Reviews

Dramaworld is a fun mini-series that makes fun of Korean Drama tropes and characterization, and I gave it such a high rating because it didn't take itself seriously.

Story: Claire is a massive K-Drama fan who by some crazy miracle gets sucked into her favorite drama "Taste of Love." She then becomes a Facilitator, someone who works behind the scenes to make sure the characters get their happy endings. She's introduced to fellow Facilitator Seth who quickly shows her the ropes and recruits her. See, something bad is happening in Dramaworld, and the story is in major trouble. It's then up to Claire to get it back on track so our beloved characters get their happily ever afters.

Pros: I thought the story was enjoyable, and I was certainly engaged with the story. I laughed and shouted at my screen in frustration, and there WAS A TWIST THAT I WASN'T EXPECTING, so that was pleasantly surprising. The best part was the portrayal of your stereotypical K-Drama characters and the tropes, and I found myself nodding and laughing as all the best parts of a K-Drama that make you roll your eyes were pointed out. You have the hot, but arrogant leading man, the sweet leading woman, the secondary shady woman, the second male lead, the overbearing mother, etc. The way they poked fun at the tropes was great too. For example, rushing to a help a guy after he's hit by a car will cause him to fall in love with you at first sight, there's the "magnetic pull," where drunken piggyback rides are galore, female characters will always be saved by a male suitor before hitting the ground from fainting or tripping, the "mandatory" hot show scene so the leading male can show off his abs,  flashbacks that cause time to stop, dreams can be manipulated to further the story, etc.

Cons: I wanted more character development. Not necessarily with the characters of "Taste of Love" since their roles were that of your cliched drama characters (and their memories are reset when their drama comes to an end, with them adopting new personalities and stories for the next drama), but more with Claire and Seth. Of course this is a 10 episode 15-20 minute series so I can understand the lack of development.

Overall: It's a fun, creative comedy series to watch if you're not looking for anything serious or gut-wrenching. I will say that for a short show it pulled me in, and even had a few surprising twists and a pretty great cliffhanger that has my hopes high for a second installment; and maybe even some more character development. I mean the possibilities are endless.

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I decided to watch this drama because there were many positive reviews and many watchers had agreed that it was very original and noteworthy. However, while I did enjoy (or at least was entertained by) the drama for the most part, there really wasn't anything noteworthy or spectacular about this drama, and I doubt I would watch it again.

In terms of things I liked, I really liked the character development and rational of the main lead actor, Se Hee. While he was an 'emotionless,' apathetic character in the beginning, he didn't really display himself as cold, as many emotionless kdrama characters tend to do. Whenever he did something, he usually thought things through and how those around him might feel. His awkwardness also made him rather funny at time, and made the romantic scenes more memorable as you wouldn't have expected him to behave in that way given his character. For the main lead actress, Ji Ho, for the most part, her choices were also pretty rational, and there weren't a lot of flaws to her as with a lot of main kdrama actresses. In addition, I really love the dialogue behind the 'Room 19.' There were a lot of deep things that could've been taken away.

However, where the BTIMFL turned sour was in the last two episodes. It became really cliche and extra parts/'twists' were added that didn't need to be there. Also, Se Hee began to make really irrational choices that didn't really add up and were contrary to her previous narrative dialogues, especially as it related to her career choice. I think the dialogues surrounding marriage and love that were presented in the situation of Se Hee and Ji Ho should've been the case for Ho Rang and Won Seok. I'm really disappointed with how the ending turned out, and it just left a sour taste on my tongue. Granted the actual ending was wrapped up nicely, but the events leading up to that could've been changed.

Tl;dr: It's an okay/good drama, but nothing noteworthy. I felt like there were a lot of opportunities to make this drama stellar, but it just fell flat, which was rather disappointing.

