There is no doubt that if you want to know about Italian cooking, working as a chef or are just obsessed about food, you might find 'Bambino!' one of the best cookery dramas. If you are looking for a story with a huge depth, twists and magical happenings, you'd best look for something else. 'Bambino!' is a gritty story with no sugar, just salt! After watching Matsumoto Jun in the likes of 'Hana Yori Dango' and 'Kimi Wa Petto' I thought I had watched the limits of the variety of this kid's one eyebrow lifting talent. Watching Matsumoto in 'Bambino!' was like how a kid feels when they discover a new thing their old toy can do! I must admit the main themes of the drama I personally found uninteresting but I found myself drawn in at some point to Shogo's character and developed a need for him to achieve his goals. It's this element that makes it a successful drama but if the subject is not something that interests you, it might be a hard time to ride out to see the outcome of the story. Take my advice and watch the first episode, if you find yourself bored, don't watch it any further, one look at those frustrated eyes and you'll have to watch it to the end, unless you're inhuman!
For those of you who have watched the other versions of this drama, which are "Hana Yori Dango" and "Meteor Garden" and enjoyed it, may want to watch this Korean version. Extras have been added to the story line which round everything up better like secondary characters back stories and more of a rivalry between the 'Rui and Domyoji' equivalent characters. Jan Di's character has been made more capable to cope with all the rotten situations thrown at her and more smarter than Tsukushi's character.
For those of you who haven't watched any of the previous versions of this drama, watching this will take you on a wonderful journey and a roller coaster of emotions, just make sure you have a pillow handy to hide yourself during the painfully embarrassing moments, and are sitting in a sound proof room so your shouting at the screen won't disturb and freak out the people you live with
Yoon Eun Hye, is a lovely actress. I have followed her around since my first drama 'Goong Princess Hours' and found it rather a shock to see her dressed in boyish attire and short hair! What's more shocking is the amount she eats for this role! *elegant image has now been erased* This drama has a wonderful mix of humour with a bit of seriousness thrown in and the relationship between the main characters is pure gold. The 'princes' are cute, I mean who doesn't like Kim Jae Wook selling waffles? This is a heart warming tale that you are sure to love.
When I read the plot and the cast list I was expecting something interesting with potential for a good story. The first couple of episodes were fine, considering that some great drama's could start off confusing or bad and then bloom into something wonderful. For this drama, this really didn't happen, in fact it was downhill all the way. The story wasn't going anywhere, it just kept going round in circles and after going through all the pain I was expecting a reward unfortunately the ending was as consistently flat as the whole series. I think instead of paying out for Ogura Shun to star in the drama for about two episodes the money could have been better spent on a better writer, such a shame.
