I would have liked some character development/growth

Overall, it's a cute show. Both main actors are very attractive and nice to watch. I don't feel that I would ever need to see this again (mainly because my list is so long for things I still want to watch!)

What I liked:
1. The acting was good.
2. The storyline. I liked that it was the woman that was the workaholic and the man had to wait around for her to have time for him. Riichi (Eiji Akuso) was what I think a lot of women would think are the perfect boyfriend. He was extremely patient with her and the fact that she didn't have time for him. However, there is a certain amount of suspension of disbelief (addressed in what I didn't like)
3. Since it only had a few episodes, all ancillary issues were kept to a minimum. For example, the other girl that liked Riichi (I have to be honest, I liked the way that was handled)
4. The chemistry between the leads was cute, though they actually spent more time apart than together.
5. I loved hearing from the female lead point of view, as well as the male lead point of view.
6. "I wonder when it will be?" Once you watch it you'll understand! But it speaks to Riichi's dedication to Hanai and it was very sweet.

What I didn't like so much:
1. And this is a negative ONLY if you can't suspend disbelief. But a person can only be ignored for so long before they get fed up and move on. I mean, they'd been "dating" for a month and hadn't been on a date? And I don't think that if you are in a relationship it's ever okay to ignore texts and phone calls for days at a time.
2. The multiple times he asked her for a "reward" really bothered me. It's the equivalent of a man taking you to dinner and then expecting you to put out since he spent some money on you.
3. There is actually no character development. They are the same at the end of the show as they are at the beginning. She has learned nothing and doesn't apparently appreciate the fact that she has someone in love with her. His character is the same, but add that he has now become a doormat for a woman that ignores him.

I'll have to admit that the show is kind of thought-provoking. How do you maintain a relationship when you are working all the time? How do you prioritize your time so you can actually have a relationship? How long would you be willing to stay with a person that put you way down on their priority list?

Read More

Meh.

This show started out well, but I thought it dragged A LOT in the middle. I did like the premise of the show, the secrets, etc. The male lead was wonderful, and I loved the concept of him loving her practically his entire life. The female lead, I loved her voice, and she is beautiful - her smile is just radiant - but I didn't particularly care for her character. She seemed unnecessarily pouty and kind of stand-offish. The second male lead - I LOVE when the secondary character turns out to be a good guy. They even turned around the second female lead - she was an absolute nightmare at the beginning, but at the end I liked her. The overall story was kind of slow and sometimes boring, and I don't understand why so many Korean dramas have the passage of time just before the end of the show. The characters have to go through so much to get together, and then they just kind of go along on auto pilot. It was a happy ending, just kind of brief and bland. There were a couple of good kisses, but I didn't find this show terribly romantic.

Read More

Brilliant acting

I was exhausted by the time I finished this show! There are so many twists and turns in this story, you need a map. It was an original story, very entertaining, but very emotional. Ji Sung is the male lead, and on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give him a 20 for this part! He had trauma in his life which cause him to develop multiple personalities. Each personality was so believable and there were so many heartbreaking scenes. I have to score down for two reasons, one was the overabundance of bad guys, and the other was for the female lead, played by Hwang Jung Eum. She tends to stay on the comedy side of the spectrum which was jarring in a lot of the scenes - her screaming and shrieking were very distracting. She was much better in the emotional scenes toward the end. I felt the ending was rushed after all the drama they went through, but this show has one of the best lines ever in ep 1 "Remember - January 7, 2015 at 10:00 on the dot. The time I fell for you." If for no other reason, watch this for Ji Sung's acting.

Read More

Cute story, low on angst

Don't let the name fool you. I thought she was going to be this aggressive, irritating woman. Not so. This movie is a joy to watch. I shed a few tears briefly, but for the most part I couldn't do anything but smile. This is about scars, both on the outside where they can be seen by everyone, and those on the inside, that we usually have to deal with on our own. It's also about realizing that, just because someone is physically able, we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that they don't have any problems. Often the inner troubles are harder to deal with, because we don't let anyone in to help us. This movie is also about opening up to friendships of all different types. Each of the students was so fun in their own way. This is a movie that will definitely make you happy.

Read More

Reviewing after watching it again!

