i personally haven't watched park minyoung's previous dramas, but based on what i've heard, she has great chemistry with every male lead. definitely, ''her private life'' is an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING demonstration of that. after watching this drama you will probably stop wishing for her to marry park seojoon. hello???? KIM JAE WOOK!!!! i'm completely in love with him, and as someone who wants him to be happy, i have to say that miss park is just perfect for him.
now speaking seriously, both actings were just incredible, i'm truly happy kim jaewook will get more recognition after this drama. and you know, park minyoung is already... well PARK MINYOUNG! <3
the support cast was great for me, specially seon joo (i loved the way they showed her relationship with her husband and their kid was SOOOOO cute). i would describe eun gi as support as well, even tough he is casted as second lead.
one thing i can't complain about this drama is the marvelous soundtrack: smile again, help me, floating, maybe... i just love it
BUT. the end (it wasn't bad, but it could've been MUCH better). and all that unnecessary dramatic plot. jesus what was that? i mean, it's like the writers were kind of ashemed of a writing a chessy cute love story and then they thought ''hmmm, i need to add some drama here so it won't look so silly''. well i'm not aggainst that, i personally love to cry over a love story, but no one will cry over that LOL. i wouldn't complain if there were no drama at all (and that would've been better), because after all it's a ROMANTIC COMEDY. if i want some dramatic plot i can watch a drama like mother or my ahjussi. goblin will do too.
after a while the show also stop focusing on her being a fangirl, and well, wasn't that the whole deal?
anyway, as i said, the superb chemistry between park minyoung and kim jaewook saved the whole thing. i would rewatch this drama only for that. but, i would rather look for a good chemistry in a drama i haven't already watched.
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amazing!
if i can be honest, this is one of the most heartwarming and heads down rom-com drama that i have watched.throughout the whole series, i have absolutely loved the chemistry between the main leads. the patience, no misunderstandings, being there for each other and THE COMMUNICATION!! i was so invested in their relationship, the telling of the lovestory between deok mi and ryan gold was absolutely amazing. i loved it from the start to the end and the fact that ryan did not have a problem with deok mi being a fangirl of cha warmed my heart. if i’m honest, i want somebody like that in my life who no matter what accepts me for what i like and doesn’t mind me sharing my excitement with others.
while this is a warm and fuzzy drama, i wish that at the same time, that cha sha in was able to find out who “sha in is my life” was. though, i feel that it was best to keep deok mi’s secret behind closed doors without cha sha in having to find out that his brother’s girlfriend was running a fansite because she was a fan of him, which
would make him laugh for sure.
i have also wished that there was more backstory behind most of the characters, side characters, and people who had continued to carry this story in and out throughout the end. i felt that the disclosure of pain and sad thoughts had taken up most of the few of the last episodes. i wish that they would have balanced a bit of these in between each episode as it had killed off the mood of both comedy and also funny moments.
though i’m am happy that ryan was able to find his disclosure in the misunderstandings of him being “abandoned” and instead, find that he was the boy who was loved by many and including his mother. i’m also happy that deok mi was able to also lift the burdening that her mother had carried for a long time when her family had been in the dark with the death of her younger brother deok soo. she was only young when she was in an accident, it must’ve been really hard as an adult version of her now to take in the pain.
overall, i’d say that i am fond of this drama and i really do recommend! if you are looking for a heartwarming, no misunderstood, no breakup, just a fuzzy and warm couple that are both mature and aware of the patience with one another then i definitely recommend “her private life.” this drama travels around the world of art, family, connections with friendship and the power of love and finding the answers that both leads have been wondering for so long. <3
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Sung Duk Mi is workaholic, sweet, straightforward. She has another side, she is a super fangirl of a pop star, but that doesn't mean she is immature or an obsessive kind of fan. She is a mature woman who supports & loves her idol.
Ryan Gold is a painter who is unable to paint because of his past. He is hot-tempered, arrogant, but if he is wrong he isn’t ashamed to apologize.
I want friends like Seong Ju.
Sung Duk Mi mother is obsessed with knitting & father collecting rocks.
Love Sung Duk Mi & Nam Eun Gir relationship. Their Tom & Jerry fight.
It’s sweet how Ryan Gold helped Sung Duk Mi with her fangirling while she had no knowledge of it.
Everyone's reaction when Sung Duk Mi said that Ryan Gold was a selfish jerk.
I was disappointed when Choi Da In didn't get to know till the end that Sung Duk Mi is his biggest fan.
