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Her Private Life korean drama review
Completed
Her Private Life
4 people found this review helpful
by manicmuse
Jun 29, 2019
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
Her Private Life is a hard drama for me to rate because there was so much that I loved and so much that bored me. It also sold itself as a secret sasaeng drama, which wasn't very interesting to me, then turned into a random melodrama, which also wasn't very interesting. What sold me on this drama is definitely the chemistry between the two leads, which was unexpectedly hot. I never expected to like this couple as much as I did, but their pairing is pretty perfect.

I admit that I am already a huge fan of Park Min Young at this point (Sungkyunkwan Scandal, City Hunter, Healer, Queen for 7 Days, and especially What's Wrong With Secretary Kim), but I wasn't sold on the male lead who I only really liked in Coffee Prince back in his younger emo days. Together they have a grown and sexy chemistry that makes even the most mundane moments hotter than I expected, especially after the rather dull first episode. Sure, they are brought together by the usual clichés, but there's a reason why certain clichés continue to work, and they are what makes this drama work so well.

The rest of the cast is generally good, with a few favorites in minor roles (like hilarious Park Jin Joo, and
Kim Mi Kyung as another cool mom, but I also loved her in Healer too). There are also characters that I should have loved more but didn't. I thought Kim Bo Ra as Cindy was as annoying as she should have been, but too boring to really care about. I also found the object of all this fangirling, One as Cha Shi An, to also be boring. I guess his purpose was mainly to be cute anyway, which he was. I also think Kim Sun Young made the most out of her silly role and was definitely entertaining.

As for the story, it starts off as really silly, which is why the addition of melodrama seemed out of place when it became the main focus. The story is full of repeat chance meetings, misunderstandings, a 2nd lead syndrome worthy bff, and the KDrama romcom staple... "The fake relationship", but the writing does tell a complete story, and everything does come together and makes sense in the end (even for minor characters), which I appreciated. However, I still found that there were too many times, especially in the final episodes, where I was completely bored. I also didn't feel any connection to most of the more emotional parts, which seemed to resolve too quickly and neatly to be engaging to me. The comedy parts were also too silly for me, and the Ryan = Lion jokes definitely got old quick! If it weren't for the romance, I would have dropped this one for sure.

Would I watch this again? Actually Maybe, although I'd be tempted to skip a lot of parts, and maybe skip the last few episodes completely. I am also not a fan of the soundtrack, which was sweet and cute which sometimes clashed with the maturity of the story, but I guess it goes with the sasaeng vibe. That "precious little girl" song was especially irritating to me though.

Overall, I understand the appeal of this drama. I think it's a hit for the two leads, although the story is pretty dull for a romcom in my opinion. I would still recommend it for romance fans especially since I think they are one of the best pairings I've seen this year so far. Also, it is a decent story if you give in to the tropes and predictability. Just know that it's not exactly as lighthearted as it seems initially, but it's also not too heavy with drama either. I'm definitely not fangirling over the writing, but maybe I am over
Park Min Young a little who's fast becoming my romcom queen.

Also, no matter how cute and relatable they tried to make them, sasaengs are still pretty creepy to me! o.O
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