kingsqueen
USA
I loved it
I'll be in the minority if I have to be. I loved it even with any flaws it had. The chemistry of the main couple is more than enough to make up for the side character/plot shenanigans to me. My husband and I both looked forward to new episodes every week and I just generally enjoyed it much more than I have any drama in the past year or more.There were some over the top lines to the story, sure, but entertainment value for me was very high. At no time was I bored. I laughed, cried, got angry - just had my emotions all over the place. The music was lovely as well. So take my 2¢ for whatever it's worth. I liked it a lot and I would watch it again.
Kim Jo Won was already one of my favorite Korean actresses, and I'm even more of a fan now. Kim Soo Hyun had the most expression in any show I've seen him in thus far - he really shined in this role.
I wouldn't say there is anything realistic in this storyline but it was entertaining to me and for those reasons I've listed, I'm rating it well above what most people are feeling.
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This review may contain spoilers
Started strong ended weak
I'm going to have to come out of 'review retirement' to share my opinion of this drama. The trailers made me believe this was going to be the next "blockbuster" drama that I've been waiting for - the next masterpiece. Sadly, this show did not live up to the hype for me. The first few episodes were interesting and fun. But it gradually became a little boring and ended with plot holes for days.The actors did a decent job. Shin Hye Sun is one of my favorite actresses but she did not nail this role. Especially in the flashback scenes to her first life (and where she was 'seeing' her first life from the present). I know she's a wonderful actress, but these scenes were heavily overacted and grating. She is so much better than this that it made me think it was a directorial choice rather than her own. Ahn Bo Hyun was a bit wooden, but I found him to be somewhat similar in Yumi's Cells. I found myself much more interested in the second lead's romance (Ha Yoon Kyung as Cho Won and Ahn Dong Goo as Do Yoon). But we got a lot less of them than I would have liked.
Due to the condensed number of episodes - only twelve, a tighter storyline was really necessary. There were a lot of unnecessary things they could have cut out that didn't advance the plot at all. There were so many flashbacks that could have been cut down. The side plots could have been cut out as well - things that added nothing to the main storyline. And the plot just completely fell apart once the shaman - Min Gi was introduced. I realize that they were working off an established webtoon, but I've never seen the source material so I don't know how closely they stuck to the original story. I thought that the solution to the issues was very weak and ended up with a lot of plot holes in the end. So many things about the ending made no sense at all. Like where did she think she lived? Why was she back at her old job? Wouldn't there be OTHER people that knew her that would have asked about why she was there again? Did she just get complete amnesia? How does she forget also meeting these people in her childhood as Ji Eum? Wouldn't they have photos of them together? Why is she still wearing the couple ring and has no idea how she got it? Seo Ha approaching her like he did in the end probably would have made most women run away thinking he was some sort of stalker or crazy in some way. None of the ending made any sense to me at all. I thought she was just going to forget how she knew them before - and that could have worked. I was just extremely disappointed in how this drama played out.
The one redeeming thing from this show was the song "Star" by Colde - loved this song and I've added it to my Drama OST playlist!
Would not rewatch this and I don't think I would recommend it to anyone either. This one is a pass!
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Son Seok Koo -- I absolutely want to see him on screen again, but I doubt any character he plays will be as smoldering sexy as Gu. This was the first time I've taken notice of his acting (that I knew of at the time), but I thought that he hit it out of the park. Saying a million things with just a look.
Kim Ji Won, Lee El, and Lee Min Ki all did a wonderful job playing the Yeom siblings in a relatable and sympathetic way. I enjoyed watching each of them grow and evolve.
I tend to love slice of life dramas. I watched this in the middle of 3 such shows that were more melo than I am usually on board with. I thought for sure that I would need to break up this trio with a comedy, but I never did. MLN has been my favorite of them. I looked forward to new episodes every week. Even when it seemed like there was barely any movement in the story, as each episode was just so quiet. It relaxed me to see the siblings living their lives and trying to break free from the monotony their lives had become. It was just so dang relatable on this basic level that I was sucked in, wanting to see what choices they would make. What would change in their lives to allow some joy to come through in their exhausted drudgery of life they were living.
