Protect the Boss (2011)

was it good?

True be told it was good: hell the FL knocked me out in less than 30 minutes at the beginning of the show however that didn't make her be as kick ass as she were before she meets the ML, as soon as she meets the ML she become less kickass and more of a football being kicked around. So yeah I hate the FL however there were other characters that I like besides the ML. the only reason why I stuck around was that I can see the FL in action but there was hardly any action of her in them so it wasted my time they only reason it got an 8.5 from me is that the acting was good for the side characters and the ML. WELL, this isn't my type of show I prefer a kickass FL that always fight through the use of wits and fist, I prefer the FL to be strong, not weak, or the fact that they shadow her ability and just show her weak pissed me off. I AM TELLING YOU IF YOU MOVE to PASS THE FL AND look at the side characters in the show they were way better and comedic too. SO in short the show was OKAY.

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GREAT ANOTHER GOOD DRAMA IS FINISHED!!! I love this drama! This is absolutely not like any normal drama out there. To tell you the truth, I was really getting tired with the traditional dramas where they had the two main leads and everyone wants them to not be together and does everything in there power to keep them apart but in Protect the Boss it was so different. I absolutely love No Eun Sol. She is the best heroine out there. She broke the stereotypes of the heroines in dramas. I also love how all the characters in the drama was so childish and even though they were the enemy, they were still lovable. This drama is just simply the best and I'm really sad that it's over. I really really liked this drama. Oh, I forgot to mention how funny this drama is. Even when they were times when it was serious, they still added something funny to it that make you laugh so much. This drama is so much fun and I really enjoyed it.

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This drama was kind of like pasta for me. I chose it at random after reading the summary. I had no expectations going into this one as I didn't know any of the actors or actresses before hand. So I went into this one completely blind.

I really loved this to be honest, I thought all the characters were pretty great and the main romance was awesome. I really loved how bad ass the lead woman was, and how she helped the lead male through his problems.

The only problem I had with this drama was that the bad guys throughout seemed to always be shown like they didn't do anything wrong or should be forgiven. I didn't fully understand that mentality as the main antagonist would do something shady, then people would act like it was ok and the one affected was over reacting, and then they would do something shady again, and repeat.

I feel like this drama tried too hard to have its cake and eat it too. Have people cause problems but then the ones affected where blamed for getting angry. Seemed very odd to me.

With that said, this drama was really enjoyable to watch and I really loved the lead female. She was great.

I highly recommend this drama.

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STORY 7/10
Up until episode 13, I was determined to give Protect the Boss a strong 8, as it was a highly enjoyable (if predictable) ride. But as other reviewers mentioned before me, the final 5 episodes (that could be easily reduced into 2) effectively assassinated the plot (and some of the characters). It's not that the series couldn't last for 18  episodes. It could. There was definitely enough material to work with. The problem was that the writing in the final episodes was all over the place, it concentrated on the wrong stuff and did very little for character development; it was like the writers suddenly forgot that some of the characters exist (Eun Seol's father appeared and disappeared in a blink of an eye; the grandmother became strangely passive during some major moments), forgot what their relationships are ("Gangster Chairman" Cha suddenly doesn't approve of the heroine why  again??? it didn't make sense), or that the characters were going to say  something  (Eun Seol promised Ji Heon to definitely tell him why  she did what she did next time they talk....I was really waiting for  it...it never happened); or that they have valid issues that need to be  addressed (it would be nice if Ji Heon was shown to be as supportive of  Eun Seol as she is of him).  

That being said,  Protect the Boss IS a good drama, one that defies many cliches and  offers many hilarious moments, not to mention that:
+  the male lead acknowledges that the heroine is much more awesome than  him, there is never the typical arrogant male lead moment "she is such a  loser why do I have to like her?"
+ family dynamics of the rich family is unusual and entertaining
+ the antagonists are more pitiful and funny than villainous
+ the second female lead is really a precious cinnamon roll and she eventually befriends the heroine

Negatives:
- as mentioned, the last third of the show was poorly written and boring
- the main couple was nice and their chemistry was decent...but lacking, somewhat. I don't know why, maybe it only seemed to me that way because Choi Kang Hee who played the heroine looked like she could be Ji Sung's older sister (not that she wasn't pretty, she was!), they just weren't convincing as a pair - they were cute, but not the OTP of the century

ACTING/CAST 9/10
I've never ever heard before about this Ji Sung guy, but he was amazing, he made his character truly three-dimensional and believable, and I definitely became his instant fan.  He was adorable! The rest of the cast was great as well.

