joo put the license for the game under Hostel Bonita, which means if Jin Woo got the ownership of the Hostel, he got the license for the game. 

Hee Joo got 10 billion won from Jin Woo, which was like a magic for her. After the deal was successful, Jin Woo invited Hyung Seok to meet with him in the middle of the night before Jin Woo's flight to Barcelona and go back to Seoul.

Jin Woo says that he’s headed back to Seoul the next morning, which indicates that he’s been successful with the business deal that they were both after. Hyung Seok’s face hardens at this news, and Jin Woo goads that he’s giving Hyung Seok a chance to beat him in the game, even though he lost in real life. He prods, “That’s the charm of games, right? Escapism and denying reality — a world where losers can become heroes.”

Jin Woo continues to jab at him by saying that Hyung Seok should have just taken his advice and spent time with his wife. That’s the last straw, and Hyung Seok attacks. The two rivals engage in an intense sword fight, and they both manage to slice each other’s arms. Hyung Seok paces as he catches his breath and says that he always wanted to tell Jin Woo something when they met one-on-one. 

He clarifies that he didn’t steal Soo Jin from Jin Woo and claims that he saved her from him because she seemed so miserable. He says that he was worried that Soo Jin would deteriorate next to Jin Woo.
Hyung Seok warns Jin Woo not to reject reality and points to him as the problem, since he’s failed in his second marriage. He advises Jin Woo to reflect on his failures unless he wants to continue to fail in his future marriages. Jin Woo smirks and calls Hyung Seok a bastard. He notes that all traitors justify their deeds with the same excuse — that it was for the people. Jin Woo points out that Hyung Seok’s justification is evidence that he’s a true traitor.

Hyung Seok punches Jin Woo, and they grab each other by the collar. The game notifies them that physical contact is prohibited and warns them that they will level down. At the warning, the two enemies release each other and both drop to level 3 in punishment. There’s nobody to stop this fight. The two rivals continue their sword fight, and Hyung Seok manages to fling the sword out of Jin Woo’s hands. Jin Woo just barely avoids Hyung Seok’s swings and runs to grab his sword stuck in the ground. He sees the shadow of Hyung Seok approaching behind him and times his attack to stick his sword right into Hyung Seok’s abdomen.

Hyung Seok freezes in shock as the sword pierces him, and he seems convincingly in pain. Jin Woo pulls out the sword and slices at Hyung Seok a few more times before the final blow that sends bloody Hyung Seok limp onto the bench. He looks at Hyung Seok, and the game congratulates him on winning and earning his enemy’s experience.

The next morning, Jin Woo wakes up to his phone ringing and sees that he’s missed 16 calls from Secretary Seo. Secretary Seo urgently explains that it’s an issue with Cha Hyung Seok. He was found dead on a park bench in the morning — dead with his eyes wide open. Jin Woo freezes at this news, and notice that Hyeong Seok died on the battle ground last night. Jin Woo looks shocked as he finally realizes there may be a defect in this genius game.

The game is magic to Jin Woo because it’s a technological breakthrough that will bring him and his company fame and fortune. And the game (if it functioned safely) would be magic to the world, because the kind of things that can be done with augmented reality, including but also in addition to gaming, could change the world in ways we can only imagine. But this defect is real, even though Jin Woo puts away the game contacts, he is still log in into the game. The border between AR and real world becomes blur. 

As Jin Woo looks through his phone, he hears the thunder outside followed by a guitar playing “Memories of Alhambra.” He looks around nervously and finds that his vision has changed into game mode. He checks his eyes, and once again, he has entered the game without his contacts.
The game notifies him that his enemy has arrived, and Jin Woo fearfully tightens his grip. He hears a knock on the door and asks who’s there. The door opens, and when he sees that it’s just Hee Joo, he sighs in relief. But then, he hears other footsteps approaching. It’s glitchy Hyung Seok with his sword, and Jin Woo looks petrified. The battle continues. Crazy. No one can see Hyung Seok, other than Jin Woo. He finally understands that why Se Joo hasn’t returned and what he’s afraid of. Jin Woo presumes that Se Joo was also under pursuit by someone that only he could see.

Everyone starts to think that Jin Woo had some mental problems, even though Hee Joo seems to believe him. Thus, to end this life-threatening game, is to finish the game with some clues given to him from Game Master (Se Joo) through the game. 

