The Heirs (2013)

Yes, this drama were overrated. It was horrible? No, just too much overrated. People expected too much of this drama and in the end it wasn't all that. So if you want an beautiful, well written drama, with a brilliant plot, this drama is a trap. Park Shin Hye and MinHo aren't all that. But if you like a drama with good side stories, lovable supporting characters, some comedy and if you don't have anything else to watch, 'The Heirs' is the perfect call.

The main story is too shabby, nothing that you haven't seen before. But it's not too bad, trust me, I used too hate Park Shin Hye ('You're Beautiful' drama fault) and I don't really understand this love for Lee MinHo... But I watched, all 20 episodes, without wanting to give up, I'm a survivor, and you know how I survived? SUPPORTING CHARACTERS. >> Moment - Changmin

Read More

One thing that actually made me watch this drama was the glamour. It reminded me so much of Boys Before Flowers just without the theatrics of over acting good looking boys. Not that this show is short of good looking guys, its actually the contrary. There's just the absence of humor because this drama has too much angst and is money driven that eventually it became too tiring to watch. Viewing this drama felt like my brain cells would deteriorate anytime because I don't even had to think over about the situations... I could count my hair and I would still be able to follow on with the story and predict what's going to happen.

The story was very typical. Rich boy falls in love with poor girl and vice versa. So what made this interesting to watch? Well honestly it's not the story line because that had me lost in the middle of the series. What actually made me continue on watching was the characters. I was very much interested in the character development of the actors that I couldn't help but finish the drama because of them. Yes the male lead Kim Tan was a mopey teenager with so much daddy issues while our female lead did nothing but cry her eyes out on all the bad things that has ever happened to her. And so I waited for their progress, thinking that maybe something drastic would happen in their lives and their characters would evolve on that awaited change but unfortunately - Heirs failed me big time.

But!!! One thing that this drama did right for me was casting Kim Woo-bin. It was my first time to see him in a drama and I fell in love with the bad boy image of his character that I had a hard time moving on from his role. I had a bad dose of second lead syndrome because of him.

Music wise, there was nothing note worthy but it did add to the onscreen chemistry, so I have nothing against it. I would recommend this drama for the Lee Min Ho and Kim Woo-bin fans out there. But over all... this isn't going to be in my list of must watch drama of 2013.

Read More

For starters, this drama has many characters apart from the main leads (you can already tell from the poster). I believe The Heirs became popular due to it's cast, many with Lee Min Ho, Park Shin Hye and Kim Woo BIn as the leads. In addition, many of the supporting characters are kpop stars as well so definitely a good looking bunch of people in this drama. If you're looking for eye candy, this definitely is a drama for you.

The central plot was not really developed but we are able to get the gist of the story. As for characters, I think Kim Woo Bin is the only actor that stood out for me and I believe he successfully portrayed his character well. He truly gave me SLS, and character growth was excellent as well. In fact, I would say that the sole reason I managed to finish this rather bland drama was due to Young Do (KWB's character). Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye were OK, cute moments were fluffy but nothing made me swoon. Acting was generally okay, just that, like I said, character development was lacking.

At the end of the drama there weren't satisfying resolutions for most of its characters, which I believe is due to the fact that there are so many characters. Hence, at the end of the day, this drama delivers cute moments, your typical high school drama and solutions that were not really meaningful in resolving the major plot issues.

Read More

Well the drama was good but it wasn't the bestest drama EVER. I enjoyed most aspects of it. The eye-candy mostly (Lee Min Ho, Woo Bin, Jin Hyuk, Kang Ha Neul, & the rest of the male gender of this drama...LOL!) I'm not sure y but when they make ppl that I know r old enough to be in college play roles as high school kids I just have issues. It just seems very unrealistic. Which is exactly what I was looking for when I started this drama. So not once was I disappointed about how much bs was thrown in my face. That being said; I enjoyed the drama very much. I rly didn't care what type of role Lee Min Ho was in I just wanted to watch him act. I think this drama did point out 1 thing that lots of adults forget. Life is hard for a kid when they r 18. As we get older we forget that at that age there is a lot of pressure on them to make some heavy life choices. And that they will sometimes make mistakes. I was rly glad that this drama showed that the parents weren't perfect & that their children were privy to the bad choices that they made (even if they didn't know all the details).

