Marriage, Not Dating (2014)

OVERALL
Good, light, fun drama that can be easily completed in a nutshell, without even realizing. Watch if 1) You want something without too much drama, 2) You like the fake-relationship plot element, 3) You don't want a cliche ending. Don't watch if 1) You're vulnerable to the second-lead syndrome, 2) You can't stand secondary females that are gold-diggers or leeches, 3) You are looking for a heart-felt, touching, emotional love story.


THE STORY
Another 'refreshed' plot, as I like to call them. While the premise is nothing new, the humor, the funny prologues, the quirky sound effects and the light feeling (as opposed to the common dramatic feel that seems to be more and more typical of Kdramas) manage to refresh it and suck you in. There are some flaws in this show; starting from very dislikable secondary female characters that seem bad but aren't but actually are but truly aren't, and ending with a main love story at times too slow, at times moving too quickly, without giving the viewers the time to understand the characters' feelings. But the lightness of the drama makes it attractive, entertaining and addictive, the background of both leads justify their character, and the few uncommon drama elements introduced in the plot - won't say them or it's a spoiler - win extra points for creativity.

THE ACTING
I had previously seen the main actors only in secondary roles, but here they managed to pull the story together, which was no simple thing, giving that I have a feeling a lot of it relied on their chemistry and acting skills. Jinwoon and Sunhwa were also quite good in their roles. I see a bright future in acting for the female idol.

THE MUSIC
The selection of tunes was absolutely brilliant and seemed to have, as main purpose, to facilitate laughter. The OST, therefore, is one I love with the show, but I probably wouldn't listen to independently of it.

REWATCH VALUE
Definite yes, but with some skipping.

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Romantic Comedies are my favorite genre when it comes to Korean dramas or movies. I'm a sucker for a good romcom. Marriage, Not Dating did not disappoint me. Mainly because I didn't start it with much expectations. I'd never seen any of the actors' works before except for Yun Woo Jin, whom I saw in Arang and The Magistrate, and I can say it was a dark role and I couldn't really imagine him as a lead in a romcom. But the show is such a light breezy take on a veteran plot, you never feel as feel you're being dragged through something you've already seen a lot of times. A major plus point.

The story like I mentioned earlier is definitely not new. I've seen it quite a few times now. You basically know the story inside out even before you begin watching the show. Why watch this show then? Because it's a got a freshness that you will find rejuvenating. Granted, there are no major twists that you should be anticipating. What makes this drama good is the way the plot has been executed. You can think of it as a traditional dish that has been made with the same ingredients but has a different flavor. I hope I made sense there.

As far as the acting is concerned, I won't say I'm thoroughly impressed with the whole cast. Some performances did stand out. Yun Woo Jin surprised me the most and stood out far more than anyone else. The main reason for that could be that since I'd only seen him in a dark and gloomy role as a second lead, it was an eyebrow-raising and praiseworthy performance by him as the multi-faceted Gong Gi Tae. My thoughts about Han Groo are stuck in the grey area between like and dislike. In some of the scenes she did a brilliant job with her character, whereas in others it felt a little over the top. But I guess it's all a part of the package. There wasn't any actor/actress that I found unfit for their role. Just that nobody really stood out other than Yun Woo Jin. No negative marks here.

The music in this show was quite good. Quirky, peppy tracks are sprinkled throughout most of the episodes, and a couple of sad tracks dot the story here and there. I'd say the peppy tracks were pretty decent and easy on the ears. The mellow ones, though nice, didn't really leave an impact. Not really complaining.

Even though I enjoyed the drama very much, and looked forward to the next episodes, I'm in two minds about watching it again. Maybe that's because I just finished watching it. But either way, I wouldn't put it off the ReWatch list just yet. Maybe in a few months or an year or two perhaps. Although, I should mention it HAS got quite a bit of cute romantics scenes and real kisses you feel in your toes.

