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Ho Goo's Love korean drama review
Completed
Ho Goo's Love
0 people found this review helpful
by k-dramatic
Nov 30, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 7.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 6.5
This review may contain spoilers

Choi Woo Shik plays the fool for the umpteenth time (but he is really adorable in this one)

This drama is penned by the same writer of Because This Is My First Life.
Indeed, we get some recurring themes. For instance: the rape theme; couples as partners who help each other get through ordinary hardships; the upheaval of Korean social normativity regarding relationships and happiness (e.g. we get one love triangle but it is the most unexpected one).
Once again the writer touches on some heavy topics (i.e. homosexuality, abortion, rape, shame, suicide and motherhood as well as fatherhood) and yet constantly aims at keeping the tone light and avoiding depth and true controversy.
This effort is carried out through a series of misunderstanding plots in true Comedy-of-Errors fashion. Although the result is undoubtedly funny in the beginning and nicely offsets the disruption in the characters' relationships needed for their growth arc, the continuous mishaps seem to drag the story after a while. They get more ridiculous overtime and are clearly used as filler rather than effective plot.
I enjoyed the overall story nonetheless.

I think the characters were well written and their arc was coherent and interesting to follow.
Ho Goon is interpreted in the most endearing and believable way: he doesn't come off as absurdly foolish, cartoonish or nauseatingly sweet. Rather he is the most lovable soft-boy as well as one of the greenest flag in dramaland.
What I've come to love about the male characters created by this writer is the fact that they are full rounded people that don't follow the canonical gender-coded behavior we so often see in romantic dramas. They have the ability to be lovable by uprooting their classic social role and fully respecting the female characters' agency and choices.
They don't protect, instead they support.

There are a couple of judgmental speeches, by the male protagonist, regarding abortion and what a mother's love should look like, that I didn't particularly appreciate. But, overall, I liked how the writer handled emotion to convey her message and personal view.

I also welcomed the realism of the rapist being absolved after the first trial and the victim being ostracized (by police and the public). It was bitter but the protagonists weren't discouraged in their search for happiness and the ending was sweet and uplifting.

The kid is too cute, fantastic actor. Made me feel all the feels.

FES (5/5) The female characters are all strong and their strength is wittingly shrouded in unexpected fragilities. We have the popular, amazing athlete who is in love with a fool and thinks she is unworthy because of the terrible violence she suffered; the badass (so much cooler than her brother), intelligent (ace student) girl with a thousand suitors that is ashamed of her bare face; the queen of the house mom that has a soft spot for stray cats and wants an ordinary happiness for her son but is too compassionate to hurt someone else; the accomplished psychology professor who defers to her husband's foolishness.
We bring ourselves down for the most absurd reasons. If only we could look at ourselves through the eyes of those who love us…
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