Celebrities are also human beings, they also have a right to be in a relationship. In Hollywood, it’s okay to date, but I think in K & C industry, fans treat them as gods, which is too much. They also have a right to be in a relationship & be with someone who can make them happy & make them comfortable.
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I also thought in the beginning that this drama going the route of “Touch your Heart” (nice cast, but a bit too silly and simple plot for their skill set). Luckily, as show progressed, it re-gained its seriousness and deepness (for this kind of rom com).
Characters are believable, and fangirling later doesn’t overkill it, just adds sweet and funny notes to the show. I really appreciate that Ryan, while being an artist, is very down to earth - I expected the script writers to make him more irrational for the sake of drama, yet he is always calm, transparent, no unnecessary escalation kind of guy. And Deok Mi’s elegance and beautiful smile - it’s impossible not to smile while watching her.
I also appreciate occasional conversations on art and life (“Things I believed were inevitable however turned out to be coincidence. I thought it was a coincidence, but it turned out to be an inevitability.”)
And well, as everyone already pointed out - the leads are perhaps the hottest couple in Korean drama so far, with amazing chemistry, and oh my these kisses (let’s hope the trend continues for another 6 episodes :) )
UPDATE episode 10 is the most romantic and sweet episode I’ve ever watched in romcoms so far. Can be easily put on a continuous repeat on a gloomy day :)
“Maybe” and “Story of Us” are such beautiful songs, very romantic and touching. Simply vow.
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Power of Love and Healing!
The series works because it doesn’t try to be anything else than what it is. Too often, especially in romantic dramas, the writers always attempt to introduce some new conflict to keep the story going rather than simply let the characters guide them.The series is about love and healing. This is a touching and sweet series that endeavors to demonstrate that sometimes what we remember isn’t always what really happened, especially memories from childhood.
The series starts out with Seong Deok Mi, who is a curator at an art museum by day and a fangirl by night. Perhaps we get a glimpse of what it means to be a true fangirl. She and her best friend, Lee Seon Ju are obsessed with K-Pop singer, Cha Si An. They are both the masterminds behind Cha Si An’s biggest fan website, “Road to Si An.” Seong Deok Mi does her best to be wherever Cha Si An is in order to take pictures and then post them on the website. Her apartment is literally littered with pictures, drawings, and even pillows with Cha Si An’s face.
Enter Ryan Gold, a famous art director from New York who is brought in to take over as director of the art museum when the owner is caught in a scandal. He’s a bit stuffy and uptight, but he’s a good person. He also has a special interest in a series of bubble paintings by the famous painter Lee Sol. Ryan was abandoned at an orphanage at seven years of age, but he’s inexplicably drawn to these paintings, which seem to unlock pieces of memories with his mother.
In order to protect Seong Deok Mi from a personal scandal, Ryan Gold agrees to pretend to be her boyfriend. We’ve seen this set up numerous times, but it still works, as it’s obvious to everyone that despite the staged relationship, they’re drawn to each other despite not really liking each other initially.
The first half of the series is about how Ryan and Seong Mi become closer and finally enter into a loving relationship. However, the more compelling story is in the second half of the series when Ryan begins to discover who his mother is and how the paintings by Lee Sol help him to connect the dots from his broken memories. I’m not sure there is anything more painful than a parent who loses a child. In a compelling discussion, it’s pointed out that there are terms for spouses who lose one another, or for children who lose their parents, but there is no term for a parent who loses a child, perhaps because it’s simply too painful.
As the viewer, we wonder how a mother could possibly abandon her own child, and yet, we soon discover that things are seldom what they seem to be, as Ryan was left waiting at a playground while his mother went to a meeting nearby. She never made it as she was involved in a serious accident. Of course, Ryan doesn’t realize this until he finally meets his mother, who turns out to be Lee Sol, and that the bubble paintings were actually of him. This was an incredibly sweet reveal, which serves to remind us that a mother’s love never dies, even when it seems to be the case.
We also learn that Seong Deok Mi and her family her unwitting participants in how Ryan was left at the orphanage. The series is about love but also about healing and forgiveness. Ryan could have easily been resentful and bitter about what happened, but instead, he realizes that, despite the contrary, his mother never forgot him. The reunion between them is a powerful element of the series. People often forget that the only way to truly move forward is to let go of the past, and to realize that parents are people and that they often make mistakes too.
Once Ryan and Seong Deok Mi are together, and we also realize that Cha Si An is actually Ryan’s half-brother, it just seems a little creepy that Seong Deok Mi’s apartment is still filled with Cha Si An’s pictures to the degree that you wonder if Seong Deok Mi’s fangirling is pushing the boundaries, especially given Ryan and Cha Si An’s relationship to each other.
