Completed
violetdice
113 people found this review helpful
Jan 5, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.5
Sure, the drama has some flaws, and some might say it's a typical drama, but because of the chemistry between the 2 main characters as well as how the writers dealt with the main message of the drama, I really enjoyed watching it! Episodes flew by without me noticing!

CAST:
You can not help but fall for Shin Min Ah's bubbly and attractive personality. She's so genuine that I don't think of her as an actress but as a human being. Then we So ji Sub who is naturally and effortlessly hot. The way he looks at Shin Min Ah's character, you can feel the love oozing out lol. In the end, GREAT CHEMISTRY which is one of the most important factors in a successful drama.

PLOT & MESSAGE:
I hate how in transformation dramas/movies the protagonist stops everything once they reach their goal. In Oh my Venus, the main actress kept exercising and eating healthy way after she reached her goal and I loved how they showed us that till the very end of the drama. It's a realistic reminder to keep a long healthy lifestyle instead of the yoyo method.

Other dramas also accentuate the actress's figure after the transformation and make it the main focus most of the time however in Oh my venus, I was surprised that they kept making her wear loose and sometimes unflattering clothing even after she lost weight but that reminded me that the important thing is not how you look but how healthy you are which is why she didn't only use the scale to check her progress but she also did blood tests.

In the end, I think the great elements of this drama outweighs all of the negatives making it a great and even rewatchable drama!

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Completed
Katie
61 people found this review helpful
Jan 6, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 8.5
I can't believe it's already over! Now I don't have any more new episodes to be looking forward to each week! I absolutely loved Oh My Venus! While the plot may seem typical, the whole drama is handled in a way that we rarely see and it was great.

The story is fairly simple but was executed wonderfully. One of the things that made Oh My Venus stand out to me compared to other dramas was the lack of cliches. I loved how the show could still be dramatic and intense at times but it avoided nearly all of the typical K-drama cliches. Even when they used cliches they were handled differently and didn't go down the path that they usually do. It was so wonderful! The story was super cute and had a really good message about health and beauty.

The acting was superb. So Ji Sub and Shin Min Ah had wonderful chemistry and I loved their characters' personalities. I loved that there was no drama between the main couple. It was really nice to see a k-drama couple being straightforward and honest with each other. They worked through their problems together rather than creating more. It was a pleasure to watch a drama with such a healthy (both mentally and physically) romantic relationship in it. Drama between couples can get old really fast and this was really refreshing.

I loved the side characters as well! Henry and Sung Hoon were the perfect side characters and I loved the chemistry they had with So Ji Sub. They're probably my favorite drama trio! The other cast members played their parts very well too. For once I didn't absolutely despise the 2nd female and male leads. They made mistakes, yes. But it was nice that they didn't constantly try to interfere with the main couple's relationship. Instead we got to see them work through their own problems and I grew to kind of like them.

The music in Oh My Venus was super catchy and cute. I already have some of the songs in my iPod and they're so fun to listen to. I liked the use of upbeat and catchy songs. There were fewer dramatic songs and more fun and happy songs. All of the songs on the OST balance each other out and come together to make a wonderful soundtrack.

Overall I absolutely adored Oh My Venus. I was very pleased with the final episode as well (though I didn't think there needed to be as many flashbacks as there were). This is one of the best dramas I've watched in a while. The whole message of the show is just so positive and everything was so unproblematic. It was a really nice change of pace.

My video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaVFl_Bq6c

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Completed
ViolinGal
39 people found this review helpful
Jan 6, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 3
Overall 4.5
Story 4.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers
*Warning, this review has very vague spoilers.....but I thought I'd warn regardless.*

I decided to watch this drama because I absolutely adore Shin Min Ah and So Ji Sub. They are two of my very favorite Korean actors--I'd watch anything that includes them. Even though this drama wasn't really my cup of tea (for reasons I'll get to in a second), that still stands true. I'll watch them in anything--they're great.

