ltspada
This review may contain spoilers
So many better series out there with similar storylines
My rating is 8.5/10. This is a 2022 South Korean romantic comedy drama with 12, 30-40 minute episodes.
First I provide a unique synopsis then review
Synopsis
When Han Ji-yul (ChooYoung-woo) is tricked by his grandfather to leave Seoul and come to a small community in the country, he thinks he will just keep his head down and run his grandfather’s vet clinic quietly. Huidong village is not a place to bring your big city attitude though, the people are close and everybody not only knows everybody but they know everything about each other. Ahn Ja-young (Park Soo-young) grew up in the village and is the jack of all trades helper. She seems to have a hand in about everything and this brings the village beauty into close contact with the annoying city man on a frequent basis. At first this “nosy” behavior annoys Ji-yul who didn’t want to be there in the first place. But it is not long before he too relies on Ja-young to navigate this confusing new social environment. Will the city guy find love in this very unexpected place? Can he win her love over the boy turned man she grew up with?
Review
A nice romantic comedy with a very linear, predictable storyline, If you are looking for something shorter and not very complex, this would be a good choice. It is worth warching once but I may never watch it again. I would not turn the channel if it was on but also would not seek it out. My 30 year old daughter, who watched it with me, said she would rate it 10/10 and we usually agree so that shows how differently people feel about this one. She said she could not think of anything wrong with it. As you can tell, from my review below, I found quite a bit wrong with the series.
Spoilers*
I felt like he was very unkind to her in the beginning for no good reason. He was bristly and aloof in general despite the towns people being relatively friendly. Then it flipped and there was a point where she was not very nice to him. Because of that it was harder for me to completely buy into their sudden deep love for each other. I think, had the series been longer, there would have been more time for them to have a slower build to romance which would have added credibility. For me just them knowing each other as kids was not enough reason for them to fall so quickly and completely as adults.
Ja-young expecting him to remember they were friends as kids and being so angry it took so long was unreasonable. He was obviously severely traumatized by his parent’s death and a mature adult would have realized that. So the anger she had over that was uncalled for. The writers did a poor job of providing that back story. There was not enough information about that traumatic event to understand why he went mute and how he recovered. The person he was talking to on the phone brother? Uncle? Friend? It was difficult to determine that relationship. And it was an important one because you never got to see him being close to anyone else, including the grandfather. When Ja-young got in the car accident and Ji-yul is in a panic trying to get her out I thought there would be a series of flashbacks that would explain his trauma more but there wasn’t. The car was neither on fire nor in the water so it was strange for him to find it that critical to get to her. It implied it was due to the past trauma but you had to make that connection mostly yourself.
I really did not like 2nd guy at all for her. He was mean to lead guy beyond what mere jealousy would have called for. He was pushy about his feelings. Not sweet and patient but it seemed like he took for granted and expected she should turn to him. He never effectively defended her when the others treated her poorly for being an orphan nor went out of his way to help her often. It just seemed territorial and not like he had true romantic feelings for her for a long time.
The whole situation with the ex girlfriend was so brief it felt rushed and not a valid insertion to the story so late in the game. Triangles are often used to reveal the character’s feelings for the lead. In this case the ex shows up and he does not waver at all. And, at first, you wondered what horrible thing she had done. But then you find out she was just going abroad. That separation trope is done often enough those of us in the know expect that separation does not come between true love. But it did. And he just broke up with her. Yet we learn he was so deeply in love with her it took a long time for him to recover. He wondered if he could ever love again. But she shows up and he does not even waiver from this girl he newly loves. The ex had everything, they shared interests and were both veterinarians, lived in Seoul and had history. For him to so quickly choose main girl did not ring true. It would have been more credible if the ex had done something horrible or was not a very nice person or something. Or even if he discovered he never really loved her but mistook friendship for lovel. It nade his love for anyone seem shallow.
When he gave up his life in Seoul to take over the vet hospital in that small town it felt like he was sacrificing a lot to be with her. There was never a sense he grew to love working with large animals it just felt like he adapted. When they were dating and wanted privacy they went to Seoul. So it appeared, as a young couple, Seoul would have more to offer them. Thus the choice to live in the small town did not flow logically. I think the point was the town people started to feel like a big family which is something he never had, but they did not portray that well. It never showed him developing deep relationship with town members. So it just seemed he was giving up a lot and she wasn’t.
Her being a police officer yet doing everything seemed weird. I have seen others about police in a small town and they still do police work. Here she would be, in the middle if a shift, helping to cover peaches. That would have made sense for maybe a town mayor or something but not for a police woman. And she came and went whenever it seemed. It did not make police in a small town look very good. And I do not think, based on a lot of other examples, it was an accurate portrayal.