During the adventure, Jin Woo was able to find Emma, the game character of Hee Joo, which functions as healer. There was this quotes is when the golden key meets with the bracelet, the gate will open. The bracelet itself was worn by Emma. Se Joo was then released from predicament and Jin Woo as the game master was given the ability to have instance dungeon in which he can escape and save himself there in case anything happen.

The game was reset and Jin Woo's character was deleted from the game. But after one year, Jin Woo come back to the real world after the AR game was reconstructed and the border between AR and real life has been checked properly. The game was released to the world and it ends like that. 

My Thoughts:

I am seriously mind blown with the idea of this story. This show is so dynamic and actually feels like a reflection of the AR game itself. The plot is unpredictable and unsteady in a way that makes this show gripping. 

The blending of multiple dimensions is blowing my mind. But we never quite know because the rules of the overlap between virtual and reality are still a bit unclear. As this is a story that only the writers know why certain things happen, and despite this ambiguity, I’m actually enjoying this lawless game going rogue because it infuses the drama with an element of mystery that makes everything so unpredictable. 

I’m loving the unexpected surprises, even though they’re mostly terrifying. The way that Hyung Seok just appeared behind the door and ruthlessly attacked Jin Woo made me squeak in fear and pain for all the broken bones that Jin Woo probably just broke again. 

The twists and cliffhangers slap me in the face because they come out of nowhere, and the solid creative writing ensures that the cliffhangers keep me engaged and not infuriated. The cliffhanger endings leave us with a taste of what’s to come, making me intrigued by the unknown elements of this AR. Just when I think that the show is slowing down, it speeds up and then comes to an abrupt halt. There are so many interesting elements and plot points to work. 

Even though it's all mystery, I still don't really like that the writer is not a good storyteller because everything is a surprise. We all need the background why it happens, how could it happens and any solutions to end it need to be tell into a good story telling - which doesn't happen here. The more it gets into the ending, the weirder it gets for me. 

Anyway, Hyun Bin portrays Jin Woo very nicely. He did super super good, I think one of the reason why I continue this drama is to see how much Hyun Bin has grown since Secret Garden and hope that this drama goes well, even though sadly the storyline needs a bit of soft touch. 

I'm sorry to say but the romantic part didn't get me well. The connection was a bit off and no chemistry so far between Binnie & Pak Shin Hye LOL, or maybe I just didn't ship them together haha!

Overall is good, if you want something nice like an AR game drama, this one is worth to try ~ Enjoy!!

Memories of Alhambra - First Impression

One of the most anticipated fantasy series of the year finally premieres! It's all about teleported magic, virtual reality, and love in Granada, Spain. How could they get an idea of turning games into real life games? Amazing idea.

Yoo Jin Woo (played by Hyun Bin) is the CEO of a highly successful investment company with a doctorate in engineering, and interest in game development. While on a business trip to Barcelona, he receives a mysterious call from a programmer who asks to meet in Granada. Their meeting point is Hostel Bonita run by Jung Hee Joo (played by Park Shin Hye) who starts off on the wrong foot during her first encounter with Jin Woo. Disregarding Hee Joo and her lack of financial sense, Jin Woo becomes enthralled when he experiences the magic of a virtual reality game created by the elusive programmer who never shows up.

Taken back to 1492, the game brings the events of the Reconquista to life using state of the art technology. Seeing the potential of the game which is worth trillions of won, Jin Woo discovers that the genius game creator he wishes to sign a deal with is 17 year-old Jung Se Joo (played by EXO's Park Chan Yeol) who is none other than Hee Joo's younger brother. Flabbergasted, Jin Woo has to convince the clueless Hostel praton to be the signing guardian of a gaming deal that will go down in history and alter the game developing world.

What a fantastic premiere and great way to end a drama slump that has been formed over the past two months! Ever since casting news was announced, I've been keeping my eyes peeled and watching this like a hawk, and my hopes were not misplaced! This delivered on a scale I didn't anticipate and met all my expectations.

Written by the Writer of W: Two Worlds and directed by the highly praised Ahn Gil Ho who was behind Forest of Secrets, they're creative processes and capabilities combine nicely to give us Memories of the Alhambra. The idea of turning AR (augmented reality) into a genre would make sense coming from the mind of the Scriptwriter who wrote W: Two Worlds since that took the drama world by storm with its comic-world meets reality subject matter. But to be honest, I am quite worry because W:Two World used to have several surprising plot which in fact, I think ending the story that way is best rather than dragging the plot due to its popularity.

Yet unlike the former, Memories of the Alhambra isn't heavily focused on fated love that turns overly cringy and a plot that became messy in the second half (or at least that's what I can hope for and pray the Writer has read everyone's commentary on it) since the storyline seems highly detailed and hyper-fixated on aspects regarding the drama's AR elements.

