This review may contain spoilers
Fun to watch a spoiled starlet meet her match
9/10 is my rating. This is a 2013/2014 South Korean Drama Spanning 21 episodes (~60 minutes/episode). Jun Ji-Hyun plays the female lead, Cheon Song-Yi, a top Korean starlet who is used to having every guy fall at her feet and generally getting her own way. She moves in next to a guy, Do Min-Joon (played by Kim Soo-Hyun), who, if anything, finds Cheon Song-Yi annoying in her behavior. Which naturally drives her crazy and makes her determined to win him over.Spoiler 🚨 I was a little reluctant on this one. An Alien I thought. What like ET? No, more like Superman. This has romance, of course, but it also has that supernatural element, along with a love triangle, a mystery and even a serial killer. I found this SO interesting and entertaining. 22 episodes is more than some but I was so entertained that it didn’t seem like many. I loved the two leads they looked so beautiful together. And you could really see how each offset the other. There was even an ET joke so a nod at that movie. I can see why it consistently rates high. It isn’t silly because of the alien element – just intriguing. I liked it a lot I wish it had ended a bit different but would still have watched it and would recommend it because it ended okay and was so enjoyable to watch.
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best korean classic ever
i will not waste time telling the plot. without doubt these is the best drama to watch if you need laugh , some crying and second lead syndrome. kim soo hyun and jun ji hyun with their naturally acting touch our hearts.and the remaining cast is also perfect. my destiny that song just give the romantic kind of vibe . i finished it so fast as i can if you believe love and destiny i can assure you will enjoy this drama as i did. everything is perfect . in the few last ep jun ji hyun just killed it by crying over and saying i want to see him i feel like i am going to die , i was heartbreaking to see her crying like. this maybe seems like cliche but is notWas this review helpful to you?
The Korean Superman Story
A super-powered handsome alien from another planet falls in love with a woman on Earth.Hang on wait a minute, haven't I seen that kind of story before?
✔ Looks exactly like a young attractive human male, is actually from a far-away planet and is an immortal god
✔ Has superpowers like massively enhanced strength, reflexes, speed, senses, and resilience
✔ Tries to blend in with human society, mostly succeeds
✔ Falls for a human girl and wants to protect her
So I guess Korea finally made their Superman adaptation? But in the form of a kdrama! No wonder it was popular. Superman stories are always popular.
So yeah, this Korean Superman has a massive crush on Jun Ji-hyun (his Lois Lane, except she's insanely famous) for reasons he can't explain, the ONLY girl he's ever crushed on in his 400 years of existence on our planet.
Well, get in line brother!
It wins you over with a great and expressive performance by Jun Ji-hyun who essentially plays a much more famous version of her character in MY SASSY GIRL, which is always a delight. Since she was the most famous and highest-paid actress in Korea by the time this show came out, I guess she's basically playing herself? Method acting!
I can think of so many ways they could have slightly altered the script to fix most of the glaring issues (not making him an alien who speaks Korean as soon as he arrives on Earth would be one), but hey, to be fair, Superman doesn't make any lick of sense either and nobody seems to care.
It's a sweet story with lots of twists and turns about the lengths you're ready to go for love. The show starts off really strong with a killer first set of episodes, then meanders quite a bit before getting to the end, but it gets there. And also add a random psychopathic villain stealing the show every now and then. Male lead was kind of… too indecisive though. It became a bit annoying at some point. Even though it's kind of the point of his character, I thought he was mostly expressionless and lacked the charisma and magnetism of his co-lead.
Comfortably inserts itself in the My Sassy Girl Spiritual Sequels Universe (joining Windstruck).
It would seem Jun Ji-hyun can do no wrong.
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Story: 9/10 - Personally I thoroughly enjoyed this drama and its story. It was innovative and different, considering most alien-human love stories tend to explore and portray alien as abnormal and slightly on the creepy side creatures, which this drama did not do at all. It was also entertaining to see the life of an actress, and a difficult one at that, and it's glamour and downfalls.
Acting/Cast: 10/10 - The cast of this drama is possibly one of my favourite casts of all time. As I write this, I have had the pleasure of watching them act in various other dramas, and many of the actors/actresses still remain my favourite till this day. The interactions between characters, main and supporting, were always a delight to watch. They made the story all the more compelling and fascinating to watch.
Music: 10/10 - The music in this drama still moves me till this day. My Destiny, I Love you and Goodbye had me close to tears everytime!! Still one of the best soundtracks out there.
Rewatch Value: 8/10 - This criteria is a bit hard to judge for me, seeing as I am a person that doesn't enjoy rewatching things that much, so I have decided to judge this based on how much I predict I would enjoy it in case I did rewatch this drama. In my opinion it would go down in rating because I would probably judge the characters a little more, but it would definitely still be a high mark anyway.
Overall: 10/10 - This drama is definitely a classic for me. Besides the quick pace and never ending comical moments, I think it did a brilliant job on portraying not only the life of a superstar/actress but also a vulnerable and scared character. It would have been easy, in my opinion, to take Jun Ji Hyun's character too far, and either emphasising too much on her flaws or overdoing on her vulnerable moments. I think it was the perfect blend of fantasy, comedy and romance.
