This review may contain spoilers
If you are trying to decide whether or not to watch this based on the seemingly awesome casting (Gong Yoo, Jeong Dong Hwan, Nam Goong Min) then please choose something else. I made the mistake of coming off of a Gong Yoo marathon of Coffee Prince and Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy, both which I loved, and decided to keep going with this. MAJOR MISTAKE. Story: Don't let the description fool you, this isn't a love triangle drama where the love from the female lead helps to transform her playboy love interest. The plot was unnecessarily complicated and serious dramatic moments were over the top or laughable, there was no in between. And forget love triangles,this was a love hexagon with questionable family ties blurring the lines even further. We get it, everyone is in love with the main female lead. I don't mind that in my dramas, but did they all have to be sorta related to her?! I would try to further explain with examples but I would have to reveal spoilers. And trust me, if you choose to watch the entire drama the only satisfactory pay-off is putting all the pieces together.
Acting: Most of the actors I love in other movies and dramas, so I felt bad that they had signed on to partake in this. Even some of the acting from my favorites annoyed me and confused me: They're SOOO good in other things,,,except this!
Music: It was fine. Oddly enough I have no complaints about the music. It suited the mood when it was present.
Rewatch Value: NEVER AGAIN. Even recalling it for the sake of this review makes me sad.
Overall: I doubt this will ever reach anyone's favorites list, but if you're adamant about watching, good luck. But don't say we ALL didn't warn you.
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And it was pretty good. The plot was interesting. The way the story plays out is good.
The music was super good. And another element that added to the beauty of the drama are the frames of childhood that most of the episodes ended with. It really underscored the importance of the relationship Ha Neul and Seo Gun shared.
The main leads are great. The side characters are sometimes annoying, esp the second female lead who starts off as the typical 'hang on his shirt sleeves and pretend he is in love with you' drama-land girl.
There are probably two things I wish were different:
Gong Yoo's character is of a more serious and burdened frame of mind. So basically, I missed seeing his smile. Having Gong Yoo as your lead and not having him smile? That wasn't cool.
And, then the ending- which isn't bad. Just okay. They could have given us some more. (No smile there also)
Besides these, this is a good drama with two strong leads and a beautiful soundtrack.
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Who's your daddy? Or brother? Or lover?
One Fine Day boasted a fine cast and one of the messiest plots I’ve seen. Starring Gong Yoo, Namkoong Min, Lee Yun Hee, and Sung Yoo Ri, the writers didn’t have to do much to develop a story interesting enough to showcase their young cast’s talents but decided instead to make the story as ridiculous and melodramatic as possible.I usually give a brief synopsis of the drama so that my review makes some sense but this story will give you emotional whiplash with the way it starts and drops story threads and then completely changes them. Geon and Ha Neul are stepsiblings-no blood relation-who have been separated for 15 years. Tae Won and Ha Neul/Hye Won are siblings via adoption. Geon just wants to be her brother or so he says. Tae Won is a creepy incestuous molester. Gang Dong Ha is Ha Neul’s boss at the aquarium where she works and he is also in love with her. Hyo Ju is the girl Geon grew up with after his parents died and his dad’s driver took him to live in Australia. Hyo has a heart condition and is cuckoo, obsessively in love with Geon. Geon may or may not be reconnecting with Ha Neul because her adoptive family has money and Hyo Ju needs an expensive surgery. Ha Neul’s adoptive father may hold the key to what happened to Geon’s father.
Gong Yoo, when he wasn’t having to play the yelling possessive brother, gave a strong performance. Namkoong Min was entertaining as the charming boss with a past. I couldn’t help but root for him. Both men sported their BoF style haircuts before BoF came out. Sung Yoo Ri only had to display three emotions-surprised, sad, and “where did I leave my wallet?” Nothing any deeper as Ha Neul had no lasting emotional trauma from being molested. This was prime time for wrist grabbing in dramas. This girl was yanked from pillar to post throughout the drama. They even pulled off the complex double wrist grab. In one scene I saw bruises on her arms, no surprise where those came from. I’m not a fan of the wrist grab, I find it a dominant move that is degrading.
Hyo Ju will go down as one of the most selfish, manipulative characters in drama history. Lee Yun Hee did a good job of making me loathe her character. Yoo Ha Joon was excellent as the creepy, incestuous brother who had a scene with his dad that the drama The Heirs lifted straight from. And Jung Dong Hwan who would later play the wealthy lemon sucking dad in The Heirs played the wealthy lemon sucking dad here. The drama couldn’t decide whether to make him a villain or sympathetic. No sympathy from me, he knew his son was creeping on Ha Neul/Hye Won and did nothing about it.