Before I get to my problems with the show, I'll first touch on what I liked:

1. A slightly unique k-drama ending. Without giving anything away, the drama pretty much wraps itself up by episode 14. Cue the horror I felt that the next two episodes were just going to be one angst ride of a cliche after another (just to fill the quota of 16 episodes). It builds up to a point where you think it will go in a normal kdrama cliche, but instead veers to a sharp left, avoiding it. It was surprising and appreciated. It made the next two episodes more fun, sweet (ie a certain scarf scene), and cute. I really felt that was needed (because of the previous episodes). So definitely a kudos on that aspect.

2. The mementos and theme. While normally the idea of keeping a band-aid REALLY grosses me out, I thought it was an endearing touch on the theme of 'injured people need time to heal wounds that are sometimes really hard to see.' That theme is brought up often, especially as a personality trait that the main-lead has a weakness for in others. Various people in this show are injured in some way or another and I liked seeing how the show dealt with them overcoming that. Having a band-aid be kind of the OTP's 'thing' was nice, especially with how it all tied in at the end.

3. More realistic(ish) kisses and an actual sexual relationship. It's pretty common place that in a k-drama you're going to get those dead fish kisses (which this drama is not devoid of) and just no mention of sex at all. That's just Korean dramas for you. So whenever a drama breaks that mold, like this one does (slightly) it's a big deal in my book. The side characters got some REAL actual kisses and the show made it clear that the OTP had sex (and there were even some scenes that were really playful with this concept). So that DEFINITELY gets a huge thumbs up for me.

Now onto the problems/things I didn't like about this drama:

1. The BIGGEST problem was the family dynamics across the board. Family dynamics were underutilized and not played to their full potential. They were also SUPER confusing. Especially So Ji Sub's family. He rarely interacted with his father or grandmother--so it was super hard to connect with them or get their impact on what the story was supposed to be. He only interacted with his half-brother ONCE (the end episode)! I also just didn't understand his relationship with his uncle or step-mother--they just never interacted. I just didn't understand why....there was huge potential missed there. You barely get a feel for Shin Min Ah's mother and certainly not her brother, nor do you truly understand the pain she had of losing her father. I just....I don't know, felt hugely let-down by the family dynamics, they just didn't play a role in this drama and I felt that left gaping holes in the plot, storyline, and cohesion/flow of the story. It was sooooo confusing, to the point where at various points it HURT my brain trying to figure out why the writers were purposefully skirting around all the normal issues that would involve family scenes. It was almost as if they were working hard trying to prevent any family scenes from taking place, it was weird. Everything felt really disconnected in that regard.

2. Maybe this is just my own weird thing, but.....I thought all the fat jokes/cliches were, ugh...annoying. They continued, right up to the end. Sure, they were trying to make it a "Oh, being healthy (also on the inside) is a good thing, not just losing weight!" But it was essentially just a story of a girl losing weight and gaining a guy. Sometimes I felt like they went a little overboard to the point where it got a little cheesy and cliched (not to mention annoying). But again, that may just be a preference thing. At least this drama only had one instance of weird K-drama bathroom humor. So I'll count my blessings with that.

3. The convoluted angst. It's true that for the most part, this drama is pretty bubbly and comedic. BUT when it does do angst (particularly the antics that break up the OTP) it did not work for me, at all. This may be a slight spoiler, so *WARNING* but at one point, the So Ji Sub leaves her (for in my opinion, a dumb reason).....and for some reason won't allow her to see him, at all. Also, no texting/calling....nothing. Just a complete up and leaves with no trace. He's supposedly supposed to come back to her at some point, but I just felt it was stupid. I didn't understand why it was so important that he had to cut her off, it made no sense. It felt like they were creating angst for no reason and brought me out of the story. It was just dumb. Also, anything angsty like that, just wasn't handled very well. It didn't flow with the story well.