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I finally realized after watching this drama that reviews are mostly colored by one's experiences and outlook. In this case, had I taken into consideration the reviews here, I would have missed out on a good hours of lighthearted entertainment. Yes, lighthearted. I wish I could shout this out. There is no rape, not even an attempt  to rape. Saying that there was rape would be (In real life) slander in legal terms. No justification, but the guy was crazy with jealousy, then drunk and tried the only way an idiot can, to make his lady love his own. But. A big BUT. He had enough restraint and love for her that he stopped after a brief struggle. He wasn't going to rape her. Yes he is an ass with the morals of an alley cat, but he loves and protects his own. He is hardworking, disciplined and responsible.  The flaw is not in him but in the characterization. His character, his story and the consequences of his actions are just a way of teaching morality and life lessons to young men. The premise of this story (verbalised in the 7th episode) is in itself flawed.  The premise is that men have no control over their sexual desires. That men are playboys, till the time they meet their true love, at which point men need to Learn and change.  Bull...
I have been surrounded by men all my life. Father, brother, friends, uncles, husband, colleagues, son, nephews... No most men are not mindless sexual beasts.  But despite this, give credit where it is due. The creators of this drama are not upholding physical violence or abuse. Rather they are sermonizing  young men, telling them that they need to practice sexual monogamy when the time comes. The drama, if it needs to be bashed should be bashed for such a flawed and unfair premise, not for promoting violence.

I loved our hero. He was posessive, jealous and not afraid to show it. His morals just didn't gel with his character. How could it when his sexual morals were just a means for sermonozing.

The heroine. Perfectly drawn out and not a doormat our PK. Cute and lovely.

Every character played out really well. This was one drama where there was little or no craziness.

If you want fluffy romance of the mills and boons variety. Try it. It is worth a watch.

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(I have only watched the episodes from ep 16 when the whole concept of the show was changed so this review will be based on that, I will get to watching those first episodes at some point)

To be honest, I started watching the show because of Kim Heechul's funny clips and compilations from this show on youtube. At first, I felt the entire show revolved around him and Lee Soo Geun, even if he wasn't the main MC. He added the humor which isn't normally seen in other variety shows and he was brilliant at that. When the show had a later time slot, they were able to make more daring jokes and talk about more sensitive topics which was fascinating (they still do but there's way less sexual innuendos and jokes now). Topics include smoking, gambling, divorce and debt which you don't regularly see in regular variety shows, which is probably why this show got really popular.

Members tease each other and guests every episode about controversial topics but not to the point when they get really uncomfortable. This is how I got to know each member of the cast and guests better over time. After watching 5-10 episodes, I understood everyone's character and some of their background history which was really nice. By this point, I felt that each member really plays a big part in the show and they all fit together, kicking out the stereotype that Heechul and Lee Soo Geun carried this show alone.

I really enjoy the "Ask us Anything" segments of the episodes because it's a unique idea which is comical and kinda educational(?) at the same time. It's really interesting to get to know the guests in these segments but one thing is, the more guests in the episode, the less questions and air time each person gets which is sometimes frustrating especially with big boy and girl groups.

The other big segment is when the guests battle against the members. This part really makes or breaks the episode for me. Most of the time the games are funny and great to watch but sometimes it's boring so I stop watching. Also, the boys cheat most of the time to get the advantage which sometimes gets annoying to watch because it gets too repetitive.

Overall, this is a really great show to watch with a fantastic cast (regardless of what people say about Ho dong and other members). The range of guests is also really cool, it's not just kpop artists who come but actors and comedians. If you are going to watch it, I highly suggest starting from episode 16-18 since the first concept is a completely different show to what it is now. Also, I think the best episodes are the earlier ones (20s to 50s) before they got 5% ratings and got really popular because the members tried really hard during those times and some of the jokes were still original.

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Overall :
Yes, it was melodramatic, but what did you expect ? You can't have THAT plot and not include sad scenes. But it wasn't as melodramatic as the other reviews say. I too thought it'd be 20 episodes of "oh no I'm gonna die" but not at all. The plotline is so much more than just the main character having an uncurable illness, and we barely even see the illness's effects during most of the drama.
Besides, it looked genuine (thanks not only to the script but also to Woobin's acting), and I think it's the most important when knowing the difference between a bad melodrama and a good, sad drama.
Both the beginning and the end  were genuine and amazingly done. The middle did look a little messy, but how can you miss out on that drama just because it's "too melodramatic" ? I strongly recommend it, and I think it could suit anyone's taste since it's not just romance or tear-drop-material.

