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Min Ki is so HOT in here! He is such a gentleman I loved how he was caring toward her and changed her into a better person. Did i tell you his eyes are gorgeous!
Chae Rim one of my favourite female actress, she blew me out of my seat.
A must watch drama that you will never regret ever watching!
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The plot itself is rather simple and not that difficult to predict, but what made the drama stand out is how everything was presented. The tone of the drama is very lighthearted and serious moments or events aren't portrayed in an overdramatic way. I loved that some dramatic scenes were even purposefully exaggerated so that they seemed funny instead. With a 2 episode extension the last episodes were a little slower than the rest, but personally I didn't mind that especially because I really liked the ending.
The cast was great as well; Chae Rim really gave life to her character and she will be one of the drama heroines that I won't be able to forget. For me a huge plus of this drama was that it dealt with regular middle class people who are often overlooked in dramas. Another thing I liked was that even supporting characters were well written so that I've grown fond of the whole cast. However, I thought that one of the male leads was a little dull and he didn't leave as much of an impression on me as other characters.
All in all, Dal Ja's Spring is a heartwarming, cute story that I will surely rewatch on a rainy day when I need an uplifting drama!
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To be honest, other than knowing I'd love Min Ki in this drama, I really had no expectations. I didn't really even pay attention to what the storyline was about before I started watching it. I just heard it was good and decided I must watch it. I haven't been this hooked on a drama in a long time - I watched it all in 4 days! I put everything else on hold and watched nothing but Dal Ja's Spring. I found the story that captivating.
By the end of the first episode I knew I'd love it. There was just something about it.... it's more than just your typical love story, it's more than a standard rom-com, it's more than a bunch of cliche's tossed together. And yes this drama definitely did follow the standard Kdrama cliches - but it added something original to it. The story was also more on the mature level, Dal Ja's narrations about life and people were the type that made me sit back and think.
The acting was really great! This was my first drama with Chae Rim but I thought she did an excellent job as Dal Ja. And Lee Min Ki was wonderful as well. I loved the chemistry they both had with each other - yet another reason to watch this drama (:
Also - the side characters were great as well. In the first episode you find yourself not liking Sae Do and Seon Joo, but as the episodes progress it's hard not to! I loved the relationships they all had, the friendships!
I found myself really loving a few songs off of the soundtrack - while others fit with the drama but didn't really catch on to me. My favorite is definitely the "Sha la la la la" song ("Take My Hand and Hold It")
I can definitely see myself rewatching this drama. I just finished it and I'm already missing it. This is one of those drama series that became a favorite very fast and one I'd love to own on DVD.
Overall? I think this is an underrated drama - if I hadn't of heard of Lee Min Ki and if I hadn't of seen a few people talking about it, then I might never of gotten the chance to watch this great drama! Yes, the drama is 5 years old. But don't let that turn you off from watching it. It's a refreshing type of drama - and different from your typical Kdrama. I highly recommend watching it. Even if it doesn't become one of your favorites, I'm sure there's a high possibility of at least liking it and enjoying it (:
There's a lot of sweet moments, funny moments, just overall great moments. Also, I found it hilarious how they used random music in scenes.
Don't think - just watch (:
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Maybe it was a little more innovative at the time, but the story is super basic by today's standards. Super cute curly-haired Dalja is anxious about getting older, when she ends up getting involved in a pretend relationship with a much younger and carefree Tae Bong. Their story involves everything you expect, including a classic relationship contract, but that still didn't stop me from loving watching their story unfold. Dalja's constant complaints about being old were annoying, and some of her fantasies are super cheesy, but she is an extremely likable character. Chae Rim did a good job of making her naive without being extremely annoying. She matched perfectly with Lee Min Ki's much edgier portrayal of Kang Tae Bong. Tae Bong has a mischievous charm that makes him very crush worthy. His eyes were very red, as if he was always high, or had bad allergies, but the looks he would give Dalja made it impossible for her (and I) not to fall for him. Their kissing moments left a lot to be desired, but I expect that from a drama this old. Their chemistry alone makes the show good enough to watch, but there is also an amazing supporting cast.
What I love most about the supporting cast is that I had no idea how significant, and interesting they would become. On the surface they are stereotypical... the playboy, the cool egotistical host, the perfect on paper second lead, the scary boss (with the awesome glasses)... but each of these characters end up being way more complicated, and significant. I adored Lee Hye Young as Seon Joo, who I expected to hate, but won me over. Gong Hyung Jin was great too, even if his hair was distractingly stupid. I even loved some of the more minor characters, like Jang Young Nam as Ki Joong's psycho wife. The minor storylines were also entertaining, so they never felt like filler, and they helped to make the 22 episodes not drag for me.
Even though I really liked the writing, if there was a kdrama trope checklist, this drama would almost check every box. The drama is however clever enough to make fun of that fact several times during some of the show's "if this were a drama" moments. It also plays off of some of Dalja's romanticized ideas about romance. Still, it's super predictable at every turn, but the cast is so good that knowing what will happen didn't stop me from wanting to see it happen. My only real complaint is that, although I liked the endings for the supporting characters, I didn't love the ending for the main couple. I rolled my eyes several times during the last 2 episodes, but It did however leave me wanting more, which I guess is a good thing.
