Most of the die-hard fans of this drama will hate me for this, but "Nice Guy" honestly isn't anything new in the world of revenge dramas. You have your typical hodgepodge of birth secrets, revenge stories, murders and amnesia- not just once, but twice. There are gaping plot holes, crazy scenarios and messed up character motivations, but if you abandon all reasoning and logical thinking, this drama can be one of the best you've seen.
Story: I liked the idea that Ma-Ru at the beginning was a much darker character than we've seen in other revenge dramas. He wasn't afraid to use people and was okay with being used himself. What made him interesting was watching his transition from a shell of a human to someone who had something to lose. I also loved Eun-Gi's character in the beginning, she was passionate yet cold, bitchy but kind, and was an amazing mix of all these opposite traits. I didn't particularly like her personality transformation in the second half of the drama because I felt like the writers only changed her to fit the plot and she became a puppet to the rest of the show's whims, but she swung back in my favor later.
Actors: Let's face it. "Nice Guy" would not have been as popular if Song Joong-Ki hadn't played the main lead. Because he is an A-list actor, it drew in a crowd, since he is a good actor, this drama kept its crowd. That being said, Joong-Ki is the actor that holds this drama together. I'm not saying that Moon Chae-won and Park Si-Yeon were bad- they were actually surprisingly good in their roles- it's just that Joong-Ki stole the show.
Music: Nice and dramatic, it was used well to tie together certain scenes in the show.
Rewatch Value: Since this show was one of the more unpredictable ones, the second time around will not be as good, but it will be alright.
Overall: I feel like "Nice Guy" should come with a big neon sign that says: "All ye who enter, abandon all logic here". Because honestly, the only way you will enjoy this drama is if you don't think about it too much and just go with it.

Leia Mais

Originally, I expected this Drama to turn out like all the others; just a love story that hits all the major cliches and ends when the two main characters finally get together. After the first episode, I became OBSESSED with this show. It was amazing.
The cinematography was perfect, the story was well written, and the actors fit their roles well. The best part about its drama was definitely the characters and their relationships.
I love how the writers developed each of the main characters, but not so much that they were predictable. They grew along with the story, changing for the best, but also remaining true to their original selves. Character relationships grew in complexity and each one of them served a different purpose throughout.
There are very few dramas or TV shows that add so many sub-plots within the story. Normally, there's just one main plot line and two or three smaller sub-plots that rarely appear in all the episodes. However, this drama had quite a few and managed to show the watcher how it was progressing in every episode. I think that's what really made this show shine.
Lastly, I really loved the emotional value of this drama. It made me laugh, cry, scream at the screen and tear my hair out in frustration- all at once. Kudos to the writers for managing that.
There were a few parts I thought could have been done better; for example, a few character motives didn't quite make sense- but overall the King 2 hearts is really a masterpiece. There is no doubt that I am going to rewatch it.

Leia Mais

My initial impression of this drama was that it was going to be badass, but less aesthetically appealing than other dramas because of its small budget. That's why it took me by surprise when the director used his limited budget to his advantage. Granted, the camerawork and special effects weren't that great, but I actually did enjoy this drama.
Story: The premise was a little cliche for my taste. Two twin brothers who feel at odds and are polar opposites? Not exactly a twist. But somehow the writers managed to infuse a scattering of random cliches and use them to create an original and action packed story. It wasn't perfect, but at 4 episodes long, this drama special was a nice watch when you want a break from the cutesy rom-coms of dramaland.
Acting: None of the actors were very well known, and you could tell they were new to their jobs, but that didn't affect this drama the slightest. They all had a very nice stage presence.
Music: Was there music? I honestly can't remember. *shrug*
Rewatch value: The second time is never as good as the first, so I don't think I'll be rewatching. I might skim through it again if I'm bored, but I wouldn't watch it all over again.
Overall: Nice story with nice actors. Not exactly a forgettable drama, but not exactly something I will remember forever.

