What really kept me hooked was the thriller/mystery aspect. I swear, I became anxious and nervous waay too much in this drama. It was harrowing and uncomfortable when it was happening, but when the plott holes became bigger and things started to drag a little (not to mention our fav detective losing a few brain cells) I missed the nerves. Nerves indicate a good drama.
The romance here was top notch. The actors did commendable work, especially Shin Se Kyung whose acting improved by leaps and bounds. She's great here. Our hero as well is flawless in his work. He was smart (-ish sometimes), funny, comforting, clingy, jealous, and bada** when he needed to be. I was of course, impressed with the progression of the romance. It developed quickly, they hugged and showed more closeness than I've ever seen in a kdrama. Also they didn't let misunderstanding cloud their judgement and halt their relationship. They leaned on eachother and stayed through thick and thin, giving eachother strength. I look for that in dramas and I'm glad I found it here. They really represented a normal dating couple. I loved their lines and their actions.
But, the person who carried this show is Nam Gung Min. His character had me curious as to what he's going to do next. He was super smart, but unlike other dramas, our main leads and their colleague was smart too. It was refreshing to see a smart lead like Oh Cho Rim and the team leader. Finally!
I may rewatch this. The music was fitting in every scene too. This was a good drama and it did not drag much, just the last 3 episodes. I didn't mind because it was full of fluff and I love fluff, so it didn't drag for me. Plot holes though hahahha. Watch out for plot holes after ep13.
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PS. As a procedural, it's no good. the Police here DO NOT know WTF they are doing.
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The power of this drama derives from the two main leads and the uniqueness of the plot. A girl who SEES SCENTS. It sounds preposterous! Honestly, I never would have imagined such a character! However, the drama made it work and man oh man did it work beautifully! You can clearly see the chemistry growing between the main characters! By the end of the story, they seemed real already!
Dragging moments? Errrmm.. I don't think so. Thanks to the other characters, the policemen and even the villain, the story became more and more interesting. I also like the mysteries that the story presented. The planning, executing and even the investigating parts were all crucial to me. The writers were brilliant for having me hang on every detail! That was just awesome! The main villain's case is still my favorite!
I wish all dramas can have such a cast. They all made this drama work. I love it! :)
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The story was great. Mystery and crime packed and all round a good story. I don't watch American shows anymore so I'm not sure if I'm over hyping about the show. But I really love anything that can get my heart racing-be it suspense or romance haha. Plot twists and a great suspense story that kept me on my feet. Especially loved the cliffhangers but that's what made it so addicting. A story filled with intense plot twists, crimes, and a bit of comedy here and there. I also like that there was no love triangle, it was better without it.
Acting and casting. I haven't watched Fashion King but from what I heard, Shin Se Kyung was terrible in it. In this drama, I found her quite good. Either her abilities skyrocketed or the character she played was more suitable. And Mr. Jae Hee...damn, he was an amazing actor and I love how his character was written. Also, I really liked the character Yeom Mi. She has that badass attitude and I loved her at the end. And Yoochun is awesome as usual :)
Music was cute and complementary. I didnt really pay attention to it much but I know it did set the mood for many scenes. After re-listening to the OST, it was nostalgic so music was pretty great. Spring Is Gone by chance (by Loco& Yuju) is one that particularly stuck in my head. Oh and the opening theme was a fun song too!
Won't be re watching anytime soon as I usually don't enjoy re watching when I have so many other dramas on my list. I'll definitely be recommending *cough*forcing*cough* my friends to watch this one. ;)
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And it's so weird that the only character that I was more and more curious about was the killer. Because he seems the most smart and stable one. And may be the chef officer Yeom Mi too. This gives an awkward, bad feeling when the only smart character is a killer, don't you think so?
I was irritated to see that totally primitive behavior of main characters and others.
O Chorim is charming and very beautiful. I would fell for her, if she wasn't dull.
Moogak is extremely stupid. YooChun acting is bad here.
It's shame to make and show this kind of low quality drama. I was always asking myself -Who is the -writer of this? Fire that person, oh please fire. And why all the cast and the director work with this awkward writer?-
When I say low quality, I mean absence of common sense and logic, big flaws in acting.
That seeing scents ability is shown boring and artificially. The creators didn't give it proper attention as well, so it looks awkward, just waste of the good idea.
As I said the story is still okay and even seems interesting. But they show it slowly and boring as if the creators just don't know what to put there to fill all 16 episodes. That feeling when the creators are forced to make something but have a writer's block (crisis).
Of the ost tracks I liked -Jelly Cookie – Excuse Me- the most - a cozy, light and cute one. It suits to this fantasy drama pretty good.
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Good drama, but one that had the potential to be a lot better. Watch it if you’re looking for some good action, but also some good comedy and a cute couple. Don’t watch if you want serious/mature couple stuff and lots of supernatural (unfortunately, the girl who sees smells is primarily a girl, and she sees smells on occasion – at least, that’s what it looks like in the show).
THE STORY
Maybe because I was put off by the weird title, I had low expectations for this drama. Maybe because I had low expectations, the show really hit me hard when I started. And maybe because I was so in love with the beginning of the drama, I couldn’t help but be disappointed by the last few episodes.
