Perfect Marriage Revenge (2023)

A throwback to the era of Stairway to Heaven

A total throwback to the era of Stairway to Heaven and early Korean dramas, which makes it a deliciously guilty pleasure. Everything about this revenge drama is way over the top. The bad guys are so bad you want to strangle them and the good guys are so adorable you want to pinch their cheeks. There are orphans, lost memories, murders, return from the dead, fake relatives, 2nd wives, step sibling rivalries, chaebols, bad guys who ultimately redeem themselves, bad guys who get what they deserve, and lots of other craziness that is only found in kdramas. This is not great literature come to life. This is ridiculousness in its full kdrama glory. Thumbs up!

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Super engaging, very well written drama

Highlights:
- the plot was very well thought out, it was fast paced from beginning to end, it wasn't completely obvious, it layers, emotional charge and depth.
- the acting was very good, some mean characters were freaking impressive in their capacity to make you hate them.
- the main couple was cute, even though the romance development came second to the overall suspense/revenge plot.

Could be better:
- the only thing which stopped me from giving this a 10 was the way they decided to handle the adoption arc. I was disappointed that, even though the script seemed to want to bring forth the need to let go of some bizarrely old-fashioned views on the topic in that society, I think the message kinda fell through with some of the revelations made as the drama evolved.

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Comparison to the webtoon

THE STORY IS EPIC, BUT PLEASE READ THE WEBTOON INSTEAD!!!
Becaud it before, I really cannot be objective about this. So you can give this drama a shot, but if you are interested in it and you also read webtoon, read rease I reather the webtoon. The drama version is not better.

For starters, I've read the webtoon first, I've been a big fan of that, . So just the fact, that I missed this drama airing and complety being unaware of it existing just states a lot about this drama.

Overall I was disappointed. I feel like the whole plot was rushed and they left out or changed lot of important parts and also my favourite scene. It looked like they had a very tight budget for the drama. From the second-teer actors, to the music or the lenght, but most importantly what irritated me the most was the way they filmed it. How to explain it...The angles and also the music didint really emphatised with what is happening o the screen. In other dramas whan some drama is happening they magnify it and make sure it leave an impact on the viewer. But her it just wasnt really happening so it just make the story look really bland.
The actors played it really well, its not supposed to be hate against them, but its just me, being let down. I had high expectations for this drama and I'm mad becouse it looks like it was made to not be the mainstream drama on purpuse.
I give this drama over all rating 9, but only because I dont want to degrading the story from the webtoon.

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Insanely dramatic

In a way the drama reminded me of 2016 kdramas where theres a LOT of twist, and I liked it. I didn’t read the webtoon so this is entirely just on the drama.

Story isnt very new but it was enjoyable.

Acting from the cast was very subpar imo, Jung Yoo Min carried it heavily for me. Lee Minyoung cannot act but its the type of cannot act that adds a lot of comedic value so it doesn’t ruin the drama.

The leads have great chemistry despite Sunghoon mostly beingly consistent with his limited facial expressions lol but paired with Jung Yoomin they made it fantastic!

The side plot of the power battle adds flair to the drama as both parties are rich so it was moreso a battle of morals than anything which I liked.

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Chica buena maltratada que tras morir tiene la decisión de vengarse de todos y estoy de acuerdo.

Este es el primer kdrama que ví de estos en dónde la protagonista tras morir decide vengarse, me encanta la venganza en los kdramas porque muchas veces son demasiado buenas. La última serie que ví de venganza fue The Glory así que necesitaba seguir con ese ritmo.

Perfect Marriage Revenge me gustó, se que es una adaptación de un webtoon que no he leído pero me pareció súper interesante desde el principio, estuve semana tras semana esperando cada capítulo y en cada uno había algo que me hacía seguir viendo y esperando.

El final está bien, aunque no es de mis favoritos, todo final que termine con los protagonistas teniendo hijos como si eso fuera la unica opción que tienen para ser completamente felices tras todo lo que pasaron me es abzurdo, pero como la protagonista durante toda la temporada siempre recalca la falta de "familia" en su vida, tiene algo de sentido en su final.

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A makjang that doesn’t disappoint is how I would describe this drama. From the first episode, it’s ridiculously entertaining! The characters are exactly who they promise to be and the chemistry between the leads is sizzling. Who stood out to me the most was the actress who plays the main character, Yi Joo. From one moment where she was absolutely in the bits to the next moment when she was owning her revenge, so well done! I’ve seen the ML in few other dramas too and his acting could do a lot more improvement but it adds into to the genre anyway, The supporting characters are over the top and the evil ones go full on evil. It’s been a while a drama begins and ends so satisfactorily. Keeping it to twelve episodes helped immensely in not stretching the story unnecessarily. This had conflicts which got resolved very soon. And the ending? I can’t think of anything that they left without wrapping up.

