Rari
Cloud Drama
A seamless fusion of romance and politics
City Hall is a great drama. I enjoyed watching it and especially love the way it merged politics with romance so seamlessly.The story is very well conceived and deals with the issues of politics and love. The battle between honest and sincere politics versus politics driven by greed and unfair manipulation of one's opponents. The story portrays the redemptive path that Jo Gook walks to become his best self with the help of Shin Mi Rae; whilst also showing us how a person who is sincere, honest and loving can achieve great heights despite having many social and educational shortcomings.
I cannot emphasise enough how great the casting and acting is in this drama. Kim Sun Ah plays this role for all it and she is worth, she IS Shin Mi Rae; she embodies the role so perfectly that it is very easy and natural to cheer her on and see things from her perspective.
Cha Seung Won is as great as always, he has a unique ability to blend comedy with serious drama in a way that is not jarring and is empathic.
I enjoyed watching these two consummate professionals do such a wonderful job with this script, they conveyed the emotion in such an authentic way it was often breathtaking.
The supporting cast is very well placed and enhanced the story effectively.
The music is great, emotional, meaningful and apt. I loved how all the lyrics spoke to what was happening in the story and just added that extra layer of emotional atmosphere to the drama.
I will definitely be watching this drama in the future, without a doubt!
My overall score is 9. The only reason I haven't given it a 10 is because subjectively It didn't affect me quite the same way other shows have which I have rated 10, like I say this is entirely subjective.
I can't say any more about the show than I already have, it's the kind of show you have to experience for yourself, it's so real and all-encompassing that a review doesn't really do it justice; WATCH IT! PLEASE!
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama is in a genre that I haven't watched much of, I tend to watch rom coms but I now have an interest in watching Melo/suspense/romance dramas.The story is well set up, the initial episodes are gripping and made me want to keep watching, the story is very dramatic, it has most of the elements of a melodrama, doppelgänger's, birth secrets, switched identities, revenge, murder, blackmail, corporate greed, secret affairs the works. For the most part the story handled these themes well, my only problem is that some of the plot lines that were established earlier in the story were not resolved at the end, the most annoying one being "were Seo Un Ha and Byun Ji Sook biological sisters?"
The love story between Un Ha and Min Woo is very charming and sweet although I wasn't crazy about the lacklustre chemistry between the leads;
Soo Ae's portrayal of Eun Ha and Ji Sook was spot on, she managed to give each character its individual identity so that the two were very distinct. Her steely determination and quiet strength were very well executed.
I found Joo Ji Hoon's acting to be quite wooden, he doesn't seem to have many facial expressions; he had an excellent script and role to work with though and I think that was his saving grace. I will admit to him being charming though.
Yeon Jung Hoon's portrayal of Min Seok Hoon was great, he gave the character sufficient menace without being inelegant, He was cooly focused on his revenge mission and used every weapon and opportunity at his disposal to achieve his goal. I will say though that the story set him up for big things which I feel he ultimately didn't live up to.
The character I enjoyed the most in the drama is that of Choi Mi Yeon played by Yoo In Yung. For the majority of the drama I found her irritating so I shouldn't say I enjoyed this character, it's more accurate to say that when I finished the drama hers was the most complex, subtle, and many layered character in the show. Mi Yeon is not simply good or bad, she has so many layers in between and varying shades of grey that she was often frustrating to watch. Mi Yeon's inward struggle was always on show, her constant battle to do the right thing while trying to hold onto a husband she clearly knew cared nothing for her was heartbreaking to watch, her moral compass was so shaky that half the time she didn't want to know what was truth or lies, preferring to make up her own reality. Ultimately she realises that she cannot live a lie or bury her head in the sad any longer. this is a sterling performance from Yoo In Yung.
The music is good background, and suitable for the action on screen.
I don't usually rewatch shows that have a suspense premise, because I already know what's going to happen.
Overall I give this show a 7.5
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This review may contain spoilers
"through your love, my heart will recover"
This drama is amazing, it delivers fantastically on all fronts!!At first glance it's just a rom com, but upon further scrutiny it is a commentary on South Korea's entertainment industry, while at the same time documenting the first love of man child Dok Ko Jin.
