Secret Garden is the second drama I ever watched. It quite literally saved the genre for me. Before Secret Garden all I had watched was Boys Over Flowers and while I enjoyed that drama in its own way Secret Garden showed me that korean television could be more than just a meme. I can't believe it's been almost two years since I watched it but I still remember the feelings I had watching it. To me it was perfect. Not perfect in the way that it was beyond improvement or fault but perfect in how it everything came together in just the right way every time.

First let me talk about the plot. I know many people have issues with the body swap trope, but I loved it. It moved the romance along in a quick and organic way while adding humor to an otherwise sometimes slow plot. The swaps were silly and cute. I'll never forget how confused they both were or Joo Won's constant consternation about Ra Im's love for OSKA while trapped in his body. The times the plot was slow were fitting and beautiful though. The romance was built up slowly and naturally. I believed their love story fully. It was so refreshing to see JooWon be the one that head over heels for Ra Im. So often the girl pines after our male drama lead for the entire show until he grows an emotion and admits his love, but not Joo Won. Joo Won was smitten. Remembering it makes me happy. His silly antics and ridiculous posturing (the tracksuits and situps and distraction poem) were all so cute and endearing. Even the love triangle was less annoying than the usual fair. The plot, for all its twists and turns and random supernatural rules, was cute and straightforward. They love each other. It's that simple.

As for the characters what more can I say? Gil Ra Im was nothing short of amazing. She is a total badass but also very feminine and vulnerable. Perhaps my favorite thing about her is how focused she is on her career aspirations throughout the entire drama. She wants to achieve greatness in her field, to prove to Jong Soo that she is a stunt woman in her own right. And she succeeds. She is damn good at her job and everyone but her knew it all along. I also love how this is one of the major reasons Joo Won loves her. He is not intimidated by her in any way. He thinks shes fantastic despite her rough edges. Speaking of Joo Won I love how imperfect he is. He has it all yet he's bored and broken inside. While Ra Im definitely helps him through it all, in the end he takes care of his own issues. He overcomes his pain and trauma on his own and it shows his personal growth through his love for Ra Im. They both grow so much throughout the show and it's all due to their love for each other. Of course no discussion of Secret Garden is complete without OSKA. What a ridiculous human being. I love him. Any time the plot got slow or the romance seemed about to fizzle out Woo Yeong came to the rescue. The way he antagonized Joo Won and craved Ra Im's approval was so great. The fact that the body swap had the funniest effects on him also helped with his personality development; he went from hopeless washed up pop star to supportive family member and hardworking idol. His love interest and tortured history with her also added to his character as he became more than just a gag character. He was perhaps the most well rounded character on the show.

The side characters were also a great addition to the show as a whole. Yoo In Na is my favorite actress in dramaland. Knowing her better now than I did when I watched Secret Garden I really appreciate how great this role was for her career. She was her usual sweet self and i loved how excentric Ah Young was. Phillip Lee was also a huge win on this show. He was broody and moody and his hair was pantene commercial worthy. His character acted as the third of our love triangle but not even that could ruin him for me. As one final note let's talk about Tae Seon. First of all good on Secret Garden for making a gay character that was more than his sexuality (or for making a gay character at all. Korea is notoriously bad with gay anything so this was huge). Second can we talk about how cute he was?? Lee Jong Suk really played this character so well. I cried for Tae Seon but was also so happy for him.

Overall Secret Garden was a great experience for me. The show is the reason I continued to watch kdramas and I'm so happy I saw it. It is one of only two shows that has a perfect 10 rating from me and it deserves every bit of it. The show is a kdrama classic and it truly deserves the title.