Completed
Marshmallow-Chocoholic
16 people found this review helpful
Jan 10, 2021
5 of 5 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 4.5
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 5.5
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 4.0

It’s No “ Secret” That This Drama Is A Waste Of Time...

First of all before saying why this drama didn’t met up to many expectations of drama fans, it’s important to say that there were some genuinely intriguing aspects towards the show.

One of the most apparent aspects of the drama was the international relationship between our Vietnamese female lead and aspiring reporter Chi Mai ( Hoàng Yến Chibi) and South- Korean Hallyu Star JIN ( Sung Joon). Although it isn’t out of the question for dramas to tackle international relationships or respectfully cast actors from different countries ( such as renowned South-Korean actor Lee Jong Suk being cast in the Chinese drama Jade Lover, or a young Lee Joon gi’s appearance in the Japanese movie with actress Aoi Miyazaki in Virgin Snow ), it isn’t a theme or relationship which is often tackled or centralised in many typical Asian dramas.

Respectfully a lot of this can be to do with natural cultural differences and language differences between the two countries, and in My Secret Star there is the evident problem of Chi Mai and JIN’s words being lost in translation without Mai’s earphones which help to translate their conversations back and forth.

On the other hand, My Secret Star was severely flawed by the aspect of story -writing and pacing. Although the show was very short, there was little to actually develop or process the relationship between our main leads.

Undeniably the main focus of the show was the supernatural element of JIN transforming into a young child when someone makes physical contact with him. In a typical cliche manner, JIN naturally discovers that he is immune to Chi Mai’s touch leading the two to spending more time together.

This is certainly a sweet element to show within the portrayal of their relationship, however, after the few early episodes of My Secret Star, this supernatural element is nearly drawn out the picture entirely and by the ending of the drama, it’s magically “ solved” without rhyme nor reason . It isn’t necessarily that this aspect of the show shouldn’t have been included, however, it was a strange move by the scriptwriters not to symbiotically use this as a plot device within portraying the development between the leads and challenges which allow them to grow closer in later episodes.

In addition to this , despite JIN and Chi Mai’s status as an international couple, there were few culture shocks or differences between the two leads as well as general intrigue other one another’s country at all within the show. It is of course certainly not a necessary aspect to beat genuine romantic feelings, however, if a show is trying to tackle a relationship where both parties are from different countries and speak different languages, there is the natural element of wanting to learn more about someone’s background.

This is hardly shown in the drama and whilst JIN reveals a little bit and his past and resentments towards becoming famous, there’s little explanation or actual drive as to why Chi Mai wanted to become a reporter even through revelations of her childhood .


Overall My Secret Star wasn’t a show which was incredibly dire, however, poor story writing , characterisation , outfits ( particularly the Korean misrepresentation of the “ gay” fashionista ) and an inaccurate representation of international relationships, made the show incredibly cliche and a waste of time.

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Completed
itsmeash
12 people found this review helpful
Feb 12, 2021
5 of 5 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 9.5
To be completely honest, for the short series that this is... I personally think it was rather good. Sure, it could and would have been even better if it was even slightly longer, but I enjoyed it for what it is. It is cute, funny, sweet, and a bit romantic all wrapped up in one nice series. All in all, if you're wanting something short and sweet after a longer drama, I say this is a good one to watch.

Also, can I just say how much I want one of those translator ear pieces? Those were really cool.
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Completed
HONGJOONG'S_EAR
4 people found this review helpful
Jan 17, 2021
5 of 5 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 2.0

Way too short!

The drama was cute, yeah but I felt that the story had the potential into becoming a 16 episode drama, it would have been lovely if so but oh well.
The Main leads had no chemistry from my perspective so it felt a bit forced and the feeling jumping all over the place.
It was very cool the way they made a short series showing where the two mains speak different languages though and I would love to find another drama with that in the future.
So to sum it up , do I recommend you watch it? Only if you are bored and are looking for a short cute drama where your feelings won't really be touched by the leads.

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Completed
XiaChi
2 people found this review helpful
Aug 22, 2021
5 of 5 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 8.0
A un drama tan corto no se le puede pedir tanto...Es un mini drama muy breve y simple. Supongo que es bueno para ver si quieres distraerte estando ocupada y no tienes mucho tiempo...
También vi un mini c-drama antes de este llamado "mi guapo compañero de cuarto" y definitivamente ese me gusto más que "Star With a Secret", lo menciono porque en caso de que quieras ver algo corto te recomiendo "mi guapo compañero de cuarto", pues personalmente lo prefiero antes que " Star With a Secret".
No odié el drama, pero tampoco estoy segura de que me haya gustado, de hecho, la historia no es mala, solo creo que los dramas demasiado cortos no son mi estilo.

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Completed
LilyAvram
0 people found this review helpful
Jan 24, 2023
5 of 5 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 6.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 2.0

Da vedere nei momenti di noia da sala d'attesa!

Non lo chiamerei nemmeno un drama,troppo corto e chiaramente la storia non decolla.
La trama poteva forse anche essere interessante anche se davvero strampalata ma è un fantasy perciò ci sta.Lui che torna ragazzino ogni volta che una donna,ragazzina lo tocca per colpa di una maledizione dal suo lontanissimo passato mi sembra esagerata come storia ma alla fine poteva starci argomentata meglio. Incontra lei che si scopre il segreto dietro a tutto.Ma veramente non ha senso la storia raccontata così in 5 puntate cortissime.
Finale ok ma la storia non entusiasma.
Da vedere solo se hai tempo da riempire o sei fan del attore protagonista.

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Star With a Secret (2020) poster

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  • Score: 6.7 (scored by 1,103 users)
  • Ranked: #10379
  • Popularity: #5029
  • Watchers: 2,551

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