Minha Garota (2005)

Opinion after watching - Great for rom-com lovers.

My favourite character - Seol Gong Chan *swoon* My favorite male drama character after (the Coffee Prince fame)Choi Han Kyul.

Story - Refreshing premise though gets bogged down in the later half by second leads and contrived angst. First half is breezy and fun.

Acting/Cast - Ok. I have to confess that hated the Lee Da Hae's character Ju Yu Rin so much at first when I first attempted watching it(a couple years ago), I ditched it in two episodes. I found her too over-the-top. Her acting and fake laughing in the beginning to weasel her way out of situations, to say the least I was embarrassed for her. Her hairstyle put me off too. The side bun and ponytail especially. Shallow, I know. :( But proof that first impressions can mislead us. Recently, I decided to give it a try again, and made it through the first two episodes and decided to watch it without any judgement.
Lee Da Hae is a good actress, very pretty too(as grandfather keeps saying, lol). Ju Yu Rin is a character who makes you want to be strong just watching her. She is cheerful no matter the situation and I also loved that she was a polyglot(I want to be like her!).
Lee Dong Wook is the quintessential fair and handsome(in nerdy glasses too!). His acting is good and his character Gong Chan is such a sweetheart. Always understanding and sacrificing for his family. Being with Yu Rin brings out the goofy side of him. I loved their imaginary scenes(reminded me of You're Beautiful). They even make fun of kdrama tropes like birth secret(s!), sudden illness, car accident and of course, memory loss lol. Gotta love Hong Sisters! ;)

Other characters - I did like Jeong Woo(after all that squash). Can't say I cared for Se Hyun(sadly her tennis didn't impress me, lol). I liked Yu Rin's friend and her brother. Secretary Yoon and the brother would make a cute pair. But I didn't like Yu Rin's father.

Music - This drama has a good song selection. I especially loved the ending theme 'Never Say Goodbye'. And I counted upto 8 songs that are used in the drama. It's nothing mindblowing, but it suits the drama's mood perfectly that I can't imagine watching the drama without the music. I even have a song that associated with the characters:
Yu Rin - Happy Happy
Jeong Woo - Sarang Ee Shim Shim Hae Suh & Sarang Eun Him Deun Ga Bwa
Gong Chan - Sang Uh Reul Sarang Han In Uh(male ver.) - On a sidenote, I thought it sounded like a female sang it.

Ending - Cute. Because of the cameos. I cheered when I saw them. Ahh, I feel so nostalgic.

Rating - I don't want to post any spoilers. But the reason for my rating(which alas, could've been much higher)is the dragged out conflict. I was waiting for the penny to drop(pun not intended) and things to clear up and for the story to progress, but it was frustrating to watch it resort to typical kdrama angsty pining(by all three leads) before we got the resolution. Thank God for that.

Rewatch value - I don't rewatch dramas unless they make an impact on me. I would love to watch the funny scenes again. In fact, I think I'll go watch the first half again.

Overall - Recommended for those who loved other Hong Sisters' dramas. This is one of their best works, IMO. Their best, in terms of writing.

Leia Mais

my first hong sisters drama to watch. i was hooked from the beginning, this girl lee dae hee is just a little white liar who will say or do anything to get out of a situation through lies. she then accepts to be lee dong wooks lost cousin so that his grandfather wouldnt die. it was just supposed to be a one day thing but miss liar charmed their socks off that they loved her and it was impossible to leave. she was so cute and her face just said it all. some lies she said i found myself doing them like hold ur breath in an elevator and make a wish and it will come true. her bestfriend and his bro were good in this too.

Leia Mais

This drama started off really well, and the background music is pretty awesome. But after the halfway mark - the drama started to sail into murky waters. The acting became tiresome and cumbersome, and the story was generally starting to lose all the humour that it once possessed. I soon found myself wanting this drama so I could find out the ending, I wasn't interested in it, and the ending well...it...sucked - to be honest. It was too fast.

