7/10 is my rating. This is the Korean version of a drama that was originally a manga Itazura Na Kiss by Tada Kaoru and has been adapted multiple times once as a Taiwanese drama entitled “It Started with a Kiss” (2005) that had a sequel “They Kiss Again” (2007) and there is also a Japanese version I heard. The main story is this South Korean version was told over 16 episodes in 2010. There is some follow up episodes which I recommend if you like the characters which are published on you tube as Playful Kiss 2 (about 7 short episodes). The story is about an unlikely pair Oh Ha-Ni (Jung So-Min) who is popular among the unpopular so to speak and Baek Seung-jo (Kim Hyun-joong) who is genius level intelligent and one of the campus idols. He is cold, arrogant, and conceited about his intelligence. Oh Ha-Ni struggles academically primarily because it is a lot of work for her to succeed academically and she does not see the point. Oh Ha-Ni is drawn to the very “other” nature of Baek Seung-jo and is his “stalker” constantly there and watching him despite repeated rejections. As fate would have it their parents are best friends and when disaster strikes for Oh Ha-Ni which destroys their house she and her father move in to Baek Seung-jo’s house.
Spoiler ? I really liked this story in the beginning. Found it very entertaining to see the dramatic difference between the two in the high school environment. The story moved on to college and I had a harder time with that. I really felt like she just wouldn’t leave the poor guy alone. She would follow him all the time when I thought it would be better to give him some space. My daughter pointed out that because of the restrictions on male/female interactions in that culture it is not uncommon for people to admire from afar – different than stalking. But I had a hard time getting past my own pride and thinking what I would have done in that situation. So that part was hard for me. I liked it again later though and, for me, it became like “I Love Lucy” in terms of some of the things she did and his response. Especially the episodes posted on you tube (which is where Playful Kiss 2 was officially "published").