There are three sides to The Girl who sees smell: the action, the comedy and the romance. The action was absolutely awesome until roughly episode 14, with great suspense and an antagonist that goes into my top ten villains headed by Queen Seon Deok’s Mishil (forever and always my favorite). In the last two episodes though, things lose all coherence, including (sadly) our awesome antagonist. The comedy is quite alright, and relies a lot on the character of Oh Chorim (Shin Se Kyung), who I really liked, and a little on Moon Gak (Yoochun). The comedy starts out pretty good, then dies in the second third of the show, then is somewhat revived at the end, but the characters’ personality pretty much die halfway through the show and never come back. Finally, there’s the romance, which, to my taste, was not so great, neither at the beginning nor the end, but since everything else was cool, it was forgiven.
THE ACTING
Shin Se Kyung, man. What a surprise. I always thought she was okay in historicals but bad in everything else, but boy is she good in comedy. I am seeing her in a whole new light. Please, people, never give her a melo or makjang drama, ever again. And then I have to say, Nam Gong Min!!!! This dude, who knew he could act soooo well! I was really impressed. These two were the big stars of this show. Romance-wise, no chemistry between Se Kyung and Yoochun, but they were lots of fun together, so it was forgiven.
THE MUSIC
Mmm…not for me, but okay I guess.
REWATCHABLE VALUE
Can’t say I won’t rewatch this, but there’ll be some skipping parts from the middle to the end.
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Full Disclosure: Given the opportunity, I'd have Park Yoochun's babies in a heartbeat. I fell head over heels in love with him in Missing You, and he has created in me a fervent fan girl who will follow him down any road he chooses to take me. While I think that contributed to my rating, it is also worth noting that his Three Days barely scored a 5 from me, so I am not blind to a dramas flaws just because of my love for him. And man, did this drama have flaws.
It's probably also worth saying that I really don't like Shin Se Kyung. I honestly think she is a mediocre actress, and almost wanted to pass on this drama because of her. But like I said, I'm in it for Yoochun, no matter who he is paired with. And it's really good I didn't pass on it, because underneath all of the bluster and ridiculousness is a gem of a drama, perfect for drama fans that don't think too hard about the plot lines.
The story in this drama was just such a mess. Story points were completely dropped, a few rather important ones that we never receive closure on. Which is incredibly annoying. I can never tell if the drama is trying to give commentary on the ineptitude of the police force, or if just assumes it's viewers will forgive the absurdity of the plot and just assume the police force is doing a good job. But I sent far too many text messages while watching the drama, bemoaning the stupid plans that both the cops and the bad guy made. And what's worse than these awful, absurd plans? The party they were meant to trap usually falls for them!
You have this killer that has eluded capture for years and years. He is supposedly clever enough to keep getting away with murder, even when the police know that it is he that is doing it. And I'll admit, occasionally he will hit on a plan that is pretty inspired. But most of the time, you just can't believe that he would do such dumb things and get away with them, or fall for such dumb plans that the cops were making.
Alright, that is a lot of bellyaching about a drama that I actually, legitimately enjoyed. While it didn't cater to the intelligence of its viewers, the chemistry between Shin Se Kyung and Park Yoochun was pretty adorable. Plus, the dreaded love triangle never reared its ugly head, which is a huge plus. The cuteness between the two leads was enough for me to override all of the less stellar aspects of the drama. Though, I have never been accused of having good taste when romance is involved.
The side characters in this drama mostly added to the levity and were fun to watch. This drama solidified in me a resounding understanding that I will never, ever understand Korean Skit Comedy. I mean, seriously. Totally over my head. I wish they hadn't focused so much on it in the beginning, because none of it was funny to me at all. In fact, I think my brain just shut off every time they were at the troupe or practicing.
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The story sounds pretty promising and original, a girl who can see scenes with her eyes and a man who lost his beloved sister in a bad accident and ever from that, seeks for revenge and answers.
In this point, I really liked the "fantasy" style of this drama, and it was a nice and fresh thing.
The drama all along was GOOD, not the best, it was written well at first, it was mysterious about those barcodes killing cases, and it was nice to see how those two (Oh Cho Rim and Moo Gak) met and solved the mysteries together.
It was really-comedic, light and interesting .
My problem was when those episodes turned to be dragged and follow the -drama story line-
Two people meet, fall in love-being offical and then the "the reason why we can't be together " . solving this reason and be together.
It had it's original points but still felt typical for me.
More than that, the story itself was dragged. after knowing the true crimminal, and after trying to find evidences, it was dragged with cheesy-romance moments and the story wasn't too filled.
I think that if this drama had 12-13 episodes it could have been better, with no dragging scences . For example the last two episodes felt really forced . (The drama has to be 16 episodes, so "let's try to fill it with things that aren't necessary".)
So besides that, the story was light, interesting at points, good action scenes, good filming, some mystery and intense moments ,but also dragged, especially from episode 9-10~
Acting:
Yoochun- Well, Yoochun is my favourite actor, so in this point he wasn't disappointing for me as well. He managed to show also serious sides of the character, funny moments (like the comedy skit that was hilarious and -out of character- for him) He's character wasn't boring, he was determinded, funny and serious at the same time, showing few sides of a character, I think it wasn't his best role but he was good for this role.
