This show may be a little hard to review. I realize that I am watching it 11 years late, but I've heard many times what a good show this was....so I thought I'd see what the fuss was all about.
I'm going to start with the characters first because I believe that's where the strength of the show lies. Sam Soon was an amazing heroine. I loved that she was not the cookie-cutter drama girl. Sam Soon was chubby and loud and sometimes had a bit of a potty mouth. She was a force to be reckoned with. However, Jin Hun as a hero, was a bit weak. I don't think he was ready for the storm that was Sam Soon. She came into his life and restarted his "clock" which was stunted after a life altering accident. He was stuck in the past, mourning his lost family and lost love Hee Jin...who comes back to Korea just as Sam Soon and Jin Hun are starting to make a connection.
This was where the drama got frustrating for me, even though I continued to watch in hopes that Jin Hun would mature and be a worthy love for our girl Sam Soon. He had his moments where I loved him, and moments where I nearly hated him. The two did have some sizzling chemistry together, but then he would ruin it by saying something childish and mean...I know that his words were not true, and so did Sam Soon, but it was hurtful all the same and I didn't feel he did enough to make up for it a majority of the time. I think Jin Hun also didn't do enough to clear up the inevitable misunderstandings that he caused.
Hee Jin was a second lead female that you couldn't bear to hate, but at the same time just wished she would move on already and not tie Jin Hun to the past that he'd just started to let go of. Henry, played by the handsome Daniel Henney, was a refreshing character who I felt was under-used. His interactions as a non-Korean speaker with Sam Soon, a non-English speaker were a treat as they tried to communicate in broken Konglish. Hee Jin should have snatched that man up right away and forgotten all about immature Jin Hun.
I was entertained by this show and can see where it may have broken a lot of drama tropes for its time. My heart squeezed for Sam Soon many times. Sam Soon wore her heart on her sleeve and it was hard not to be moved by the emotions that she was feeling. I was a bit disappointed by the ending, but it was not a bad ending. I don't care if it would have been cliche, I just expected a little....more.
The hair and clothes in this show are quite out of style now (2016), as well as the technology, but I don't think they detract too much from watching this now.
As a classic K-drama, I would recommend it when you are in a drama lull and need something to fill a void, but I wouldn't say that you need to rush to watch it. The storyline can be a little slow and repetitive - I mean how many times must we watch Sam Soon's heart get broken before she gets her happy ending? My final judgment is that I have a sort of love/hate feeling towards this show. I don't know if I would ever re-watch it or not.
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