#ChooYoungWoo
#ParkSooYoung
First I provide a unique synopsis then review
Synopsis
When Han Ji-yul (ChooYoung-woo) is tricked by his grandfather to leave Seoul and come to a small community in the country, he thinks he will just keep his head down and run his grandfather’s vet clinic quietly. Huidong village is not a place to bring your big city attitude though, the people are close and everybody not only knows everybody but they know everything about each other. Ahn Ja-young (Park Soo-young) grew up in the village and is the jack of all trades helper. She seems to have a hand in about everything and this brings the village beauty into close contact with the annoying city man on a frequent basis. At first this “nosy” behavior annoys Ji-yul who didn’t want to be there in the first place. But it is not long before he too relies on Ja-young to navigate this confusing new social environment. Will the city guy find love in this very unexpected place? Can he win her love over the boy turned man she grew up with?
Review
A nice romantic comedy with a very linear, predictable storyline, If you are looking for something shorter and not very complex, this would be a good choice. It is worth warching once but I may never watch it again. I would not turn the channel if it was on but also would not seek it out. My 30 year old daughter, who watched it with me, said she would rate it 10/10 and we usually agree so that shows how differently people feel about this one. She said she could not think of anything wrong with it. As you can tell, from my review below, I found quite a bit wrong with the series.
Spoilers*
I felt like he was very unkind to her in the beginning for no good reason. He was bristly and aloof in general despite the towns people being relatively friendly. Then it flipped and there was a point where she was not very nice to him. Because of that it was harder for me to completely buy into their sudden deep love for each other. I think, had the series been longer, there would have been more time for them to have a slower build to romance which would have added credibility. For me just them knowing each other as kids was not enough reason for them to fall so quickly and completely as adults.
Ja-young expecting him to remember they were friends as kids and being so angry it took so long was unreasonable. He was obviously severely traumatized by his parent’s death and a mature adult would have realized that. So the anger she had over that was uncalled for. The writers did a poor job of providing that back story. There was not enough information about that traumatic event to understand why he went mute and how he recovered. The person he was talking to on the phone brother? Uncle? Friend? It was difficult to determine that relationship. And it was an important one because you never got to see him being close to anyone else, including the grandfather. When Ja-young got in the car accident and Ji-yul is in a panic trying to get her out I thought there would be a series of flashbacks that would explain his trauma more but there wasn’t. The car was neither on fire nor in the water so it was strange for him to find it that critical to get to her. It implied it was due to the past trauma but you had to make that connection mostly yourself.
I really did not like 2nd guy at all for her. He was mean to lead guy beyond what mere jealousy would have called for. He was pushy about his feelings. Not sweet and patient but it seemed like he took for granted and expected she should turn to him. He never effectively defended her when the others treated her poorly for being an orphan nor went out of his way to help her often. It just seemed territorial and not like he had true romantic feelings for her for a long time.
The whole situation with the ex girlfriend was so brief it felt rushed and not a valid insertion to the story so late in the game. Triangles are often used to reveal the character’s feelings for the lead. In this case the ex shows up and he does not waver at all. And, at first, you wondered what horrible thing she had done. But then you find out she was just going abroad. That separation trope is done often enough those of us in the know expect that separation does not come between true love. But it did. And he just broke up with her. Yet we learn he was so deeply in love with her it took a long time for him to recover. He wondered if he could ever love again. But she shows up and he does not even waiver from this girl he newly loves. The ex had everything, they shared interests and were both veterinarians, lived in Seoul and had history. For him to so quickly choose main girl did not ring true. It would have been more credible if the ex had done something horrible or was not a very nice person or something. Or even if he discovered he never really loved her but mistook friendship for lovel. It nade his love for anyone seem shallow.
When he gave up his life in Seoul to take over the vet hospital in that small town it felt like he was sacrificing a lot to be with her. There was never a sense he grew to love working with large animals it just felt like he adapted. When they were dating and wanted privacy they went to Seoul. So it appeared, as a young couple, Seoul would have more to offer them. Thus the choice to live in the small town did not flow logically. I think the point was the town people started to feel like a big family which is something he never had, but they did not portray that well. It never showed him developing deep relationship with town members. So it just seemed he was giving up a lot and she wasn’t.
Her being a police officer yet doing everything seemed weird. I have seen others about police in a small town and they still do police work. Here she would be, in the middle if a shift, helping to cover peaches. That would have made sense for maybe a town mayor or something but not for a police woman. And she came and went whenever it seemed. It did not make police in a small town look very good. And I do not think, based on a lot of other examples, it was an accurate portrayal.
#ChooYoungWoo
#ParkSooYoung
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