4. Overuse of flashbacks. When a drama is using enough flashbacks to the point where you say to yourself: "Dang, that's a lot of flashbacks." It's overused. It became a crutch and a pointless time-filler. It was fairly annoying, because these flashbacks weren't just of the far past of these characters (which is fine), but things that happened JUST barely. It became really apparent that they were using it to fill time for episodes, which made it just seem sloppy and overused. It to be honest was a little off-putting.

So overall, just not my cup of tea. Not completely horrible. There are some good reasons to watch this drama, but I fear it's a little overrated because of the actors in it. Just be prepared for some confusion and a little bit of frustration if you decide to watch this drama. I hope your experience will be better than mine was.

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Completed
manicmuse
22 people found this review helpful
Jan 9, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers
I must start this off with my necessary So Ji Sub drama review disclaimer. If he is in a drama, I already have a reason to like the drama... a lot. So ji Sub could do 16 episodes on a toilet, or preferably in a shower, and I will watch every single episode happily. So yes, I really liked this drama, but I am well aware of my bias, since I also had a lot of issues with "Oh My Venus".

I'll start with what I loved about it, besides the obvious, and that's not only the main romance, but also the bromance. I think Shin Min Ah is such a great partner for So ji Sub. Their romance is full of clichés, while avoiding some others, but I was glued to my screen anticipating them getting together. They are a sort of "super pairing", and they don't disappoint. They had really great chemistry, a grown up sexy chemistry, even in her fat suit.

Oh yeah, let's talk about the "fat" suit. It's not really a spoiler to say that a transformation is inevitable, but I don't want to give too much away. I will just say that there were moments when I missed seeing her in the fat suit, because I got so used to seeing her character that way. She's very pretty skinny or chubby, and they did a really good job making her chubbier face look very realistic. I also appreciated that the transformation wasn't insultingly instant, and that it was for health, and not just looks. I was worried that the plot would be much more superficial than it was, especially considering S Korea's extreme beauty standards. This romance is less about wooing a guy with a makeover, and more about how opposites can attract.

So ji Sub's bromance with Sung Hoon and Henry Lau was another reason I became addicted to this drama. Kang Joo Eun is in an enviable position, getting to be around the three of them so much. The dynamic between the four of them was extremely fun to watch. I'll add the assistant/manager to the bromance, because he was great too! Of course Henry is extra cute all by himself, and surely a stand out favorite for most fans of the show.

What I really disliked was the supporting leads. Woo Sik isn't meant to be a likable character, but I guess Jung Gyu Woon played the part so well that I couldn't stand him at all (and he's played characters I despised before). I had zero empathy for Woo Sik, or his poor fashion choices. Then there's the equally unlikable Soo Jin. Even with her backstory, I still could not make myself like her even a little bit. Yoo In Young is also not the greatest actress. Although she played bitter very well, the rest of her performance fell flat. Way too much time was spent on their relationship. Plus, I thought them being together at all made absolutely no sense, which made their scenes hard to sit through patiently. Their story had more drama than the main couple at certain points, but I honestly just wanted to skip through their scenes.

I gave "story" a really low score because the plot just seemed too all over the place. The John Kim story was such a big deal at first, but then soon fizzled. Kim Yeong Ho's family issues were so hard to follow, and I still don't get why they were so dysfunctional. Hyun Woo's divorce was mentioned so many times, and it had no real use in the plot (maybe it's a bigger stigma that I realize? If not, it made no sense to keep bringing it up). Then there were matters of life and death that kept happening seemingly to fill the time.

Even the main love story fell prey to the curse of Kdrama Rom coms. That's when a drama is much longer than it should be, so they just throw in a bunch of random cute scenes with the main couple, and hope their chemistry will keep you watching. I waited eagerly for the last 2 episodes, but was mostly bored watching them. There was even an overload of flashbacks, and some obligatory product placement, to help them reach the 16 episode finish line. The romance does end in a pretty cute way, but the extra scene at the end was super unnecessary in my opinion, and proof to me that the writers were kinda winging it. Still, It wasn't all bad, because I totally loved the scarf!