Overall it was a good drama. There were hot guys, cute girls, good (but typical) story line, music was so-so, & I got some laughs out of it. I would recommend others watch it. ENJOY!~)

Read More

This drama was completely held up by Woobin, but not even his amazing acting and layered character work could hold this ship floating as both Lee Minho and Park Shin Hye seemed set on running it straight into the wall, over and over again. I cannot deal with the absolute lack of chemistry between the main characters, and the story is so unoriginal that I want to puke. When people ask me about the series, I don't remember if the things I remember really happened in this show or just some other show, because this is basically a collage of all the good "Rich guy poor girl" dramas from the last ten years. Urgh.
Only reason I give the acting a 4 is because I would like to give Woobin a ten personally. Oh my god did you see how amazingly he read his character and gave him layers? How one look could say more than a long string of lines? He was amazing in this drama, and I had never watched him in anything else before, so this was the drama that made him my favourite actor.
Anyways, don't watch this drama, seriously. It's not worth it!

Read More

Watching The Heirs is like indulging in a bag of second-rate candy. You know it's not that good and that too much will leave you nauseated, but you still can't, for the life of you, stop eating. In light of this observation, my rating might seem as too favorable, so I have to mention the one quality that redeems this show, above all: I'll be damned if I say it's not entertaining.

The story is full of clichés, some of them infuriatingly abundant in other kdramas as well: rich boy/poor girl, bad boy/good girl, lots of wrist-grabbing and bullying, love against the odds, family issues... yada, yada. It falls apart at times; I couldn't quite figure out why things kept happening in the most painful way for our protagonists - other than, of course, the fact that the show must go on for 20 episodes - since there seemed to be just drama for the sake of drama. I still ate it up like a fool, though: glued to my screen, waiting to see what other plight would befall our poor duo. Sugar cravings, anyone?

The acting is adequate: as many other reviewers have observed, the supporting cast shines through the main characters' bickering. I especially enjoyed Kang Ha Neul and Kang Min Hyuk, who were incidentally two of the least problematic characters in the show. I can't say that Lee Min Ho or Park Shin Hye were bad - they just weren't anything special. (Besides, as far as I'm concerned, nobody can shine through their role if they're dressed like LMH was. Good grief, first the animal prints of City Hunter, and now those tacky dress shirts and fugly sweaters.)
The fact is, I don't believe anyone's role was well fleshed out. The "love triangle" is an archetypical one; the heroine, while showing some pleasant spazz in the beginning, is later being thrown around like a tennis ball; the male protagonist grabs the heroine from the wrist and is rather insistent she obey and follow him around (and she listens!); the third corner of our triangle is the "bad boy" of the group, being shown as a rather despicable human being but having a change of heart midway. In this role, Kim Woo Bin actually did a very good job. I loved to hate him, and although it is clearly shown he can't be forgiven for his shitty behavior, he repents and grows as a character. All the supporting actors had a story of their own, and I could sympathise with them, but it was never shown as much as I wanted; just inferred.

Since, as I said, I literally devoured the episodes one after another, I might have given it an even higher rating, were it not for a tiny little detail: the problematic aspects of the romance. A romance where the heroine almost never follows the male protagonist by her own free will, but is instead constantly forced by wrist-grabbing, as well as a romance where the heroine is constantly acted upon instead of having a say and her own agency, is one of my biggest pet peeves and it took away from my enjoyment. Some might find it romantic; I find it obnoxious and outdated. Another thing is that the love triangle never really worked for me, and the reason is quite simple: no matter how much of a development Kim Woo Bin's character had and how much you root for his happiness, one can never excuse his constant bullying and belittling his classmates and his love interest alike. I mean, even the main love interest was a bit obsessive, but KWB's character takes the cake!

The TL;DR version: Watch for the laughs, be aware of the problems. Drink a shot everytime there's wrist-grabbing, or bad fashion sense, and play a guessing game of when "Love Is The Moment" will start playing out of nowhere - you won't regret it.

