Story: Let's say, to be honest, there isn't much of a real plot going on. It's just the girl trying to win the guy over, basically, for the entire 16 episodes. Yes, it does get boring at some parts. First it's the I-hate-you-but-you-just-keep-coming-to-me kind of relationship which I really don't understand. I did not hate this drama like some people do, I also do not LOVE this drama either. I think it's a drama to watch if you have a lot of free time and nothing to do(preferably in the summer).
Acting/Cast: First off, I don't feel the two leads have much chemistry between each other, at all. Jung So Min acted her character well but it's a very light drama, so then again you don't need to possess great talent to be able to act in Playful Kiss. Kim Hyun Joong was alright, I'm not a squealing fan girl for him because I haven't seen any dramas besides PK with him in it. Overall, the acting was alright, nothing actually stood out.
Music: I watched this too long ago to remember the music. :/
Re-watch value: Well, I typically don't re-watch dramas. I only re-watch if they are masterpieces like The Princess' Man. So giving this a 6 is a fair choice because there are some sweet funny moments that made me laugh.
Overall: I wouldn't call this a terrible drama. You just need to have patience to watch it. I recommend this drama to people who just want a light drama to watch when they have nothing to do.
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Story: Even so, I loved the story of the drama! They changed it a little from the anime and I'm so glad they did. Because they removed the stupid plot holes and made it more interesting.
Acting and Characters: Kim Hyun Joong did a really great job playing Seung Jo. I hated Ikki (in the anime). It was like he was just using Kotoko, that he didn't really love her. He was just afraid that no one else would love him like she did so he held on to her. And he bullied her way too much. And Kotoko was just waayy too stupid. She got on my nerves. I seriously wanted to slap her hard, then maybe she would've come to her senses. But in the drama, I could see that even though Seung Jo bullied Oh Ha Ni sometimes, he really did love her. And Jung So Min did a good job in playing Ha Ni too because she wasn't as annoying as the anime character (I use "as annoying" because girls who desperately run after guys who obviously don't care about them will always be annoying to me). I felt really sorry for Bong Joon Gu! He was more likable than the anime character, and I seriously would've been OK if Ha Ni would've ended up with him. I felt like giving the poor guy a hug. The other characters were nice too but not very memorable. Except Seung Jo's mom. I loved her in the anime and I loved her in the drama too. She was really funny and sweet.
Romance: I loved the romance! It was so sweet and nice. I loved seeing Seung Jo's feelings progress. I loved his secret smiles (I ? Kim Hyun Joong's smile)! I especially loved how he was so jealous when Ha Ni was with someone else. It showed that he really did care.
Negatives: I don't really have much negatives to point out because I really loved this show. Though there was this one character (I don't remember his name) who was involved with Ha Ni. He had a fight with Bong Joo Gu in the library. But he only appeared for a couple of episodes. I wonder where he disappeared to..
Favorite Scene: I have so many favorite scenes, I couldn't possibly list them all over here! But I'll still share a few. Well the first one was when Seung Jo saves Ha Ni from the naked man :P I loved the rain scene! (Who doesn't?!) The balcony scene was the sweetest scene ever! When Seung Jo kisses Ha Ni in the forest when she's asleep ? When they are on their honeymoon and Seung Jo tickles Ha Ni to make her smile (when she's mad at him). And the list goes on...
After Marriage: I loved the YouTube specials in which they showed their life after marriage. But I loved 'Seung Jo's Diary' (also on YouTube) more because those showed how much he loved Ha Ni and it was really a peep into his shy soul.
All in all: I really loved this drama and if you're into Romantic Comedies you should definitely watch it!
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STRONGLY AGAINST SUCH DRAMAS
I AM STRONGLY AGAINST SUCH DRAMAS. WHY?This does not only give wrong impression to all the girls, but boys as well, that they can get whatever the f**** they want.
A girl this dumb, with such low self esteem and confidence, sure... does exist in real lives, but drama does not give any message through this or show progress of girl turning into maturity. But instead it turned into twisted and horrible love story, with a boy never learning. Even though he falls in love with her, he was an arrogant bastard till last scene.
The poor second lead I truly felt so sorry for him, but I was glad, that he didn't end up with stupid girl, who doesn't know what love actually is. He is an amazing single father in real life, I hope he gets all the best.
However, the male lead does genuinely loves her, and shows kindness in his own way, but thats not how you show love to your wife or anyone by being pain in ass. Even his little brother was arrogant dog.
The only thing good about this show was male lead mother, never saw a Korean mother this good. So 10 points to her already.
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This is obviously a teenage or young adult type drama but I am sucker for great love stories no matter what age group. I am always the one cheering for the underdog. The one girl or guy that is out of place and no one expects to win but does. With that being said.. What the heck is wrong here?
