This review may contain spoilers
Part cute part dramatic
This was a typical all-in-one romcom that unfortunately didn’t just give us cute and fluffy but also added in heavy drama and the usual amnesia and linked childhood tropes as well.The cute parts were what I enjoyed most and seeing the FL as a fangirl made me smile. Her romance with the ML was more mature than most romcoms although there was some misunderstandings in the beginning to build a little bit of tension. Kissing was passionate and even led to the bedroom with sweet morning after scenes.
I would have been happier without all the darker elements in this story as I was in the mood for something light and fluffy. After having watched my fair share of modern Korean dramas, it is getting hard to find one that surprises me in a nice way. This drama used common elements to spice it up and I could predict what was coming next quite easily. A better watch if you’re new to Korean drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Strong Start, Messy Finish
I initially intended to give this show a solid 9 out of 10 because I genuinely enjoyed it. However, as the series progressed, certain plot developments felt unnecessary and poorly executed. In particular, the sudden introduction of her having a brother seemed random and rushed. It was difficult to believe that an entire family could go years without mentioning or acknowledging a child, even considering the explanation that she had forgotten. The idea that no one in the family reflected on their son or held any form of memorial for his death felt unrealistic, and that storyline ultimately took me out of the experience. After episode twelve, it began to feel as though new plot points were being added simply to fill time and create an ending, rather than to naturally develop the story.That said, there were aspects of the show that I truly appreciated. I loved that the main couple did not break up despite the male lead dealing with trauma related to his mother. In many K-dramas, relationships fall apart when characters face emotional stress or traumatic events, so it was refreshing to see him find comfort and support in her instead. That choice added emotional depth to their relationship and was one of my favorite parts of the series.
Was this review helpful to you?
Love the story, hate the visuals
I finished Her Private Life and I’m giving it a 6 out of 10.It’s a 2019 drama, the same year as Crash Landing on You, and honestly… that comparison made it even harder for me not to notice the difference in quality.
Because story-wise? This drama is super fun. It’s really watchable, it’s light, it’s entertaining, and it’s the kind of series you can easily binge without forcing yourself through it. The romance works, the vibe is cute, and the chemistry between the male lead and the female lead is genuinely really good.
Also, the cast? I liked them. I enjoyed the leads, I enjoyed the supporting characters, I enjoyed pretty much everyone. And yes, I even teared up at one point, because the story still has those classic K-drama emotional moments that get you.
But… the production completely distracted me.
The whole time I kept feeling like I was watching a low-budget series, like they didn’t have money. Not even in a subtle way. Visually, it just didn’t look good. At some points it honestly felt like something from 1998, and I don’t even mean that as an insult, it’s just how dated it looked to me.
And don’t even get me started on the wardrobe.
I don’t know who was in charge of styling, but every outfit had me wanting to claw my eyes out. Like seriously, I was so annoyed. It was one of those things where you’re trying to stay in the moment, trying to enjoy the scene, and then you see what they’re wearing and your brain immediately goes: why… just why?
And I’ll admit something petty too: I was also really distracted by the female lead’s hair color. I’ve seen that kind of look in Korean dramas before and maybe I’m just tired of it, but I don’t like it. I love natural jet black hair. It’s rich, it’s clean, it’s classic. That fake-looking shade just doesn’t do it for me, and it kept pulling my focus.
So overall, that’s where I landed:
The story is fun.
The chemistry is strong.
The actors are enjoyable.
But the visuals, styling, and overall production quality bothered me so much that it lowered the whole experience.
It’s not a bad drama. I had moments where I genuinely enjoyed it. But I also don’t see myself rewatching it, because I was constantly distracted by how it looked.
Final verdict: great chemistry and an easy, fun story… but the production made it hard for me to fully get into it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Story/ Plot/ Script: 7
Acting/ casting: 7
Character development: 7
Production quality/ budget management: 8
Enjoyment/ impact: 6
10=perfection 9=exceptional 8=really good 7=solid 6=it's fine 5=meh, forgettable 4=simply bad 3=waste of time 2=brain-rot 1=garbage
Was this review helpful to you?
This is the most cringe drama I've watched after Business Proposal
I don't think the writer have ever met an artist in real life or even know a single thing about art and painting.The ML needs only 1 sec to judge a painting? Lol! Even Picasso wouldn't dare!
I loved Park Min Young in "When the weather is fine". She was pretty good in "What's wrong with Secretary Kim" but here the overacting was pretty bad. Not as bad as the FL in Vincenzo and Business Proposal though. Didn't care about the ML or the story. I liked the brother of the FL.
The only thing this drama accurately depicted was how stupid and embarrassing "fangirling" really is! I guess Korean people/writers are expert in that department.
Was this review helpful to you?
The storyline was fun till a few episodes after they got together. After that it was kinda dull and the last 2 episodes were completely unnecessary.