The music was cute, and fit the show well. A couple of the songs grew on me after hearing them on loop, and I still hear them in my head while I type this. o.O

Overall, this drama owes it's success to it's cast (well, most of the cast). It's weird that although I will miss seeing episodes, I would have liked it much more if it was shorter, and it left on a high note. Personally, I'd only watch certain scenes again, or maybe I'd just skip forward through every scene that isn't about the bromance or the main romance. A re-edited version would have gotten much higher marks from me! Do I recommend this show? Of course. So Ji Sub + Shin Min Ah > Bad Writing (#math), and what the writers get right is that they play up the chemistry to the maximum, which is more than enough for most viewers.

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Completed
bimblebop
9 people found this review helpful
Sep 5, 2019
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 4.5

It’s okay

I watched the whole show and all I can say is that if you hate fat people and don’t understand privacy, this is the show for you.

Some parts were cute I suppose, but seeing how such a huge chunk of their relationship was just him directly shaming and mocking her for her weight made me really uncomfortable. The way they put the female actresses in fat suits and even made them speak more childishly while they’re overweight was so weird too. Not to mention, the female lead wasn’t even that overweight? They just put a double chin on her and stuffed her pants and called it a day. I understand the message is to be healthy, and I absolutely agree with that, but in no way does that excuse the mockery of overweight people the way this drama did. No amount of playfulness or jokes or whatever can make it be an acceptable message in something of this level.

Plus, the portrayal of [a certain health syndrome] near the end was soo dramatic for no reason.... it’s one of the most common conditions in women and it’s very manageable. As someone who has it, watching that whole ordeal was laughable and I could not take it as seriously as you were supposed to.

There’s a lot that I’ll tolerate in kdramas for the sake of escapism or whatever but there should definitely be limits, especially considering how insulting so much of this was to a huge part of the audience.

HOWEVER, I really loved the cast. The leads had really good chemistry, and I’ve become a fan of their acting due to this show. If the way the main dilemma of the plot wasn’t handled in the way it was, this would have been one of my favourites.

I’m generally not a fan of Sung Hoon, but I really enjoyed his character in this show, and I hope he plays more roles like this in the future. This is also my first time seeing Henry act, and although I don’t know much about him, his bubbly character was delightful and one of the reasons I may go back to rewatch despite everything.

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Completed
Jasmine
11 people found this review helpful
Jul 4, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 9.0
I've heard both extremely positive, extremely negative, and everything in between reviews about OMV. Because of that, I went into this drama with some misgivings but also hopefulness since I loved So Ji Sub's character and performance from Master's Sun so much. I'm extremely happy to say that I did enjoy this drama much more than I expected to.

The plot was a bit thin, I admit, especially on the 'common' kdrama tropes side but the drama did put their own spin on it frequently. Putting that aside, however, the moral displayed throughout OMV was pretty inspirational. I can't say: 'Watch this drama. It's mind blowing and has a amazing story that you can't predict.' What I CAN say is: 'It's cute, fluffy, and adorable. Do watch this if you want some fun, bickering romance that is organic and is a genuinely healthy relationship.' At the end of the day, sometimes I just like some classic fare and OMV does just that with the added bonus of So Ji Sub and Shin Min Ah.

Some would disagree with just watching a drama because of an actor/actress. I think it's about priorities. I mean, everyone has varying reasons for watching dramas. For me, having an amazing story and amazing actors is lucky. That's how we get dramas like Healer, once in a blue moon. Back to point though, OMV has a lot of tropes that I guiltily like to watch and they're done well, for the most part. The writer even laughs at himself/herself for using some of the kdrama tropes through the dialogue. That's honestly just hilarious! I also loved some of the past and present scenes (tap tap anyone?); they were done so effectively and just added to the story for me.