One issue and a spoiler in the story is the steamy scene between the leads could have been directed well. The intentional or unintentional non consensual bed scene was an extremely uncomfortable watch. It’s 2023 and forceful initiation of physical contact really needs to end.

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A Rollercoaster Ride: Fast-Paced Daytime Drama

I wasn't planning to watch this as overly dramatic daytime soaps are not my cup of tea. But with its rave reviews, curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to give it a try.

This drama may have its flaws, but it excels in delivering a fast-paced, intense, and captivating experience. Essentially a low-budget, daytime soap opera-style revenge drama, it stands out due to its brisk pacing and constant plot twists. The story moves swiftly, resolving conflicts quickly and keeping viewers eager for more. While some parts are absurd and defy logic, the rapid pace often leads viewers to overlook these faults.

The acting is inconsistent. Sung Hoon's unusually low-pitched voice feels unnatural, and both Jung Yoo Min and Lee Min Young, who plays her stepmother, often stare directly into the camera with overly wide eyes.

At the end of the day, this drama is not going to win any awards and has limited rewatch value for me at least. But it was a fun and satisfying watch, and you have to put away your logical lens to fully enjoy it.

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Enjoyable ride

All in all this is a perfectly fine drama. Well thought out plot that is mostly well executed with characters you can root for and villians you can hate. Beautifully shot and styled with stunning cast. A story about a woman who is given a second chance to go back and change her life a year before her death so she chooses to make those responsible pay and finds a man that is willing to help her do just that.

I have nothing bad to say about this drama. I enjoyed watching it and was fairly happy with the progression and conclusion of the story. I liked the main characters and felt like for many of them their motives were understandable and rooted in a believable way. Greed is one of humans most toxic traits and it will make some people do anything. Yi Joo's personality was also believable with her trauma clouding some of her actions in a way that makes sense and isn't as frustrating as I have seen done in other dramas.

My one complaint would only be that my curiosity about the ending for the villains was not completely fulfilled but they did at least give you a shadow of an answer. This is a fine drama. Not mind blowing or one of a kind but an enjoyable way to pass the time.

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Revenge was Never Sweeter

This is one drama that I had high expectations and it definitely lived up to them. I was not in the least disappointed. You will feel yourself being drawn into the world of “revenge” by two main characters. The first being FL (Jung Yoo Min aka Han Yi Joo) who is a painter and was adopted by Han Jin Woong and Lee Jung Hye and ML (Sung Hoon aka Seo Do Guk) who is the grandson of the Taeja Group’s founder.

Han Yi Joo knew how her family felt about her. She was not loved by her parents, or her younger sister Han Yoo Ran. They made sure to isolate her and make her feel worthless by bullying and poisoning her as well as attempting to kill her several times. Her world and her marriage to Jung Se Hyeok fell apart the day of the “VIP party” that was held at the family’s art gallery.

Kim Jae Woo, assistant to Lee Jung Hye had ask Han Yi Joo to retrieve a document and bring it to the gallery. As she made her way into the gallery carrying the family portrait, she noticed her husband’s car which only a few minutes ago she had called the office to find out that he had taken leave for the day. Why was his car there? Walking over to his car, she spotted a piece of paper on the ground. She opens it up and finds it's his resignation letter.

Meanwhile, inside the gallery, Han Yi Joo’s husband Jung Se Hyeok is living streaming for her sister Han Yoo Ran.

Entering the gallery with her portrait and the document for Kim Jae Woo, Lee Jung Hye and her daughter Han Yoo Ran never missed an opportunity to ridicule her, so they began discussing the portrait that Han Yi Joo had painted but several prominent women interceded. They liked the portrait so much until Lee Jung Hye was forced to display it. Han Yi Joo noticed there is paint on the edge and begins to clean it, enter Seo Do Guk. As they exchange pleasantries, Han Yoo Ran and Jung Se Hyeok join them.

