Pretendente Surpresa (2022)

As a hopeless romantic, I truly enjoyed it!

I have been a hopeless romantic all my life, yet seen so few rom-coms. At first, I was a bit hesitant because I usually watch crimi and psychological thrillers. Nevertheless, I did not regret it!

All the actors did an amazing job. I especially liked the acting of Lee DeokHwa, who played Kang TaeMoo's grandfather. His character was so funny, and he managed to deliver it so well. Hats off to main leads, too! I really liked the female lead's personality. She was an independent and strong woman, yet goofy and cute. The male lead was very loveable. At first, he might seem to be your typical cold and ruthless CEO, but that could not be farther away from the truth!

It was full of clichés, but not to my surprise; We are talking about a rom-com, after all. However, they were all well made, never once annoying or boring. The story was predictable, but it still managed to hold my attention until the very end. There was a lot of romance, no breakup or love triangle. Both the main and second couple had great chemistry and a lot of kissing scenes, which were all well executed.

The only thing I did not like that much was the ending. It felt a bit rushed and left a lot of questions. When it turned out the grandfather had an illness and they had to leave South Korea, I could not wrap my head around it. Why introduce such a deep and complex storyline in the last episode?! We did not get a proper ending for the second couple as well.

I really liked the "drama in a drama" solution. I wish we could have seen more of that series the grandfather was always watching! All the animations were funny and gave a nice mood to the whole.

If you like rom-coms with loveable characters and no annoying clichés, I definitely recommend you this one!

Leia Mais

When the best friend goals are this strong you can't go wrong!

The relationship between the best friends in this show is so wholesome. They’re funny and messy and so chaotic it’s absolutely relatable. Shin Ha-ri and Young-seo are absolute goals. They’re both head strong women trying so hard to be independent and successful but also secretly wish to be wooed (a secret I think most of us share these days).

The main couple themselves (Kang Tae Moo and Shin Ha-ri) are so sweet. While Kang Tae Moo might start off as the typical cold-hearted mean spirited boss, it doesn’t last all too long as he opens himself up in a way that is both endearing and funny. The series presents plenty of wonderfully light-hearted moments intermingled with drama. Shin Ha-ri’s family dynamic is realistic and its what makes her so likeable as a main lead. She has an embarrassingly loud but loveable mother and a brother who is simultaneously always there and yet never around when needed. Kim Se – jeong does a remarkable job of portraying Shin Ha-ri, as she is sometimes clumsy and awkward around Kang Tae Moo but somehow it’s never cringey. A defining moment for me in the series was that at some point both female characters found themselves in an embarrassing situation and both male leads stepped up to help without blinking an eye. More over the fact, once it was over, they didn’t speak about it again. They made it so the girls were allowed to keep there dignity. Many shows would not have given them such a courtesy. The show is filled with moments where the characters learn to lean on each other – a particularly endearing episode sees Shin Ha-Ri realising one of Kang Tae Moo’s fears and subtly helping him through it. She’s rather masterful in how she does it and you can’t help but love her for it. It’s sweet and one hell of a green flag moment.

An important point to note (for me at least), is that unlike in What’s wrong with Secretary Kim, the female lead here does not sacrifice her own ambitions for the male lead. Shin Ha-Ri’s an ambitious and exceptionally smart woman and in both cases (Shin Ha-ri and Jin Young-seo) they follow through with their own goals. It’s hearty and wholesome and a completely perfect comfort show. It does not disappoint in the romance or drama genre. I only wished it was longer. 12 episodes didn’t feel like it was enough for these characters and I would have loved to see more of Shin Ha-Ri and the grandfather bonding towards the end. Another time jump last episode but it wasn’t as painful as you’d think.

The cast and performance:

Ahn Hyo-seop and Kim Se-jeong give a brilliant performance as the main leads in this drama. But if you’ve been following this drama you might have heard about the secondary leads, Seol In-ah and Kim Min-kyu who basically steal the show at every turn. The actors delivered so well on the comedy and managed to balance it out well with the romance and drama. It was an all round brilliant performance.