It has a stellar three musketeer bromance that grows on you rapidly and makes me laugh every time I see them, a sincere romance that actually works, and throw in some side characters that I can actually kind of relate to at times. Sung Hoon and Henry were so adorable and were the perfect complement to SJS's John Kim persona. The 'evil' second leads, were for once, (for me) so relatable in the end that I was caught by surprise. I even cared about their happy ending which I did not see coming.

I even liked the angst in the third quarter of the drama. You heard me; I actually enjoyed it. It just worked for me and I appreciated how short it was but still made me tear up in all the right ways. It wasn't without flaws but it still showed me enough. I think this is actually the first time for me that I liked the 3rd-4th quarter of a drama slightly bit more than the first half.

The overall moral is that body image shouldn't be everything but lets be honest: it kind of is, in our society. In the beginning, I was a bit turned off because it seemed like everyone was mocking/laughing at Kang Joo Eun for getting fat (and lets be real, she doesn't even look that overweight) But KJE's flippant and "I am who I've always been' attitude made me fall in love with her. Shin Min Ah completely sold me on her character. Although I kept seeing Joo Joong Won (Master's Sun) in So Ji Sub's character, Kim Yeong Ho at first, SJS did eventually differentiate the two characters.

Music didn't catch me at first, but 3rd-4th quarter, I started feeling it more.

I struggled on whether to give this a 8.5 or 9 but in the end, I decided to give it a 9 on the basis that I purely enjoyed this drama on all counts (16 hours well spent) regardless of the fact that the story itself isn't by far up to par with some of the most highly rated dramas.


So, I recommend this drama so much. This IS a rom-com. Sometimes dramas are labeled rom-com and it ends up turning into something else.. I could've done a little less with the corporate plot but it's fine, the drama knew what its strengths were and kept it their focus-the couple chemistry and the comedy.

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Completed
Kdramathis
7 people found this review helpful
Mar 17, 2021
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Doesn't deliver on a great promise

I wanted to like this more than I did. The leads are hot, they have great chemistry and they could have sizzled. I'm not entirely sure I was onboard with the weight loss premise but they did make it a lot about being healthy on the inside which I can totally get onboard with. And kudos to the makeup people for doing such a great job with the female lead's "before" look. The male lead's little squad were totally adorable and I really enjoyed all the scenes that had all 3 of them, or all 3 of them and their "ma'am". I did enjoy watching it and wanted to get to the end to see how they worked out.

But overall, I found the writing and the pacing a bit uneven and it disappointed on quite a few levels.

*spoilers ahead*

- I don't get why he had to go for a year in rehab without her. The reason he gave - that he didn't want to see her pain - was really simplistic and I thought spoilt what was meant to be their growing relationship and at that, a mature relationship together. This kind of noble sacrifice makes for good tortured scenes where they both miss each other but in this it just felt like they had undone all the work they had put in to building a solid relationship, where they could be strong and weak together. So ugh. Even the knitting wasn't enough to save it. Great proposal scene though, one of the best I've seen!

- The epilogue is ridiculous. They literally undid all the lessons learned - about health and good habits - and neither did it feel plausible. Firstly the hero goes up for some do-gooding for 3 months (when they've just been separated for a year and promised to always see each other) and then she puts on THAT much weight just from being pregnant? It's like they inserted this section just for laughs

- This is a minor plot point but I don't get why it's ok to have the female commercial queen be quite so stalkerish on the UFC champion. She was too OTT and he was too reticent, a little less of the both and it would be fine, but you can't have a drama that is trying to talk about domestic violence being NOT ok and then signalling that stalking (even if it comes from the opposite sex) is ok.

- The second leads are BORING and they didn't need to be (though I'll be honest I'm not a huge fan of this actress) - but they had a backstory and they could have been made to work better than they did. As it was every scene they were in made me want to go get a cup of tea or something because I didn't care enough.

