Charming92
Greece
This review may contain spoilers
This wasn't a bad drama, but to be honest, it didn't touch me as much as other people from the reviews i read. It wasn't bad but i found it generally slow, not boring but slow. More Specifically:STORY
The description of the story is somewhat misleading. The show doesn't explore the cellular memory subject that much. Don't expect here any medical exploration of the term or anything like that. This is totally a true love drama, the cellural memory is just the base of the love story. Basically we have a girl who got a heart transplant and she meets, a few years after her surgery, the husband of her heart donor. And we watch their love story unfold. The show focuses a lot on the difficulties an inter-generational couple faces nowadays (the age difference between the 2 leads is 18 years in the show and 20 in reality).
I have to say the story is set up very beautifully, nicely, and complicated enough to keep things interesting, but not confusing. (mini spoiler ahead) Her new love interest (who is the husband of her heart donor) is related to her current boyfriend.
My main problem with the story was that, it took them forever to understand their feelings and embrace them. And when they did, the reasons they had for not being together weren't important enough for me. Sure the affinity subject made things more complicated, but in my opinion that gets resolved fast. The show was a constant back and forth. What i mean is that, while the show has a brilliant base story here, the plot wasn't just underdeveloped but barely developed at all to be honest.
In my opinion, here we have a very obvious case of the writers being afraid of making rapid and interesting story developments so the show doesn't get controversial. They have so many nice characters that are connected in unique ways, explore these connections, make the love triangle more complicated, so there can be serious reasons for the main couple to not be together. There was so much potential wasted. What i want to say is that i wasn't "wowed" enough. Everything was mild. I've seen other kdramas based on true love ect, that had some seriously wowing scenes, here everything was just... mild.
Overall, the story wasn't bad, i've just seen better kdramas about true love, with faster plot developments. What i got here was some mild dramatic feels, and some mild comedy feels. I've seen dramas that were better in both aspects. The show was very enjoyable but because it was slow, it failed to make me cry that much (and i cry easily) and failed to make me laugh that much too.
ACTING
The awkward moment when you like Sooyoung's acting better than her singing, lol. I know Sooyoung very well, because i'm a fan of Girls' Generation (she is a member of the group), and of course her being an idol made me think twice about watching this drama. If you have the same problem, don't make this stop you from watching. Sooyoung was great. She wasn't mind blowing, but noone was. She held her own in front of veteran actors. If i didn't know she was an idol, i wouldn't have guested she wasn't an actress originally.
The male lead was wonderful too. I loved the way he portrayed a 40something man with kids. His acting was very good indeed. Everyone did a wonderful job at their part, i have nothing bad to say about the acting. Best part of the show in my opinion.
RECOMMENDATION/REWATCH
Would i recommend this? Hmm, well, i've seen better dramas, as i've said already, both in the comedy and in the dramatic department. This was good, but nothing mindblowing. If you are a fan of true love dramas you'll like it, but would i rewatch it? no, not really.
OVERALL
This was a solid drama, i can't say i didn't like it, the good acting helped a lot too. I loved the way they portrayed the intergenerational relationship. The base story is wonderful too, the show could have been a lot better if the plot took some more complicated turns along the way to keep things interesting. I like my dramas with some ups and downs, and this felt like a straight line. The ending was sad, people want to see it in a positive way, but i can't. Its not that i didn't like it, but it was just sad, while it didn't need to be...
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STORY
The description is pretty much on point. We have an everyday kinda weird girl who can see ghosts, a rich, shut-down, arrogant and self-centered man who for some reason, whenever she touches him, ghosts vanish... Exactly for this reason she tries to be near him, so she can touch him whenever the ghosts become too scary for her. I guess, you can all get where it goes from this point forward.
