What started off as just your normal cliche' filled K-drama, appeared to be a pretty decent story. It seemed it could possibly surprise you a bit, and then you set yourself up with great expectations. Then, out of nowhere, the storyline starts to fall apart at the seams. It's like the writer wrote themselves into a corner just after the first five episodes. All this talent from actors... wasted on pathetic dialogue and pointless scenes. But worst of all, it went from just your usual amount of cliches to being riddled with cliches. Could they possibly get anymore in? Was there a contest for Drama With Most Cliches happening somewhere????
You remember in Dragonball Z how there would be almost like 5 minutes of the characters doing nothing but standing around staring at one another? Yea, that sucks. You know how 1 song plays on the radio 7 times in one day? Yea, but imagine that 1 song playing 7 times within just an hour... every... episode. A horrible, horrible song. No wait, a horrible, horrible chorus of a song THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE. A chorus of a song that will haunt you in your dreams and make you want to punch your computer screen as soon at you hear its impending arrival. Love cannot be the "moment" of anything!!! It's an emotion, damn you!
Something strange happened, though, and it's that I came to completely root for the bad character. This had nothing to do with how the story went, but with how well Kim Woo Bin played his character. If there would be any reason I'd have to recommend to you, dear reader, to watch this, It would be him. The chemistry between the two main characters was non-existent, and Park Shin Hye proved herself (at least to me) to have been a very poor casting selection for the role as she was dull and brought nothing to it. Lee Min Ho seemed to do much better in scenes with every other cast member besides her. Actually, most of the other actors showed fairly good effort in trying to work with what they were given. However, none of it can quite come together for the supporting roles if the main ones are so bad off.
Outside of Kim Woo Bin, other unexpected thefts of the spotlight for this show were: Krystal Jung as Lee Bo Na; the wonderful dynamics between Kim Sung Ryung as Han Ki Ae and Kim Mi Kyung as Park Hui Nam; and Choi Jin Hyuk as the crown bearer Kim Won.
If you decide to watch this, go in with no expectations at all and understanding it will be hard to quit even if you find yourself hating it. It is, indeed, an addictive drug with bad side effects. You've been warned
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This review may contain spoilers
A suuuper long review coming up, brace yourselves... XDThis drama was the biggest disappointment of 2013. I started watching it because of all the hype around it and for the first two episodes, I was actually really excited. However, it soon became evident that this drama was not going to live up to the expectations that I held.
The very first sign of the drama going seriously downhill was LA. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely city but the way Americans were portrayed was just painful. Yeah, I'm sure those kind of people exist in the USA, just like they do everywhere else in this world, but do they really need to rely so heavily on a couple of stereotypes they've picked up from American TV-shows? Ah, you might argue that this all builds up to the story and Kim Tan's character. But it doesn't. When Kim Tan goes back to Korea, he is completely different from his image in the US. He doesn't do drugs or drink or party or have sex with random girls... like seriously, where did that come from?
Plotwise the LA. sequence is also pretty irrelevant. Kim Tan and Chan Eun Sang could have easily met elsewhere and it would have worked just as well. They could have met in China or Japan or in, I don't know... Korea? Had they met in another Asian country, we wouldn't have had to hear that horrible, unrealistic English that was just another pain in the butt while watching. I feel like they included the LA. sequence to emphasize the luxurious lifestyle or coolness or credibility of the "rich kids", but quite frankly it did the exact opposite.
The next thing that had me doubting the show was Cha Eun Sang. She is by far, the worst character that I've ever seen in a Korean drama. I'm not hating on Park Shin Hye, she's just doing what's on the script, which is nothing more or less than crying about everything as if she was the most antagonized person in the world. The only thing she knows how to do is run away when things start going wrong, instead of fighting for herself. The only good part about this character were the short, very rare moments that she had Bona jealous over Chanyoung and somehow managed to turn that into her own advantage. All in all, I don't understand why two guys as hot and rich and popular as Kim Tan and Choi Young Do would ever waste their time courting her.
Kim Tan's character was also disappointing. Pretty much everything he does during the drama falls under one of these categories: 1. Declare your love for Cha Eun Sang 2. Pick a fight with Young Do. 3. Follow your brother around like a lost puppy. There isn't anything specifically wrong about him, but neither is there anything interesting in this character.
