MattPeddlesden
Kent, UK
There's no romance here of note at all, maybe a couple of whispers in the background but if you're looking for Romance that's not the reason to watch. If you're looking for a fun story, fun characters, laughing moments in every episodes but at the same time some serious character development (it's always nice to see bad characters course correcting) then you'll enjoy this one.
Music was fun and bouncy to go with the general styling of the show.
After Sung-Ryong, I think Ga-Eun - who is an undercover prosecution detective - was probably my next favourite character and was glad they made her a main role and not relegated to a support role. Her character was fun to watch.
The comedy is good and easy, it doesn't stray into slapstick at all and generally makes use of character comedy, some funny as heck cringe comedy and plenty of insults thrown around to wind each other up.
Brilliant, definitely a good antidote to a dose of too many romance dramas to lighten the mind with some laughs.
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The ML and FL were great but for me the secondary characters were just as good, whether it was Kim Mi Kyung's portrayal of the slightly insane mother of Hae-Young - she's definitely one of my favourite older female actresses and it was good to see her role given much more of a presence than I've seen her with in some other "mother" roles previously. Heo Young Ji as the girlfriend of one of the family's brothers was another real wildcard too, I didn't know what to expect from her character when she first appears but she turns out to be a really good character in the story and really fun to watch.
The other secondary character that was actually the main reason for picking this show was Ye Ji Won - having enjoyed her work in Thirty But Seventeen where she played a monotone, black and white, mary-poppins type character I was curious to see her in another role. In the first couple of scenes it looks like it's going to be a similar type of character but it doesn't take long to get a bigger picture and wow what a difference :) Wild and wacky and yet another great comedic element to the story.
All the comedic side characters are great as they provide an emotional break to some of the heavier elements of the story.
Main story was great, and has a nice under pinning message of living for today. Give everything your all, don't risk looking back later and wishing if only you'd done more, loved more etc. Don't let pettiness get in the way, don't let your pride stop you from doing what you wish you had.
My main issues were that some times it just got a bit confusing what was going on, in one instance one of the secondary couples has a major blowout and end their relationship and then a few scenes later all is back to normal without any scene to reconnect them - not the end of the world but just seemed odd as they made a big deal of ending it. Some times there are flashback scenes to the past where you learn more about Hae-young's history in school, but it wasn't always clear until a bit of a way into the scene that this is what was happening. There were numerous times where it just felt like something had been skipped along the way, or a scene missed.
The ML's business is adding the sound layer to movies, and this had the odd side effect of making me hyper-sensitive to the audio layer on the drama, suddenly every walking sound or any other sounds sounded layered on, I don't know whether they amped the sounds up to contribute to this or if it was just psychological on my part but it was amusing and actually added to the sounds somewhat. For those that don't know how this side of movie and tv production works it provides an interesting insight I think.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this one, a good mix with a decent main story and some interesting side characters with their own stories. OST - nothing outstanding but nothing bad either.
Would probably re-watch this at some point.
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An uplifting and positive story throughout, one of my favourite aspects of this story is how the ML and FL first become genuinely good friends without any pretense towards romance, it was fun to watch them being completely themselves around each other, playfully kicking each other or all those other things that you do with your mates but probably not with your boy or girlfriend.
Kim Bok Joo is a very talented weight lifter and one of the storylines is following her progression through and beyond university. There's less focus on the ML's sporting career which is reasonable - his name isn't even in the title at all :) But he does have his own story to tell.
Actually the ML's story was the one I felt had the least well executed conclusion, he gets a kind of blackout when he's about to launch to the pool in competitions and it has caused him lots of problems with late starts or early starts and disqualifications. He seeks psychiatric help and then just one day without any kind of revelation, it's just not there anymore, it just goes away. I was really hoping to see some kind of attack start, and then dissipate (perhaps on seeing Kim Bok Joo in the crowd) and that then be the transition to a better life, but it didn't work out that way. Not a huge deal but just something I was waiting for that didn't feel satisfying enough.
I loved the characters in this and the way the trio of girls acted together was fantastic, including their "Swaaaaaag" expressions. The chemistry among friends was spot on, and the later chemistry among the two leads was right on too.