The drama was cheesy and annoying, frankly, I think this should've been a movie instead of a drama. I wasted sixteen hours of my life on something that turned out to be crap.

On the bright side, the acting from Lee Jun Ki was ace. I think he was the only thing that made watching "My Girl" bearable.

Leia Mais

This show probably doesn't deserve an 8 rating, but I do have some reasons to rate it higher than it deserves.

To start with, the story is funny. And it awfully reminded of Full House at least fifty times while watching the drama till the end. It might have been some kind of a trend around 2004-05 to make dramas under similar formats. It made me laugh quite a bit in places, but the outcome of the story was obvious from the first episode itself. So this isn't a unique story at all. It is overly cliche and predictable to the very core.

However, the characters are colorful and engrossing. I was kept entertained by Ju Yoo Rin. The actress is pretty good. The only thing that bugged me was lack of her hairdos. That side ponytail and bun were both terrible. The producers should have invested more on the hairstylist for the main actress. Instead, I really liked the hairdos of Se Hyun better. She was pretty plus well dressed.

The second thing that kept my eyes thoroughly glued to the screen was Lee Dong Wook. He's such a pleasure to look at. He is so handsome and cute that I couldn't stop gushing all through till the end. At the beginning, his expressions were lacking but I guess that is something to do with his character because he plays an unemotional and depressed man. Towards the end, he acted really well. He showcased the emotions well. Also, his sense of dressing and hairstyle both reminded of Lee Min Ho's in Personal Taste. So I see that this show set some trends in the world of dramas because of its popularity. Anyway, Seol Gong Chan's character was cute and I was relieved that they didn't turn him into a jerk. He was rude but he was equally loving. Plus, Dong Wook's extraordinary good looks put the whole show to an advantage.

Apart from that, the sub plots were alright and this is probably the first show in which I despised the second lead. Seo Jung Woo's character was underdeveloped throughout. He went too soon from a bad boy to a good boy then bad again and after that there was no room for character growth. I am glad he didn't stand a chance because otherwise in almost all dramas I wish for the heroine to end up with the second guy. He was the most annoying thing on the show after the stupid middle-aged couple's love story.

This show has very sweet romance. It wasn't overdone and those parts were written well. I might even rewatch certain scenes. The only issue with me is that it took the serious track too soon (by ep 4) and there wasn't much of a plot to begin with. Towards the middle, the show lost some of its humor and simplicity. But they picked up later and it was still a wreck. The writing of the show was poor and pace was inconsistent. It could have been much better if the other plot devices had been put to use properly. Too much attention was focused on irrelevant things and all the potential plotlines were ignored.

However, it still serves to be an entertaining watch because of a good starcast and mostly- Lee Dong Wook. Without him the show would have sucked much more. But he saves it along with Lee Da Hae's great performances. And the music was just okay. I have heard much better before. Also- some of the background tunes were sounding eerily similar to Full House. Sigh. The comparisons and similarities just won't stop.

Leia Mais

This is my favorite of all time (and ofc, a guilty pleasure).

My Girl is a fluffy, comedy type. I've known this on a replay on Animax and fell inlove with it. The cutesy is addicting.

The soundtrack, especially the Never Say Goodbye, never gets old on my playlist! Everyone download it. Ppaliiiiiiii.

Back on the plot, it's depressing to get attached to the unsaid feelings of the two main characters. The situation was (SPOILER ALERT), Gongchan can't give up his feelings to Yoorin who agreed to pretend as his cousin. That's the plot twist and the heartache. Gah.

After all, the ending's good. Just as how I want it to end. ?

Leia Mais

I found this drama to be funny and full of small moments, the story seems quite fresh considering the year it came out in. The cast was pretty good but I found so many scenes to be overacted that sometimes it was funny and other times it was just plain annoying, now I am aware that some scenes were meant to be overacted because of a certain situation but there are some that just felt over acted but they weren't really meant to be or shouldn't feel as so. The music was pretty good, I enjoyed most of the songs, some songs were a bit out there for my taste but still good.