The show is pretty straightforward. Each episode has an individual ghost story. The 2 main characters get to solve them all, and grow closer to each other through them. The male protagonist has a ghost story of his own which gets explored later in the show. I, usually, get bored with individual stories, i prefer the drama to focus on the main characters instead of introducing new stories and characters in every other episode. Thankfully, all the individual stories were very interesting, most of them extremely touching, they made me burst into tears, so if you have a problem with individual stories, they won't bother you at all, they are great.
The main problem i had with the story was that, the show focused more on the individual ghost stories in every episode rather than the drama of the characters, and the development of their love story until episode 12. After that we focus on the backstory drama of the male lead character and everything gets extremely interesting, extremely fast. Thankfully, the individual stories were good, so each episode was fun to watch, i just felt the main character stories should have been developed more in the early episodes.
Another problem i had was the love triangle failure, and the fail of the writers to create better story lines for the 2nd male and female lead. The 2nd male lead was introduced to create a love triangle to the main couple. The main couple has such jizzling, amazing, and unrealistic chemistry that the 2nd male lead had no chance, so he gets ignored fast. The 2nd female lead brought nothing new to the show apart from some funny moments, if she wasn't there at all, the show would still have been the same.
ACTING
It was very good, apart from some cringy crying scenes from the female lead, everything was on point. I've seen better, but it didn't feel forced or anything. It was a solid performance from everyone.
REWATCH/RECOMMENDATION
This is a drama that everyone should watch at least once. It is funny, it is interesting, never boring, it has the right amount of drama for drama lovers, but not enough to drive off those who don't really like to cry or anything.
I would definately rewatch it since it is so easy to watch.
RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT THE SHOW
I can't say i was as impressed as everyone, but it was a very nice drama. I think if the plot was unfolded in a different way, it could have been even better. The back story of the male lead, is huge and extremely interesting and well written, the show should have not payed so much attention and spent so many episodes on individual stories and it could have given all this screen time to explain the back story better, earlier, maybe make it a mystery or something. We get very small pieces of the backstory in the early episodes, and then fast revealations during the episodes that focus on it. Still, this is not enough to say the plot was bad, it was very good the way it was, and it gets explained very nicely even in the 3 episodes it is given to get unfolded.
Also, another minor problem i had towards the end of the show, was the silly reasons they gave the main couple for not being together. They are just there, crazily in love, dying for each other, having no problems whatsoever, and they created them with no reason... I wanted to punch the screen and throw my laptop out of the window. However, the finale was everything i wanted so i am happy!
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It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything extraordinary to begin with.
STORY
The main premise is the love lives of 3 girl friends.
Firstly, the protagonist. She is cute, nice, the most relateable i think. The show mostly focuses on her. Her story is the most interesting. Her story is about long term relationships, their problems after many years of dating and how (and if) you can get away from them. Specifically, she is in a 10 year old relationship. The main questions her story targets are: Is love alive after 10 years of dating? Is this relationship going anywhere? (why isn't he proposing?) Is he cheating? Should i break up? Can i break up? Can i move on? Things like that.
I found her story and the way she thinks about these things very real. Of course there is a love triangle developing here, still her decisions seemed rational and logical until the end.... What i didn't like about this show mostly was the fact that you can forsee what will happen in the end, from the first 3 episodes... In the end i found her decisions kinda stupid and not rational. They were obviously made just for the show to finish the way it was supposed to...
Story #2. Virgin aged 33. I found her the most interesting in the beginning, but i was dissapointed in the end... So much potential wasted. Her story was cute nonetheless, again you can forsee what will happen from episode 2. Nothing exciting ever happens...
Story #3. If you've seen sex and the city, she is the Samantha of the trio. Well, i consider myself an open-minded person. But there are some really questionable life choices here, that i couldn't help but judge... Samantha was a slut indeed, but she had a nice soul. Here this girl is heartless... She is a selfish slut, there is no other way to put it. Thinking just yourself and not caring for anyone's feelings saying "its their feelings they have to care for their feelings, i will care for mine" isn't logical, isn't right... Relationships are between 2 people, feelings should be considered from both sides... I tried not to hate her because she was a good friend but come on... As for her story, she gets her own love triangle... But she is so self-centered i just stopped bothering with her after a while....
