'When the Camellia Blooms' is about a single mother who moves to Ongsasn with her extremely young son in hopes of owning a successful bar, The story progresses over 5 or so years where her bar isn't going exactly as well as she had planned and neither does she really fit in with the rest of the community there, she later on meets Yong Sik a police officer who falls for her at one glance. The story follows the two going through hardships to do with family and also a serial murder on the loose (sounds kind of clique lol)
The story was really well written and laid out, especially focusing on relationships with the character's mother's and being a mother, plus the sacrifices and hardships you have to overcome to protect your child. The story also followed with romance with a fateful couple and a married couple falling out of love.
The acting was really well played and suited each of the characters personalities! All really well acted. The emotions displayed really play with your heart strings! Especially DongBaek and her raw emotions and her crying is extremely contagious!!! Plus the interactions between Dongbaek and Yong Sik are so natural and have so many emotions it feels like your watching a couple together in public!
I really recommend this drama it's full of many versatile genres which would be the taste of most people as each genre is spread throughout the episodes so it 's not constantly romance or not constantly about crime or family which is sometimes a bit tasteless or insensitive to some moments in dramas but this is spread consistently so it doesn't always feel so strained and forced especially when it comes to romance between two characters where the chemistry is basically non existent
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Single mothers, especially, are the stars of this drama. Our main female character is one. Our main male character was raised by one. And that’s just the start (to say more would be spoiling things). In fact, in this entire drama save for three characters, fathers and men largely take a backseat in the mainly female-driven story. The heartrending way the drama talks about mothers makes this a perfect watch for everyone. Maybe you grew up motherless, maybe your mother physically or emotionally traumatised you, maybe your mother was overbearing, maybe you loved your mother and lost her, maybe your mother is just a phone call away, maybe you used to be a mother, maybe you are about to become one, maybe you wish to be one... no matter who you are, I think this story will be healing, relatable, and ultimately empowering for the viewer.
It’s important to come into this not expecting it to be just one thing. Neither does it set out to establish itself as a “jack of all trades” type of drama. The characters are genuine, the story is honest, and everything unfolds rather mellowly. I would say there is some meandering in some parts, but let the characters grow on you, keep your judgement at the door. Immerse yourself and you’ll feel glad to be able to spend a bit more time with them.
Oh, and remember that no one is weak. We’re all just seeds, drifting and struggling to plant ourselves and take root, hoping to eventually flower and bloom. Give these characters the chance to do that, and give yourself the chance to too.
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This review may contain spoilers
I was not initially interested in watching this drama. While I love myself a good noona romance, and I love Gong Hyo Jin as an actress, the plot synopsis didn't sound like my thing, so I decided to give this one a pass. But the more I saw and read about the drama as it aired, the more I wanted to watch it, so maybe a month before the story was going to end, I decided to pick it up.Ooooooh my goodness was that a good decision. I liked every character, I liked the murder mystery, I liked the drama's intentional focus on difficult topics, I loooooved the noona romance, but what I liked the most was Dong Baek.
I may be blaspheming a previously viewed and loved drama of mine, but I genuinely think this may be the closest I have ever come to relating to a drama female lead in every single way. Dong Baek's particular life circumstances, single motherhood, child abandonment, running a bar frequented by all the neighborhood men to the chagrin of their wives, none of that speaks to my life. But the way Dong Baek expressed herself, the way she saw herself, the internal sadness and disappointment and bitterness she felt over her life, that was spot on. She is definitely a kindred spirit.
Overall, this drama is a ten for me, from start to finish. I highly recommend it.
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A heartwarming story about family, love and community.
Welcome to Ongsan, a downtrodden, middle-of-nowhere town that's famous for it's marinated crabs. No city lights, high skylines and freakily advanced technology. Life is simple here, everyone knows everybody. This all changes when a single mother from the city suddenly moves in and opens a bar.If you picked up Camellia in hopes of catching a cute romance, you're going to be disappointed. Or if you saw the thriller tag and thought this would satiate your mystery cravings, I would suggest watching something else. Because what Camellia primarily is, is not a romance or a mystery, it is about family.
