Next, the cast was mediocre, in my opinion. I loved that they made a westerner one of the main leads. It's very different and was what intrigued me to watch this drama. I was a little disappointed when he started acting, though. (But, it was pretty good for someone who was not a native Korean speaker.) The girl who played BJ had a voice that was very annoying, and she seemed very young. In the last few episodes, she flashed a few smiles that seemed forced. I could tell that she was not fully immersed in her acting. Other than that, the rest of the cast was splendid.
Finally, overall, I really enjoyed this drama because it was unpredictable at times. I thought that BJ would end up with William because of the first few episodes, but I was wrong. And I thought that Yan would also fall in love with BJ. The ending was good, but I felt that it lacked to deepen the relationship of PG & BJ. (Because I honestly felt that the fans would love to see their relationship go a tad further.)
I absolutely recommend this drama to those who are patient.
Was this review helpful to you?
The Tamna scenes where they were diving for abalones were beautiful, and overall the scenes were beautiful! Music is also very good, and they chose the right music to set the mood of the different scenes.
I may be a little biased in rating this drama though, because I was extremely happy with who ended up with Beo Jin XD. It is worth the watch, although you have to put up with a lot of crying from Beo Jin. However, that didn\'\'t ruin the drama at all for me! Right after finishing this drama I felt like watching it aaaall over again. It surpassed my expectations by a LOT!
Was this review helpful to you?
STORY: Let's be honest, the first few minutes of this drama were (and will be) for many a turn off and even cringeworthy but what follows is oh so totally worth the pain! I can't add anything more for fear of inadvertently spoiling the whole story but let's just say that the story in itself has everything you could hope for in a drama.
ACTING/CAST: I could dwell for hours about Im Joo Hwan's brilliant acting and I'm definitely not the only one (Team Park Kyu!). No one could have portrayed Park Kyu better than him. Same goes for his female counterpart. I know not everyone will agree with me but I actually love Seo Woo's portraying of Beo Jin. She gives her character this childish innocence that makes you forgive all her "brainless actions" even if she tends to cry and not see the pain she causes others. I'm not gonna lie, Im Joo Hwan and Seo Woo's chemistry gives me butterflies and just for that the casting director has all my love and then some more. The acting is also very strong from Kim Mi Kyun's part because even tho she may play a secondary character, she gives BeoJin's mother such "raw depth" that you cannot not end up loving her character. The rest of the cast didn't stand out as much but it was good nonetheless....except for the "non-Korean" actors. Watching this drama makes you feel like Korea doesn't have a lot of foreigners and definitely none of them are decent actors. Pierre Deporte's acting (well the fact that it's a French portraying an Englishman with blonde-dyed hair doesn't help) was the most painful thing to watch for me. As a character, I actually like William a lot but Pierre Deporte just doesn't fit the part. Thankfully the pain gets somewhat numbened throughout the drama though I'm not sure if it's because his acting gets better or if it's just because you get used to it.
MUSIC: The whole soundtrack is pretty strong. You can enjoy the whole ost without having to watch Tamra the Island but both of them blend so well that it would be a shame not to enjoy its use on the show. Especially "Your Tears" (main theme), which makes me want to drown in an ocean of feels.
REWATCH VALUE: As I said earlier, the foreigners of this show make me want to punch myself in the face. This drama has some flaws but my real problem will always be the foreigners and especially William. However, this show is (thank god) not focused on him. In a way this drama is a tribute to Tamra (actual Jeju) and its inhabitants. You get attached to all these characters and in the end even your aversion to William's character can't overpower that. 16 or 21-episode long doesn't matter. Everything is Tamra the Island and nothing hurts.
OVERALL: Yes Tamra the Island has flaws but everything the drama stands for and how it is handled offset it. It's a little gem and like most of them, it's not very popular because many people don't feel like looking past the cover and miss an opportunity. Don't be one of them, watch it! And if for some unknown reason you end up disliking this drama, well at least you would have learned some history thanks to it.