Wonderful movie about the power of love, the strength of memories and connections between lovers. The actors were all very good. Choi Jin Hyuk continues to impress me - that deep voice! I loved all the emotion he put into his character, the seriousness, the playfulness, the loneliness, the feeling of loss. Song Ha Yoon was very good as well. Her character was strong and resilient without being hard. These two had off-the-charts chemistry! Multiple very good kissing scenes. Very cute ending. The actor that played his cousin was very good - his character was often over the top, but when he saw his mother for what she was, his betrayal was heart-wrenching. Beautiful scenery and I loved the visual of her wearing different white outfits throughout the show. It really helped to show her innocence/sweetness, especially in light of all that she had gone through. Choi Jin Hyuk did singing for the soundtrack - bonus!

Read More

Catchy music!

This show started out so strong, they met in high school, lost touch with one another and now she works for him. He has the biggest dimples I’ve ever seen, and I loved the way his character was written. About midway through the show, my enjoyment began to wane. Her character bothered me. She was so strong in sales, in protecting and taking care of her family, but she was so weak relationship-wise. She would never tell him how she felt, and the multiple separations because she wasn’t “good enough” were working my last nerve. I loved all of the male characters in this show, they were always true friends, not out for their own gains. There was one storyline I didn’t like at all. Good music, wonderful, catchy theme song. Happy, yet kind of silly, ending. And I have to say that this show has the best theme song ever - you love it while you're listening to it and it makes you want to dance, then it burrows into your brain and you find yourself singing it for the rest of the day!

Read More

More revenge than romance

"Revenge is a dish best served cold." This certainly applies to Zhao Yi Ting (Marcus Chang), as he coldly goes about exacting revenge on someone that ruined his family. He's been slow and methodical about it (12 years), and to hear him talk, nothing is going to stand in his way. That is, until he meets Lei Xin Yu (Eugenie Liu) - the innocent, naive and optimistic daughter of his target. This show is about how love can overcome revenge, but only if you let yourself be open to it.

The storyline and script were good, though drawn out at times. There were twists that kept cropping up, keeping me interested.

Marcus Chang was very good in this role. He had that hard, distant stare down to a science, but when he smiled, oh my!

I felt that Eugenie Liu overacted quite a bit, especially during the scenes with her mom. She cried A LOT, and it got to the point that I was wondering what calamity the writers were going to put her through next.

Their chemistry was good, the romance was very subdued (just a couple of kisses). I really did feel this was more about revenge than romance.

The music was good and the vignette they showed at the beginning of each episode was very dramatic and you got a feel for the actors' chemistry here as well.

I loved the secondary characters of her roommate and his family. There are mysteries surrounding these people that you find out as you go along, but the love was there, when they were fighting for each other, or just kidding around.

I also liked a technique that I don't think gets used enough in Asian dramas. We always have an overabundance of the girl/boy (usually girl) that likes the main lead and is willing to do whatever it takes to be with them, even knowing that they don't like them or are in love with someone else, and they do all kinds of evil/underhanded things. In this show, there were a couple of instances of someone liking someone else, but their motivation was happiness for the object of their affection. They put their own feelings aside to help the person they liked. I love that!

The ending was happy and sweet and the writers did a wonderful job of including his family in their "happily ever after". I would have liked at least a kiss, but I'm just being picky.

Read More

Wallace Huo saved this from being rated lower by me

I would have given the first half more than 10 stars, if possible. Wow, was it ever good! So well-written, with smart dialogue, excellent acting, mystery and tension throughout. The music was very successful in addition to the tension.
Their voices were good and not screech-y (why do most C-dramas insist upon dubbing?). This was my first time of seeing Wallace Huo in anything, and I was impressed. his character, Simon Bo, was a criminal profiler and seemed able to pull the answers to clues out of thin air (suspend disbelief here). The developing relationship between the male and female leads was a pleasure to watch, and so amusing, since he had no people skills whatsoever. I didn't feel that them sleeping together that first date made any sense, since she could barely even kiss him on the cheek. However, her describing to him how he kisses? That was hot! The writers would have been better served to extend that "will they/won't they" tension, because the couple got boring after that. I loved that they were working on new crimes every couple of episodes, which kept it fresh. I also really enjoyed Andrew Yin as Simon's assistant/secretary. He and Simon had a wonderful bromance relationship going on and a lot of his lines were very amusing. I had to downgrade my rating because of the second half of the story when they were in America. Really bad American actors, and they kept changing the female lead's name. And the Chinese actors spoke in only Chinese, but everyone was able to understand one another? However, I'll definitely be watching the first half of this again sometime soon.