Leia Mais

The idea for "You're the Best, Lee Soon Shin" sounded right up my alley on paper- an underdog story with a heartwarming family dynamic at the center. Of course, the fact that it would have Jo Jung Suk in in was a pretty big plus. I honestly wasn't expecting much, however. I just wanted a drama that would entertain me for it's [incredibly] long run. I guess that was a bit too much to ask for?
Story: The story is hit-and-miss for me. The hits being the sisters and their adorable romances, the misses being the crazy mothers involved. It's actually kind of frustrating when you think of how much MORE time was spent on the mom's instead of the sisters. Really, if the drama had paid more attention to Lee Soon Shin, Yoo Shin and Hye Shin, then I probably would have given this a higher score. Instead, we got buckets full of frustrating mama-drama. Plus, Hye Shin and Jin Wook's story had so much ignored potential. In fact, a whole lot of side stories had ignored potential. It felt like the writer was just making this up as she went along without the foggiest idea of how much time she wanted to spend on story arcs.
Acting: So. Much. Wasted. Talent. Seriously. Jo Jung Suk was perfect here, but his character felt sorely underused. IU had a pretty decent break-out role, and I'm glad this drama was so popular, otherwise Jung Woo would have flown under everyone's radar for his awesome turn as Jin Wook.
Music: Like this drama, it was cute. But when the *same* song repeats the *same* word fifty thousand times at the end of *every* episode, I start to bang my head against the wall.
Rewatch Value: There were a lot of cute scenes in here that I'd like to rewatch, but I will never *ever* rewatch the entire thing. It just won't happen. I don't want to deal with premature hypertension.
Overall: My recommendation is that you have your finger on the fast-forward button while watching this. Otherwise, you're going to lose a lot of hair in the process.

Leia Mais

"Heartless City", you complete me.
((I've always wanted to say that at least once)).
Story: Some of you may be wondering why I've given the story an 8 when I just stated that I love this show. That being said, just because I love a certain drama doesn't exactly mean I'm willing to overlook all of it's faults. The faults here were pretty obvious, but they didn't necessarily detract from the overall experience.
Originally, this drama was to be titled "Undercover" instead of the more poetic "Heartless City". At first, I assumed the previous title was referring to the main character, Soo Min. After you get about halfway through the drama, you begin to wonder WHO is the main undercover. Seriously. Everyone and their grandmother is undercover. It's like the guy pulling all these strings just decided to shove a whole bunch of undercover agents into the drug business and have them chase each other just to get a laugh out of it. The thing is, you'd expect that after the first few times the viewer would get so desensitized to the whole "undercover" thing that when the next character is revealed to be an undercover agent, the viewer wouldn't even bat an eye.
Ha. Nope. Each and every time you're just completely blown away.
"Heartless City" also did a really good job with the antagonist reveal. Just when you think that the "good" guys have defeated the "bad" guys, you realize that there's someone else behind them. I'm putting good and bad in quotations because there's not really an easy way to label all these characters. True, a few of them are easy to label, but everyone's relationships and alliances are constantly shifting here. Mortal enemies may wind up as allies and allies may wind up pointing a gun at you. This drama focuses heavily on those relationships between the people of the drug world and the law enforcement trying to capture them. You would think that relationships also translated to the main romance between Soo Min and Shi Hyun, but it's quite the opposite. Their relationship sort of took a back-burner to the rest of the plot. While that did make the story more believable, it also makes it difficult to put a label on what Soo Min and Shi Hyun felt for each other. I can't say it was love, or even like. Maybe lust or passion? Either way, both characters were very believable and well written. While Soo Min may be overly emotional and unprofessional, she was very realistic. She was an untrained girl looking to get revenge on her older sister, and it shows. Shi Hyun is more than just the cold leader of his drug ring, and little tiny bits of vulnerability show through.
Acting: Wow. Jung Kyung Ho has quickly become one of my favorite actors. His portrayal of "The Doctor's Son" was perfect and apparently garnered him a ton of critical praise. It's well-deserved, since he was just brilliant here. Kyung Ho pulled off the dangerous and vulnerable Jung Shi Hyun perfectly, and I just can't heap enough superlatives on to him to make you understand how much I loved him here. As far as his chemistry with co-star Nam Gyu Ri went, I think I finally have an actor OTP to rival my ChaeKi ship from "Nice Guy". Which sucks, since that means it'll take a while for me to watch their other stuff without hating the onscreen objects of their affections. Anyway, Nam Gyu Ri's character here is a bit... difficult to connect with. I feel like that's more attributed to Gyu Ri's acting than anything else, since it felt like she was emotionally walled off from me, but she was still pretty good in her role. Lee Jae Won and Kim Yoo Mi were really good here, and I especially loved Yoon Hyun Min's Soo here.
Music: God, that OST. It's been a long time since I was so obsessed with a song that I just had to put it on repeat for days on end, and I still don't regret all 300+ plays of Kim Yong Jin's "Hurt". That song was just so perfect for this drama. The instrumentals used to highlight HC's important scenes were perfect too. They felt a bit like something out of a Bond or superhero movie. Dark and broody- perfect for action scenes.
Rewatch Value: Once you've seen the whole thing once, I kind of doubt anything here will take you by surprise. That doesn't mean it won't be fun, though.
Overall: This drama left me emotionally drained and probably ruined me for other noir dramas to come. I wouldn't recommend this if you're looking for something like "City Hunter", since the two are worlds apart in tone despite their similarities plot-wise. "Heartless City" is a drama that's very unapologetic in whatever it does, and by the end of it you'll probably be sobbing, but I would still recommend watching this.

