I didn't expect to like this drama so much. In fact initially I only watched it because I had run out of other things to watch instead.
It's hilarious, because by the end of it I almost was embarrassed at how judgmental I was when picking dramas. It served as a nice occasion to remind myself not to judge a drama only at face value.
I must admit, it was partially because of Cinderella & the Four Knights why I may have judged Shopping King Louie so superficially — but I'm an glad I finally did watch it.
For anyone wondering why I brought in Cinderella & the Four Knights — I didn't complete the drama because the second female lead was the queen of pettiness & she didn't deserve to finally get the guy. She actually needed to just stop, move or something and learn to love her own self. Aish. Rant over.
Back to the current review!
I'll just give you guys an easier way to decide if you want to give this drama a go, okay?
Alright!
Really consider watching this drama if you:
~ love Seo In Guk
~ really want to see Seo In Guk being the most cutest little puppy alive! #FR
~ or see him being super clingy, which is totally contrasting most of the previous roles he played where he was completely in charge, like in Hello Monster and Master's Sun.
~ want to laugh like crazy almost 70% of the drama.
~ want to watch a drama where no one is actually bad. Where you understand even the villains. Where villains actually repent.
~ don't like having an super rich aunty, mum, grandmother or stepmother from the rich Chaebol dude's side completely against the poor girl and wants to make her life hell. Have no fear, there is no such female or male present in this drama!
~ love sweet grandmas #RIPDoctorsHalmeoni
~ don't like second lead syndromes. Tired of getting the SLS, guys? If that is the case! HAVE NO FEAR! The second lead in this drama doesn't cause ANY SLS! Because you will eventually start shipping him with Louie! (Wait.. maybe that is SLS, too?)
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The only reason the rewatch value is 8/10 is because I don't usually watch a drama more than once, but I'm sure to watch this again ... maybe 10 years along the road?
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This drama is a Time muncher, you will lose track of time while watching this drama, it is that smooth.
Story:- It is well written and thought about, it does get a little bit cheesy at the end, but i feel that it gives it a special flavor. I did not find any dull moment in the drama and completed it in 4 sittings.
Characters and cast:- Characters are well thought of but lack a solid foundation of back story, but don't take me wrong, they are very good considering this is 90% Romance+Comedy, Strong characters are needed for suspense and mystery dramas. Anyways, acting was spot on and accurate.
Music:- Drama has some good tracks which differentiates from typical background music but it is still not at level of "It's ok that's love and love from other star". But over all it has great music.
Overall:- If you are looking to pass your time or want a hot RomCom with great story and logic, this is a great drama to watch. But if you want some thing new with an exceptional story, suspense, mystery, and strong antihero you should come back to this later. Peace
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So much wasted potential
The first half of this drama had everything I wanted, but the second half was such a convoluted mess that I almost didn’t finish it.The acting was okay, especially from Louie, though the naive act got very old after awhile. I hated the Director though. I detest second leads who do not know their place. If you know someone is in love with someone else, LEAVE THEM ALONE. He was so controlling that it left a bad taste in my mouth.
The amount of times that unrealistic situations come up again and again is annoying and a sign of lazy writing.
In short, this drama would have been amazing if it were 10 episodes and they didn’t try to DRAG it out to 16.
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I watched about 30 minutes into episode one and then put it to the side and eventually forgot about it.
I never really thought about continuing this drama until i finished my last drama and didn't know what to watch next. I saw that this was on my on-hold or dropped dramas list, and thought that i might as well try watching it again and see if i like it. I didn't have many expectations for this drama when i picked it up again, i thought i had dropped it because i didn't like it. I watched episode 2 and was like "it's an alright drama", but then i found myself getting more and more into it and episode by episode this drama went from "alright" to "Asdfghjkl, IT'S AMAZING".
------------The actual review starts here------------
This drama was to me, like a nice breath of fresh air. After watching some pretty insane dramas with big dramatic plots that makes you question everything and make up theories on what will happen next, it's always nice to take a break and just watch something a bit more lighthearted, where you don't have to think so much and you can just sit there and enjoy the drama. Shopping king louie was exactly that, it's a short and sweet rom-com.