- The supposed villians are not villianous enough. I don't get what Uncle gains from male lead not being the head of the firm? This isn't made clear. It was quite half hearted, really.

- It could really have ended at episode 14.

- the dimples thing was annoying, not cute. They could have done more with this couple, chemistry wise - it's like they shied away from this.

And as appealing as So Ji Sub is in this, it was just not enough to save this.

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Completed
Georgie
28 people found this review helpful
Mar 7, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 3.0
Story 3.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
Overall 3
Rewatch Value 0

Oh my God...or better oh my Hong Sisters were are you? I miss a drama with a good story.

I believe the high rating comes from the large community of teenagers here at mydramalist, unfortunately I can't give high ratings simply because "he is so hot".

With a cast like this you expect the actors to keep some sort of artistic integrity and to actually chose a project worthy of their names. Unfortunately this show was pretty much a flop-slash-clique' -slash-tease (I can't believe 2 adults over 30 acts like 2 virgin teenagers). And the few good lines thrown every now and then, can't make up for the draggy romance, the repetitive dialogues, the unjustified and cruel family behavior, and the too many flashbacks.

There were many things that annoyed me in this drama like pushing someone who is on a strict diet to let it go for once and eat for example carbs with sugar and salt. It's like asking to someone who doesn't like to drink or smoke to have some fun and try it out.

The other is the constant reminder that Kang Joo Eun was a Venus in her teens and therefore with good determination she could get back to her older self. I think young people should know that it's not possible to compete with your past, but only with your present. So trying to set a goal based on how slim is you were at 16 now that you are 30 will simply frustrate you.

Also, this drama tried to touch so many topics....dieting, exercising, stalking, abuse, friendship, romance, work issues, loyalty and long term injuries (of the body and of the soul). All these topics are great ....but ultimately I felt like everything was badly developed and I ended up not caring for the main characters, not matter how lovely and funny they were at times.

I recommend to watch this drama at least once.
Then I recommend to watch some oldies like Save the Last Dance and Protect the Boss, and the most recent Heart to Heart.

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Completed
ArvisJaggamar
9 people found this review helpful
May 24, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 3
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 9.0
"It's the most fun drama I've seen since Fated To Love You."

The above was spoken by my wife, less than halfway through this drama. I wondered, at the time, if Oh My Venus would continue to live up to that endorsement. As you can tell from the scores I gave it, the fun never stopped until the final ending credits rolled (and even then, the fun kept going for a little longer).

STORY
Scarcely have I seen a better story in a rom-com. It's not a wholly original premise, of course, but the themes of Beauty, Weight, and Health and how those themes work together are still somewhat unfamiliar ground for Korean entertainment.
The main romantic pairing of Oh My Venus is, of course, the biggest attraction, as the story of how they meet and fall in love never fails to be gripping. There's really no end to the amount of "cute" moments that these two have on screen together. However, from a story perspective, the secondary romance is also intriguing, albeit without the cuteness. The secondary couple is comprised of the main character's ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend, a pairing that most audience members would be predisposed to hate. But the writers knew that would be the case and and built a rather interesting and sensitive arc around the two characters. In general, though, that subplot lacks importance in the main narrative, so even though it's handled cleverly, it can feel somewhat like a digression far too often. Oftentimes, when one of the second leads was on screen, I found myself thinking "Hey, remember THIS person?" Again, though, the fascinating love story of the main pairing of Kang Joo Eun and Kim Young Ho should keep any rom-com fan happy for 16 episodes, without fail.
One of the best things this drama does in the Story department is dedicate the last two episodes almost entirely to resolution. Too many dramas just end right at the climax, with no room to celebrate the ending or spend more time with the characters you've grown to love. Not so with Oh My Venus, as you'll get a very satisfying 2 hours to say goodbye. Going forward, I'd like to see more dramas adopt this approach.
Were it not for a small bit out-of-character writing for some major characters, which culminated in a tenuously-motivated cliché in Episode 13, and also the secondary romance, this Story would be a 10.

