Asp
chilling under the foliage
Let's begin with the plot then.
Han Se is not an usual Candy, in fact, she makes fun of that very role. There is no naivety of poor girl meets rich guy in this drama, because it's quite harsh on every character that entered that kind of a world, and the plot nearly goes into parody of that usual kind of a tale. Which once again, I applaud, it was nice to watch something that has a good length of interest for once. I also like the major bitchslap line over the arranged marriages between rich people vs. gold-diggers.
PSH is hilarious! With his first scene, gone was my idea of cold and indifferent CEO that barks all the time, because the fella he played as was a complete flower child, WITH FLAWS, and some angsty elements. Moving on, while I do think that MGY looks quite childish next to PSH, both of their acting covered that, and I found myself enjoying all of their scenes. The chemistry was present right up until the romantic moments...where it would get awkward. They were missing the spark, but the normal scenes pulled them out a tiny bit.
SYH was great, her character is very dramatic and grounded, I just found it odd how often she was teary eyed at everything, but I suppose it does go with the story. KJS was interesting enough, I wish I could see him in a main role somewhere, perhaps? He is deserving of it.
I really like the soundtrack, but there was some thriller music which was weirdly placed into scenes, to the point that you would expect a ghost to jump out from some angle... I think they would've been better off with more dramatic music? Not hey hi Leatherface, honey?
The refreshing take on the usual plot makes it somewhat worth of rewatching, but not any time soon. And even more so, it's mostly because of earlier episodes, where PSH basks in comedy light and his antics are very lovable to watch.
Summed up, this drama is a 7.5 for me. While I am satisfied with the lead acting and the interesting writing which made the entire show a pleasure to watch, I am disappointed with the amount of clichés the writers have sneaked in (oh yes, there are quite a few) and numerous scenes of supporting characters that I felt were a hassle to watch...in fact, from episode 9 and up, the drama started dragging itself and being a bit boring. I also dislike the way it ended, especially the let down in Han See's character, I really wanted a complete black line for her, but they kept her too pure for the full impact of her role.
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Story's cute, and the couple's very mushy and romantic, though both of them are nuts in their own ways (leading to some pretty amusing scenes, although they were supposed to be sad, I guess). I'm a bit pissed off because they used one person to embody many negative traits and basically construct the plot guide on them; it seemed rather unfair towards a character.
The acting was great, I have no complaints over any scene in particular, be it the leads or the supporting cast, they have acted it out properly.
I haven't concentrated on music that much, though I remember one of the soundtracks that was interesting, but otherwise the musical background is barely noticable.
Aside from the character that I've mentioned, I also think this could've used a bit more episodes, since it ended so abruptly that it cut off some of the excitement over this drama. Otherwise, this was a damn fine romance with considerate chemistry and fluff. Recommended.
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For some reason, I saw the summary being a story of a woman lot older than Gong Hyo Jin, even on the poster which is used as the picture for this (I thought she would be 45). So the feeling of youthfulness, if you are wondering about it, is still right there. Moreover so, it's a complete drama with all needed elements; there was enough romance, cheekiness, dramatic interludes and comic relief found very often- not only in supporting characters, but leads as well.
Acting deserves a nine; the only reason I am not giving it a ten is because I find the main female lead a bit dull, because I've seen her in a couple of dramas before and it's always the same role, more or less. Cha Seung Won was very cheeky and self absorbed here, but in menacing, cute way, so they worked out. For me, out of the supporting cast, Choi Hwa Jung and Yang Han Yeol had most impact as their roles, because they gave certain weights to the scenes they played in.
Music was okay, its timing in certain scenes was not off, the main song got a bit repetitive for me after hearing it over and over and over again, but it's not bothersome to some unbearable level. Cute songs.
This drama has a solid plot, good character build(up), plenty of romance & comedy to go by, therefore, I would eventually rewatch it.
There was a lot to love about this story. The cast was picked out well, the chemistry between the leads sparked, the romantic scenes were not by any means awkward, the comedy wasn't misplaced or overdone...however, when they were building up the dramatic boom, it fell short. It flew by so fast I wasn't sure I was watching the same episode. Or same show. The ending was there and it's what considerate number of dramas of this genre have lacked, but, the heaviness that the viewer was supposed to gain before it was simply not there. It had everything, but it lacked a bit of dramatic impact.
Recommended.
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- male lead who has eyes only for the female lead,
- male lead written by men/women who hate relationships and normal human socialization,
- female lead written by men/women who hate women,
- villains that don't get any consequences for their malicious actions towards others,
- good side characters (who randomly disappear for 1-2 episodes at a time),
- time skips that feel unnatural,
- plot ???
