Love Rain (2012)

THE JOYS and SORROWS of LOVE

The age of “Love Rain” (2012), almost made me miss a great, romantic story. In spite of ruminating about its age, I gave in and watched. From the very beginning, it captured my attention, and was without a lot of fluff. The characters were relatable, and each had a significant storyline. The transition of characters into future years was uniquely done, and well performed, by the actors. One must pay close attention, as dates are not shown, to reflect the period. I liked the love between both sets of lead characters. I found Sun Ho’s role as wanting, and Jo Won’s to be insignificant. Overall, a great love story: lots of hugs, but lacking in romance; a few delusional characters, in quest for love. I liked how the story ended, but wanted more visual closure to the adult, In Ha and Ha Na’s plight. Some reviews are useful, but some appeared to be related to a different story. It’s all contingent upon one’s life experiences, discernment, and tastes, I guess.

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What took me so long to watch this?!

There was so much to love about this show. I have literally skipped over this show dozens of times, strictly because of the picture that goes along with the synopsis. I'm so glad I finally gave it a chance. It is a slow-moving drama, but the characters are developed very well, and because of the slow pace, you feel like you are coming to know them and learning to care for them at the same time.

The first four episodes set in the 70's at University - there was a sort of yellowish tinge to the film quality that I really liked, giving evidence to the time period. I loved the 70's fashions (which at the time we thought we were rocking!), and hairstyles and the overall feel. I also appreciated that they did a jump forward into the present time, rather than the endless flashbacks, which really take you out of the story.

The current time was filled with beautiful scenery, comedy, drama, and the usual K-drama angst. I did lower my score one point due to the fact that there were multiple episodes where the main couple broke up and made up over and over again. That, to me, said the show could have been edited a little more tightly and made shorter.

I thought it was well acted for the most part, but I must especially give shouts out to Im Yoon-Ah and Jang Geun Suk. Im Yoon-Ah played the shy female lead in the 70's, and her daughter in the current time. In the 70's her character seemed a little one-dimensional to me, but I think that was to contrast with the vivacious person she was in the current time. Her character was sweet and likeable and not a complete doormat (though when she kept lowering her eyes in front of his nightmare of a mother, I wanted to smack her).

Jang Geun Suk - oh my goodness, his performance was impressive! Since I hadn't read much about this show before I watched it, I was quite a way into the show before I realized that he played two parts as well! In the 70's he was a shy artist. He falls in love in three seconds and this is basically the story of that love. His character was sweet and tender in the 70's, contrasted by his character of the son, who was bitter, cynical, and didn't believe in love. His hair and his costumes in the present time were ridiculous, but he was wonderful. I loved watching him becoming aware of someone other than himself, especially since he came out and said he didn't believe in love. The voice-over work he did, especially during the 70's time frame, was lovely. He has the perfect voice for it. Add to that the Love Rain song that he sings throughout the show, and he just gave me all the feels.

For Seo In-Guk fans, he plays two unusual characters in this show. They really downplayed his attractiveness.

The relationship between the two leads was wonderful to watch. It was especially fun since they started out so antagonistically toward each other. For those enquiring minds, there are a couple of lame kisses, and a couple of very good kisses, that make you think that they actually like each other. Also, I understand that the Koreans say they "like" each other rather than using the word "love", which I'll admit can be overused. So, when they said they loved each other, it was so wonderful. The show has a happy ending, but I would have liked the ending to be a little bit longer.

Another storyline that I really liked was in the current time between the female lead and the young doctor. He really put himself out there to be her friend and stuck with her throughout, even though he was in love with her himself. He only made a couple of vague references to it, and she was completely clueless.

Other than the multiple episodes toward the end that had the "will they/won't they be together" thing, this show was a slow, calm, peaceful view into two different developing relationships, and the effects that others' decisions can make on those relationships. It showed the power of friendships in both eras, and I think that applies to the main leads as well. In addition to being in love, I think friendship and maturity played important roles in them sticking together and not letting others tear them apart.