I loved the chemistry between the leads and the fact that the male lead was actually charming and not an asshole. :)♡
I didn't care much for the side characters other than Cha Shin Ah + their mother and Hyo Jin ...the others were just meh...like the usual typical boring side characters shown in most K-dramas.
I don't know if anyone else feels the same but I found Deok Mi's outfits and hair in the drama too distracting..o.o not in a good way.. plus the product placement was just so obvious lol..
Kim Jae Wook though..♡
Was this review helpful to you?
Cultural Cliches
South Korea's largely homogenous population's expectations caused the writer's bad choice in the script to become an issue of "acceptable" bigotry and xenophobia, and I found it increasingly offensive as the series continued. ML's name was Ryan Gold. Everyone in Korea pronounced it "Lion". It's not that they COULDN'T say it correctly, it's that they chose to mispronounce it - every single character who had cause to use his name, probably 98% of the time. They introduced him with the mispronunciation, too. And, frequently, they laughed about him being a lion, drew pictures of lions and so forth. He tried correcting them - it didn't stick, so having some social skills, he just took a deep breath and acted as though he thought it was funny, too. It didn't matter if he was Korean by birth; he had been raised for the other 29 or so years of his life in an English speaking country and afahk only had an English/American name. Doesn't matter if he was Nigerian, Australian, Intuit, whatever -- it's insulting to not even try to say their name correctly.Making this social faux pas even more appalling is the fact that he was the Big Boss of the company where all these folks worked. I don't know about you, but if my big boss had a name that I found hard to pronounce, I would darned well practice it in front of a mirror and on a recording so that I SHOWED RESPECT FOR MY BOSS BY SAYING HIS NAME RIGHT! If your name were "Jin Gwa Ber" and all of your subordinates, neighbors, and friends called you "Jingle Bell" over and over and over again, and laughed over how witty they were being, I guarantee that you would become more and more offended each time they did it.
Sadly, this pretty well ruined the series for me. It was typical fluff, generally sweet trying to seem deep from time to time, well cast and had some very nice sets. The music was repetitive and annoying, though. I don't think it passes the Bechdel test either. I wish I could say I liked it, but I found it increasingly appallingly bigoted as it went on --and as repulsive as a roomful of farting dogs.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Her character is just unbelievable. First of all I found it quite hilarious that, she had the time to both manage her job as a good professional in a highly competitive field and the fan site. I suppose in her perfect world all of the group events are after her day job and ideally White Ocean only had one schedule overseas(for the entire duration of the drama), like com' on that is absurd. Also I have personally been to a lot of k-pop concerts in Asia and let me tell you some of the fan sites are not nice sweet ladies(girls) who will pat you on the back and give you cookies. Personally I think this character is way off from the real deal.Apart from the fan moments(which were the reason I started the drama in the first place) the story is just lame. Really if I wanted to see two man fighting over a girl, I would have gone outside to a crowded bar or something and the chances weren't even equal. The I have it all rich, guy and the one that she always considered her brother. *Where is my chair? I want to hit myself with it*
I managed to watch it up until 4th episode and after that, I went through the episodes skipping them just to see if anything interesting will happen. I gave up at episode 10.
Was this review helpful to you?
It starts really good and funny, I was a delight that the argument of sasaeng was treated in more a funny way that usually known. But after the funny sasaeng episode ends, and the couple is made, fade into nothing.
It starts to follow the classic full of clichè dramas, where a few accidents happen and the story is elongated till the 16 episodes just because they had to finish it...
Was this review helpful to you?
The fangirling in this drama honestly confuses me. They set up a storyline with a saesang that not only stalks the idol but also pits fans against the girl the idol is supposedly dating. There's no consequence that she faces for doing that. I just hated how they handled it. Saesangs are a real problem that idols have to deal with and what they do is actually messed up and illegal.
Although there were many things that I hated, there were also a couple of things that I thought were very different which was refreshing. I think the lead's relationship was very healthy. They both communicated their feelings to one another and that's something we don't see often. (However, their relationship seemed way too perfect to be real so it didn't feel human.) I also really liked Seon Joo's monologue about her husband. How he shielded himself behind their status and their circumstance. I felt some real emotions there and that was honestly my favorite part of the drama (aside from that ep 10 kiss.)
I'm kinda glad I dropped it because from what I read, the last few episodes probably would have driven me insane.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
I dont like the vibe and the vfx
I found out about this drama from several forums on the internet saying that this drama was good. When I started watching this drama I had high expectations. from the beginning of the episode I enjoyed it but in the middle it felt boring and this drama felt like an old drama even though in 2019, the vfx felt very old school and too much, the story I thought was a bit forced and a bit cringy. After watching Hotel Del Luna and Touch Your Heart, this drama didn't match my expectations or maybe the drama I watched before was at a different level than this drama.Was this review helpful to you?