MUSIC 7.5/10
Some catchy songs but nothing to write home about.

REWATCH VALUE 6/10
Big yes to rewatching my favorite moments, but I don't think I'll be able to get through episodes 14-18 as a whole ever again.

OVERALL 7.5/10

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The storyline may not seem like something that is unique; a rich guy falling in love with a poor girl. The scenario is overused, but just because it's a commonly used theme that is the main focus in Protect The Boss, this drama has it's own unique twists. I know many people didn't like the extension, but I thought it was cute. The extended 2 episodes might not have had drama, or any important defining moment, but those 2 episodes still had some great moments between the 4 leads, and it had a great ending for this drama. The characters were what made this drama unique. Each and every character was like a big kid. They were constantly fighting with each other over stupid things, and annoying each other, just like elementary school kids would do. That may seem like something that would make this drama a turn off, but it is what kept the drama funny, and made me want to come back and watch the next episode. The character's personalities were hilarious, and no matter how evil the character is suppose to be, you can't hate one character at all. Jaejoong did one of the songs in this drama, so of course the music was great, a lot better than most dramas. Protect The Boss is definitely something worth rewatching. The story was cute and light-hearted, and totally worth your time.

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This is my first review so be nice to me and since my native language isn't english forgive me if I make a few mistakes. :)

I feel like at this point saying that a drama is a breath of fresh air is a lie. Because a lot of Korean dramas (at least the ones who focus on the romantic relationships) follow the same structure. You know what I mean - getting to know each other, falling in love, dating, fighting/ breaking up, forgiving and the happy ever after. The circle just repeats with almost every drama. And even if some dramas try to break this structure a lot of the times it ends horribly. Even with this cliche structure that is predictable and pretty boring I can still enjoy dramas if they make sure to include bits and pieces of something original and interesting. Happiness consists of little things, right?

Story:
The story of Protect the Boss is nothing special. But there are a few plot lines that were pretty interesting and thought provoking. Be aware that like a lot of Korean dramas Protect The Boss also gets dragged on and boring and it gets pretty bad but not horrible.
I always watch comedies, because I hate the heavy atmosphere in melodramas. The comedy in this drama...i don't know if it even exists, because I don't remember it being extremely funny, well sure there were a few moments, but overall the comedy in this drama is just the lighthearted, mushy feeling that will make you smile a lot. ^^

Characters:
+
I loved the main characters. Cha Ji Heon was really interesting and unique. No Eun Seol was a perfect main character and at the end of the show I supported her like she was my friend. This rarely happens but I actually cared a lot for the supporting characters. Loved Seo Na Yoon and the way her character developed and, God, Wang Ji Hye is just a godess in general. The relationship between No Eun Seol and her two friends was like a cute little bonus. Cha Ji Heons father really gave me mixed feeling. One episode he was my favourite character and the other I hated him. I don't know if that is a good thing, but I guess I really enjoyed loving him.
-
There are a lot of unanswered questions for me, especially about Cha Ji Heons past. Sometimes the decisions the characters made or how their feelings changed were unnatural and unrealistic. No Eun Seol and Cha Moo Won even though I loved them, but their characters were kind of bland and needed more character development. The evil characters were just there, because they needed to be wich made them annoyng.

Acting:
I didn't notice anything horrible and I feel like I am not qualified to nit pick little flaws.

Music:
Absolutely bland and uninteresting. I don't remmember any song that I liked but there was this backround music with string instuments that was kind of uplifting.

Enjoyment:
Despite its flaws I still enjoyed this drama for the lovable characters and cute moments.

Overall: 7.5

P.S. Don't even look at the rating sistem. I put 7.5 everywhere so the overall would be 7.5. i dislike this rating sistem.

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I had a lot of fun watching this drama but after a couple of chaebol dramas (including this one) I realised that they don't work for me, even though Ji Heon wasn't super annoying (well, he wass a bit annoying but not because of his money and position). Anyways, the characters were pretty likeable and I really liked the friendships that were formed NOT THE ROMANCE. It's not that none of the couples didn't have chemistry but, especially the secondary couple, they felt a bit forced and only necessary because ''this is a Korean drama and someone needs to be in a romantic relationship''. I still recommend it because it lived up to the expectations that I somehow created in my head after watching the Running Man episode where Choi Kang Hee and Ji Sung appeared to promote the drama (the episode is also called 'Protect the Boss' hehehehe).