Shin Se Kyung- I don't like her, but she was just "fine" in this drama.
I don't think she acted well for her character- her crying scences didn't feel real, and also her laugh felt fake. I'm not saying that she was horrible all the time but when she had to show her feelings (whether sad or happy) she wasn't good.
Also her character was a really typical character with nothing new, she wasn't annoying nor unpleasant but just avarage.
Nam Gung Min- He was really good. I think that each character I saw from him was really impressive. This time I really could feel the anger inside me . How he acted with he's eyes, and the mimes of his face!
Also his character was interesting (I felt that we could have seen more from him, like he's childhood or some backround) but he portrayed his character as written very well!
I also liked that he could keep that character until the end.
Yoon Jin Seo-didn't see her as a main character but only as a supporting one, she was just fine, I mean that I didn't feel her really necessary (maybe only in the last case of the drama) but she was fine as a supporting- strict but also soft.
The other supporting characters- they were funny, all the police officers.
I think that in dramas they are shown as a really silly people, but they added to the comedy and to the series.
Music:
I didn't really feel the music, the songs were fine and fitted to the scenes, also the music in the "intense monents" was fitted and good.
Romance:
I have a bit problem with that. Those two were supposed to be fated to be with each other, but somehow I didn't really "feel" their love and their "bond".
There were some cute moments with them, but I'm not sure how much chemistry the main actors had, I had fun sometimes with the moments but most of the times it was too cheesy, drama like and too dragged to fill the series.
I think that in the last episodes it was the most unbearable to watch.
But they were a nice couple after all.
I liked that for at least we didn't have here "other male/female lead"
Rewatch Value:
Probably not, it wasn't the best but it was enjoyable. I'm giving it 7.5, because it was typical but also had it's good and original points.
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This is the third drama that I've loved Park YooChun in, and I finally had to give him a spot on my favorites list for it. He is super adorable in this role - awkward yet charming, and he got me addicted to the show pretty much instantly. Some call it bad acting, but I say it was adorkable. It helped that he had great flirty chemistry with Shin Se Kyung. The scenes between these two are super corny, and extra cheesy, but in a way that I like. I also liked the idea that they were two freaks of nature fated to find each other, which added another cute element to their relationship. I've never seen Shin Se Kyung in a drama before, and initially found Oh Cho Rim to be a little annoying, but she grew on me quickly, and suddenly I couldn't help but root for her. She also made her unusual gift seem perfectly plausible, which made the whole thing more believable.... even when the script was definitely unbelievable.
The real stand out performance of this drama is Nam Gung Min. I really loved his character, and loved all the subtle nuances he brought out while playing Chef Kwon Jae Hee. I remember him playing such a great complicated character in "Can you hear my heart", and his performance in this was even better. I would also like to applaud his shirtlessness, and the tightness of his pants... who knew he was so well rounded?!! (pun definitely intended - that booty tho) I would love to see him in more dramas (shirt not required).
The investigative team, Cho Rim's BFF, and the rest of the supporting cast were great, and memorable. Some of the acting gets a little cheesy at times (the acting troupe - ugh), but that's mostly because of the writing style. The cops also come across as idiots most of the time, even more than in other dramas, but I liked their characters enough that it didn't matter too much.
The writer basically wrote a comedic romance between two misfits, that gets intercepted by a serial killer case. The story is unique, and although it's semi-predictable, and relies on some overused kdrama tropes, it kept me intrigued. I liked how all the main characters has an unusual connection to the 5 senses. The mystery element made me super eager to watch every episode, especially with cliff hanger endings making me always wanna watch "just one more" episode. All the episodes flew by for me. I easily finished this drama in 3 days, without any real boredom. There were a few moments of flashback overload, and cutesy dream sequences, but It was incorporated well.
The graphics/efx, the scent graphic animations in particular, were cool, but very literal, so it added some extra cheesiness.
Also, are Korean's really that shallow? How does a green eye make you a monster? I know more than one person with one blue eye, and they were always considered cool. I guess it adds to the drama, but geez!
I though the soundtrack was great, a little literal, but had a lot of catchy songs.
The product placement was a bit OD, particularly the Samsung moments. It was so hilariously obvious that it kinda added to the comedy of the show.
My last, and biggest complaint, would be about the outfits. Who ever was in charge of wardrobe needs to find a new career. Some of the outfits were distractingly bad, but I digress...
Now that I know the story, I'm not sure this would be as exciting if I decided to rewatch, but there were definitely some cute scenes that I would watch again.
Overall this is a consistently entertaining drama from beginning to end. I don't think it had enough of a wow factor to become a favorite, but I liked it much more than I expected. If you are willing to embrace KDrama logic, you will like it more. If you like chemistry that gives you the butterflies feeling, I think this drama delivers. I would recommend this drama to anyone looking for some escapism, and who can handle the cheese.
Watching this drama just makes sense... (sorry, I couldn't resist)
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