Story :
The first part of the story is satisfying - we don't have to wait to learn about the illness since it's known since the very first scenes. There's nothing in the first episodes that frustrated me. The flashbacks are well done and there's no unnecessary flashback-related cliffhangers but there's still more to learn after every episode. The beginning is really interesting and well paced. I couldn't believe the episodes weren't 20 minutes long.  The fact that they focused on the documentary and on the main characters wwas something I appreciated.
But then comes the second part, and it got a little bit boring, with many, many, many scenes of the Choi family doing their boring stuff. It doesn't help the plot either, it's just like it's a side plot that will eventually come in handy. I skipped some of those scenes to be honest and it never affected my comprehension of the main plotline. Talking about the main plotline - the main character gets hard to understand and relate to. It's frustrating because everything could have been so much easier with just a little communication but no !! He has to do dumb stuff !! Anyway, during the middle part, we barely even hear about the illness and the documentary (which were the plotlines I craved for). It transforms into a thriller. I liked it, but I probably won't remember half of what happened in those side-plots in a week.
And then, the final part.. cleared up all the built up frustration of the middle part. No more useless scenes, back to talking about the documentary a little bit, back to talking about the illness and actually being ill. I finally could get attached to some of the side characters. I cried a lot tbh.
Overall, I'd say that the story gets a little... distracted ??? in the middle, but it helps to show how determined the main character is to clean up his mess before leaving. It is frustrating, and the relationship between the two main characters is a little weird, somehow obsessive, but interesting. I liked it. I also like that we knew how it was going to end, from start to finish, it was clear, and helped guide us through the more prone-to-confusion side-plotlines

Cast :
Suzy was okay, the actress who played Joonyoung's mom was great and overall most of the characters related to No Eul and Joon Young were good actors, But!! There are two actors I really didn't appreciate : im joo hwan (choi ji tae) and Im ju Eun (Yoon Jung Eun). Choi Jitae was hard to play since he's already a blank character, but I really didn't feel like he suited the role at all.
I'm still giving a great note because Kim Woobin's acting was amazing. His sleeping face is more expressive than the whole Choi family (except Haru). He's a great actor, what more can I say.

Music :
The songs weren't outstanding but the ambiant sounds were great at building up tension subtly. It wasn't too "in-your-face" but I feel like they did a great job on the sounds, more than on the songs (not saying the songs weren't good - they were - but I think I'll mostly remember the small ambiant details rather than the main OSTs)

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THIS IS MY COMPLETE DRAMA REVIEW. PLEASE REREAD MY EDITS.

OVERALL: I hate dramas like this. 75 hours of literally dragging and waffling around waiting for side characters to advance the plot or for "chance" and "destiny" to finally kick in. I watched this drama SO YOU DO NOT HAVE TO. A serious waste of time. Battle scenes and premise are good. Story and plot are not. The story itself is interesting but cut the number of episodes and random tension and speaking scenes in half and we might have a decent drama. I don't want to watch the 60 different side characters talking to each other about power and power struggles. If I was to count how many hours were wasted (I give a very specific and relatively old scene as a reference at the bottom) than I would be so frustrated. The only reason why I do not give the plot a 1 star is because I believe that the premise itself is interesting and would make a nice 200-300 page book. Drama, not so much.

WATCH TEN MILES PEACH BLOSSOMS IF YOU WANT A MUCH BETTER DRAMA.

Disclaimer 1: I would like to say that I am a very analytical reviewer and usually value plot and character development far more than any other aspects and I can often forgive minor plot holes or minor character flaws. However, when they affect the entire plot or are used by writers to further the plot. That is when I have a problem.

Disclaimer 2: I would also like to point out that I generally have no like/dislike towards actors/actresses, writers or directors and am not afraid to call a drama terrible even if a vast majority like it.

Plot: This is basically 3 main story lines about three main characters that are intricately interwoven with the normal troupes. Every single cliche troupe you can derive is included: power struggle in royalty, destined lovers, death of ridiculous parent figures, magical powers that are explained through fancy CGI and still make no sense, bromance yet not bromance, brotherhood yet not brotherhood, loving the same girl, star-crossed lovers, and finally fighting or fulfilling destiny. The plot as a whole is interesting enough but that has very little to do with the actual writing. How many times can you see a main character stand in front of who they love and do absolutely nothing except ignore her or say ridiculous lines... For example, "you'll be unhappy with me" says who and why does the main character believe it so easily? Ridiculous. How many times can we hear the word destiny or stars or fate or whatnot to explain the actions of characters? That is a gimmick in itself. Overall a plot that had potential but was weighed down by the need to include overarching themes and troupes such as destiny or forever star-crossed lovers.

