trueturquoise
United States
This review may contain spoilers
I already wrote a recommendation for this drama, but I will quickly say it here...while watching WHIB, I was constantly reminded of Que, Sera Sera (WHIB came out a few years before). They shared the same vibe. It's a darker K-Drama that deals with more mature topics. It's mostly about love and greed of money. I liked the vibe of the whole thing. It's not fluffy in the least. There are a few humorous moments, but over all it's angst filled dealing with every day life...love, money, desire, greed, etc. For me the angst was done well. After seeing so many dramas, these days I tend to fast forward through parts that bore me, usually dealing with secondary characters and such. However, this drama was twenty episodes long and I did not fast forward it once. Not even for a minute. I was completely engaged throughout. It was fast moving, and I wanted to hear what ever single person had to say. For me it was all a meaningful part of the progression of the story.
I'll admit this story is brought about by a series of contrived, coincidental incidences that are used to bring the four forever together. But seriously, if you're going to complain about that, then you shouldn't watch k-dramas, because that's basically how they all are. It's a tried a true plot device. It's easy for me to look over this and chalk it up to "fate" as they do in the drama itself.
There are four main leads in WHIB and they all get a good amount of screen time. You never know who the main male lead really is, because they both get equal screen time. At first, none of them are all that likeable. However, by the end, I really enjoyed them all. That included all their faults and wackiness too. They each make choices in their lives and we get to see the consequence (usually a fall out) of that choice.
I gave the acting for this drama a 10, mostly because of Jo In Sung. I had read somewhere that he was the most anticipated Korean actor to return from the military, and I just didn't understand that as I hadn't seen any of his dramas and had never heard of him. However, he knocked my socks off. This guy can act. He was great! No wonder he won all the best actor awards for this drama! (As a side note, at the time of airing this drama rated in the 20s and even got up to the 30s so it was pretty popular at the time). Seriously, the guy impressed me, and I look forward to watching his other work. Anyway, he plays the rich guy to a T.
Ha Ji Won (of Secret Garden) was one of the appeals to me when I decided to watch this drama. She did a fairly good job as well. She plays the poor girl. The other two mains played their parts perfectly and fit the roles great. The drama was cast perfectly in my opinion all the way down to the secondary characters. I just loved the psycho rich moms!
The main thing that got me to even notice this drama is I was looking through best couples in k-drama videos and such. This drama was on a top five list, with Ha Ji Won and Jo In Sung being like third best Korean drama couple in dramaland (just someone's personal opinion) as their characters in this drama. One of the pictures posted of them just really caught my eye and I could totally see their chemistry just from that. And they were right, they made this drama rock, and their interactions throughout were just awesome. However, this in no way, shape, or form, is saying that they get together. They might, they might not. You have to watch to find out. Watching them in this drama was great, and it would be neat if they could do another project together.
The music was uneventful, but it did it's job with blending into the story and providing the feeling of things like foreboding and such.
The rewatch value is a seven. Mainly because, I will probably eventually rewatch this again although it won't be the same. Normally, there are is so much angst in dramas that in order to prevent myself anymore personal anxiety, I read all about the drama I watch before hand, and if I can find out the ending in advance, that's a good thing. It helps me enjoy the drama with out feeling my skin crawl. Or, you just tend to know from the very beginning how a drama is going to end. Well, like I said, this is not your typical K-drama. From the very start, you may have an idea of how it's going to end. Your going to have your own opinion of who she's going to end up with based on which main guy you like the most, most likely. However, you will not know who she ends up with until the very end. And unless you found a spoiler some where, you will not know how this drama ends. Period. That in itself is kind of appealing and new in dramaland.
This of course brings me to the ending. I could not find out how it ended anywhere I looked on the net. I decided to watch it regardless, because I was so intrigued that nobody wanted to share the spoiler. I also found where most people that commented on the end didn't like it. That doesn't sound good right? Well, I've learned not to base my decisions on how other people interpret an ending. I have found it all has to do with personal taste and opinion. After watching the ending, I felt it was brilliant. It even made me smile. It was completely unexpected until it actually was playing out, however, I thought it was great!
But this is why the rewatch value of the drama is only a seven. Because, part of the appeal of this drama the first time around is not knowing what is going to happen next, what choices our leads are going to make, and how those choices are going to effect them and everyone else around them. Throughout the whole drama, you don't know who she really loves, who she's going to choose. Is she going to choose love, money, a combination of both, or neither?
Overall, I would give this drama a shot. I gave it an eight, because I truly felt it was very good. The overall tone and vibe aren't for everyone. I like it though. So, if you're interested, give it a shot!
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First point...Jessica. She was not a good actress. She was annoying sometimes. That's why the cast got 9 instead of 10. However, by the end I actually really liked her character and even felt her acting improved. I don't know Jessica, I'm not her fan, never heard of her before this...so this is totally unbiased. I LOVE Lee Dong Wook with all my heart, and he was just adorable in this! It was so neat to see him in this kind of role. The main chick...I saw her first in Playful Kiss and BOF and was so shocked to see her character in this drama. She did SUCH a good job. I was seriously impressed. She can definitely act, since this is a complete 180 from the characters I've seen her play. She was so cute!
