Her Private Life

Wonderful show which flopped its' ending

If you have seen your fair share of rom-coms, this is going to feel very typical especially in the first episode, while they're establishing the characters well. With all that said, there is magic in the script: I feel like the writers want to say about fandom culture or they at least want to touch on it because they represent the fandom culture not only positively, that it's a community, it's a way to bond with people in a way to support the artists you love, but also some of the negative sides which is obsessive tendencies and how those can lead to crossing the line and becoming a stalker. I really love how the writers are balancing the whole fandom culture exploring many different facets of it.

The show's big problem that really turned me off was near the end when the show started to focus primarily on the male lead's past and how that connects in such a dramatic way with the female lead. I thought the writers of the show really lost sight of what the show was about and I was hoping the show should have focused more on the fandom side of things because, in the end, the fact that she is a super fan doesn't contribute a lot to the main story, and I was quite disappointed because the portrayal of fandom culture and a commentary on fandom culture part is the thing that I was very excited to watch.

Overall, I really enjoyed Her Private Life, I think it has many wonderful qualities loved the characters, and I love the interactions between the characters. The romance is incredibly mature and I love how they support each other, it is wonderful. All the leads and the side characters, everybody is perfectly cast and doing a wonderful job. The leads have such strong chemistry together. This is a show you could very happily binge or at least I was very happy to binge.

I would recommend Her Private Life to you if you like shows like What's Wrong with Secretary Kim. They both have the same female lead, and she's great in both of them as well as The Liar and His Lover or Touch Your Heart. So if you liked any of those three shows I would give this one a chance.

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Fangirling Over Ryan Gold

I had gotten very tired of hyped rom-coms that had leads in their late twenties or thirties acting like teens and dead fish kissing scenes. I heard this was a more mature romance and I was not disappointed.

Park Min-Young seems to have amazing chemistry with every actor she’s paired with, but her chemistry with Kim Jae-wook was really next level. The chemistry between the two of them paired with a fake dating trope? Forget it, I’m in.

The absolute main reason to watch this show is because of the male lead, Ryan Gold. Ryan was such a green flag and he was written in a way that went against so many drama stereotypes. There were many times where I expected him to get angry about a situation, and if it had been any other kdrama, it would have led to a miscommunication that lasted multiple episodes and probably also an unnecessary breakup. Instead, Ryan and Deok-mi communicated so beautifully with each other. The fights they did have were portrayed in such a healthy way and ended with them laughing and/or kissing. I think miscommunication is such an overplayed and boring trope a lot of the time and I loved seeing this show do things so differently.

I loved Kim Jae-wook’s portrayal as Ryan. He was so attractive and I loved that from the very beginning he was protective of Deok-mi, even if he had a completely wrong read of the situation. The way he was delighted by her fangirling and impressed by pretty much everything about her was so cute. The real first kiss scene was one of the best I have seen and they had many others that were just as good! I loved that the main couple was so playful and affectionate. I think the show did a great job portraying a realistic relationship for people in their thirties.
I think Shi-Ahn was actually adorable. I saw the twist coming, but I do wish that they had built it up a little better.

This show was well on its way to being in my top ten based on the main couple, but I did end up having a couple of gripes with it. I think basically everything with Eun-gi was poorly done. I hate a love triangle where one person has just no shot but tries to force it anyway. I think it was weird that he had those feelings in the first place and he definitely should’ve kept them to himself. I appreciated how unbothered Ryan was by their relationship and he fully trusted Deok-mi, but that whole plot was not needed.

The big reveal at the end of what had happened to Ryan and his connection to Deok-mi was also a major weak spot in the series. It didn’t make much sense and also added a layer of drama and mystery that this show didn’t need. The show also really took it easy on some of the darker aspects of fan culture. Deok-mi being so understanding of the people who stalked, assaulted, and doxxed her felt really unrealistic.

All that being said, I had so much fun with this drama. The leads had me giggling and kicking my feet. I want to see Kim Jae-wook in more rom coms for sure.

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Good, but with flaws

Okay, so I found this by chance. I literally just put on the TV and Episode 3 of this drama was airing, so I watched it and finished it on Youtube.

I think this was really sweet and it did make me a bit emotional at times, even though I did feel almost suffocated towards the end, it felt a lot like you didn't get a break in all the drama (I mean, it is a drama).

There were a few inconsistencies here and there, not too noticeable though, the one on the top of my head is the fact that Yunje's car literally changes color from black to white (it has the same plate on the car).

However, Sung Dukmi's best friend, I did not like at all. She almost always gave bad advice, and felt like she almost didn't care for her best friend, but that could just be the character's personality. I also don't really get her and Seungmin's relationship thing, it just felt a bit unrealistic.

Regarding the humor, it was pretty fun in the moment, pretty mid to be honest, but I still liked it. It'd probably work if you need a good laugh.

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PROPER apologies

That's all I have to say in order to explain why I am writing this review, as I found the main plot to be lacking and rather cliché. I would not have finished this drama if it wasn't for the main leads and their chemistry. With proper apologies, I mean that the main couple acknowledges their wrongdoings and own up to them immediately, which is something you rarely see in other series. Especially not when it comes to the male lead, which really made this one grow on me. It's almost as if dramas nowadays normalize the idea that guys shouldn't admit that they say/do things wrong which is more than bothersome. And I am not talking about just saying one's sorry, I am talking about actually explaining why as well. This was indeed something refreshing and something that proved that dramas can have mature couples with amazing chemisty.