EDIT 1: Absolutely terrible. I understand that this drama is based off of a book but how can a drama be 75 hours and get basically absolutely nothing done. The last few episodes are extremely rushed and don't resolve anything and are essentially just a cliffhanger that does not seem to be coming anytime soon given that there is only one book and there doesn't seem to be plans for a second book to be written due to conflict among the writers. This drama is a waste of time and unfortunately the pacing and the dragging and the lack of coherent character development and plot heavily weigh this drama down. If you were hoping for a huge battle scene with magic and 3 sides battling it out than you are dreaming.

Characters: Acting overall was superb by all the characters and you can feel the emotions that each character has. If the plot and writing were better to enhance the character development than the actors would have shined through more. Even the villains were generally acted well and dare I say better because they did not need as much character development. Let me explain: you can watch half of the drama and observe that the kid actors and the adult actors have portray basically the same characters. There is no character development in the first 30 something episodes of this drama. Everyone is still a kid that whines and cries and acts out for no logical reason. Theoretically the writers could be portraying that even as young adults they haven't learned the harshness of life but with the trials and love and etc. that the characters go through, how is there no character development? How long can we watch one character yell about being King of the world and doing nothing except rely on the prophecy and getting lucky? How long can we watch a character mope about the world being unfair and him not being loved by his parents (please keep running away and telling the people you love that they should pity you more for no reason)? How long can we watch one person not understand his situation and do absolutely nothing except walk into other people's traps. The writing is what makes 2/3 of the main characters honestly unbearable to watch. But their acting is overall very good.

EDIT 2: Acting remains consistently good all around for all actors. Problem is that the characters literally do not change or do much of anything. If you want to start off liking a character and than quickly hating him/her for their decisions  than please go ahead and watch this. This drama is the definition of frustrating characters portrayed by good actors. I think that the Muyun Sheng might be one of my least favorite characters in the drama due to how consistently weak he is even when he is actually not that weak. "Careful, don't drink wine. Drinks wine and complains/rants. Points sword around for some reason... Disastrous results." Other characters are just equally frustrating and it doesn't get better. At least they are acted consistently because I ended up hating many characters in this drama for their one dimensional thinking. Even the "smart and complicated and evil" characters weren't that well written or "smart" in their actions. The main reason I am saying this is that when the entire drama consists of stupid main characters that never change or grow than the side characters also do not have to be that smart. Which makes every character look pretty dumb in the end.

Another problem is that if they want to make a season 2 of this drama than they will have to wait multiple years. And that means it will be hard to recast everyone again. Acting carried this drama because tension and feelings are very clear for all characters, however, the decisions the characters themselves made were hard to act out.

Music: Suitable but honestly not impactful or noticable. Can't name an OST or even place where is belongs if there is one. Average costume drama music.

EDIT 3: Music is slightly more memorable and I actually think it improved. However, this does not effect my rating overall since my view of music in dramas is an accessory.

Rewatch value: Right now? No. Some scenes are aesthetic and CGI is done well, but often those scenes don't really mean anything. The floating stars are significant? Nope.

EDIT 4: I watched it so you did not have to. Don't watch this.


EDIT 5:
******Here is the key example of why I dislike the writing and pacing of the drama (potential spoilers so I will keep my example relatively old for Dramafever viewers): It takes about 5-6 episodes for one main character to even get engaged to his perceived "empress." Not 2, 5. Because every character had to show up and give their opinion and do whatever they wanted. My first problem is that the motive for him being crown prince is a jumbled mess with his father's motive being very muddled and unclear but the writers push it as if it is for his safety? For what reason no one can truly explain. Why do the characters act in such a way such as the priest or whatever for randomly listening to someone that is not his superior and believing him enough to cut his arm and give up all the tenants of his tribe. Just because there was a possiblity? Nonsense. He performed black magic cause some random character gave him a book and told him its possible? Pfffftttt. Why does the dad let his brother go when he knows he's plotting to kill him? "He's trying to take the crown and kill my favorite son but since he confessed to spreading rumors about the crown and he's my brother I should just let him go. Brotherhood!" Nonsense. The character's actions just don't make sense and they are always drawn out in such tedious lengths. 5 episodes. Jesus. It all ends up the same in which he reveals that he has a Charmer near him. Did we need 5 episodes to build up to a reveal of Pan Xi to the world? I don't think so. Literally 5 episodes that ends in weird family tension all over and Pan Xi getting taken away. 5 episodes/5 hours for something that could have been done in 1 maybe 2 with other scenes.