The story...I gave it a nine. Only because it wasn't the best drama I've ever seen, but as far as entertainment value it was great! I'm watching several dramas right now and this is the one that I actually watched unsubbed first just because I couldn't stand the wait! There was drama, romance, bromance, and towards the end there was really good suspense!
There were a lot of different characters in this drama and some of them you don't like at first, but by the end you will love them all!
I would have to say two of the side characters had the best drama romance I had ever seen. Seriously, they are the most adorable couple ever, you could watch this whole series just to see the parts with them in it an it would be worth it. They are like in a whole different world odd balls. It was awesome and hilarious and sweet.
One of the complaints I've read about this drama is that there wasn't enough romance, etc. However, I thought it was really well done. It was different than other dramas and had other things besides the romance going on, but once it started I felt it was always there and not lacking. I was not disappointed at all in the romance department with this drama, and I'm a huge romance buff.
The main plot line, that wasn't about the romance, was done really well in my opinion and added a good amount of suspense for the characters. I absolutely loved how it came to a climax and the resolve. Seriously. I was impressed.
The music was excellent. I don't know Korean songs and singers...but I really enjoyed the main song.
The rewatch value is a 10 because I will definitely be watching it again in the future. The first several episodes of this drama are hilarious! Seriously funny. There is good humor throughout and I literally laughed out loud at some point in every episode...usually several times. So the humor is always there. I enjoyed the progression of the romance between the leads and enjoyed the romance between the side characters just as much.
Another plus is that all the side characters were fleshed out and in the end their stories were wrapped up as well. Nobody was left hanging.
I hope this was half way understandable...I just want people to appreciate/enjoy this drama as much as I did!
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Well, this drama is so freakin' romantic. It's full of sweetness and love and emotion. Lots of kisses etc. I was worried because I knew after watching the first one that they were married, and I wasn't sure how they were going to play that off and keep up the angst, etc. since they were already together. However, it ended up being one of my all time favorite dramas, it far out shown the first, and is beyond romantic!
I gave the story an eight, because unlike most people I could care less about the secondary characters. I was only tuned in for the main attraction, so I sometimes found it annoying when they focused too much on the other people. However, their stories were done well and fleshed out and all that, so it's really only my own personal problem.
The acting of course was freakin' marvelous. The amount of feeling you could actually feel from these actors was truly awesome. Joe Cheng, as we all know from the first, is really cold, emotionless, expressionless, etc. in his character. Throughout this we see him soften up a bit, but really, in my book, the main thing about him that I loved so much was his love for his wife. It was obvious. Yeah, he was harsh, but that's just him being ignorant on an emotional level. But I could FEEL how much he loved his wife. And he has beautiful hands.
Ariel Lin is really endearing. She did great in her role, and I have to give her props for her performance in a certain part in episode 11, because I literally was like, man that was so good, and had to rewatch it!
The mother of course is still wonderful and sweet. Just love her.
I'm giving the music a nine, but honestly, music is not my forte.
I just finished it last week and I want to watch it again. So I gave the rewatch value a 9. I didn't give it a ten, only because for me I would be skipping lots of parts and only watching what I really want to see.
Overall, I'm so glad I watched this series and couldn't believe I put it off for so long. Don't let the number of episodes in either series daunt you, they do go by quickly, truly.
The affection that he shows for her is really believable and I have to say this is one of the most romantic dramas I have ever seen! The last episode was my favorite episode out of the whole series...so you have got to watch it all the way to the end!!
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I watched the movie without any high expectations because the rating is fair to good. But still, I had hopes that it would have a something about it that I could really appreciate. Unfortunately, it still wasn't all that great
Story - It was okay. I mean, the movie was shot beautifully and in a slow way. I really like that kind of movie. But there were too many weird things about it that even I, who tend to like the odd in a movies, didn't really get. My main gripe is with the female lead. Not the actress, just the character. She grated on my nerves through the whole thing. I mean, I have never been in her kind of situation, but all she did was whine and cry and treat everybody like dirt. Her poor pathetic life. I couldn't see enough justification for this type of attitude at all. I just felt she had a horrid personality. I enjoyed the main male characters side of the story.
Acting/Cast - I thought the cast was good. The main guy from Windstruck is the main guy in this. He played his part really well. And really the main girl did her part well too. She was completely believable, hateful person and all.
Music - Some good stuff. Nothing memorable. Slow and sad, to go along with the movie I guess.
Rewatch Value - I will never watch this movie again, but if you like it, I don't see why you wouldn't.
Overall - It really is very rare that I find a movie that doesn't have much to it that I can appreciate. And I think I could forgive a lot of the annoyances and appreciate the movie more if it wasn't for the main female character. My annoyance with her overpowered a lot of the movie. And maybe I was just in a mood while watching it, but ugh.
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