It was just a beautiful drama.
If you can handle the quiet, slice of life style, this one should be on your list.
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Unexpectedly beautiful with a bittersweet ending
I wasn't expecting much going into this show. I honestly felt like I would watch about half an episode and give it up. But, as she did in Mr. Sunshine, Kim Tae Ri sucked me in with her beautiful acting. Na Hee Do was such a dynamic character, and KTR played her so perfectly. The nostalgia will hit hard in this one if you are a certain age, and the memories of youth, best friends, and first loves may stir within you. That feeling of freedom as you are about to embark upon adulthood and all the promise it holds. If you are a fan of the Reply series, you may well enjoy this as it invokes those same nostalgic feelings. The growing friendship between Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin that bloomed from friendship to love caused us to all root for them desperately, even knowing that it seems that something disrupts the trajectory of their pure love for one another.The acting and depth of character was what kept me going. Kim Tae Ri is simply a captivating actress. She was completely believable as a high school student despite the actress actually being 30. Nam Ji Hyuk's performance was quite improved since I saw him last, as was Bona. This was probably the best performance I've seen from Bona thus far. She usually comes off as whiny and immature, but her acting is much improved. Choi Hyun Wook was a new face for me. I saw somewhere that he was compared as a young Park Seo Jun and I can see it, so I hope to see more of him in the future. Lee Joo Myung was also new for me, but I enjoyed her character as well. Although she was more of a fifth wheel in the group, I would have liked to have seen more development for her character and more of a connection within the group.
I'm rating this drama as a 9 because I looked forward to every episode, got a lot of enjoyment from it, and it was such a surprise bit of beauty. I adored the friendship/ rivalry between Hee Do and Yu Rim - almost the same amount as I loved the romance between Hee Do and Yi Jin. I loved the group dynamic of all the friends together, and was invested in how they grew and changed as they moved from high school into adulthood. The challenges they overcame, the sacrifices they made, and the passion they had in their youth. I was not expecting this drama to move me so much with it's simple beauty.
I was fully expecting to give this show a 10, and only failed to do so because I was hoping, rather foolishly, for a different ending. But in the absence of that, I felt that the ending was a bit rushed with the closure. I also felt that in the end, it wasn't necessary to have even had the two timelines (past and present) as it added nothing to the story. And although she did a fine job, I didn't think that it was necessary to change the actress playing Na Hee Do in the present day. She lacked the same depth that Kim Tae Ri brought to the character, and caused me to feel disconnected from her during those parts. The past was not connected to the present in any meaningful way at all.
I still think it is a very worthwhile watch, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is interested in a drama about friendship and first love that was handled with a lot of maturity.
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surprisingly good
I was worried after the first episode that it was going to be too over the top with the yelling and the pettiness. But it soon settled and I enjoyed the way they developed the characters, and we got to know them and what drives them, how they ended up in the situation they are in. This drama flowed pretty fast with only 13 half hour episodes, so it didn't get bogged down by a lot of useless stuff. But the ending did wrap up abruptly and very tidily, which I was both annoyed with and somehow was ok with - one more episode might have rounded it out to fill out the ending more properly. I'm not mad at it though.I have waited so long for Jung Woo to be a romantic lead again after Reply 1994 - and I was not disappointed! Oh Yeon Seo, who I've only enjoyed watching in Korean Odyssey, did a really good job in this. She nailed this role. I enjoyed the side characters - especially 'Samantha'. The neighborhood busy-bodies were nosy and jumped to conclusions, but I liked that they apologized when they knew they were wrong and tried to make things right. That made them endearing rather than irritating.
This was just a nice healing type of drama and would be great for a quick watch some rainy weekend!
