I've heard both extremely positive, extremely negative, and everything in between reviews about OMV. Because of that, I went into this drama with some misgivings but also hopefulness since I loved So Ji Sub's character and performance from Master's Sun so much. I'm extremely happy to say that I did enjoy this drama much more than I expected to.
The plot was a bit thin, I admit, especially on the 'common' kdrama tropes side but the drama did put their own spin on it frequently. Putting that aside, however, the moral displayed throughout OMV was pretty inspirational. I can't say: 'Watch this drama. It's mind blowing and has a amazing story that you can't predict.' What I CAN say is: 'It's cute, fluffy, and adorable. Do watch this if you want some fun, bickering romance that is organic and is a genuinely healthy relationship.' At the end of the day, sometimes I just like some classic fare and OMV does just that with the added bonus of So Ji Sub and Shin Min Ah.
Some would disagree with just watching a drama because of an actor/actress. I think it's about priorities. I mean, everyone has varying reasons for watching dramas. For me, having an amazing story and amazing actors is lucky. That's how we get dramas like Healer, once in a blue moon. Back to point though, OMV has a lot of tropes that I guiltily like to watch and they're done well, for the most part. The writer even laughs at himself/herself for using some of the kdrama tropes through the dialogue. That's honestly just hilarious! I also loved some of the past and present scenes (tap tap anyone?); they were done so effectively and just added to the story for me.
It has a stellar three musketeer bromance that grows on you rapidly and makes me laugh every time I see them, a sincere romance that actually works, and throw in some side characters that I can actually kind of relate to at times. Sung Hoon and Henry were so adorable and were the perfect complement to SJS's John Kim persona. The 'evil' second leads, were for once, (for me) so relatable in the end that I was caught by surprise. I even cared about their happy ending which I did not see coming.
I even liked the angst in the third quarter of the drama. You heard me; I actually enjoyed it. It just worked for me and I appreciated how short it was but still made me tear up in all the right ways. It wasn't without flaws but it still showed me enough. I think this is actually the first time for me that I liked the 3rd-4th quarter of a drama slightly bit more than the first half.
The overall moral is that body image shouldn't be everything but lets be honest: it kind of is, in our society. In the beginning, I was a bit turned off because it seemed like everyone was mocking/laughing at Kang Joo Eun for getting fat (and lets be real, she doesn't even look that overweight) But KJE's flippant and "I am who I've always been' attitude made me fall in love with her. Shin Min Ah completely sold me on her character. Although I kept seeing Joo Joong Won (Master's Sun) in So Ji Sub's character, Kim Yeong Ho at first, SJS did eventually differentiate the two characters.
Music didn't catch me at first, but 3rd-4th quarter, I started feeling it more.
I struggled on whether to give this a 8.5 or 9 but in the end, I decided to give it a 9 on the basis that I purely enjoyed this drama on all counts (16 hours well spent) regardless of the fact that the story itself isn't by far up to par with some of the most highly rated dramas.
So, I recommend this drama so much. This IS a rom-com. Sometimes dramas are labeled rom-com and it ends up turning into something else.. I could've done a little less with the corporate plot but it's fine, the drama knew what its strengths were and kept it their focus-the couple chemistry and the comedy.
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