This review may contain spoilers
This drama was enjoyable, fun with funny moments. The storyline was not bad, and the script is not boring at all. I noticed the writer sometimes shifts focusing on plot lazily. I can predict what happens next easily. I think it is a little cheesy, but I have a good time to watch these characters develop friendships and want to have love. I wish they have better development further as it lacks developing on some characters. The soundtrack is solid, and the atmosphere of the drama is the strongest reason for this drama. It is similar to You’re Beautiful and Boys over Flowers. I honestly am a little annoyed at Hye-jin and her demeanor, but I understand how she feels. I think the director should have the character who should do better than having the same behavior all the way. The main and minor characters have a good job with their roles. I am glad it ended well and it has a nice ending. Was this review helpful to you?
A lovely story about love and family values
I finished seeing this drama, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It is the story of a young lady who lost her mother in a fire when she was a child, but this event didn't ruin her life but instead motivated her to live a good life, try to find happiness, and be optimistic. This is the reason why she is chosen as a part-time employee, working for a wealthy family. The grandfather has three grandsons who, in spite of being good people, cannot seem to find a good path to build a normal family relationship. They bully and despise each other, so much so, that they didn't even dine together. Thus, our female character has different missions to fulfill, from finding a way for the family to take dinner together, to going on a trip, to going to a memorial, to save their grandfather's life. The only forbidden interaction is, of course, love and dating, which as you can assume happens. The girl falls in love with one of the boys and they gradually become very important to one another, convincing, in the end, the grandfather to accept them, in spite of the low economic condition of the female lead.The drama is about loss and grievance, about finding the strength to get up and try to live your life as best as possible, about family values, about friendship and love, and about things in life that really matter. Each character has its own odyssey, with adventures and feelings, and discoveries of real life. Wonderful actors, story, music. I recommend this drama, wholeheartedly.
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Trapped in a castle!
This series was made in 2016 and it is feeling its age but it is still extremely watchable. It is a parody. The script was ok but sometimes seemed hemmed in by the predetermined plot lines. The actors were very good and Lee Jung-Shin was very good as a musician (obviously)My main criticism was the siting of the family home in a huge house in the middle of nowhere and the ridiculous flooring plan inside. Very weird but all the cast seemed to cope with it! Still very enjoyable but don't take too seriously.
For all those reasons I've tried to score it taking into account when it was made!
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This review may contain spoilers
B+ for effort, would recommend- SPOILER
I loved this drama, this was the first drama I watched with the cinderella trope and I loved it.Of course, some scenes want to make me roll into a ball and pass away but altogether not bad compared to some dramas I watched. Now let me talk about things I didn't like.
1. The main couple was rushed - For almost half the drama I kept thinking she would end up with the SML, The first of the MLS she met at the bar, the guy that asked her to pretend to be his girlfriend, and the guy that overall had the best chemistry with her. so I was quite disappointed when I soon came to realize he was not the ML.
I feel like the fl and the ml had little to no chemistry, they weren't horrible together but tbh I hated the ml because he was such a fucking asshole to her. he spent half the story being such a bitch to her because the girl he has a crush on is butt hurt that someone else doesn't like her back ( the SML I was talking about )
Their relationship seemed like some sort of horrible last-minute plot twist idea. The whole love hexagon or sum was already confusing their relationship came out of nowhere.
2. THE HEXAGON WAS EVERYWHERE - It's not that it was some cringey love triangle, it was some reverse harem with only 2 logical ships.
The Kpop guy felt like her brother so not him
The secretary had little to no interaction with the fl
The ml was so fucking rude to her and he seemed to love the sfl more than he loved her. iI the sfl liked him back their relationship would be non-existent.
so that leave us with her and the sml( the only guy who i count as a good candidate and who she actually seemed to have chemistry with )
3. I hate the sfl - I just don't like her. From the moment I set my eyes on her I knew she would cause trouble, she wasn't a bitch or anything, and she didn't try to harm the fl tbh I feel like they would have had a cute friendship if explored more. but she was 99% of the arguments between the sml and the ml. ie
sfl tries to get ml to like her
sml doesn't care and says he likes fl
sfl gets emotional and runs to ml to cry even though she does not like him and probably should have caught on to the fact that he liked her.
ml gets mad at sml and fl for some reason
4. The characters -
The FL: I liked her, although her character is the stereotypical " girl who is strong but not too strong because she can't stand up for herself too much, that isn't girly " ill give her a 3.5/5 she was okay and could have been better without all the miscommunications and I liked how she sometimes minded her business.