When you read the storyline it might sound a lot like a melodrama, but everything in this drama is played out in a very casual, lighthearted and comedic way that it doesn't make it feel melodramatic at all. Even when there's those cliche scenes that would usually spell out melodrama right away, like the car crash and the amnesia, it doesn't feel melodramatic at all. It's just a nice drama to watch if you don't know what to watch next or you need a break from the more "extreme" dramas.
Story: The storyline of this drama is a twist on something we've all seen before.
A person that lived a somewhat tragic childhood, struggles with things because of that tragic childhood, later on in life. It's the same in this drama. A child that was overprotected and isolated from the world as a kid, grew up with close to no friends and shops his feelings and problems away. The concept of the story is not different, but how the story is played out is different and that's what really matters. I absolutely loved this drama. The comedy was there, i laughed so much while i was watching this drama. Seo In-guk's character was just too cute and a"dork"able and i can't even...
The chemistry was also most defiantly there.
Acting/cast: Great. It's the first drama with Seo In-guk that i've seen and liked. I tried watching Reply 1997 and I remember you, but i didn't end up finishing either of them. But after seeing him act in this drama, i've
considered finishing the other dramas with him in, or at least giving them one more chance. (i just really fell for him.)
I've never seen Nam Ji hyun before, so i can't say anything about my experience with her from before, but she did well in this drama at least.
The rest of the cast was also just great in general.
Music: I loved the music for this drama, especially Tiger moth by Kihyun (the acoustic version asdfghjkl) i just loved that song.
Rewatch value: 8 because i'd watch it again, but not right away and probably not from the very beginning.
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Shopping King Louis really surprised me with its unique take on rom-coms and its unconventional characters. It took a more comedic aproach to the story and I really aprecciated that, because a lot of writers forget that they are making a rom-COM but I gues they have the right to choose. I still really wish that they would have just taken out the 'melodrama' out of their genres list, because a) not a fan of those and b) they did a really poor job at mood changing. It felt like they don't really know if this is a serious drama or are they just making fun of cliches so they kept jumping between the two and it just felt so poorly done. And the melodrama was soooo cliche that the unique feeling they had built up just vanished into the air. And if they had decided to keep up the comedy throughout all the 16 episodes it still wouldn't have been enough, because even if they had a unique twist to everything the story as a whole, the base, wasn't that original, in other words, not enough to keep the audience entertained for 16 hours. Now I think if you watched this drama while it was airing you probably didn't feel like it dragged but as someone who watched an episode per day it got extremely boring towards the end. I felt like this drama only needed 10 episodes, because past that nothing really happened, a lot of boring melodrama took place, the writers did an extremely poor job at combining and switching between comedy and melodrama, the cute romance reached its peak and then my interest in it just steadily dropped.
The characters were all awesome. Bok Sil and Louis were a perfect couple - kind hearted, naive, but not stupid. They were truly two pure angels and I loved them. Adored the supporting cast, all of it honestly. They all were pretty unconventional. I especially adored the details: what Louis's favourite coffe is, that *ahem* sound that Mr Cha keeps making, how Heo Jeong Ran is kind of gangster like, how Baek Ma Ri learns by heart what to say to people and so much more. I like that a lot of the supporting cast grew throughout the show and by the end were better people. But I still feel that the writers really forgot to end our supporting casts story properly. And again no matter how unique they were, the characters weren't enough to keep the story going for 16 episodes blah blah blah...you know the deal.
The only thing I have to say about the acting is how amazing Seo In Guk was in this drama. I watched him act in I Remember You (nice drama btw worth checking out) and I was amazed, because the roles he played in these dramas were both so different yet he managed to pull them off so well. Some actors are amazing but all their roles seem pretty much the same. But he went from a serious - never smiles kind of guy, to a total naive kid and my mind was blown.
Shopping King Louis is the kind of show you can't take seriously, because you'll hate the characters from the first second. (I mean can Loius be even more spoiled?). It has a bunch of flaws and there isn't anything that would make me say that this drama is a must watch. But if you're a Rom-com lover, like me, and you're looking for something sligtly different then this is definitely worth checking out.
