Dammi B
A touching story about the children of the korean-american diaspora
As the child of an immigrant myself, this hit home. A group of Korean, second generation immigrant teens are sent back to Korea on a government program to learn more about their homeland. Unused to the strictness of Korean society, these westernised teens stick out like a sore thumb. They get up to all sorts of shenanigans, breaking each of the clearly set out rules as they go.This drama touches upon the differences in parenting styles of the immigrants vs the South Korean natives and their various pitfalls. However, whilst it tries to remain balanced and give fair representations of western teens and South Korean born ones, the overly sensationalised presentation of the south korean teen diaspora, creates an undertone that they are somehow broken or wrong because they were not raised in South Korea. It may have been more fair and believeable to focus less on 'the party animal' presentation of the western teens and more on the issues of strained identity, language barriers, the struggle of cultural allegiance, etc - all the things that the children of the diaspora struggle with. I also wish they had them interact with actual korean teens rather than just the teachers. It all felt very child vs adult to me - a clash of age, rather than culture, which would have fit the theme better.
All in all, it's a great film but it's too one sided and overly dramatic in some areas. If you ignore the whole 'reconnecting with my culture' bit you are left with a brilliant angsty teen drama. However, that would miss the point and thus my low overall ratings.
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Probably the funniest take on the body swap genre
This drama had me laughing all the way through. It has just the right balance of heartwarming moments and humor. It's action, it's drama, it's romance and retribution, basically, something for everyone. A particular hats off to Jung Jin Young - this is the first thing I've seen him in and he absolutely killed it! It's well executed from the acting to the plot - everything was just so fun. It's definitely a feel good film, something you can watch with friends/family or when you are feeling down. 10/10 would watch again, literally just an amazing film!Was this review helpful to you?
A light yet honest look at marriage and relationships
I really enjoyed this drama. It speaks on the reality of marriage and love. Whilst I feel some of the endings for certain couples took away from the realism aspect, I still felt this drama was more palatable as a romance focused drama, which I normally find incredibly hard to watch. I also love how it touched on gender roles in relationships and families; instead of tearing them down and automatically labeling them as 'sexist', this drama takes a more nuanced look at it. I also adore how this drama handles workplace sexism and the reality of working as a young 20 something, at all levels of life.If you want a light, relatively easy to watch drama, give this one a go. It has plenty of fun and humorous moments. It definitely made me warm and happy. I'm not the biggest fan of the slightly cliche ending for some pairings. (hence the 8 rating instead of a 9). Particularly annoyed after the drama spent time shading cliche endings... but it's still okay I suppose.
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'You live here too?!'
It's so stupid but I do like this drama. It's very reminiscent of Playful Kiss but with that comedic Japanese element. It's got every trope in the book, orphans, sharing a room, love triangles, love quadrilterals, strict parents, meddling second leads, mean girls, sick days from rainy dates etc... This show is well aware that it is corny and it runs with it! It's made to be silly, and it's corniness not just an unfortunate side effect, but a deliberate move on the directors part and I love it!Nao is very annoying but loveable and it's fun watching her grow and mature. I love that she wears her heart on her sleeve and is always honest about her feelings. Her level of immaturity at the start of her first relationship is perfect and sets the stage for some growing up later on in the show.
Hisashi again, manages to grow as a person and becomes more accommodating and kinder as the show goes on. Too often do I see in dramas, a cold, mean male lead that never grows and is never held accountable for his actions yet still gets the girl at the end. It's refreshing to see that in a corny drama the cold male lead does become a better person.
It's pretty predictable and nothing amazing or revolutionary in the way of plot but cleans up nicely and is a wonderful addition to cute teen romance dramas everywhere.
Watch this for a adorable little drama, that is very easy to watch or even binge.
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Bit cringe but Woo Do Hwan is handsome
I'm gonna be honest, I may have only watched this because of the delightful Woo Do Hwan. The storyline is the usual: wealthy childhood friends decide to play with the lives of the 'commoners' once again, in this rich guy/poor girl romance. Although it does turn out that the personal lives of the elite and the ordinary are more intertwined than it seems. The acting is pretty solid, although Joy's acting disappoints for the most part. If dramatic teen romance is for you, this cornfest has plenty of kabedon to go around.Was this review helpful to you?
A drama that does the tomboy trope justice
Other than Coffee Prince, this only other decent androgynous/tomboy representation in kdrama history. This is another one of my all time favourites. I love, love, love this drama. It's fun and 'wild' and knows exactly when and where to put in the heavy stuff in but keep it humorous and generally enjoyable the same time. I'd marry Eun Jae if I could, she's so crazy and wonderful. She takes her job very seriously and isn't constantly pandering to Moo Yul. She doesn't put up with his BS and I love how she stays the same even after falling in love. I hate it when tough female characters lose their edge once in a relationship but she remains true to herself which is just refreshing to see.This drama also has one of my favourite side relationship storylines. Tae Han and Dong Ah have my heart. Shy, straight laced manager Tae Han and confident, eccentric yet sexually forward Dong Ah. It's a match made in cinema. She brings him out of his shell and he reels her in - it's beautiful. I also love that Dong Ah and Eun Jae are both well created representations of non traditional femininity, which again puts this drama up there for me.
The only thing that annoys me, like others have said, is the general lack of romance, especially in a show called 'Wild Romance'. I normally could care less about romance in a drama so good on it's own, but the directors generate so much sexual tension in all the relationships only for them to be barely realised. It's sad really but a girl can dream...
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Arguably the best gender bender out there
This is my all time favourite show. It's the most realistic gender bender out there, and Eun Chan is mainly just being herself. It's so refreshing to see an androgynous character done well and not in overly silly way. If you're tired of seeing girly girls in boys clothing, Coffee Prince is the gender bender for you. On top of that it's hilarious, has a neat little story line, well developed characters and amazing cast chemistry. It'll make you cry, it will make you laugh and it will make you all warm and fuzzy inside. Enough said.Was this review helpful to you?
