I wanted to like it, but Hyun Bin can't save this drama
I am here to rant because I do not understand why people love this drama. I watched this after watching Crash Landing on You because I think I might actually be in love with Hyun Bin, but then I started this drama in which I spent 14 episodes hating his character. He is degrading and possessive, and he both sexually and emotionally harasses her and for some reason she likes it? I mean to each their own, but why would you fall in love with someone who says things like "she's temporary"? Ugh, in the end I finished it and I'm happy I did if only because Hyun Bin is such a good actor he even plays this narcissistic jerk well. Gil Ra Im is a badass but acts like a punching bag for Kim Joowon so I ended up sorta disliking her. I enjoyed the times when they switched places the most because Hyun Bin was adorable as a girl. I do not believe they share any chemistry and am wondering if I watched the same drama as the people giving this a 10/10? Please, don't ever date someone who treats you like Kim Joowon. On the other hand, the secondary couple are slightly more interesting, and Oska is a freaking gem.Was this review helpful to you?
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i found it boring many times & the fantasy in it was provoking & doesn't help the story or change any thing except filling the drama
the plot was not bad if they cut the fantasy part & reduce the ep just to 15 ep. it would be brilliant
the main idea wasn't new at all
didn't love... 5/10 is more than enough for it cause it's overrated for me
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This show made me laugh so hard, i actually took a longer time to finish watching it than I had expected because I had to be replaying the scenes as they were so romantic or sooooo funny.I had thought that this show was gonna be lame, but bwoy was I wrong.
A must see
I sooooooooooooooooooo love Hyun Bin, so cute.love the dimples. Ha Ji-won---that girl can act.
This was a fab combo.
would love to see them in aonther drama together as the main cast. anyone knows the director of secret garden, please let him know this.lol.
xoxo
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The main protagonists had great chemistry with one another. When they switched bodies, both of them played their role very well and with such humor. I kept laughing throughout the drama. I think this alongside Lie To Me where I laughed so much.
The tracksuits were the star of this drama; I actually ended up really liking the purple one for me, lol.
Unlike other dramas, this one didn't drag with the couples indecisiveness. It was refreshing to see the guy lust over the girl.
In all honestly, I skipped over the scenes of the second couple, the antagonist later in the episodes. Their scenes were "meh."
Beautiful drama, def. recommend.
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At first, Seul's acting wasn't too great but it gets better to the point where you sympathize and relate to her even though she's the antagonist. The friend, who by the way is played by Yoo In Na (from You Who Came from the Stars) and Secretary Kim are very funny. You want to see these side characters. Mr. creepy stare (you'll know who I'm talking about once you watch it) seemed like a bad actor at first, but now that I see how comedic the entire show was, I think he was doing to to fit in. Hyun Bin is a great singer (that OST was stuck in my head for DAYS) and funny actor, but can't cry. I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone. Also, he's handsome, but not when he smiles. He smiles when he cries by the way, which makes the crying seem comedic at times when it shouldn't be. (I'm still a big fan though, I love when he becomes a girl and screams). He's very endearing.
The only problem I had with the body switching thing is that they didn't try to imitate each others' characters. Hyun bin tried to be really feminine when he was pretending to be Ra Im, but Ra Im was masculine in the beginning of the show and before the switch. Likewise, Ji Won tried to be overly masculine in how she walked and sat when she pretended to be Joo Won, but he carried himself in what seemed to be a more sophisticated type of sitting and walking. He would never do something like checking out girls as a guy, so the switch was sort of unbelievable in that sense. It was also unbelievable that the main girl was poor. Her hair and clothes looked more expensive than his more than half the time. I guess I'm just nit-picking. The show was funny and the romance was cute. I only hated seeing one character which wasn't even shown that often. The romantic climax was moving, but not to the point of tears. I think they could have done more with it. Parts of it did seem like cop outs, where things got solved without any particular reason.
Overall I liked the show and would recommend it for someone who's looking for something funny and romantic in a cute sense. It's not a drama that's heart wrenching, but very fun to watch. The last few episodes were dragged out though. The music was amazing. I love the OST, especially the Hyun Bin version. I don't re-watch shows usually, but I'd watch this because it's funny.