I'm glad this was placed in TvN's hands, because it's nice to see two big names like Hyun Bin and Park Shin Hye in a cable network series instead of being typecast in a generic drama produced by one of the larger broadcasting networks. The high production quality is reminiscent of Goblin but because this show is reliant on special effects, it goes beyond what we've seen in dramas prior to it. As far as their interactions go, I have no qualms with the acting since the first episode is mainly focused on Jin Woo's discovery of the incredible game and I thoroughly enjoyed the pacing of the show as it never slows down or lags, giving us a tightly executed premiere. So many good dramas lining up this month, I really like the cinematography as well as the effect of CGI they used. No complaints at all.

Unlike the few negative comments that have been sacking the series along with other dramas and calling it another 'generic' and 'boring' show, I have to disagree even with my own bias opinions aside. I've never come across a K-drama like this in all the years I've been watching Korean dramas and have to admit that this is one show that will set itself apart with its' integration of genres and distinct tone and setting.

Granada historically, is a hybrid of cultures and styles, creating a unique backdrop for such a series to base its foundations and game elements on. Considering the Writer, it'll be exciting to see how the lines of a medieval virtual reality blur with the present to illustrate a fresh story that we've all been thirsting for. Gaming as a main genre or even as a subsect has never been portrayed in a K-drama before, so we can all expect this to be quite the thrilling ride with plenty of potential and curiosity to peak anyone's interest.

If you haven't noticed already, I have nothing but praise for what the drama has accomplished and delivered thus far and can only hope that it maintains its momentum, unique style, and intriguing story to never stagnant and to leave a lasting impression as the year draws to an end. So here's to wishing that Alhambra is more than a magical place to visit, but becomes the milieu of a drama we can all positively love.

Hyun Bin in Memories of the Alhambra

Hyun Bin’s upcoming drama “Memories of the Alhambra” has offered viewers their very first look at the actor in his new starring role!

“Memories of the Alhambra” is a new tvN drama that will tell the story of Yoo Jin Woo, a brilliant investment firm CEO who travels to Spain on business and ends up staying at an old hostel in Granada (played by Hyun Bin). Park Shin Hye will star opposite Hyun Bin as Jung Hee Joo, the owner of the hostel, while EXO’s Chanyeol will play the role of her younger brother.

On June 22, the drama released new photos that show Hyun Bin sporting casual attire befitting of a tourist as he wanders through Spain. His friendly smile in the first photo hints at his character’s humorous side, while the second photo captures his adventurous spirit.

“Memories of the Alhambra” has been confirmed to premiere sometime in November of this year.

I strongly believe the second half of this year is gonna be great, tvN has several drama in projects which ofcourse I have been waiting for so far!

Btw, if you happen to look for a good drama, I recommend "Are You Human, Too?" and "What's Wrong With Secretary Kim?" both has such a fun storyline

Park Shin Hye & Hyun Bin Offered Lead Role in SBS Healing Drama

On January 17, industry representatives reported that the actress has been cast as the female lead of upcoming SBS drama “Yeowoo Gaksibyeol” (romanized title). In response, her agency revealed that she has received the offer, but her appearance is not yet confirmed. She is currently waiting for the script.

“Yeowoo Gaksibyeol” is a melodrama that tells the story of a man and woman who meet in Seoul and help each other heal their pains as they experience music, food, and people. Park Shin Hye has been cast as the female lead Seo Hye Won, who was left alone in the world at the age of 18 when her father passed away while trying to save someone.

The drama is written by Kang Eun Kyung, the writer of “Romantic Doctor Kim” and “Gu Family Book.” It will be directed by Shin Woo Chul, who previously led “Secret Garden,” “A Gentleman’s Dignity,” and “Gu Family Book.”

“Yeowoo Gaksibyeol” is expected to air in the second half of 2018 via SBS.

I would like to see Hyun Bin on screen! It's been quite long after the mild disappointment in Hyde, Jekly & I few years ago with Han Ji Min. It's not because he is not good, but I guess the storyline and the writing makes it hard to hit the games. But now, it's a good time to hit the screen again after the successful of Secret Garden and gain the international recognition again with Secret Garden PD as well. I hope this drama would be the best choice for Hyun Bin's comeback.

Considering the pairing with Park Shin Hye, it's gonna be worth waiting for. You know, Park Shin Hye was recognized for her acting skill in Doctors and it's gonna be awesome if they both could make it.