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I was looking for a cute school romance-comedy and this fit pretty well,
although it doesn't have many romantic scenes, the comedy and the few romantic scenes there are really make this series.

I love the emphasis on the importance of friendship and the strong bond between the lead characters, the development makes me feel like I know them personally. The leads have such a diverse range of personalities which makes the show much more interesting.

However I must mention the fact that it's a little jumpy, especially when we travel into the protagonist's own universe and imagination. I did. in fact, skip several of these scenes where it goes outside of the classroom as it felt unimportant and as if I was just watching fillers. However the small individual stories between each character and how they got to know each other in their class really made up for it. To a degree I feel this drama was quite relatable as I could see myself in a similar situation.

Overall I would recommend this drama as it was adorable and pretty funny, on the other hand bear in mind that I skipped a lot of the side stories which turned out to not be important but I feel I would have gotten bored if I continued watching them. Season 2 was filled with a lot more romance, especially towards the end (omg my heart, so cute) but you would need to watch season one because the underlying romance theme is carried through from the beginning to the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the series and I hope there's a season 3 in the near future.

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This is probably the only 2017 drama I started that I didn't drop, it's really good. All the lines in the drama are really heart touching and the way the relationships develop in this drama is also the reason I liked it so much. This might seem a cliché trope, two leads being forced to live together and slowly developing feelings for eachother, but I also found something relatable with the male lead in the beginning of the drama which made me continue the drama. I watched this drama when I was having a hard time, so this really being one of my sources of happiness. It's a light romcom drama, and I feel like you'll fall in love with all the characters like I did too. Enjoy watching!

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I finished watching this drama last week. However, since I have been busy, I could only write a review of this drama today.

This drama actually has an interesting story. I like how it shows the life of a cancer patient in a 'positive' light; how they could still continue with her life cheerfully as long as she is surrounded by her loved ones. Moreover, I also like how this drama touches on the realistic side of life; sometimes something did not go on as how we want them to be. Nevertheless, I think this drama is too draggy. It could be better if this drama could be cut short to maybe 12-14 episodes. I become bored towards the end and end up skipping most of the 'useless' parts.

Acting-wise, I really like how all of the actors and actresses portray their character. I should give 2 thumbs up for that child actress, she is super good. Hope to see her in more dramas in the future!

I recommend this drama to those who are looking for a meaningful family drama. But please be prepared for the draggy scenes.

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It is a rare found from Korean drama. It is not a teen cheesy love story, it is a grow up story which is a pleasure to watch coming from Korea.

While it is pretty monotone when comes to Korean drama which is all about prince and princess or cinderella like love story, this is absolutely a rare found.

Struggling with a failed marriage and wrong choices in life, both the characters met outta of faith and putting audiances through a journey of forbidden relationship with many traditional conversative hinderance. Self pity, regret, betrayal and running away trying to find meaningful in life, both characters grow quickly as series progress. While the beginning seems a bit dragging, this is quickly build into a very intense story with two main characters searching for their soulmate in the dark outta public eyes.

The hesitation to express love, the uncharacteristic extramarital affair and the hidden sercrets between two main characters have made this series very enticing to watch. I would highly recommend it for the grown up viewers for whom many may find a lot of common ground with a question, what if? The story would melt your heart from start to the end.

This is not only a pleasure to watch and definitely a rare found with a great story. Music was great and the scenes were beautifully shot, almost feel like a travel log programs sometimes. The story was undeniable well written. I would probably complaint about the second female lead who's life does not really provide a  lot of coherance to audiance outside Korean culture but was well written at the end. I like the endings when her characters grow and trying to made up with the lost time though way overdue.

Afterall, a must watch.

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Compare to the original Taiwanese version and the remade Korean version, this one took the best of the two series but was much closer to the original version in terms of the story. It is shorter, more progessive and less dragging. The only complaints I have is the female characters made very little different before and after while the scene was a little less intense when the baby was lost.

