I wasn't expecting much. Greatest Love surprised me. It was so funny and despite my skepticism, I found myself laughing a lot of times even during the pilot episode -- which usually doesn't happen for me. Unlike most dramas where it usually takes 4 or 5 episodes before I start loving it, Greatest Love had me at its 2nd episode!
Cha Seung Won did the trick for me. As Dokgo Jin, he's so hilarious. Most romcom kdramas usually pair a silly, funny, oftentimes clumsy female lead with a confident, dominant, take-charge type of guy so Cha Seung Won's silliness was so refreshing to see. His struggle to come to terms with his feelings for Gu Ae Jung (Gong Hyo Jin) was so funny to watch. And his evil laugh always gets me.
The second lead, Yoon Kye Sang as Yoon Pil Joo, wasn't bad either. He's cute and kind, I would have shipped him with GHJ if I didn't enjoy CSW's performance so much. Yoon Pil Joo was a good guy but Gu Ae Jung obviously was meant for Dokgo Jin. And man, that kissing scene by the car has got to be one of the best kissing scenes in kdramaland.
Unlike the first few episodes though, the latter part of the series was heartbreakingly sad and the emotional scenes really delivered.
If you're watching this and you're new to Korean entertainment scene, you'll probably be shocked and uncomfortable with the injustice that Gu Ae Jung and Dokgo Jin. If I hadn't been reading some articles about Korean entertainment culture, I'd probably think that the drama was unrealistic. But it wasn't. It was a representation of how harsh showbiz can be, especially in Korea where anti-fans can be even crazier than fans.
Over all, Greatest Love is a must-see.
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Entertaining RomCom
I was laughing throughout the show from beginning to the end. It is an old school drama but an entertaining one. This is a drama in which ML is over the top but funny, the story is light yet deep and plot is simple yet entertaining. I had fun and I could binge watch this without even realizing the time. K dramas are known to have bad ending but in this one, I was so satisfied with the ending. It was also interesting to see how rumors can be so baseless in the entertainment world and how fake public images are used as steps to success. Music was relevant to the style of the drama.Was this review helpful to you?
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The female lead Gong Hyo Jin is absolutely adorable in this. In the beginning I didn't see her as anything too special, but as the drama went on, her beauty really shines through and became clear. I don't know what it is, but she is very beautiful to me now, and not many could match up against her in my opinion.
The romance has a slow build, I got pretty frustrated at a certain part, and almost took a break from it, but stuck around and I'm glad I did. Other than that one section, this drama is really great. The beginning were they grow feelings for each other, and the end were their love is out and open with each other is super heartwarming.
Also the main song in this, "Thump Thump" is really amazing. I am addicted to it, and plan on adding it to me playlist to listen to more often.
This drama really does deserve the high praise it gets. It's pretty great.
I highly recommend this drama.
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Although it was normal story but This is really cute 😂For the first time in KD I saw a childish ML like this
Annoying but cute in a funny way
I like the drama so much but i didn't see critical situations between both leads to be the reason to fall in love with eachother
But in total light drama
What bothered me
When Ml fall in love, FL didn't
Then when he didn't she did
As if they were playing
I dislike 2nd FL so much
So selfish and annoying
As usual the 2nd ML was too cute to leave him 😭
And I'm happy he somehow got over the FL at the end
But it was annoying he is going to start with the 2nd FL
I felt the chemistry of hyo Jin is so high it fits any ML she acts with
And of course Seung won was brilliant in delivering the right feeling
This drama made me feel warm and I felt many times with butterflies ❤️❤️
Highly recommended
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Fluffy and funny but with hidden depth -- some unique real life themes
I rewatch the drama after several years and it was a fun ride.It was interesting to watch the drama's theme especially in today's social media context where things happen even more quickly:
- How are images constructed and how a single event can drop the person's influencer status.
- How someone can go from the height of popularity to being the bottom of the pile.
One thing the drama didn't delve too much is why the general public are so mean over social media. We see the people making terrible comments turning out to be very ordinary folks and mostly teenagers. However, what is that drives people to log in and make awful comments directly? It is one thing to be critical of a drama but another to personally attack the actor; but that is today's audience. Why do we struggle with drawing a line and what should be government policy? Should there be better guidelines? How should guidelines be implemented? Is the platform responsible for those making comments? Can those running the platforms be held criminally responsible? (Not to bore people but these are real policy questions and debated by IT ministry and policy makers in my place.) So those were the serious kind of thoughts that the drama reminded me of given today's context.
It is interesting to see that the drama was written in 2011 when these issues were in its infancy and far less toxic. This drama was first and foremost meant to be a romance fluff and it is credit to the writers that they managed to weave in some interesting serious insightful themes about entertainment and social media without getting too serious. These days, it feels like dramas that want to say something are frankly a bore. They preach to the audience that I just fall asleep. So it is great to see the drama focused entirely on bringing the entertainment quotient while weaving in lightly the more serious themes.
In terms of romance, it reallly felt like an adult romance. We often have this misconception that there is no risk involved in some decisions but the truth is even safe decisions (whether it is investment or other areas of life) carries some amount of risk. The question is if you are okay with that risk and willing to accept the lows. So we have two adults who constantly debate the risks. For Ae Jeong, she is very clear that she will not involve herself in a short term relationship as the fallouts are simply not worth it and her pride will not allow herself to be used. Despite all the negative criticisms, it is her pride and her sense of protecting those she loves has kept her going. As she sees no future, she would rather not start something.