Was this review helpful to you?
then I said let me try one more time, the more I watched the more I liked PK, the more BJ annoyed me and Illiam was more and more pathetic.
Anyway I finished it finally after fforwarding all of williams parts, I tolerated BJ because of PK, because his parts were really nice. In the end I gave this drama 6 as the story wasnt bad. The actors did a good job except of Pierre (william) maybe if it was a better actor he might not have been so pathetic. BJ even though annoying acted well.
This is just my opinion, hope I dont offend anyone as there ara a lot of Tamra Lovers out there, its just that I wasnt one of them.
Was this review helpful to you?
The first episode was really bad. I mean it! The only awesome thing I found was the underwater scenes. The acting, the actors, even the story were too weird. I still go on watching next episodes, anyway, and I've to say they did smooth yet great improvement. Though there are still some bad acting left, the actors were able to present their characters pretty well. Not to mention the story become more and more interesting.
This drama combines history, comedy, love story, action, and cheesy things together. It's also one of few drama which is multilingual. You'll get Korean, English, Japanese, and Dutch in one package! But I warn you to not putting so much expectation, the way they spoke sounds 'lil bit strange. Well, the good point of comedy drama is that bad things can turn into great things to be laugh at, hahaha..
ps: I watched this drama on Viki Official. It shows comments that made me laugh even louder :))
Was this review helpful to you?
The story line is, although a little plain.. sweet and cute and although there isn't much action to keep you interested.. the characters and their over-the-top personalities really keep you watching throughout the entire drama.
Each character has their own stereotype but are also evading their stereotypes at the same time. Although the "bad boy" is stuck up, self centered, and irritable, he's also cute, silly, dumb and hilarious as he sits smack-bam in the middle of what he assumes to be his own little world. As for the female lead.. she's your typical poor wannabe someone but is too lazy to do anything. She's a little stupid but surprisingly likable for such an incoherent character.
As for this William character.. well I have a lot to say about Americans in Korean dramas but.. even going so far as to compare his Americanness to the american characters in the drama King 2 Hearts.. he's one of my least-favorite American characters out of all the American characters in all the Korean dramas I've ever seen. Yes, you get the sweet, nice, second lead but he's a little too sweet and nice and.. stupid for me to enjoy. Despite this, his character kinda sits right in the middle of the storyline and he is necessary for all the good things to happen in this drama.
Music.
Yes, oh the music. Now when I first began this drama I kinda wanted to keep it on mute the entire time for fear that horrid song would replay yet again but after a while you begin to kinda become addicted to the bad theme song and you'll find yourself humming it later in the day after watching a few episodes. That aside, there are actually two more songs in this drama that aren't terrible. In fact, they're super pretty and "Your Tears" is probably at the top of my favorite ost list.
This drama has one heck of a plot-twist. And although it's nothing like Kill Me, Heal Me (if you haven't seen it I HIGHLY suggest you do, RIGHT NOW.. after you watch this drama) it's definitely pretty close. I think the main reason I like this drama is because, unlike a lot of dramas, there are a bunch of tiny plot twists intertwined throughout the drama. Although they're not big and life changing for the main characters.. they're little things that slowly open up new ideas and stories for each character to explore and I really love how that happens. If you go back to re-watch it (which I just recently did) you'll notice how they give little hints even so far in the beginning as episode one.. to what happens later in episode 12 or further down that road. There little plot twists that are hinted at in the beginning really make up the story and it's totally fun to rewatch even though I loved it the first time around.
As a last note, I want to say that the very first episode was kind of unbelievably boring and you really should stick around to at least episode three. It gets so much better and by episode 3 you really begin to like the characters and the relationships they have to each other.
I highly suggest this drama and really hope everyone who reads this review will stick to it and watch the entire drama and finally notice that this is one of the must underrated dramas EVER!! So spread the word and have your other fellow kdrama addicts come and enjoy it, too!