It was really interesting to see this sport covered too, usually it'd be one of the more mainstream ones like running, swimming and that kind of thing - but seeing the weight lifting side of things was really interesting for a change and does give a small insight into the challenges that these athletes face in contrast to many other sports.
There's no bad bits, there's no stupid breakups, there are some tough topics covered including one of the gymnasts having her own serious issues that are then dealt with, but overall this one is just light, fluffy and wonderful!
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The opening scenes of this are class, we see a mob boss and his gang come into the hospital and our female lead doctor comes to see what the problem is and is greeted by a bunch of sexist nonsense. She tries to approach the boss to examine him and is fended off, with the comment "we don't go easy on girls", to which she replies possibly the best response ever, "does that make it less embarrassing when you get beaten?" and then proceeds to drop them all to the floor with her martial arts skills.
In terms of characters and their development, it was Lee Sung Kyung's character Jin Seo-u that really stood out for me. She is the "third point" of a love triangle and general all around bitter person - she starts out actually good and welcomes new girl Hye Jung (the female lead) into her friend group at school, but it becomes clear that her strength of character is remarkably fragile and when the FL starts to achieve top marks in school things start turning south and she ends up triggering various nasty events that have an impact on numerous other characters lives. She always struck me as someone who was, at her heart, a good person - but having been brought up by parents that have taught her the wrong values she's got something of a fragile character with a keenness for lashing out, much like her father - I was really hoping that by the end of the show she'd have stepped up on her own and gained her own strength of character and one of the absolute highlights of the story for me was when this ultimately happened.
I found the romance between the FL and ML to be... odd. It's like the author threw bits and pieces into the story and it never really gels. Issues arise but don't get resolved and just forgotten about. For example, the FL approaches the ML and says that she's upset that the ML isn't letting her into his life more, he's keen to help her out but won't let her in to return it. He perfectly reasonably explains that it's just not what he's used to because of his past, I get that, and then she says that she needs him to change and let her in. To me, that sounded like a perfectly reasonable discussion and I was thrilled to see communication and compassion between the two. He then, for a separate reason, has to go off to the states for three weeks. When he comes back, he's cold, distant, damn near ignores her and talks formally only to her. I thought it was really odd and thought - oh here comes "stupid breakup #1" but no, he explains "i was waiting for your call", and she says "oh" and boom - we're back on track folks. Wait, what? He still hasn't let you into his life, he still hasn't resolved the core issue you raised, but we're ok now? Hmm.
Once the two actually get together they have a fun time and I enjoyed seeing them together.
Tertiary characters
- In Ju - brilliant, wish we'd seen more of her. I kept getting triggered thinking "I'm sure i've seen her before" and then it dawned on me that some of her expressions and mannerisms are an absolute likeness for a slightly older Kim So Hyun.
- Choi Kang Soo - one of the junior doctors, goes through a tough time and I really enjoyed seeing those parts of the story. Also hints at possible future relationship there though it isn't really explored in the drama.
- Ahn Jong Dae - a fun character, another junior doctor, and potential future relationship for him too - though again, not explored.
Good to see Nam Goong Min in as a guest for two or three episodes too, he played a really nice role, quite a tough one, and it's nice not to see him as the evil bad guy for a change (Remember, Girl who sees Scents).
Overall, worth a watch, but not one that had me keen to click Next Episode as much as some of the others i've seen.
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The general premise for this one was one that had me concerned and while i originally added it to my list because it's the same actress from Tomorrow With You, but the topic of the female lead being overweight had me a bit concerned just because it's so easy to be really negative about it - and as an overweight person (all my own fault, not claiming that the universe has it against me or anything), I just don't find that kind of thing entertaining to watch.
Happy to say that I felt the topic of obesity was actually covered really well, with an underlying message that "what's inside matters more than what's outside". She's getting blood tests, not just checking her weight, fixing her diet and changing other aspects of her life like how and when she sleeps, integrating exercise into her life - losing weight is a lot more than just "eat less" and that's very well covered in this. There is another character, Soo-jin, who starts out overweight and by the time the main thrust of the story starts she's swapped with the main character and is now slim - but as the story progresses you can see she's not really taken care of "within" and is really not healthy as a result.
