The first few episodes may bore some viewers, but take my words for it, as the story progresses, you'll get hooked as things get more exciting.
I believe this is Hyun Bin's best performance so far. All of the characters were superbly acted. The soundtrack is awesome, as it perfectly matches the emotions. There were a lot of funny and cute scenes as well. Kim Bi So is adorable, as well as OSCA who is charming on his own right. Gil Ra Im is not your typical lead actress, she can kick some ass LOL.
Definitely a must-watch series. I've given it an outstanding rating, 10.
I am sure you will enjoy the rollercoaster of emotions. Secret Garden will make you cry, laugh, crazy...you'd even want to break Kim Joo Won's mom's neck LOL.
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SG was actually one of my first dramas and I was still sceptical on certain things, but it just blow me AND my doubts away!!!
I think this drama is the perfect mixture out of romance, comedy, tragedy and fantasy! The actors are just brilliant and I'm always rolling on the floor laughing, everytime one of the body-switching sceenes show their great ability to act as the other party and gender. They seriously did a great job. The chemistry between the two leeds is really great too, which makes this drama pleasent to watch. Both, Gil Ra Im and Kim Joo Won are characters you fall for in no time!
I think this drama is a must-watch for anyone who likes to get carried away by a great love but still wants some storyline and great acting which will make you smile, everytmine you think: "That must have been embarassing to act" or "How can they be so in sync?".
I especially recomend this drama to all of you, who are still new to asian drama, it will give you a great impression and it will make you to want more!!!
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Since there was no base to their chemistry, and the whole drama was revolving around their 'love' for each other, it really hard to get through each episode without exclaiming: What! Why are they acting like that around each other!
On a brighter note, the music was really good (: There is a Disney feel to the songs and I loved it.
My advice: Watch other dramas.
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In Short: Well produced, but the infuriating characters and the cry-fests towards the end made me want to scream. A bit surprised that Oska and his boytoy were the only characters I actually liked in the end. And omo-queen secretary Kim of course. And I might have liked the tracksuits. Don’t judge me.
Pros: Good premise and hilarious at times.
Cons: Infuriating characters, and unexplained plot devices ahoy! HATED Seul throughout the drama. And why was Lee Jong Suk there? Horribly underused character.
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This review may contain spoilers
Great for a laugh, but missing the storytelling
Story: That's just it.. I didn't understand the story? I thought it would be something like arrogant jerk meets good girl, jerk changes good for good girl, happily ever after. NO. this is not the case it's completely different. Which is good, different is nice most of the time.. but I had trouble identifying why the story was shown so meh. The romance is also confusing .. i knew there was an attraction but i wasn't too sure the way the male character treated the female and how uninterested the female was. BUT what i did like about the story was the whole fantasy element, it made it more funny and added more suspense to it which is why i continued watching. However what i didn't like was the random drama which meant more dragging.
Acting: The acting was well potrayed I will say but, I'm not sure on what the director of the drama's thought process was and what were the characters trying to accomplish.
Characters: Joo won, is one of the most confusing characters I ever incountered.. I wasn't sure if he even liked her at all and the way he kept bashing her and belitting her made me want to drop the drama immediatedly. I was sort of confused how Ra Im was feeling about him most of the time since although he said something mean she would still go around him. In addition to this I couldn't understand why the director was used in the first place. I could see from the beginning that he posed as another " love interest" but his character never did much to get the girl, he kinda just made dramatic faces and was just there as a motivator, i wish we could have seen more of him verbally. Anywho to summarize, the main characters left me feeling confused in the beginning of the drama and very confused on where the story was going. In addition I don't feel like the characters improved much and instead changed the same. To sum up I didn't enjoy the characters all that much..
Music: Loved the music, I will be adding some of the songs to my iphone most likely when I look them up. Great OST.
Overall: I recommend this drama for a laugh, something obviously not to be taken seriously. Yes maybe to someone who can handle all the crap the Joo won throws at Ra Im would see this as a 10 rating drama but no sensible person would fall for a guy who does nothing but say belittling things to her all the time. However i did receive many laughs in this drama, the highlight of this drama was when they actually switched to be quite honest.