The love story between Dok Ko Jin and Gu Ae Jong is very well paced and delivered with comedic flair ( there are plenty of laugh out loud moments) and a lot of HEART; one minute I was laughing out loud and the next I was going Aaaaw! with a decided sheen in my eyes. The two leads are absolute perfection with a very outstanding performance by Cha Seung Won whose portrayal of Dok Ko Jin is unique and engaging; even when he veers into crazy territory in the earlier episodes he still manages to make it believable and never ridiculous. This is really a story about his coming of age (at his big age) because he's a top celebrity at the absolute peak of his industry, with all the conceit, arrogance and over confidence that accompanies such fame; Even with all that, he has the indefinable naiveté of someone who's led a lonely life with no real friends, only colleagues and doctors because he spent so much time in hospitals growing up; he's never unpleasant though and remains lovable and relatable throughout.
The story has some beautiful metaphors for the love between the main leads, case in point the potato flower that Jin nurtures so lovingly and coaxingly.
The cultural commentary drama centres on celebrity and the entertainment industry, which can actually be said to be an additional character in the drama along with the fans. The two leads navigate their love amidst the restrictions placed upon them by this industry and all its accompanying rules. The drama also explores the idea of a celebrity's image being worth something eg. money, power and influence, the idea that a good image has the power to erase negative perceptions, and the idea that a good image can be traded between parties to achieve a tangible goal.
This drama has the best finale I've seen in a drama so far, we get to watch a solid hour of our OTP's married bliss, something that is quite rare in Kdrama rom coms; usually we're left to imagine the wedding and the happily ever after or sometimes we'll get about 5 minutes.
The cast is excellent all round. I like the portrayal of the second male lead Pil Joo, he could easily have been one dimensional but managed to come across as genuine and empathic; his character is well fleshed out and he serves as a plot driver rather than just a deterrent to the OTP.
The OST is great, the songs are just good enough to let the story shine without stealing the limelight; having said that I must add the songs get even better on subsequent viewings of the drama. I am guilty of rewatching this drama more than once, it's definitely one of my sure fire pick me ups.
Rewatch value for me is definitely a 10.
Overall rating is a 10, it's a keeper!
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This review may contain spoilers
I watched this show because I'd heard such wonderful things about it, I'm going to talk about what I liked and what I didn't like in each category.The story for me started out very well, episodes 1 to 6 were excellent, well executed and snappy. The premise is your standard rich man poor woman push and pull courtship. The male lead was suitably arrogant, pushy, selfish and self important (a very special mention to Hyun Bin for his excellent acting and portrayal of this character ) and the female lead was super indifferent, as you do. After episode 6 the drama dragged a bit and went around in circles, the story was established but there was no forward movement in terms of plot, and I must admit I lost interest and watched a few episodes of another drama.
Show picked up again at episode 13 where the female lead Gil Ra Im had a breakthrough and I finally got a dose of good acting from her, It felt as though she had slowly been warming up to her role and was finally comfortable with it. Her confession in episode 14 was amazingly done but to me it felt as though it came from nowhere, in the sense that her acting up to this point was not nuanced enough to convey a reluctant attraction for Joo Won, because I just got reluctance period.
The soul swapping premise was comedic for the most part, but I found the character consistency went out the window, especially the first time they swapped.
Thereafter the story suddenly took a sharp turn into melodramaland with a lot of crying, tragic overtones and fantasy magic tropes. This actually ruined the show for me as I think it would have been better if they'd actually kept it a fantasy romance, one scene was particularly depressing for me and that's the scene where Kim Joo Won with Gil Ra Im in his lap, drives off into a dark and stormy horizon framed by a barren landscape; this took the show into makjang territory.
I don't normally like my romances and love stories to go so dark unless that is the clear premise at the beginning of the story, and in Secret Garden I got the definite sense that Kim Joo Won entered this dark and gloomy place when he fell in love with Gil Ra Im, isn't love supposed to be joyful and light? there was something heavy about this one.
In contrast I found the relationship between Oska and Seul more compelling than the main couple's, in the sense that It felt more real.
