I watched 25% of this drama and the story did not grab my attention. I was disappointed that male lead changed his hobo look to conform to society's expectations of a clean-cut man. He was more interesting as a quirky character and the minute he tried to "look" acceptable was the minute he lost his oddball personality. What is also lacking in this drama was the chemistry between leads that it was hard for me to be invested in their love story.
I watched 25% of this drama and the story did not grab my attention. I was disappointed that male lead changed his hobo look to conform to society's expectations of a clean-cut man. He was more interesting as a quirky character and the minute he tried to "look" acceptable was the minute he lost his oddball personality. What is also lacking in this drama was the chemistry between leads that it was hard for me to be invested in their love story.
Absolutely one of my favorite rom-com! It is one of the cutest and funniest and also hottest! rom-com with legit kiss scenes between Park Min Young and Park Seo Joon. It is like "Two Week's notice" but feels like months which I certainly did not mind. None of the secondary characters however have a strong presence, some even are slightly off-putting but the two leads and their chemistry, plus the plot propels this drama to the top.
The beginning started out strong. The two leads have chemistry and are easy on the eyes. My favorite actress Park Min Young and one of the hotties from Coffee Prince together in a drama, what's not to like? Well, what started out as fluffy and funny about the fangirling life became a boring story about the curating process. The story was too predictable for me, and too sweet for my tastes. The drama switched from the female's story quickly to the male's story and different arcs in between, which is fine if the elements were introduced smoothly. Alas, what you get from this drama is bits and pieces of everyone's story but not fully baked. Disappointing one-dimensional secondary characters that could have contributed more to the drama.
The bestfriends-turned-lovers trope is the premise of the drama. Normally I like this type of story, however, I think my second-lead syndrome prevented me from enjoying this drama to the fullest. I didn't buy in to the main pairing because it took quite some time before the male lead realized his love for his bestfriend and it was close to the end. The romantic plot didn't fully develop for me to believe that those two could be more than friends.
It was kind of slow in the beginning, but it picked up quickly. The story about the publishing industry, the process of how a book gets made was really interesting, especially if you like writing and books, which I do. The May-December romance of a divorcee and her best friend did not blossom until towards the end, but I can't help but swoon over Lee Jong Suk's pining over his BFF. The struggles of the female lead Dan Yi of trying to get back into the workforce is heartbreaking but it is the realism of the drama that makes you want to root for her, even though she has to resort to a small white lie to get her foot in the door. Overall, this is one drama where I was invested in the fate of the main characters.
The best Korean drama in the last decade and it lives up to the hype. A well-rounded story with drama, romance, politics, family, friendship, intrigue, mystery, etc. Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin deliver in their respective roles as the upright military officer and the sassy socialite who meet at the North-South Korean border by chance. After being thrown together under unusual circumstances, Ri Jung Hyuk learns to open up while Yoon Se Ri adapts to the provincial life in North Korea. It is their mutual respect for their individual strengths that both leads compromised and even made sacrifices for each other to make their partner happy.
This is such a heartwarming drama that even secondary characters are lovable with their own charms, even with their flaws! The characters are multi-dimensional that you can't help feel for some of the characters who are depicted as "bad" but only because they are not "good". This show shot up to be one of my all-time favorites and would be hard to beat.
I was hesitant to watch this at first as I am not a big fan of Psychological dramas, after my lukewarm reception of "It's Okay, That's Love," however, after putting aside my prejudices, I came to appreciate this drama about dealing with mental health, familial issues, trauma, how to overcome one's past, embrace one's weakness to be strong in the future. It is a powerful drama about learning, about forgiveness, about caring, about unbreakable and breakable bonds, but ultimately, how It is okay not to be Okay.
Performances by the three main leads are phenomenal, but a standing ovation must go to Oh Jung Se as he nailed Moon Sang Tae's character down as if he was autistic and suffering from PTSD himself. His gestures, mannerisms, quirks and ticks all make his character as the mentally-challenged artistic genius so believable, while retaining his forthright innocence. Kim Soo Hyun somehow became more handsome when I saw him last in 2013's MLFTS. First time seeing Seo Ye Ji, but she also was born to play the eccentric author Ko Moon Young, with a dangerous mix of sexy and devil.
Supporting characters have each of their own strength and personalities that all together, made the drama cohesive. Fashion and cinematography are also worth noting. Had to deduct half a point due to the dip in pacing towards the last quarter of the drama. If you are looking mainly for romance, this is not the drama, but unless you are inhuman, your heartstrings will be tugged seeing flawed characters leaning on each other for support, how your circumstances do not necessarily make who you are, but how you make out of it.
The premise sounded interesting: A cat turns human on certain times of day and falls in love with its owner. However, after three episodes in, boring as heck. Dropped.
