Park Bo Young did an excellent job as both Na Bong Sun and Shin Sun Ae. I couldn't believe how much chemistry she had with Jo Jung Suk as Kang Sun Woo. They were so cute and funny together. I also liked Kim Seul Gi as Shin Sun Ae. Actually, I just like Kim Seul Gi. I'm not a huge Im Joo Hwan fan because I find his acting stiff usually. However, he was pretty good in this and actually his scene at the end was great. The look on his face spoke volumes. All of the other actors were good also.
The music is nice and I have already added some to my MP3.
I might rewatch this some day.
I recommend this drama to everyone!!!
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This review may contain spoilers
What an excellent drama! It's up there in my favourites list now with Healer and Faith.The story was great. It was great to see something totally different. It was well written and the pace was perfect, it was slow when it needed to be slow, and fast moving when it needed to be fast moving. It was quite a simple story but so beautifully told. It was hilarious and it made me cry (I'm not a cryer usually). The writers did such a great job without leaning on tired tropes
The actors were expert. The only one I was familiar with was Kim Seul Gi, which was why I watched this drama. She's fabulous in everything she does even if the drama is not so great (I'm looking at you "Flower Boy Next Door") . The lead actress Park Bo Young was so wonderful to watch. She essentially played 3 personalities in this and was convincing in each of them. The lead actor Jo Jung Suk was great too. I'm not sure why but i really didn't want to like him, but he'd won me over by the second episode. All of the actors were superb. There wasn't a single character, minor or major, good or bad who I didn't care about by the third episode. It's nice to see a well played bad guy who is not a walking cliche - two thumbs up to the actor (i don't want to say who it was for fear of spoilers) for being just the right amount of creepy and the writers - great job!.
Rewatch value is right up there. I would watch this again...and again. It really is a classic drama. RECOMMENDED!
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Story
The story was quite unique; as i never really heard a drama about a girl being possessed by a lusty ghost. It took me a couple of episodes to start really becoming more intrigued by this drama, and a couple more for me to completely fall in love. The concept of a guy noticing a girl due to her personality change isn't uncommon, however how this drama was presented gave me a surprise. Although it was somewhat cliche; a boisterous guy disliking and being annoyed with a doormat girl, but sooner or later- he falls in love with the other personality she had displayed. The story was actually had more depth to this as it was paced quite well despite the feeling of the ending being rushed.
Of course, you might think that Kang Seon Woo (Joo jung suk) actually fell in love with Shin Sun Ae (Kim Seul Gi); the ghost; instead of Na Bong Seon (Park Bo Young) however, be patient as everything will be revealed in the end.
Actors
Park Bong Young and Joo Jung Suk had one of the best chemistries I had seen; how their relationship grows from the first episode to the last made me immensely happy at their character growth; and both of them are just too adorable!
However, I know that a lot of people threw hate on Park Bong Young's character since she was literally like a doormat at times and frustrated everyone (including me), however the growth of her character made those thoughts of irritation disappear. Park Bong Young truly is able to show how her character develops with time.
Music
The music was decent; it wasn't terrible as the soundtracks were well picked.
Rewatch
I will rewatch this drama another time; however I may skip some parts in the beginning as I am not a huge fan of doormat characters; however I love Na Bong Seon's character growth so I might consider watching everything once again.
Conclusion?
This drama was worth the watch; I put this drama off a bit since i thought people were over-hyping this drama, but with a pleasant surprise; i think it was worth the hype!
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The main characters:
I am new to these dramas so not familiar with any of the actors. I love the chef's (Jo Jung Suk) character. He was arrogant but I definitely didn't hold it against him. He was funny and you can tell that there was more to him then his brashness. My favorite hands down was Shin Soon-ae. I enjoyed the show better when she possessed Na Bong-sun's body. I found Na Bong's character annoying to be honest. I was constantly wishing for Shin Soon-ae to jump in her body to brighten everything up once more.
Officer Choi was definitely creepy the way he went from evil one minute and nice the next. I don't think anyone who have ever believed that he was the one killing people. It was sad that he killed Shin Soon-ae without even realizing or knowing that she liked him.
I found myself wishing that the chef would somehow magically end up with the real Shin Soon-ae. I know she was dead but I really wanted her to have a happy ending. That should have been her reward for uncovering all of the evil deeds done by Officer Choi. I loved the chemistry that the characters had.