Read More

What took me so long to watch this?!

There was so much to love about this show. I have literally skipped over this show dozens of times, strictly because of the picture that goes along with the synopsis. I'm so glad I finally gave it a chance. It is a slow-moving drama, but the characters are developed very well, and because of the slow pace, you feel like you are coming to know them and learning to care for them at the same time.

The first four episodes set in the 70's at University - there was a sort of yellowish tinge to the film quality that I really liked, giving evidence to the time period. I loved the 70's fashions (which at the time we thought we were rocking!), and hairstyles and the overall feel. I also appreciated that they did a jump forward into the present time, rather than the endless flashbacks, which really take you out of the story.

The current time was filled with beautiful scenery, comedy, drama, and the usual K-drama angst. I did lower my score one point due to the fact that there were multiple episodes where the main couple broke up and made up over and over again. That, to me, said the show could have been edited a little more tightly and made shorter.

I thought it was well acted for the most part, but I must especially give shouts out to Im Yoon-Ah and Jang Geun Suk. Im Yoon-Ah played the shy female lead in the 70's, and her daughter in the current time. In the 70's her character seemed a little one-dimensional to me, but I think that was to contrast with the vivacious person she was in the current time. Her character was sweet and likeable and not a complete doormat (though when she kept lowering her eyes in front of his nightmare of a mother, I wanted to smack her).

Jang Geun Suk - oh my goodness, his performance was impressive! Since I hadn't read much about this show before I watched it, I was quite a way into the show before I realized that he played two parts as well! In the 70's he was a shy artist. He falls in love in three seconds and this is basically the story of that love. His character was sweet and tender in the 70's, contrasted by his character of the son, who was bitter, cynical, and didn't believe in love. His hair and his costumes in the present time were ridiculous, but he was wonderful. I loved watching him becoming aware of someone other than himself, especially since he came out and said he didn't believe in love. The voice-over work he did, especially during the 70's time frame, was lovely. He has the perfect voice for it. Add to that the Love Rain song that he sings throughout the show, and he just gave me all the feels.

For Seo In-Guk fans, he plays two unusual characters in this show. They really downplayed his attractiveness.

The relationship between the two leads was wonderful to watch. It was especially fun since they started out so antagonistically toward each other. For those enquiring minds, there are a couple of lame kisses, and a couple of very good kisses, that make you think that they actually like each other. Also, I understand that the Koreans say they "like" each other rather than using the word "love", which I'll admit can be overused. So, when they said they loved each other, it was so wonderful. The show has a happy ending, but I would have liked the ending to be a little bit longer.

Another storyline that I really liked was in the current time between the female lead and the young doctor. He really put himself out there to be her friend and stuck with her throughout, even though he was in love with her himself. He only made a couple of vague references to it, and she was completely clueless.

Other than the multiple episodes toward the end that had the "will they/won't they be together" thing, this show was a slow, calm, peaceful view into two different developing relationships, and the effects that others' decisions can make on those relationships. It showed the power of friendships in both eras, and I think that applies to the main leads as well. In addition to being in love, I think friendship and maturity played important roles in them sticking together and not letting others tear them apart.

Read More

Original concept

Lovely, lovely show! The two main actresses did a wonderful job playing Sumika, especially the young woman. She portrayed the feeling and mannerisms of having a 65-year-old inside her body. This was also enhanced by the script, saying things that an older woman would say, as well as being dressed in a more matronly manner. She was able to teach the younger generation about manners and caring for one another. The love story was just precious, I smiled throughout the whole things. Very happy ending. My only complaint would be the production value/sound quality, which made this seem like a much older show than it was.