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1. The Romance: The chemistry was admittedly there. I watched countless dramas where, yes, the lead couple was ship worthy and had me swooning over them but it was evident that the actors who played the leads were just great actors. In Secret Garden though, it was difficult for me to say the looks they gave each other was just pure acting skills. Of course, I'm not here to jump into the conclusion that Ha Jiwon and Hyun Bin were actually in love, because obviously they're just close friends, but I'm trying to say that their on screen chemistry was so good that the thought of the romance just being a product of acting never crossed my mind. They made me believe in their love.
But aside from all the good things I have to say about them (which are a lot), I do think that their relationship was a bit confusing. At the start, when all he did was insult her, I was genuinely questioning what the hell was going to happen especially because she seemed to hate him a lot. They would have constant fights surrounding similar issues and I was always just confused with both of their stupidity like really? Was that really necessary? Their fights were so frustrating that it nearly had be stop watching but I pulled through because the story was still interesting. Eventually, these insults and fights and all the things I thought were ridiculous ended up becoming endearing. During the last few episodes, the references to their fights and the way they jokingly insulted each other made me come to love the couple for how different they were from the rest of the K-drama lead couples. Their love was made from a cliche but turned into something unique and cute.
I also have to say that the side couples were great as well. A-yeong and Secretary Kim made me laugh a lot and Oska and Seul were just amazing to say the least. The latter couple had their faults which I won't get into because they seem pretty obvious (like the lack of freaking communication, we aren't in elementary yall) and everyone simply knows.
2. The Acting: Okay, guys, the ACTING. Ha Jiwon and Hyun Bin were literally amazing, I swear on my bank account. I'm a picky person. I won't watch a dramas unless I know there's a good actor - which is perhaps why I never watch new K-dramas unless they have pro actors - and with Secret Garden, I knew that Hyun Bin and Ha Jiwon were great, I knew. But seeing them portray each others characters was honestly such a good experience. The fact that not only did they portray another gender, not only did they portray each other in real life, they portrayed each others FICTIONAL characters and I think that really proves how amazing they are. I've watched multiple projects of Hyun Bin and I promise, his characters are nothing alike. When I watched Crash Landing on you after Hyde, Jekyll, Me and The Negotiation, I could not process how all his characters were played by him. He's great.
Of course, let's not neglect the side characters. Oska and Seul, oh gosh, they were great. I've never seen another project of the actress who played Seul but I absolutely loved her in Secret Garden especially her character development. It was fun to watch. And Yoo In Ah! She's a really gifted actress. Like Hyun Bin, all her characters seem so different from the other that's it's difficult to believe they were played by the same person.
OVERALL: It's something you definitely have to watch but I do warn you that things move pretty slowly. In the end, I think the slow pacing is worth it because once you finish, you'll immediately miss it. The funny banter between the leads and the rest of the characters, the switching, and the build up to the secret reveal. When I say every character in Secret Garden was worth watching, I mean it. All the character development made me emotional.
Also, I just wanna say, the OST of this gives out so much feels.
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This review may contain spoilers
OhmyGod I loved this drama so much!! My new favorite! I've been going around recommending this to anyone I know who watches Kdramas. I've been talking about this drama with my mom for days! So much so that my mom has started ignoring me in the hopes that I would go away. And I eventually did. To rant about this drama to you guys!Story: The story was amazing! It was very different than the other Kdrama stories. Well for one, the guy fell for the girl first instead of the other way around, which is usually the case in Kdramas. The girl wasn't weak, didn't cry all the time, wasn't stupid, wasn't clingy etc. She was strong and independent and I loved that about her! Then there was a little magic and fantasy involved which was a nice change.
It wasn't all different though. There was a mysterious past which connected both characters, love triangles and other stuff which are usually found in kdramas. But they were very well executed in this drama so it didn't seem over-done or the same.