Read More

Lee Min Ho's haircut made me cringe but i got used to it eventually and lets be honest, he is a little too old for this role and it showed. I think the whole thing would have been better if he'd been a college student or something. All that being said I marvel at the comments on here about there being no chemistry between Kim Tan and Cha Eun Sang....Seriously where were you guys just before Tan's mother caught them in Tan's room? And on the school's roof? And my, oh, my, in the cellar? And later on in Eun Sang and her mother's apartment? ("Dont do it!" "Dont do what?" "..My mother will be here any minute!" "I'll lock the door.")
And Kim Woo bin is a great actor and extremely attractive and all and I quite look forward to seeing him in other dramas but theres something a bit too villainous about his features that makes me think it'll be very difficult to make him the sole lead in a successful romantic drama and the comments here about him solely carrying the heirs is just plain ridiculous and dense. Lee Min Ho is as ever, an incredible actor, - as at home in front of the cameras as he is in a suit and Park Shin Hye has become the great actress I'd always known she would grow up to be after watching her in stairway to heaven.
The storyline was simple and cliched, true, but I think that is the beauty of it. Not every drama out there is going to be the next great original work of art - if that is your belief you should give up now. There is nothing wrong with a drama just being entertaining. This show is no City Hunter but its a fascinating new take on something we've all watched a millon times - it is new, mordern, funny, quirky, youthful, sometimes sad, and oh so romantic. It is itself.
It's a great show - my only regret is that it wasn't produced four years ago, when Min Ho was the right age, and Min Ho if you ever see this I hope you've finally graduated from highschool once and for all.

Read More

The Heirs ( i.e. How To Write One Of The Most Overrated Korean Dramas Of All Time)...

Nearly every drama watcher out there will at least once probably ask or seek out advice from more experienced drama watchers for their advice or recommendations on dramas. Whilst this may differ from watcher to watcher ( depending on some of their respected tastes), the common pattern for K-Drama watchers will most likely be one or more the following; Goblin, Strong Woman Do Bong, SKY Castle, Descendants Of The Sun ( and/or) The Heirs.

The Heirs. Oh, where do you even begin with this one? The warning flags that SBS had to cast several top-notch romance drama actors Lee Min Ho, Park Shin Hye and Kim Woo Bin to attract viewer ratings, or the fact that Kim Eun Sook was involved in the scriptwriting for this show, it is hard to tell.

All joking aside The Heirs is probably what most can classify as a '' hot mess'' ; the show has a brilliant cast of very successful actors and ( whilst Eun Sook's writing can be hit or miss) it did have the potential to actually be a well-written satire upon the wealthy debutants of Korean society. Instead the show rode too heavily upon many cliches and thus lead to too many gender, racial and unrealistic stereotypes within the drama.

In the beginning of the show, the usage of LA as a setting is used as '' exotic'' eye candy for Korean viewers, however, there are two notable things here for international watchers; the first being out of all the beautiful and intriguing cities in the world, they had to chose LA in hope of appeasing the satisfaction and interest of ''young'' audiences. The second most notable trait ( even for non-Americans) is that there are some notable racial stereotypes towards foreigners being a little too ''assertive'' and ''laidback'' as well. Whilst it should be noted that a lot of this setting is used to glorify our hero Kim Tan rather than focus on details of racism, ( as an older comment has mentioned) there is also the notable problem of "sweetening" the reality of youth culture as well.

This is particularly seen of course with Kim Tan. Considering that he spent a lot of time in the U.S. and his backstory is far from being a fairytale, you would still perhaps consider that he would have turned to '' other'' methods ( i.e. drugs or alcohol ) or at least had some signs of realistic emotional trauma considering his upbringing. This isn't to glorify or disrespect elements of modesty in Korean culture, however, Kim Tan is most prominently a character in the story who is an '' outcast'' amongst his family. With years of emotional gaslighting and manipulation (particularly by his brother and father), it was hard to actually see Kim-Tan as being a genuinely developed or well-written male lead, especially towards actually developing a bond with someone as cluelessly naive as Eun Sang.

