This review may contain spoilers
Secret Garden is my not so secret pleasure
I watched this when it was released back in 2011 and even though ten freaking years have passed, I still go back to rewatch this gem whenever I miss Hyun Bin (and Ha Ji Won).This drama is a must watch because:
- Hyun Bin - enough said. He’s a dream!
- Ha Ji Won - she’s a great female lead / actress.
- the sizzling chemistry that feels so good and feels so real
- swoony Hyun Bin - in the drama, he is so cute and handsome and funny - love!
- the story is fantastical and yet believable
- the supporting cast is great
- the music is so well composed and lovely to listen to
- rewatchable and one of the best ‘classic’ k dramas out there
The part that I didn’t like:
- male lead’s mother is crazy
This drama is wonderful! I love it. I love the leads! I love Hyun Bin!
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Hyun Bin who played Kim Joo Won was convincing even when the actions called for the switch of a female. It was hard for me to watch BUT I laughed! But the best part about this young actor is that he can also sing besides acting. I researched him as I do other artists. My favorite song by Hyun Bin is "That Man". The song that played throughout the Kdrama was his singing except for once or twice it was a female singing it.
The storyline is cute and I laugh so hard for the first 3 episodes I thank the writers and the Secret Garden team which consists of the cast and everyone else. Watching this for the 5th time, I now get it. I'm happy with the ending. I don't know where my mind was when viewing this... but I get it.
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This show is brilliantly written...it is soo funny even b4 the body swap and after it just becomes awesome. Atleast the first 15 episodes u will die of laughter and lust.
The leads share incredible chemistry...like ufffff...:) and the bromance is amazing too.
For me, there are a few slow moments like the long walks and the day dreaming which is why I deducted half a star....but that is nothing...first watch u won't even notice it!
I love the writer of the show Kim Eun so much bcoz she has written some really gr8 stuff....and here too the characters are soo fun to watch..
Yumm show but after it ends be prepared for a hangover...Hyun Bin one...
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This review may contain spoilers
The ultimate classic
Ah, where to begin..? I have a lot of feelings about Secret Garden. Rewatching after ten years, however, made some of these feelings conflicting.First of all, the cast is amazing! Hyun Bin, Ha Ji Won, Kim Sa Rang, Yoon Sang Hyun, and even a guest appearance of my love, Lee Joon Hyuk. I adore every single one of them!
Their portrayal of the characters is real and relatable. While I love Kim Joo Won and Gil Ra Im, it is Oska and Yoon Seul who own my heart. Both times rewatching, they were my favorite plot line. Sure, the main plot is hilarious and dramatic and sweet, but it is Oska and Seul that I can relate to. Especially Yoon Seul, I adore her. When I first watched Secret Garden ten years ago, I was going through a tough time and her character actually helped me through it. And Oska is honestly the heart of the show.
The main pairing however, during my latest rewatch, made me a bit uncomfortable at times. I know it is normal in Kdramas for the men to drag the women around by their arms and yell at them for weird reasons, but somehow, Joo Won is on a whole other level. Especially the various scenes of him pushing her on some bed (and the one where he tries to break into her hotel room) had me shift uncomfortably in my seat. (Also, that really long forced kiss that she keeps hitting him during.) I guess the fact that Ra Im could throw Joo Won on his back and break his arm within seconds if she really wanted to, was somewhat consoling, but that doesn't mean I was a fan of those scenes.
The plot has some amazing climaxes and plot twists but it also has parts (entire episodes) where it really drags. I think the first switching should've happened sooner. Otherwise, some people (my sister) could already loose interest before it happens. Furthermore, the conversations between Joo Won and Ra Im and with Joo Won's mother felt quite repetitive after a while. In episode 17, the writers really redeemed themselves with a great creative plot twist but then I think they should've gone all the way with it or at least dragged it out. Instead, they introduce YET ANOTHER dramatic development and continue the same conversations with the mother. ugh
Despite these plot weaknesses and a basic lack of 'no-means-no', Secret Garden knows how to touch you in those moments when the plot is at a high. There are a lot of really emotional scenes that always touch me deeply and make me cry like a baby. Also, despite their flaws, you continue to root for the characters and suffer along every step with them. The emotions, of course, are intensified by the amazingly beautiful OST.