The main problem i had with the show was that in relationship dramas, the show has to make you care for the flawed characters... Here it failed to do that, or it failed to do that to me... When there are some questionable plot choices, the show needs to explain why they were made... Here it just tells us, ";i felt like it, so i acted that way", maybe they wanted to make it feel more "real" but that made me judge them and not care for them to excuse them... The main character is the only one with rational choices... even though in the end she does stupid things and i was like... "Bitch, you deserve getting hurt"
ACTING
Well, i've seen better... It wasn't bad... It was fine, i just... have seen better in other kdramas... It was believable and good nonetheless... The main protagonists tried to act too cute and it bothered me at some points but overall it was a solid performance from everyone.
MUSIC
Generally i don't really care about the music, its just there... But here the music was amazing. There were certain tracks used thorough the show. That might have made the show feel a bit repeatable, but those tracks set you in a certain mood for everything that happens in the scenes, and i loved that. Each song expresses a feeling. Plus they were good songs!
RECOMMENDATION
Well, ehm.... I feel the show generally targets females in their 20s and 30s... I generally LOVE these shows about women, but not this so much. Everything had been done before and in a better way... Plus, you need to be quite open minded to watch, i really rolled my eyes so hard sometimes they were stuck in the back of my head with some character decisions... So, if you are a woman i think you'll appreciate the show a lot, even if nothing wowing really happens. If you are a man, then no... you will hate it and with good reason.
Would i rewatch it? No never, if i'd ever catch an episode on tv and nothing else was on, i'd watch it. But i'd never put it again on purpose... no.
OVERALL
It wasn't a bad show... I had a lot of fun watching it, it was an easy watch. The main problem that made me less excited about the show the more i was watching was the stereotypical presentation of men. "Men just want sex, men don't care about feelings" ect. But at the same time, the slut of the trio gets involved with 2 wonderful guys who she hurts... and the main protagonist gets involved with a cheater who wants to be forgiven after 2 times of cheating... The show should be more neutral about presenting men and women... Maybe i am a guy and i see things a little differently, thats why i said the show obviously targets women...
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This review may contain spoilers
I know my rating seems unrealistic, especially with so many bad reviews running around. However, I love this show with passion, it is the best drama i have ever seen, but it is definately not a show for everyone... You will need to like melodramatic shows to like this one. My eyes literally hurt from crying. If you want something light, and funny, this is definately not the show for you. This is the heaviest drama i have ever watched. But please don't bash it because you don't like the type or concept of the show. It was the best thing of this genre i have ever watched.STORY
First of all, the show is based on the ideas of true love, soulmates and timing. What happens if your true love and your soulmate isn't the same person? What happens when you meet one after you've married the other. Which one would you choose if you met them at the same time? And in the end how can family can complicate those choices, or sometimes mislead you from the truth...
I feel the need to say the description of the show is misleading. I, for one, i was expecting something more suggesting, even sexual. But no, there is nothing filthy about this show, the way everything is presented ends up focusing on the family more than the affair. This is a drama about how family gets in a way of life, or, to put it better, how life gets in the way of people's hopes and dreams...
The main premise of the show isn't the adultery, adultery is the result. Adultery is presented here in a different way, in somes eyes it might not even be adultery (mini-spoiler ahead), since it never got physical, but in my eyes it was even worse since physical connection can be broken, emotional connection is the worst kind. THIS is what happens here... And the show wants you to understand HOW they got here, and THAT is where family gets sucked in...
The story is crafted perfectly, its extremely dramatic, more than i could handle most of the times. The characters' reactions were so real, but not predictable. The story developed extremely fast in my opinion (another difference i felt from all the reviews and comments about the show), so many things happening, i found myself saying this can't be happening at this right moment... But all the script choices could have actually happened, its highly unlikely that all those things could happen to a single person, but in the very end, why not? Because they are a good person? Because they never did anything wrong? Life sucks, and this show knows it, and expresses it in the best way possible...
