It’s been a long time since I was this found of a Korean rom-com. Even if it follows some very standard rom-com elements I do think this it managed to shine all on it’s own. It was a very well made rom-com.

If you strip away all the fun, colorful characters and the cute and fun scenes that were sprinkled all over the drama the main story really isn’t that special, but the characters and the brilliant chemistry between the main leads make it work. And that is the reason why you are watching. They sell the show.

There might not be a whole lot of story there at times it never really fails to amsuse you or make you smile. I never felt bored watching these episode and most of the time they felt really light and fun. And I think that is what rom-com should do, in a way.

Recently Kdrama rom-coms haven’t really been working their magic on me, so finding one that did felt so nice. Very often I think these shows start of well - or in a way that interests me - but after a while I just get bored. But with Secretary Kim that didn’t happen. I sometimes watched these episodes again while I was waiting for new ones and that’s rare for me.

I said before that Why Secretary Kim did have elements of very standard Kdrama rom-com; with the rich CEO with too much ego and the hard-working yet poor heroine that takes most things with a smile and there is a tragic back story thrown in there as well for some drama.

But Why Secretary Kim tried to make that work to the best of their ability and for the most part they succeeded. I didn’t think the more dramatic storyline overshadowed the fun stuff and dragged the mooed down. And it didn’t drag on forever and ever. There were some that thought the story had ended after that got resolved, but since I thought that was the most boring part of the drama and I just enjoyed it for the characters and the main couple and all of that, I really enjoyed that part.

I never felt that was an awful lot on the way of the main couple. Not disapproving-family members or something that was too much of a road-block. Most things got resolved relatively quickly since the characters very often talked to each other or talked it out with someone else about the problems they were facing, so there were no misunderstandings that dragged on forever. The drama focused a lot on the dynamic between the characters and their relationships and I think that tributes to the drama just being really light and easy to watch.

The success of the drama is mainly because of the chemistry between the main couple and a lot of the drama was just about their relationship and them getting to know each other better (outside of work).

Also the main character of this drama was always Mi So. Park Min Young really shines in this role. We saw things through her eyes - sometimes the focus was on Young Joon, but that was mainly to highlight a certain point or something. But unlike so many shows her story was never put on the back-burner for the sake of the male character’s storyline. There was a nice balance there. And they both got a chance to grow.

I also felt like they managed to make some of the side-characters more deep and have them serve some kind of purpose by making them be there for the main character and talk about their issues with them and give them their own problems and the characters all supported each other, especially the ladies. They were not always just there for comic-relief, which also made the drama more fun. One of the few dull characters was Young Joon’s brother.

Like Young Joon’s friend, played by the brilliant Kang Ki Young (one of the best characters in the drama, aside from Mi So). I was genuinely excited whenever he or some of the other side-characters came on the screen. Sometimes I just think they take up space and time from the main couple, but not in this drama.

There was something really fun and nice to finally watch a rom-com like Why Secretary Kim after so much time had passed since I had genuinely liked a rom-com this much (the last time I wrote a review for a rom-com was 2014). It never had to grow on me and I didn’t get bored of it after few weeks. I didn’t have too high expectations but this show very quickly won me over and I am so happy about that. And while the story maybe wasn’t that grand or meaty, and some might say that not much happened, I never really got bored of this show. Not a single episode. I just had a lot of fun.