Playful Kiss

This drama doesn't age well

There are great dramas that are ten years old, and then there are some that have not aged well. The themes and messages here - especially for women - are spent and should be retired immediately. I am SO OVER the tired, cliched, and frankly unhelpful trope of the cold, mean, and bordering on abusive ML, as well as a FL who basically spends the whole drama getting berated, shamed, and publicly humiliated by the ML. Not to mention being called "stupid", "not pretty", "dumb", and "only cute sometimes" by multiple family members throughout the drama - including the ML. Also, and this might be the worst for me, (slight spoiler), we get to witness a few other women make moves on the ML in front of the FL, and the ML did nothing, or next to nothing, to try to stop them, and on multiple occasions played along. (Slight spoiler: this could have been excused at the beginning of the drama, but most certainly not toward the end, where it became seriously inappropriate.)

Much of the problem was also that not only did we hate the ML for being so nasty so often towards the FL, but the writernims did her not one single favor and made her about as ditsy, clumsy, clueless, and ridiculous as any character I've ever seen. There were no explanations given for why the FL was so "stupid" - but I imagine she had an undiagnosed learning disability, and it affected the way she learned and acted.
Everything she could possibly screw up, she did, everything she could drop, she dropped, everything she could be blamed for (even if it wasn't remotely her fault,) she got blamed for it, any situation could be turned into an opportunity to publicly humiliate her because of her actions, etc. She spoke like a baby for much of the drama, and at one point the sound of her voice actually started making me angry. It was like the viewers were being asked by the writers to join in the hate-fest for the FL because they just made it too easy. (That's not the actor's fault, necessarily, it's how she was directed and how the character was written.) These were not likable characters, in my opinion. And believe me, I tried.

There was also precious little overt kindness shown to the FL by the ML, and we didn't get much affection until the very end. (Again, slight spoiler: a very big life transition, which is supposed to be joyous, instead was permeated with coldness, and meanness, and even dread - it frankly ruined the whole thing for me.)

The cautionary tale here is that for 99.75% of the drama the FL had no life of her own, no ambition outside of orbiting around the ML like a planet, (that was even explicitly referenced), no capacity to exist outside of, or away from the ML, and no way to change his often-hateful behavior towards her. She was so insecure that she resorted to openly stalking the ML and exhibiting behavior that the viewers were expected to accept as cute and funny and romantic from her, but not from the SML or the SFL. It was a ludicrous way that women were treated in dramas, even just ten years ago, and I am so glad that we see less and less of this trope at present. It's just too damaging. To quite Kimmy Schmidt: "Females are strong as hell" and our media is starting to reflect that more, thankfully.

One positive thing I can say about the drama, is that it portrayed perseverance well...well, mostly well. I did not love that the FL was rewarded for her behavior during the years she had a one-sided obsession but I really did love her explanation of her nickname: Noah's Snail. Many of us have felt that way, and I did love that. But that was honestly the only thing.

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Defined my childhood and changed the course of my life

And by that i mean i ended up chronically addicted to kdramas and random korean stuff beca use of which i spent years hunched over a screen and i got severe dry eye syndrome which i kept doing warm eye compress 'massages' for and rubbing my eyes which later (might have) given me keratoconus and then i had to get surgery done and my eyesight still sucks and my eyes still burn and i cant become a pilot anymore.

But NONETHELESS.
This drama was my entire childhood.
I still remember how i found it. I was a weird child and i was searching up...uhm 'hot kiss scenes' on youtube because that was the closest thing to cornography i knew about,and i accidentally watched this. And I kept watching. And here i AM a decade later.

Controversially id give the acting and cast a 10 tho ill swipe off 1.5 to counter my inherent bias. This is because HANI MY Gworl carried the show. I wouldnt take her any other way. I know people hate her, think shespathetic(they have a point). But theres something so endearing about her. She's cute. The cutest

ugh.

People think she's a stalker?-WHERE??(except for the whole following hera around thing which was...creepy) but other than that she wasn't. that. Stalkeroo.

I watched an episode and flipped through parts of itazura na kiss 2013 which seems more liked, and it irked me how... sober the girl is there. For me what carries the show is the cringe. The consistent and CONSTANT second hand embarrassment you feel for hani. But you still feel for her. her tenacity/patheticness.

itazura 2013 just felt like playful kiss minus all the personality.
As far as I'm concerned playful kiss IS the original. The standard.

Yeah the plot is substandard at best BUT guess what i dont care. They pull it off and i smiled every minute

I thought now that im 'grown', id dislike the show more since everyone else does, but surprisingly i like it even more.
The guy is an insufferable asshole though.

I do hate the last three episodes though. The sudden marriage thing was incredibly stupid and made my rating plummet into the negativesBUT i watched the youtube special season for after their marriage, which more than compensates for that. I thought theyd suck for each other but they set off each other really well and thankfully the boy is less dicque-y. Lemme just act like the last three episodes never happened.

Now that i have 'grown', i do think the mother in law is awful.