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Somehow relaxing
I'm glad I had a change of heart and watched this drama. While there were a few things I would have changed, overall I ended up really enjoying it mostly. The pace is slow but it has a relaxing feeling. I so loved the feeling of the community and the ordinary lives of the characters. And yet, there was also some underlying seriously dark issues that the drama dealt with, while still maintaining a warmth that kept me coming back.PMY and SKJ were wonderfully cast as the leads and had a surprisingly palpable chemistry. The showed their acting chops as they both had to convey a lot of emotion sometimes with little dialogue.
The music was lovely, and fit the mood of the show well.
Don't miss the epilogue for each episode where the ML writes a bit in his journal. It's probably the biggest insight into his mind that you'll get! :)
I would definitely recommend for people that can handle slower paced dramas and/or slice of life style shows. But not if you prefer constant action or big dramatic scenes.
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The main leads - especially Ami - were adorable and they looked really cute together. The acting was fair, but Matsui Airi's smiles just made everything better though!
There's no substance to this show at all. It's a sweet couple that marry and then fall in love (at lighnting speed) with lots of 'skinship', while still barely knowing one another.
It was just the mindless time pass I needed to relieve all the heavier dramas I've been watching lately.
Just don't expect a lot from this show, and maybe you'll be entertained. :)
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I think the acting was not really outstanding either. Jeon Soo Kyung was one of the standouts I would say, along with her on-screen daughter, played by Jeon Hye Won (who had THE best scene in the entire run of this series - you'll know it when you see it!). I really despised the acting by the woman playing the mother of the character of Pi Young. Lee Hyo Choon seemed to spend the whole first half crying --- badly. It was super annoying! Most of the others were lackluster at best.
I liked about 3-4 characters in this entire show and pretty much hated everyone else. And it wasn't really a "love to hate" where you enjoy the villain, but still want them to receive their due. I just flat out thought the characters were all despicable. I thought in the beginning that maybe there would be some big twist and maybe things weren't what they seemed. But they were exactly what they seemed or worse. I think the character I hated the most was Ah Mi, played by Song Ji In. Of all the mistresses, she was the worst. And for the mistresses, I hated Song Won (Lee Min Young) the least. My second most hated character was a wife - Hye Rung. I thought she was spoiled and arrogant and cold. While I don't condone cheating in any way, shape, or form I didn't really feel all that sorry for her character. She illicited the least sympathy from me.
And then we come to the character of Dong Mi (Kim Bo Yun)! THAT is a whole bunch of crazy right there! Her character was the most insane. I won't spoil it, but I'm sure you can find someone that has. But she was a creepy bat-crap crazy lady. I'm curious as to where her character is going in the second part.
The music and the cinematography were the best things about this show. They were both really well done - the quality was outstanding. It's just too bad they were wasted on this sort of show.
If you hate cheating, this show will NOT be for you. You may want to give it a chance, but I'd advise against it if you feel really strongly about it not just IRL, but in drama form. While I despise it in real life, I thought I'd give this a chance to see what they did with the characters. As long as the show doesn't glorify the cheating/ cheaters, I felt like maybe I could roll with it. This show has yet to show me where it's taking it, though. The front half is interesting and is where you'll get hooked learning about the wives, but the back half is draggy and pretty much solely about the husbands and the mistresses. Watch at your own peril!
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This is the kind of historical I can actually enjoy!
Anyone who knows my tastes in dramas knows I don't really do historical dramas due to the politics. I generally just find politics BORING! However, a time travel, and a comedy? Now *that* I can get behind, politics notwithstanding! :)I'll be straight up honest - I watched this for Shin Hye Sun, one of my favorite actresses. I've loved her in everything I've watched her in. And she did NOT disappoint. Frankly, she carried this drama on her back, and I'm so proud of her! Her comedic timing was impeccable. Her portrayal as Bong Hwan in the Queen's body was perfection! The mannerisms and everything were just utterly perfect. Even if you don't normally watch historical dramas, I am going to wholly recommend this one. Due to my usual avoidance of historicals I was a bit confused in the beginning - all the ministers and their roles and deeds sort of got jumbled in my mind, but by the second half of the drama, when the action started to amp up, I was well and truly invested and things began to clear up and I was enjoying it even more.