The biggest problem with this drama was that it had no commitment and follow-through. The plot was overly complex and never fully explained. I kept waiting for the big flashback to show exactly what happened from the guilty party’s viewpoint, but it never happened. Geon prepaid for Hyo Ju’s surgery in Australia but she refused to have it when he left to find his sister. That money was still available, so why the proposed scam on Ha Neul’s family? Geon made some inexplicable decisions near the end of the drama, that truly made no sense. Even his motives toward Ha Neul took most of the drama to come to the surface. He and his found family brother went to work for Ha Neul’s adoptive father, but were never at work. Ha Neul worked at the aquarium but was hardly ever there except to mope in front of the fish so that Gang could comfort her. Her adoptive family was seriously twisted but she kept going back to them to act like a good daughter.
There’s a lot to unload with this drama, mainly because people’s motivations changed from minute to minute. Also, the secrets they knew changed which completely overrode their prior actions. There were plot holes big enough for a fleet of Mack trucks to drive through. One Fine Day was like a rollercoaster ride with no seatbelts. I was able to hang with the story and get some enjoyment out of it for most of the drama until the last few episodes when they completely ran that ride off the rails. If you like to watch pretty people and/or pretty fish, have a very flexible neck for when the ride changes directions, you could try this drama, but I suggest giving the Tilt-a-Whirl a chance instead.
26 June 2024
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It has been a while since I watched One Fine Day. One thing I remember from about a year and 1/2 ago is I was actively searching for anything that starred Gong Yoo. I find him a wonderful, emotive and passionate actor and oh so easy on the eyes. But unfortunately, if you only have a few good actors with a mediocre plot and crappy editing, you get a drama where months later, its details have faded from your mind and has had no power to stay in your heart.
The love story had so much potential and there were scenes I enjoyed. Back then I didn't know what makjang was but the fauxcest element of them believing they are brother and sister screams makjang. What I did like is this 'misunderstanding' is cleared up quickly.
The ending disappointed me. There was a lot of build up for an ending that fell so flat. Somehow the romance and passion that had built up over the 16 episodes seemed somehow dulled.
I don't remember any of the music. There are other dramas I haven't seen for over a year and I still remember songs from them so I know it's not just time that has faded the memory of the songs. They didn't stick if they were ever really there at all.
My re-watch is low because I know I will not watch this again. I'm giving this drama a generous over all score of 6 because, unashamedly, I love Gong Yoo. He elevates everything he does.
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One of the few good things about the show was that the secrets were revealed quickly coz of the big mouth james ku, so we dint have to wait till last episodes for the truth. Also there wasnt any melodrama with the news. The aquarium is really beautiful and thd fishes exciting
Gong yo's always been great with expressing emotions and kissing scenes.the kiss scene was not good at all it was like a peck. Anyways gong yo gave the whole show a 7 otherwise the other characters summed up into 6. The ending was just bla
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Gong Yoo and Namkoong Min in the same frame, but bellowing all over the place
Total soap opera ca 2006. Good character-driven script, broken and blended family theme with an obsessed incestuous stepbrother/half brother tormenting the FL. 2 surviving families, 5 siblings. The ML, adopted, is without a blood tie.Reasons to watch: Namkoong Min, Gong Yoo, the streets of Seoul still modest and fresh in '06, a great escapist ocean theme -- deep saturated blues and greens, an aquarium workplace, mostly shot on sunny days in Seoul and partly in Sydney. NKM and GY are in their 20s, fluffy-haired, with widelegged pants draped over the arches of their shoes.
Reason not to watch: Korean male-bellowing to obtain control of a conversation is omnipresent, not confined as now to peripheral characters in dramas, but even between the leads(!), and no one seems to notice. The wrist-grabbing and dragging is pretty awful too.
I have read that My Girl in 2005 was a watershed in the depiction of strong independent FLs. I think that in MG the Hong sisters also reduced the amount of corrosive manipulation by the MLs as well, at least that is what I infer when I watch this show in which the MLs are not so restrained.
The so-called post '05 "stronger" FL still struggles, from 2006 through now in 2024, to find a space in which she can actually have agency and where her efforts are recognized and respected.
So often what a script represents is a space in which what the FL wants to say is completely delegitimized, so much so that she subsides in tearful confusion over and over again, silently. Her only freedom is to say no, or to refuse to make choices which are forced upon her.
In this show and in My Girl the FLs actually speak in a reflective manner, and they freeze only in order to have time to think. How did it become ok for so many heroines after this to suffer silently? or to talk incessantly as a form of avoiding having to speak sincerely?
first posted on viki sept 19th 2024
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This review may contain spoilers
Meh.