Our female lead Cha Eun Sang ( Park Shin Hye) was sadly just as badly-written as a character. Female leads don't need to be '' sassy'' or '' fighters'' to be well-written and rounded characters. Instead Eun- Sang was more of a ''ragdoll'' between the two bratty male leads Kim Tan and seeming '' dangerous bad boy'' Choi Yeong Do ( Kim Woo Bin- perhaps one of the few likeable actors and characters in the show, until they did viewers over with that usage of terrible story progression) who just happily let her seams be ripped apart by emotional manipulation rather than actually being something called an '' individual'' and putting her foot down when both characters crossed the line. In fact to make this matter worse, it wasn't just the male leads who stepped over her as Rachel ( Kim Ji Won) slowly allowed Eun- Sang to become her own sandbag of bullying and the dreaded and stereotyped female animosity as well. Perhaps my one note of praise does go to the portrayal of the unusual friendship between Eun- Sung's mute mother Park Hee-nam (Kim Mi Kyung) and Kim Tan's mother Han Ki-ae (Kim Sung-ryung) over the course of the show, which was endearingly more intriguing and heart-rendering than any of our main couples.

As countless reviews have stressed this fact before, however, The Heirs is incredibly overrated for what it is actually worth; a good cast goes to waste with poor story writing, characterisation, inconsistencies , cliches and tropes. The Heirs is no more than Boys Over Flowers repackaged with a couple of tweaks here and there by Eun Sook ( well, about from Lee Min Ho) and more headaches for sensible drama watchers as we try to guide ourselves of sixteen episodes through something which is just a hot mess even in the beginning episode. Certainly a waste of time.

Read More

Being a newbie in the scene of Asian dramas, please take my review with a grain of salt. To date, 'The Heirs' is my 2nd completed drama with the first being 'Boys Over Flowers'.

Story : 6.0

I hear that the plot of a poor girl meeting a rich guy falling in love is pretty common among the romance genre. Nothing too unique, but I'm not saying that this wasn't done well. The drama itself can be called identical, yet completely different to something like Boys Over Flowers. Yes, the plot is the same, but they're done in completely different ways and it's easy to see that they stand apart from each other. If you're biased thinking you're just going to be re-watching 'Boys Over Flowers' again, you're wrong. The cliché plot was executed in an entertaining manner, thus it isn't rated as low as others have rated it in the past. Sadly, the last two or three episodes were very hard to get through as I felt they dragged along. The ending, however, was what saved the show for me. The ending has received mixed reviews, but I for one was a fan of it.

Acting/Cast : 7.5

Oh, MAN. Both of the dramas I've seen now have had Lee Min Ho playing one of the lead characters. I wasn't disappointed. I felt all of the were played nicely. Looking back I don't know how I got used to Geum Jan Di and her overly exaggerated expressions.. (Bleh..) Nevertheless, Kim Woo Bin has gained another fangirl with his bad-boy-with-a-kind-heart persona in this drama! Yes, the lead Cha Eun Sang, had very little to no character development, but I suppose this ties into the story. Their poverty keeps them strong and stubborn in the lands of change! I also developed feelings for Rachel and pretty much all of the characters as the drama went on as their characters were very enticing and snagged you in. This drama had some really great scenes that can't be ignored!

Music : 5.0

Oh.. Oh my god..

The first couple times the various songs played throughout the drama were okay. I thought they went along well with the scene and it was all good and fun. By the end of the drama these songs were so overused I'm just sitting there with a blank expression on my face. "GOD, JUST LET THIS SCENE BE DONE!" Good song choice. I wish there were more soundtracks in dramas period so they aren't forced to be using the same couple songs over and over and over again.

Rewatch Value : 7.0

Despite all of the flaws and faults this drama may have, I'd certainly rewatch it. Yes, it's a little long, but I felt that it was good enough to deserve to be rewatched later on in the future. I hope you find the drama good enough to reach that standard as well.

Overall : 8.0 / 10.00

I hope you found my first review helpful. Please enjoy the drama!

Read More

I've never thought that high school drama would be so interesting, in terms of the characters. I first thought the story would be like so much Boys Before Flowers. But I think I was wrong in this case.

For me the story isn't something new, Kim Tan and Cha Eun Sang's lovline is so predictable. But I adore the side characters soooo much.