The ML: Every time I see him I want to go on a rant but I won't because I don't care enough for him. I know it seems like I shitting on him here (i am ) but he and the fl were a good couple for the short time we got to see them together. would have liked it better if they had fully convinced us he fell out of love with the sfl. 3/5
The SML: As much as I liked him with the fl he was kind of an asshole to the sfl. and as much as I don't like her I feel like she deserved better than to have ended up with him. 3/5
The SFL: She needs to boast her self-esteem more she shouldn't have ended up with the sml. tbh the ml was better for her 3.2/5
The kpop idol guy: meh...he was there I guess I like how he wasn't involved in too much mess 3.5/5
The secretary: I loved this character I really like his back story with his mother, it probably was the most interesting part of this drama, I felt so bad for him :( 4.5/5
The story was okay, I was more interested in the secretary and his mother's story & the fl's dead mother than the other romance tbh.
I would recommend though, it's funny sometimes and heartwarming. I'm just nitpicking at the bad parts.
also, stepmom and sister got their karma
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This review may contain spoilers
I understand how many would rate this drama under 8 but under 5, no. I admit the story had a few gaping holes front and center and I was not a fan of second lead’s story nor of the second FL acting either. However there was substance enough to keep me going till episode 16. More than I can say for Heirs which I dropped at episode 2. I have learned to accept that chaebol tropes will always be unrealistic in terms of how the spoiled kids squander money like it will never run out. If you can see past that then you can see how the heartwarming relationship between the two main leads develop. It was honest, it was raw, it felt real. Their story is like a lost jewel imbedded under piles of loud and colourful confetti, find it and it will capture your attention and if you are no too careful, your heart. The actors did such a great job, they are so cute, love them to bits!I liked the sensitive and thoughtful top star idol cousin. Why he wanted to go back to busking, if that would even be possible considering his status, is beyond me. I adored the maid, I feel the story could have given her character a more substantial role and screen time. The second FL backstory is unnecessary and confusing (too much wasted screen time) , and I did not care at all for the step mom and sister, not one bit! The confession OST will now be included in my favourite list.
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The main character is super adorable, but the show has too much drama.
I liked the start of the show a lot, and a good amount of the middle of the show was enjoyable enough, but I hated the ending. The female main character started out as having very strong values, but her core values were just tossed aside whenever the story needed to be dramatic. Her behaviour towards the end just didn't fit her previously established character, and all of this supposedly in the span of less than 3 months?I know it's supposed to be a bit of a fairytale, but it's like a magic wand waved at the end to just make everyone be happy with whatever outcome the writers decided was a "happy ending", even if those things didn't make any sense, or the characters wouldn't have been able to make such serious personality changes in that timeframe.
The ending was way too over-the-top. It ruined the romance for me. But if you like the super dramatic cliche romance shows, this would be worth a watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
Initially I put this drama as of no interest to me, since I'm usually not fond of cinderella/chaebol plotlines. I mean, aside from a few that I did like, the genre as a whole tend to annoy me somewhat. But then as time passed, I got to see Jung Ilwoo, Park Sodam and Ahn Jaehyun's other works and thought about giving the series a proper look.And I guess it worked out in the end, as it didn't take long for me to like the characters and premise. For one, I enjoyed this drama much better than The Heirs as the plot here was much more fun to watch. For one thing, as much as Hyunmin was so much of a womanizer and assholey at first glance, he's much better than a certain Kim Tan in that it didn't feel like he's being pretentious for being a rich kid or act disbelievingly flamboyant. And later on Hyunmin's characterization expanded even more to reveal that he wasn't in fact, quite the superficial person that we initially thought of. In that sense, Hyunmin's character was better developed than Kim Tan and that other character the other actor had played prior. As in for one, Hyunmin's action for 'bullying' the person he truly liked was out of their own sense of guilt and felt undeserving of being loved.
Park Sodam here played the main female character Eun Hawon, our titular Cinderella who didn't quite believe in the fairy tale magic. Have to say that I like Ha Won's version of the cinderella trope; in that despite how her life was a mess, she didn't let that get her down. And she can fend for herself too, so as much as her step family treating her badly she never let that bring her down. That said, Jiwoon's character already had his own charm in the kind of angsty boy type. Like he wasn't a family rebel for no reason and his bad relationship with his grandfather stemmed from something that happened in the past. It's not quite the Prince Charming one could've expected but when paired with our cinderella, the two do look good together!