With all this being said about the two main characters, it is no wonder that I found myself more interested in their mothers than their own relationship. Tan's mother and Eun Sang's mother portray one of the sweetest friendships that's ever been seen in a drama. They bicker a lot and in the beginning seem to hate each other but it's actually shown in the end that they can't quite manage without each other. Their relationship was heartwarming.
The plot of the drama is very plain. When I read the summary for the first time, I was expecting to see some hardcore drama relating to business and possible corruption and political involvement and whatnot because come on, it's called "The Heirs", shouldn't it be a relevant part of the plot? Turns out, that no, no it doesn't. The drama relies on clichés and clichés only. There is the setting of poor girl and rich guy, bullying, teacher-student relationship, wrist grabbing, controlling and money-obsessed father, a "rich bitch", arranged marriage and banishment of the main character. There are too many "emotional" staring moments and not enough action. It's a bad baggage.
The music for the drama was good but I had to dock a few marks off it for a reason that I think everyone can guess. Love is the moment. That line double-ruined so many already ruined moments in the drama for me that I can't read a sentence with the words "The Heirs" and "OST" without cracking up laughing. The song is good, but they abused it and in all the wrong moments.
Now for the reasons that you should watch this drama. There aren't that many. Number 1: cast. Yes, the cast for the drama is great. Lee Min Ho, Park Shin Hye, Kim Woo Bin and Kim Ji Won are all promising young actors although I must say that Lee Min Ho disappointed me here. Maybe it was the character, but he's done better. But Kim Woo Bin and Kim Ji Won are amazing in their roles are Young Do and Rachel. There's Minhyuk, Hyungsik and Krystal representing idols and the ever-so-sexy Kang Ha Neul and Choi Jin Hyuk who make it that much easier to watch. If you're looking for reasons to watch, the cast is one of the only ones.
Other reasons to watch are Choi Young Do and Yoo Rachel. They are the two characters that bring us at least some kind of drama. We all knew this about Woo Bin already but once again he proved that he really is a great actor (much better than Min Ho, sorry). Although the character that he plays is fairly complicating, he captures the dimensions well. Young Do's character was pleasant to follow from the beginning to the end. Ji Won also proved herself for me in this drama. Previously I doubted her skills but as Rachel she was very convincing and actually grew to be my favorite character of the entire drama. Although there is little character development, at least the amount that we see is entertaining and she seems like a believable person.
The final reason to watch this drama are Lee Bona (Krystal) and Yoon Chanyoung (Minhyuk). They are the cutest couple you're going to find. Krystal definitely acts very exaggeratedly but she is cute and fun to watch and her interaction with Chanyoung is just adorable. Bona is also definitely the kindest of the characters, in her own special way. Also, thank you Krystal for saving the English in this drama!
So my final verdict is that The Heirs is not a drama worth watching. Obviously if you're a fan of some of the main actors you should (maybe) give it a go but otherwise, don't waste your time. I give this drama the total of 4/10. 1 point for Bona and Chanyoung, 1 point for Rachel and 2 for Young Do.
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And you do.
Only to spit out a stale piece of rotten, bland bread.
That's the only way I can describe Heirs.
It had a promising cast, promising writers (the same as Secret Garden), and a great budget. But once the episodes began rolling, you got a taste of the dry product.
Anticlimactic plot, the drama missed some sparkles, the romance was roll-eye worthy, and the humor was cheesy.
Bland, irrational characters. I never understood why two guys were vying for the annoying, wimpy Eun Sang. Kim Tan was as 1-dimensional as it could get. And why the hell did Kim Woo Bin's character turn against Kim Tan? I never fully comprehended that.
Incredibly sucky acting (I'm looking at you Lee Min Ho), perhaps Kim Woo Bin and Kim Tan's biological mom were the only rescuable ones. Oh, and they also wasted Choi Jin Hyuk's acting.
And to top it all off, as unoriginal as it could get. It was obvious they wanted to recreate an entertaining mess a la Boys Over Flowers, but they sort of missed out the entertaining factor.
I usually try to find a positive point in this drama, but even the OST was annoying.
Pass this drama.
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"The Heirs" - i.e: how many cliches can be fit into one drama? I'm honestly quite disappointed, because they had such a great cast but the plot fell flat after about episode 4. I dragged myself to the end of this drama because I had heard so many positive reviews about it. But sadly, as it dragged on, it only got worse. You've certainly seen everything in this drama before, and done better, too.
