My Sweet Mobster (2024)

Absolutely wonderful! Delivers and then some!
Love the two leads, especially Uhm Tae Goo. I just read that he's won a few awards in films and it shows in his performance. Perfect casting as his looks aren't very conventional and his voice is reminiscent of Marlon Brando in The Godfather. (I also like that we almost never see him in that awful hairstyle with the forehead hidden by bangs or whatever that every Kdrama romantic lead seems to be contractually forced into in the romantic scenes, ew). Han Sunhwa is an amazing contrast to the ML's gruffness without going over the top ridiculous. Love all the characters and how the main cast are more mature than we're used to in romantic comedy.

Also, someone give an award to whoever directed and choreographed the fight scenes and the car chase! I'm really tired of the stylised fighting in dramaland. The fast, brutal pace is much more realistic and effective in getting a response.

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A great romcom

My watch list has been all over the place lately, but I am always a sucker for a good romcom and MSM ticked all the right boxes for me.

The perfect amount of cute fluff, which acted as a weekly palette cleanse for some of the other shows I’m watching lately. I like that it had a unique setup/storyline that kept me interested and wasn’t too heavy.

Many of my favourite tropes, minimal angst/misunderstandings, and the casting? Nailed it.
I fell in love with so many of the characters and laughed so much. The ML and FL had good chemistry, and I adored the MLs posse of ex cons/gangsters. I will definitely be seeking out more dramas involving many of these actors. Will be adding to my favourites list and would likely rewatch.

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Very catchy series, thanks to the plot, well served by the charisma of Uhm Tae Goo.

PLOT: The CEO (and ex-gangster) of a Meat company which reintegrates into society former prisoners, meets the FL, Youtuber, content creator for children. Lots of misunderstandings, then complicity & love. The ML almost dismantled his father's gang (who is in prison, then released), but the rest of the gang was taken over by an evil crook. The father does everything to get his son back at the head of the gang...

What I liked:
+ Excellent actors, all. I didn't know Uhm Tae Goo before but he is amazing in this role. He carries the series on his shoulders. Han Sun Hwa is beautiful, but I often find her quite expressionless :(
+ Well-written, credible story. The production is efficient, without downtime, and with a good portion of humor. The images are beautiful and the framing is well done.
+ Pleasant OSTs that fit well with the emotions of the moment.

=> A non-memorable series (except the participation of Uhm Tae Goo) but very addictive and nice.

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Série très accrocheuse, grâce au plot, bien servi par le charisme de Uhm Tae Goo.

PLOT : Le CEO (et ex gangster) d'une Compagnie "de boucherie" qui réinsère d'anciens taulards, rencontre la FL, Youtubeuse, créatrice de contenu pour enfants. Bcp de malentendus, puis complicité & love. Le ML a presque démantelé le gang de son père (en prison, puis libéré), mais le reste du gang a été repris par un "tordu malfaisant". Le père fait tout pour récupérer son fils à la tête du gang ...

What I liked :
+ Excellents acteurs, tous. Je ne connaissais pas Uhm Tae Goo mais il est génial dans ce rôle. Il porte la série sur ses épaules. Han Sun Hwa est belle, mais je la trouve souvent assez inexpressive :(
+ Story bien écrite, crédible. La réalisation est efficace, sans temps mort, et avec une bonne part d'humour. Les images sont belles et les cadrages bien travaillés.
+ OST agréables et qui s'accordent bien aux émotions du moment.

=> Une série non mémorable (sauf la participation de Uhm Tae Goo ) mais très addictive et sympa.

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Gives u the old kdrama feels

Firstly I need to give my appreciation to the FL's character! So well written and she has so much empathy, patience and brains (which many Fl's lack) Totally loved and adored ko eun ha!
Secondly THE SL>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Man was one of the best second leads ever! he was actually a good man, contributed so much to the plot, and helped the FL(as always)! He was such a wholesome character! Unlike the SL from my man is cupid (he pissed me off) And the actor has amazing acting skills because his character was completely opposite to his role in connection and he nailed it!(Ik because I watched both together, because their ongoing dates clashed)
And the star of the show seo ji hwan! He is the ultimate green flag! He acted so well and his character too was extremely well written! His deep voice = heaven!! I'll be waiting for his future projects!
I do want to talk about Il young, whenever he is in a drama it's a delight to watch! I've been rooting for him since Cheer Up, and I'm so happy he got an awesome ending!
And lastly, the thirsty deer guys and their bond tears me up! I absolutely love them!
This drama overall was soo good made me very happy!! I feel the old kdrama vibes and I love it!