This remake of Go Princess Go is highly rated and didn't disappoint. I wasn't sure how I will react to this drama, since I loved the low-budget original due to its "It's so bad, it's good" campy vibes, but this one sure brought it on. Despite my lukewarm feelings towards actors Shin Hae Sun and Kim Jung Hun in their other productions, they gave amazing performances here. They shone as individuals and gelled together as a couple. Their backroom politics and courtyard antics are both engaging and funny.
Supporting characters are multi-dimensional, and portrayed by a talented cast. You can tell that this is a big budget production, from the set & scenery, to the costumes, to the attention to detail, and everything in between. The comedic timing was spot on, and even the over-the-top brewing love story between the Head chef and the Queen's consort provided additional comedic relief. The array of food in the show is also quite impressive so if you are into mukbang shows, political intrigue sprinkled with a dash of rom-com, this drama is for you.
Dropped after 2 episodes. Drama was boring and did not interest me. The characters are dull and the chemistry between the two leads are non-existent. Not my cup of tea.
Dropped after 2 episodes. Drama was boring and did not interest me. The characters are dull and the chemistry between the two leads are non-existent. Not my cup of tea.
I almost did not watch this one as my run-ins with dramas with Gumiho's were mostly forgettable but good thing I did. Though I doubt that Jang Ki Yong and Lee Hye Ri will be winning any Oscars anytime soon, for this drama, their acting chops were enough to convey the aloof writer/professor and the eager student. Putting aside that one is a mythical fox and the other is the host of its magical bead, this drama mainly imparts what it is to be a human: a complex entity that can't be entirely understood despite centuries of learning and studying human behavior. Because what it means to be human, is not being perfect, not having all the answers in the universe, and though there are many that are bad, there's also many that are good. That suffering through life isn't necessarily a bad thing, but we just learn to adapt and know when to make sacrifices, and hopefully still have the desire to live despite failures.
Finally, after a decade, this drama trumped my previous favorite Korean drama. It contains all my favorite tropes: Rich man/poor woman, Cold man/warm woman, Contract Relationship, Enemies to Lovers. It's like WWWSK without the annoying secondary couple. Ahn Hyo Seop gives Lee Young Joon vibes as Kang Tae Moo, and is quirky as the workaholic and aloof chaebol. But Kim Se Jeong is amazing as the duplicitous Shin Ha Ri who pretends to be her BFF to get her said BFF out of blind dates. Kim Se Jeong is adorable as the ardent food researcher and funny as the fake Young Seo and she plays both characters well.
The situations that Ha Ri find herself in are hilarious and Tae Moo's unusual responses to her antics make for comedy gold. ABP is rom-com done right, and is lighthearted despite all the clichés. The secondary couple isn't too shabby either, and their story is also endearing. Other characters are also multi-dimensional, and I especially liked Tae Moo's grandfather who is a hoot. Love, love this drama.
I'm not really fond of FML chasing ML first, especially if they are clingy and looking desperate for male attention, but after a few episodes of this drama, I'm not as averse to Yuan Bing Yan as the Princess Chang Le as I thought. But what really kept me going is Zheng Ye Cheng as the aloof Commander of the Guards. He first caught my attention in Love O2O as Hao Mei who was in this bromantic relationship with Vin Zhang. But here, Ye Cheng is a totally different person, much older and with better acting.
As Shen Yen, he endures the silly antics of the stalker-y Princess, sometimes even to the detriment of his missions. The Princess thinks that she has charmed her way in Shen Yen's heart as he was as firm in his rejection. Portrayed as a pampered brat, especially over-indulged by her doting Grandfather, Chang Le is most likely a misunderstood woman who had to deal with political machinations (even from her own father) since her mother's death. Of course, we know eventually that Shen Yan will cave in and profess his undying love for the Princess but before they can live happily after, the couple has to go through the usual trial and tribulation set forth by their conniving relatives and friends and relatives of said conniving relatives.
The drama would not be complete without secondary and tertiary couples, between ML's brother and FL's bestie, and also between their two servants. Contrived couple-dom for the win. This drama is lighter than your usual historical drama, just by counting by the number of times that the FML strategically falls into the ML's arms, and eye-rolls at said "accidental" tripping.
This is my favorite E-sports drama so far even trumped my previous fave E-Sports Romance (Love O2O). Cheng Xiao is adorable as the amateur game goddess Tong Yao, who in the beginning was like a deer caught in headlights when she enters a professional gaming league as the only female player and a mainly-male dominated sport. She suffers some initial setback and distrust from more seasoned players, including the team captain of ZGDX, where Tong Yao is a member. Xu Kai as Lu Si Cheng is convincing as the cold and aloof leader, who later warms up to Tong Yao after she proved her value to the club. Supporting Tong Yao from the beginning is her bestie Jin Yang, even while she is navigating her own battles with love (the on-and-off relationship with Ai Jia).