Meanwhile, I was also thinking about Hyun Bin co-star Ha Ji Won from Secret Garden. She seriously need to work again with Kim Eun Sook or at least choose a good project & pairing to gain the recognition again. It's been quite a while, start from the disappoinment in the remake of In Time With You (not because of her character, but because of Lee Jin Wook) and this time, Hospital Ship is way too long maybe, even though Ha Ji Won stands out amazingly. Maybe it's just the Korean reception is not that good, or timing factor in airing makes it hard. It's hard nowadays to achieve high rating, unless a weekend drama like My Golden Life. Park Si Hoo is really lucky. LOL.

Doctors Korean Drama Enjoys Popularity - Summary Ep 1-6

I an not a big fan of Park Shin Hye. At first, I'm not planning to watch Doctors since I know, the typical drama of Park Shin Hye would be those romantic comedy with her famous crying scene, being a kind of girl who is weak and needs protection from the cool Oppa.

Until recently, my colleagues said that I should watch Doctors because the storyline is different from the others. I did try the first episodes and I could say it's a breakthrough for Park Shin Hye in her acting career to take on such role, such character which makes me falling in love with her.

In episode 1, 2 and 3, Doctors only talk about the childhood of Yoo Hye Jung (played by Park Shin Hye), Jin Seo Woo (played by Lee Sung Kyung) and their teacher Hong Ji Hong (played by Kim Rae Won). Due to many childhood scars, Hye Jung keeps her heart closed towards other people. She is left with her father and stepmother who doesn't even bother to take care of her. With her IQ of 156, she enrols to many school but there is not even one who would want to accept her because of her attitude problems. In the end, her grandma who is almost 65 years old want to take her in to change her attitude. But she only knows that her father abandoned her and didn't want to take care of her anymore. In the first day of school, her grandma told her to go directly to school and but school uniform but Hye Jung ended up going to a night club, fought with another teenager, stole a CD in the music store and met with her future teacher, Hong Ji Hong. Although she didn't say the truth, Ji Hong knew that Hye Jung did stole the CD and asked her to politely return to the music store, apologized and admitted what she did is wrong. Unfortunately, with her martial arts technique, she dozed him off and at that point, as a popular teacher among students with may girls fangirl-ing him, he was amazed by Hye Jung's action and attracted towards her.

After going back to her grandma's home, Hye Jung met the guy who confronts her for stealing. It was Hong Ji Hong who actually rented a room in the grandma's house. He is a teacher and unexpectedly, he is the homeroom teacher of Hye Jung who finally said yes for going to school after a mental beating from her grandma. Meeting Ji Hong as her tutor and mentor actually transforms Hye Jung from a hopeless child to a passionate doctors. As she watched how Ji Hong performed as a doctor, she was inspired to be a doctor and saves many lives. Ji Hong told her to not just keep dreaming but showed her true intentions by getting a good mark on the test. Hye Jung who never studied asked her classmate, Seo Woo who always get A to teach her to study for exam and it turns out Hye Jung is the one who gets A and beats Seo Woo. Seo Woo who felt she is betrayed and accused Hye Jung had an affair with her teacher, Ji Hong. Besides, Hye Jung's grandma who suffers with stomach cancer suddenly died at the operating room during the surgery which made Hye Jung to suspect the mal-practice and swears she is going to be a doctor and finds the evidence to prove it. With that unfortunate events following, Ji Hong and Hye Jung had to part ways subsequently and meet again after 13 years and now Hye Jung is a Neurosurgeon Doctor.

With such a young age being a Neurosurgeon Doctors and famous in its field is not an easy steps for Hye Jung but she is super cool and woah, I really like how she achieved her dreams and becomes a very cool and amazing woman. She is not only a doctor, but also a professional woman fighter (as she said). Epsiode 4 mostly talks about how Hye Jung meets up again with Seo Woo and Prof. Hong Ji Hong. They all work in the same hospital. Seo Woo suspects Hye Jung who is famous enough and want to join Gukil Medical Centre is to reunite with Prof. Ji Hong but eventually, she decided to come there is to uncover the truth behind her grandma's death.

In her first day, Hye Jung makes her appearance unusual from the other doctors since she decided to do a surgery which makes Prof. Jung Yoon Do (played by Yoon Kyun Sang) to throws a fit for lack of proper attitude. But then, after much discussion and debates, Dr. Jung finally seems to be interested on Hye Jung. She is strong, confident and knows what best to decide and always makes his heart flutters, (OMG so cute of him ^^)

In Episode 5 and 6, Doctors mostly talks about the cases in which make Dr. Jung to see how lovely and capable Hye Jung is. He helps Hye Jung when he visited her patient who turns out there is a scene there. Unfortunately, Hye Jung is the one who is able to turn over the situation which makes Dr. Jung very embarrassed of himself.

