olewis
This review may contain spoilers
A zany and enjoyable adventure
Watching Secret Garden is a great time. At times hilarious and adorable, at times devastating and intense, incorporating elements of magic, action stunts, family drama, and long lost secrets, Secret Garden runs the gamut in TV storytelling and character growth.
The plot is 80% comedy, especially in the first 10-15 episodes, as the Gil Ra-im and Kim Joo Won meet, stumble around each other, and try to figure out the other's lifestyle. Hyun Bin is hilarious as Joo Won, strutting around in his fancy Italian tracksuits and trying to keep up with Ra-im's badass action woman stunts. Then, in the last five episodes, there's a lot of melodrama; think a bunch of classic Kdrama tropes all piled together (ie. car accident, coma, amnesia). But there's a good resolution that maintains the earlier episodes' lighter tone.
I LOVED the cast and characters. The two leads are excellent. At first, the two second leads annoyed me, but both of them went through some satisfying character development, and I really felt invested in their storylines by the end. (Kind of reminded me of Seo Dan and Seung Jun from Crash Landing on You). Honestly, everyone should have a friend like Oska; he was so sweet and hilarious to Ra-im and everyone else. Even the other supporting characters were great :)
The one drawback is, that like with many East Asian Dramas, there's always the disapproving mother-in-law character who relentlessly tries to keep the main couple apart for NO GOOD REASON. There was definitely a lot of that in Secret Garden although the leads are able to stand up to her.
The soundtrack is ON POINT. Doesn't hurt that one of the main characters is supposed to be a K-pop star, so there are a lot of great bops as well as more soulful music. Hyun Bin even sings a song or two!
In conclusion, I recommend this drama; it's a crazy adventure and ultimately a fun time.
The plot is 80% comedy, especially in the first 10-15 episodes, as the Gil Ra-im and Kim Joo Won meet, stumble around each other, and try to figure out the other's lifestyle. Hyun Bin is hilarious as Joo Won, strutting around in his fancy Italian tracksuits and trying to keep up with Ra-im's badass action woman stunts. Then, in the last five episodes, there's a lot of melodrama; think a bunch of classic Kdrama tropes all piled together (ie. car accident, coma, amnesia). But there's a good resolution that maintains the earlier episodes' lighter tone.
I LOVED the cast and characters. The two leads are excellent. At first, the two second leads annoyed me, but both of them went through some satisfying character development, and I really felt invested in their storylines by the end. (Kind of reminded me of Seo Dan and Seung Jun from Crash Landing on You). Honestly, everyone should have a friend like Oska; he was so sweet and hilarious to Ra-im and everyone else. Even the other supporting characters were great :)
The one drawback is, that like with many East Asian Dramas, there's always the disapproving mother-in-law character who relentlessly tries to keep the main couple apart for NO GOOD REASON. There was definitely a lot of that in Secret Garden although the leads are able to stand up to her.
The soundtrack is ON POINT. Doesn't hurt that one of the main characters is supposed to be a K-pop star, so there are a lot of great bops as well as more soulful music. Hyun Bin even sings a song or two!
In conclusion, I recommend this drama; it's a crazy adventure and ultimately a fun time.
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