Cast/Acting:
For the lead character, Chan Eun Sang was horribly underdeveloped and lacked any depth. I had hope at first because she was a bit different to the 'completely kind hearted, unselfish poor girl who looked after her family', but I felt like they never bothered exploring beyond her being bitter about her situation. It honestly got to the point where I couldn't watch scenes with her in it without rolling my eyes. I had a similar problem with Kim Tan. Their characters were horribly bland. Tan's storyline was slightly more interesting, but only because of his family.
I was more interested in the side characters than any of the mains. One thing I did like about this drama was the relationship between Eun Sang's mother and the Mistress. Their scenes always made me laugh, and they had quite a warming relationship with each other as the Mistresses life got turned around. Hyo Shin was nice to see on screen, too, but was yet another character that didn't get the screen time they deserved. I don't really have any issues with any of the acting. I thought everyone did very well--except for Park Shin Hye, but then again I'm not sure if that's the way they told her to play her character, or.
Music:
I am never listening to "love is the moment" in my life again. Ever.
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However, on the other hand, I like the acting especially Woobin's. The part when he reunites with his mother just simply touched me - the only scene I cried throughout the whole show.
In conclusion, I won't find this drama that worth to watch unless you are a fan of any of the main casts.
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However this was a huge disappointment. After watching the first two episodes I already knew I didn't like this, the plot felt really poor and Minho and Shinhye's characters annoyed me. I'm surprised I even managed to finish this.
I felt like the story never moved on, they had pretty much the same problems trough the whole drama. Eunsang kept crying over everything and I honestly wonder why in hell did she get two guys crushing over her. Also the ending was really poor. I felt like nothing changed in the story in the end. In my opinion this drama didn't need 20 episodes, it was too much.
There were also too many side stories that didn't have anything to do with the main story. They only left me confused and frustrated.
There were some good things in the drama, though. For example, Woobin's character was my favorite. I also liked Kim Tan's and Eunsang's mothers' friendship. Minhyuk and Krystal's characters' relationship was also adorable. I liked Krystal's character anyway.
They chose good actors for this drama, can't deny that, but the whole script was just a mess that even good actors couldn't save. Kim Tan was uninteresting and Eunsang was a cliche kdrama main actress.
I hated the OSTs. I think they played mostly 3 same OSTs, and seriously, none of them were good. 'Love is the moment' was overly used and if I ever hear it again I think I'll have to hit something.
I'll never ever watch this again, I'm just glad it's finally over.
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Today I read a comment on Facebook that said "Life is too short to say you don't like Taylor Swift" and although I don't particularly care for Taylor Swift, that post directly inspired me to write this review. Because life is too short to say you don't like The Heirs (especially when you love it).
When this drama was announced, to say that we were merely excited would be the understatement of the year. We were anxious, ecstatic, overjoyed. The perfect cast. The perfect writer. The perfect synopsis. Everybody would constantly post things on the page, coming up with various scenarios and plot developments (there was one where Woo Bin ends up with Lee Min Ho, my favorite, haha). It even became the highest rated show on MDL BEFORE EVEN AIRING. With each passing day expectations grew bigger and bigger. And then when it finally aired, they crashed. For most people anyways.
I was getting tired waiting for this "epitome of perfection" show and along the way my expectations dropped and I didn't care much for it anymore because of all the hype. But of course I picked it up (Lee Min Ho and the writer of Secret Garden. The most perfect combination). And I LOVED IT.
The story was a bit cliche but the way it is presented is wonderful. On the surface, it's a story of a rich boy falling for a poor girl. To make things more cliche, the girl is the maid's daughter. And then the maid is mute. Throw in high school bullies, ex-best-friend after the girl (also rich), a best friend of the girl who protects her (but is 'poor', so he is not a suitor). CLICHES CLICHES CLICHES. But the way the story is presented is a breath of fresh air. The kind of humor that is used is just awesome. There are so many instances I want to add here but they would spoil. The humor used here is something you have seen in Secret Garden and A Gentleman's Dignity. The writer has written a formulated story but she is true to her style and that made this drama extremely special. It's like she is saying "Let me twist these cliches around and present them with a new point of view". And it worked (for me anyways).