Final thoughts:
I personally loved with office romance over What’s wrong with secretary Kim? But that’s my own preference. There is plenty to love in this drama. Its sincere, heartfelt comedy that will melt your heart. It’s got some brilliant characters with great depth and the relationships in this are all top tier. From Shin Ha-ri’s relationships with Young-seo, to that she shares with her family and Kang Tae-moo, it will leave you wanting more. As I said 12 episodes was just not enough.

Leia Mais

Archaeopteryx screech

Before I start singing odes to how I liked it, I want to have a moment of rambling. I particularly dislike when people start pointing out at tropes and routines as disadvantages, while I find it quite silly, because every genre has those, it's part of the genre after all. Rom-com doesn't pretend to be a chaser after high achievements, it should have romance, it should have comedy, if you want to watch something realistic then you definitely chose the wrong place. It's as if viewers, who are very aware of what to expect from the rom-com still manage to be surprised that what they see is what they expected (tropes and routines), but it makes them angry for some reason. But the main thing that makes a show pop is not only those, but how the entire staff, from director to screenwriters, actors, editors and everyone else manage to make the drama entertaining and interesting. To me many parts of this drama won my heart, so many endearing people.

Drumroll.

I want a loud round of applause for cameramen and editors. STANDING OVATIONS PLEASE!
Honestly, the first thing that really got to me was the wonderful work of camera and how the whole drama was edited, they managed to highlight many things. Fresh ideas, the picture doesn't look boring. They did manage to make it look entertaining. I remember even sending the slipper hitting the face scene to my mom for laughter, she said it was really fun and edited well. Not to mention small details, even the birld screech that haunted us the entire series was memable. Just for their job done so well I really had fun watching.
And overall I really-really loved watching it.

SECOND STANDING OVATION IS FOR ACTORS.
I honestly loved their play. They managed to be expressive in a humorous way, but not exaggerating it to the point of being awkward. Amazing Kim Se Jeong (the very first actress who really looks sleepy when waking up ahahaha). Absolutely delightful play. Ahn Hyo Seop played really well too, transforming from this arrogant and snarky CEO who only wanted to catch Shin Ha Ri's tail for her deceit, but slowly growing and changing. The way he was acting new and awkward to relationship, which was logical, was endearing. The second pairing was absolutely fantastic! Some say they even overshadowed the main couple, but I don't think so, each couple had their own story and merit. Since main couple was responsible for the rom-com routines, the second couple had more mature approach, after all they met, fell in love and came together eventually witout much bullshit, which was really refreshing. Seol In Ah was fantastic, I was really amazed, I had a really good impression of her while watching Running Man and in acting she didn't disappoint. Let's not forget to mention Seo Hye Won, with a little spoilt daughter personality and Engrish words thrown here and there she managed to have her own bright spot. And of course Lee Deok Hwa who played the grandpa. I mean viewers should be like him, even grandpa knows how to enjoy the melodrama X'D To me personally the entire drama really was held up by actors and they made it work.
Despite the storyline being silly it was fun to watch. And of course it was unrealistic, don't start with me, everyone knows that such things don't happen in life. The only thing that I thought was not really needed is the time skip at the ending, the story could have done without it. Maybe the distance and coming back again means something for Korean, but I felt bad that grandpa's character was put through such plot. That was the only dark spot in my opinion.
All in all, if you come here for the rom-com, light-hearted watch, then try it. Really.

PS: I think I'll forever remember about Samantha and Rachel :'D

Leia Mais

A breathe of fresh air honestly

If you are tired of too many tropes that stay for WAY to long, watch this.

This was good, plan and simple the characters were so lovable and I really enjoyed it, Shin Ha Ri is definitely really cool, her character was very well written, wish I could get amnesia like some shows abuse and rewatch the show because I actually almost binged the whole thing in one go, plus the ML was just cool he knew what he wanted and knew when he took things to far or at least he was made aware of it, the thing I enjoyed the most is how real the characters felt at least for me I will definitely rewatch this in the future perhaps with my own special someone or just by myself haha, the secretary and the friend were just as cute together.