The OST for this show is also a good one, and matches the mood of the show well. The main song definitely got stuck in my head! But it's the illustrations that really steal the show! I looooooved the artwork, which was a really nice touch, and captured the characters and stories well.
Overall this is a drama cute enough to stand the test of time. I could see myself watching this again just because the characters are so fun. I really liked the theme of true love vs expectations of love as well. I highly recommend Dal Ja's Spring to anyone who avoids retro dramas... I think you may also be pleasantly surprised.
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Unfortunately, what I liked most about the first half is almost what made me bored by the second half. Just about every second lead or side character is actually well-written, and serves a purpose. After a while though, I just wished they'd already serve their purpose, and back off for the sake of my romantic wish-fulfillment. One of the draggiest ends of a drama ever! Though the main storyline is a good one.
Loved the soundtrack! Maybe because this doesn't seem like a prime-time drama, and perhaps becauseit's relatively old, but the music was expertly done, with lots of great little clips of famous pieces (both pop and classical) that helped tell the story almost as much as script.
Sorry though, you'll never catch me wanting to rewatch this one.
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Plus points:
- DalJa is the first female lead to pull off stunning curly hair. For some reason most Kdramas give the female lead the most ridiculous hair and dressing sense. DalJa was indeed an a cool lead- well educated and strong and has the ability to dress!!
- Usually, all leads start as a 'strong-independent' woman and then breakdown and become the opposite by the end of the series. But here they were all strong, till the very end.
- It was good to see DalJa and Seon Joo, actually become friends. Instead of back-stabbing bit*$£& [pardon my language] that they would become in other dramas, they stand by and support each other in all circumstances.
- All the characters are well written. They bring out the good and bad in every single one of them and you come to like the whole team. It gives you a feeling of being a part of them.
- Although, DalJa is a trouble magnet she faces her obstacles in a mature way, including that of the 'second lead'.
- The evil ex's, mother-in-laws, family, second leads and others all give you very surprising turn of events.
Bonus point: Kim Jae Wook is in the drama!! Gaaah, my heart raced and I fan-girled like a teenager!!
Negative points:
- Some of the episodes were a bit dragging. They could have shortened and edited out some episodes.
- I like Lee Min Ki but I found his acting a bit bad in this series :( He seemed to have no expressions or emotions.
Overall, a drama where you actually find it difficult to predict the next move. Entertaining and fun to watch. [Besides you can skip the boring parts and you wouldn't have missed the story much;p]
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The acting was actually very well done, and I think Chae Rim has become one of my favorite heroins because of how strong and independent she was. Even Lee Min Ki was fun to watch... The age gap never really became a problem for me, in fact I think the age gap was actually kind of appropriate. Since some people tend to look down upon the "older woman, younger man" relationship, it was good to see that they showed a genuine and loving relationship toward each other that everyone began to understand and accept.
As for the side romance, Sun Joo and Sae Do... You know, you really can't help but love it. I like how the writers kinda made them out to look like the bad characters because of what happened in the first episode, but as the drama progressed you really got to see an amazing friendship between them, even helping each other out with their relationships... It was great!
Overall, I really enjoyed this drama. It was very lighthearted and had a lot of cute and funny moments that hopefully a lot of you might enjoy!
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Story: Really does a romcom need 22 episodes? No. Although, the writers did a good job with the pacing which made the episodes fly by in no time. Really the drama is about the growth of ALL the characters (mains and supporting) in both career/family/romantic aspirations. At first this seemed like it might become repetitive and why waste my time on another story ive seen before right? Well as each episode went on I found myself glued to the screen wondering where these characters (not just the leads) will go in life. Although a lot of the situations might not seem realistic I did find the story as a whole quite realistic and relatable. The only thing I found lackluster was the ending for our two leads. They had room to give us something more satisfying.
Acting/Cast: Chae Rim is a lovely actress but I haven’t loved any of her projects. I think this is the first where her character will be memorable for me. She had the perfect chemistry with Lee Min Ki (I found his acting a little stiff at times) and their relationship was quite believable. I was really surprised by the casting choices of the supporting characters (they get their own storylines as well) at first but by the end I was invested in their characters and they did their parts to carry the show as well. I found the second male lead VERY stiff and he reminded me of Pinocchio a lot(His paleness and lack of facial expressions) and his character was kind of useless after only 8 eps and found his scenes after that kind of awkward and out of place.
Music: Found it very cheesy at first but it will get stuck in your head by the end. Enjoyable for the drama but not my kind of thing.
Rewatch: I didn’t love the first 8 episodes because the second male lead was a big part of the storyline and Lee Min Ki had fewer scenes, plus I'm really not that big of a fan of older woman/younger man focused dramas. Because of this its not a must rewatch for me but I don’t see why anyone else wouldn’t want to rewatch it.
Overall Dalja’s Spring is one of the better written romcoms out there with excellent pacing and its actually really funny which is a plus!
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