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beatriz

over the rainbow

beatriz

over the rainbow
Playful Kiss korean drama review
Completed
Playful Kiss
2 people found this review helpful
by beatriz
Apr 12, 2020
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 4
Overall 6.5
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
This review may contain spoilers
This is one of those dramas I can't properly digest. It was annoying, frustrating, made me roll my eyes 19838 times, made me CRY (like three times), made me feel bad for the characters and judge them at the same time... I honestly don't know how to rate this, so I decided to combine both my opinions: the objective one that KNOWS this show is bad, and the subjective one that made me watch this until the end.

I'll start with my objective opinion on this show and list some of the reasons why I think this was pretty bad:

-Oh Ha Ni is a terrible female lead. I'm not one of those people who analyse every detail of a drama and always find some form of misrepresentation or something else to complain about. I recognise that every human is flawed and, therefore, I don't mind a flawed character. But Oh Ha Ni... I don't even know where to start! How could she like the coldest person in the world, that kept being mean to her, kept rejecting her and hurting her feelings, and not even notice Bong Joon Gu, who actually did something to show how much he loved her? That isn't love, that's obsession. And honestly, both Ha Ni and Joon Gu were in the wrong for pursuing someone who wasn't interested in them. However, Joon Gu is one of the flawed characters I don't mind because he had some redeeming characteristics, such as his determination and the fact that at the end he moved on from Ha Ni and followed his dream of being a chef (something he worked hard for). Ha Ni? What did she do the whole drama apart from following Seung Jo around and being nothing other than a desperate girl? She literally- literally- studied to become a nurse just because her boyfriend was studying to become a doctor. Who does that? Did the manga writer or the drama director think that was a proof of her love? To me that's just a proof of how empty and dumb her character is. I know the actress did her best with what she had but I think the acting wasn't that great either.

-The plot is ridiculous. To be fair, I can accept the house's destruction and them living temporarily at the friend's house. But when they moved out, they literally moved back in in less than one episode!!???? I liked Seung Jo's mother, to be honest, but when she insisted that Ha Ni came back to her house, I had to stop myself from throwing my laptop against a wall. Is it weird that it upset me so much? I don't mind ridiculous plots (it's fiction, right?). But when the plot is so bluntly used to create this unrealistic (and creepy) relationship between the characters, I can't accept it because to me that's just lazy. Wouldn't their relationship be able to progress if they didn't live in the same house? Many things upset me about the plot, actually haha. The sudden wedding? I laughed out loud at how ridiculous that was.

-Huh... character development? Who is she?
Ha Ni and Seung Jo's relationship after getting married was even worse than before. I was SO mad at Seung Jo most of the time, I can't even put my anger into words. When they were buying things for their- ridiculously spontaneous- wedding, he refused to help Ha Ni choose and was obviously uninterested and kept complaining. If my husband-to-be acted like that he would stay as a husband-to-be because I certainly wouldn't marry him! I felt bad for the girl for like two seconds and then got mad at her too for accepting that behaviour. At the beginning, I was so excited for Seung Jo's development because I have a thing for cold characters who change their... douchebagness when they recognise their feelings and actually try to improve and be a better person. I was hoping he would learn how to respect Ha Ni and behave like a boyfriend/husband, but that never happened. I liked the fact he tried to encourage Ha Ni to do her own thing- well, do SOMETHING. He scolded her when she got bad grades and said some things that I completely agreed with (he reminded me so much of my boyfriend, whose name is Baek Seung Jae LOL). I don't think he was being mean: he just confronted her with her own mistakes and, even though he didn't comfort her at the end with a hug or warmer words (which he should have), in that scene I could feel he was trying to make her wake up and do something with her life. But then he manipulated her by using their marriage registration! That's disgusting to me! He has so much potential- one of the scenes that made me cry was when he took the initiative to visit Ha Ni's mother when everyone forgot about it (how?????). He was so cool when he stood up for himself when his father confronted him about his future and then when he took over his family's business and saved it. But then... argh, it's soooo frustrating. This is wasted character development at its best (or worst lol).

There are many more things that annoyed me, but if I mentioned them all I'd be here all day. With all that said, did I hate this show? Surprisingly, I didn't. I was certainly unsatisfied and, if I'm being honest, I don't even know what I DID like. But I'm trying to think of this show as an oldie and judge it for what it is: a cheesy love story adapted from a manga. Maybe I'll change my rating later (to way worse or way better- it depends on how it digests!). But for now I'll settle at a 6.5!
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