Overall, it was a good experience. I don't think I wasted any of my time with the show, that's a really good thing if you take into account that it basically took 16+ hours of my life to get to the show's end. And if I'm being honest, I think I really will miss the lead pair a little bit. They are those sort of characters, ones that grow on you and you don't even realize that until you find yourself missing them out of the blue. Well written characters, solid execution and no dragging at all. I'd take this RomCom without a second thought if I hadn't already seen it :P

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First of all, this is a fun drama. I went in expecting a 'marriage contract' type of story and it was way more than that. As i've come to expect from tvN the story and the characters are very well written and somewhat different from your typical SBS or MBC dramas. Its refreshing and true to itself until the last moment.

acting;
This is the first time i've seen Han Groo and Yun Woo Jin in a drama so I had zero expectations for them. Overall their chemistry was good and they were quite a refreshing couple. The only complains I have as far as acting are the idols. Sun Hwa's acting needs a lot of improvement and Jin Woon didn't do much other than smile. The latter might be the writer's fault, after all he's shown his acting skills before and they could have done a lot more with him and his character. Lastly Yoon So Hee ( apparently the viki community isn't too fond of her or her character ) and Heo Jeong Min. They didn't steal the spotlight from the main couple but, in my opinion, complimented the drama. Heo Jong Min also added comedy when we really needed it.

music;
Not much to say here. It had a fun soundtrack, lively and easy to sing along to but not very memorable. It fit the mood of the drama perfectly as well.

overall;
Overall this is a drama I will miss. It was fun and exiting with very real characters. I'll definetly be re watching this in the next few months.

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Marriage , Not Dating may not have been one of my must watch dramas from what was currently airing but it always made me smile when watching. It never made me think to deeply and kept me entertained. As far as dramas go this is a breath of fresh air and easy to watch.

The whole concept of 'contract dating' is quite commonplace in Korean drama, nevertheless I still enjoy watching hate turn to love. Usually these story lines can become repetitive but the writers managed not to make that the sole focus of the drama, managing to weave in a comedy, drama and romance. For me the highlight of this drama would have to be the comedy.

I have to say that the main leads Yun Woo-Jin & Han Groo had an amazing chemistry from the very beginning and both actors suited theirs characters managing to portray them well. Also the acting of both the male and female second leads was very well done and the writers made the smart choice not to ruin them. This drama was filled with potentially irritating characters however the story arcs given and the actors playing them made them lovable.

The music suited the drama but for me there was nothing that really struck me as amazing.

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So entertaining and heart warming!

This drama was so entertaining lol. It's so cute, funny, and just omg ahaha this is so adorable!! It's the perfect drama if you're just out of dramas to watch and decide to watch something to kill time. Or if you just finished a depressing drama, watch this. After I watched Cruel City, I was so out of it and disappointed by the ending.. So I decided to watch this since it had good reviews and looked pretty cheerful. IT IS WHAT YOU SEE ON THE COVER.

Story: Oh my goodness... this author.. just.. oh man. He/She made this so dramatic in the beginning and from that dramatic chaos just turned it into a hilarious story. This is such a fun drama. The ending was PERFECT and it flowed perfectly. The pacing is a bit slow, imo it should have only been 14 episodes if it was the right speed, but it was still enjoyable.

Acting/Cast: Han Groo... man I just love her. She's so weird it's so funny. She turned Woo Jin's mother into this chaotic person lol. You can pretty much say she ruins everyone's 'proper' image haha. I watched this for So Hee to be honest heh. She's so pretty. Jeongmin was good. Sunhwa's acting was pretty good I don't know why people didn't like it since her role didn't require much and wasn't even hard. Jin Woon is so attractive. His smiles look kinda fake but it's funny.

Music: Listen to Love Lane.

Rewatch Value: I would rewatch this if another drama ruins my mood

Overall: It's not the best drama out there nor is it the type of drama you would take as your first priority but it is very enjoyable and perfect for I guess post drama depressions haha. Don't take this drama too seriously. It's so fun. Loved it and again, I recommend it as a mood booster :)

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Easily one of the best romantic comedies- the story provides a setup for many misunderstandings and it delivers in a hilarious way.

The main couple has great dynamic- Gang Mi is one of the most amusing characters and Gi Tae is a crafty gentleman. The family members and friends (Hoon Dong the highlight of everyone- you just gotta love him!) are also fleshed out, enough to progress the story without taking the spotlight or dragging out the original premise.
There were a couple issues with some characters' motivations (actually lack of sometimes) but it didn't take away anything from the funny, lighthearted and yet touching at times approach.

The OST is pretty neat with a couple addicting songs and a nice score.

I really, really enjoyed this series because it gave exactly what it promised; I'm still laughing thinking certain scenes along with the sound effects (seriously, the sound effects were brilliant- I gave it an extra 0,5 in the overall rating solely for that!)
If you're looking for a good, no, great rom-com, then this is it!

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“There’s no such thing as eternal love. Nevertheless, I want to love you forever.”