Kim Jung Hyun as the king did a good job - his role was really just to complement the queen I believe. While they could have chosen someone with more gravitas for the role, I feel like he worked really well with SHS and the chemistry between them was good. And maybe that's why he was chosen - because this was really Shin Hye Sun's show and they didn't want someone stealing the spotlight from her. So for that, he was a good pick. I enjoyed the 'good guys' side characters and appropriately despised the 'bad guys' side characters. As a whole, everyone should be proud of their work on this show.
The music was nice, and I enjoyed it.
I would say if you are a 're-watcher' that this could make a good re-watch. Even knowing the ending, the comedy was still gold and I would almost assuredly laugh at all the hilariousness again.
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Great "Who Dun It" Mystery
I was quickly caught up in this drama. The writers created a whole mood. They set up their tale very well, sometimes I wondered if we were watching a tale woven by the main character, novelist Kang Yeo Joo, rather than a narrative about her...and I'll let you wonder as well. This is the kind of thriller I like most - it had mystery, drama, romance, and a touch of comedy as well. There was nothing lacking in this drama of suspense. The writers kept you guessing until almost the end when they finally unpacked all the secrets. It had some flaws, which affected my rating, but overall I was pretty pleased with the show.Cho Yeo Jung was perfect as Kang Yeo Joo. I wasn't as big a fan of Go Joon in this as in other things I've seen him, but he didn't do a *bad* job, there were just certain traits this character had that I wasn't fond of. I enjoyed all the supporting characters also, and the major ones did a wonderful job.
I thought the music was pretty great, actually, though! My favorite track was the theme song, O.V.E.R. by SURAN. It was really catchy and I definitely added it to my drama playlist. :)
Normally, I wouldn't re-watch a show like this as the suspense and mystery is gone after the first watch, but I honestly wouldn't mind seeing this one again. I'd love to search for the clues on the second go and see how well it really fit.
Final verdict - if you like this genre, or even if you're curious, it's definitely worth a go!
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Twisty!
This suspense thriller/mystery kept me on my toes almost all the way through, only faltering a bit with the ending. While not quite perfect, it was still a fun watch, and I'm glad I chose it. (I'd even watch the Japanese show it was based on if I can find it!) And though it got a little repetitive in a few places, I don't think it was enough to become boring. It wasn't predictable by any means, and they didn't miss a beat in keeping the suspense and drama rolling. I think my chief complaint for the story is the backstory/ motivations for the characters. If that had been a little clearer, I'd have rated it higher.The cast did a superb job, even though I'm not super familiar with most of them. And the music was pretty good - definitely fit the mood of the show.
While not really suitable for a re-watch because of the genre, it was still a worthwhile watch and a solid choice!
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This review may contain spoilers
Don't do it. Just don't - no matter how cute you think it is.
No. Just no.Please do yourself a favor. Do not watch this. You will be sucked in by the cute and the fluffy and the sweet! It will go on for about 13 and a half episodes and you will love it.
Then apparently the writer started smoking crack.
I've never been so angry about the ending of a drama in my life! The 5 stars is completely for the acting and the music and the 13.5 lovely episodes. (Although the writer still may have been a bit high writing all of it to be perfectly honest because at the end you realize how much nonsense is in this show. It was just hidden by the sweetness!)
And I couldn't even rage quit this show because by the time they have enraged you with what they've done --- boom! It's over. The last 3 minutes gave me a total rage fit. I was prepared for a sad ending - I sobbed for the SAD ending and then came to terms with it even though I hated the way it appeared they were going to end it. But this....this was just....wrong. So much wrong. They did those characters dirty. They did the audience dirty. They did those actors dirty.
