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The ending doesn't make any sense and was completely absurd.
I only liked two things. One of them is that in this drama there are not good and bad people, they all make big mistakes and they are all selfish. I hate dramas where some characters are perfect and the others are horrible.
The second thing I liked was the music. It is not my favourite OST, but it was pretty good.
For the rest, this drama didn't get to make me sad or laugh. I wouldn't watch it again and I don't recommend anyone to watch it, there are much more interesting dramas out there.
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But the ending. I mean SERIOUSLY ?!?!?!?!. That must have been the worst ending of a drama EVER.
I feel like I wasted precious time watching this drama.
I recommend NOT watching this drama.
And I only gave it an overall 3 because the acting was good and I did enjoy most of the show. But solely based on the ending it should have gotten an big fat ZERO.
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Nothing was getting resolved. The same dialogue back and forth all the time. After a while it just became so tiring and tedious to watch. I've seen some bad dramas before but there was always one element that kept me with it. It was usually the characters.
I couldn't even like the characters here even though the actors themselves I love. Ga young was just weak and led around by either Jae Hyuk or Young Gul. It's like she could never make a decision on her on, whatever they wanted her to do she did. Jae Hyuk and Young Gul were alpha males who just wanted to outdo each other using Ga Young in the process.In the end, in just came down to choosing the lesser of two evils and well, we know how that ended.
Yoo Ah In, Shin Se Kyung, Lee Je Hoon and Yuri all did the best they could. They never "phoned" in their acting, they gived it all they had. On paper I can see why these actors chose these roles but in the end it lacked proper direction for the characters themselves to develop.
One Plus, I do love the OST for Fashion King :)
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******DO NOT WATCH THIS DRAMA IT IS THE BIGGEST WASTE OF TIME******
Ok so yeah this was the worst drama I have ever watched & I have been watching dramas 4 the past 2 yrs now. I can not believe that the writers could do this 2 ppl. 1st of all it took 4-ever 2 get started, & there rly wasn't a story going on until about epi 15. They could have written 2 - 4 more epi's w/ the way the story was going after that. I am not upset about the dude dying b/c that is just part of some stories but it makes me wonder: WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST WATCH? Was I watching a romantic drama that had a little bit about fashion thrown in or was it a gangsta drama that had romance & fashion thrown in? I am so confused & I feel totally cheated out of like 21 hrs of my life. If there was a negative rating I could give this drama it would be like -6. Which is sad b/c I liked the actors. I just could not stand the characters they played or the story. It was HORRIBLE! PLZ PPL OUT THERE IN THE DRAMA WORLD.....DON'T WATCH THIS. SAVE URSELF & FIND SOMETHING ELSE 2 WATCH OR DO. Nething is better than watching this.
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I want to say, the story was going very well. The start was good. The idea was kinda unique. I don't know why the PDs wanted to make even more conflicts when they weren't needed. Specially the romantic parts at the end they were very unnecessary. and WT .. with the ending? Very confusing, not related, you can call it with your worst adjectives. VERY BAD ENDING.
The cast is alright. I had my eyes on Yuri, not a fan, but wanted to see how an idol can act. She did her job as sit was given to her. Good & not bad.
the OST. I felt that the OST were recycled. I think I've heard the same lyrics somewhere with different singers.
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Ga Young who I guess is suppose to be the main character in this so called drama has no expression and is NEVER happy. This girl could be given the world on a silver platter and she would still have a problem with something. Ga Young should have left all these people behind and stood up for herself and her talent and made her own way. Or at least admit that she was actually in love with Jae Hyuk. I know she felt like she owed Young Gul something, but I don’t know if she loved him. Or maybe she loved them both. Who knows considering how wishy washy she is. I have never seen Shin Se Kyung in anything else so I don’t know if it is her acting or the writing of the character, but she is annoying.
