Plushie
Candyland
Entertaining in it's own right.
We all must already know by now that (not all though) kdramas aren't exactly the most accurate depiction of certain areas, medical being perhaps the main one. Falling For Innocence is not above that. With an almost fantasy-like plot (if not outright fantasy), FFI however is a good romance, with good characters and interactions.
This drama presents the same formula we are all tired to see: a rich jerk romancing a plucky, cheerful woman who, for reasons, intrigues him and defies everything he stands for. No matter how mean or rude he acts towards her, they will end up falling in love anyways because...well, it wouldn't be a kdrama if they didn't. The one thing that differentiates this drama is that the girl fiancee's heart is on the jerk and he starts to feel for her even though his mind says otherwise. It's an interesting plot point, unrealistic, but still interesting.
Apart from the typical romance, we also have a very typical revenge ploy where the jerk aims to make "justice" by exposing and depowering the ones who wronged his family when he was just a child (althought I'm almost convinced he did, at first, just to avenge his hurt pride). One more cliché to the list. Oh, and we can't forget the jerk has a "sad, sob worth past so that his actions are somehow explained (or even excused, though I beg to differ)"
Add some predictable mystery on the line and then we have Falling For Innocence.
However, despite all it's clichés and predictabilities, I liked it. I liked the characters, mainly Min Ho. He basically steals the show, even when he's behaving like a rude jerk and one step of being a sociopath. Jung Kyung Ho knows how to perfectly balance his character's manchild's antics with the angst required for someone who is, firstly, nearly dying and then suddenly discovering life again and how much of a horrible person he used to be. Unlike many rich jerk leads, his change actually is believable.
Kim So Yeon is good, but not outstanding. Like I said, this show is basically JKH's. But it was good to see a different sort of candy girl, who isn't entirely stupid or unbelievably clueless or kind. She's firm when necessary, but also has a gentle and positive mind. And when she faces angst, it actually feels natural. It was a refreshing role to see KSY in, althought I didn't see many of her drama. I watched and hated her inI Need Romance 3 (actually I hated that drama in general) so much I was skeptical at first, but she won me over and showed that yes, she still can take a place in my list of good korean actresses.
The supporting cast was also good, I have to say that I didn't quite like how they turned Yoon Hyun Min's character on an outright villain, with little to no redeemable features. I liked him in the beginning, he was a good contrast to Min Ho's manchild, but then for some reason the writers decided to make him downright evil because...evil mwahahaha. And the main leads need another obstacle (?). It would be much better if instead of creating a monster, they created someone who, still antogonistic, had more personality other than being the psycho.
Also, the office babbles bored me sometimes. You see, I'm not here entirely for the fluff (although it's 60% of the reason), but the business part of this drama was boring. So boring I found myself switching attention for other things. Luckily I think they noticed this and by the middle to the end of the drama focused much more on the characters, and the fun part of business a.k.a ploys to humiliate/take down business (yeah, I like that)
Aside from some shortcomings though, I have to say that I liked the general message of this drama. Actually, it has a lot of good aesops or at least some leads for you to think over. My favorite must the "If there's no love in your heart, then life is not worth" or something among these lines. Cute. I'll put that on my Tumblr later.
The music was forgetable. Seriously, I can't even remember one OST. Maybe I'm not as good of a reviewer as think I am, but if I'm watching a drama the OSTs has to catch my attention, even if just one.
Rewatch value? Hmmm, I'll also admit I'm definitely not one to rewatch a drama (It's also actually one of my drama viewer's almost rules, besides never watch a currently airing drama, but those I don't always follow). However, I can see myself watching it again in a distant future when I'm too bored or dimotivated to look for dramas. It would be a good pick if I wanted a not so serious drama.
All in all FFI has a lot of flaws, but I enjoyed and even binged, that's why the rating is relatively high. JKH is definitely on the way to become one of my favorite actors (I'm just loving him in Prison Playbook and plan to watch his other stuff), and I don't dislike KSY. Also, Min Ho's antics about love when he was heartbroken were the best.