Leia Mais

Before any of you die-hard BoF fans rage at me for the ratings, please not that this is my own *personal* opinion, ergo you don't have to read it if you don't like it. II'm not trying to be mean or rude, I'm just saying that everyone has an opinion and you have to accept that.
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"Boys Over Flowers" might have been my first drama ever, but I can't really remember. I do remember that this was the first drama I watched I finished. At the time, I really had no idea what to expect, but seeing how much the friend who introduced it to me loved this drama, I figured it had to be pretty good. So I watched it and wondered how exactly a mess like this got such high ratings.
Story: Speaking from an objective standpoint, BoF is a hot mess. The fans must have been really forgiving to fall in love with characters who drove kids to suicide, and a story that had the main couple breaking up and getting together pretty much every other episode. I like romance and watching the OTP get through conflicts victorious, but I also like having another overlying story arc to keep me interested. In here, was there even something beyond Jan Di's and Jun Pyo's romance? I didn't even ship them.
Acting: Lee Min Ho, despite his mane of shame, is a good actor. I haven't really seen him anywhere else, but he's good here. Kim Bum is outstanding and his chemistry with Kim So Eun was pretty much the only reason I kept watching this. Kim Joon didn't really have that many scenes, but he was good and I'm fairly certain the only reason Kim Hyun Joong is here is because they needed another "flower boy" and were running short. He's really not that great of an actor, but pretty moves mountains. I'm not a hater, since I'm a huge fan of his music, but maybe he can brush up on his acting. Ko Hye Sun, frankly speaking, annoyed me to no end. Not just her character, but her in general. I don't think I'll ever watch a drama with her ever again. She's not a bad actor, but I don't feel like she's particularly good either. Plus, her chemistry with Lee Min Ho felt a bit forced.
Music: I'm still not sure if it was meant to be so funny. "Almost Paradise" killed me no matter what scene it showed up in. The director was really unwieldy in using the music wisely and spacing out the songs, so most of the other music grated on my nerves by episode 15.
Rewatch Value: Ha. No. Never. You would have to pay me to get me to sit through it. This drama may have been other people's favorite, but to me it was tedious and long. The plot spun in circles and the angst shot through the roof and there was still no plot beyond Jan Di and Jun Pyo.
Overall: This drama was so popular for a reason, I guess. Pretty is such a powerful force its nearly sentient. Another reason? If you were sincerely rooting for the main couple and honestly really liked them together, you would watch just for them and for the gratification that came with seeing them together. If you really did not care about the main couple, you would probably throw your computer out a window.

Leia Mais

In a word, "Another Parting" was weird. A good type of weird, but still weird. In fact, that's pretty much the only way I can describe "Another Parting".
Story: I felt like this could have been longer- if there was more plot and back-story involved "Another Parting" could have definitely been a normal 16 episode drama. AP felt too short and choppy- there wasn't enough reasoning behind certain events and actions, and it felt like I was being jerked around. The overall effect was entertaining, but the whole thing gave me whiplash. The story itself was original and new, with surprising bits of comic relief thrown in.
Acting: No surprises as far as Seo In Guk was concerned- I already knew he could act. I've never seen Wang Ji Won before, but she had nice chemistry with him and carried her character well. The other characters had so little screen time they were practically nonexistent, so I don't think I need to comment there.
Music: Since this drama was less than an hour long, total, the music wasn't really a huge part of it. I can vaguely recall some ballads, but that's about all I can remember.
Rewatch Value: As of now, I don't really have much reason to, but I definitely do want to skim over it again in the future.
Overall: A bit strange and choppy, but still interesting enough. I'd recommend "Another Parting" if you have some spare time or really love the cast.