Coming to characters. This is the difficult part. I must confess I have a huge crush on Lee Min Ho (and admit it, you've had it too at some point of your drama-watching career). Kim Tan is someone you would either love or hate. There is seriously no in-between. You would expect him to be someone like Gu Jun Pyo but Kim Tan is a mature version of Jun Pyo. Somebody who has bullied others in the past but now wants to live a more meaningful life. But the similarity is the kind of devotion to his girlfriend that he brings to life again, that would definitely remind you of BOF. Aside from his atrocious wardrobe I loved his character. Park Shin Hye's finest role would always be Pinocchio. But here, she is not half-bad. I mean, sure, she has been given a typical role of a damsel in distress, working hard, being chased by rich guys. But she is good in her role. It is much better than Flower Boy Next Door. Choi Young Do stole the thunder. I loved Woo Bin in School 2013 but I fell in love with him here. I have lost count of the number of times I wanted him to get the girl or have the happiest ending of them all. He was the rough diamond of the show. The biggest surprise. Had all of us gushing and swooning.
The rest of the characters were also awesome. The adults. The relationship between Kim Tan and Eun Sang's moms was endearing and a high note of this show. But I seriously feel the Kim Tan's "on-paper" mom was wasted here. She was unforgettable in Secret Garden. Lee Bo Na was another amazing character (no wonder Krystal landed a main role right after this drama, she was seriously too good here). I loved Secretary Yoon and his son. I had a hard time seeing Min Hyuk as the smartest guy after watching him in heartstrings but he did a great job. Kim Tan's brother was great, I loved their relationship journey. Kim Ji Won held her own. Kang Ha Neul and Im Ju Eun seemed a little wasted on this show. But overall everyone was great.
The music was something that stayed with me for a long time after the show ended. Usually I download a couple of songs from a drama I love but here I downloaded all of them because I was obsessed with the OST. My personal favorite was "Crying Again" by Moon Myung Jin. And of course it was fun to guess whether "Love is the moment" is going to start playing or "love is feeling" in the background. lol.
I have rewatched this show twice already so the rewatch value is a solid ten for me.
In conclusion, I would like to say that this drama tries to give a lighter and realistic feel to the cliches and shows us non-cliche consequences of the cliches. Like the way Eun Sang's mom uses her notebook is hilarious. A typical drama would portray her as a pitiful character but she is funny and strong in her own way and holds her own despite her poverty. This drama is really great if you let go of your expectations. I honestly feel it deserves a higher average rating than it has, but then again it's just my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own. I can only express how this show made me feel and the feeling is really great.
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First off I feel like Kim Woobin's character didn't even get a chance there is hardly any love triangle going on its just Park Shin Hye moving all over the place. I feel like Krystal and Minhyuk love story was cute but they weren't really needed in the cast and Krystal just became PSH friend out of no where. That Rachel girl wasn't needed either she didn't create any drama she was just there. PSH was crying in almost every scene and it was worst than Jandi in BOF.
Anyways the drama was the worst I watched so far even though I loved the cast
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First off, the writer makes Kim Tan seem like a selfish guy who is obsessed with Cha Eun Sang. He keeps swearing to protect her but everyone knows all it does is just make matters worse. His vow to protect her seems to be just a sort of obsessive control he wants to have over her. His acting of being cute at some parts made me cringe even though I wanted to enjoy it because it was just so disgusting for his character. I think his character and acting in Boys Over Flowers was much more pleasant. His character there was written cutely and maturely: Gu Jun Pyo knew when to let go and didn't try to get back with Jan Di within 20 minutes of the same episode.
Secondly, my attention was definitely caught by Kim Woo Bin. I ended up watching the drama for him. He portrays his character pretty well even though his character is very cruel. Many people say his actions can't be justified but if you think about it, he really doesn't know how to express his feelings properly. He's just like a little kid that wants someone's (Cha Eun Sang's) attention so he'll do even mean things to get it. I feel that his means actions toward Eun Sang arise from Eun Sang misunderstanding him. People don't consider the bully being a victim him/herself.
I feel like most of the characters were just thrown in as accessories and suddenly had huge developments within one or two episodes whereas the rest of the screen time is given to Park Shin Hye and Lee Min Ho to stare at each other. Krystal Jung overacted but I got used to it and later found her and some of the other character parts to be good comedic reliefs from the overly dramatic and boring main couple.
Also, I liked Kim Ji Won's portrayal of the character Rachael. I think she did a really good job and it showed because I thought the character Rachael was very cold and mean.
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In this drama there were so many big shot actors all in one for which impacted the many watching audiences:
Cha Eun Sang (Park Shin Hye)
As much as I love Park Shin Hye as an actor I found her character very annoying. This is because of her constantly crying whenever she faces a problem in her life, or just crying after see Kim Tan (Lee Min Ho). But if she was aiming for that type of character I applaud her for that.