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My Sweet Mobster was ultimately not the adorable sweet rom com I was looking for. I totally understand that the point of the show is to have a former mobster who is gentle and sweet but his characterization felt a little odd at times. The chemistry between the leads felt pretty lacking and also very juvenile when the male lead is supposed to be like 40 years old. The love triangle was so bland and I had to skip most of the scenes with the prosecutor. The entire mob and villain storyline was so over the top silly that I couldn’t watch it.

The backstory of their intertwined childhoods was dragged out to such an unbelievable degree that it was very frustrating to watch. It felt very similar to What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim in that aspect for me. The childhood connection, especially one that’s executed like this, just feels really overdone and boring.

There were many parts of the show that I did not enjoy but I did end up finishing it because there were certain things that kept me engaged. The forced cohabitation is always a fun trope and not it was especially cute to see her develop relationships with all of his friends. The found family part of the show was definitely a strength and seeing their friendships with each other, as well as the female lead, was very sweet. The business hiring ex-cons was very interesting and I would have liked to see even more of that, as well as the friends backstories. I really enjoyed the second couple and I wanted both of those characters individually and together to have more screen time.

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a very sweet gangster story

finished 9/10 💞✨
In general, I found the story very cute, a breath of fresh air and a rum in its own right.
I love almost all the characters 👏
the main couple is one of the cutest i've ever seen, taegoo is the new unlocked oppa, the cutest gangster in love ever 😍
the secondary couple, explosive and full of chemistry, their ending was beautiful especially for the character of Il Young who became a father and was able to have the family he always wanted 💞
The ending was a bit rushed and I wanted them to explain some details but overall very good!

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Really fun watch!!

Loved:
1)Uhm Tae Goo as Ji Hwan. Tough on the outside, marshmallow on the inside. I loved watching his progression, not only in love, but in life in general. His little confused pout was so cute. He's got that deep, sexy voice going on, that goes along with his physical power to make him dangerous without lifting a finger.
2)Found family - Ji Hwan and his baby deer. Each of them played perfectly against the others. I cried a little a couple of times with these guys. I love how they took her in, took care of her and loved her.
3)Childhood friends. I know a lot of people hate this trope, but I love it!
4)ML and FL - I was disappointed in their lack of chemistry together, but they were so stinking cute!
5)The comedy. I'm not normally a big fan of slapstick comedy, but it's been a while since I have enjoyed a ROM-COM so much.
6)The OST. Didn't love the bubbly intro music, but the rest was beautiful.
7)Costuming for ML and the baby deer.
8) Im Chul Soo as the Meow Group boss - he was so amusingly over the top.
9)Eventual bromance between Ji Hwan and the prosecutor.
10) Hot scene between 2ML and 2FL.
11)Cute ending.

Didn't Love:
1)The content creator that wanted Ji Hwan.
2)The storyline of the second couple - ESPECIALLY the accidental pregnancy. It took away a lot of time that we could have been watching our main couple.
3)Not enough time for our main couple to be together.
4)The prosecutor took forever to grow on me. Finally, in the last couple of episodes, I was on board with him.
5)Kisses were poorly done.
6)What was with the pink satin suit on Ji Hwan!?! He looked gorgeous in everything else, but was he going to prom or something?
7)FL bangs and clothing. The bangs looked like something from the 70's and they dressed her in the worst, oversized, unattractive outfits.
8)Drunk kisses.

Hated:
1)Ji Hwan's father.
2)Episode 15. We moved from a rom-com into a violent drama in the blink of an eye. I felt like someone else had written that episode and it belonged in another drama. Unnecessarily bloody and violent. There were any number of ways that they could have brought some tension to our characters without changing the feel of the entire show. This is why I had to drop my rating.

However, I can heartily recommend this (if I had to do it over again, I'd just skip episode 15) rom-com, because it did the comedy so well. I also always like seeing so many actors that I've seen in other works.

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A mishmash of sweet and cringey tropes

This show started so well. It is cute and ticked all the boxes when it comes to the meet-cute of a rom com. It was tracking well but worrying signs start to appear by mid show.

Let's start with the good bits. From my perspective, the FL is the true star of the show. She is radiant and so sweet. She is born to play a romantic lead. The premise is also nice and promising. It leans heavily into the healing drama trope with a big dose of bad boys come good motif as well. Every fawn (or is it Bambi? deerling?) has a heart of gold and they give the found family trope a good work out. ;)

However, the ML is channelling Marlon Brando a little too hard for my taste. It works sometimes, especially when he is roleplaying The Boss/tough guy. However, even though he is experienced in life and served time in the big house, he has less social skill than a lump of wood. It is jarring to see how he could stare down a mobster in one scene and be totally tongue tied (or worst, catatonic!) in the next just because the FL smiles at him. His characterisation feels too laboured. There are times when he is sweet and swoon worthy but it is more like a caricature.