Leia Mais

Cliché, BUT good!

'A Business Proposal' is THE prime example of how you should write a cliché story! I mean, this show didn't change the genre or the world, BUT the fact that every episode contained more cliché than other shows in 16 episode overall and still remained good, says a LOT about the writers! Only for this, it's worth a 6/10 rating. I didn't mention the fantastic acting, OST and the direction! The use of editing and VFX is one of the best I've seen so far! I don't want to speak too much about the story because it's a typical love story, and let's be honest, it's not good because of the story, it's good because of the way they made it. People who didn't watch it yet, will love it more if they will know most important thing about this show: It's basically a parody of the romcom genre!

My only complaint, as usual, is that the finale was a complete MESS! Never going to understand why they want to finish the story in almost every KDrama in the finale, when they obviously don't have enough time for that. Also, I'm not familiar with the Manhwa, but I know that the show didn't cover half of the story. That's why I'm still hoping that they will do a 2nd season someday, but they probably won't, because if they would want to, we would've heard about that now.

Leia Mais

A real KDRAMA.

It has everything and I just want to say that everyone should watch this masterpiece. Highly recommended. Can't say anything else loved everything about this KDRAMA. Especially for beginners you should watch it. And just watch it over and over again. Actors chemistry for fabulous and loved the couple's. Second lead is also the best second lead couple. For the writers I just want drama's like this which are perfect and it have a HAPPY ENDING ALSO. Want a 2nd season but let's see what happens . Loved this KDRAMA and if anyone reading this review just don't read go and watch the KDRAMA already.

Leia Mais

A K-drama to enjoy if you wanna have fun and stay away from real world

As someone who needs to be in a mood to watch a rom-com (which is not really frequent of me) I can say I love this show! THIS is how you do a rom-com with well done cliches and not in a cringey way or full of second hand embarrasment moments! It´s a good recomendation for people who wants to get into K-dramaland.

I did laugh and fangirled with the romance happening (got me smiling at the cute moments), there´s good acting and chemistry with both couples, cute friendship between Ha Ri and Young Seo and the dynamic of Tae Moo and Sung Hoon was dope and funny.

As an extra detail in my opinion, I´m glad they did the rich male lead as a nice cute rich guy (or at least that´s what I felt watching him), because I think Kdramas usually makes the rich male leads as arrogant and kind of rude with people (and sometimes they are even rude with the female lead), I mean yes they show us Kang Tae Moo as a "cold heart" workaholic man who knows he´s good at a lot of things but this man is... I really don´t know how to explain it, also he´s the definition of "he fell HARD for her" WHICH I LOVE THAT TROPE.

I wanna let out two good things from my chest which propably I´m never moving on (fangirl mood on):
1. The way ep 11 end got me internally screaming , fangirling and shock, I didn´t think I could see something like that in a Kdrama rom-com :0 in general Tae Moo and Ha Ri had good kissing scenes, they did so good as their charcaters.
2. THAT KISS SCENE WITH THE HOT SECRETARY GUY TAKING OFF HIS GLASSSES?!?!?!?! THAT PART MADE ME FEEL THINGS *faints* seriously I fell hard for the actor who plays Sung Hoon in this show.

I mean in general the K-drama has a lot of good moments but I wanna mention some little details that did kind of frustrate but it doesn´t ruin my rating of the show:
1. The way they make the granpa being sick for real and they have to take him to the US for a year was a weird move.
2. Tae Moo´s accident was kind of weird too, I mean it wasn´t a huge accident but thank god they didn´t apply the amnesia trope but it was so sudden for me, I´m not sure if it was that necessary.
3. Ha Ri´s "friend" mentioning the possibility of coming back at her as a friend again (´cause he´s leaving the country) like dude really?! I mean being a jealous dude after knowing she has a bf (when he himself never told Ha Ri he cameback with his ex) and interfering with her relationship while he already has a gf! (and a really shitty one too) it just made me so mad all the mess he did and then at the final being like "I´m sorry for everything I did but when I comeback to Korea, can we see each other as friends again?" and of course Ha Ri forgives him (Ha Ri you´re so nice but you deserve a better friend!).

