Warm and Cozy (2015)

Just like its tittle: warm and comforting

PLOT:
Meeting in Jeju between a rich, disillusioned and lazy ML, owner of a restaurant, and the FL in pursuit of her cousin, who bought a ruin with the funds she lent him. The ML takes in the FL, they work together and live together, despite the tricks of the ML's friend, not interested in the ML (because she wants a rich husband) but jealous (and wants to continue playing with him).

PROS:
+ Lots of excellent actors (｡◝‿◜｡), including Yoo Yeon Seok (ML) and Kang So Ra (FL), who have great chemistry.
+ Intelligent, well-written story, with coherent character development.
+ endearing secondary characters
+ the little touch of humor, notably the inner thoughts of the FL.

CONS:
- Many misunderstandings created just by things left unsaid

=> An excellent series (which I will undoubtedly watch again in a few years), like its name: warm and comforting.

************************************************************
PLOT:
Rencontre à Jeju entre 1 ML riche, désabusé et lazy, proprio d'1 restaurant, et la FL à la poursuite de son cousin, qui a acheté une ruine avec les fonds qu'elle lui a prêtés. Le ML recueille la FL, ils travaillent ensemble et cohabitent, en dépit des ruses de l'amie du ML, non intéressée par le ML (car elle veut 1 mari riche) mais jalouse (et veut continuer à jouer avec lui).

PROS:
+ Bcp d'excellents acteurs (｡◝‿◜｡), dont Yoo Yeon Seok (ML) et Kang So Ra (FL),qui ont une alchimie formidable.
+ Story intelligente, bien écrite, avec une évolution des personnages cohérente.
+ des personnages secondaires attachants
+ la petite touche d'humour, notamment les pensées intérieures de la FL.

CONS:
- Beaucoup de malentendus créés juste par des non-dits

=> Une excellente série (que je regarderai sans doute à nouveau dans quelques années), comme son nom : chaude et réconfortante.

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Didn't feel the love

So, I was looking for a romantic show that wasn't filled with too much angst. Based upon the reviews, I felt that this might be a good fit. It was a disappointing watch for me.

Jeju Island - beautiful. For me, the high point of the whole show, other than the So Ji Sub cameo.

Acting/casting - The acting was okay, except for the second female lead. Her acting felt really wooden to me, but the script certainly didn't help. I felt that the mayor of the town was miscast - he looked like he would have been a good "bad guy" but I didn't buy him in this role.

Writing - this is where the majority of my complaint lies. Sometimes it was somewhat slapstick, then it would move to melodrama, then move back to a typical romance. What did it want to be? I did not care for the male lead character at all. He was all over the place as well, but what stuck out to me most was that he was a doormat and I couldn't respect him. He's liked a girl for years that is an absolute nightmare (how anyone with any intelligence could like her, I have no idea), even goes so far as to say that even if she marries someone else he'll still like her, but then almost immediately switches to the female lead. Wait, what? Then the contrived situations that keep the leads apart were just unnecessary, it was one thing after another, including the "separated for a year" trope. When I'm watching a romance, and they are apart more than they are together, can that really be called a romance?

Chemistry - I didn't feel the chemistry between the leads (which is partially a problem with the script). Consequently, I didn't feel too invested in wading through the show until they got their happy ending (which was rushed, by the way). Some really bad kisses, but then they finally got a clue.

I realize that reviews are based on personal opinions, but if you are looking for a show that is really romantic, this would not be one that I would suggest.

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a pleasant watch but sneakily unsettling.

Hong Sisters 10th script, 2015, 16 eps at 1hr ea. Overall W&M is a pleasant watch but sneakily unsettling. Set in beautiful Jeju Island, whose dialect and differently gendered economics are used as the comic background, it looks like a commercially motivated script but it is an outlier in the romance genre; the ML is a central, complex character whose emotional needs and problems have a gravitational pull far exceeding those of the FL.

Jeju, the main setting, is an oasis from feverish Seoul, but its citizens are not caricatured; the dialect is the big joke. The 2romance (elder bro + haenyeo) is actually a classic romedy form, acting as a sort of a supplement to the unconventional main romance. The 2ML in the love triangle (mayor of the village) is funny and warm and provides just enough balance and fun to offset the disconnect between the ML and FL.

The FL, Lee Jung Joo (played by Kang So Ra) finds refuge and a real home in Jeju, with friends of her own and the ML's business to run by herself. Active and energetic, she still plays a passive role in the second half of the script, and most of her camera time thereafter is used to reflect the emotions (?) of the ML.

The ML's own name for his hobby-restaurant, Warm and Cozy, is a word in Jeju dialect like hygge, untranslatable; probably comfy, easy but literally it means "pleasantly warm". He takes a long time to warm up to the FL, and somehow the show feels tepid until he starts to find out about his family.

The ML Seo Geun Woo (played by Yoo Yeon Seok) is born on the wrong side of the blanket to a hotel conglomerate, or more exactly to a woman of legendary affairs and serial marriages (the Gatsby allusion is to her as Daisy, for pitys sake, not to him!). He is trapped emotionally by a predatory female villainess (grasshopper), Mok Ji Won, a heartless sexual tease of a gold-digger who uses him as a decorative companion in-between her targets.

He is encircled in the script by other people's feelings about him: he is an 'oasis prince' to the young FL, first seen in the show in a polo melee; an unserious outlander to the island community; a photogenic and easily objectified chef to influencers and foodies; or an indolent 'grasshopper' to his family, an unemployable chaebol.

He is bitter about his own attractiveness and desires. His communication with the FL, his coeval from highschool, is at first only made possible by his mistaken belief that she is about to die; his character is too cynical otherwise, but he automatically responds with compassion to her.