This drama is basically centered around the couple and it doesn't have much of a story to it. But the maturity and all of the adorable moments does make it worth watching solely for the romance. I have to admit that I did skim through the last few episodes because even their relationship got me bored since I was losing interest, but I would recommend this to anyone who is just looking for a drama with a cute romance. I also have to appreciate how the male lead was so accepting of the female lead. Cheers.

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Just another fluffy rom-com though the beginning was strong

Her Private Life seemed unique in the beginning. The pros of this drama would be that the leads were mature and had great communication. They didn't fight for petty reasons and always cleared up misunderstandings. They were calm and collected and always apologized if at fault and never repeated the mistake. Fangirling was normalized even for older women which removed stigma around it. I would have liked it better if they address the issue of sasaengs or obsessive stalker fans. The ending ruined it for me. The childhood connection trope is the most overused thing in kdramas and I hate it unless it's done in a convincing way. The last couple of episodes are a total waste in my opinion. There isn't any real conflict in the story. I liked the side characters and their stories. In short, Her Private Life starts of on a fresh note. It seems as if the storyline is unique and has some nice features. But soon its mask comes off and it's just the ordinary rom-com.

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Healing drama and healthy relationships

This surpassed my expectations. It was funny, sweet, and emotional, with great acting by the two main leads, and her parents.
From the synopsis here and on Netflix, I started this thinking it was something I would be able to watch over time, not binge. That quickly turned out to not be the case!

Fangirling took a backseat in the story as it progressed, and the story turned out to be more of a healing drama, with mature, healthy relationships - both romantic and family-wise.
It was so refreshing to see a couple in a drama that actually were communicating well with each other, as well as being considerate for the other person. I would also say they had rather good chemistry.

What I did not quite like was the character of the first director (Cindy's mum). She was just overly exaggerated - made me cringe. That character could still have done it's part in the story without being so extreme.

I saw some comments about not seeing the point of the second ML (mr Nam Eun Gi), but I thought he played a part in the story, without it taking too much space. I would say that his story, together with Ryan's, showed two different "versions" of a similar issue (difficult to explain without giving away possible spoilers).
If anything, her friend's employee/artist was the character that felt a bit unnecessary to me, even if he didn't take up too much of the story.

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Not what I was expecting, but enjoyable anyway

It's less about fangirling - although there's a lot of that in the beginning and it's pretty funny - and more about the mystery of the ML's parentage, which becomes the focus of the plot and takes some unexpected and fairly heavy (and slightly implausible) twists in the last half. I liked the way it all linked up, but it was very different to the fun fannish shenanigans in the first half, which kind of fizzled out. Nicely played by the whole cast though: they're all pretty likable and the romance is sweet and refreshingly angst-free, with no breaks or noble sacrifice or any of that nonsense - although gotta say that from recs I expected it to be steamy and it really isn't, just adults kissing in a normal, non-frozen way. I liked that the rival fangirl got a little redemption arc and some independence from her weirdo mother! - her final scene with the 'brother' was great. Watch it if you're looking for a peaceful romance with niceness, and no angst or fish kisses.

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The plot is quite light-hearted, and there's not much tension. The main focus is the couple and I feel that the actors portrayed their characters well, though I do prefer the female lead to the male lead. I think that the overall plot was pleasant and that the ending was quite satisfying as well. The reason why I didn't give a higher rating is very personal, which is because the main lead wasn't my type at all and I had a hard time watching him act cute, so I just had to skip those parts because I was cringing, which I feel guilty about.

TLDR, if you want to watch a cute, light-hearted drama, and the male lead is your type, this drama is for you.

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Finally finished this drama and I loved it so much.

The main characters have so much chemistry and I loved their story.

The FL was an awesome character, she was understanding, caring and likeable, my favorite character by far.

Loved the ML too, his character had a really cool backstory and was well developed.

Their chemistry was undeniable and THEY WERE SO HEALTHY??? Loved this.

But, even if I loved the kdrama as a whole, there were some negative points.

First, I hated that her “”brother”” liked her. I know that they weren’t related by blood, but it annoyed me while watching it. Take God he wasn’t the one for her and ended up with Hyojin (and I loved that, even if I prefere him with Dain).

Other thing is the 2 last eps. If it finished on ep 14, it would totally become one of my favorites, but that storyline from ep 15 did not make any sense. The woman is with him for like a month and DOESNT TRY TO FIND HIS MOTHER??? Like what the hell, and the thing about her brother who died and she forgot abou him, ugh hated it.

But in general, it was a great drama and I loved the leads so it is totally a 9/10 :)

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Her Private Life is one of the most positive rom-com's I have ever watched!

I started this drama a couple of months ago and dropped it due to it being a bit slow in the beginning. My fear with this drama is that it would press way too much into the fangirl personality for way too long. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't!

I didn't think there would be much story here beyond the romance between the two leads. However, I have to admit that I teared up at some parts near the ending. The acting from both of the leads and another side character really sold me and made me become more attached to the characters.

I wasn't totally sold on the relationship of the two leads until the 3/4 point of the drama. The main selling point for me was how healthy and realistic their relationship was. I was always sitting there with my fists clenched in anticipation that there would be a falling out that I didn't agree of, or some sort of breakup that could have been solved by communication, but the two leads really defied all expectations here and made this so enjoyable to watch. I wish more dramas would focus on this.

Overall, I really enjoyed this drama. It was more on the lighthearted side, and it did a really great job of swaying me from dislike to approval for characters, tropes and storylines. I would recommend watching this if you are looking for something fluffy but also something that touches a bit on more serious story lines. The chemistry between the two leads is some of the best I've seen and I look forward to seeing these two leads in other shows!

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