The supporting staff:
I really wanted them to explore more about Kwak Si-Yang's character, Joon. At one point, I thought they would have made this a four way love affair because of how both Na Bong-Sun and Shin Soon-ae's relationship seemed so genuine. It also looked like he was secretly carrying a torch for Na Bong but oh well.
I felt that they rushed the ending. Most of the show centered around Na Bong and Chef but then they exposed everything in like two or three episodes.
I didn't care for the ending too much. Like I said...I really wasn't cheering for Na Bong as herself. My heart ached for Shin Soon-ae when she had to leave and say goodbye to everyone. I felt that chef could have shown a bit more emotion when it looked like he finally saw her at the end. It seemed like he no longer wanted to hold her hands when he found out that it was her and not Na Bong. In my opinion, he really fell in love with Shin Soon-ae and not Na Bong. He cared about Na Bong but I really couldn't see her as something that would have lasted if Shin Soon-ae was real and alive. I wonder who would he have chosen?
I loved the shaman's relationship with Shin Soon-ae. At the end when she was crying when she felt her crossing over really pushed me to tears. I wanted for them at least to show her in heaven or something doing something fabulous or with a beautiful man like she hoped for but nothing.
All and all...I really loved this show. The chef had me at hello. I loved him.
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This review may contain spoilers
The story was hard to get in to, because it was unique and started slow and took some time to build up. But the more episodes i viewd, the more i felt connected to the cast and the acting from Park Bo Young. After completing the show, i thought by myself that this series was amazing and a one of a kind. The chemistry and the acting was superb, also the support rolls made this show what it is. There are not many things in this series that i dislike. However there is one thing that keeps me from rewatchting it and that is the part with the ghosts possession. The character Na Bong Sun is in my opinion possessed to many times and for to long. When does she has the time to be stronger and not timid anymore. How does she become her own person, and where does she get the strength to stand up for herself. I actually wanted 1 or 2 episodes more screen time for the not possessed Na Bong Sun, to see how she would grow from a timid girl to a strong woman. One other this i didnt like abouw the possession, was the character Shin Sun Ae, she was very selfsentered and anoying. I get why she showed this kind of behavior and it was kinda normal for her. However even when she made the deal with Na Bong Sun, to fix her up with Chef, she didnt include the likes and dislikes from Na Bong Sun, and just presented herself towards Chef, what screwed up the relationship and had to be fixed in the last few episodes.
The ending was good and quite strong. I wonder why the the directors thought it would be smart for Na Bong Sun to go study in Europe, because she had a major crush on Chef from beginnen to end. On the otherside, i understand why she would have left. In my opinion it was because Na Bong Sun, not once gotten the chance to think for herself in her life. Always seeing ghosts and doing things just to go on with her life and trying to survive.
In the future i would like the rewatch this show, but thinking of skipping few episodes, that takes to long and what in my opinion feels like fillers.
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Baby voice and scaredy cat
DISCLAIMER: This is my own opinion. No harm meant to the fans. The drama is bad NOT the actors!If it had not been for the Watch Challenge this drama would have ended on my Not Interested list (where I put dropped dramas!) after the first episode. Since I promised to finish it, I used my time while watching to stop and rant which you can find below.
In short, this drama has not aged well and it is only 8 years old. The story idea is good, the acting is stellar, the production values are correct. And the writing is catastrophic: EVERY single character starts and ends as unlikeable (with the notable exception of three kitchen assistants), the WORST character ever in k dramas being the sous chef, a misogynist and sexist (he does not want to employ a married women with a kid! this was never ok or funny, as they used it here!) harasser. He might be a good cook but he is a despicable person. The main couple has no chemistry and the character development for the FL turns out to be the complete character change as in she takes all the traits of the ghost girl's personality together with the annoying baby cutesy voice!The plot is full of tropes, it is highly predictable (the murderer was obvious in ep 3). and therefore very boring.
I never watch anything in high speed so I only thought about ffw towards the end of ep. 15. Too late!
The music was correct, especially in the first half which was supposed to be a comedy and they used a lot of jazzy tunes.
THE RANT
I am spending more time ranting about this drama than watching it. I wanted to like it so much but, unfortunately, it is so bad. Ghost stories, possessions and romance are the tropes I like but here they completely ruined it with extreme characterization!
First of all, what is with this woke title on viki: Oh My Ghostess? I did not know the word existed!
4 episodes in and I am not really liking the drama: not a single likable character and everything seems to be set up as extremes. I guess they need to show the character growth but seems very predictable and cliché. I hope I am wrong....
