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This review may contain spoilers
On paper, this drama looks like just another contract marriage/dating rom com, which is honestly what I was expecting and in the mood for, but it exceeded all expectations I had of it honestly.Let's start with how it subverts drama tropes and stereotypes. I won't give any spoilers but there are many aspects--second male and female leads, subplots, secondhand romances--that never played out the way I was expecting. Instead, the show mostly turned these around and twisted them so that even if I predicted what would happen, I could never predict the outcome. It was so refreshing and fun.
Second, I never got bored. I've watched over 80 dramas. I usually get bored with some aspect of a drama I watch. That never happened with 1 Percent of Something. Even in spots where the show could have gotten boring, I think the biggest factor in helping this show is the 40 minute episodes. This helped keep the show from getting stale or putting in a lot of filler. Each minute had to mean something and helped keep me engaged with the characters.
Which leads me to my third point: the characters! They were so alive and engaging! I loved all of them. Even the second male and female leads which is honestly a hard feat for me. They were all so real. I felt like I could call them up and they would be real people instead of creations of the writers' minds. It was absolutely amazing. The characters were flawed but had so many redeeming qualities. I didn't even think the jerk chaebol was THAT big of a jerk. It was so incredibly nice to watch.
My last point: The most realistic version of hate to love I've ever seen. You get to watch the main characters slowly fall for each other over a series of small moments. It doesn't feel forced. You watch as they interact on the terms of the contract and slowly start caring for one another. It's obvious in their actions and what they say that they're both falling. Nothing feels out of the blue. Jae Inn is able to redeem himself slowly and even learns from his mistakes and doesn't continually treat Da Hyun as garbage like a lot of dramas will do (coughheirscoughcough).
There were some not so great things. The small plot lines about Da Hyun being the president of Ji Su's fan club wasn't my favorite thing. But it was cute and added to her character. The music was just okay. It was nothing that got stuck in my head or that I'll ever listen to again later but it worked well in the drama.
Overall, this is definitely going to get added to my favorite dramas list. I am a little worried about rewatch value since a lot of my enjoyment came from being surprised. That's why I've marked it a 7. When I eventually feel like watching it again, I might update this number/review. We'll see.
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If you’re looking for true romance
This is one of best dramas for romance and great kissing scenes. None of those fake kisses in this drama! It is light-hearted for the most part, but there is just enough melodrama to keep it interesting. The storyline line is refreshing because it is not typical of the usual dramas. The couple has great chemistry and are cute to watch. I’m a fan of romance and this one is a favorite that I have watched multiple times. I’m glad Viki recently added it, but I bought my own copy of it because it’s that good. I highly recommend it!Was this review helpful to you?
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Really Enjoyed It
I really liked this drama. It kept my attention throughout.What I liked:
-Han Suk Jin was amazing. He was very believable as Jae In and was my favorite character in the show. I loved when he would put people in their place, when he wouldn't take things lying down, the fact that he would do things his own way, his reasoning for not wanting to marry DaDa at first (he didn't want her to suffer), etc.
-Jeon So Min as Da Hyeon. I like that she would give just as good as she would get. She wouldn't let people see her sweat. I just didn't like that she constantly kept saying I don't know your grandfather to Jae In. Why not research it? There were articles about Jae In on the internet so why not search up his grandfather especially since SH Group was his creation. That was annoying.
-The main couple had great chemistry and it was cute seeing them not realizing they were in love with each other. They had cute interactions, great kissing scenes and I liked when Jae In would tease DaDa.
What I didn't like:
-Jae In's ex- she kept harassing both Jae In and DaDa. No matter how firm they were with her or how much they put her in her place, she still would keep coming around. She comes around and says she loves him after being apart for 3 year. ????????How Sway? And at one point she told DaDa she was being pathetic. What was pathetic was her chasing after a man that didn't want her and made it clear that he didn't want her.
-Jae In's little sister- She was not needed and added nothing to the show.
-The last 2 episodes- Episode 15 dragged a little, thankfully not past 1 episode unlike some other dramas. I know it was to make the audience feel what it was like for them being separated from one another, but it was still a bit draggy. And the last episode was just too fast paced and introduced more topics that I felt one more episode was needed to smooth everything out.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed this drama, recommend it and will definitely rewatch it again.
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The drama itself has a few minor flaws, but floats along so nicely. I actually think it should have been 16 one hour episodes, instead of 45 minutes, as there should have been a little more time to develop the secondary characters. Other than that, you will find yourself with a smile on your face 95% of the time while watching this.