Seriously can't help with the comparison with The Heirs since there was a lot of common elements between these two that kept reminding me. Not to mention Boys Over Flowers, though I'm more into the original JP adaptations and not bothering with the Korean one, especially with the whole 'making the girl miserable' trope. Even then, I have seen a lot of different version of the F4-type tropes in many dramas and some dramas tend to overplay that trope to the point of annoyance. But surprisingly, this drama kept amusing me. There were even moments that I can't help feeling my heart flutter as we see more of the apparent love square between Hyunmin-Ha Won-Jiwoon-Hyeji. Though you might blame that to the very good ost popping out at good timing.
Honestly I never thought I'd end up enjoying this drama a lot. The story elements were pretty balanced in a way that Ha Won's family was like the usual cinderella setting aka the stepmother and stepsister treating her badly and stripping her of any basic neccessities to the point that she needed to be self-reliant. Twist here would be that the dad was lead to think that Ha Won wasn't his child due to a misunderstanding thus overlooking the problems in the household. The issues within the Haneul household was also pretty decently set, like the reasons why the grandsons were in bad terms with the elders was understandable and it wasn't just typical poor people weren't a match with rich people trope (thus they would do their cruealest act to separate the couple). Heck, I like the grandfather and I'm glad that he wasn't written as just a rich old man with shallow personality who only thinks of profit. Also, the way the different people start to care and grow affections in the drama were also written well and the love didn't just happen suddenly and you can really see the chemistry happening between these relationship. Have to say that this was pretty rare in dramas of these tropes as usually the tropes can be exagerated too much, but it was executed very well here without making it feel too cliche'd.
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I like the story itself, it's a nice re-version of Cinderella, although ther were a few things I couldn't really stand, and by a few things, I mean Hawon's father. The man won shittiest father of the year, even to the grandfather of the Kang cousins. I was also surprised when I noticed her stepmother actually loved him, like, why wase she so mean to the daughter of the man she genuinely loved? I was expecting makjang, but that storyline doesn't make sense in any world.
The romance was cute, I wasn't much into the main couple at first, but honestly they won me over being cute after they get together. I wasn't very fond of the second couple tbh.
I didn't care about the acting, as I was expecting it to be a bit over-the-top and silly, but I have to say I couldn't stand Son Naeun's performance, her character was a bit annoying at times (and likeable at others), but I always felt like punching her when she spoke (I like her as an idol though!!). Ahn Jaehyun's facial expressions were terrible, but he made me laugh a lot with them and I'm not sure it was on purpose, as it's my first time watching him and I've read good comments about him, so I'll let it slide lol. Park Sodam was lovely, she fit perfectly into this silly world while still feeling like an actual person. And I also enjoyed Lee Jungshin a lot, I only realized he was from CNBlue after he made the joke lol.
The OST was meh, honestly. I love BTOB, but this song kinda wasn't it for me. Jessi's song kinda got me on my nerves whenever it started playing, I'm not sure why.
Overall, I enjoyed this a lot. The pace of the story was pretty good, something that doesn't happen often on this kind of shows. As long as I didn't take it seriously, I laughed a lot. I feel like it's a good comfort show to re-watch when you need to get your mind off of things.
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Already rewatched
Really liked this drama, absolutely one of my favorites! It was a fun watch with just enough cute moments and drama that wasn’t too over the top. There was also enough episodes were the couple is actually together and acts like a real couple. I get frustrated with a lot of dramas where they have no contact relationships or just hand holding. Always enjoy seeing a couple act more realistic and like they actually like each other. Overall the story was predictable but it was really a great watch and I recommend!Was this review helpful to you?
A wonderful K-Drama for Hallyu beginners!
Just finished Cinderella and the Four Knights on Viki.Not sure why it took me so long to see this as I absolutely loved it. Perfect to recommend to a K-Drama beginner.
A fairly light-hearted, character driven romantic comedy that belongs in the "flower boy" subgenre of romantic comedies. It reminded me a lot of Boys Over Flowers and Heirs. If you loved those shows, you'll love this one also.
The magic of the show lies in the chemistry of the main and supporting characters. Park So-Dam's character is among the most lovable characters you'll ever see in a K-Drama. The show is beautifully shot and its memorable soundtrack deserves a spot in the all-time top 10 or 20 list of any K-Drama fan.
Highest recommendations!
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The story was good. It's a mediocre concept, but they carried it out quite well. There's this one scene (I'm not gonna spoil) but all of the main characters are in it and it's funny asf.
The acting was good, not great. There were some highs and lows, but like I said... I LOVE THE MAIN COUPLE.
The music SLAPS. I'm a Jessi fan so My Romeo had me jamming in my blanket. I honestly looked up the OST on Spotify because I loved it so much.
As I said before, I've rewatched this twice so the rewatch value is a solid 10. I really love this drama.
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