I like Lee Bona- Chan Yoong couple, brokenhearted fiancee, Rachel, cold-heartedd and super hot brother, Won Hyung, and of course the hottest second lead male >> Choi Young Do. I'm #teamYoungdo by the way. XD

I even amused by all their parents. All of them are strong character and I couldn't wait for their scene in every episodes.

Although I didn't really enjoy watching the final episode, I think this drama has should be appreciated.

*spreading love to all #teamYoungdo* Hahaha

Read More

This is an over-reviewed drama but I just needed to write my thoughts about it too...

Heirs isn't a bad drama, but it isn't a good drama tho. Personally I didn't like it so much and didn't give a high score to this drama because it lacked so many things and didn't reach the expections I had for it...

I hated what Kim Eun Sook did with this story, she created amazing characters but she put them all together in a typical, cliche, irrational and boring story. To me the whole suffering and crying and dragging just didn't make sense, I was waiting for something daebak! but she gave me something just "bleh!" (I've seen this before and I've seen it done better). The 1st episode of this drama felt like a punch in da face to me, I wanted -literally- to go to a corner and cry the entire week. I love Lee Min Ho and I was waiting for his new drama so bad and I was so excited because all the hype of Heirs and then they make this 1st episode and I was like O.o "What the heck am I supposed to do with my life now?" Poor storyline, this drama was just full of "moments" that held the story, but the story itself was really bad.

Then... What makes "Heirs" a watchable drama? Lee Min Ho, Kim Woo Bin, Krystal Jung, Kang Min Hyuk and the rest of the cast. What an amazing job they did! it worths every second of this dragging drama, their acting is pure gold :')

So.. should you guys watch or not watch Heirs? Well, if you're able to stand 20 episodes of irrational situations, a poor storyline, "? Looove is the mooooment? " and want to see LMH and KWB hotness no matter what, then watch it, you'll enjoy it for sure ^_^

If you want a strong story that makes you be at the edge of your chair then DON'T

Did I enjoy "The Heirs"? I did enjoy it, because at the end is impossible not to love the actors job. So...

Read More

First of all if you liked the American show Gossip Girl you will love this. The characters are somewhat similar, but with out the drugs and alcohol. Young Do is the Korean Chuck Bass. I don't care what anyone says. Also the way the portray Americans in The Heirs is laughable. I mean it's just stereotypical American things. Except for trying to get high off of bean powder, and then ending up in the ER.

Now for the story. It moves nicely there are a few dead spot, but overall good. One of the best school dramas I've watched in a while. It might be the best school drama of the year for me.

Casting was good. I liked all of the actors and actresses, and I thought their acting was good. Lee Minho has really improved since Boys Over Flowers, which I'm very happy to say. Park Shin Hye has gotten better, but I really wish she wouldn't look like the guy has cooties every time she gets kissed on screen. I'm sorry I don't who you are, but if your crush/ bf kiss you, you don't make a ew face. Kim Woobin just yes. Krystal was much better than I thought. Her character was one of my favorites. I loved the cutaways that were between her and her onscreen boyfriend, played by Min Hyuk.

Music was ok. I won't be running out to buy this soundtrack. I got a little sick of Lee Hongki from F.T. Island singing LOVE IS THE MOMENT!!!!!!! in more than half of the scenes. I mean it was played in the background when it didn't make sense to have that song playing. At times it was worse than ALMOST PARADISE!!!!! blaring in Boys Over Flowers. I'm someone that really listens to the music playing in the background of any movie or tv show. It bothers me quite a bit when the music doesn't go with the scene.

I will definitely be watching this again at some point. The plot line wasn't anything that ground breaking, but it's for those days when you want to feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Cons:
However, I wish this would have been at a college rather than a high school. I think the majority of the actors and actresses that were supposed to be high schoolers looked too old. In fact I remember about a year ago when it was announced that this drama was going to be made it was going to be in a college not a high school.

In all honesty, this is a must watch. If you're having a marathon with this drama, then you will probably end up singing along with Hongki around episode 7 LOVE IS THE MOMENT!!!! (especially if you sang along with Almost Paradise), and you'll forget that they look like they aren't in high school.

Read More