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dated classic "Old school" drama with Kim Hyun-joong; good to look at but playing a jerk

This was one of the First 4 k-dramas I watched. I got to ep 10 or 11 & had became so disappointed in the story that I put it on hold. 3 years & alot more dramas later, I finished it and found that whatever attachment I previously had for the characters was severed. This is an "Old School" drama, with tentative melodramatic piano music for for much of the background. It's not bad, just dated. the style of filming & the situations is very dated as well. I think what really drew me in & got me attached was the acting & story potential. Well, honestly, it was Kim Hyun-joong ! I first saw him in Boys over Flowers & wished that he had been the lead instead I was thinking that Playful kiss would fulfill that. Sadly, I did not find his character here to be one that you can just forgive for being a jerk. When he smiles you forget everything else, but he does not smile much & there is NO reason for his jerky attitude or cold behavior. He's definitely not tsundre , just inexplicably cold. I wanted to like this so much, but then I had the same problem with Boys over Flowers : the lead is a jerk that I just can't accept & it ruins the story

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-This was my first ever drama, and it is the PERFECT place to start.
-While playful kiss cannot necessarily be confined to the category of "family drama", the family aspects in it were amazing, maybe even my favorite part.
-The friendships were double plus amazing, this is the part that will seriously have you walking away with your heart so full. So, coming from someone with Synesthesia, the friendships in this drama and the word warm just fit together like two perfect puzzle pieces in my mind.
-The humor probably was my favorite part, Playful Kiss is full of the awkward, cringe-inducing humor that has you screaming inside "ERMAGERSH, THAT IS SO ME!" (Wait, nobody else did that? That was just me? Oh. Well it made me cry of laughter anyway.)
-WARNING: The story will make you hurt though. Personally, it made my heart turn over so many times, not because it's tragic or anything like that, but because of the decisions of the main characters. You just wanna go in there and grab 'em by the shoulders and wholup them around a bit sometimes.
-Great plot though, always full of ridiculous antics, always had you playing the next episode before the preview of it at the end of the last episode began. Thinking back, I might have finished it in a day
-9.5 outta 10 Recommend

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Oof!

Typical dumb FL in love with the uber smart, rich, jerk ML who won't pay her any attention unless some other boy likes or wants her.

Hani is the dumbest FL character I have watched this year and her sheer ignorance and immaturity made me hate her the whole time. There's not even any real development of her character until the last episode where she finally wants something for herself. This is the 1st show I watched with Jung So Min and she's really good as Hani and at first I didn't mind how dumb the character was b/c the actress was so good but by the 8th episode it was just the same episode over and over.

The positives of the series are the parents. Hani's father was a good father and Seungjo's parents who typically would be portrayed as the evil rich people were relatively good and generous. Even though eventaully, Seungjo's mother became just as unbearable as Hani.

Overall the series is less than average. The cast including the supporting cast is really good though.

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It's one of those series that make your heart beat like crazy. I don't really know why. It wasn't done very well, the male lead was cold (he was supposed to be like that I know), the kisses were stiff, the female lead was stupid and annoying. I never read the manga, didn't watch the anime and I don't feel like watching any other adaption of this story. The special episodes released were pretty stupid too. So why did I like it? Who knows ... It's about falling in love and being hurt by the one you love ... and never giving up on love ... sigh ... somehow it was touching and I started rooting for the girl ...

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I find it the same but different with the others

The first time I watched this show was June 27, 2023. I have to rewatch the entire show. I have to say this show is enjoyable to watch and it's funny. There are many shows that are related to the anime Itakiss. My favorites are the Japanese version, Mischievous Kiss & Mischievous Kiss 2, and the Korean version, Playful Kiss!
The reason is there are a few episodes I really like such as the part about Hwang Geum-hee where she couldn't keep a secret about Seung-Jo was little and was a toddler when he was a girl during the wedding video ceremony, she spread the news about Seung-Jo & Ha Ni is sleeping together, and Ha Ni is pregnant. I also like the entire shot episode! It was sweet of Seung-Jo was help Ha Ni get used to her giving shot. Seung-Jo's character personality towards Ha Ni is cold, self-centered, and unpleasant. He does show a sweet and caring side to Ha Ni after he confesses his love and feelings to her. I was surprised that Ha Ni has a lot of friends in her nursing class. I like how this show doesn't have an episode of others making fun of Ha Ni and has an episode where Seung-Jo is the jealous type about a guy in Ha Ni's friend's group. I also like how Seung-Jo says to Ha Ni that she is the one for him and he was planning a surprise birthday for Ha Ni! I enjoy the show & episodes!

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First of all, I've only watched this drama because I like watching dramas with bad reviews and see for myself if it's as bad as people say. And sure enough, it was as bad if not worse as it seemed.

First 10 or so episodes are bearable but after that, when they go to college the fl's behavior becomes too embarrassing to watch.

I know I'm not the target age demographic this drama is probably intended for but this is a really bad example for any young girl who might want to watch this, and start thinking the behaviors shown are okay.

The ml is a grade A+ asshole, the worst of all towards the fl and she continued to worship the ground he walked until the end. Despite that, although I didn't like him, he was the only sane person in this drama. He was rude, sure, but he had every right to be harsh, considering the stalking tendencies both the fl and his mother of all people (who seemed to favor someone else's daughter than her own son) had.

The fl has a concerning borderline stalker personality but I think the ml's mother takes the cake for her creepiness. I think they intended the mother to seem cute but I just thought she was nuts.

The romance between the main couple is really problematic, It takes 14 episodes to make the ml show his feelings and he only reciprocated her feelings when he thought he was losing her to another man. Even after that, he continued being a rude motherfucker to the fl, and I can't for the life of me understand how could she love someone who treated her like that.

I preferred the second male lead and had second lead syndrome at times but then again he had issues of his own too so I couldn't totally feel sorry for him.

Overall this is a really draggy show with problematic characters and situations, take my advice and don't watch.

I give this drama 2 points out of 10, one for the acting of all of the actors (the main male actor not so much) and another for the happy ending.

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