I was really excited to watch this drama since by running this blog, I see so many gifs and pictures from dramas I get to know the story, this being a drama I saw a whole lot of while it aired. Though I knew most of what was going to happen from all the gifs I posted, and the fact that it isn’t the most original drama out there, I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I feel like contract relationships are back in style in dramas, but who’s to say they ever went out of style. With a contract marriage, you can add your twists and turns but we always know exactly how they are going to end up, and though we know how the ending is going to be..it’s still fun to watch all the events unfold in front of us.

I thought this drama was extremely cute and had a great sense of humor when it came to the situations that the characters were put in. The little cute sound effects are usually not my style, something that I really don’t care for, but for some strange reason, I really enjoyed them here. The cheesiness of this drama was to the point where I could take it, it didn’t go way over the top and it wasn’t such a serious drama that it made itself look too serious for the sake of having serious moments. It was balanced. It gave me just the right amount of laughter, cute moments, and sadness where I was able to shed tears, and I like that with romantic comedies, I still want to be able to have some sort of emotional connection with the characters and it, not all to be too big of a joke. So I really appreciate this drama for that. One thing that did bother me, but it's not that big of deal, is how our characters towards the end did a real big 180 in their personalities and affection towards one another, it seemed a little out of character and I didn’t feel as though their relationship was up to the point where they could be all cute together yet, but I don’t mind since it was cute. Maybe they just wanted to explode with the cuteness that they held inside during their relationship together? Who knows, but other than that, I thought the writing for this drama was good. I really connected with the characters, and characters I disliked, in the beginning, I found myself fond of when it all came to an end.

I thought the acting in this drama was good. The actors had good scripts where they didn’t need to act too serious, and they could be lighthearted and fun, and yet turn on the water works when needed and I appreciated that so much. I thought Han Groo did an excellent job. I wasn’t very sure about her in the beginning of the first episodes but I grew to love her character and her acting. I thought she fit the role perfectly. I haven’t seen her in any other drama, though she has been in a few, I will be careful to keep an eye out for her in the future, and the same goes for our leading male Yeon Woo Jin. He was really good, and I loved his character. I appreciate a man who isn’t just a handsome face, he is realistically handsome, and that goes for the rest of the cast, excluding out Idol co-stars of course. All the characters weren’t drop dead gorgeous, but just realistically attractive, like every day people and I really like seeing that in a drama, it makes it more “real” for me. I thought Yeon Woo Jin did a great job, and his cute scenes were the best, he brought the laughs with his little eye looks and shakes and I loved it. Heo Jeong Min also brought the laughs with his jesters as well, in the beginning, I thought I was going to hate his character, but how could I hate someone who brings such a smile to my face? His character was written so well, and every time he was on screen I could help but let out a little giggle. I thought he did such a good job of acting pretty much like a fool the entire time. Jinwoo of 2AM and Han Sun Hwa of Secret both did a great job as well. It's no secret, pardon the pun, that I don’t usually enjoy Idol actors but these guys did a pretty dang good job for the most part. I wouldn’t say they were amazing and fantastic, but they fit the mood and characters and that’s all I can really ask. I can see that they have the spark in them to become more talented as actors (I haven’t seen them in anything else..) so I won't let them being Idols stir me away from any other dramas they perform in the future. The rest of the cast was fantastic as well, we had many older actors and actresses that I have seen plenty of times doing wonderful as always and its always good to see familiar faces in dramas.

Overall I thought this was a good watch. It was something to give me a smile, and I watched all sixteen episodes in three days so that must mean it was worth my time. I wouldn’t watch sixteen episodes in three days if it was a drama that bored me. Though you can get frustrated with characters and want to throw something at them through your TV, that’s a part of drama watching, and the drama made me feel many other feelings and emotions and that’s all I can ask it to do. It's a cute romantic comedy, that may be a little bit predictable, but we all know what we are getting ourselves into with the contract relationship/marriage type dramas in the first place, so when it comes to one of those dramas it's a really good watch and worth the time.

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Marriage, Not Dating had a very different style from the dramas I usually watch. But I can see why it's been considered to be one of the best dramas of 2014.

One of the most unique things in this drama was the episode format. I found that starting each episode with the end of the episode, kept me wondering what the heck was going on and made me want to keep watching. Plus, since it was out of context, what we were shown at the beginning of episodes always ended up being way funnier than it first appeared to be.

I loved the comedy in this show. Everything was just so wacky! The drama was never too serious. But it definitely wasn't all fun and games. There were some parts of this show that actually made me tear up (I have a soft spot for child/parent relationships). I appreciated how the tone of the show stayed consistent all the way to the end. It was a nice balance of humor, cuteness, and seriousness.