And this drama is quotable af.
We all must already know by now that (not all though) kdramas aren't exactly the most accurate depiction of certain areas, medical being perhaps the main one. Falling For Innocence is not above that. With an almost fantasy-like plot (if not outright fantasy), FFI however is a good romance, with good characters and interactions.
This drama presents the same formula we are all tired to see: a rich jerk romancing a plucky, cheerful woman who, for reasons, intrigues him and defies everything he stands for. No matter how mean or rude he acts towards her, they will end up falling in love anyways because...well, it wouldn't be a kdrama if they didn't. The one thing that differentiates this drama is that the girl fiancee's heart is on the jerk and he starts to feel for her even though his mind says otherwise. It's an interesting plot point, unrealistic, but still interesting.
Apart from the typical romance, we also have a very typical revenge ploy where the jerk aims to make "justice" by exposing and depowering the ones who wronged his family when he was just a child (althought I'm almost convinced he did, at first, just to avenge his hurt pride). One more cliché to the list. Oh, and we can't forget the jerk has a "sad, sob worth past so that his actions are somehow explained (or even excused, though I beg to differ)"
Add some predictable mystery on the line and then we have Falling For Innocence.
However, despite all it's clichés and predictabilities, I liked it. I liked the characters, mainly Min Ho. He basically steals the show, even when he's behaving like a rude jerk and one step of being a sociopath. Jung Kyung Ho knows how to perfectly balance his character's manchild's antics with the angst required for someone who is, firstly, nearly dying and then suddenly discovering life again and how much of a horrible person he used to be. Unlike many rich jerk leads, his change actually is believable.
Kim So Yeon is good, but not outstanding. Like I said, this show is basically JKH's. But it was good to see a different sort of candy girl, who isn't entirely stupid or unbelievably clueless or kind. She's firm when necessary, but also has a gentle and positive mind. And when she faces angst, it actually feels natural. It was a refreshing role to see KSY in, althought I didn't see many of her drama. I watched and hated her inI Need Romance 3 (actually I hated that drama in general) so much I was skeptical at first, but she won me over and showed that yes, she still can take a place in my list of good korean actresses.
The supporting cast was also good, I have to say that I didn't quite like how they turned Yoon Hyun Min's character on an outright villain, with little to no redeemable features. I liked him in the beginning, he was a good contrast to Min Ho's manchild, but then for some reason the writers decided to make him downright evil because...evil mwahahaha. And the main leads need another obstacle (?). It would be much better if instead of creating a monster, they created someone who, still antogonistic, had more personality other than being the psycho.
Also, the office babbles bored me sometimes. You see, I'm not here entirely for the fluff (although it's 60% of the reason), but the business part of this drama was boring. So boring I found myself switching attention for other things. Luckily I think they noticed this and by the middle to the end of the drama focused much more on the characters, and the fun part of business a.k.a ploys to humiliate/take down business (yeah, I like that)
Aside from some shortcomings though, I have to say that I liked the general message of this drama. Actually, it has a lot of good aesops or at least some leads for you to think over. My favorite must the "If there's no love in your heart, then life is not worth" or something among these lines. Cute. I'll put that on my Tumblr later.
The music was forgetable. Seriously, I can't even remember one OST. Maybe I'm not as good of a reviewer as think I am, but if I'm watching a drama the OSTs has to catch my attention, even if just one.
Rewatch value? Hmmm, I'll also admit I'm definitely not one to rewatch a drama (It's also actually one of my drama viewer's almost rules, besides never watch a currently airing drama, but those I don't always follow). However, I can see myself watching it again in a distant future when I'm too bored or dimotivated to look for dramas. It would be a good pick if I wanted a not so serious drama.
All in all FFI has a lot of flaws, but I enjoyed and even binged, that's why the rating is relatively high. JKH is definitely on the way to become one of my favorite actors (I'm just loving him in Prison Playbook and plan to watch his other stuff), and I don't dislike KSY. Also, Min Ho's antics about love when he was heartbroken were the best.
And this drama is quotable af.
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