The only thing i could ask more about this perfectly created scenario and plot is that i'd liked the show to explore some characters, and things more. Like Why Hee Soo was sick, and how that happened, we get nothing. In the same way the way Kim Joon's character ends, it should have been introduced before so we could get to know him better. It felt like an easy way out for him so everyone can be happy. I guess the main purpose of the show was to show the problems of the main couple and the flawed main characters. Everything else was explored to the point needed to explore the main couple deeper. I respect that
ACTING
I have no words to explain how amazing the acting was.
Uhm Tae Woong is the first person narrator of the show. His acting was incredible, he was amazing in every way. My english skills aren't enough to explain how good he was. Especially when he finds out his wife is cheating... His acting was top notch. I felt everything he said, every single word he said as a narrator, every single choice he made as a character in the show. I can't find the words... I can't...
Lee Shi Young... I mean... can someone give her an oscar an emmy? Something... There wasn't a single scene she was in that wasn't incredible. She was amazing and perfect. Even though the whole show was presented by the husband's point of view she made her reasons and her feelings clear. Her break down moments were perfect, sincere and dramatic.
Lee Soo Hyuk. I should say i am a fan of his, i liked his acting a lot in other dramas i've seen him, but here, next to UTW and LSY, he felt like a child actor. To be honest the show doesn't care about him much. I just felt like he held back, he was emotionless most of the time, maybe he was asked to act this way. He was quite good nonetheless he didn't bring the show down, he held up with the other actors well.
Choi Yeo Jin. Beautiful actress and very nice deliverance in a role that was quite difficult in my opinion. Maybe her role was the most important in the show, everything was based upon her character in the very end. She did a wonderful job.
The supporting cast was quite big, and all i can do is praise every single one of them for the great performance. Especially the mother of Hee Tae, she was WONDERFUL!
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
I'll try not to make any spoilers, and say beforehand if i do.
In this story of adultery noone is to blame but everyone is at fault too...
Jang Hee Tae. He is the biggest sweetheart of the show for me. I loved the character development. The way he loved his wife, their love story, the way he talked about her in the early episodes, he liretally had sparkly eyes when his wife's name was in his mouth. He was saying her name and he was smiling with the biggest smile ever. All this love and happiness turned so dark halfway the show. It is understandable, something happened to his seemingly perfect life that he couldn't even imagine... I loved his reactions, when he learned the truth, i found the way he handled everything completely real. In my opinion, the best character in the show. Of course he is to blame too, he should have stayed closer to his wife and watch what is happening. His reaction might seem very selfish to some, and it really was, but people... people are selfish beings. In the very end he ended up being the most selfless person on the show, because that was who he was... He was willing to trade his happiness for his wife's....
Kim Il Ri. I've read so many hateful comments about her character and i was expecting to see a slut on screen but no. The most troubled character on the show, i think a lot of women could relate to her... She was sad for the most part of her life and she wasn't even aware of it. She blamed herself for something that happened and had nothing to do with her, she knew it, but some people do feel that way, it can't be helped. Her development from her school years to her adult years is so sad, but also so real. From the craziness and innocence to regret and sadness... Is adultery the answer to a sad life you can't escape from? No its not, but what she saw in him was a window to be free for a few minutes, a few moments not to hold an entire family on her shoulders. What she did was wrong, and she is at fault for sure, but she shouldn't be the only one to blame... She definately shouldn't...
Kim Joon. Ok, i disliked him. I'm sorry i just couldn't with his selfish and pushy personality. Everyone was trying their best all through the show, everyone was trying to make the best choices for themselves and everyone else (and failing) and there was him, acting like a 12 yeard old who wants something and he wants it now.. Life is messy, you can't demand something or leave a place because you don't like it. The fact that you lived that way doesn't mean its the right way to live, and you can't force other people to live your way!