This is a drama that attempts to tackle big, scary questions, and in the beginning, I too doubted its capability to successfully pull it off. But as I kept watching, I realised my worries were for naught, because this drama doesn't just obnoxiously plunge in and propagate its one-size-fits-all answer, it takes its time (20 entire hours!) and leaves us not with answers, but with faith. Faith in our humanity and confidence in our ability to be kind to each other. This is a story of grieving, sacrificing, healing, but most importantly, of love.
“Miracles don’t exist. It’s just the little heroes inside us working together. It’s small acts of kindness done by kind people.”
The love between two people, love for your child, love for your parents, love for your friends, love for your neighbours and love for yourself, all are explored in great depth to the point where even mundane moments in this drama fill you up with warmth.
Dongbaek amazed me until the end. I don't think I've ever seen a female lead so obliterating, so stunning. To go through incredible hardship and still remain kind and self-less, she easily takes the trophy for best FL of the year. Her vulnerability as a character is what made her strong, but even she wasn't without fault, which is where Yong Sik comes in. He gently builds up whatever Dongbaek was lacking, all the time smiling with that cute smile of his (I know y'all are whipped for Kang Ha Neul too, don't deny it). He made her believe in herself, trust in her strength and taught her to look for sunshine even in the rain. Gahhh I love him mom I want a Yong Sik toooooo
Speaking of moms, the way this drama depicted mothers and maternal love is so accurate and complex. A lot of our main characters are mothers, and the drama took full advantage of that fact to deeply explore themes of sacrifice, selfishness and protectiveness when it comes to parents and their kids.
That being the case, Camellia also remains one of the best mysteries I watched till date. The writer made sure to tie all loose ends, and the twists that came as the plot progressed were truly ingenious. A lot of dramas try to balance these contrasting genres of rom-com and crime, but not many do well. However, I'm proud to say that the transitions between romance and comedy and thriller were executed very well without any awkwardness. The sentimental scenes between Dongbaek and her mom were as touching as the scenes with the Tsundere Neighbourhood Ahjummas^TM.
So even if you thought this was going to be a cute rom-com (it still is!) and it hasn't exactly matched your expectations, all I can say is- keep going, because what you will find on the other side is a gem of a drama worth treasuring for a lifetime.
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This review may contain spoilers
This show is very well acted and has an interesting story line. Lots of people LOVED this show and if you are a fan of cute romances, quirky characters, and a mystery plot as well, you might really enjoy it. However, for me, there are too many of my pet peeves that are a big part of this show. Now these are MY pet peeves so it no doubt influenced the way I saw the show. they may not bother you at all. But below are my thoughts.
I'm not a fan of bullies who don't learn to stop bullying, people who consistently doubt themselves or whine, and irrational parents. This show has all three. Thankfully there wasn't any Noble Idiocy, so that was indeed a plus.
For example, There is a group of women who are terrible bullies to the FL. I mean horrible. Later in the show, they stop bullying her, but they don't actually change which means someone else could and would fall into their bullying. They don't have any consequences for their actions and they practically try to destroy the FL before they ever try to be nice. It's simply not ok. Also there are two characters who resort to blackmail in very cruel ways and who also don't seem to ever see it's wrong. And yet, we are supposed to care what happens to them. One even dies and I still couldn't find myself empathizing with her situation...I even found myself annoyed to see her in flashbacks sometimes. We are supposed to see all these people as complex humans where they grow and learn...but they don't really grow...at least not where you could tell. They all had seriously rough lives and you're supposed to understand how they came to be who they are now, but it doesn't work for me. It feels more like instead of changing, they just adjusted their focus to NOT being a pain for the main characters anymore. Like if a bully gets beaten up by his prey, so the bully quits bothering that target and finds another target. The bully doesn't change though.
There's a male character who seems to be the only person who actually changes a little from being a horrible human to a decent person, but even he seems like he could fall back into his old ways easily...though you are given hope that he won't. I did grow to understand the FL's Mom and I could empathize with her because she really does seem to try to make amends and be better.
The FL is a great actress, but the character ended up bugging me. She was mousy at first and then she'd get strong and you'd want to root for her, but then she'd fall back into her old pattern. Back and forth, back and forth. UGH! Just stop. I wanted to shout at her, "Yes, your life was miserable and you were given a LOT of hardship, but look, you survived and things are getting better...stop dwelling on what you never had!" I got very tired of her whiny side.