The casting was good for the most part. Hyun Bin is a good actor but I didn't enjoy him in this role. Ha Ji Won in my opinion was all wrong for this role, she was wooden and lacked nuance. the chemistry between the two leads was sadly lacking as well.
I loved the rest of the cast especially Yoon Sang Hyun as Oska and Kim Sa Rang as Yoon Seul, these two were great especially Oska, I loved everything about him.
The music was emotive, I liked it.
Rewatch value for me is very low, I've put it at 4; the show lacked special moments that I would go back and rewatch.
I've given it a 6.5 overall, In my opinion this show is over hyped and overrated, but still watchable for the posterity factor.
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Endearingly real, vulnerable and funny
This has been my fourth time watching this drama, I wanted to see if it's still as good as I thought it was; I'm happy to say that YES IT MOST CERTAINLY IS!My Lovely Sam Soon has got to be my all time favourite drama, it encapsulates everything I want to see in a drama and doesn't have the things that I don't like to see.
This drama is real, it is unselfconscious and unabashed; that is quite rare in kdramas.
Sam Soon is a female lead who is mentally and emotionally strong, yet vulnerable; she stands up for herself when it is necessary to do so, she doesn't take any nonsense from anyone, she is not ashamed to articulate what she wants, how she wants to be treated and what she will not tolerate from a man. She is intelligent, knowledgeable and wise, I love the way she communicates, often peppering her speech with allegories and metaphors to get her point across.
She is fun to be with, our male lead often makes reference to this when he's trying to articulate how he feels about her. Sam Soon has a special knack for getting under people's skin, in a good way.
I especially enjoyed watching the progression of the main relationship, their constant bickering had me in stitches in most of the earlier episodes.
Our male lead Jin Hun starts off extremely arrogant and selfish, but Sam Soon brings him to heel pretty darn quick, and the process is both hilarious and heartwarming, watching these two fall in love is what makes this drama so special.
The second female lead is not roadblock central like in other dramas, she's sufficiently annoying but I felt that she actually served some purpose other than just being a hindrance to the main couple, she helped Jin Hun to mature and make some grown up decisions.
I also loved the way the disapproving wealthy mother of the male lead was not made the centre of the story like in other dramas, her objection is noted but it doesn't overwhelm the narrative. It's also refreshing to see Jin Hun stand up to his mother and he also has some bargaining power with her which makes for some entertaining back and forth between them.
There isn't anything that I can criticise in this drama, it's very real and the characters tackle their issues in a mature and straightforward manner, there is very little sugar coating and childish cutesy antics, I especially loved this about the drama; I'm often frustrated by kdramas which present a story of two people falling in love, then when they do fall in love with each other they start acting childish, can't give each other a decent hug or kiss and generally descend into nonsensical time filling antics until we reach an unsatisfying finale which is lacking in logic, even if it is presented as a happy ending.
My Lovely Sam Soon is very realistic and the ending is very much in keeping with this realism.
I absolutely love this drama!
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I took a break, watched Goblin and Marriage Not Dating ( I watched both within the space of a week!) and then I picked The Wife's Secret up again.
I started off watching on fast forward from episode 20 to episode 30, then gradually without even realising it I stopped fast forwarding and was fully engaged. I do admit that you have to suspend logic sometimes in this drama, the melodrama and illogical decision making of the characters was not realistic and was frustrating in a lot of instances.
However, this drama has a solid story, it explores family relationships juxtaposed with romantic relationships, it explores blood ties juxtaposed with ties that a person chooses themselves, it explores the relationship between parents and their children, mothers in law and daughers in law, it explores the dynamics that play out when a child discovers that they are adopted and most importantly it explores the meaning of true happiness, is it money? business success? or having family and people around you who love, accept and value you for who you are not what you have or can do for them?
This drama explored all these issues and answered them.
The drama has overall, one of if not the best character development I have seen in any drama, the character arc for most of the cast is very satisfying and logical; even those characters I disliked so much in the beginning are fully realised by the end of the drama, there is a strong sense of most characters coming full circle and applying their experience to improve themselves or to come to terms with issues that they struggled with in the beginning of the story.