In the course of the drama, we see the introduction of many characters, with some falling for the Mulan and God of OPL, and while some are harmless crushes, others fans were far more vindictive. The drama takes this opportunity and others to demonstrate how being a keyboard warrior can affect the lives of the people being talked about. Despite the popularity of some of these players, they are also human who are vulnerable to unwarranted criticism, especially if they are attacks on a personal level. The drama also showcases the level of cooperation between teammates while playing a game, as well, as how they operate in their private lives. For example even though Si Cheng's tenacious protectiveness of his colleagues is well-intentioned, he had to learn to trust his teammates to carry the burden.
In other notes, Though the in-game animation /CGI is pretty badass, sometimes it is difficult to follow the gaming strategies especially if you are not an active player of a MOBA game like Onmyoji Arena. Although the drama imparts many kernels of wisdom regarding teamwork, online bullying, lack of parental support and/or self-esteem, etc. sometimes it tends to get preachy. Otherwise it is a feel good drama.
2 
This is such a heartwarming drama that even secondary characters are lovable with their own charms, even with their flaws! The characters are multi-dimensional that you can't help feel for some of the characters who are depicted as "bad" but only because they are not "good". This show shot up to be one of my all-time favorites and would be hard to beat.
Performances by the three main leads are phenomenal, but a standing ovation must go to Oh Jung Se as he nailed Moon Sang Tae's character down as if he was autistic and suffering from PTSD himself. His gestures, mannerisms, quirks and ticks all make his character as the mentally-challenged artistic genius so believable, while retaining his forthright innocence. Kim Soo Hyun somehow became more handsome when I saw him last in 2013's MLFTS. First time seeing Seo Ye Ji, but she also was born to play the eccentric author Ko Moon Young, with a dangerous mix of sexy and devil.
Supporting characters have each of their own strength and personalities that all together, made the drama cohesive. Fashion and cinematography are also worth noting. Had to deduct half a point due to the dip in pacing towards the last quarter of the drama. If you are looking mainly for romance, this is not the drama, but unless you are inhuman, your heartstrings will be tugged seeing flawed characters leaning on each other for support, how your circumstances do not necessarily make who you are, but how you make out of it.
Supporting characters are multi-dimensional, and portrayed by a talented cast. You can tell that this is a big budget production, from the set & scenery, to the costumes, to the attention to detail, and everything in between. The comedic timing was spot on, and even the over-the-top brewing love story between the Head chef and the Queen's consort provided additional comedic relief. The array of food in the show is also quite impressive so if you are into mukbang shows, political intrigue sprinkled with a dash of rom-com, this drama is for you.
The situations that Ha Ri find herself in are hilarious and Tae Moo's unusual responses to her antics make for comedy gold. ABP is rom-com done right, and is lighthearted despite all the clichés. The secondary couple isn't too shabby either, and their story is also endearing. Other characters are also multi-dimensional, and I especially liked Tae Moo's grandfather who is a hoot. Love, love this drama.
As Shen Yen, he endures the silly antics of the stalker-y Princess, sometimes even to the detriment of his missions. The Princess thinks that she has charmed her way in Shen Yen's heart as he was as firm in his rejection. Portrayed as a pampered brat, especially over-indulged by her doting Grandfather, Chang Le is most likely a misunderstood woman who had to deal with political machinations (even from her own father) since her mother's death. Of course, we know eventually that Shen Yan will cave in and profess his undying love for the Princess but before they can live happily after, the couple has to go through the usual trial and tribulation set forth by their conniving relatives and friends and relatives of said conniving relatives.
The drama would not be complete without secondary and tertiary couples, between ML's brother and FL's bestie, and also between their two servants. Contrived couple-dom for the win. This drama is lighter than your usual historical drama, just by counting by the number of times that the FML strategically falls into the ML's arms, and eye-rolls at said "accidental" tripping.
In the course of the drama, we see the introduction of many characters, with some falling for the Mulan and God of OPL, and while some are harmless crushes, others fans were far more vindictive. The drama takes this opportunity and others to demonstrate how being a keyboard warrior can affect the lives of the people being talked about. Despite the popularity of some of these players, they are also human who are vulnerable to unwarranted criticism, especially if they are attacks on a personal level. The drama also showcases the level of cooperation between teammates while playing a game, as well, as how they operate in their private lives. For example even though Si Cheng's tenacious protectiveness of his colleagues is well-intentioned, he had to learn to trust his teammates to carry the burden.
In other notes, Though the in-game animation /CGI is pretty badass, sometimes it is difficult to follow the gaming strategies especially if you are not an active player of a MOBA game like Onmyoji Arena. Although the drama imparts many kernels of wisdom regarding teamwork, online bullying, lack of parental support and/or self-esteem, etc. sometimes it tends to get preachy. Otherwise it is a feel good drama.