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You will definitely love the story, the actors and the music...
Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Won are definitely suitable for their roles here in Secret Garden.
Also, the acting of Yoon Sang Hyun and Kim Sa Rang are adorable.
What I love most in here, is Hyun Bin itself. Even he's role is an arrogant and eccentric CEO, you will still love him. His passion for his work, his family, his values and the woman he love will definitely makes you love him more.
The action scenes of Ha Ji Won are remarkable.
The love conflict between Yoon Sang Hyun and Kim Sa Rang are really a heartbreaking one.
This is really a magnificent master piece.
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My expectations were too high and were not met.
The problem is the plot. it isn't interesting and engaging.
The cast is exceptional, actors are good actors, especially Hyun Bin in the "role" of a woman.
The love story between Kim Joo Won and Gil Ra Im isn't engaging as it looks.
I think the love story between Oska and Yoon Seul (the supporting casts) is much more interesting.
Sometimes the drama is boring and i also think that the entire series is so long : the last two episodes may summarized in one.
I expected more, I don't like it and I don't recommend it.
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Story 〆(・∀・＠): The story in itself sounds extremely simple. A rich man and poor woman switch bodies and experience how different their lives are. The problem is that even though this show is being marketed as a big body-switching adventure full of misunderstandings and shenanigans, body-switching seems like a secondary problem. They do switch bodies a few times (don't get me wrong), but it's not nearly enough times as I would have liked. The writers focused so much on family drama and other meaningless plot points that it made the story feel dragged out. Common tropes were constantly repeated even if they didn't fit within the story. It's as if the writers had some trope checklist and were knocking things off as they go. So instead of going in-depth with body-switching and making conflicts that have much higher stakes, they spent too much time just trying to come up with situations where familiar tropes would fit in. So when watching, just know that the body-switching is gonna take time to start and won't last incredibly long, which is a shame for a show so dedicated to it. Another point in the writing that nagged at me was the character themselves. The actors did terrific with what they were given, so my qualm rests with how the characters were written. You have your average cold rich guy and a tough, independent poor girl. Yet, coming out of the show, I can't say I connected with them. As a matter of fact, I am leaning closer to disliking them and their relationship.
Were there cute moments? Yes.
Did they make me laugh at times? Yes.
Did they have interesting aspects? Yes.
Did they do questionable things that make me doubt their relationship? Yes.
This whole show possessed a lot of rinse and repeat type events. The two main characters are prime victims of it; they had so many moments between them that got used over and over again. Eventually, I just wanted them to get together, not for the romance, but so that we can move past their weird and unnecessary arguments.
Acting ｡゜(｀Д')゜｡: Similar to the last show I watched, the acting in the Secret Garden was one of its strongest and leading points. I can honestly go as far as to say that it was the saving grace of this show. With body-switching, actors have to act like two different people. Everything from the way of speaking to posture has to be noted in order for it to be believable. And after watching Hyun Bin and Ha Ji-Won act like each other, all I can say is I wish we got more of it! Hyun Bin especially was absolutely hilarious when acting as Gil Ra-Im. Vice versa for Ji-Won when acting like Kim Joo-Won. Even when they weren't in each other's characters, they still provided comedic, heartfelt, and enjoyable moments. Despite my not loving the characters, it's because of the actors I was able to enjoy something. The side characters were also delightful. Yoon Sang-Hyun as a playboy singer was one of my favorite parts. In the end, I found myself rooting for him more than anyone. So thank you, Sang-Hyun, for your priceless reactions and odd actions!!!
Music ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪: Again, I'm not able to say much about it. There was one song that caught my attention for a moment, but other than that, it was all average to me—sad songs for sad moments, upbeat songs for pleasant ones. And although one of the main characters was a singer, I wasn't necessarily in love with any of those songs either. It's not that big of a problem considering the show isn't focused on just the music industry. But in short, the music wasn't anything end-game.