Bit of a chore to get through because of the forcibly good-natured female lead who is portrayed as a very shallow person towards her own family and yet is nice and trusting to every random character sprite that loads into any episode. Her parents disappear for half of the drama and she doesn't care because she has reasons which don't make sense to anyone but whoever wrote this character. On another note of why she is the contender for the worst character ever, even after she starts returning the feelings to the male lead, she treats him worse than anyone else she knows. She is more appreciative of people who mean her ill will than someone who always fixes all of her problems. A good example of this is her being dismissive of her female friend at times, whilst that same friend is the one person who stands up for her in the face of any problems that occur.
The male lead is disturbingly controlling, obsessive, and pushy with the female lead for the best sentence we have all heard as women while growing up, 'He's a boy, that's just how they act'. The first part of the show is one giant bully guide because, as the male lead himself says in one of the episodes, 'Only I can bully her, no one else can.' True love right here, omg. But I guess we will forgive him because he is super hot and does all these kabedons, as that is more important than having a non-toxic relationship portrayal in a show being watched by people of all ages.
Rejoice, for there are no love triangles, quadrangles, or other lovely geometrical shapes, mainly due to the male lead being super obsessive, so everything that is not the female lead is non-existent to him. This did, however, create a bunch of friendships and some decent side characters that were least painful to watch in this whole ordeal.
The shitty people category was taken straight from a historical Chinese romance novel where we have an 'innocent flower' villain who hates the female lead over the dumbest things ever, like picking up a blade of grass that they wanted when they were three years old. Yes, it's that stupid. And no, they don't get punished or redeem themselves in any manner because who would want to see that, right? The smackdowns that this person gets from the male lead were kind of funny though, but it all goes down the drain because the female lead is there to coddle them.
There are three time periods this show takes place in, and they're weird because in one episode they're in high school and after two school events they're graduating. Then university time where they're graduating after two episodes. The female lead, for example, swaps so many jobs in such a short time that I wondered if they were time traveling. I guess they wanted to show a love story that spans a longer period of the characters' youth, but to do so, they could have extended the episodes a bit so it would have felt natural and didn't require a timeline chart.
Then there was a bunch of seemingly interesting plotlines that were started and then didn't go anywhere. They just get discarded and we never see anything about them again. The side characters have some problems to resolve, we proceed to not see them for a while, villains do villainy shit and then the side characters are back after that. It's all one big glob of an ill-cooked plot.
This show could have been better. They had the characters and the right idea but it seems that current media just can't let go of promoting toxic relationships and how to build them. Luckily we as the viewers can stop supporting these kinds of stories and watch shows with better quality.
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This drama is no joke; it shoves the melo right in your face at every moment; there's no breather even though Jung Kyung Ho has made it quite hilarious through his acting. I barely recognized Kim Se Yeon, she's completely different from her role in Prosecutor Princess and though a bit bland in characterization, I really enjoyed her acting. The antagonist was so-so for me, he really doesn't grow on you during the drama because he's just so linear; his scenes felt like a drag to watch which is a very big problem in a drama of this genre. Na Ok Hyun was the best for me in this, there's nothing better than a badass cop that simply gets stuff done regardless of the danger that she is presented in.
I loved the ringtone song which dates back all the way to 94' and is a very gentle and uplifting tune for the scenes it was used in. The ost is okay, the instrumentals were timed well and the overall music mix was done good.
To be fair, I would rewatch this only for Jung Kyung Ho, he is just too funny and makes life of any drama he is given. However, that's in the long run since the melo is very strong here and there's happier stuff on the market.
Summarized, this is a rich and compelling story that won't leave you bored, albeit will make you frustrated with how little complexity was given into the build of the antagonist and how draggy the plot gets at times. There's also the issue with the lack of chemistry between the leads, at least from Kim Se Yeon's character but that's only because of the way she was written. In terms of connection to the title and the plot itself, it's a success!
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Story's somewhat interesting, I found the plot twists mildly disappointing, because they were quite obvious for me, but I haven't expected much from this, to be quite honest. Alas, the form worked quite well, but I felt like there wasn't enough of the romance missions, it could've done with at least 3 or 4 more.
Acting was well-done, all of the actors were new for me and I have walked out of this show with a few of them in mind, so I guess I'll remember them for awhile, since they have worked pretty neatly together. I especially liked Jo Yoon Woo and Hong Jong Hyun, for those two were frigging adorable with their acting.
To be frank, music was non-existant for me, I remember one or two melodies, but that's it. Nothing to see in this section.