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I watched Mary Stayed Out all Night and picked this for a shallow reason: the male lead is beautiful. I found I really liked the first ten or so episodes because how interesting it was to see someone so desired/high and mighty male lead fall in love first and how it was the female lead whose reaction--you are a jerk/you mistreat people/so I will not like you--was more realistic.

I thought the story of the parents was sad...but i just did not like her mom. She was so passive it was annoying and oh my god it seemed like some bad thing was always happening to her.

I enjoyed the themes, the colors, and the symbolism.

I pitied the boy's mom.

I did not like the comedic relief/found it to be a drag.

Sometimes it dragged.

My biggest frustration: the writer's obsession with 'purity' in women. The male lead was a player, the female lead could not have sexual bone in her body which felt totally unrealistic of reality. I mean it was like she didn't even entertain a single sexual thought about this man. You can be chaste but still have desires, yeesh. This is why I give it an 8.5--it was delivering a very mature story but at the same time would not acknowledge adult themes that made it realistic. I'm not saying that their needed to be sex/kissing/hugging, but it felt like the female leads were all on pedastals, and the most realistic female of them all was probably the boy's mom who was also the villian.

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Love Rain (2012) - all I can remember of this drama is that I was watching it late at night while trying not to sleep because I just want to finish it. The story was pure romance and about love and maybe at that time I was not really into romance that is why I didn’t really appreciate the drama. I was on the verge of not watching it, but my friends encourage me to finish it since I already started. The story was really dragging and sad and mostly I didn’t remember much of the scenes of the present scenes (*in the drama) but I remembered the past scenes much clearer.

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An Emotional Roller Coaster

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2012 South Korean drama (20 episodes/~60 Minutes per episode) that spans 2 generations and 2 couples. The mom Kim Yoon-hee (Lee Mi-sook) and father Seo In-ha (Jung Jin-young) of the two "main" characters lost their 1st chance at love and wound up marrying other people. The son, Seo Joon (Jang Keun-suk) and daughter Jung Ha-Na (Im Yoon-ah) meet by chance and fall for each other. As fate would have it, the mother and father meet later in life and have their 2nd chance at love. They decide to marry and when they tell their children the young couple must decide if they give up their own love for the love of their parents.

Spoiler 🚨 This was an emotional roller coaster and I felt heartbreak for both couples. I felt sad at the end and couldn't quite place why but I think it is because, although it ended well, not everything was tied up in a perfect bow. I had questions about what had happened with some of the characters and it just didn't feel like the happy fair tale I like to escape to. I would still rate this high but would say watch it when you are ready for an emotional roller coaster.

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I love the drama, I am not sure which Geun Suk to love, the one who was In Ha or Suh Joon, the makeup, hair styling, wardrobe was done so nicely that I had hard times recognising Yoona in 2012's comparing to her 1970's self. I love the friendship, how friends sacrificed for each other.. With this drama the ones who are born in 1990's and later learnt about 1970's about the music, love, lifestyle and politics, I have to say I loved the musics, both the OST and the other musics chosen for the drama, Where do I begin the theme song of Love Story was a spot on for Sun In Ha - Suh Joon / Yoon Hee - Ha Na just listen Where do I begin To tell the story of how great a love can be the sweet love story that is older than the sea The simple truth about the love she brings to me Where do I start.. Also One Summer Night by Chelsia Chan, I love Rain by Geun Suk.. both actors done their parts well, I am amazed how Baek Hye-Jung (Son Eun-Seo) from the 70's and how Yoo Hyre RI(Hye Jung ) from the 2012's looked like each other..

when I saw chubby Seo In Guk in 70's I said WHAATTT!!! wait!!!! is he really Seo in Guk and when I saw him singing in 2012's I could not help myself but laughing.

