When the Camellia Blooms

I almost missed out on this amazing drama series. The first several episodes was really slow and dragging. I almost gave up, but thank goodness I didn’t! After the character building up and the back stories, every episode after that was so much fun to watch! I cried, laughed, was mad and had so many emotions. Everyone cast was absolutely perfect in their roles. Gong hyo Jin was the perfect Dongbaek and Kang Ha Neul is Extraordinary as Yongsik. He makes every one fall in love with him. I did not really care for him until I watched this drama. He is just perfection! They did amazing as everyone pulled off their characters perfectly. Even the sisters in the neighborhood who were always picking on her and giving her a hard time, helped protect her agains the spies. I can’t express enough how much love I have for Camellia Bloom. I will anxiously wait for season 2! Netflix better renew this ❤️

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After the first episode I thought: strangely enough, there’s nothing special about this boring drama (delete that now!), but there are the really beautiful moments that hit right.

It is the most down to earth drama. Down to earth characters.

Amazing acting. Yong-Shik was brought to life.

Heartwarming, Touching, Funny, Irresistible charm, amazing people, wonderful OST.

Great plot. It’s clear that it’s done by a talented director (who also made other fav dramas of mine).
Great cinematography. Great shots.

Leaves a strong impression.

A Refreshing kind of story.
This drama makes me crazy. It makes me laugh out of no where.

Music is fantastic.

I knew it would be good because of Gong Hyo Jin but ...
Hwang Yong Shik was the heart of the party.
Watch it to understand how precious his character is. It cannot be hated.

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Unique combination executed well

I am a huge fan of Gong Hyo Jin and after watching this, I also admire Oh Jung Se as the bumbling town clown, Son Dam Bi as the tormented street-smart gal, and Yeom Hye Ran as the hard-on-the-outside accomplished woman. They all played absolutely amazing supporting characters.

I have to give the writer and director so many kudos for this very unique combination of: rom-com, innocently chasing the girl romance, complex ex husband and family relationships, and thriller. I haven't seen it executed in this way. At the heart of it, I would call it a slice of life exploration of a single mom who feels empowered one moment and anxiously depressed the next. Some might criticize some of her choices, expecting the character to either be "always good" or "always needing to be rescued" as some dramas depict, but I feel that the variety of actions she takes make her very human and realistic. She makes mistakes like we all do.

It's a slow paced drama so you need to have a bit of patience to savor each step. I wouldn't say it's boring, but the pace kind of meanders but in a way that still fits the slightly mysterious feeling of the way the director and writer wanted it to go. You never feel completely confident that you understand where anything is going so you have to be OK with that when watching this drama.

The only thing I am a bit disappointed in is actually the main romance storyline. I think Kang Ha Neul played his role as Yong Shik well, but it was perhaps written a bit too innocently. You see glimpses that he truly understands all of the nuances of Dong Baek's life, but he doesn't get the chance to articulate it through effective script writing in the way I would have liked. I feel the other characters have more meaningful interactions with each other and Dong Baek than he does, even by the end of the drama.

Overall I have to applaud this unique execution of a realistic feeling mysterious drama. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it and would watch it again to catch all the nuances that I missed the first time.

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The Perfect Kdrama - Hearfelt, Funny, Poignant

This drama is so good, it has me wanting to dissect the writer's brain for being able to come up with such a masterpiece. The way it blends humour, suspense, romance, and little nuggets of wisdom about life is just... *chef's kiss*. The only other dramas that have made me feel this way are Reply 1988, Oh Hae Young Again, and When Life Gives You Tangerines. It's one of those dramas that will have you rewatching it again just to take it all in and catch the little details you never noticed before while also wishing you could erase your memory so you can experience it for the first time again. The characters are all so layered, complex, and lovable, even the ones that seem shallow and easy to hate at first. The romance is so pure and adorable, and Yong Sik is definitely one of if not the best love interests in kdrama-land. The OST is also very catchy and well-made, and the acting is just incredible (especially the performance of the actress Lee Jung Eun)! My only complaint with this drama is that it dragged a little towards the end and had certain plot points that I thought weakened it as a whole. However, overall, this drama was amazing, warm, funny and is definitely one of my all time favourites! :p