This is probably the first drama I've watched where I liked both of the leads' moms! I thought that the show focused on the parents' relationships just as much as it focused on the main characters. I loved how all of the characters were given dimension and we were able to see the reasoning behind the actions that were taken (like Gi Tae's mom).

While I didn't love the 2nd leads (both male and female), I didn't hate them. There were parts where I really appreciated some of the things they did, but there were other parts where I just wanted them to disappear. I really loved the other side characters. Especially Hoon Dong, who I wasn't expecting to like as much as I did. He was definitely a comedic relief character and he did his job well. I don't think there was a single scene with him that didn't make me laugh.

Marriage, Not Dating didn't have what I'd call one of those amazingly perfect soundtracks. But the music was really catchy and I enjoyed it!

Overall, this was a really fun drama to watch and I'd definitely recommend it to someone who wants to watch a drama with a slightly different style that what you'd usually see.

My video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kOW0LcLUrY

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lol at the review guidelines. XD sooo mad at the spoilers!! 3x of saying NO SPOILERS!! hahahah!! alright I know! I get it! who loves spoilers? I guess no one and most of us hate it! but..... eottoke? MND love it!! yes! MND is such a spoiler!! ~ooooops! maybe you're wondering why... sawry I won't tell you. lol. but at least I gave you a warning! :) :p

story:
This drama made me so confused I was like am I at the right ep? 0.o it even tricked me!! xD way to describe the story? crazy and fun but not that exciting for me..xD the ending? its awesome not your typical kdrama!

cast:
nemo couple (the name of their ship) truly defines what chemistry means!! ~soooo sexy!!! I was like just get married in real life pls! lol.
every cast is awesome especially the 2 leads; joo jang mi and gi tae who made this drama crazy, the supporting cast; look forward to LHD the funny guy xD, the duo; hyeo rum and se ah who will make your blood boils and say AISH!!! and of course the mother in law :)

love the ost! re-watch value? some of the scenes^^

you think you've watch the craziest love triangle? definitely not if you haven't watch this drama! :)
I'll recommend it to those who are into crazy and fun dramas! :)
not one of the best kdramas I've seen but definitely the BEST OTP EVEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!
that's all for my review!!! *sigh* I'm gonna miss the nemo couple for sure!!!

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Good drama from beginning to end, the only downfall for me was Yeo Reum & Se Ah (I got annoyed whenever they were around the leads). Otherwise, the story was a rather interesting ride lol, filled with crazy schemes and unexpected twists - this drama kind of put the viewers on a roller-coaster ride - but I think everyone was rooting for the lead couple to get together <3 The parents of both the lead characters have messed up relationships and we see how their messed up relationships have affected their children's love lives (or even their lives in general). This drama will make you laugh - it can also make you mad, happy and irritated lol.
Music: Very good - I mainly remember Ben's song: Stop the Love Now & Love Lane by: Mamamoo - the rest are good too they just aren't played as much so they aren't in my head like these two songs are.
Cast: everyone played their part well (I didn't care for a few people but they still were great at acting). I watched this drama for: Yun Woo Jin mainly & then Han Groo (since I liked her so much from: Scandal & A Warm Word).
Re-watch Value: 6.0 - just b/c their would be no surprises (and this drama was great with that) but it's a drama most viewers will like ;)

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HATED IT !!

i have watched a lot of drama and i enjoyed almost all of them, but this one, i had to force myself to finish it. 
So, did I finish this drama? Yes, I did
Did I enjoy it? No, I hated it 

I love contracted marriages or relationships, so i was really excited when i read the plot, but when i watched it, i got so disappointed because of how much i hated the storyline.

The beginning was enjoyable, but later I got really bad, and I really don't get why it has such a high rating?

i have finished it a while ago but im still bothered by how much i hated it, just looking at the title and poster makes me mad in some way, especially when i see how high the rating is. 

So i would not recommend it, but you could still watch it to choose a side. because there are lots of people who did enjoy it. But if I was you, I would not waste my time watching this drama

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One of my favourite K-Drama ever.
Marriage Not Dating is basically a pure rom-com (yes, there are a couple of sad moments, but only towards the end and they get solved very quickly), which is great.
The acting is very good. The plot, though simple, will engage you thanks to its peculiar way to develop (each episode begins with a certain scene that will lead you to believe into something, but as the episode unfold it will turn out to be something entirely different), and it will make you laugh out loud on many occasions.
Considering it's been filmed in 2014, I found surprising that it also shows real physical interactions between two adults, making them act according to their age.
I personally loved the OST, too.
100% recommended!

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