One thing I really really loved about this drama was the pace at which it moved. Usually, I've seen, kdramas move either too slow or too fast or a mix of both which has been a cause of frustration for me with a lot of dramas. But Secret Garden moved at such a good and comfortable pace, I loved that! My mom watches kdramas with me but she doesn't watch each and every episode. She watches one episode then skips 2-3 and I tell her if she missed anything important. Usually I'm OK with that because nothing much, of importance, happens in those 2-3 episodes so I don't have to tell much. She did the same with Secret Garden but so much happened in one episode that I got frustrated and told her to watch it with me if she wants to know what happens as I cannot tell her all that has happened. That doesn't mean that everything happened too fast, it means that it happened neither too fast nor too slow. It happened at just the right pace.
Actors & Characters: The actors were all so amazing! This drama had a great cast! Especially the two leads. Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Won did such an amazing job! This is the first time I've seen both of these actors and I was very impressed with their performance.
Hyun Bin!!!!!! OMG I'm in love with this man!! I know he's 13 years older than me but hey, I love Ian Somerhalder and he's 17 years older than me! So age is just a number, it has no importance when it comes to love. Though it is a different matter that in reality a relationship with such a huge age gap would be too weird, at least for me. But this is just imagination so it's fine ;) But HYUN FREAKING BIN OHMYGOD!!!!
This man has got style! He held himself so perfectly and did such an amazing job playing a chaebol! The way he walked, the way he talked, the way he stood, everything screamed "He's a narcissistic, spoiled, rich brat!". But his character was also so sweet and cute and nice!!! He had an innocent side to him, despite being arrogant, and I love him so much! Hyun Bin is such a freaking amazing actor! The way he looked at Ra Im had me convinced he was actually in love with her. That elevator scene, oh my God don't get me started on that elevator scene! His performance was so good! And then when he turned into Ra Im. His acting then was amazing too! This role was a pretty hard one, it had a lot of elements combined and the character was a diverse one but Hyun Bin did such an amazing job! He really did justice to a great character. He's more than just a pretty face, much more.
I loved Gil Ra Im! She was strong, independent and confident and I loved how she fought back. Ha Ji Won played this character so well! Ra Im was bad ass but she also had this teenage girl side to her. I honestly loved her as a character, hers is a character that I'll probably remember for a long time. I haven't really seen many great actresses in the Korean industry. One whom I really admire is Yoon Eun Hye but that as far as my 'favorite Korean actress' list goes. I guess it's still too early to say as this is only my first Ha Ji Won drama but I think she has made it to that list too. She did the fighting scenes splendidly! She was not shy of kissing scenes either. And she did the emotional acting really well too. I loved her performance in the drama!
Oska Oppa! Oska was such a funny and adorable character! I never thought I would call a 35 year old man "adorable" but that's what he was! He was so lovable and (these are my mom's words) really balanced Hyun Bin's character. He really loved Joo Won as a brother and it showed. Their brotherly love was so sweet! And he was so cute with Yoon Seul! He was a playboy who fell in love. I even loved his narcissistic comments, he wouldn't have been Oska without them. I felt that he really liked Ra Im as a younger sister. Their conversations were really cute!
Yoon Seul is so pretty! I guess she would be since she was Miss Korea in 2000. Hers was a character I loved and hated. I felt sorry for her but was frustrated with her too. I'm not going to say much more since I don't want to give out any spoilers but like all the other characters in the drama, I liked her too.
Han Tae Sun was a really mysterious character. I mean they never said who he was, where he had come from and his personality was really mysterious too. Mysterious enough that you'd want to get to know him better. That is why I wish he would've been there a little more, that we had gotten to get to know him a bit better. Anyway, Lee Jong Suk did a good job playing him. The expressions that he made, I really loved those! He was always angry but he looked cute angry. And he acted being gay really well without overdoing it. So an applause for the cute and mysterious Lee Jong Suk as Han Tae Sun!
I loved Secretary Kim & Ra Im's best friend! They were so cute and funny and just adorable! There's not much to say about them, it was evident they cared about their friends, Secretary Kim about Joo Won and Ah Young about Ra Im. They were amazing side characters and I think the actors did a great job playing them!