I did like that they used voiceovers to tell part of the story. It was an interesting aspect of the production. They also did a good job with interweaving the backstories. Though I didn't particularly like most of the characters, I did understand their connections a bit through the backstories and that was good, but in some cases (like with the ML's Mom) instead of helping me like her more, it made me even more frustrated with her character.
As I said, LOTS of folks loved this show and it could have been that it just hit all my pet peeves for me. You might love it.
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An ode to motherhood
When the Camellia Blooms is a romantic comedy and crime/thriller drama but at its very core it’s a love letter to motherhoods—every form of motherhood actually. The good, the bad, and everything in between. I’m not a mother but that does mean the messages that was conveyed didn’t hit me hard. It made me sit back and reflect on my own relationship with my mother and for that I’m thankful.That being said my high rating kind will mostly be based on my own personal feelings rather than the logistics of the plot. I felt that it really delivered on the crime/thriller part but I know people had issues for me. However, the mystery of the killer was not something that had me anxiously awaiting each episode, no it was waiting to see if Dongbaek will stand up for herself or what the rest of residents of Ongsan are up to. That being said it’s obvious that while I personally liked how the mystery unfold it only played a small factor into my high score.
My high score, as I stated before, relied heavily on my personal emotions and oh boy did I feel strongly about this show. It’s true that I didn’t care about the crime/thriller plot-line but I’m a romance enthusiast so even if I found the focus on motherhood fascinating I needed a pairing to root for. And trust me I was rooting for Dongbaek and Yong Shik early on. It’s no surprise that the cast gained recognition and awards for their roles because you can tell how much attention went into crafting these uniquely human characters. Dongbaek as our protagonist really did grow although some would debate on that fact since there was so much flip flop going on. Yet I was not bothered because in those twenty episodes I was really able understand the core of her character and I know realistically that people don’t change over night.
Yong Shik is hands down my favorite male lead in a kdrama I’ve ever seen yet. Sure he’s incredibly persistent and in your face but he’s such a genuinely nice person that I can’t help but adore him. He’s very an all or nothing kind of guy which I admire and if you are looking for a puppy ML whose feelings for the FL does not waver one bit Yong Shik is the guy for you. Without giving away spoilers I want to shine light on this gentle giant who whole heartedly loves Dongbaek, her son, and the rest of the residents in Ongsan with all he got.
The side characters were all very interesting and I found myself rooting for even the ones I labeled as “the worst.” I thought there was a good balance between the leads and side characters too. By the end I felt almost as if I was apart of that little town because the audience was able to get to know them so well. Kudos to the child actors/actresses for giving it all they got. I thought that Dongbaek’s son, Pil Gu, was a very likable character who unfortunately felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulder.
Finally I want to address the running themes of motherhood. When The Camellia Bloom shows how difficult it is being a mother. Since there are so many different characters and stories you are able to get different perspectives. There’s a high chance that you’ll be able to relate to one of the stories involving mothers. I thought it was interesting to show how beautiful and ugly motherhood is; how mothers can be selfless and selfish. I was hesitant at the beginning but by the time I reached the final episode I was sold on the idea.
Anyways, When The Camellia Bloom made me feel so many different emotions whether it’s happiness, anguish, anger, amusement, frustration, etc. I’m someone who rates according to what it made me feel and since this drama really had an impact I had no choice but to give it 10 out of 10. I’m sad that it’s over but I’m happy I stumbled across this gem. I’m aware it’s not for everyone but it ended up hitting every little check on my “perfect drama list” so obviously I’m going to praise it. The OST also enhanced the scenes rather than distracted me. This drama will definitely go on my list of favorite dramas of the year.
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I also loved a lot of relationships the FL had or built throughout the drama. That's the core of the story and what makes it alluring, in my opinion, so if you don't like stories that center on the relationships of its characters, then this isn't for you.
The only flaw it's some parts of the script.
There were things that were dragged that were unnecessary and a beautiful relationship with so much potential was destroyed and not treated properly which was the utmost shame (I'm not talking about a romantic relationship). They tried to fix it at the end, but they rushed it. In my opinion, it was really cliché how it was destroyed and it took from the story more than it brought. I wish the writer had made another choice, it would have been more interesting and heartwarming and much more in character.