I don't really re-watch things, often times more than not I find something new to watch rather than watched something I have already watched before. But if I were to consider this drama for re-watch,
I am afraid I probably wouldn't because if I found some things to be somewhat predictable already
while watching for the first time, a second time around wouldn't be any fun because I would most
likely remember most if not everything that is going to happen.

This drama overall it's a good watch if you like a fun love story,
with it's little moments along the way and plenty of stubborn people.

Leia Mais

This is recommended if you like romantic comedies with funny moments between the leads and heavily featured triangle and quadrangle moments.

Story: this is your cute romantic drama story. Simple story, very funny and light with some annoying moments between the first and the second arc where it slowed down the pace a little and got a little boring. They kept repeating the same story but in different ways to make the moment when the truth would be revealed dragged till the end of the drama. The good thing was that at the end of every episode the writers were great at making you want to continue watching.

Acting/Cast: I got here because I was very pleased with Lee Dong Wook and Lee Da Hae's acting on their current drama Hotel King. In this drama they are so shippable together and have a great chemistry in my opinion. I enjoyed their characters. I also enjoyed Lee Jun Ki's character despite he was a little pathetic towards the end. The one that wasn't bearable like, at all, was the second female lead. I don't even remember the character name at this point, because I decided to ignore her... she was irrelevant and pathetic to me. The supporting cast was ok.

Music: The OST was cute and enjoyable. I still have the songs saved, they got stuck in my head! Hahaha.

Overall I'll give it a positive mark. This drama is a classic romantic comedy although the story was simple for my tastes and it dragged a little. If you love romantic stories and happy endings, you have to watch this.

Leia Mais

I recently re-watched this drama for... I'm not even sure what it is  now, the fourth time? Fifth? In any case, it is definitely the drama I  have re-watched most (and I generally don't re-watch dramas). It's funny, because each time, I think I've been able to notice little flaws more than the previous time. This time, I enjoyed poking fun at it quite often in my head. It's not perfect by any means - especially in terms of film quality. Some of it also feels overacted, particularly in the beginning.

But I don't care - ultimately, I still adore this show, because the  characters and relationships are so endearing. Joo Rin is really a great protagonist. She habitually lies in the beginning (albeit usually for  understandable reasons), and she is also sometimes temperamental and petty. But she's also loving, kind, funny, charming, and resilient. In other words, she is likable, but flawed and genuine. Gong Chan, likewise, achieves a perfect balance of traits. He is sometimes arrogant, but also modest and hardworking. He seems tough and rigid, but he actually leans more towards being softhearted and kind. Lee Dong Wook instills a very warm quality in his character. I question whether another actress and actor could have brought these two characters alive in such a beautiful way. (Side note: I did actually see the Philippine remake of this story first. I enjoyed it, but this version is better in my opinion.)

The talented Lee Joon Gi is also very good in this; I love his character's expressiveness and cheekiness. I also love the Seol family, even if I think the romance between In Sun and Il Do could have been ~a bit~ less  dramatic at times. Although Gong Chan's grandfather is unfair to his loved ones in a way (especially his deceased daughter and Gong Chan, whom he loves most), his actor does so well at playing up his sweet and charming side. The weakest link for me, hands down, was Se Hyun. I understand she's supposed to be an antagonist, but after a certain  point, she seems to outstay her role in the show.

I really love the music. It is memorable and does a great job at enhancing the emotional quality of scenes. Overall, I really enjoyed the narrative. The ending is satisfying without being too unrealistic; the two main characters do suffer the consequences for their charade. I might favor My Girl a little because it was one of the first Asian dramas I watched, but I still think it's a fun show and I'll probably watch it again in a  year or so. If you haven't seen it, give it a go. :)

Leia Mais