Kim Si Hoo as Lee Dong Wook/Lee Sun Ho did not changed much.. In 2012's it was his time to sacrifice, bury his feelings to his heart..

in 1970's Sun In Ha & Lee Dong Wook ( haah such a coincidence we have an actor who is carrying the same name LDW) & Sun In Ha was in love with her, and he was faster and told his feelings to Kim Yoon Hee, in 2012 it was Suh Joon faster told his feeling to her, Lee Sun Ho kept his feelings hidden for his friends happiness, in 2012 we also have Tae Sung we first know about him when they were in Japan and also his feeling about Ha Na when they were talking about Diamond Snow, he silenced his friend by covering his mouth, as seeing - watching Diamond Snow with a boy / girl means that they'll fall in love. This drama is totally about FATE..
So history repeated itself but in a different way..

I loved that it is a happy ending on both parties everyone have their happy ending.

I do not care about the ratings, I loved the drama, I enjoyed watching it, it is a drama filled with romance without being cheesy I cried on some scenes and still cry on some of the musics played in the drama..

I would go and watch this drama again and again without getting bored.

Do not give importance to negative reviews, this drama does not deserve negative reviews.. It is only you who can decide whether it is good or bad.. Give the decision after watching the first 4 episodes.

If you are not into romance- romantic person, who does not enjoy romanticism, do not even start go and watch something else..

This drama was on my target for the last couple of years but not sure to watch it or not but I gave it a chance and I am happy about it.

Other than jumping immediately to 2012 I would loved to see some the transformation how they got married - children being friends wth each other. Just noticed we don't know anything about LDW wife and we know why Chang Mo never got married

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At first, I was captivated by the actors in their "older generation" characters. The first like four episodes were really vintage and calming to watch, haha like love rain :) Afterwards, I was still hooked on up to like ep14. The "younger generation"'s personalities were totally different and it was really fun to watch. However, towards the end, I felt like the plot really dragged on. I honestly found myself watching 10 minutes total of each of the last few episodes just to know how it ends. However, overall I think this is a feel good drama to watch, especially the first half!

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İlk 4 bölüm, yani In Ha ve Yoon Hee'nin aşkının anlatıldığı, 70lerde geçen bölümler çok güzeldi. Beni gerçekten içine çekti ve ilham verdi. Çok beğendim. Karakterlerin birbirleriyle olan ilişkileri, mekanlar, kıyafetler, oyunculuklar... Güzeldi. İlk 4 bölümün izlenmesini kesinlikle tavsiye ediyorum.
Fakat sonrasını hiç beğenmedim. 5. bölümde 2012ye sarılıyor, In Ha ve Yoon Hee'nin çocuklarının birbiriyle olan aşkı anlatılmaya başlanıyor. Aşırı sıkıcıydı. Joon'un tarzının iğrençliğine diyecek laf bulamıyorum. Ha Na da LC Waikiki çocuk reyonundan giyinmiş gibiydi. Bir tane de palyaçoluk etsin diye kırıtan bi çocuk eklemişler. Sanırım o da dizinin "palyaço gey"i. Türkler de dizilerine Korelilerden kopya çekip palyaço geyler ekliyordu bi ara, hala var mı o olay bilmiyorum ama çok küçük düşürücü. LGBT böyle gösterilmemeli medyada. Nefret ettim.
Joon ve Ha Na'nın ilişkisi çok daha güzel işlenebilirdi, ama beğenemedim, üzgünüm. Gelen diğer yeni 3 erkek karakteri de sevmedim. Hepsinin saçı dikti ve iğrenç, papyonlu kıyafetleri vardı. Kusucaktım resmen. Hepsi birbirinden çirkin tarzlara sahipti. Hikaye aşırı sıkıcı ve yavaştı, diyaloglar çok sıkıcı ve birbirini tekrarlayan, yorucu, akılda kalmayan türdendi. Her şey berbatlaştı, ben de 9 bölüm dayanabildim. Siz 5 ve sonrasını izlemeyin.

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