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Min Jun was not nice to Song Yi when they first met. Although he had his reasons, his cold and at times rude behavior towards her was annoying. And I felt like the writers let this go on for too many episodes. That's the only reason this is a 9.5 instead of 10 star drama.
Jun Ji Hyun is one of my favorite actresses because she has such an expressive face and she's always willing to do what it takes to get a laugh. Her kind of athletic, physical comedy is always funny, and she did a great job making Song Yi appear to be sweet but strong, shy but outgoing, and confident but vulnerable. Sometimes when Min Jun was being particularly cold I wanted her to walk away and refuse to put up with it, but because she was so confident when it came to most things in her life, I knew she was only putting up with so much. She would have walked away when it became too much.
Luckily she didn't walk away because once Min Jun loved her, he loved her more than anything. Kim Soo Hyun is a great actor too. Because Min Jun was so emotionless in the beginning, I mistook that for a lack of personality. As soon as Min Jun cried for the first time, I cried, and I cried right along with him everytime after that. Kim Soo Hyun's portrayal of Min Jun was subtle but perfect. His calm personality was a great companion to Song Yi's feisty and open personality. She brought the fire out in him and he gave her peace.
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The acting, despite the age difference, is absolutely amazing. The lead actors seem to have the perfect expressions in each scene; exactly right. The most refreshing thing about the show is that the female lead character is extremely realistic. Most kdramas usually have the peppy, but afraid-to-speak-their-mind type character; but this character speaks her mind and doesn't hide what she is feeling. She is has imperfections and is pretty quirky. The male lead portrayed emotions really well. His character has pretty emotionless expressions most of the time; it was surprising that he managed to express any feelings without too much of a strong expression.
The OST really gives you vibes; the singing is clear and the music is beautiful. Each song feels perfectly placed. I really liked how the volume of the music varies a little at parts to fit.
The plot-line is usually unexpected, with few cliches. (It does have a few sci-fi cliches, ex. the flying saucers.) The resolution of each problem is refreshingly realistic as well. It doesn't have perfect all-round type solutions. Honestly speaking, I really didn't expect the way the show ended. But, it was so much more in depth than I was expecting.
I was so impressed with the show that I encouraged my family (who have never seen a korean drama in their life) and they were in awe. I've re-watched 3 times so far.
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They play Mahjong in this drama
In this drama they play the game Mahjong🀄 which is a very good game. Unfortunately they do not play by the riichi ruleset but that is ok. Because they play Mahjong🀄 in this show I think it is very good and every Mahjong🀄 lover out there should watch it because they play Mahjong🀄! He is also alien so that is very cool and scary! 👽👽👽👽👽👽 Also very cool show I like lawyer Jang because he is very funny and old and I like old people, he also played the Mahjong🀄 which is cool! Anyway hope every Mahjong🀄 lover watches this show, bye!Was this review helpful to you?
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Story - its original that's why its so popular! Its not a copy paste plot :) A+
but...why did i had to have a second lead syndrome :(
Acting/Cast - THE MALE LEAD IS CUTE ;) GREAT ACTING
Now the second lead - 0_0 thats the actor who gave me a second lead syndrome a second time XD
let me tell you.... ;) he does the second lead syndrome good, first lead dosent suit him much XD you will know after you watch his other dramas XD great cast and GREAT ACTING
Music - Ahhh.....makes the scenes so much more dramatic and sweet... :)
Rewatch Value - :) i would watch this again -_- to remind myself that guys like the second lead don't exist
Overall - A CLASSIC DRAMA WATCH IT, YOU WONT REGRET IT WITH SECOND LEAD SYNDROME OR WITHOUTH!!!
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I´ve never seen these actors before, but they leave me speechless. I really loved Kim Soo Hyuns acting, he portraited Do Min Joon very well. I also really liked Jeon Ji Hyeons acting. All of the characters were very compact which made the drama feel so real.
I think the ending was ok, although it was not what I was expecting, but overall this drama is one of the best I´ve ever seen.
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One of my favorites
It is still one of my favorite K-dramas. The story is different from others. Love between an alien and a human, so I am not going to go with logic, and just enjoy what it can offer. Only wonder if it would be better if DMJ does not have that kind of reaction after kissing.It has fun and cute, romantic and sad moments. "full package" . Some conversation, inserting some classic plot from ET is epic.
Jun Ji Hyun did a good job in this role, who is sassy, can be ruthless at times, yet adorable , it is difficult not to like this character
I will recommend this, it is definitely entertaining
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Good, but it took a while
My first experience with Ji Hyun was watching Legend of the Sea and this was sent first dram with Soo Hyun. With that being said, I don't think I liked Ji Hyun better here and I don't think all the seriousness from his character suited Soo Hyun.The story in itself was good and it had a lot of potential, but the series got stuck in a few episodes where things should've progressed a little faster from the side plots and the main storyline would've followed, but too much was left for the last four, three episodes and it became rushed and a little too hard to explain to the audience who, I imagine, was expecting a whole lot more.
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