In fact, most of the characters are done with very broad strokes. Some are there purely as comic relief. Others have more nuance but only fleetingly. You certainly will not be watching this show for character growth nor social commentary.

Is this a simple farce then? Not quite. There are times when the silliness will leave you breathless but there is also a serious dark edge (like many k-dramas). The senseless violence and text book mobster antics made sure of that.

If you think that I’m confused about this show, you are right. I don’t dislike it but there are moments when I question whether I should have dropped it earlier rather than persevere. This is particularly true towards the end when the show race through tropes after tropes just to cover all the bases. It would be farcical if the subject wasn’t so serious. We literally have the ML suffered a near death experience and then within a few scenes two of his bros show up to a blind date and commit social hari-kari in one of the most cringe worthy scene in my drama watching memory.

Here lies the problem with this show. It just doesn’t know when to stop. It has good bones, but bits and pieces are grafted on which doesn’t always make sense nor work as intended. It is a shame because these are good actors, and the basic premise is solid. A “normal” rom com would have worked a treat.

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A perfect cheesy rom com that stands out from the rest

I like characters with a suprise twist to them and this drama had one of the great ones. A mobster with a sweet and clumsy side, count me in !

I started watching this because of reels of the male lead's voice. He really had the look of a gangster so I wanted to watch this one and I'm really glad I did.

Lets talk about the positives first:
- Great casting for the male lead, and supporting characters
The reason why this drama with such a story worked so well was because of the casting for the male characters. Ji hwan, Ill yeong, Hyun woo and all supporting characters looked legit according to their characters. I really liked that they used the rough looking Uhm Tae Goo for the gangster role and the soft looking Kwon Yul for the prosecutor to create a contrast.
- Uhm Tae Goo melted my heart
The character of male lead matched perfectly with Uhm Tae Goo's look and hence made me more immersed in the story. His voice and sharp stare was everything ! Even when he was acting cute or shy in the drama, it didn't look awkward and was fairly realistic. He was charismatic and fierce in screen. So I was really surprised to see him being really shy and dorky in realy life (he's so cute!!)
- The found family was a chef's kiss
The found family in this one was one of the best I've seen. The supporting characters were great and I liked how goofy they were. It was really warm and comforting to see them depend on each other and be one happy family.
- The pacing was perfect
Some may say the ending was rushed but I liked how they paced the drama. Every episode had decent suspense and I didn't find the romantic development between the two leads to be rushed or too slow. I didn't skip much also and enjoyed every episode.

Now let's move onto the negatives:
- The potrayal of the female leads (both main and 2nd) could've been better
I don't mind the casting but at least the character design of the two female leads could've been better. I wish the costume team matched their hairstyles and costumes better to their characters. Honestly, I don't know why they had to give the main female lead the world's ugliest bangs ever. A normal hairstyle would've worked fine since her character is supposed to be honest, kind and determined. But they gave her a quirky hairstyle even though she wasn't. It didn't suit the actress and was awkward to see.
- The sudden flip in the costume
Maybe because I studied fashion I'm sensitive to the costume in shows but I was really confused seeing the costumes of the main male lead and the ex-cons go from very dark colors to suddenly bright and normal colors. I get that they wanted to portray how the characters are changing in a good way but the change was sudden and it didn't suit the characters at all. If they stuck with the dark and flashy costumes, the contrast between their looks and actual personality could've been more clearer. Instead the costumes became bright and gentle which I didn't like.
- The chemistry between the two couples could've been better
At least the main couple had some chemistry but I didn't feel that tension and chemistry with the second couple. I get why Ill Yeong and Miho might like each other but whenever they were together, I just didn't feel it was real. The chemistry between the main couple could've also been great but I was fine with what they had.

Overall, a sweet and fluffy watch that'll put a smile on your face and maybe also make you realize how hot deep husky voices were 😏 8.5/10

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Fun until the last Third

So, I totally got addicted to My Sweet Mobster when watching the first episode and it felt like an eternity when waiting for the new episodes each week. In the first half, I was so sure this would be a 10 Star series for me but unfortunately I had to remove a couple of points.