Secret Garden is definitely not the most eloquent drama out there, but you will scream laughing and cry your eyes out, plus it is the ultimate classic, brought to life by an outstanding cast. So, yes, you should definitely watch it.
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Trust me u will not regret it if u watch it.
This drama has everything the chemistry between main leads, and i think that is why this drama was soo populer.
acting\ Ha ji won was great as always, and Hyun bin was great too, everyone in this drama, was wonderfull, that is what make this drama great.
music\ This drama had the best OST, the best.
Rewatch\ I think i rewatch it every 3 months.
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This review may contain spoilers
I watched this show because I'd heard such wonderful things about it, I'm going to talk about what I liked and what I didn't like in each category.The story for me started out very well, episodes 1 to 6 were excellent, well executed and snappy. The premise is your standard rich man poor woman push and pull courtship. The male lead was suitably arrogant, pushy, selfish and self important (a very special mention to Hyun Bin for his excellent acting and portrayal of this character ) and the female lead was super indifferent, as you do. After episode 6 the drama dragged a bit and went around in circles, the story was established but there was no forward movement in terms of plot, and I must admit I lost interest and watched a few episodes of another drama.
Show picked up again at episode 13 where the female lead Gil Ra Im had a breakthrough and I finally got a dose of good acting from her, It felt as though she had slowly been warming up to her role and was finally comfortable with it. Her confession in episode 14 was amazingly done but to me it felt as though it came from nowhere, in the sense that her acting up to this point was not nuanced enough to convey a reluctant attraction for Joo Won, because I just got reluctance period.
The soul swapping premise was comedic for the most part, but I found the character consistency went out the window, especially the first time they swapped.
Thereafter the story suddenly took a sharp turn into melodramaland with a lot of crying, tragic overtones and fantasy magic tropes. This actually ruined the show for me as I think it would have been better if they'd actually kept it a fantasy romance, one scene was particularly depressing for me and that's the scene where Kim Joo Won with Gil Ra Im in his lap, drives off into a dark and stormy horizon framed by a barren landscape; this took the show into makjang territory.
I don't normally like my romances and love stories to go so dark unless that is the clear premise at the beginning of the story, and in Secret Garden I got the definite sense that Kim Joo Won entered this dark and gloomy place when he fell in love with Gil Ra Im, isn't love supposed to be joyful and light? there was something heavy about this one.
In contrast I found the relationship between Oska and Seul more compelling than the main couple's, in the sense that It felt more real.
The casting was good for the most part. Hyun Bin is a good actor but I didn't enjoy him in this role. Ha Ji Won in my opinion was all wrong for this role, she was wooden and lacked nuance. the chemistry between the two leads was sadly lacking as well.
I loved the rest of the cast especially Yoon Sang Hyun as Oska and Kim Sa Rang as Yoon Seul, these two were great especially Oska, I loved everything about him.
The music was emotive, I liked it.
Rewatch value for me is very low, I've put it at 4; the show lacked special moments that I would go back and rewatch.
I've given it a 6.5 overall, In my opinion this show is over hyped and overrated, but still watchable for the posterity factor.
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I'm giving this 10/10, because probably this is the best drama that Hallyu produced up until like June 2013. There are of course a lot of cliches & the first 5-6 episodes are a bit boring, but from the first gender bender moment onward this was quite awesome. Typically I REALLY do not like gender bender, I think this is the second time after the anime movie "Your Name" where I had good time watching this genre. All the couples had great chemistry & the comedy was spot on too. The typical plot devices used in dramas to ruin everything for the characters were only very lightly used, which is very unusual for an older drama. I can get on board with the "main complication" that the plot had. The ending was quite long and satisfying, even the amnesia part was quite amusing. Also it was very nice that there were no annoying love triangles, or pentagons here, not really anyway. Luckily the token love interest director-nim did not have much screen time, or success. The cast was pretty good, even the evil ajumma mother was tolerable.
