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The Girl Who Sees Scents korean drama review
Completed
The Girl Who Sees Scents
3 people found this review helpful
by manicmuse
May 3, 2016
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
This is a super cute drama that I almost overlooked. I think I was initially turned off by the concept, thinking it would be too silly for me, but it was just the right amount of silly, and actually executed very well. I never heard of the webtoon, so I had nothing to base it on. I was pleasantly surprised by how many genres this show managed to juggle. It's part romcom, part crime thriller, part super heroish tale... It gets a little creepy, but still never takes itself too seriously... and it all still totally works. Having a great cast certainly helps. This is the third drama that I've loved Park YooChun in, and I finally had to give him a spot on my favorites list for it. He is super adorable in this role - awkward yet charming, and he got me addicted to the show pretty much instantly. Some call it bad acting, but I say it was adorkable. It helped that he had great flirty chemistry with Shin Se Kyung. The scenes between these two are super corny, and extra cheesy, but in a way that I like. I also liked the idea that they were two freaks of nature fated to find each other, which added another cute element to their relationship. I've never seen Shin Se Kyung in a drama before, and initially found Oh Cho Rim to be a little annoying, but she grew on me quickly, and suddenly I couldn't help but root for her. She also made her unusual gift seem perfectly plausible, which made the whole thing more believable.... even when the script was definitely unbelievable. The real stand out performance of this drama is Nam Gung Min. I really loved his character, and loved all the subtle nuances he brought out while playing Chef Kwon Jae Hee. I remember him playing such a great complicated character in "Can you hear my heart", and his performance in this was even better. I would also like to applaud his shirtlessness, and the tightness of his pants... who knew he was so well rounded?!! (pun definitely intended - that booty tho) I would love to see him in more dramas (shirt not required). The investigative team, Cho Rim's BFF, and the rest of the supporting cast were great, and memorable. Some of the acting gets a little cheesy at times (the acting troupe - ugh), but that's mostly because of the writing style. The cops also come across as idiots most of the time, even more than in other dramas, but I liked their characters enough that it didn't matter too much. The writer basically wrote a comedic romance between two misfits, that gets intercepted by a serial killer case. The story is unique, and although it's semi-predictable, and relies on some overused kdrama tropes, it kept me intrigued. I liked how all the main characters has an unusual connection to the 5 senses. The mystery element made me super eager to watch every episode, especially with cliff hanger endings making me always wanna watch "just one more" episode. All the episodes flew by for me. I easily finished this drama in 3 days, without any real boredom. There were a few moments of flashback overload, and cutesy dream sequences, but It was incorporated well. The graphics/efx, the scent graphic animations in particular, were cool, but very literal, so it added some extra cheesiness. Also, are Korean's really that shallow? How does a green eye make you a monster? I know more than one person with one blue eye, and they were always considered cool. I guess it adds to the drama, but geez! I though the soundtrack was great, a little literal, but had a lot of catchy songs. The product placement was a bit OD, particularly the Samsung moments. It was so hilariously obvious that it kinda added to the comedy of the show. My last, and biggest complaint, would be about the outfits. Who ever was in charge of wardrobe needs to find a new career. Some of the outfits were distractingly bad, but I digress... Now that I know the story, I'm not sure this would be as exciting if I decided to rewatch, but there were definitely some cute scenes that I would watch again. Overall this is a consistently entertaining drama from beginning to end. I don't think it had enough of a wow factor to become a favorite, but I liked it much more than I expected. If you are willing to embrace KDrama logic, you will like it more. If you like chemistry that gives you the butterflies feeling, I think this drama delivers. I would recommend this drama to anyone looking for some escapism, and who can handle the cheese. Watching this drama just makes sense... (sorry, I couldn't resist)
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