Leia Mais

When I first saw an article about "Aftermath" on allkpop, my immediate reaction was that I wanted to watch it. The idea intrested me, and I'll admit I have a bit of a Dongjun bias. I felt a little disappointed when I couldn't find it subbed anywhere, but it gradually slipped my mind. A few days ago I checked on dramafever and saw that they had the whole series, so I just marathoned it all in one go.
Story: The thing about "Aftermath" is that the premise sets up the drama like it's entirely about Dae Young's ability, when in reality that part only makes up about 50% of the actual drama. The show deals more with the aftermath *pun intended* of his ability's uses, and how it affects everyone around him. "Aftermath" also spends a fairly large chunk of its time on it's love story; which is cute and all but not exactly what I was expecting. I still adored this webdrama, though. It had an interesting blend of suspense and high-school life that felt a bit choppy, but worked overall.
Acting: Dongjun is one of the better idol actors, and I'm glad he got this opportunity to develop his acting skills. I think he has a lot of potential. Here, he was pretty good- not amazing, but better than expected. Kim Min Suk has always been adorable, Joo Ah Seon was nice and I can see her going places, and Kim Geun Hyung was brilliant. Seriously, he stole the show. I'm keeping my eyes out for him in the future.
Music: A lot of random Ze:A because, why not? Not that I'm complaining, of course. Other than that, there's a few ballads chucked in there because that's a drama staple.
Rewatch Value: Since this whole thing took a little more than two hours to watch, I'd say there's a decent chance at that.
Overall: Great story, good actors and really creative directing, "Aftermath" really took me by surprise. I really wasn't sure what I was expecting when I started, but I'm glad I did. 9/10.

Leia Mais

"All About My Romance" is the perfect example of a rom-com done right. It was insanely funny, cute enough to plaster a smile on your face and criminally underrated. While I'm not necessarily sad that it's over, I do feel like I'll miss the hijinks this drama bought with it.
Story: Can two politicians from completely different parties find love? If you were to ask me this question a few months ago, I probably would have said something along the lines of "It sounds boring. I don't really care.". I barely pay attention to politics in real life, why should I watch a drama about it? However, after the first few minutes of the drama, I was sold hook, line and sinker. I loved how this drama can go from serious to laugh-out-loud funny in under a second. The politics weren't really the main focus of the drama, but they did play a key role in the conflicts. I'm glad that there wasn't too much emphasis put on the politics in this, but rather the cute and conflicting relationships all throughout. Just as the title shows, "All About My Romance" is seriously *all* about romance. I'm not joking. There is no other plot there, *but* romance (Well, there was a shot at makjang somewhere along the line, but I was willing to ignore it for the sake of both my sanity and my love for the main couple). Anyway, there were about four (?) different pairs of people involved (not necessarily four couples, there's waaaayyyy more pairings than that), but I can only think of two couples that are actually focused on for the whole show.
Acting: Lee Min Jung first dropped onto my radar back when I watched "Boys Over Flowers". She had a bubbly and bright screen presence, and I honestly see her becoming the next A-List actress sometime soon (?). One of my biggest issues with the drama's viewers is that many people dropped it simply because Shin Ha Kyun wasn't "attractive enough". While I do understand the whole eye-candy thing, isn't that a bit shallow? At least stick around a while if your whole issue is purely a visual thing. If those viewers had some issue with the plot, I could understand why they dropped it, but looks? Really? *sighs*
I'll admit, Shin Ha Kyun is not as attractive as he was back when he debuted, but his character's personality sort of made you immune to that, and over time you found him to be kind-of-sort-of attractive.
Y'know. In that ajusshi way. Sort of like one of those older models in those business magazines?
Moving on. Shin Ha Kyun acted really well in AAMR, and without his skills the whole thing would have probably collapsed. No offense to Lee Min Jung, but she just wasn't passionate enough for the drama to rest on her shoulders, and the second lead and minor actors weren't given enough screen time to help her out.
Music: Cute and adorable. The OST will forever bring a stupid grin to my face. I especially loved Akdong Musician's contribution to it.
Rewatch Value: For the funnier scenes, definitely.
Overall: Cute and light. AAMR tries to teach you something about love and tries to be more serious in the process, but it kind of flops in that department. I'm glad that this drama knew where its strengths were and stuck to them for the most part, though. 8/10