With Dokko, initially he would prefer something short-term so that he can get it out of his system and not have it disrupt his life. He is hilariously vain that it does pain him that his heart is leading him to a relationship where there seems to be more risk (public backlash) than reward (love). It is interesting to see that Dokko actually becomes quite serious really early on but Ae Jeong is very slow to catch that because Dokko is way too comical that it is hard to take him seriously. So, there is a slew of confusion and conflicts that essentially have these characters determine if the reward is worth the risk for this relationship.
Really enjoyed that neither Dokko or Ae Jeong change much and actually remain the same people. Dokko's vanity hilariously helps him tide over the negative backlash because he is supremely confident in his ability to bounce back. Ae Jeong's perseverance and tough hide means she takes the backlash about their relationship without really affecting her. She sticks to her ethics and protects those she loves.
In some ways, this is a typical 'modern romance' but thank goodness, it was on MBC. If it was on some cable channel, we would have darl lighting, long shots without any dialogues, them staring at each other for minutes on end, tons of boring existential dialogues, really slow episodes that can be basically FF and watched in ten minutes or less; or even better, just watch the preview - basically cardboard characters that look pretty and pretend to have depth.
So it was great to see a 'modern love' type romance with real teeth but also real fluff. This is actually a tough balance because fluffy romance these days are a bore because it is way too sweet and unrealistic whereas real romance are such a bore that documentaries on disease are far more entertaining. At no point, does this drama get so serious that it becomes super boring and made me fall asleep. At no point does this drama become so fluffy that it made me get teeth ache. Definitely a fun re-watch!
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Hy-Jin's character is humble, sweet yet has enough spunk to make you want her to get back on top again. At first she's in a low place and DGJ is a jerk (tsundere) type that needs to melt to warm up but I like the tough guys that actually have a good heart deep down as long as it's not too deep. :D
It's not a new story in this drama: Girl is successful, girl struggles, girl meets snotty guy, girl and guy don't like each other but are thrown together through circumstances, girl becomes successful in a different way, attraction begins! -then this drama is for you, especially if you like your men mature and smoldering.
Also, I like happy endings and this has a happy ending. Enjoy!
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Self Apologetic Has-been Seeks Redemption
I felt compelled to write this review on account of the number of 10/10 reviews this drama recieved. Not that there is anything wrong with having a different opinion. I myself, can't forsee a drama that I would rate a 10/10. In no alternative universe could I possibly rate this drama anywhere near that high.The dialogue in this drama is (hopefully) purposefully cheesy and nonsensical. If you are into over-the-top characters with matching dialogue, then you won't mind this.
The actress who plays the FL, played the same loveable, self-apologist jellyfish character she always plays. She even apologizes for the very act of filling her lungs with air at some points.
I get that she is meant to be a character whose soul was crushed with disappointment, so that she has very little self-esteem left when we are first introduced to her, but please, at least make her stop apologizing for her very existence. It's right up there with having a high-pitched, whiney voice in terms of the sheer level of irritation this causes the viewer.
My god, woman! Grow a spine! Stop apologizing for existing! Anyway, the ML, when not preventing her from tripping over herself, is prone to bouts eccentric aggression of sorts. Using his celebrity to justify being rude to the FL, whilst secretly trying to help her career. The SML is consistantly respectful and kind towards her, but she obviously isn't as attracted to being respected, as she chooses the ML over the emotionally stable guy.
The ML happens to be absolutely stunning, so I guess that's why the FL is more drawn towards him. I'll never forget the scene where the ML is so distanced from his emotions, that he has to hug the FL to see if his heart is beating dangerously fast or not. 😆 Only to find, after he rejects her, that his heart monitor wasn't working.
ML is definitely an eccentric original character. I can't completely hate this drama, because of the absurdity of the ML.
Overall, I found most of this drama boring, because of the dishrag FL, but the actor that played the eccentric ML, delivering ridiculous lines with a constant stoic look in his face, but with broad, expressive body language. He is worth watching. He is an amazing actor. I don't usually notice body movement, but this actor actually acts with his body like no other actor I have seen. Very interesting.
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Good writing, but zero chemistry between the leads. I couldn't see them together no matter how hard I tried.
So I stopped trying and went off to watch something else.
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Devo aggiungere però che a mia insaputa iniziando questo drama non mi ero accorta che i sottotitoli in italiano erano incompleti, quindi, per virtù dello spirito santo, dopo la decima puntata mi è toccato vederlo senza sottotitoli, fortunatamente noi dramiste sfegatate, bene o male, qualcosa la capiamo, per lo meno io il 70% quindi in drama l’ho capito solo per il 70/80% il restante lo lascio alla lingua originale, ma dai ragazze non lo potevo mica stoppare dopo averlo visto la metà mentre mi pinnavo le ditaaaaaaa , non sono il tipo da lasciare in sospeso le cose ma per fortuna l’ho finito e sono stata più che soddisfatta
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Highly recommended!!
If u enjoyed it u may also try City Hall, City Hunter, Rooftop Prince, perfect couple :)
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