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Better than I thought it would be
Yet another drama that I thought I would have zero interest in and it turned out to be a surprise hit for me. The premise didn't sound that interesting to me, but the amount of high ratings and reviews rolling in when it was complete convinced me to give it a shot. My non-Asian drama watching son even watched it with me and enjoyed it.The story really kept me guessing for a long time and had a lot of suspense and thrills that raised my anxiety. I was hooked from the first episode, and was easily caught up in the unfolding of events that lead us up to the present day in the story. It was well-written and well-acted. What was surprising to me was how it was as much a love story as it was a crime drama. But it's not the new love kind of drama that you're probably used to as this is a couple that has been married for a long time. They know each other so well...or do they?
I think even people that aren't generally fans of mystery/crime might enjoy this and should give it a chance.
Believe it or not, this is the first time I've ever watched Lee Joon Gi, but his acting was superb. He played his character very well - watching the flickers of expression on his face (and there were many) as he experienced different emotions showed his remarkable skill. He could be cold and calculating one moment and loving and tender the next. Moon Chae Won had good chemistry with LJG and performed well also. I've not really watched her before either, but I enjoyed her in this a lot. I didn't have any expectations of the actors - maybe even low expectations - and I was blown away by how good they were.
I enjoyed the music in this also, and there were several really good tracks.
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I dropped it but picked it back up and finished
I don't know if I would have disliked this drama if I had binged it all the way through. I got through the first 8 episodes months ago, and then paused and didn't think I would finish. I don't know what made me decide to go ahead and finish it up.This is a very slow story and has a twist to it that wasn't wholly unexpected but not completely how I though it would play out either. I don't want to give it away, but this show ended up being pretty raw and ended up making me cry in the end. I don't think it's for everyone, so I can't say that I'd recommend it for everyone. I feel like some people will hate it, and some people may appreciate it for personal reasons like I did.
Kim Hye Ja is a great actress and really carried this drama. Nam Joo Hyuk seems sort of awkward, and for Han Ji Min, I don't think she got enough of the spotlight but did a good job with her role.
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Definitely more innocent than the source material
I had heard such mixed reviews on this show that I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch it, but I finally decided to give it a go. It was much better than the bad reviews said - not perfect by any means, but it was fairly enjoyable. I looked up the source material, and I will say that it was definitely more innocent. I'm not sure what all the deviations were because I only looked at the first episode of the manga (which is very NSFW! Just a warning!) I know some people found the age gap "problematic" (I'm really starting to hate the over-use of that word. LOL!) but the show was pretty PG so that didn't really bother me. Backstreet Rookie is a simple love story set in a convenience store for the majority of the drama. There were some manga-like moments also that reminded me a bit of some things from Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. Saet Byul falls for Dae Hyun at first sight while she's still in high school when he's just been dumped by his girlfriend. They don't see each other again for 3 years, when she's 22 - no longer a minor. DH is in a very one-sided relationship with a rich girl that takes advantage of his naivety and good heart. SB has her own issues, having to leave school to finish raising her sister after their dad dies. She answers DH's ad for a part-time worker and they gradually become closer as they work together. There's not a really heavy plot, and it's just some cute bit of fluff. Watch it if you want something not too taxing on the brain! :)Kim Yoo Jung as Saet Byul was super freaking adorable! Such a sunshine-y character that she made me smile every time she was on screen - she really was the one to give this show life. Ji Chang Wook was kind of under-whelming as Dae Hyun, but I suspect that it was because his character was such a mild mannered, nice guy that made it seem that way. *shrug* I also have to say that I really don't care for Han Sun Hwa (playing Yeon Joo). This is the third (at least) show I've watched her in and she always ends up playing the most annoying characters that I've developed a distaste for her. Kim Sun Young as Dae Hyun's mother, Boon Hee, has her stereotypical loudness that I've come to expect from her. I liked her character over-all, but I really wish she would tone down the yelling a bit in her dramas. She's a great actress and doesn't need to resort to such cheap tactics. I still thought her character was warm, loving, and genuine underneath all the bluster.
I enjoyed the music, but nothing stood out as really special either. It was good though.
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