I would not rewatch this, due to plot being dragged in last part, scarcity of romance scenes between the leads (although the chemistry was not bad!), I don't find any part of this drama that I would, therefore, be glad to rewatch. Maybe for the eyecandy, but this is supposed to be a review, not fangirling, so yeah, nope.
This drama started out great, I practically smiled all the way through first two episodes, because not one minute was boring or repetitive. It promised a non-standard romance story with a very visible plot, but it dropped in the first part and overdid it a bit in the second. Maybe I'm being too harsh, but I don't find it honest to rate this anything more than seven, because during some parts I felt like skipping through love scenes (the little of them that there is), or just being plainly pissed off at Choi Soo Young in dramatic scenes (I felt like gnawing my eyes out at them), or at Lee Jong Hyuk, because the age difference obviously made him uncomfortable and toned down the romance. Which I suppose, is answered to mostly in the love stories of other characters. I recommend it for the overall, but don't expect much from main romance.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama is relatable and fresh; it surprised me by how much I waited to watch it every week and the scenes themselves didn't make me skip anything, so it's a good length for the watch value.The story itself is centered around office work and interpersonal relationships of the workers rather than romance, although there are very dramatic elements to it all the way to the last episode which were a bit predictable but still kept it going.
I loved the cast; even though it was a pretty tame genre, the conflicts and overall relationships between the employees reminded me of some more action-driven teams in other dramas that are in detective or court setting.
The main OST is very nice to listen to and embodies the MC well, while the musical backgrounds in scenes were not intrusive or awkward.
In my opinion, I wouldn't rewatch this drama because the conflicts have been resolved and it's not the type to be rewatched as it is a one-watch experience.
I have tried to keep the review as spoiler-free as possible, however, this is a well-made drama that is nowhere near light-hearted as you may think, and whereas a lot of viewers have a problem with it not being overly romantic, I don't think the romance itself was the point here. The soul of this drama is in its people, fleshing them out as they are and how far are they willing to go for themselves or others. There is no chance of excusing a character for who they are and that in its essence is what a lot of dramas have done badly in the end. The friendships and secondary romance couples have enough screentime and are not forgotten, so you do care about all of them throughout the series. The real antagonist is dispersed in little aspects of each of their personalities, as it should be, which makes this drama as realistic as all the everyday situations that happen in an office.
I don't find MDL scores that truthful at all (in fact lately, it feels like opening imdb), so don't overlook this drama because of that, it is much better than plenty of things that are currently airing and have aired just before it.
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From what I gathered, this piece teaches folks of different values: friendship, attachment and above all, will to be a hard worker not only for yourself, but for the benefit of the world you live in. This is my first drama with Oguri Shun in it, and I thought he acted well. Other characters haven't made much of an impression, be it a few times when they felt too plastic, or just the lack of what had to be said. This, this damn show will make you frustrated, giddy and partially obsessed. Probably because you'll be skidding through the episodes like a madman, wanting to know will it be or will it not. Now then, I think that sentence alone says more than a lengthy review should do...so, enjoy.
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This review may contain spoilers
What started off as a rather interesting story ended up mediocre about halfway through. Despite the decent chemistry between the leads and a refreshing premise mixed in with two rather cliched tropes, the execution of all of these things together was incredibly confusing to digest. The drama attempted to be a few different genres in one, which was kind of reminiscent of Strong Woman Do Bong Soon but that one was actually fun to watch even with some amount of nonsense that it had. But in this case, the bit of romance that we had was pushed aside in the latter half for the sake of the story, so you might think to yourself that it's because the story is going to have a big revelation and the qualms over human morality that will surely follow with it. Yeah, no.
So past episode 10, there were some horrifying lessons about pushing blame onto a third party for your own problems and that if you lack any professionalism while working it's good because in both cases someone else should have empathy for any issues you might have as an individual. This means that instead of seeking professional help or finding ways to cope with it, you force your own burden onto others because your life and how you are living it is apparently their problem, especially if they have no close ties to you whatsoever. I can't stress how ridiculously stupid and also dangerous a message that is - to lump all of that mental weight onto another party in order to ruin their life because of a single thing that they did (which is a purely professional decision at that).
The mental maturity of supporting characters in this show is in unison equal to about a 3 and even that is stretching it. Some scenes made me question what the director was smoking while approving them because serious workplace issues shouldn't be comedic due to the skewed moral lesson you are trying to pummel your viewers with.
It's laughable and on top of that insulting that a country with a really high rate of suicides deals with the subject manner in this way through the content that they offer to their audience. What's even more aggravating is people going scot-free after doing criminal acts because we live in lulu land and people should forgive and live and let go when someone literally walks away from murder with zero regrets. Ridiculous.