Any real conversation as it emerges afterwards is still spoilt by his insincerity, apparent shallowness and sudden flares of sexual teasing. He feels closed off to her. A wedding, the unraveling of his own family mystery and a forced separation finally open his heart.

At the point where normally I want to grab the FL by the shoulders in frustration at her willful misunderstanding of about everything and give her a good shake, one finds oneself hoping both the director and the FL will give this ML a solid whack on his pretty bottom.

Who is the director who let the HS have their way with him? Park Hong Kyun, the only one to direct 3 of the HS' shows, whether by accident or design or an emergent mutual trust. The soundtrack is wickedly sly. Torch songs (Moon River on a date?) and lush full orchestra accompaniment... I was left with the feeling that the writers wanted to skewer the romance genre without the audience noticing.

To be honest I keep thinking about this show and its characters and certain scenes, which probably means intuitively it is actually a better show than I have described. This has been the hardest to write about so far in my Hong Sisters rewatch project.

Spoiler alert to follow!!!. The temperature metaphor is expressed only by the ML . He characterizes their relationship as one of suppressed heat. When they finally confess mutual love, she wants to go on dates and he wants to go to bed. He wins, which is flabbergasting in this context.

first posted august 26th 2024 on Viki

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WHAT WAS THAT?!

I was absolutely not a fan of this drama at all! First of all, the male lead treated her like garbage the first half of the show to get the attention of a gold digger he knew didn't give him the time of day unless he had money. He thought she had cancer and still treated the main lead like an unwanted step child. Only solace was the secondary lead who wasn't traditionally handsome but was a good guy but she still fell for that asshole. Up until the end, the male lead wasn't likable. He just never redeemed himself from that irresponsible and immature guy from the beginning. I loathed this drama and wished I hadn't finished it thinking there would be some big ending. It was meh at best. Save yourself the trouble.

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Nah man, this is not it

I was prepared for a heartwarming slice of life, but this was nothing like that.

The female lead was too nice, naive and basically too good for the male lead. Him, on the other hand was quite selfish and only occasionally kind, that too he couldn't do properly.

Most of the problems in this drama could be solved by 5 minutes of honest conversation. This drama was better off in 12 episodes, it would've been actually a fun drama despite all its story flaws.

Also, another thing is that the second leads are too clingy, especially the second male lead. Doesn't know how to take no as an answer and keeps complicating everything for our poor female lead.

Anyway, in conclusion, I wouldn't recommend watching this at all :)))

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A light and feel-good romance, but lacking a bit in plot progression

I decided to watch this drama because of Yoo Yeon Seok, as he is one of my favourite actors. It is a perfect watch for someone who loves light and feel-good romance stories, with no crazy plot twists and conspiracies, but still all the good elements of a quality production.

The way the story starts to unfold in the beginning is really captivating. You can't help but fall for the undeniable charms of Baek Geon Woo, as well as sympathise with the unfortunate situation of Lee Jung Joo and get really curious over the mystery revolving Geon Woo and Jeong Joo's families and the possible ties between them. The general scenery as well as the individual sets are very beautiful and they kind of act as touristic promotion for Jeju Island. Most of the characters are loveable and even the ones that act as the "villains" bring their own flavour to the drama. In general, all these elements help give the series a feeling just as described in the title: Warm and Cozy.

That being said, there are a few points that don't really help the plot progress and, eventually, come to a close just as naturally as it started, in my opinion. I feel like the romance between the two main characters is slowly and steadily built for the most part, but a big revelation of Geon Woo's feelings is kinda missing. Also, I can't help but feel really sad for the second male lead, as he was one of my favourite characters but had to experience so much heart-break even though he was an absolute sweetheart. The start of a possible relationship with Geon Woo's sister in the end doesn't really make up for all he's been through and is also not very believable, to add to that. At the same time, the romance between Geon Woo's brother and Hae Sil is also not very believeable, as it was very fast paced and felt kind of forced on Hae Sil's side. The mystery revolving Geon Woo's family made for a poor series conflict in my opinion and wasn't even resolved properly in the end, so a lot of the characters' decisions that were based on that were unnecessary. Additionally, there is not much character development for the main antagonist, Ji Won, as she basically remains the same throughout the series and even gets her own "happy ending", never actually facing any reall consequences for her actions.

In the end, I have to say that watching these series was an overall enjoyable experience, with great acting as expected from such a cast and the charms of a life in Jeju Island winning you over. However, I cannot forgive the, in some aspects, poor plot progression so I would probably not watch this again.

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Awesome

Awesome ♥️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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i really liked
it's very smooth , warm & cozy like it's name

made u feel with many emotions during watching it

what i didn't like was

1st : the type of filming, it was weird
gave me the feeling as if they were filming with a video cam.
which ruined the mood of the drama for me then i got used to
and the producing was limited which spoiled that amazing views in jeju island

2nd: ep 14, 15 really were in a deep mess for me
i didn't enjoy them much they were lame
like taking one step forward then two steps back

3rd :the make-up also was weird many times

somehow most of the characters were nice and i enjoyed them
Except that selfish B**** (Yi Ahn)
i was really frustrated cause she had also happy ending
this was unfair for such a person like snake like her
i wished she will end up alone

but inspite of all that, i enjoyed it much ^_^

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disclaimer: I have watched 8/16 episodes
I’ve fallen in love with Jeju Island. People are simple, the story is simple, the drama is simple, yet everything is wonderful. It is a story that is far from the influence of a complex city and complex problems. Everything looks more bearable when it happens in Jeju island.
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