Realization finally rears its ugly head for Han Yi Joo when her mother is accused of forging paintings by one of the women that Lee Jung Hye had previously sold to. In full denial, she pleads with Han Yi Joo to take the blame promising her that she will find the best attorney for her. Lee Jung Hye’s assistant, Kim Jae Woo, produces documents to the police showing it was Han Yi Joo who was forging the painters not her mother. She is the one going down in flames. But her reality is not yet done being crushed. She overhears Jung Se Hyeok and her sister, Han Yoo Ran talking. Her husband confesses his love to her sister. He tells her that he only married Han Yi Joo only to be close to her. He thought being near her would be enough until he saw her with another man. He could not live without her and said he would leave his wife.

Han Yoo Ran tells him that she knew that he liked her and that only someone as clueless as her sister would not be able to tell that. She told him that she thought he would stop. She only tolerated him because he was cute. Then she told him that he should know his place. He was too greedy for something he couldn’t have, which was her.

As they both turned around, they were confronted by Han Yi Joo who stared horrified by what she just heard. But Han Yoo Ran just walked away, leaving Jung Seo Hyeok to clean up the pieces of his marriage with her sister. He told her: “I felt sorry for you. Trying so hard to impress your parents and somehow smiling all through all of it. You reminded me of myself. I felt sorry for you, like I felt about myself. You’re right. I’m wrong.”

But after all this high drama she couldn't take it and runs to her car. Driving through tears, she makes a U-turn and another car hits her but then a truck comes and hits that car which the driver was Seo Do Guk.

Still scheming to get out of the forgery implications, Lee Jung Hye looks at Han Yi Joo as she is laying in her hospital bed fighting for life and decides this was the perfect opportunity for her to kill her daughter at last. Pulling the ventilator pull from the wall, she sits beside her daughter's bed. Smiling she leans down to her daughter, she whispered:

“It’s finally quiet, isn’t it? Just the two of us, finally. Can I be honest with you now? Yi Joo. From the beginning, I never liked you. Do you remember when we first met? You tried so hard to make me like you. And it worked. But, at home you cried because you felt sorry for the others at the orphanage. Living in a good house, eating nice food, I couldn’t believe it. More and more I became curious. How long can you hide your greed? How long will she act pathetic? I felt it in my bones while looking at you. A life where you can’t even say what you want out loud, a life where you don’t even know people scorn and insult you behind your back. How awful that is. Considering our relationship, let mom give you advice for the last time. Yi Joo. In your next life, don’t be too kind. That just makes your life harder.”

As Han Yi Joo could feel the anger, rage and tears filling her eyes, she closes her eyes only to wake up back in her room at home. Wondering what just occurred, she looks at the date and find she is back to one year earlier when she was engaged to Jung Seo Hyeok. She realizes this is her opportunity to make the wrongs that had befallen her.

She then goes to the hotel to meet the man that her sister wants to marry--Seo Du Guk. She tells him that she wants to cut to the chase and instead of marrying Yoo Ran to marry her. Before he agreed, he ask her if it was for revenge towards Han Yoo Ran and Lee Jung Hye. She told him yes it was and that is why she chose him. As you know he agreed. They married.

In the words of Seo Du Guk and Han Yi Joo:

Seo Du Guk: "Did you see your painting?"

Han Yi Joo: "But why do you have it, Du Guk."

Seo Du Guk: "How I first knew about you, was through that painting. I fell in love with this painting by an unnamed artist. I ended up buying it. As I was looking for the artist, I found out it was you. At the time, you had just married Mr. Yoo. I watched you in secret. But when I saw you at the party celebrating the Savings Bank acquisition, I got angry. At your family for treating, you that way and at you for taking it. But really, I was angry at myself for not being able to do anything about it. I regretted speaking that way to you. On my way back, the accident happened."

Han Yi Joo: "Then you came back in time."

Seo Du Guk: "Yes. I was back in 2022, a year ago. You were a completely different person. When you said that you needed me to get revenge against your evil family, I was glad. Really glad.

Han Yi Joo: "So why? Why did you accept my offer?"

San Du Guk: "I realized that I was already in love with you. Yi Joo. I love you. I am so in love with you."

Their marriage was one filled with much love and happiness. But what Han Yi Joo never realized is that Seo Du Guk also prayed to go back to give her something as well...that was his love and to be loved. She had never known that in her life. He wanted to be the one to give it to her now and forever.

In the final words of Han Yi Joo:
"I once thought happiness was something that I couldn't have. I thought it was something to special for me. Something I couldn't dare dream of. That's why a happy family only existed on canvas for me. But not anymore. After meeting you, I learned that happiness is in the every day. That it's in the moments we pass by daily. So, this is our perfect marriage."

This drama to me was perfect in every way. It will definitely leave you smiling and wishing for more, hmmm, maybe that is the sweet revenge for all of us...wanting more!

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