I like the original version better as it was a classic. The Thai version took the best of the two with shorter faster pacing and less dragging with side story.

One thing to like is the music of the show that make the show feel warmer. The main actor took over all of the music in the show and he sung it well. Though sounds a bit commercial compare to his other music but it is that sort of music that click well with the series.

Overall, it is a well constructed drama. I gave it a 7.

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This is  very typical japanese school drama featuring the 'bully' main and the 'insecure' girl. I definetely enjoyed this movie but as a stand alone. It's not a great adapation from the manga. The one main problem I had with this movie was the cinematography. As someone who did a tv and film course I can properly ask what the hell? There are scenes in this movie that just feels like that guy editing it didn't want to go through all the possible clips and pick the best ones. And they chose the completely wrong time to make these mistakes. For example during the emotional scenes. They start with a wide shot of the main couple talking and instead of cutting in close so the audience can see the emotions being portrayed by the actors they just stay on the wide shot for like 5 minutes longer than necessary and it just makes the movie lose so much value. Other than that I would have rated this movie an 8/10 as I'm a huge fan of the mean boy good girl troupe used in a lot of japanese dramas.

Over all a good movie and a must see if you enjoy school romance movies as much as I do!

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Secret Garden is the second drama I ever watched. It quite literally saved the genre for me. Before Secret Garden all I had watched was Boys Over Flowers and while I enjoyed that drama in its own way Secret Garden showed me that korean television could be more than just a meme. I can't believe it's been almost two years since I watched it but I still remember the feelings I had watching it. To me it was perfect. Not perfect in the way that it was beyond improvement or fault but perfect in how it everything came together in just the right way every time.

First let me talk about the plot. I know many people have issues with the body swap trope, but I loved it. It moved the romance along in a quick and organic way while adding humor to an otherwise sometimes slow plot. The swaps were silly and cute. I'll never forget how confused they both were or Joo Won's constant consternation about Ra Im's love for OSKA while trapped in his body. The times the plot was slow were fitting and beautiful though. The romance was built up slowly and naturally. I believed their love story fully. It was so refreshing to see JooWon be the one that head over heels for Ra Im. So often the girl pines after our male drama lead for the entire show until he grows an emotion and admits his love, but not Joo Won. Joo Won was smitten. Remembering it makes me happy. His silly antics and ridiculous posturing (the tracksuits and situps and distraction poem) were all so cute and endearing. Even the love triangle was less annoying than the usual fair. The plot, for all its twists and turns and random supernatural rules, was cute and straightforward. They love each other. It's that simple.

As for the characters what more can I say? Gil Ra Im was nothing short of amazing. She is a total badass but also very feminine and vulnerable. Perhaps my favorite thing about her is how focused she is on her career aspirations throughout the entire drama. She wants to achieve greatness in her field, to prove to Jong Soo that she is a stunt woman in her own right. And she succeeds. She is damn good at her job and everyone but her knew it all along. I also love how this is one of the major reasons Joo Won loves her. He is not intimidated by her in any way. He thinks shes fantastic despite her rough edges. Speaking of Joo Won I love how imperfect he is. He has it all yet he's bored and broken inside. While Ra Im definitely helps him through it all, in the end he takes care of his own issues. He overcomes his pain and trauma on his own and it shows his personal growth through his love for Ra Im. They both grow so much throughout the show and it's all due to their love for each other. Of course no discussion of Secret Garden is complete without OSKA. What a ridiculous human being. I love him. Any time the plot got slow or the romance seemed about to fizzle out Woo Yeong came to the rescue. The way he antagonized Joo Won and craved Ra Im's approval was so great. The fact that the body swap had the funniest effects on him also helped with his personality development; he went from hopeless washed up pop star to supportive family member and hardworking idol. His love interest and tortured history with her also added to his character as he became more than just a gag character. He was perhaps the most well rounded character on the show.