Read More

My rating seemed to change with each episode

First, I'll just admit I'm a total romance fan. I like lighthearted, fun, easy to watch romances with good kisses and a happy ending. At the beginning of this series, my rating was probably close to a 10. It was funny, with quirky characters. Then we hit the midway point - it felt like they threw the standard tropes in just to move the show along. Arranged marriage, evil controlling family, jealous co-workers, it had it all, but each difficulty was so short-lived and easily resolved, that they just seemed pointless. As I watched, I could feel my rating lowering. Then came the last two episodes. These episodes had a lot of heart and I'll address some of them below.
LOVED:
1) Lee Jun Ho. Call me superficial, but man, he is a beautiful hunk of eye candy. Seriously, I think he could probably have chemistry with a rock. Watching him relate to the FL was such a treat. And my romance meter was on high alert through all the stares, I laughed as he tried to figure out how to date, and those kisses? Yes, thank you. That's what they should look like! His character arc was such that he moved from cold, impersonal and not caring about anyone to thinking highly of his employees. I loved that. He and the FL were absolutely adorable together...lots of sweetness to go around.
2) Two of my favorite actresses, Kim Young Ok as FL's grandmother, and Han Mi So as ML's mother.
3) No evil ex-girlfriend or wanna be girlfriend to muddy the waters.
4) Did I mention the kisses?
5) Kim Sun Young as ML's older sister. Loved to hate her. Early on, I kind of wished that a white truck of doom would make an appearance, but in the last few episodes I just felt for her so much. I wish that someone would have told her that she was allowed to let others in.
6) The "six siblings". Friends that you want to have. I also liked the storyline of the two flight attendants. Cute.
7) A non-rushed happy ending with a wedding. Thank you very much!!! I get so tired of watching a show that's billed as a romance where the couple spends more time apart than together and the ending is rushed in the last 10 minutes. That was a beautiful wedding venue!
8) No time skip.
9) Breaking the fourth wall at the end.
10) Loved the nods to The Red Sleeve and Squid Game.
COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
1) Im Yoon Ah as the FL. There was something off about her to me. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. She was beautiful, to be sure. The couple was cute together, but there was just something missing from her. One thing, her character was just TOO perfect, she kept getting ahead no matter what people threw at her. Her facial expressions often seemed "off" to me. I understand that the "fake smile" was a plot device, so I had to let that go, but she looked terrified during the wedding scenes, which made no sense whatsoever. I felt a lack of energy in her acting, that's the only way I can describe it.
2) Da Eul's husband - that was a waste of storyline.
3) This show had more product placement than I have ever seen in any other show, and it was extremely irritating.
4) When she was in the countryside, she mentioned that she had sent him pictures of the food when she initially went to the restaurant. How could she have? He didn't know she was in the countryside.
5) Who thought that Love Hotel was a good name for her hotel? I think maybe it's because I'm American, but unfortunately that name makes me think of places you rent by the hour.

So, overall, I was treated to the romance that seems to be so sorely missing from the "romance" shows. I just wish they hadn't tried to make it more melodramatic in the middle. I'm certainly glad I watched it, and I can recommend it. It's not one of the best I've ever seen, but it's definitely re-watchable to see Jun Ho fall in love.

Read More

So much good stuff!

This was an amazing show and I'll tell you what I liked and leave anything negative (which I felt there was) for the end.

STORY LINE: though not necessarily totally original, was very well-done. The old story of being bullied because of not being "pretty enough" was pretty hard-core in this one and, for me, those scenes were very difficult to watch. This is one of those shows that speaks to a serious topic, but you are enjoying the ride for the lessons learned along the way. There was always a lot going on. I'm not patient for shows that have a lot of "dead time" in their stories, where you could skim a lot and still not miss anything. This was not one of those shows. It actually took me longer than normal to get through, because I kept going back and re-watching episodes. There were many, many laugh out loud moments (Moon Ga Young is excellent at physical comedy), and yes, some very touching scenes. I absolutely loved the way they had the main lead know her secret early on and the things he did to protect her. This show made me question, as so many other have - do Korean women really fawn all over handsome men and talk about how handsome they are right in front of them? That always seems so strange to me. The story delves into the lengths we are willing to go to be accepted by others, the criteria for friendships, an interesting family dynamics. There are multiple families shown here, and a couple of them I thought I would have to disown myself from that family! I felt, at times, that the female lead was too weak and was upset that she never stood up for herself, but I'm speaking as an adult. I know that as a teen you look at things differently. She wanted to be accepted.

MUSIC: It seemed to me that there were just a couple of stand-out songs, but they fit perfectly in the show. As the second male lead was a singer, this got to be highlighted.