Leia Mais

High school dramas are hard to do right. High school itself is a really difficult time. You have to deal with growing up and finding your dreams, you have to deal with moving on and going into the real world, you have to become more independent and become a better person- it's difficult for writers to convey all of that. If you mess something up, you wind up with a whiny, boring drama with uninteresting characters. If you get it right, you get something like "Shut Up Flower Boy Band" or even "Dream High".
Story: When I first started watching this drama about a year ago, I really didn't want to watch it. At all. In the first episode, it was really difficult to like Hye Mi or any other characters. Hye Mi was overly proud and felt unrealistic, Baek Hi had no personality other than being Hye Mi's follower and I didn't have much sympathy with her and Jin Gook came out of nowhere and randomly decided to be the knight in Shining Armor and confused me. If you asked me what I thought about this drama back when I had only watched episode one, I would say that it's a waste of time and that there's much better out there. I understand that the writers were trying to set us up for the inevitable "change" in which everyone becomes better, but there's different ways of doing it so that the audience doesn't start out hating every single character. *Sigh* That was my biggest problem with this drama. The writers wanted to show how *much* the characters changed, going from one extreme to another. But the thing it, real people don't change so dramatically. We do it in subtle ways, so slowly and so quietly that we can't even tell unless we're forced to realize it. Months later I finally got around to watching episode two. It wasn't much better, but I have a policy that no matter what, I have to finish anything I start. I was pretty much prepared to give this drama a five and move on with my life, so my expectations were pretty low. Episode three was a little better, and so was episode four. It went on like that for a while, until I finally found myself liking "Dream High" instead of merely tolerating it. The main romance story really surprised me, because I had no idea who Hye Mi was going to wind up with until episode 15. I liked how the writers showed her interactions with both Sam Dong and Jin Gook and how all three of them slowly developed feelings. I also liked how the writers made it so that you could wind up liking characters you hated in the beginning- or at the very least wind up respecting them.
Acting: Taecyeon and Suzy were okay actors. They forced themselves sometimes, but they managed to decently convey the story when called upon. Kim Soo Hyun was amazing and pretty much carried the entire show with his portrayal of Sam Dong, Wooyoung and IU were cute, and everyone else ranged from good to amazing.
Music: As a music drama, music is the primary focus of "Dream High". The music here was targeted to a very specific age group, people from the ages of about 13-24-ish. It was young and upbeat, with all the actors' voices to carry the music.
Rewatch Value: I'd say there's a fair chance of me rewatching parts of this, but I probably won't for a while.
Overall: "Dream High" is an acquired taste. It sort of grows on you as you move along through the story. It's not the most amazing drama out there, but it brings something new to the table.

Leia Mais

"Rock Paper Scissors of Love" is only half an hour long, and I wasn't expecting much as far as the story went, but I was pleasantly surprised. This special had a well-executed concept and stellar acting.
Story: There's more to it than expected. Woon Cheol honestly wasn't a bad guy, but he was just so socially awkward that it was difficult for him to connect with any of his blind dates. I liked how the production team portrayed his personality so realistically and in such a relatable way. The first half was great as far as characterization went, because you actually got to see him on a blind date with Yoo Jin, and how he might be a nice guy from afar, up close he sort of fell to pieces.
Acting: I really liked Park Soo Jin in this, and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that this is the only role I've seen her in that doesn't actively make you want to hate her character. I've wanted her to break out of familiar second-lead mean girl territory for some time now, and while this was still familiar territory, her character was also subtly different from the roles she's played before. Park Shin-Hye's character seemed a lot like her others, so she acted well, but not in a way that surprised me. Meanwhile, I've never seen any of Yoon Kye Sang's dramas/movies, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for him. He pulled of his socially awkward and dorky character very well.
Music: I don't remember much about the music, but I remember that it was good.
Rewatch Value: Not right away, but maybe after a few months if I have nothing to do.
Overall: I know that this is sort of tacked on to the end, but this special was actually much deeper than I expected. I thought it would be light and cute, but there was a lot of relatable and familiar concepts used that made you believe that this story was actually happening right in front of your eyes. "Rock Papper Scissors of Love" was funny and cute when it wanted to be, but pulled at your heartstrings at other times.