There were only a few things that I didn’t care for. First, Seong Deok Mi’s best friend, Lee Seon Ju just isn’t a very good friend, especially when it comes to giving relationship advice. Given her own marital problems, she’s the last person who should be giving feedback and suggestions. She was the only character who just didn’t work for me. A wife who cares more about being a fangirl than a wife is someone with a problem.
Second, when Ryan tells Seong Deok Mi that he has something to tell her (when he’s about to confess his feelings), she tells him that they should end their “fake relationship” and then stalks off without even giving him a chance to say anything, and also when Seong Deok Mi hides behind her brother when Ryan comes over to see her because she’s in her fangirl outfit, she behaves like a kid instead of a 33-year-old woman. Those scenes just made her appear cowardly and immature.
Park Min Young and Kim Jae Wook turn in stellar performances, and it’s largely their chemistry that makes the story work so well. Park Min Young has an absolutely captivating smile, and Kim Jae Wook has real charm. My favorites were Kim Mi Kyung, whom I’ve seen in a number of series, and this veteran actress just never disappoints! She’s so good in everything she does. And even though she had a smaller role, I also really liked Kim Sun Young as the quirky and self-absorbed museum owner. She’s another actress who is fantastic in everything she’s in.
This is a warm and sweet series that doesn’t go overboard. It says a lot when the last eight episodes are more intriguing than the first eight. A series should get stronger as it progresses, and this one does just that. This was definitely one of the better romantic dramas that leaves you with a warm feeling in your heart.
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Wow i alredy mis them ❤️❤️ I really love this story.. not even bit boring i watched it within 2 days.. actually hardly my smile or sad face go away while i watched this.. this show completely grab me i reallu love it i couldnt give whole stars becoze there r some resons...first reason is there r some jokes too much silly like deok mi s imaginations itz ok that she enterd to imagine world to say hi to her followers but when she chat with rayan, rayan's face paint like lion it is too silly so i can not stand it.. and of coze other one is cindys mom too much silly chracter.. i really dont like her part..
2nd reson is** i really hoped trueth will discovered** 1st truth that shin ah will find deok me is the 'shin ah my life' ? but it never happen so i dessapointed.. and i thought they will say about shin ah and rayan are real brothers it also did not happend ?????
So becoz of this things i have to cut half star ?
As for cast they really did good job and they never let us feel boring.. even small characters did freat job.. actually i like rayan when he smile but not his huge smile with shown teeth ? i love his littel smile...
deok me is great actress but i dont kbow why i dont like her..
And shin ah oh my god i can't believe i did not catch his cuteness in 'korean odyssey' he is really cute ??
Overall great drama
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A romance with level-headed lead characters! WOW
Anyone who has watched enough romance dramas knows that the main couple usually has a disagreement at some point during the series that could be easily resolved with a little bit of communication. For me, this can ruin an otherwise perfectly good show. We all know they're doing it to give themselves another episode or two of conflict before they let the leads settle down and be happy, and I usually find it more annoying than anything else.The best thing about Her Private Life is that the leads act like real adults the whole time. It is so refreshing to see in a show that is otherwise your run-of-the-mill romance drama. Yes, there are quite a few of the usual tropes in this one (contract "marriage"? secret identity? Heck yeah!), but without the annoying misunderstanding ploy to throw a wrench in things, I could find it fun and not contrived and irritating. The leads talk through their problems, guys. It's amazing.
Also, you can't miss the chemistry of the leads here. Like, wooooow. There are no overtly sexy scenes, but again, adults behaving like adults. I am buying whatever Kim Jae Wook is selling, let me tell you.
There are some lows, and they, predictably enough, come at the end once our leads are together (and not arguing, because, you know, they're adults). They clearly felt like they needed to spice up the script with some more tired drama tropes to drag us to the end. You should be able to see what's coming if you've been paying attention, but you might not like it. The bright side of this attempt at creating drama is that both of our leads are still both perfectly level headed while the script is flinging stupid shit at them, so even while I hated it, I kinda loved it. In a different show, that would have been at least four episodes of plot.
Honestly, I might recommend skipping episode 15 and just watching 16 to get the wrap up episode, if you feel like you need it. You could even stop at 14, but then you'd miss the steamy makeout session at the very end, and isn't that part of the reason you're watching this show?
Basically, if you are an adult and you're looking for a fun romance drama that won't irritate you because the entire plot wouldn't exist if the main leads just got their shit together, pick this one. It is everything you want and not too much of what you don't.