ACTING: Moon Ga Young as Lim Joo Gyung was excellent! As the "ugly duckling" (I hate to even say that, because she wasn't ugly even without makeup. But those ridiculous eyebrows!!), you really felt her loneliness and need to belong someplace. The bullying was extreme and hard to watch. She's a good crier and did a lot of it. She was good at the physical comedy aspects, especially the scene where she went home and just laid, dejected in the doorway. I loved how, through everything that she went through, she was so positive and sweet.
Cha Eun Woo as Lee Su Ho - he started out extremely cold (which I never could totally figure out the reasoning for it) and as he got to know Joo Gyung and other people at school, he warmed up. He portrayed an almost perfect man/boyfriend. He was sweet and caring and always watching out for the girl he liked. And can I just say he has the deepest voice I think I've ever heard?
Hwang In Yeop as Han Seo Jun - he started out with a chip on his shoulder, he was hard and kind of gangster-ish. But when he started liking Joo Gyung, things really changed. I have to say that I suffered from second lead syndrome. It was under control pretty much until the last two episodes (addressed later in this review) when I was re-thinking who she should end up with. In the last episode when he is on stage and the camera goes up close on his face, oh my!
Park Yoo Na as Kang Soo Jin. Joo Gyung's first friend at her new high school. Yoo Na played this part excellently. She had a big shift in her behavior and I have to say there were some scene where she actually gave me the creeps.
Jang Hye Jin as Joo Gyung's mother. I love this actress. I first saw her in CLOY and loved her in that. Here, she's kind of an overbearing and bossy wife/mom (though some of it is understandable), but when she finally discovers what has been happening to Joo Gyung, her protective instincts kick in and she becomes a total mama bear. The scene when she apologizes to Joo Gyung had me sobbing.

RELATIONSHIPS/CHEMISTRY - Joo Gyung and Seo Jun were totally cute together. He opened up and she could be herself. As their feelings developed and when they held hands, etc. it was lovely to watch. Their kisses were kind of hit and miss, and it's really unfortunate when the last kiss you see of theirs is totally without chemistry and obviously fake.

Joo Gyung and Seo Jun - this was another darling relationship and I would have to say that their chemistry was amazing, since they were only friends. I loved seeing the exact moment that he realized he liked her. I loved that she was so clueless to his feelings. I loved that they usually bickered like brother and sister. I loved that he was always looking out for her, going to her when he thought she was in trouble, and defending her when it was needed. I also loved that he usually didn't know why he was behaving the way he was. Upon writing this, apparently this was the relationship I liked the best.

Su Ho and Soo Jin - they used to be friends, became enemies and, once secrets were revealed, developed a bromance that was fun to watch.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE/THAT IRRITATED THE HECK OUT OF ME: At episode 13/14, everything was wrapped up nicely. The writers felt that they needed to add a couple of episodes. My problem with this is that all throughout the show, the male lead had been there for the female lead, caring for her and supporting her. Episodes 15/16 brought about a STUPID two-year time jump which had the male lead behaving in a preposterous way. He just left the country and broke up with her?!?! Though episodes 15/16 worked to bring him back to Korea, etc., my problem is, he's been gone for two years without contact at all and comes back and expects to pick up where they left off. Add to that, she's had two years with the yummy second lead, who is obviously interested in her (she was clueless, however). They do have a conversation about how they should have stayed together and had a long-distance relationship, but if he realized that while in the US, why didn't he call her?!?! I felt that he was totally in love with her up until he left and it derailed at that point for me and I was angry. The last two episodes show what happened with everyone else, which was nice, but I just lost respect for the male lead.

That being said, I'm SO glad I watched this, and perhaps when I watch it again, I'll just watch it without the last two episodes.

Read More

Very sweet

This was a very sweet show. I loved that it had no major conflict and/or angst. There were no overtly evil characters. I don't typically like the gender bender shows, because it's always so obvious that the "boy" is actually a girl. It was obvious in this one as well, but what saved it is that Darren Chen's character knew from the beginning that she was a girl.

The friendships between the hockey players was a pleasure to watch. I actually teared up a little toward the end, it was so sweet.

I liked the character of his mom, she started out with the "I'm going to control my son's life and keep the evil girl away from him" but she wasn't over the top and redeemed herself rather quickly.

There were a lot of pranks going on, which made this show seem immature, but they were supposed to be college freshmen, so that can be excused to a certain extent.

The main couple was absolutely beautiful together, just all around very attractive people. I wish that the Chinese dramas would 1) lose the terrible dubbing, and 2) give us some kisses that don't look completely fake/unemotional/fish-like.

Read More