I really enjoyed the chemistry of the two characters, they work well together and were a joy to watch.
I thought that the wrist-grabs on this one were over the top - bordering on assault - dragging her by her wrist somewhere or yanking her around really quickly and suddenly. I know that the wrist-grab is a thing in Korea but this was one of the more extreme examples i've seen in KDrama and it looked really unpleasant.
I was also a little disappointed that in this story he basically re-arranges his life to help her, it's wonderful how much time and effort he puts into helping her turn her life around - but when it comes to his own problems, he completely locks her out and she has no way to help, he doesn't like seeing the people around him hurting and the best thing anyone can do to help him is to leave him to suffer on his own. I don't like that message at all, i'd have been so much happier if he'd taken a brave step to let her in and lean on her for the support that she was so desperate to give.
The final scene literally had me laugh out loud, I *have* to assume it was put on at the end purely for the "lols" and to tick off the standard kdrama elements - for no good reason at all, without any prior commentary to allude to it, suddenly, you find out that for a brief moment, they knew each other as kids. It adds nothing, it's completely pointless :) I don't consider this a spoiler because, well, uhm, it was pointless. :)
Summary - Up until the last couple of episodes this was one of my favourites, but it ran out of steam and just started rambling at the end. Some of the side plots didn't feel like they had good conclusions, but the main thrust of the story with the central couple was warm and good to watch. The "extravagant dowry" demand from the grand mother was nicely handled too, but i'll not say more on that one :)
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Picked this one up because having just watched Descendants of the Sun I wanted to see more of Song Joong Ki's work and it's also one of a small number of dramas with Moon Chae Won who I thoroughly enjoyed in Good Doctor.
Leading lady is played by Park Shi Yeon and I found her character to be an almost non-stop sense of annoyance if I'm honest - which is probably what was intended so I'm not saying that's an issue :) The smirky sneer expression on her face almost the entire time just wound me up.
So, this is a revenge story essentially. Starts small, gets bigger. The premise is interesting enough, I can believe that he's so in love with her that he's prepared to put her life ahead of his, love can have a strange affect on us all, though doing so at the expense of abandoning his sick sister who urgently needed taking to the hospital felt immediately like it was a step too far.
My main issue with this one is that the characters just seemed wobbly in their commitment - the leading lady is trying to be vindictive one minute and considering the possibility of giving it up all up for the leading guy in the name of love, and then back to vindictive, and - I couldn't keep up with whether the she was honestly flapping around (which didn't seem in-character for someone so apparently driven) or if it was setting up betrayals - which is sometimes how they worked out. I suspect a bit of both, which just makes it more confusing.
The same was true of the leading man - it was difficult to work out sometimes what HIS intentions were though it wasn't as bad as the lady.
Moon Chae Won's character and performance I am quite conflicted by because I really like her presence on screen but this script just had her flat most of the time. Other reviewers have noted that she starts out looking like a real strong lady in the story but the air is let out of her character and she ends up just flowing along like the rest. A real shame, Chae-Won is a great talent that, in my view, wasn't fully allowed to shine in this story at all.
Memory loss makes for some good tense elements to the story as you wait for the inevitable moment that memory returns and what's real and what's not come to the fore- but until then I did find that the positive happy moments between the leading man and Moon Chae Won's character were very nice to see.
Last couple of scenes are the "years later" conclusion and - well, it was ok. It was a nice "book-end" to finish with.
Second couple - the sister and friend - however - were gloriously brilliant, scenes with either or both of them in were fantastic and one of the highlights for me. I especially liked their conclusion :)
My conclusion? I'm glad I watched it because it did have some great moments however I have zero intention to watch it again
Would I recommend it? If you like the revenge stories then perhaps - they're not my favourite genre (I like them soft and fluffy darn it) - but even then i'd say there are probably better things on your "plan to watch" list. Don't discount it, but don't rush either :)
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I found this show quite slow to start, the elements discussed in the premise don't actually start until about Episode 8 and for me that was when this drama actually started moving at a decent pace - I was close to abandoning it prior to that but kept going because the premise sounded good and I wanted to see if it could deliver. In short, it did ultimately and very well, you just have to push through that slow bit in the first few episodes.