One FL is a doormat, the other pushy harasser as a ghost but a cheerful optimistic girl in reality, the ML is arrogant, his mother annoying, the cop obviously a bad guy who killed the girl and no one knows how to say NO when even slightly pushed.
This drama is so full of tropes! I really hope it gets better!
Ep. 5 and the ML goes topless in order to put some skincare on his face! Nice; Good opportunity for the ghost girl to make a lot of lewd sexist remarks we are supposed to find funny and cute. Imagine if it were a man doing the same thing? Not funny at all! I can go with the idea that as a virgin ghost she needs to get rid of her virginity (how does that work, I wonder?) but does she really need to talk lasciviously?
Ep 7 we see the original, super shy, introverted and incompetent FL freed from the possession and the ML liking her more and more. Does she remind him of himself in high school when he was shy and bullied? But he likes the ghost as well because she's fun and extrovert, good cook and quick thinking!
A pet peeve of mine when I watch dramas set in restaurant kitchens is that almost always the female characters cook with their hair freely flying around: so un hygienic! I know, a FL with her hair tied or under a bonnet is not very appealing but still....when I see them like that, all I can think is "hair in my pasta" and not "how romantic, falling in love over a pan!"
I like the jazzy music on end credits: they should play it more!
Ep. 8 the wimpy FL asks for the ghost girl's help in seducing the chef. So many red flags rising! If she cannot muster up the courage to be more relaxed and brave, it is only cheating and this kind of cheating I hate, i.e. having someone else do your work for you and pretend it was you who did it all! NO NO NO & NOOOOOO!
Do writers & directors really think that women talking like babies are cute and seductive? The ghost is just being so utterly annoying with her cutesy voice and aggressive behaviour. This has not aged well! She can perfectly well stand up and walk but he insists on carrying her?!? Why do these men insist on treating the adult women as small, irresponsible and weak children? That ML is starting seriously to get on my nerves: it must be his caveman side - he likes the weak female more than an adult and competent one! He really needs to shed this macho mentality. He had a crush on the women for such a long time but never dared to say anything: now she's giving him strong signals to come and ask her on a date, he does not want to?!? What a cretin! Men are really afraid of independent women: how much low esteem does he have!
Please, can we get a likeable character in here?
And that ghost in ep 9? She is beyond annoying? Could not the writers find a middle ground where the fls are concerned and not make them complete opposites? And the ml falling for this behaviour: blowing hot and cold, shy and pushy? Did he really fall for someone with apparently split personality or is he just an idiot? My two cents worth of psychology would say he is still deeply insecure about his own qualities, he never managed to completely get rid of low self-esteem which made him a bullying target in his teens. He still seems to be that shy teen hiding not very deep inside the successful adult!
The extremely annoying ghost is still trying to get into the ML's pants, "seducing" him with baby voice and buckling his seat belt: this is the first time I've seen this in an asian drama. Usually it is the opposite: the macho man reaches over to take the girl's seatbelt as if she is not capable to do it herself (or it is the ml who tries to show his caring macho side).
I am watching ep 9 in short instalments: it is so hard to watch to the point of being unwatchable. The FL has definitely better chemistry with Cordon than with the ML.
So she goes drinking with the kitchen staff and ends up falling asleep in a motel room around 2AM. He gets all panicky and goes to get her, sobers her up and then they go home together I guess around 4AM. And his mother visits at that moment?!? Really?!? Ridiculous!
Ep 11 so the ghost is dating the chef and realized she is in love with him. He used to refuse her demands for sleeping together but now that he is ready to go further she is refusing. She'd turned from an aggressive female to a shirking violet, jumping as if electrocuted at the slightest touch! This dynamic is reminding me of Doom At Your Service which was the same: the FL stopped being forward once she fell in love! Another annoying trope!
I am only curious now to find out how the writers are going to sort this love triangle mess. Who is he really in love with the shy girl or the ghost? But by the end of the episode, the girl has realized that the one the chef likes is the ghost not her and told him that! Finally, some honesty! This is getting interesting....By the way, what happened to the nice jazzy music? Now that the things are getting serious, we are on to the soppy pop music?
So right at the moment when I thought they could not go any lower, the sleezy, creepy sous chef interviews candidates for a kitchen aid position. This is the pinnacle of sexism: do you have a boyfriend etc. and then he dismisses a candidate who is married with a kid! Not funny or cute just humiliating.