Also, I would say that not every mother is the kind of mother this drama talks about. I get that in this case they are talking about mothers that are that way, but in the world there are plenty of women who shouldn't have been mothers.
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Watch this only for Kang Ha-neul
This series could have easily been shortened to the usual K-drama length of 16 episodes, but I guess the producers stretched it out to 20 episodes to milk as much money as they can from the TV network. That's why the show dragged starting around Episode 11. The writers should look for another profession.Gong Hyo-jin, who played the FL, is a terrible actress. She had a blank expression on her face throughout the series or cried that looked so phony. She cried in almost every episode (sometimes several times in the same episode) and whined that she was abandoned as a child. I didn't mind her whining about her sad life for 3-4 episodes, but EVERY episode? It gets old really fast. I blame the writers for this. By Episode 18, I was really hating her - so pathetic and irrational. During Episode 19, the tale of FL's mother's early years, it was supposed to be sentimental and tugged at your heart, but it bored me and I fell asleep. At Episode 20, with every character's storyline wrapped up nicely with a bow, I felt like puking. At the end, the kid had grown to an adult but the ML and FL had not aged - not one single gray hair after being together for 15 years (they met when he was 34 and she was about 1-2 years older)!
All the Korean mothers were overbearing: ML's mother who initially can't accept her son falling in love with a single mother, the model wife's mother who schemed to have her daughter take as much alimony from the baseball player, female lawyer's mother-in-law who is a nag and a bitch. Is this a cultural thing or do the writers hate mothers?
The only acting that stood out as exceptional were from the ML, the baseball player, the dead friend/coworker and the little son. They all showed a great range and depth of emotions. It was good to see Kang Ha-neul, the ML, in a comedic role after seeing him in a serious role in Moon Lovers:Scarlet Heart. I watched this show specifically to see him after seeing his outstanding performance in Moon Lovers but felt his talent was wasted in this show.
I would not rewatch this show or recommend it to anyone unless they absolutely needed to see Kang Ha-neul.
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I did like the concept of the story but the pieces did not come together well for me. The first 5 episodes dragged the story line a lot and even after that it was slow to pick up. To me the highlight of the show was Kang Jong Ryul. His character arc was most satisfying. Even though I did not like Dong Baek treatment of him and denial of his relationship with his son, he too had many transgressions for a redemption. He was both a lovable and pitiful character. He understood what he lost and desperately tried to reclaim. I really hope Kim Ji Suk gets the recognition he deserves .
Second to him was Hwang Yong Shik the good guy who finished first. This was a refreshing change. Often times we watch the bad boy get the love he didn't deserve and the nice gets thrown to side. Overall the drama just had a few poor decisions made which resulted in a not quite good drama for me.
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Horrible pacing and tone
Minor minor spoilers ahead if any.This drama wasn't for me... A lot of people like it, but after episode 12 I decided I just couldn't waste any more time trying to watch it and I pretty much just skip-watched to the end from there...
First of all, the premise has potential. After loving Hometown ChaChaCha I thought I'd love another small town story, but this one has some really annoying characters I just couldn't stand. I loved the actor who played Gyutae in It's Okay to Not Be Okay, but whenever he came on in this show I just hated him because he was just screaming like a big manbaby (I know that's who he is, but it was still really irritating). Dongbaek has a really bad victim complex... the women of Ongsan are developed really poorly and they suddenly decide to just like Dongbaek because she kind of starts to assert herself but she's actually so flip floppy. I didn't feel for Hwangmi that much throughout the whole show. Omg Jongryeol... Probably the most annoying. Even if that was the aim for these characters, the pacing was just sooooo dragged out, and while I had no characters to grow close to and love, I was just bored and annoyed watching this whole show. I will say there were some moments and scenes I enjoyed though. But those were far and few between.
The tone of this show is very confusing. It was either really bubbly and bright or so dark and eerie that I was like.. This can't be serious. I was thinking if they made that police guy the Joker that would have been soooo good if they made it work... but of course they made some random guy we don't know the Joker.
I'm glad I don't have to worry about trying to finish this show anymore!
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