A first for me - I just didn't gel with the Female Lead in this one, crying and screaming just didn't seem real, they felt like comedy equivalents put in non-comedy places. I am going to have to look up some more dramas with the same actress to see if this is a direction thing perhaps, it's unfair to judge based on a single performance. In all other respects I thought she was great though.
The Male Lead however shines brightly, showing various different characters through the different personalities with sufficient difference between them that it's almost instantly possible to see which character has taken to the fore purely from his performance. The highlight from a sheer comedy gold perspective has to be Ahn Yo-na and the antics of love-chasing Oh Ri-on, hilarious and a nice bit of light entertainment punctuating some of the heavier scenes.
It's a complex, perhaps convluted even, plot but it makes sense once it's unraveled.
Overall worth a watch, definitely, but you will need to push through the first few episodes until she moves in with Cha Do-Yhun before the plot starts moving at a good pace - and then it's easy easy watching all the way to the end.
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A Giant Game of Go
I very much enjoyed this - I had just finished My Dearest a couple of weeks ago and this overlaps in time with Captivating the King starting with the end of the Qing invasion and the prince being sent to Shenyen, followed by the gradual collapse into some insanity of the reigning king (they each take a slightly different lean on this aspect though). Translator Jung is also present in character as well (different actor of course and with different motivations compared to My Dearest). If you've watched one, watch the other, it's interesting seeing the common bits as well as the different takes on things.The standout for me is the male lead - this is the first time i've seen Jo Jung Sook in an entirely 100% serious role, all of his others have allowed him to bring his brilliant light heartedness and comedic sense but there is nothing comedic about this role as he starts as the prince and progresses to being the King it's all serious all the way.
I enjoyed the interplay between the characters, the scheming going back and forth, and the strategies that the two leads were employing even independently of each other. It's like watching a pair of grand masters at work. The writing here was exceptional I felt.
I was absolutely hooked on this from start to finish - binged the entire thing in fairly short order.
Shin Se Kyung is someone I always enjoy watching and I thought she delivered well in this, does seem like she's a marmite attraction to many viewers but for me, I thought she was great.
As the bad guys start to get taken down there are definitely a number of "punch the sky" "yess!" moments to be had, especially with the big-bad :)
Well worth the watch in my view!
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Fun time!
Short: Webtoon style "hyper real" (expect the characters to be dialled up to 110%) like others such as Extraordinary You. TRUE BEAUTY isn't about makeup, TRUE beauty is the real YOU, confident and with courage. In this drama, she takes that journey. Great actors, great characters. Music is ok but didn't stand out as much as others have. All the usual tropes, love triangle, breakups, they-met-as-kids etc - it is kdrama after all - but I thought they were largely written in quite sensibly :)Detail:
Some really interesting characters in this - the female lead struggles with her appearance and being bullied and it leads her to the roof of a tall building standing on a ledge contemplating her future. The male lead happens to be there because previously his best friend had jumped from that ledge and he was remembering him, he pulls her off to safety.
She learns about makeup, and moving to a new school arrives transformed as the most beautiful girl in the school, where she quickly gets lots of friends and happiness.
So... my initial thought as the drama starts in this way is... oh I do hope there's a bit more depth to it than "make yourself pretty so people will like you" and thankfully there is. She struggles with her appearance throughout going to extraordinary lengths to make sure nobody can see her "bare face" fearing that friends will instantly turn to enemies. Indeed, there is one moment in the story... which I won't go into... and it's played out really well as everyone reacts strongly but not all for the same reasons, and it ultimately provides a lot of courage for her as she realises if you're around the right people it doesn't matter at all, and if you're around the wrong people - they don't matter.
What was really good for the female lead was seeing her grow from a girl in school to a young adult as she steps into her working life - going from the struggles of school to figuring out what she wants to do and then pursuing it vigorously, as she goes from someone near the bottom of the school leagues to someone who is driven fiercely for what she wants to do. I think everyone goes through that transformation as they get frustrated with the doldrums and stress of school and switch to doing what they are truly passionate about.