Young Gul is just money hungry. I can’t blame him for wanting to be something more through his talent as a designer, but I think he gets carried away. I did think he treated people like crap by the end of this drama and I did think he ended up treating Ga Young like crap too, but I don’t blame his character for being frustrated with Ga Young. No matter what he does for her she is never happy. I thought that he might find happiness with AnNa, but I guess not. In the end I honestly don’t have a clue as to why he did anything that he did. I won't give away the ending....just want to add that if you like this character while watching this drama, then you are going to be ticked off. Fair warning!!! I have seen Yoo Ah In acting in another drama and a movie, so I know he can act. I blame it all on the writing.
Jae Hyuk is all over the place. One minute he is this hateful jerk and the next he is a kind and sweet. Looking at his parents you can kind of understand why he is emotionally stunted. His father constantly beats the crap out of him and his mom is controlling. Again I don't want to give away the ending, but I say his mother did it. I feel sorry for him by the end of this drama. I’m actually kind of sad that he ends up with whom he ends up with (don’t want to spoil it for ya), because I don’t think she can make him happy. I haven’t see Lee Je Hoon in anything else, but I thought he did a great job playing Jae Hyuk. He is too cute and a really good actor.
AnNa is the only character that stays true to herself. I actually liked her character the best amongst all of them. She may have played a few dirty tricks, but I still liked her better than Ga Young. I was routing for her through pretty much the whole drama. She is possibly the only one that will end up happy. I thought Yuri did a good job acting. I think this is only her second role, so she needs a little bit more experience, but overall did a good job.
The side characters were the best part of this whole drama…even the evil ones.
The ending to this drama is horrible and it is mainly the reason why I give it a 1. I am sorry that I ever watched this drama. I almost gave it a 10, because no matter how awful it was, I just kept watching it. However, I decided it was more like a car wreck that you can’t turn away from. I gave the acting a higher score because the guys did a really good job playing their messed up characters.
I think you know how I feel about rewatching this nightmare of a drama.
Of course, this is just my opinion. Watch it and decide for yourself. I have heard some people really liked it…even the ending.
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it seemed promising at the beginning but it all went to hell from there! The plot Dragged on for what seem like eternity, so much that I was skipping through the episodes. And don't get me started about the characters. They were so inconsistent I had no idea what to expect from each character.
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Frustrating and Unlikeable Characters in a Makjang-like Drama
Subjective Entertainment Rating: 7.25I would never have watched or known of “Fashion King” had it not been the Chaos Clown Cave Chill Challenge and I was assigned this drama as a MLDer’s least favorite. Because of the low rating, I came in with very low expectations. That should be the mentality if you want to watch this, especially, if you are watching this many years later (2024 for me). But I figured, Yoon Ah In is in it, I can deal with that as he’s always been excellent in everything he’s played.
Plot:
Keeping in mind that this is a 2012 drama, I somewhat excused the physical assault, slapping, throwing things and the not very realistic fist fight. “Fashion King” actually ages pretty well and I don’t think it’s very dated. But it’s more makjang than I anticipated.
1/4 of Drama - Makjang-like introductions to all the main characters. Everything that could go wrong for Kang Yeong Gul (Yoon Ah In aka ML1) and Lee Ga Young (Shin Sae Kyeong aka FL1) went wrong. From broken families to kicking out of the house, to all the adventures getting to and in New York - it’s quite ridiculous.
2/4 of the Drama - I am slowly enjoying how things are developed. Relationships between the four main characters are more defined and the business side of things picked up a little. Feelings are developed and there’s some pining and push-and-pull, along with very muddy former relationships between Jung Jae Hyuk (Lee Je Hoon aka ML2) and Choi Anna (Kwong Yu Ri aka FL2). I probably enjoyed these episodes the most.
3/4 of the Drama - Scheming and getting back at each other continued on. Romance is getting complicated and I am slightly impatient as I realized I don’t want to root for anyone. Everyone should remain single as none of them deserves each other. Even though the drama is about the fashion industry, they don’t really dive right in. It’s a very superficial/peripheral attempt. If you don’t like business dramas, then this is a positive thing.