Many times, Dr. Jung tries to avoid Hye Jung but Hye Jung chased him and said thank you for coming there and thus allowing Hye Jung to have time to turn over the situation. But Dr. Jung is so embarrassed and expects her not to say anything anymore. Hye Jung said there is nothing to be embarrassed off because she is a professional fighter.

After everything is calmed down, Hye Jung meets up with Prof. Hong and he is relieved that nothing happens to her. Hye Jung sits with Ji Hong on a bench outside the hospital with drinks. Ji Hong asks Hye Jung if she’s going to continue living this way. She’s too competitive and should learn to enjoy the luxuries, he says. He asks how many hours she sleeps, and she responds that ten hours a week is enough. She insists that she’s used to it and says that she wouldn’t be here if she slept and worked like everyone else.

Ji Hong asks the real question: “Are you happy now?” After a pause, Hye Jung says that there’s no way she’s happy. The reason she wanted to turn over a new leaf was for Grandma, and now that she’s succeeded, Grandma is no longer with her. Ji Hong tells her to just accept it, since he can’t help her with that. Hye Jung wonders if Ji Hong keeps wanting to help her because she’s his former student, but he calls her dumb for thinking that.

He’s more straightforward with his expression and confesses that he likes her. He says that whenever he thinks of her, he remembers their last moment when she rode away on the motorcycle. He regrets not holding onto her then. Hye Jung suddenly gets up and spills the drinks all over Ji Hong. He asks if this is a rejection, and she says no; he then asks if they’re dating now, and she also says no. He asks if her instinctive response is always no, and she says no.
Hye Jung meets again with her stepmother who suffers from facial psalm who needs to have a brain surgery. Her stepmother is kinda crazy and throws a fit there, asking for a discount since Hye Jung is her daughter and asks to be change to another doctor. This matter makes Hye Jung to ask Dr. Jung to help her handle this patient. Dr. Jung refuses at first due to the professionalism but after knowing the truth, triggers by his interest on Hye Jung also, he decides to accept the offer and performs surgery.

Hye Jung comes to the Grandma's Diner who is run by her biological father. She couldn't take a step instead just seeing him for a far. With her complicated mood, she meets with Prof. Hong who is waiting for her in the rain to give her the medical records on Hye Jung grandma's surgery. In the rain, they end up with a kiss, in which Hong Ji Hong said, he is going to give something special from a man to a woman.

Personal Notes:

I really love Park Shin Hye's character here, she is bold. Although she had a rough beginnings, but she is determined to make things better for herself, even if it means playing a long game. She learnt to be independent and she has many places to grow and improve. It's rarely we see Park Shin Hye portraying this type of character.

I don't really like Kim Rae Won in A Thousand Years Promise, because he is not a typical flower handsome guy who comes from the castle and saves the princess. Yet, somehow he portrays a very warm and gentle doctor who knows how to soothe someone's feeling and give his best to love her. Although sometimes he is cheesy and straighfoward with his feelings, isn't that what we want as a viewers? It reminds me of the cheeky little Captain Yoo from Descendant of the Sun haha. We all like straightforwardness now rather than dragging the feelings and confessions.

Besides those two, there is one who attracts my interest, which is Dr. Jung Yoon Do or Yoon Kyun Sang he is super super cute with his dorky-ness. He may be a little rough around the edges, but once he gets to know someone, he is a big softy inside. He can be quick to anger but he is a rational creature and as just quick to recognise when he is wrong. I know that Yoon Kyun Sang's true personality is not someone like Dr. Jung since he is so quiet and modest on Running Man. But anyhow, I still like his acting. He can be that cute and yet he's too adorable not to be noticed.
At first I wonder who this guy is till I remember him playing in The Time We Were Not In Love with Ha Ji Won and well, in that drama, he doesn't get me a point. But seeing how he rose to become a second male lead, it motivates me to do my best too to pursue my career ^.^

Sadly, I don't think Hye Jung is going to give him a chance to enter her heart because she only has eyes for Prof. Hong. Poor Dr. Jung. Well, you can play with me nah ~


With this kind of genre and story line, Doctors enjoys much popularity with high ratings too.

Cheers ~