Jeon So Min deserves more lead roles, PERIOD! There is just no reason for her to not be a top tier lead. She nails romance, and has perfect comedic timing. There are only a few leads that have both, and she is one of them.
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What I loved most the chemistry between the actors, their acting was so good and their moments were special in a way that made me smile like a stupid, a feeling I always miss in the dramas I've seen recently, a thing you don't see much is skinship but in this drama you can't get enough.
Then there were side stories that anyway didn't shadow the main so I really appreciated it.
The music was fine but wasn't anything special.
It was really easygoing and not stressful at all the rewaching value is really high...
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Touching Warm Romantic Story
I watched this series multiple times. There were things in the story that really bothered me, but overall the positives outweighed the negatives.What I like:
- sincerity and the good-nature personality of the FL. I could sense how ML was falling for her
- FL's responses to the love rival was gold and not the typical K-drama reactions
- SML was not evil and ended up with the best friend
- ML being honest in the end of what married life would be like for her
- Sweet kisses
Cons:
- the skinship in the beginning was bothering me because at that time it wasn't clear yet that they liked each other. So it felt like ML was taking advantage of the FL . I don't understand how they could said they would date "seriously" while also putting a time limit. Time limit negates any type of "seriousness" in the relationship.
- I really appreciated ML's honesty in outlining the challenges in being his wife, and yet I felt after the wedding the opposite situations of those challenges were shown (for example we didn't get to see her spending a lot of time alone, surrounded by bodyguards, etc.)
Overall, still love it, and would re-watch many more times I'm sure in the future.
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I was randomly checking out youtube videoes when the first scene of the 4th episode of this drama caught my attention. I got hooked up in no time and finished this within two days. So what made me fall for this drama? Well, here are valid points:
1. The drama is pretty short. Even though it is a 16 episodes drama, each episode is of around 30 minutes. Because the drama is not lengthy, I didn’t lose patience while following the cliche storyline.
2. Usually, in pure romance based drama, the female lead is either pretty crybaby or pretty rebellious, pretty rebellious in the sense that they show a tendency to overreact in even normal situations. In this drama, the female lead is pretty well-balanced in term of showing kindness, sweetness and her rebel side.
3. In this drama, there is no unnecessary misunderstanding to annoy the audience. In pure romance based drama, there is a tendency to create misunderstanding between the leads which misunderstanding can easily be sorted out by a simple text or phone call. In this drama, the two leads maintain communication despite having their busy schedules and sort out misunderstandings.
4. In most Korean dramas, the way how female lead falls for male lead is pretty abrupt, as if one fine morning the female lead decided that she loved the male lead. Here, the creative team has come up with an awesome dialogue to validate this emotional transition, which dialogue is now one of my favorite quotes, “Suppose, there is this person with 99 good traits but he has one bad trait. You’ll come to detest him eventually over that one bad trait no matter what he does. But there is this other person with 99 bad traits and one good trait. if that one good trait catches your attention, that’s what you’ll fall for; because that’s his charm!” So true and simply explains why people often fall for one with traits which they hate normally.
Jun So Min has a pretty innocent look which perfectly complements the character of the female lead she has played here. Her co-star, Ha Suk Jin stated in an interview that Jun So Min’s real personality also resembles the female lead character of this drama which explains her natural acting. As for Ha Suk Jin, I’ve come to know of him for the first time through this drama and simply loved him. His acting is so natural, specially his smile.
If I’m asked to figure one negative aspect of this drama, I would point finger at the acting skill of the actor who has played the role of the grandpa here. He simply overacts and it feels pretty obvious that he is ‘acting’. I felt Sung Dong II would be the best option for this role.
In a nutshell, if you are tired of over-drama in dramas tagged with ‘melodrama’ genre or if you’re looking for something light, refreshing to lighten up your mood after being done with a twisted, complicated drama, then ‘Something About 1 Percent’ would be a good pick.
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Watch on your own risk
Drama is cute and simple but not captivating...storyline is basic....acting is gud ....if you don't have anything to watch you can go for this.....I liked the FL more than ML she is cute, outgoing, stubborn...her innocence is the most adorable thing to see. The ML is typical rich heir who have his way in this drama....I think their chemistry was bit awkward as if they have been forced....there was no natural love present...At the end I felt like stopping...it's not that interesting...but still you can give this drama a chanceWas this review helpful to you?
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