The male lead doesn't go through the same length of journey at all, and while I have no objection to his character and enjoyed its participation in the story, he was there as the supporting character for the female lead, without a doubt.
The SECOND lead however - was easily one of the strongest and best characters i've seen in a drama in a while. His strength of character even in the latter episodes when he would have been completely ok to pursue what he wanted, took a better path instead, choosing what he knew she wanted. Difficult to go into detail about why this moment towards the end struck me but it was really well done. He's a misunderstood character at the start who is acting out, but this is not your average love triangle. Sadly, he's doomed to suffer the fate of all second leads unfortunately (I don't consider that a spoiler because if you go into a drama expecting it to end with the *second* lead... you're probably not reading the room ;) ).
Secondary characters... the female lead's sister and the teacher - funny as heck (as are her whole family tbh). So refreshing to see such a strong woman knowing what she wants and just going for it with all the force in the world. Absolutely her mothers daughter, but equally good to see the cheeky bit later on when it's clear that it's not entirely one-way and he can pull her strings too (I am probably explaining it badly - but suffice to say, it is a well balanced relationship :) ).
Her friends - one of them goes through a bad time and becomes the bad-person, and I was very pleased with out how that was concluded.
All in all, some really great characters and performed well by their respective actors and actresses.
It is a webtoon style drama, like Extraordinary You, so expect your characters to be dialled up to 110% - it's done in a nice way that works well and is fun throughout :)
The ending is nice and drawn out, it's chilled and feels really good.
Why not a 10? Purely because I think that while they nailed the problem with the way she felt about her self image and about the bullying at school I'm just not sure they actually nailed the conclusion to that quite as well as they could have. I can't put my finger on it, because she got her moment with the bully, she got the support from true friends, she supported someone else in the same situation and helped them, and got the courage to be her true self. So i'm not sure why it's niggling on me, but... it is. That's why I only took a half off.
TRUE BEAUTY isn't about makeup, TRUE beauty is the real YOU, confident and with courage. In this drama, she takes that journey, and it's the day she turns up to her new school in her bare face she becomes the True Beauty.
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Waffley bit...
I really enjoyed this one, telling the story of a mythical 9-tailed fox who is set free from a drawing and enters the real world where she ultimately falls in love with the male lead in the story and so begins the crux of the troubles.
Shin Min-Ah is just fantastic in this, she plays the doe eyed, innocent and inexperienced "fox" superbly as she tries to navigate this new world. A scene where Dae-Wung spots something in a store that he really likes and she later goes back to buy it for him is just a classic example of this. Scenes where she's eating meat and just over the moon enjoying herself like it's the greatest experience she's ever had are fun to watch too.
Lee Seung-Gi, whom I first saw MUCH older in the more recent Vagabond looks practically like barely a teenager in this but performs well and provides a great counterpoint to the innocence of Shin Min-Ah's character.
Noh Min-Woo's character, Park Dong-Joo, I just found to be really flat. That may be the writing / production but I just didn't gel with this character at all.
There's also a momentary cameo from another actress who is much more well known now, Park Shin Hye - but she's barely recognisable as a school-age girl on the bus.
There are some real cheeseball moments, pretty much the entire character of Ban Doo Hong (the action film director in the story) is a hyper-real character who's quite fun. The most amusing scene in the entire story involves him taking a pee against a wall, i'll just leave it there, it's absolutely hilarious.
The story references Little Mermaid when Mi-Ho is given the book to read to hint at her possible future, and there are certainly some strong links between the two stories - though I will say this isn't just a remake of Little Mermaid with a different skin, it does follow a different path.
If you're paying a reasonable amount of attention, the ending and how it's arrived upon is fairly predictable, it's not a complex story, but I didn't find this made it any less enjoyable at all.
The chemistry between the two leads is superb, I could sense some real affection when they were both on the screen together with her throwing her heart at him utterly unconditionally.
Nothing in the OST really stood out to me, but I'll go listen to it separately later. They tended to go for musical backing per-character, i.e. when a particular character is the focus of a scene you'll hear the same music being played to match it.
Another great drama and definitely worth a watch.
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