Sadly the OST didn´t catch my eye or didn´t leave with a "OMG I LOVE THIS SONG!" vibe, I mean it suit well with the situations happening but it wasn´t my taste to add it for a playlist.

In conclusion: I really like it, I could rewatch some scenes to have a good laugh and fangirl a times. If you want a story with plot twist with a huge plot, this show isn´t for you.

Leia Mais

Loved Loved this!!!

I have seen many clips of it on social media, but left it on my to watch list until a friend "forced" me to watch it. What a ride!!!!
I am not fond of comedy, but this was hilarious. The acting was natural and not over the top, there were no cringe moments. And the sound effects that came with it was brilliantly done.
At first I thought it would be your typical rich boy poor girl romance, I didn't expect to like it so much. This type of story has been done a million times, but it wasn't your typical melodramatic drama. There were no boring insignificant side stories that made the drama too long. Kdrama characters all have the same type of acting, but this was refreshing. They were actually relatable and natural. Even the quirky FML didn't put me off, because she wasn't over the top. I knew the grandfather would be the "bad guy" at some point, but even so I liked him so much. All the actors played their roles brilliantly. Even the character development wasn't slow and boring. This drama cut to the chase and didn't get dragged out. It was short and sweet. It's a must watch. A breath of fresh air

Leia Mais

Hilarious!

I love rom coms especially when they're done right. This? While draggy at times in story wise, is still so good. I was hooked from the first episode. I'm a sucker for the "let's fool them into thinking you're the worst with me doing it" and then all hell breaks lose.

Want a pickme up? Watch this.
Want to laugh your head off? Watch this.
Want to also cry? Watch this.

Get your popcorn ready since it was what it was made for to watch two actors so like their characters that I forgot I was watching a show at some point and felt like another person in their life.

Leia Mais

Fun RomCom but Deviates from Webtoon Midway

To preface, I remember reading first few chapters of the webtoon, but not until recently I remember to binge the kdrama, and then decided to binge the webtoon right after. The start of this series is cringy and embarrassing as I remember it lol

I did thoroughly enjoy the kdrama and webtoon overall, but if you're a reader then kdrama probably could've been better.



♥ Story ♥
As this is based on a webtoon/webnovel of the same name, the kdrama deviates from the webtoon midway (I assume because this kdrama aired when the webtoon/novel was ongoing), so the second half was not that great with the lack of source material. The ending did feel predictable to me which isn't bad since I expected a happy ending and got what I hoped for ^^

However I felt the webtoon was more enjoyable in the second half in comparison to the kdrama (as it has 2 more couples - one with Hari's brother). You also get to see the main lead's cute kids in the webtoon *0* so I highly suggest reading the webtoon.

Taemoo's grandpa is tad more mean in the kdrama which I didn't enjoy that much, but kdrama did not include grandpa's love story either, so I feel in general there was not enough screentime for the side characters stories.
Or basically I think kdrama production could've waited to shoot & air this once the webnovel finished



♥ Cast ♥
The main actors & actresses did pretty well!
I absolutely love Seo Hye Won's acting in here; overdramatic yet funny. (I do feel bad for her since she plays a support character who doesn't win the heart of her love interest like in Alchemy of Souls but her character portrayal here is so different & made me laugh)

However I am more knocking this section down due to appearance styling.
♦ I wish the stylist gave Hari a wig like in the webtoon just so it makes more sense for the story on why grandpa couldn't tell the difference with Hari's appearance.
♦ Also I couldn't tell the male leads apart when they all had no glasses and didn't part their bangs (only could tell based on voices).



♥ Music ♥
Honestly didn't pay much attention to this so I guess it's good, but there wasn't anything that stood out to me from the OST


♥ Rewatch ♥
I'd probably only would rewatch snippets, but not a full rewatch due to the second-hand embarrassment I felt for Hari

Leia Mais