ACTING/CAST
I can't even begin to describe how much I love this cast. Were it not for Jung Gyu Woon (who has literally one facial expression for the entire show) it would be a perfect 10.
I honestly don't want to write too much here, because the overall chemistry of the entire ensemble cast is something that needs to be experienced. But I would be remiss to not specifically point out Shin Min Ah and So Ji Sub. Min Ah outshines absolutely everyone here, superbly handling both comedy and melodrama and doing so in heavy effects makeup for much of the show (a talent that would not be appreciated by your average audience member). There's very little chance of a a viewer failing to be completely in love with Min Ah's character by at least Episode 8. So Ji Sub, on the other hand, is a special case: he doesn't exactly pop off the screen the way Min Ah does, but his subtle mastery of comic timing heightens all of the jokes, his easy dignity and strength give extra weight to his every action, and he saves his really brilliant acting for the little bit of melodrama that he gets to do.
Honorable mention goes to Yoo In Young, who's really good at being horrible jerk that for some reason you still sympathize with.

MUSIC
A lot of the incidental music here was lovely-but-forgettable, which is par for the course with kdrama. However, the vocal themes were great, with "Beautiful Lady" being perhaps the catchiest and most danceable vocal theme I've ever heard in any drama. Seriously, that song completely rocks and you'll want to move to it every time it comes on. My wife and I both found ourselves singing and humming some of the other songs as well, so if Music is a critical part of dramas for you, Oh My Venus will not let you down.

REWATCH VALUE
If I had to guess, I would say that every single one of the 16 episodes of this show has at least one scene worth rewatching. There is always something fun, hilarious, or emotional to go back to. Not only that, but the rewatch value is heightened by the main plot hook: going back and seeing the difference between how Kang Joo Eun looks in Episode 1 compared to how she looks at the end can be quite shocking! Some of the subplots hurt Oh My Venus in this category, but only just barely. When the final credits roll on this one, you'll definitely want to go back and see some of this again.

OVERALL
This is tied (with You Who Came From The Star) for the second best kdrama rom-com I have ever seen, and is officially one of my all-time favorite dramas ever. Even if you don't like rom-com, there's still enough of an interesting hook and story here that it's at least worth giving it a try. If you hate fun, then stay away, but if, like me, you enjoy having fun, start Oh My Venus tonight.

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Completed
Mister Romantic
4 people found this review helpful
Jun 19, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.5

Great drama, Superb acting, Don’t Miss this one.

A beautiful fun show to watch. The story was easy to follow with side stories that fit in with the drama. Both the FL and the ML were great. Shin Min Ah’s portrayal of Joo Eun the overweight lawyer was perfect. The comedy was funny and there was enough emotion to go around. So Ji Sub was also great as Young Ho/John Kim. He performed a lot of difficult physical scenes that were all well done.

What I liked best about this drama was the romance. A beautiful on-screen romance between two adults. When the romance was committed they was no wavering on either side. I like that in a drama. The chemistry between the two was sweet and believable. The romance progressed in natural ways as the drama unfolded with the physical side of love. The journey through the difficult injuries was heart wrenching and emotional.

A great drama that will keep you watching. It held my attention for all 16 episodes which is not easy with me.

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Completed
EarlGayTea
4 people found this review helpful
Jul 2, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 6.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 6.0
I really wanted to like this drama more. I love Shin Min Ah and the premise sounded fun and unique. But show didn't quite do it for me. Honestly, I don't know why I finished this drama other than some weird compulsion to not leave things unfinished.

Anyway, lets start with the good. Shin Min Ah delivered an amazing performance as per usual. I definitely believed her as Kang Joo Eun. She delivered the weird and quirky personality so well. Yoo In Young was great as Oh Soo Jin. I especially loved when the two were on screen together. They worked so well as friends to rivals to friends.