No, this is definitely not getting any better: just the opposite!
Ep 14 and the "pearls of logic"just keep coming: the ghost girl possessed the shaman lady but she is still incapable of turning pages and looking at her own diary? !? What is the point of possession? Just to talk?
Ep 15 Surprise surprise!!! The bad guy became evil because he was not loved by his parents! Boohoo! Give me a break! You are really going down that path, Writers, poor little unloved boy?!?!? His deeply buried resentment made it easy for the evil spirit to possess him?
And of course, the girl cannot tell the chef the news over the phone, that would be too simple! They need to see each other which will of course give the bad guy enough time to kidnap her or whatever so she would not tell anyone and bring out the ghost girl! I want to drop this so much! The last time a drama annoyed me so much was And I Married My Antifan!
And of course, the bad guy seems dead by the end of the episode! Why would he stay alive and face the consequences of his actions? Too complicated, right? How about he survives but with amnesia?
Finally, the last episode i.e. the wrap up or "they lived happily ever after" and the ghost girl is gone but she left most of her character traits with the other girl who is now cheerful, confident and speaking with the baby voice. At least the brilliant jazzy music is back.
The most repulsive and disgusting character is that sous chef: harassing the people working under him all the time. I don't understand why no one says anything? Still the hierarchy in the korean society? A person older than you is allowed to insult you and harass you as much as they want?
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THOUGHTS: As you can probably tell from my synopsis, there is a LOT happening in this mostly light-hearted romantic comedy. It also skims along the edge of being a little disturbing, and perhaps its most notable triumph is that it avoids making the the possible HUGE wrong moves regarding free will and consent and personal identity. Back to that in a minute though!
In the synopsis, I mention the 3 main characters but this actually has a pretty large cast. There are the three other cooks in the kitchen, there mostly for comic relief; there's Seon Woo's sister who is in a wheel chair and her policeman husband (the 4th in the dark suit picture above) who has a mysterious connection to the dead girl Sun Ae; there's also his mother and a long time friend that he thinks he's in love with; there's Sun Ae's father and brother who run a much more humble restaurant not too far from Seon Woo's; and finally there's a psychic who is trying to keep Sun Ae from going bad. So, a large cast and lots going on - it's part romance, part spiritual journey and personal growth, part mystery. It does a respectable job keeping all the story lines straight and understandable and each of the 16 episodes feels necessary.
This drama gave me serious Coffee Prince flashbacks because there were many similar elements. It takes place in a restaurant, with the three young men who work in the restaurant providing comic relief. They are similar even down to the fact that two of them are buffoons while one is a rather sensible and decent person. Seon Woo initially fancies himself in love with his closest friend's beautiful widow and she is partially why he has stayed single into his early 30s. He also has to make a pretty big leap of faith to embrace his love for Bong Seon - he has to believe in ghosts. So while I would not say that it hits the emotional heights of Coffee Prince it would be a good one to watch if you were in the mood for something Coffee Prince-like.
The most important thing about this kind of KDrama is its primary couple; so how was the chemistry? Interesting. And mostly okay. I like Chef (Seon Woo) but never really warmed up to him completely. He's pretty stiff and serious and disapproving for a romantic hero and while he does go through an evolution, he is not very different at the end versus the beginning. I really liked both Bong Seon and Sun Ae and did eventually really like where they went with their stories. However, I spent the first 6-7 episodes feeling very nervous about what was going to happen. Sun Ae has possessed Bong Seon without her consent and is doing all these things with her body that just made me extremely jittery and made me dislike Sun Ae at times, especially when it is revealed that Bong Seon has no memory of anything that happens while she is possessed. Later, they hatch a scheme to capture Chef's love by Sun Ae consensually possessing Bong Seon's body and using her more outgoing and aggressive personality to win him. This also feels seriously icky. Chef does fall in love but who exactly is he in love with? For a while I was worried the show wouldn't address these issues but they do and in a way that was satisfactory for me. I really enjoyed Bong Seon's journey that involves coming out of her shell and gaining more confidence. I'd give the chemistry of the main couple a 7 out of 10.
One last note: The subtitles on Viki aren't great - I think they tend to be more literal translations that don't always make sense rather than translating the intent. It was occasionally jarring but didn't detract too much from my enjoyment.
FINAL VERDICT: An enjoyable and complexly plotted romantic comedy with an interesting twist on a love triangle. Worth watching!