Let's first get into the great stuff:

- The FL : I loved her storyline, which felt totally unique. Usually, we get FLs with the "very unique and totally uncommon in KDrama-World" occupations such as doctor, prosecutor, lawyer, office worker etc.. So I found it very refreshing that in this one, our FL is a video-creator for children. This seemed also so fitting to how her character was written and the way she was styled. I liked seeing working hard to create great videos while keeping the children's interests in mind and not becoming a sellout in the industry.
Overall, I enjoyed watching her on screen a lot and enjoyed her interactions with the other characters. I'm definitely going to keep my eyes on any future projects of the actress.

- The ML: Well, he's candy for the eyes and I guess everyone will agree with that. I'm also kind of a sucker for the stoic and strong with a soft heart trope-ML, so that was a win in my books. He also was written as a deep character who is caring and wants to change the life of people for the better. He's also one of the funniest characters on screen - something I did not expect having watched some of the actor's previous works. How he kept a balance between this comedic side of his character and also the serious CEO type was great to watch.

- The Deer Guys (aka Sausage-Squad): I absolutely loved watching the guys' interactions, especially Jae Su and Man Ho. They brought in the feeling of the found family concept and always kept me entertained with their bickering. The writer did a great job explaining some of their backstory, though it could've been better paced. I would have also loved to see more of the above two guys, I absolutely adore them just as they do their Little Rat! They elevated the scenes they were in and it always gave me a warm feeling when seeing the whole Deer family together.

- The 2nd ML: I liked how he cared for the FL and how he overcame his distaste for the ML in order to protect her. He get's a few points removed though for wanting to pursue the FL after she made clear she is not in love with him and for kinda being a creep in watching children's shows. One of my favourite scenes however, was the comment battle between him and the ML.

- The chemistry between FL and ML: their chemistry was amazing and their interactions made my heart flutter.


And now for the bad (or at least the not-so-great):

- Kang Ye Na: Her character feels kinda meaningless and for me could've been removed from the story. I thought that once her backstory was revealed, I understood her for a second and it gave her more depth. However, that was just for the first time they showed that one background scene. I just couldn't sympathise with her once she just could not stop approaching the ML and don't get me started on her contract conditions! Like that's a way to force someone who does not care for you to spend time with you! In responds to my distaste for her, I also did not care about any kind of romance sub-plot with Dong Hyuk (who was also my least favourite Deer member).

- The best friend: I also did not care for her and her sub-plot romance with Hyun Jin. Their romance had no depth in the beginning, so I did not care and never started to care. Her interactions with the FL also did not feel deep and I didn't believe that they're best friends. The pregnancy sub-plot was kinda interesting, but I felt that, as this was just a sub-sub-plot, there couldn't enough time be spent on it to make it meaningful or offer commentary. I also found it quite cheap how they just kinda fell in love in an instance, once they found out about the pregnancy.

- Go Yang Hui (aka the Cat-"villain"): he was a goofball, not a villain. They did manage to make him a total turn-off, to the extend though that I actually had to skip his scenes as he was an unbearable character for me. I understand that the drama is supposed to be comedy, but I would have liked a more serious villain, where I could feel like the FL and the Deer-guys were actually in danger for a second.

- The Gang-background: That, I found interesting at first, but it became a bore the more the drama went on. I feel like there was never a sense of enough urgency for me and the very childish set-up of Mr. Cat as a villain made it feel like watching a horrible children's animations trying to portray an evil gang, not an evil gang itself.

- The ML's father: I just didn't care, maybe because they showed some of the childhood scenes etc. too often. Actually, I also began skipping through his scenes.

- And now to something I didn't think I would say when starting the series: The relationship between FL and ML:

My heart fluttered in the first half whenever they interacted with each other and I just wanted them to find out that the ML was the childhood Oppa. And I soo waited for the love confession and was curious how their relationship would turn out. However, I was disappointed on that front. The finger-hearts and nervousness was adorable for the first time they acted like that, but as it kept going like this, I just felt turned off. Like, we're talking about the relationship of two adults in their thirties. The romance though felt like watching two thirteen year olds having a crush for the first time! I wanted a more mature romance and more skin contact and maybe some sexual tension. It just felt off watching the ML, an ex-gang member and successful CEO in his late thirties, to act like a teenage simp in love who never was in the sphere of another woman before!
That was a great let-down for me. I do find that the longing and pining before two characters actually start dating is more interesting in most dramas, but this was a total failure on the relationship for me.
Also, the totally unnecessary but thankfully very short third act breakup. Never been a fan of this trope and also wasn't here.

____

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