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Seo In Guk is such a beautiful soul as Louis. I enjoyed every special, silly and romantic moment of his relationship with Go Bok Shil (Nam Ji Hyun). Bok Shil is a smart, strong character who has a naivety that is cute rather than annoying. The other actors are good too.
I enjoyed the music.
I might rewatch this some day.
If you enjoy romance, then this is totally the drama for you. Love from beginning until the end.
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I don't understand why there is so few recommendations in the you tube.
Because of this drama, i watch task force 38 and law of jungle Mongolia episode 1 to 5 only..
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This kdrama was a breath of a fresh air. It was funny, and I mean funny and Louis was too cute! I mean cuteness to max extend! Like Louis said TOTALLY MY STYLE! lol
I really did not want to watch anything complicated, but something heartwarming, and yes! What a treat it was! Music, cast, production fit well but main leads were just total cuteness to die for! I am still laughing at how great Louis character was and how funny!
I don't want to say no more because honestly I loved it so much that I want to watch something like this again! .............. totally my style!
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Honestly this was so cute. The characters were so pure, innocent, sweet and true to their characteristics.
Amazing acting on the leads part, it's not easy to act cute without looking artificial.
That's all. Just watch it. Everything in this makes me want a world like theirs. There are so many happy moments, it feels so good to watch it.
Comforting, sweet, cute, pure, innocent, lovely, precious, healing, satisfying.
I'll never forget this one everrr!!
The story was a completely thought out touching one with no loopholes.
AND IT IS SO FUNNY in it's pure form!
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What a surprise. Yeah a beggar chaebol, looking like a cute lil boy screaming ''buk chiii'' I fucking loved the concept, and I fucking loved how cute main lead acted, and the concept of a guy acting cute, for change. I loved it with my heart. Anytime he acted cute, I was like, AAAAAAAAWWWWWWN .
It's different from what is expected. We're always expecting manly cold handsome rich chaebols. Buk shii (can't remember how to write korean names, sorry).
Most of everything, this drama is out of usual from what's expected. In everything. Plot, music, characters.
The soundtrack, I loved it. They took some old songs we all know that fit perfectly in each scenes giving a comical atmosphere (best one for me was Disney's Alladin ' A Whole New World')
This was not meant to be a great deep history, is light fun and cute. For what was meant to be, to me was perfect.
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The plot is sweet enough to abate any fluff cravings but be warned there are not immense scenes of drama or melancholy to be found here. Any moments of contention or conflict are interspersed with comedy and just plain old fluff. That should not deter you, if anything this is a great watch, that won't play with your feelings (too much) but stays firmly in the realm of lighthearted comedy.
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This review may contain spoilers
Shopping King Louis is the drama you should watch after watching another drama that is so painful you can't just seem to move on. From my experience, I just finished watching Uncontrollably Fond, which is very painful yet worth it, when I came across this drama. Shopping King Louis just made me feellike I just want to show love to everybody. Haha.The two main characters of this drama is Kang Ji Sung/Louis, played by Seo In Guk and Ko Bok Shil, played by Nam Ji Hyun. They both played their characters very well. It seems like Seo In Guk just transformed into this kind, naive but very lovable guy that is Louis. And Nam Ji Hyun is just so perfectly casted in this. At first I thought I would be so annoyed on both characters because they do not know how to live in the real world where everyone could be selfish beacause life could really just be so unfair, but both characters were so pure and innocent that made me realize that it is not so bad to be overly good and kind-hearted in this world. I also love to give Yoon Sang Hyun credit for his portrayal of Director Cha, he was so funny and I love how he played adult to both Louis and Bok Shil.
The story is very heart-warming. It does have the typical Kdrama tropes but it was approached differently in this drama. This drama just made me feel good. Everyone is willing to forgive everything (Spoiler: the uncle and the running halmeoni) This drama made me laugh, cry, and then laugh then cry of happiness. The revelation at then end was so sweet. I love it. Ost was also so good, and were saved on my playlist.
Overall, I recommend this drama. I hope everyone could watch this and just feel good inside. :)
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