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A drama that keeps you interested right from the very beginning
If at first there might not be anything special about this drama, as each episode goes on, everything gets more serious. The beginning is cheerful, funny and light and the later episodes turn into mystery crime ones. In a way, I liked that the feel of it changed.The story might not be so special but as you watch it, it keeps getting better and better.
The acting was great! Big thumbs up to Park Bo Young for playing two totally different characters! Even though I didn't like that much some of Soon Ae's actions, I came to understand and sympathize her. She was the one that brought confidence to Bong Seon. The chemistry between the leads was great!
The OST was so beautiful, especially the one sung by Jay Park! It gave me Michael Jackson vibes.
Rewatch value - 9, it was really good and it had no boring moments. It was great until the last episode.
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Who was he in love with?
Excellent cast, but the script left something to be desired. He actually fell in love with the ghost and I could never figure out how he decided that he loved the FL instead. She got a little more assertive after being possessed, but still pretty subservient. I felt that the ghost was entirely too forward and found that irritating. However, I loved the sweet names he called the FL in deference to her small size. The romantic scenes between the ML and the FL were lovely. I've not seen him in anything else and was very impressed by his acting. This is the first time in a long time that I didn't see a ML cry during the dramatic scenes. I loved the scenes where he talked to himself, like he couldn't quite figure out what was going on and talking himself through the issue. Other than the love story, I felt the rest was unnecessarily drawn out. I wouldn't watch this again, except for some of the scenes with the two of them.Was this review helpful to you?
Story 〆(・∀・＠): This was one of the main issues I had with this show. I was already shaky going into it since I worried about the upcoming love triangle. And sadly - something that hardly ever happens - I was right. The story seemed to pause and hover over certain moments and plot points. In the beginning, the show was so focused on the ghost, Soon-ae, and then in the next half of the show, it was so concentrated on Bong-sun. The same situation happened with the story's mood. In the beginning, it's light-hearted and overdramatic in regards to its comedy, but then it switches to something of a "thriller." As a fan of action-packed dramas, I wish they evenly distributed these plot points instead of separating the show as if there is some wall. Thus making me have to wait until near the end to be able to enjoy it fully. It felt like the story wasn't taking off quite yet, which bored me to a certain point. I'm not going to deny it, there are some funny jokes (and if you like more sexual related ones, then you're in luck), but I, personally, am not the biggest fan of that type of humor. But since the ending was extremely entertaining and got me excited to push the "play next episode" button, I'll bump up the score a bit.
Acting ｡゜(｀Д')゜｡: The acting, by-far, was one of the shows strongest features. Park Bo-Young was absolutely incredible. The issue with her character is that there were two different souls in her body; Two souls with remarkably different personalities. But she played it off as if it was nothing. It was so amazing to see her jump from a shy and timid girl to one yelling and talking about sex. The change was so believable, and so much heart was put in that I can't do anything but give a standing ovation. Kim Seul-Gi was also impressive when her character wasn't in Bong-sun's body. Although I wish she was given more time, Seul-Gi took what she had and made it work. The ghost's feelings were so lively and, at times, utterly heartbreaking. Jo Jung-Suk pulled off the male lead perfectly, allowing for the main romantic leads to omit such a loving chemistry.
Music ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪: Music is something I struggle to judge since I don't have much experience in anything related to it. Nothing caught my attention, which is the only thing that I really look for. The music was calming and matched its respective scenes, but you won't find me going out to look for the soundtrack.
Other (ง°ل͜°)ง: I'm not going to spoil anything, but I do want to mention that some parts of the romance.... well... they made me feel a bit uncomfortable. The main couple was cute, but there were moments I didn't like where the show was going. As mentioned earlier, some characters got too much attention causing me to question how it was going to turn out in the end. Another point that frustrated me a bit was the ghost rules. This is the one thing that I really pay attention to. I'm a stickler for rules when it comes to a supernatural drama since I want to be able to understand what can and cannot happen. This show laid out its ghost rules, but I can't say they kept to it 100%. Not saying that it's incredibly distracting, but this isn't exactly a show with a strict rule book.
Closing up, I'm glad I finished the show. It's a particular case where the ending was so much stronger and more enjoyable than the beginning. I also love the cooking aspects of it and the teamwork of the leading group of chefs. I would say it's a bit overhyped, but that doesn't mean it was entirely unenjoyable. I can see the appeal and can understand why so many people enjoyed it. Everyone has their tastes in how things run. So give this show a shot if it suites your fancy.
Happy watching <3
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