Leia Mais

I wasn't really sure what to expect before I started watching "Confession of Murder". The story had all the right elements for an awesome action-suspense movie, but at the same time the story had all the wrong elements. CoM could have gone either way- it could have been really really good, or it could have been really really bad. I'm glad to say that even though it might not be narratively perfect- it is suspenseful, action-packed and very smartly written.
Story: The premise is ripe with conflict and possibilities, but all those possibilities mean that there is a pretty high chance that a story like this could go wrong. Of course, CoM might not work for some people- in fact, in the beginning I was more than a little skeptical- but as I continued watching the movie I became more and more invested in all the characters. I found it really interesting how as the movie went on, my loyalties to different characters shifted. You might wind up liking some characters at first, and then hating them later, or vise-versa. The story is also very... thought provoking? It walks a very fine line between being completely unrealistic and being *too* realistic. The public's reaction to the Confession of Murder comes across as a bit much, but as the movie progresses, it's not difficult to see that happening in real life. Also,since I have absolutely no idea how the police or law works in Korea, I can't say either way if "Confession of Murder" did that realistically, but it seemed okay to me. The psychological aspect was dialed down, but there was a lot of action and mystery. The directing here was pretty awesome, and the chase scenes were nail-biting.
Acting: Let me just start out by saying that Park Shi Hoo was perfect for his role. I haven't really seen him in too many roles, but I've noticed that he can pull off the slightly crazed type pretty well. However, Jung Jae Young stole the show here. It helped that his character was so layered, of course.
Music: I can't really remember if there was an actual song to go with this movie, but there was a really awesome instrumental that was used once or twice. The music here was really important in setting the scene and creating the mood.
Rewatch Value: Half the awesomeness of this movie comes from it's suspense. If you already know what's going to happen next, you're not really going to be as in to it.
Overall: Wow. "Confession of Murder" was brilliant. If you're looking for a high-stakes action movie, then this is it. I wouldn't exactly recommend CoM to you if you were looking for something psychological or a straight-up Sherlock Holmes-esque mystery, though.

Leia Mais

When I read the synopsis of this drama, I was intrigued. I liked the fact that the male lead was already in love with the female lead at the beginning, as I don't particularly like when the love arc is dragged out in a story. I also found the fact that Yi-Ru was tricked by her family into believing she had a terminal illness- can you just imagine the hilarity that follows when Yi-Ru finds out that it was all fake?
And then i saw how long this drama was. 72 episodes? Does anyone want to sit through all that?
I still wanted to watch the drama, but at the same time I wasn't ready to sit through all 54 hours. So I came ti the solution that I would skim through this show. I watched it in linear order, but skipped through parts I deemed unnecessary or boring. That saved me a ton of time and I still found this show amusing and heartwarming.
Story: "Love, now" is unrealistic in it's views of love. But then again, most dramas are. This show kind of goes with the idea that people are destined to fall in love and love each other at first sight. But for the sake of this drama, i went with it. The writers weren't exactly skilled in the progression of showing how people fall in love, but the writers were skilled in showing how it changes people. I liked how as many characters found their better halves, they became better themselves. However, that isn't exactly enough plot to fill 72 episodes. Many episodes went by with little to no plot progression. Minor incidents were made to last longer than needed, and characters were sort of wishy-washy with their decisions simply for the sake of the plot. I remember in one episode, a male character said he knew his heart and wasn't in love with a girl, only to contradict the statement 15 minutes later.
Acting: The cast had really cute chemistry- they all felt like one big family. Annie Chen and George Hu had sizzling chemistry and it made me wish that they really were a couple off set. I also enjoyed the chemistry Bobby Dou had with the rest of the Yang family. The four of them made me smile at my computer screen. All the other couples of this show were really cute together, but it was the platonic relationships that really made you feel. I liked Qi Ming's and Yi Qing's brother-sister relationship and how they acted like little kids around each other. I also loved Grandma Lan's relationship with all the other characters. She was surprisingly bright and lively.
Music: My biggest pet peeve with the music was that the same song played before all the commercial breaks. Not to mention the commercial breaks sometimes cut in at the most dramatic moments. For example, one character might say that he/she has a terminal illness, dramatic music comes on, then BOOM- commercial break. That pretty much ruins any mood the show sets. One time I was seconds away from bursting into tears, and then the song comes on. That's like the equivalent of your parents getting you this amazing gift, telling you for weeks what an *amazing* gift it is, then giving you five dollars and a pack of gum.
Rewatch Value: The show has a lot of amazingly creative scenes. I will definitely rewatch those.
Overall: This show felt a little too long for its plot. It could have easily been compressed into 25 or 30 episodes. A tighter story and better directing would have done it wonders. I wouldn't recommend that you watch it ALL, but rather do as I did and skim it. But if you want to, then it's your choice. Overall, it was a nice story about people's lives and how love changes them. There aren't any serious challenges the main characters face in the first 60 episodes of the show, and after the main couple got together I sort of lost interest, but it was a nice experience.