Was this review helpful to you?
Sure, the first episode was lousy compared to the rest of the episodes, Pierre's acting was terrible the first couple of episodes, and William's character was foolish to the point where it became annoying at times but these are just details when you think about 'Tamra, The Island' as a whole. It was that awesome for me.
I think the major reason why this drama didn't garner as much attention as it deserves is because of its not widely known cast. I don't know about you, but I've never heard of these names before. I hate it when they cut dramas short but this one was originally a 21 episode drama but due to low ratings, it was shortened to 16 episodes. Both versions work fine. I watched a bit of the longer version.
This is not just your typical historical love story mixed in with politics; it's more than that. It's about the bonds between a family, and the loyalty you have towards your own country. I loved the little exchanges between Beo Jin and her parents and sister, between her and the villagers. I couldn't even hate Kkeut Boon, who is sometimes ridiculous and too assuming because I was too fond of her amusing antics. I really liked the people of Beo Jin's village because, although they'd bicker and fight, they were together when it mattered.
Pierre Deporte, or Hwang Chan Bin, seemed to improve as the drama progressed in acting. It's clearly obvious he's a rookie and I think being up against Seo Woo and Im Joo Hwan who were amazing actors here (both of them have a talent so I hope to see them in more dramas) made it even more challenging for him but he was trying. His Korean was great and I think that was why he got the role.
His character, William, never ceased to annoy me though. All William knew how to say was 'Beo Jin'. Beo Jin this, Beo Jin that, Beo Jin, Beo Jin. That's one name I will never forget (although I tend to easily forget Korean names) because it's already engraved in my brain.
Oh, and Park Gyu was too adorable here. I loved those 'Ahem' kind of noises he made when he was either embarassed or annoyed. Cuteness galore.
Anyway, just watch the drama already. It's awesome enough that I'm sure you'll forgive it's shortcomings.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
The English speaking actors Korean was really good (from what I could tell).
Great show. Great leads. Yan and Park Kyun were easy on the eyes ;).
I will watch again.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
The plot was great, and I'm sure the complete script was much better than what was delivered. There was a cut at the last episode and that really rushed the finale. However, the ending was still desirable and didn't leave you wanting clarity. (It just left you wanting more of the jem that is Tamra!) I also love the gender roles in this show. The thing about Tamra (Jeju Island) is that the women wear the pants in the relationship, which is uncommon in historical dramas unless the woman is pretending to be a man. The show was refreshing in this aspect and many others.
The casting was great aside from Pierre Deporte, but you have to acknowledge that Pierre was the first foreigner to get a leading role in a Korean drama. He was rather awkward at first, and his acting could have been more natural as the story progressed, but it wasn't terrible or cringe worthy. It was just bland. I feel that the amazingly strong leads, Im Joo Hwan and Seo Woo, make up for Pierre's shortcomings. The chemistry between Im Joo Hwan and Seo Woo was undeniable and Im Joo Hwan even got an award for his acting in this show. The supporting cast was equally exemplary.
The music wasn't something I would download and listen to, but it fit every scene to a tee! It was beautiful and truly enhanced the already majestic beauty of Tamra (Jeju Island).
I definitely will be rewatching this drama, for it hasn't been a full day since I finished it that I already want to go back and rewatch it.
Overall, it would make sense to give this show a lower rating, but since I enjoyed it so much, I'm just going to go ahead and give it a 10/10! It was a really good show and it's easy to overlook it's flaws because it was just so enjoyable! If you can get past the first episode, I promise that you won't regret it!
Was this review helpful to you?
Empty
It's impressive how they managed to turn it into 21 episodes with what they had going on. This wasn't worth more than a quick short web drama of 4 to 6 episodes 30 mins. Temper your expectations and expect a quality in accordance to that. This wasn't the last time Seo Woo played an airheaded character.Was this review helpful to you?