The side characters were also a great addition to the show as a whole. Yoo In Na is my favorite actress in dramaland. Knowing her better now than I did when I watched Secret Garden I really appreciate how great this role was for her career. She was her usual sweet self and i loved how excentric Ah Young was. Phillip Lee was also a huge win on this show. He was broody and moody and his hair was pantene commercial worthy. His character acted as the third of our love triangle but not even that could ruin him for me. As one final note let's talk about Tae Seon. First of all good on Secret Garden for making a gay character that was more than his sexuality (or for making a gay character at all. Korea is notoriously bad with gay anything so this was huge). Second can we talk about how cute he was?? Lee Jong Suk really played this character so well. I cried for Tae Seon but was also so happy for him.

Overall Secret Garden was a great experience for me. The show is the reason I continued to watch kdramas and I'm so happy I saw it. It is one of only two shows that has a perfect 10 rating from me and it deserves every bit of it. The show is a kdrama classic and it truly deserves the title.

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The first thing I wanna say is I really liked the fact that this story is created based on the journalism which is very hard to do now in this era. I found Pinocchio to have unique story line, compared to most of the Korean dramas. It was a very interesting to watch this show as it holds truth at the core of the story. The story shows us to what degree are reporters responsible for the facts they represent and the consequences the general citizens can suffer for the reporters. It shows clearly with great impact the reality and truth behind the media and news world, the power of words and how assumptions with no solid evidence can destroy someone's life completely. The drama is all about honesty and justice and how a band of reporters willingly investigate and report only the truth. This is one of the good facts that we all will want to watch pinocchio to bring justice in the journalism department. In addition to it, there’s nice intense chemistry between Lee Jong Suk and Park Shin Hye and it makes the audiences instantly love this couple. Their love also shows the realism that everyday people go through. Their love shows the struggle of couples in terms of acceptance in society and the family. The way the writer represents the villains give pleasant surprises to the audiences and make them curious about the show. Overall this show is satisfying, lovable, interesting. <3 <3 <3

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Much more than a romance.

I must admit that at first I was taken aback in watching this show. I tried one time but ended skipping through the first episode then dropping to watch others. Now I look at myself and think: "Was I crazy that time?". Because that's the only explanation I can think of to skip such a great drama.

Queen In Hyun's Man is original, touching and pretty much everything you want in a drama. There's obviously romance and some comedy, but the plot is much more than your average rom-com, which is pretty refreshing if you ask me. This drama took a path that both surprised and amused me, if it were done in another way I think it could end up as being just another "meh" drama out there.

I really liked how they dealt with the whole time traveling plot, instead of going for the obvious and transporting the MC to the future then trying to go back, they  used it not as a mere plot starter, but the main reason to keep it moving. Very clever of them because it allows us not only to watch a modern day drama, but a Joseon era one as well. Two in one.

In regards of acting and characters I have to say Yoo In Na impressed me on this one. The last drama I watched with her, her character/acting didn't impress me at all(just so you know I'm talking about You Who Came From The Stars). But here she shows a very different side of her, playing one of the most unique female leads. Finally a girl who takes the initiative here!! Obviously she wasn't all that perfect, but I think it was just that that made her so watchable and refreshing. Also, In Na finally gained her own 300+ hot scholar haha

Another one that impressed me was Ji Hyun Woo. I liked him in Angry Mom but he was far from one of my favorite actors, now that I watched this drama he suddenly became an actor I'd like to watch more. Not only he is good at acting, but he is great eye candy (which, let's be honest, is a huge plus when we are watching a drama)

I liked the music as well. It was good and not too over the top, bringing feels to the romantic moments, fun to the comedic ones and sadness to the sad ones. It was competent yet far from perfect.

Maybe my only complaint is in regards to the end. Beware of some mild *spoilers* ahead!!

It could've ended earlier actually, giving perfect closure and a heartwarming finishing moment. Actually for a minute I thought that it was the actual ending, but then I saw that it had more episodes. Not that the actual ending was that terrible, it had some loose ends and lack of logic, but it was satisfying for those who favor happier, sugary endings.

But since I'm not afraid of more tragic ones, I felt that the solution to it all felt a little...strange. Also, it would be even more epic if it ended more tragically, leaving an even better impression on me. However I see that the writers decided to go for the easier/lighter path...or else the ending could be even more hated/contested. What really bugged me though was why they had to continue even though everything was pretty much solved.

That way they could've avoided the possibility of a tragic ending and fulfill the need for a happy one.

If it was any other drama, I would've given at least a 8 or 8.5, but I can overlook my dissatisfaction with those tiny things and give a solid 9.

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