Would i recommend this you ask? No matter how much i loved it, honestly, no. Unless you love extremely depressing melodramas or you are into a phase where you need to seriously cry. This is NOT a show about ships. I was never shipping anyone with anyone. This show makes you realise how unimportant ships are and all that people need is someone to lean on and love. I wanted them to be happy, the most happy they can be after everything that happened.
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King of high school was a solid drama, i enjoyed it thoroughly, although it had its flaws.
STORY
The main idea of the story was very nice, but the storytelling was poorly executed. There is a HUGE backstory to everything (which was very nice), the show lets you understand that there is something more to the story apart from the obvious scenario, but it doesn't get explored until later episodes, and when it does get explored it gets halfassed. Obviously the writters didn't care about it that much and they used it just to complete the story and make it more complicated.
The main idea of the show is the love triangle between the 3 main characters. It is pretty nice and the ships change all the time, i was pretty much shipping everyone with everyone at some point. I'd prefer if the storytelling was focusing on the backstory to develop it into a mystery and then use the love triangle to just make everything more complicated. Overall it wasn't bad the way it was made though, it just had great potential that was wasted in my opinion.
ACTING
EXQUISITE. I loved it completely. Seo In Guk does a great job, he is funny when he should be, he is cute all the time, he is powerfull, he is great in every way.
But, Lee Soo Hyuk, was the real surprise for me. Of course his character is the best written one, but he did a great job in it. Its not in many shows i go from completely hating a character to completely loving him. This happenned here. Soo Hyuk made my heart acke with almost every scene he was in after episode 8. He was wonderful, heartbreaking and emotional, loved him.
The only reason i didn't give it a clear 10/10 is because of Lee Hana. I think the actress is trying a bit too hard here. She was great, and i guess she was told to be like that, but sometimes her reactions seemed kinda forced. Apart from that i didn't mind her personality it was refreshing seeing a character like hers.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
This is my biggest problem apart from the whole backstory thing i wrote before. The show has a lot of great characters, and almost all of them get on the side for some unnecessary development on the main couple. Sure their love is #goals, and amazing and pure... ok, but i'd like to have seen the development of other characters as well.
Also they tried to develop a 2nd love triangle but it failed misserably ending up one of the main characters getting extremely neglected when she had so much potential.
OVERALL
Overall, i can't say it was the best drama i've ever seen, but i am happy i did watch it. It was funny for the most part and it was emotional in a way i wasn't expecting. I found myself crying and crying like crazy. I'd recommend it to anyone who'd want a great laugh with a wonderful couple in the middle, great acting and some amazing shocks that will make your jaw drop by the end.
EPISODE VALUE:
Episodes 1-6: Setting the story, mostly comedy. I found the first 6 episodes unnecessary, it was watchable, but i'd shrink them in 3-4 episodes.
Episodes 7-13: Love triangle development. GREAT just great episodes. A lot of feels, the 3 main characters develop nicely and everything comes into place. Sometimes the ways the characters find out about their feelings might feel rushed, but sometimes all you need to understand how you feel is one tiny little thing. I appreciated that thought, although i am not sure if it was done on purpose by the writters or it was just... rushed....
Episodes 14-15: Back story revealing. In my opinion this should have been the main premise of the show. The reveals were SHOCKING, i found myself screaming and crying because life and family problems end up being more emotional than love. The backstory should have been developed more, the way they ended it felt rushed as well. Maybe they didn't believe in it, or couldn't think of a better way to end it. Still it was ok.
Episode 16-17: Sweet episodes, kinda continues the love story, the show could have ended in episode 15, there are some unnecessary plot developments here, but still the show concentrates on 2-3 characters and everyone is neglected.
The end was sweet, apart from the already said problem of the neglected characters, i finished the show feeling complete and happy.
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