Kim Tan (Lee Min Ho)
Lee Min Ho playing Kim Tan was pretty good because of how he would always want to stick to his brother, having no clue of what's going on within the business because of his young age. However, he kept cockblocking the relationship between Cha Eun Sang and Choi Young Do for which I would like to see further develop.
Choi Young Do (Kim Woo Bin)
Oh gosh, did I love Kim Woo Bin's character in this drama. The different emotions he used to express each and everything showed perfectly well on his face. However, I feel as though if the relationship between Choi Young Do and Cha Eun Sang were to further develop it would add some extra excitement.
Lee Bo Na (Krsytal) & Yoon Chan Young (Kang Min Hyuk)
This is one of my favourite couples the were so cute and funny.
Lee Hyo Shin (Kang Ha Neul)
He acted out his character extremely well with the different emotions shown in this drama from: Mysterious -> dorky -> angry -> jealousy there were so many emotions he displayed wonderfully.
Kim Won (Choi Jin Hyuk)
He played the role of an elder brother, step in company owner and a lover extremely well. I loved how he could show different personalities to his character.
Jo Myung-soo (Park Hyung Shik)
asdfghjkl;' He was too adorable in this drama I could see the many bromances forming with him. ><
Han Ki-Ae (Kim Sung-Ryoung)& Park Hee-Nam (Kim Mi-Kyung)
OMFG these mothers were one of my favourites! They were humorous, cute and dorky. I also applaud Kim Mi-Kyung for not speaking throughout this whole drama, other than narrating :L
Rachel Yoo (Kim Ji Won)
She did amazingly well! Playing the antagonist in this drama simply brilliant.
As or music wise, it did sound really nice at the beginning but they just kept replaying the tracks over and over again when there was any chance possible. Which made it especially cheesy.
I'm sorry but I wouldn't watch this again, it was very confusing and lacked finesse therefore I would give it an overall score of 6.
Sorry if I did offend anyone with my review but as mentioned before I had my expectations up really high. Also is it just me or did Cha Eun Sang cry in at lest 18 of the 20 episodes?
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This review may contain spoilers
Spoiler free review! I was really excited for this drama, I waited so long for this to air and I wasn't expecting anything amazing but I was hoping It would have been at least decent but what did we get? well.. uh.. this
characters:
Eh, main characters were pretty basic. Eun Sang was extremely boring to watch I'm pretty sure she is number 1 on my most boring characters list but just wow such a boring character, basically no personality at all whatsoever so I was really annoyed when watching her.. supporting characters were actually a lot better than the main characters I began to only watch this for the supporting characters because they had a lot more personality and were actually interesting to watch! So if you're expecting really well developed main characters then don't bother, BUT I did really like watching Kim Tans mom Eun Sangs mom, they were hilarious.
story:
It was decent I guess nothing amazing It' basically rich guy poor girl with a lot of drama I can't really say anything more because It would be a spoiler
overall:
I was really disappointed in this I would not rewatch or recommend this to anyone looking for something interesting to watch It's basically boys over flowers 2.. expect boys over flowers was actually better and I didn't really like that much at all! the main characters were really badly developed and It was just basically a cliche show with really cliche main characters .. But amazing eye candy and nice filming locations I'm pretty sure this had a high budget.
notes:
This is my personal opinion on the show
this is my first review so It's not great
My English is really bad please mind that
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What I Liked
> they showed a more melodramatic experience of high-school
> the cast was amazing and did what they could with their parts
> they had enough cuteness in every episode to watch if you wanted something to do
> The way for the first time the bad boy was explained so thoroughly i fell for him rather than the lead
> They cried and expressed their sadness well
What I Didn't Like
> the wast of ALL the minor characters, like why did people end up the way they did, that was never answered
> the way the love triangle wasn't even one, the feelings were never reciprocated all all
> the long stares and the terrible OST like ohh god! if i ever hear "LOVE IS THE MOMENT" again i will bust someone's head
> the lack of story, it went in circles, and felt soo dead
And Last
I didn't really enjoy the drama as much as i had hoped, It started okay but it went downhill from there, idk what the writer was trying to accomplish but i just wasn't feeling it. Those of you who love the cast, the ost, the acting, the chemistry then please continue too; but one things for sure it was quite a ride after 10 weeks, but at least everyone got some kind of lovin':) Cheers
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