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If you're gonna watch an episode, keep in mind to have sacrifical food nearby, even if it's a small snack, because the meal consumption scenes will leave you hungry all the time.
So what's the plot? Well, here we have a few characters coping with their solitary lives, who bond through most simple, yet effective way ever - food times! When I was watching this drama, I often read comments about a 'foodie club' and I think that's pretty much the best description because their relationships were built and shaped through eating different and delicious meals (among other situations!). Of course, there's a bit of a murder mystery going on, just to add in a thrilling element to the story. But overall, it could be categorized as comedy, romance, friendship, suspense, mystery and slice of life.
It's been awhile since I've seen a good cast like this. Not only are the main characters very unique and different, but the supporting actors as well. We have a brash, confident, independent woman by the name Lee Soo Kyung, who often seems more of an old aunt being suspicious over everyone and plainly being harsh and unfriendly. But is that really so? It is through other characters that main heroine's role is brought out as it actually is, among everyone elses; both of her neighbours, each with their not so easy lives, her annoying boss and her friend's family, they're all well-expressed individuals with constant growth throughout the course of the drama itself. Among everyone mentioned, Lee Do Yeon made the most impact for me. That's because her character accumulated many social stereotypes that are blatanly shown by people surrounding her, which the writers have, in my opinion, deliberately made that way.
The opening song is fun; in fact, most of the songs were pretty good. There's also some karaoke scenes which enriched the sound section, so it's rather solid.
I suppose the rewatch value is okay, but seeing as the suspense would be gone, there's just the usual plot going on...which is, to be frank, nothing special. It's very interesting but it isn't anything revolutionary, unless you're amping up your hunger meter for some spicy chicken delivery. In that case, it's very recommended to watch it again.
So, taking into account the great acting, constant interest level through most episodes, well-thought-out relationships, shameless food porn scenes and a time well-spent, I rate this drama an 8.5. Reason for it not being a 9 is because the last two episodes were less exciting, there was a lack of romantic scenes and Yoon Soo Hee's character seemed toned down in acting quality when compared to anyone else. Overall, this drama made me realize the importance of enjoying your own food and hunting down local restaurants that serve Korean cuisine.
Recommended!
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This review may contain spoilers
Well damn, that didn't last as long as I thought it will. Twenty episodes, right? Sure felt hella lot shorter than that.The reason why I picked this drama was because I've seen Big Bang's parody of it, which of course, provided many spoilers, but I liked the tale and decided to give it a shot. And oh boy, how happy I am for that.
Acting is the best I've seen so far, and not only the main roles, which made it a pleasure to watch and go to through the story flow with these well-made characters.
There's a few songs and they weren't awkwardly plastered in the scenes, thankfully, so the music is quite alright, if forgetable.
Overall, I rate it a high 8, mainly because it was interesting to watch, and oh, there was lots of skinship. However, I didn't like the slowing of the plot in last part of the story, and the cliché that they always use at that point in the tale. If it wasn't for it, the rating would be higher.
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The plot is not original, but it's well-executed and more concentrated on friendships and frankly I thought the original setting would last much longer, but it changed abruptly after first third of the drama, and I think that was a good change. There's nothing overly drastic going on, but it's a cutesy slice of life tale, so to say.
The acting was great, I really like the spunk that Ella Chen brought to her character, and Jerry Jan played a mature character who gets overly childish when in love, so it was cute to see that. Chen Zi Han's role was near to useless, they shrunk down her character to dreadful and it was rather annoying to watch that just for the sake of the plot. For me, the most interesting character was Huang Kelly(main role's sister), because she was the most grounding and natural in her role.
The soundtrack is very mushy and cute, and the other songs aren't very memorable, but they were timed well with the scenes, so I don't have anything to complain about there.
I wouldn't rewatch this drama because there's not enough love scenes between the main couple (even though episodes are an hour and a half long...multiply that by 16 and there you go!), there's too much accent put on the second pairing which grew very weak for me quite fast; they also used some characters as a poor excuse for forwarding the plot, to the point that you barely even care about them later on...not nice.
I give it a seven because I liked a lot about this drama, starting from a strong female lead that amused me a lot (especially in the first half), interesting relation dynamics, moderate amount of angst, lots of chemistry not only between the main couple, but the others as well. On the other side, I found it lacked the plot in second part, especially near the end, I also found the ending itself very rushed and a bit overbearing...and transitions in relationships, like wow, seriously? Though, the cast is very interesting, and it's worth giving it a shot.
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