Rascal Sons (2012)

This was another drama I watched mainly to see Seo In Guk. And I ended up really liking the character played by Ryu Soo Young - he really stole the show for me. This was laggy in certain parts, but overall I enjoyed this family drama. There were a few parts I would have liked to have ff'd through just to get back to the parts I liked better. I think the parents were more of the rascals than the sons in this. The main mother was naggy no matter what and wasn't really someone I liked until the last episode. The mother of Tae Ju was horrible and all her sighing and pouting and carrying on was a real turn off. There were a few romances going on in this. The main couple of Hyung Gi and In Ok got to be a little tiresome during the last few of the 50 episodes - almost too much forced drama. The middle brother Min Gi (played by Ryu Soo Young) had an unrequited love for his best friend's fiancé, but thankfully resolved that and had a much better romance with Jin Yu Ri, played by Lizzy (and reminded me of Jung Eun Ji from Reply 1997 -she was adorable and I'm now a fan.) I'm glad they sent off the friend and his fiancé part way through the show because they weren't fun characters to watch and it got Min Gi's real romance started. The youngest brother, was Seung Gi (played by Seo In Guk) and his player ways at first. I really thought that I would end up disliking this character, but he really had a lot of character growth during the course of the drama. I felt bad for his missed romance with Song Hee, and I wished that the actress that played Mi Rim - his wife, could have played a character with more passion. She's a beautiful actress, but the character could have been written better. Min-Gi and Yu-Ri's romance was the highlight of the show for me and made me want to watch more of Ryu Soo Young in other works. Probably will not re-watch due to length, but may go back to revisit some favorite scenes.

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Enjoyable Family Drama

So i'm kind of a sucker for long weekend family dramas and have watched quite a few already. I went into 'Rascal Sons" with little expectations as it's an older show but I basically fell in love with the characters from the beginning.

Story: It focuses around three brothers and their romantic lives and family ties. Eldest brother and single father Hyeongi falls for single mom Inuk quite quickly and they have to overcome the usual obstacles in form of the mother-in-law until they can get married. Middle son Mingi has a secret crush on his best friend's fiance, but doesn't want to destroy his friendship. He later meets a younger girl, Yuri, and they have a fun time bickering with each other. Youngest brother Seungi was my least favorite, although played by one of my favorite actors. He is married but cheats with everything that wears a skirt and only realizes his love for his wife after they divorce.

Positives: the relationships between the lovers and family and friendship were all portrayed very believable. Also, usually in longer dramas and weekly ones there are always certain characters that are just infuriating and have no chance for redemption. This is not the case here, Seungi was obviously a bad husband but a loving father and brother. The mother and father-in-law had their mean moments but they were very human and enjoyable to watch. There really wasn't anyone I wanted to slap like usual. Also I liked that the story focused on 'normal' people. There is no rich chaebol family and the poor damsel in distress.

Negatives: There were a few episodes before the halfway mark that were a bit stretched and I skipped through some scenes. Also, Mingi's best friend plays an important role in the beginning, but gets forgotten by the end. The actress who played his fiance was also my least favorite character as she always had the same facial expression; I couldn't bond with her character even though she had a tragic back story. Also, there's some kind of twist thrown in and a cancer scare at episode 40 that I could've done without. It just added some unnecessary drama to get it to the 50ep mark.

All in all: I had a fun time watching the show and rooted for all characters. It was great to observe the family dynamics and had a good balance between romance, comedy and drama. Definitely recommend for fans of family dramas that don't want to watch another chaebol guy getting together with a poor girl.

8/10

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