Other (ง°ل͜°)ง: For those of you who are watching this show for the body-switching, I just want to mention a few other things. When talking about the story, I commented on how it was weirdly neglected even though it was a show advertised for that very plot point. I'm not going to go on about that disappointment, but I am going to mention how the rules themselves never made any sense to me. I'm incredibly focused on rules in regards to fantasy-related dramas. I like knowing the logic and meaning behind things. This show left me with a lot of questions about the swap and the actual reason for it. They make some rules about the switch happening when it rains, but that's as far as they go to actually set up anything. The exact reason behind it and how it was solved precisely didn't make much sense to me. If I try hard, I might be able to puzzle something together, but that would just be me coming to a conclusion rather than the show wrapping up what they started properly—another reason on why this show was a bit of a hit on me.
Ending of this review, I'm glad I'm done and will probably never rewatch it. If you're into the rich man / poor woman trope with a bunch of family drama, then you'll love this. And if you're new to Asian dramas (like me) than this is a good introduction to things that you'll see in the future. But if you're watching this solely for the body-swapping aspect, then you might be disappointed. You'll have to wait a bit, and you might get bored in between, but it's not something you'll want to drop right away. With that being said...
Happy Watching <3
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Classic tropes now out of date
This is a classic and maybe it was one of the first to feature these now common themes and tropes in k dramas (like the evil MIL, love triangles, and self-sacrifice), so that's why it's so popular. It was one of the first dramas I ever watched. I recently watched it again and decided I am no longer a fan of it.I do like Ha Ji Won and I see that she is a strong female lead actress. I also liked Yoon Sang Hyun's portrayal of his character. He was romantic and lovely. Surprisingly, I thought Hyun Bin's performance was one-dimensional and uninteresting, but I believe it was due to the writing and script.
The leads don't have romantic chemistry at all. It was written that way and it simply doesn't work. There is no reason for the two to be in a relationship. I can't stand the continuous physical and sexual harassment that happens throughout the show. While it is still prevalent in some current shows, it is pretty unacceptable. The bro love is strong and the dialogue between the two guys is interesting and well written, but the delivery is pretty much yelling at each other the entire time. Ra Im and Oska have the strongest performances, but they are wasted on their lovers because of such a lack of chemistry. One thing the show does have is endless twists and turns in the plot so it doesn't get boring that way.
All in all, I would not recommend this show except to see what dramas used to be like and how far they have come.
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plot/story: while to me, the drama seemed to be lacking a plot, I could still appreciate the main theme being falling in love and have fate bring you together in an extremely interesting way. I really felt like the two in this drama were destined for eachother and the body switching made their love seem more like the love between destined soul mates then just a simple crush like I've seen in other dramas.
actors: the actors were incredible in this drama! Even when they switched bodies you could definitely tell who was who by their behaviors and mannerisms. I thought the actors did an excellent job in depicting the opposite gender while switched from the way they answered their cell phones to how they sat. That in itself showed some amazing acting skills. Plus I really felt like they were genuinely crying in the sob scenes. I'm serious though, they must have envisioned a mass murder of puppies or something in order to cry like that.
characters: I really enjoyed their characters. The main girl never became a 'flat' character, she remained with a lot of depth and the male lead was the perfect combination of playful and sexy. There were other characters I wished they would have developed more like the director at her stuntman place. I really wish he would have come forth with his feelings or something, instead he just kind of faded away and it would have been nice to have more of a love triangle. However, I can appreciate that maybe they decided against that because I could see how it would take some of the spot light off the main theme which was unconditional love so maybe a lack of love triangle was for the best.
music: the music was good, I liked it. Nothing that memorable and some of it sounded like it came off of other dramas ( I swear there was one song in it that sounded like the one used in Scent of a Woman) but they played the music at good times and the music always related to the scene which was nice.
Other: on another note, I really enjoyed the action too in this! they had some great excerpts from her role as a stuntwoman which were really entertaining to watch. I especially liked the motorcycle scene.
And the ending was definitely one of the best I've ever seen in a drama. Really, thought, absolutely perfect and beautiful ending.
over all, I thought this was a really touching and beautiful drama. I'll probably rewatch it again some time in the future.
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