No kdrama fan should miss this, it's probably a huge contributor to the korean wave & it's worlds better than shows like "My Girl 2005" and "Boys Over Flowers".
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This review may contain spoilers
Honestly, i dont know where to start.Although this drama doesn't score an overall 10 from everyones ratings heres exactly why i scored it 10.
This drama is like a pioneer to many other dramas your typical love story kdrama and is considered a "classic" amongst bof and dramas that came out in that generation. Of course in our generation now we have DOTS and Goblin etc.
Why i gave this drama a perfect score?
Of course the drama wasn't perfect and there are many dramas out there where the story and everything was on point but emotions are heavily portrayed by the audience in this drama. There are many people who watched this drama when it first came out and it could've been considered the best then, the feeling of nostalgia when watching this could also correlate to everything that you experienced at that time. I am actually writing this review after rewatching it after 3 years . All the memories i had of what went on in 2013-2014 (i watched it then ) in my life and all those aspects are brought back while watching this drama, "omg life was so carefree back then, i got to do this and that without having to stress about school" feelings like that are brought back to you. I would understand if the people who just watched this gave it a decent score cos being honest if i only watched this drama now i might not have been able to give it a high rating comparing to the work they're putting it now. However this drama is considered timeless in my opinion (even getting to see Jong Suk's cute role before the fame hahahahaha)and thats what makes the rewatch value so high.
Hyun Bin, honestly theres not words to describe him i absolutely love him and in this drama his acting pulled off very well. Theres nothing to dislike about this man i must have explored all his dramas and movies after watching this drama of his through the body swap and all his acting was perfect. Especially the sad parts in this drama *not spoiling* i couldn't grasp myself and tears fell out, even after rewatching i think i even cried even more heavily after watching the scene at the end of episode 18 after all these years of boasting to my friends that i have become a man now, i crumble right infront of them LMAO. The secretaries and Ha Ji Won and especially Oska to all of them the cast was so cute and funny and loved their acting also <3
Overall;
I don't want to get too carried away but honestly if i had to describe this drama to myself, it'd be heartwarming i decided to rewatch this after going through a heavy period of depression and it honestly cheers me up so much especially Oska's role absolutely perfect for that. Missing the days of being able to play around and my childhood and bare in mind im only 17 now through this review im hoping there are a lot of people going through a hard time and could relate to how i feel when i watch this drama.
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Este dorama foi para mim uma agradável surpresa. Normalmente eu demoro de 2 a 3 episódios para me apegar aos personagens e torcer por eles, em Secret Garden como coisas como um pouco mais lentas e até pensei em parar de assistir, o Kim Joo Won estava realmente muito chato humilhando Gil Ra Im, eu pensei que nunca daria certo aquilo, brigando o tempo todo mesmo já tendo passado tantos episódios. Ainda bem que não desisti, como coisas realmente mudam depois. Não vamos falar muito para não dar spoiler Mas o que ele fez por ela no final foi de tocar o coração.Eu semper acho interessante essa coisa de "trocar de corpo" e isso foi o que me atraiu para assistir. A primeira troca deles rendeu momentos bem divertidos, mas depois é ficado mais sério. A personagem mais desagradável do drama foi a mãe do Kim Joo Won, que mulherzinha mais chata hein, o melhor personagem (excluído os dois protagonistas, claro) foi Oska, ele pode até não ser um bom namorado mas com certeza e um ótimo amigo, seus momentos com um Ra Im eram especiais, mesmo quando ela estava em "outro corpo". Por mais que eu tenho achado no começo que o casal protagonista não tinha nada a ver um com outro, já era de esperar que esta relação de amor e ódio iria acabar em amor. Tenho que admitir: eles são muito fofos juntos <3
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Beloved fairy tale
The first KD I ever watched. It had a profound experience on me. I dearly loved the complexity and completeness of the love story.The show is not without its flaws, but they're fairly minor. Highly recommended as a deep love story where two opposites work through what appear to be unsolvable differences to be deeply and truly bonded.
I suspect if anybody started to watch this now, it might seem a bit dated at first, but push through. Once you finish the first episode you'll be hooked. Keep your tissues near by for all the tears.
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