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Protect The Boss (2011) - Choi Kang-hee and Ji Sung are both good in their craft, which I really adore as a viewer. This drama is categorized as romantic comedy, and it did makes use of the comedic style evidently which for me as watcher makes me question myself if I should believe it or not. Eventually both main leads and even the other parties involve in the love line are good. There are a lot of funny moments in the drama and the bromance part is really well executed. Though this drama has that typical Korean topic rich man falls in love with a poor girl, I like the fact that they did insist so much on the riches and gets serious in the the end (*just like what happened in Secret Garden). Though most likely I found myself laughing throughout this drama, there is that particular feeling of something missing that I cannot pinpoint and that is why I feel unsatisfied with it.

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I really wanted to finish this drama (for a number of reasons). I even attempted to watch it twice, getting a couple of episodes farther along the second time around before ultimately giving up again. And the reason I made it as far as I did (all the way to 2 eps before the end) is because there are a lot of good things about this drama. It has a solid start, a compelling and well paced story, the characters are all interesting and three-dimensional (even the secondary male and female leads), and the female lead is absolutely kickass. (I flippin’ love No Eun Seol. She’s the one thing about the drama I enjoyed during both my attempts to watch. She’s feisty. She’s tough. She’s hard-working. She’s genuine and honest. She’s persistent. She’s a little odd and different (for a Korean woman, anyway.) She’s got a no-nonsense attitude. And she can kick some literal ass.)

But the story was missing one of the number one things I need in a drama to like it. Actual romance.

While I never had a problem believing Cha Ji Heon truly liked No Eun Seol (sometimes I worried he liked her a little Too much, he was so annoying and persistent about it), I never believed she liked him back, and it felt weird watching the writers trying to convince me that she did. There was zero romantic chemistry on her side. Friendship chemistry, sure, but not romantic.

And while Cha Ji Heon was an adorable man-child in the beginning who just needed a steady, guiding hand (in the form of No Eun Seol), he eventually stopped being adorable and just became annoying. I just didn't understand why No Eun Seol would fall in love with him.

I eventually reached a point in the drama where I could no longer figure out No Eun Seol’s motivation for staying at her job. It was clearly no longer worth it. Contrary to what the writers wanted me to believe, there were zero signs that she was starting to like Cha Ji Heon (and he’d started to become persistent in a way that was slowly edging towards stalkerish and creepy), she'd had the job long enough to use it as a reference on her resume, and she definitely could have gotten another job that paid equally as well. If I had been her, I would have just quit and never looked back. Her motivation for staying was clearly meant to be that she had fallen in love with Cha Ji Heon, but I have to call bull on that.

Lack of genuine romance aside, the thing that probably drove me the most nuts was the ‘princess lessons.’ No Eun Seol didn’t want to learn how to arrange flowers and eat with fancy silverware. She didn’t want to learn how to be the ‘perfect wife’ of a CEO. (Which wouldn’t have worked anyway. Women like No Eun Seol just don’t do princess well.) And I didn't want her to have to do any of those things either, so watching her be affectively forced into them was unbearable to watch. If I had believed in the romance, I probably could have overlooked this. I would have been able to put up with the ‘princess lessons’ and the petty fighting between the parents, because I knew our leads truly loved each other and would stand by each other no matter what. But I Didn’t believe in the romance, and that made all the difference.

I do think this is a drama a lot of people would enjoy, so I'm certainly not saying don't watch it. But it left me disappointed and frustrated.

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I know many people will not believe this drama is worth a ten, and to be honest there are many other dramas that are far more popular that I don't believe deserve a ten.

For me, this drama breaks the mould. Firstly, it is a real comedy, where the comedy really does seem to have more emphasis than the romance. The lead pair have great comedic as well as romantic chemistry, which is probably beaten only by the chemistry of the two secondary leads. Furthermore, the rapport between the female leads was heart-warming and fun, whilst the relationship between the two male leads was convincing and clever.

The cast of this drama is the highlight, as even the side characters such as the various parents and the grandmother are all played to perfection, aided by well-written comedic scripts. Furthermore, the drama gently parodies the things that we can both love and hate about dramas, with their crazy plot twists and stupid character motivations.

The core of this drama is that it does not revolve around pretty faces and angsty love, but rather, it is a family drama at heart. It is a celebration of platonic bonds of friendship, family and humanity in general and it has a sense of humour and fun that is contagious.

When I say this drama is about family, I know lot of people will turn away, but this drama is beautiful in its comedic simplicity. It strips away all of the ridiculous motives that are found in dramas and brings everything back to the idea that people are just people, filled with weaknesses yes, but also with real morals and real identities.

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