I've read some reviews where the two leads are criticised for not having much chemistry; I fully agree that the OTP had very little on screen chemistry, but I think that's because it's not that kind of drama, although the love story is at the centre of the drama, the surrounding family circumstances are integral to the progression of this love story and vice versa. So overall I would say that this is a story about family, the family you are born to and the family you choose along your life journey.
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The most complicated love triangle is between a mother and her son, and his girlfriend.
I really enjoyed this drama,The story is nothing new in Dramaland but it's done in a refreshing way, the angst is super minimal and the second leads though quite irritating at some point, soon fade into nothingness.
I love the casting of the main leads, the OTP is perfection, the evolution of their relationship feels real and when we get to the end of the drama I felt their happy ending was so well earned. they portray a mature and realistic relationship and one of the best things about this drama is that nobody had to get a major personality transplant in order to earn their happy ending, instead each character evolved into a better version of themselves.
The best part about this drama is that it's not just a love story between two people but also between their families; family takes centre stage and it is heartwarming to see how two families gradually let go of their preconceived ideas and come together in understanding and togetherness.
The soundtrack is very well selected and the music does a perfect job of enhancing the story as opposed to distracting from it. The music is quirky and fun.
This drama is definitely worth watching, please give it a go.
PS: I've rewatched this drama countless times, and the more I watch it, the more I love it so I've upgraded its rating to 10 out of 10!
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The story is certainly intriguing in that it keeps you wondering how all the conundrums could ever be rectified; the story portrays a veritable railing agains the Gods if you will. The characters are in a perpetual dance of push and pull with fate and destiny, while watching I always got the mental image of puppets dangling on strings pulled by a kind of sadistic puppet master; what makes the drama interesting is the gradual growth and self awareness of the characters which allows each one to make some decisions which do not appear to be orchestrated by the 'puppet master'.
There is a strong sense of doing good deeds and being kind, especially with regard to goblin, and also with goblin's bride when she makes the ultimate sacrifice. I got the sense that this 'goodness' eventually positively impacted their destiny.
I love the casting, especially with regard to the goblin, the grim reaper and Sunny. Whenever these three were on screen, together or individually, it was absolute magic!
I'm sure I don't need to expound on the genius that is Gong Yoo, he has an uncanny ability to portray his characters so sympathetically, realistically and humanly; he imbued goblin with such pathos, simultaneously making goblin vulnerable, eternally sad yet strong and hopeful all at the same time, he is truly gifted as an actor.
The grim reaper is an absolute revelation, Lee Dong Wook took this character to levels that I feel only he could take it, he seemed made for this role. His sadness is less hopeful than goblin's, he is always resigned to his unhappy fate, while being oblivious at the same time because of his lack of memories. He is the character that shows the most emotional growth in the drama.
Sunny has the appearance of someone without much depth, and yet she turns out to be very perceptive and emotionally intelligent. She seems to already have some knowledge deep down in her psyche even though she's not aware of it in the beginning. she is complex and many layered.
Eun Tak portrays her youth in a cute, bubbly manner and she is a ray of light for the other characters. she does portray some maturity at the end of the drama but I'm never really convinced as I keep seeing the school girl in her.
The story of the goblin and the goblin's bride is a beautiful concept, Gong Yoo plays his role to perfection but in my opinion the writing of the goblin's bride as a young girl really threw me off and I was never able to see the two of them as a convincing romantic pairing. I kept wondering why the goblin's bride couldn't be the same age group as Sunny, writing her as a young girl didn't serve any dramatic purpose and actually took away from the feeling of intense fated love that they were supposed to portray.
Sunny and the grim reaper on the other hand were very well matched, their trajectory was realistic, mature and deeply felt. The fact that their story was so slow in progressing actually added to the depth of their storyline and I found myself wishing they had more screen time.
The goblin and the grim reaper had one of the best bromances I've seen in a long time, their interactions were entertaining, usually goofy and yet still managed to convey their growing strong bond of friendship in a very believable way. I really enjoyed seeing them together, especially when they teamed up to achieve a common goal.
Special mention to Deok Hwa for his perfect comedic timing and refreshing 'irritating little brother vibe'
So overall, I highly recommend this drama, it might seem to drag and go around in circles in some places, but it is definitely well worth the watch.
PS: all the cast have a prodigious amount of beautiful coats!
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