I could not stand the way Ha Ni stalked this guy. He was sooooo mean to her. He received great pleasure and joy in making her feel bad. He acknowledge that. He even acknowledge that to her. She admits that he is mean but still is madly in love with him. I don't understand.
I watched Good Morning Call and I thought that was bad and no one could possibly be as bad as Nao but boy was I wrong. Ha Ni has her beat hands down. I got up to episode 10 and I honestly could not stomach it anymore. Many times I found myself wanting to through something at the TV or just picking up the TV and smashing it because I couldn't stand it.
I want to apologize for not understanding the culture being that I am American. I am not sure if this type of drama is a representation of how Asian women are in real life. I cannot understand how any person man or female would allow someone to be blatantly mean and rude to them and find that they are the person that they would want to spend their life with. It baffles me quite frankly. The few dramas that I have seen seem to portray the lead actress as weak, dumb and clumsy. She is has a servant attitude and is ok with made to feel beneath and should show gratitude for them even getting attention.
I am not familiar with the actors like everyone else seems to be so I really have no point of reference to their acting abilities.
The friends I found unnecessary. They really did not add anything to this show especially when they got to college. No one else seemed to have a life outside of Ha Ni.
I found the mother's enthusiasm for the relationship a little bizarre and a bit going overboard.
Ha Ni is very pretty. HOWEVER, I hated the way they made her look like an idiot 11 year old even while in college. They way she dressed and combed her hair. I understand she was supposed to be pure and fresh and different but does that also mean she has to look like a child? Realistically, would a normal guy really find this attractive for a long period of time? And I don't even want to get into her stalking. I got so annoyed when every time you turn around, she is running after him like a puppy and messes up everything. What is worse is that he knew about everything all of this time and he showed little sign of changing. He tortured her and she just kept coming back for more.
I have to end here. Even just writing the review is making me upset and I do not want to break my laptop.
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Most disgusting story ever
The story is all about the abuses over Oh Ha Ni (jung So-Min) from the boy she loves, Baek Seung Jo (Kim Hyun Joong).The character of Ha Ni developed by the mad manga writer Tada Kaoru is capable of resist all kind of vexations, due to three reasons: her lovely heart, her unbelievable stupid mind and her most clumsy behaviour. She can't walk more than 3 steps without stumble and fall.
I watch almost entirely this horrid story because I love Jung So-min. I skip some parts in some chapters due to its gruesome.
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Jung so-min has done a very good job in portraying her role..and Kim Hyun Joong is so handsome..all other actors are also very good,especially younger brother of Baek Seung Jo..he is so cute!!
I really liked the depiction of relationships in the drama..
All in all..a must watch..I have already watched it twice..
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There was only one thing I liked about it which was the soundtrack as it went pretty well to the entire drama.
The things I honestly didn't like the most was that;
1. The acting was bad, as they didn't seem realistic enough to the parts they played like you know when acting is good because when it gets to a heart feeling part it either makes you cry or you get sudden butterflies, you know? I never had any of those feelings between the two main characters.
2. They missed out on the best parts of the Manga. (not going to spoil which parts so if you haven't seen it and you watch it and you've already read the manga before you'll understand what I mean).
3. The actors could not get into their character's personalities, as for example the J vers of Naoki Irie was a lot better as he could relate really well to the character as he did the same major in university as Naoki did and had the same attitude he did and also looked overall like an actual genius, with the character from this story he didn't look smart and a well known genius so it made the part look really poor and bad.
& 4. The actors they also picked looked nothing alike to the manga version as that is probably not as important to some people but to me it is, I mean if they looked somewhat similar i would of been somewhat more satisfied on that part but nope they looked nothing alike whatsoever which was highly disappointing for me considering I'm a huge manga geek and I've read Itazura na Kiss that many times I've lost count.
But overall I was highly disappointed in this drama, I would not recommend it to anyone.
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Also, I've watched the anime, Itazura na Kiss and I've read most of the volumes of the manga - there is a lot of stuff I wish we could have seen with Playful Kiss! However, I still enjoyed the story :)
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Most people think that Baek Sung-Jo was a overly cold character. I think that coldness came more from Hyun-Joong's acting than from the writers themselves, so I can ignore it. Besides, the character has the same personality in all versions of this drama. That's kind of his personality...
I appreciated that part about all the characters. They were all fleshed out differently, and had their unique combinations of flaws and virtues. None of the characters in "Playful Kiss" were like the typical KDrama characters.
Music: The music here was fitting for the overall tone. Upbeat and full of energy, it helped set the tone of this show. It fit very nicely overall with the series, and made me smile every time one of the songs came on.
Overall, this drama was an easy watch. Even if you skimmed through it, the story wouldn't be impacted. It was fun to watch, and a nice attempt at remaking a classic manga, but it was difficult to take seriously.
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