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I hated the male lead’s character

I held out until the first kiss but I had to drop this drama as I couldn’t stand the male lead’s character. Is he really 30 years old because he acts so childish and says the dumbest things? I was not impressed by the ML’s country bumpkin pseudophilosophy about life (and did not find anything he said swoon worthy). I don’t know how the female lead could fall for this guy (maybe he just wore her down with his relentless pursuit of her). The ML is a nice person but he spends more time chasing of his love than he does at work. When the ML is working, he only obsesses over catching the Joker (who is, of course, directly linked to the FL). I almost wished the FL had reconciled with her ex-boyfriend to give her son a better life. TBH, I am coming off some short 10 minute episode Chinese dramas so I was never able to watch an entire episode, of this drama, in one sitting.

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Don't get be wrong; this is honestly a good show. It's a good filler and good binge show; but I think it truly extremely fell short with the whole murder story line; like what? Lmao. It was good and I liked the story and the actors and actresses played such good characters but WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE MURDER??? THERE WASN'T!!!! HER LIFE WAS ALREADY SO HARD!!!! But you should still watch it; because it was a good show overall. Like the characters were sweet and the bond; the family story and the emotion you'll feel because there really is a lot of ups and downs but there is a lot going on with separate stories between everyone; from an ex to a new guy; to a divorcing couple and cheating husband; all sorts of whirlwind of things.

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Just my insight

This drama completely stole my heart. When the Camellia Blooms isn’t just a love story—it’s about strength, community, and how even the quietest people can be incredibly brave. Gong Hyo-jin as Dong-baek was so touching. You can’t help but root for her the whole time. And Kang Ha-neul? He was adorable and genuine—probably one of the most lovable male leads I’ve seen in a while!

What I loved most is how real it felt. The drama showed the struggles of being a single mom in a small town, but also balanced it so well with romance and mystery. The mix of warmth and suspense kept me hooked from beginning to end. Even the side characters were memorable and felt like real people.

It made me laugh, cry, and smile so many times. Truly a beautiful story that stays with you even after it ends. Highly recommend if you’re looking for something emotional, heartwarming, and meaningful.

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Pet peeve tropes

I was lured by this because apparently Koreans really valued this series for destigmatizing single motherhood.

But when we learn the single mother is in this predicament by her own choice and for no reasonable motives AT ALL the show loses all relatability and verisimilitude. She basically decided not disclosing her pregnancy to her then boyfriend for unexplainable reasons, which is infuriating in itself because both the kid and the father have the right to know their biological family in this case.
And then we discover that her baby daddy is a rich athlete on top of that. So she made her son and herself go through hardships just CAUSE. She deprived her son of a more abundant life, perhaps with better education and whatever money can buy for nothing.

And then we have some more tired tropes like the FL being a doormat to the horrible people that live in that small town.

And this is all I could endure. The dealbreaker was really the baby daddy reveal.

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Aqui é um belo exemplo de “não julgue um livro pela capa”, a sinopse não chama muito atenção e os cartazes fazem crer que seria algo leve e romântico, então sinceramente comecei apenas pela Hyo Jin, mas que ledo engano.

Por trás da estória de uma mãe órfã solteira que tem que passar pelo preconceito dos vizinhos do interior por ser dona de um bar, há um mistério, um assassino em série que age em tempos e tempos que deixa uma frase característica. E não posso esquecer os muitos personagens que pareciam tão humanos, estranhamente a sensação é de que pode encontrar um deles em qualquer esquina.