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Kdrama version of a sweet snack
If dramas were meals, the really good ones like Hospital Playlist, Prison Playbook, and Move to Heaven are balanced meals. They provide you all the nutrients a body needs while also making you feel full.Her Private Life is a slice of boring chocolate cake. Low in nutrients, sweet, and delicious. It doesn't make you think. The relationships are basic. Plot is nothing special.
But it is fun. There are tons of things to nitpick about this drama. Critics eviscerate it rather easily. But if you want to turn your brain off and just be enamored by romance, this is a good drama to watch.
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It's a romcom people. Sure the title seems to be deluding because then you would expect the whole plot to be just about deok mi's fangirling life. But it's not. It's about deok mi the fan girl and deok mi- an adult woman with the very same sets of hopes and dreams and fears as most ppl. This is a lighthearted drama with a nice arc, like a full bodied wine, with just a hint of dry finish at the end ( and yes I'm also referencing the actor Kim jae wook here...swoon). I think the writers made use of the cliched plots and tropes excellently here, without falling into the same outcomes and thus I found that very refreshing and it drew me in more into the development of the relationship n characters of the two main leads.
A romcom that follows familiar K-drama lines in that we are met with a somewhat alpha male, but hello...hes not the storybook one dimensional hero, but a real multifaceted human who is lucky enough to know having feelings doesn't make you less of a man, and neither does apologising when you know you're wrong(he's just amazing ok) and also a female protagonist who is just as strong if not stronger as the male lead and at the same time does not lose her femininity, harbors a 'weird'hobby( I mean what modern age woman doesn't right?!!)but yet is still responsible and mature....
I like the fact that in this storyline, the woman supports the man. Like power to deokmi!
And last but definitely not the least.....
The tension between the characters...the lead up to the romance, the banter...
The fake kiss, dreamt kiss, and the Kiss...and kisses thereafter....holy mother of cows Are just the tastiest icing on the creamiest of cakes.
I would watch this again if only to see the most realistic kiss on K-drama to date in history of kdramas. The feels....I can't stop stressing it how good it is. I cheered with them when it happened because it looked so real and good and so deserving of being kissed by each other....you know what I mean. Kim jae wook excelled in this role because he was Ah-mazing(although I've always known he could be amazing as an actor from antique days). Park Min Young top notch as always but it is her forte so it's nothing new for her.
If you expect to watch a drama with heavy plots to unravel then please be ready to be disappointed because this is all about two strong individuals finding meaning in being together.
Short summary: the reason we all look for someone to be with.
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This show is a solid 5.5 on a good day or else it should definitely be less. I’m not with people that say she was too old to be a fan girl. It’s not the fangirling that makes this show a fail. I found myself fast forwarding through most of the episodes because the content was just dull.Two attractive leads does not make a rom-com. CONTENT matters. I was able to quickly guess who was who and what the relationship was from the get go so the mystery was out. The love triangles were unimaginative. I couldn’t find anything exciting to look forward to from episode to episode.
Music was unmemorable. You know how you hear a song and it reminds you about a certain sweet or sad or tragic or some sort of moment? You are instantly transported to that scene and you can picture it and remember the dialogue very well? Well none of that here. I can’t tell you whether it’s because the music wasn’t that impressive or the drama was just not memorable, that you’ll have to decide on your own.
Now I’ll say the show has it’s funny, cute, a handful of decent lines moments. There was no toxic relationship so that was a plus. The acting is good as well, but none of this was able to save this show.
After What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, I expected more from Park Min Young. This bland, sporadically cute/funny project was not what I expect her to land on.
It would have been tolerable if it had ended on episode 14 but the additional unnecessary plot to stretch it to episode 16 left me even more dejected. Is there some unwritten rule that says there has to be some childhood connection for couple to be faithed that this has to be a throp in every other drama? (you’ll understand what I’m saying when you reach episode 14/15)
Personally, l’d say an overall 4.5 rating but I tend to be generous so i’m upping it to 5.
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Probably my favorite drama of all time
If I watch more than 10 episodes of a drama, that means it's a good drama. If I watch all the drama, that means it's a really great drama. If I'm willing to watch a drama a second time, it's one of my favorite dramas. But when I watch a drama for the second time, I can never finish it. Let alone watch it a third time like I did for Her Private Life. It's just that legendary for me. I think it's the combination of good plot, good chemistry, good acting, good comedy, good OSTs, + that I'm also a hardcore kpop stan (so this drama is quite relateable to me) that made me like this drama so much. I'll never get tired of this.Was this review helpful to you?