If you like Gong Yoo's acting and are looking for something to fill time, this is that drama. But, I can't say though I would ever watch this again. See, I tried really hard to like this drama, I really did, but I just couldn't. Despite having Gong Yoo as the male main lead, the acting really lacked and was confusing to understand. The plot itself was this drama's weakest link. Seen with family relationships that border on incest, odd plot holes, reconcilations that should never happen in reall life, a poorly executed "I'm dying love me" storyline that was thrown out the window near the end, and the never knowing Gong Yoo's character's true intentions till the end made this drama VERY hard to watch.Again I'd like to empazise the added sibling-esque relationships at times made this drama really uncomfortable to watch so, be weary of that. The OST was okay, nothing to write home about. To sum up if your bored, sure go ahead and watch this drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
It all started with my craving for Gong Yoo after coming across some old Coffee Prince clips on YouTube. Since I had already binged that drama countless times, I wanted to try another one of his older dramas. Seeing the cast of One fine day, I decided to give it a try without reading the synopsis first. If you're here for the same reason, I have to warn you, it might not be the best idea!At first, it felt great to watch an old drama after such a long time. The fashion, the dialogue, it all brought back a sense of nostalgia. I also enjoyed the cliches they used in the story, like the separated siblings who reunite as adults and find out they're not actually related. These are typical tropes that you can easily come across in old K-dramas, and I find them quite enjoyable. But, let me tell you, there was A LOT MORE to this drama that I couldn't take positively...
The first part followed the expected storyline and was fun, but the second part totally drained me. I just wanted to finish the show and forget about it. It felt like they wanted to create a major twist or something in the story, so they came up with unnecessary and disturbing details that I didn't sign up for. Like seriously, did I need to know that the adopted brother who tried to rape the fl (which was already shocking enough) turned out to be her REAL BROTHER?! And guess what? HE and THEIR FATHER were already aware of this fact all along. It's sooo messed up! AND The father, yes the one who knew his son's attempts on her sister, IS also the BIOLOGICAL FATHER of her??!
Like how did they manage to come up with such a crappy and disturbing plot??!
Don't even get me started on Gong Yoo's side of the story and his adoptive parents. Going into those crappy details would only frustrate me more. Oh, and that girl with the heart problem? Ugh, she really got on my nerves. Her actions and obsession with the male lead drove me crazy. Like, give it up if someone does not like you!
If there's one positive aspect of this series, it would be the acting. Sung Yoo-ri was really good with her portrayal of the damsel-in-distress, and Gong Yoo was as good as ever, especially his acting in vulnerable moments. His chemistry with Sung Yoo-ri was on point as well. Lee Yeon-hee also did a decent job playing the love interest with a physical illness. Like really, her character often made me want to slap her through the screen.
So, if you've read this far and still want to watch this drama, I suppose there's nothing I can do to stop you. Just be cautious, and good luck with your sanity :) As for me, I think I'll just go back and rewatch Coffee Prince to cleanse my soul.
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This review may contain spoilers
If it weren’t for NamKoong Min
If it weren’t for Namkoong Min I wouldn’t have finished watching this drama.After about the 10th episode wondered why three guys were attracted to her, she was so drab.
By the end I didn’t care why they were separated. The brother/sister then love thing was creepy from her half brother and her step brother. Renaming her Hye Won, after their dead daughter, was creepy, too.
My favorite character was Namkoong Min’s character, Kang Dong Ha.
I ended up FFing through Ha Neul’s and Geon’s scenes in the end because I saw no chemistry. In fact I ended up wanting Geon with Hyo Joo.
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This review may contain spoilers
Наконец нашла корейскую дораму с темой - я тебя... , а ты мне брат, ну и что, и я тебя.. а ты мне сестра... ах нет мы не родственники Тут правда еще сложнее, сначала брат хотел сестру, а она была сводная, а потом нашелся ее брат, который к концу, тоже стал питать к ней отнюдь не родственные чувства. Но потом оказалось, что это который нашелся - не есть родной, а сводный, а тот, который приставал вначале как раз не сводный, а родной... Вот понаделают родители детей на стороне, а детям потом и влюбится боязноНу, и как положено, есть еще третий влюбленный в ГГ (хотя не верю я в его чувства), и девушка, влюбленная в положительного брата, которая имеет больное сердце и все 16 серий могла вот-вот окочурится
Сюда добавьте тайну гибели родителей одних, в которой виновны родители другие...
В целом, пикантность темы, слегка скисает, когда начинается "мстя будет ужасной" и прочая лабуда. Конфетки не получилось.
Смотрела все ж из-за Gong Yoo. Его правда одевали иногда чудовищно.
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