I really loved Henry's character as well. He was fun and definitely helped add comedic moments to otherwise too intense ones. His acting wasn't amazing, but since he wasn't on screen too much it didn't really bother me.

The soundtrack was really good too. Several of the songs got stuck in my head and I never found them annoying. They cycled threw a few different songs so it wasn't constantly the same verse anytime there was an influx in emotion.

I also loved the cute, fluffy moments between the main couple. They were adorable and I'm pretty sure they're the reason I even finished it. I'm a sucker for really good fluff and Kang Joo Eun and Kim Yeong Ho provided tooth aching, cotton candy filled fluff whenever they could.

Now the not so good, the entire plot. I was extremely uncomfortable from the very beginning with how Yeong Ho was constantly shaming Joo Eun for her weight. An especially hard concept for me to take was the "your body is mine" thing he said throughout the first few episodes. I get that show was trying to promote being healthy but I think they went about it in a way that could be harmful.

It was too long. The last two episodes were completely unnecessary. the amount of repeated scenes from previous episodes had me skipping through them almost completely. And the two little "plot twists" they threw in in the last 5 minutes of the show were completely unnecessary.

Despite all this, I still mostly enjoyed watching the drama if only for the cuteness of the OTP, the side characters, and the general humor in the show.

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Completed
isuzusan
6 people found this review helpful
Jan 8, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 8.5
So Ji Sub had finally returned to our screens after his extremely popular drama, The Master's Sun, from 2013 (and his 2014 drama of One Sunny Day). We were anticipating a lot from the actor that just screams sexiness, and that's exactly what we got. Oh My Venus even went to great lengths to show us how sexy this man can be. A lot of people were excited for Shin Min Ah as well since she hasn't done a drama since 2012, and the only recent news we heard from her was her relationship status update with Kim Woo Bin. So let's say that this drama was very hyped and it came out quite well to how people wanted it to be.

The story itself wasn't that interesting when you read the synopsis, it could even be seen as boring. I don't think anybody started watching Oh My Venus for the plot, it was only for the actors. But I can say that the writers made this drama so much better from how it sounded. The amount of cute and sexy scenes between Kang Joo Eun and Kim Young Ho just made it so delightful to watch and it genuinely felt like a real love story. However, there were a few flaws to this series. Firstly, the relationship between Oh Soo Jin and Im Woo Shik felt absolutely pointless. I did not see a reason why that couple was necessary. They served no purpose. Secondly, rich guy-poorer girl cliche. Lastly, scenes with Choi Hye Ran and Choi Nam Chul were kind of idiotic.

Ah, the acting in this was brilliant. So Ji Sub knows how to impress and he's definitely got my attention for his future dramas. Also, his body. Oh. My. God. I had to give myself a moment when I saw him like that. Anyway, Shin Min Ah isn't the most perfect actress I've seen but she does her job extremely well, this drama gave her a boost in her career. Lau Henry and Sung Hoon are now on my to-look-out-for list because they are such great actors, especially Hoon. I want to see him in a leading role in the near future. The only acting choice I had a problem with was Yoo In Young. I don't know if I'm the only one who doesn't like her acting, but I never feel like she does her job to her best potential. I felt the same way when I watched Mask. Unfortunately, she's on my blacklist of actors and I just hope that her acting improves for Moon Lovers (if she does accept the offer).

I loved the music, especially the soundtracks of Beautiful Lady and Darling U. I had them on my tumblr dashboard for several weeks. The other tracks I didn't quite love as much as these two, but they are worth a listen for anyone interested.

I would rewatch Oh My Venus if I needed some sexy body and cute/erotic scenes to watch.

Oh My Venus, I would say, was a success and I look forward to seeing more from the writer and most of the actors. The only things that ruined it slightly was Yoo In Young (again, my opinion) and the writing errors. But I would definitely recommend to anyone wanting an adorable romcom.

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Oh My Venus (2015) poster

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