Algumas características me foram interessantes, a Dongbaek é forte, mas ao mesmo tempo tímida. diferente de outros doramas onde ela é do tipo briguenta, não estou dizendo que gosto, mas de certo isso a humaniza muito e também é legal as modificações pessoais que ela vai adquirindo. O Hwang Yong Shik não é machista, na verdade é até bobo, o que pode não ser bom para algumas pessoas, mas eu particularmente gosto, também achei incrível sua determinação e sua evolução como policial. Entre os dois não havia um que era mais forte, os dois se apoiam mutuamente como os dois bobos, chorões que são, sabe aquele tipo que quando um chora o outro chora junto.

Quando vi o nome título pensei logo em Dama das camélias, talvez tenha inspirado. O principal por vezes narra os acontecimentos de forma parecida do livro, mas posso citar outros que também se encaixam, alguns sobre cotidiano.

O interessante é que são dois tempos diferentes, então o início que seria o presente na verdade é o passado, no final de alguns capítulos que vemos o presente, a diferenciação é feita pela coloração das cenas, o passado mais claro e o futuro escuro e sombrio. Então o futuro se torna passado, parece confuso, mas foi tão bem feito que não é. Amo as várias mexidas no tempo aqui.

Curiosamente, até o momento é meu maior dorama visto com quarenta episódios apesar que também pode ser encontrado com vinte, realmente me apeguei tanto que coloquei em espera por muito tempo, por medo de acabar logo. Acho que nunca vou esquecer suas mensagens e como mostrou o lado bonito e feio das pessoas. O final foi caloroso, não imagino e não sei o que poderia ser diferente.

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YONG SHIK: EL MEJOR PROTAGONISTA JAMÁS CREADO SIN DEJAR SU LADO HUMANO

Todo el drama en conjunto y todos esos elementos que lo hacen tan especial es lo que logró encantarme por completo. A pesar de ser un romance cotidiano en un pueblo ordinario, el drama es único y rompe con muchos clichés que vemos continuamente en los dramas coreanos.

Primero que nada, los personajes: Dong Baek es una mujer que ha pasado por muchas tragedias, es reservada y tiene miedo de salir al mundo y enfrentarse a las nuevas oportunidades que la esperan, ya que para ella su prioridad es su pequeño hijo por quien ha luchado tanto por sacar adelante, pero detrás de todo eso Dong Baek es una hermosa mujer, admirable y valiente que merece recibir un poco de amor de alguien que la ame y respete sinceramente. Es ahí cuando llega uno de los hombres mas maravillosos que he conocido (y que tristemente es ficticio), nuestro protagonista Hwang Yong Shik, él es el ejemplo perfecto de ''un personaje escrito pensado en todo lo que una mujer quisiera en su pareja'', es un hombre tan lleno de vida y luz que llega a la vida de Dong Baek con la única intención de hacerla feliz y ser alguien con quien pueda contar, un hombre donde llorar y ser ese pequeño momento de felicidad de cada día.

Además de ellos dos, los personajes secundarios me tenían tan entretenidos como los protagonistas: Desde Hyang Mi y todo su aura misterioso, Pil Goo quien realmente se encontraba en un conflicto con todos los cambios en la vida de su mamá pero que no dejaba de ser un niño pequeño, la pareja de la abogada y su esposo quienes no creí que fuera a disfrutar tanto, la unión de las señoras vecinas e increíblemente incluso me entretuvo toda la historia de la vida y el pasado de Kang Jong Ryeol.

Sumado a este romance aparentemente común se ha presentado en el pueblo de Ongsan una serie de asesinatos extraños y por supuesto Dong Baek está muy involucrada con ello. Me sorprendió mucho el balance entre el romance y el suspenso, no es la primera vez que veo estos dos géneros opuestos combinados pero sin duda este ha sido mi favorito y he quedado satisfecha cómo lo manejaron todo hasta el final.

Es un drama lleno de pequeñas lecciones de vida, de cómo algunas personas simplemente llegan a nuestra vida como una recompensa, de aprender a aceptar y aprovechar las consecuencias de nuestros esfuerzos, luchas y sobre todo nunca rendirnos sin importar los prejuicios o las opiniones de otras personas.

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