4/4 of the Drama - Thought I would be rewarded with a little happy romance, but no, happy times don’t even add up to 30 mins. The angst and annoyance I put up with throughout the drama, especially when it comes to romance, was not rewarded at all. And that ending, so many plot holes and everything could be resolved with a few honest conversations.
Characters:
I have a very hard time rooting for our 4 main characters. Yeong Gul appears fun and nice, but is scheming and will use you to advance and make money. Ga Young was spunky and stubborn in the first few episodes, but then she resorted to crying or sleeping all the time. Jae Hyuk is a chaebol man-child who is petty and somewhat naive, but also mean. Anna is a pitiful ex who’s trying to grasp onto something and not sink. If you like flawed characters who make questionable decisions with unclear intentions, then you would love them. For me, I am 70% frustrated and 30% entertained.
Romance:
The only somewhat consistent feelings in this drama are from Ga Young to Yeong Gul. She has liked him from the very beginning. But towards the end, I questioned if she also has some feelings for Jae Hyuk because she’s bad with boundaries. She might say NO (and sometimes says nothing), but her actions might say otherwise. Or maybe deep down she’s enjoying all the affection Jae Hyuk has for her. Jae Hyuk is like a high school boy who shows affection for his classmate by being mean to her. He would make sarcastic remarks all the time, then give you a smile and then run towards you to apologize and make nice. He does not know how to love properly. I couldn’t tell if he still had feelings for Anna in the earlier episodes. Was he unable to show or he’s just using her? I would have liked to believe that Anna did indeed love Jae Hyuk in the beginning. But how she was discarded like trash broke her and drove her towards Yeong Gul. But her affections for Yeong Gul are probably not 100% sincere. She needed a life jacket, and she found one in Yeong Gul. Yeong Gul, once recognizes his feelings, is the easiest to spot and the more cliche lover. He wants to give Ga Young everything he has, wants payback for those who mistreat her and wants to give her all the best. Yet, of course, he doesn’t use words. If he and Ga Young actually talk to each other, I would not be so frustrated.
Acting:
Yoo Ah In really keeps me in this drama. He’s just so charismatic and I can’t help but draw to him. He’s not the typical handsome type, but no matter what drama he’s in, he’s the center of the attention. I love his acting here. Amazingly, I found Lee Je Hoon paled in comparison to Yoo Ah In a little. Probably because his character is a little more pitiful. But his character also allows him to show much more range than the other 3 main leads. Visually, he does not have the swagger for a rich Director and he walks funny. Shin Sae Kyeong is so pretty and young. But she always has the same crying face. I am not sure if it’s the writing of the character or her acting, I get annoyed when she just stands there and not says anything, and acts all shy. Kwong Yu Ri is so beautiful. She really does give off the high class designer vibe, and the subtle bitchiness in the way she walks and talks.
Fashion:
When the drama is about fashion, they better have some good fashion. And I am having a grand type admiring Yeong Gul’s eclectic and loud style, and also nice tailored suits. As I said, Yoo Ah In looks sexy and dashing in this drama. The ladies also have beautiful outfits. I like Ga Young’s casual style and work outfits, and Anna’s more high-end fashion. But Jae Hyuk in the earlier episodes looks like he’s wearing a suit a size too big for him. I have to say, Lee Je Hoon ages well. He looks more handsome in his 30s than in his 20s.
Ending:
I was going to talk about the ending, but decided to keep this spoiler-free as there are many other reviews about this disappointment. Let’s just say it’s not that hard to locate someone, or give someone a call and not rely on regular postal service completely. Communication can solve a lot of problems.
Overall, this is an interesting watch. I am not sure if I will recommend this drama when there are much better ones out there. Maybe if you are a fan of Yoo Ah In and you miss him now that he’s blacklisted? In a way, the entertainment value to ‘hate-watch’ is quite high for me. I am tempted to rate this much lower just because everyone hates it. But subjectively, it’s a 7.25 and I’m rounding this up to 7.5 to boost the rating a little. Though the characters frustrate me and it’s hard for me as a romance lover to not feel rewarded, this drama is still entertaining in a way and keeps me focused pretty well.
Completed: 1/20/2024 - Review #397
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