The other side characters were good too. Joo Won's mom was EVIL! Oska's mom was better, I think. At least she let her son have freedom. I liked Director Im, he cared a lot about Ra Im... it was sweet. And he provided a good rivalry for Joo Won so I liked that too. The guy who was trying to take Joo Won's place, I think he was in love with him! :P No seriously though, he did care about him. And admired him. I guess he was just a bit jealous...
Other Stuff: The humor was really good in this drama! When you've got 2 characters switching bodies there's a lot of potential for comedy. But it wasn't just that. Not only did Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Won did a splendid job but the other characters made me laugh out loud too. One of them is Oska, as I've mentioned before. But Secretary Kim, Ah Young, and Ra Im's action school people were really funny too!
Another thing I really loved in the drama was the reality of feelings in it. The misunderstanding between Oska and Yoon Seul was believable. The actions of the characters were natural. Like Oska wanting to save Joo Won instead of Ra Im. Joo Won's mom not accepting Ra Im even at the end. All of them were believable and real. Even if this was a fantasy drama the reality in it was maintained like it is in Harry Potter and I really loved that.
Oh and I loved Ra Im's "Munja Wa Shong" ringtone! It's my sms ringtone right now :D And Joo Won's song with which he distracted himself was so cute. Especially the way Hyun Bin recited that! And Joo Won's lines "Is this the best? Are you sure?" and the thing he says about his tracksuits! And I'll stop the fangirling now :P Now go and watch Secret Garden! Enjoy!
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Is Secret Garden good? Heck yeah it is! But it isn't as good as is commonly put, at least to me.
The story is interesting, although is the typical rich-boy-meets-poor-girl-and-falls-in love-against-his-family's-approval. I love that it has a heroine that can actually stand up for herlsef and doesn't need a man. Also, the side story is genius, I simply love Oska and Seoul together! I love that they didn't drag a lot the soul-changing plot, and that they ended it quick because if they had spent the whole drama changed it would've gotten really boring. Also I loved that the ending is very realistic given the circumstances.
The whole cast is amazing, each plays well his or hert part, specially Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Woon, which have to play someone of the opposite sex inside their own bodies.
The music was also a plus. I specially liked that they gave it an emphasis through Oska.
Overall, it is a really good drama, but in my opinion it isn't something that I hadn't seen before or that is really like a bomb. If you like romantic comedies with a lot of absurd yet cute situations, you'll definitely like this one.
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This was one of my first Korean dramas and I thought it was pretty great. It has up to date probably one of the most interesting and crazy storylines. I can admit there have been similar type storylines, but none of them have been able to go from start to finish with a strong storyline, they always seem to flake out with the ending episodes. The story makes you want to keep watching it, without having a break. If you happen to have a break, perhaps to sleep... you can not stop wondering what is going to happen next.
Acting/Cast:
I think Hyun Bin played his character reallllly welllllll. He was so cute and innocent-like. He is a great actor indeed. I don't know why but I don't really like Ha Ji Won as an actress... but she did a great job in this drama! The two leads were REALLY good at portraying each other when they swapped bodies, you could almost see the soul rather than the actual body on screen. I didn't really like OSKA... his voice is a bit annoying... but he was still a vital character in the drama.
Music:
This drama is probably more based on instrumental music rather than music with lyrics. All of the instrumental pieces are really nice and nostalgic when they come on in my iTunes library. However they aren't songs that I would go out of my way to find and listen to. You don't realise this during the drama, but Hyun Bin is actually singing one of the main OST songs... although he isn't a singer, he is surprisingly pretty good.
Rewatch?
Definitelyyyy! I often do. Although it is quiet a long drama, I still seem to watch almost every episode and every part when ever I decide to rewatch it. I especially like to rewatch the romance between the leads because it is so cute and niceee.
Overall:
I recommend this drama to anyone and everyone. Honestly... I think lots of people would like it. I'm sure a lot of people have already seen it because it is one of the most popular Korean dramas, but if you haven't already... I think you should! You don't know what you are missing out on!
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