Leia Mais

When "20's" was first announced, I remember just skimming over the information. The only reason I paid any attention to it at first was because Kikwang was in here- otherwise the news would have slipped my mind. Then there was an article about this drama on my favorite blog- and then Viki kept on advertising it, so how could I resist?
Story: "Twenty Years Old" touts itself as a bit of coming-of-age story, but at barely two episodes long, this is less of a growing-up story and more of a fluffy romance- the type of cute you wanted from all the drams you watched, but never got due to random plot mechanisms. If I had to guess, about 60% of this story is random cute, and the other 40% makes a valiant effort at the aforementioned growing up. The lack of actual substance would annoy me- if it wasn't for the fact that Lee Da In and Kikwang are absolutely *adorable* together. Seriously. They're ridiculously cute. The supporting characters- like Ga Young and Hye Rim's schoolmates, were charming and interesting to watch- even if their screen time was next to nothing.
Something that kind of irked me was the story format. The director really overused the reverse-time format here, so if you don't keep up with the time in the first two episodes, it's *really* easy to get lost. I'm going to let it slide because this was a mobile drama, so experimenting with the format is a given. Other than that, the directing was actually really great- full of really interesting camera shots and gorgeous cinematography.
Acting: While I wouldn't say Kikwang and Lee Da In are amazing off the bat, they do have a lot of potential. If they work on their acting, they could definitely go places. Kim Hye Ji was also really nice in her role- again, not amazing, but she can get there. Hye Rim's school sunbaes were also portrayed by good actors, so I can't say that there was any bad actors.
Music: There really wasn't all that much music in here- except for a few random BEAST songs or an instrumental or two.
Rewatch Value: I guess it depends. I would probably rewatch "20's" after being horribly burned by some other drama's main couple, but I don't really see myself rewatching "Twenty Years Old" just for the heck of it. Maybe I will?
Overall: Ridiculously cute, but I find it hard to remember anything beyond that. Maybe you will like it better than I did?

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The plot of "Secretly, Greatly" is- in no uncertain terms- a hot mess. It starts out as sort of a funny action movie (Like the "Rush Hour" franchise) and then sort of turns into some high stakes action movie and finally ends up as a really sad melodrama. By the end, I felt a little like I had watched 3 different movies instead of the one. The transitions are a bit rough, but overall I found "Secretly, Greatly" to be pretty enjoyable.
Story: Like I said, the story is a bit rough around the edges. I figure the only reason it got so much box office recognition was because of Kim Soo Hyun, otherwise this movie probably wouldn't have made so much money. I have mixed feelings about the writing, but I still loved the overall product- warts and all. I especially loved Park Ki Woong's character- seriously one of the best supporting characters I have seen anywhere. Can he please have his own movie? Also, the bromance between the three boys was adorable, as well as the relationship Dong Gu created with the people in his neighborhood. And what about Lee Hyun Woo's character? Can I buy someone exactly like him? Please? T_T
I didn't really "dislike" any part of the movie, but there were things I found really confusing- like the random tone shifts in the last half and the fact that CG had a *lot* of plot holes and plot threads that were never tied up.
Acting: The cast was pretty solid, with Kim Soo Hyun leading the pack and Park Ki Woong stealing scenes left and right and Lee Hyun Woo being adorable. Special shoutout to Kim Sung Kyun, who played his completely one-dimensional character with a lot of heart.
Music: Nothing special, in my opinion.
Rewatch Value: Maybe? Not the *whole* thing, but parts of it? As of right now, I'm not too sure.
Overall: Not the best movie ever, but I still loved it. "Covertly, Greatly" might not work for you, but it's still pretty enjoyable.

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