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.Was this review helpful to you?
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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RYAN GOLD E SRTA.SUNG
It took me so long to start this dorama, I had reservations, I thought I wouldn't like it, but I loved it. Park Min Young is one of my favorite actresses, and I love all three of her sisters. Love you park min young!!!About the story itself, I liked how to approach the grief, abandonment, and loss of each character in their own version of the same story from the past. I think they should have given more stage to the end of hyo Jin and Eun- gi. I also think si an should have figured out that Duk-Min was "Si an is my way".
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A beautifully crafted story, well executed. Don't Miss thiis.
Foreshadowing is subtle, and the story unfolds organically. Nothing feels rushed, dragged out, or contrived. There are layers, upon layers, of complexity, just as in real life. No characters are one-dimensional, and every character is treated as a human, rather than a plot device. It was a privilege to watch this well crafted drama. I watched it all in two days ... could not put it down.Was this review helpful to you?
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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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Overall it was a very fun drama, it sent me into a fantasy world where I see everything I dreamed of, an ideal world. Basically the romance is perfect and out of this realisic world.
My favourite moments other than when ml were on screen, were when Cindy's mom said 'ohmygosh' or even if she just showed up, I knew sth funny was about to happen.
In my opinion the ending was rushed is some ways or certain things were completely unnecesarry.
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I guess there was a reason I waited so long to watch this. It did disappoint me a lot. The theme is great and the relationship is mature and those were the only positive sides for me.
At the beginning it's all extremely silly, instead of it being a comedy, it turns into just silliness. The soundtrack didn't help with that at all. I do understand this drama is adapted from a webtoon but sometimes they forget the adaptation part.
Then there's a point when the main actors don't seem to be acting anymore and everything turns into a melodrama we can guess how is going to turn out that we've seen time and time again. The magic that was barely there (except for the scene at the writer's house) disappears and the overconfidence and comfort appear but that just left me uncomfortable. It was like I wasn't invited to the story anymore. It disengaged me completely.
Everyone keeps talking about the chemistry between the leads but I couldn't feel it. There wasn't any spark in their eyes and they didn't manage to put one in mine.
In the end, it was extremely boring to me. My love for the leads wasn't enough for this drama to leave a positive memory in me.
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A drama that leads drag it till the end. If it was a different cast, no one would've remembered it as a nice drama, including me.Story is like a fan fiction written by a mature fangirl; Our leading lady is a successful head curator in an art gallery, has a quirky (actually pretty idiot) boss who owns the gallery, cute co-workers and a pretty basic life, at least that's what it seems from afar. Sung Duk Mi is actually an office worker by day, part time fan page admin by night. When our male lead Ryan Gold comes to the picture as the new head of gallery, and brings a project including Duk Mi's favorite idol with him, Duk mi's life gets even more interesting.
First few episodes were so much fun, I mean, our female lead is a fangirl, has some cheesy moments but at the end of the day, she's still an adult who can bring sense to her surrendings. This point of the show was fun but things went downhill pretty quickly after like, I don't know, 7th or 8th episode of the show.
Leads getting together brought us many racy moments which were enjoyable until somewhere but than, the show only became about those moments. Anything happening beside kisses were like a fairytale written by a mom who is bored by her child questioning tales and just started telling random good things. That was the worst part of the show, everything being tooooooo good.
Leads are good people, male leads mom who we all thought abandoned him turned out to be really good person, female leads mom who turned out to be the reason male lead has a trauma on holding hands turned out to be a good person, I mean, both her parents are like a charity, taking care of everyone's children and stuff, female leads best friends husband who actually has been planning a "scheme" since the beginning of the drama turned out to be a good person, second male lead -whom we thought was female leads twin at first- turned out to be a good person, second female lead turned out to be a good person, list has no end! Everyone is good! Not just good, everyone is angelic good. Even fairytales have evil queens, yet this drama has everything safe that it's boring.
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I deserve a medal after finishing that drama, honestly. My main grievance is that her fangirl identity wasn’t even revealed? Wtf????? The only thing I was holding out for tbh, what the hell. But god, where did this drama go so wrong? It started out okay but it was like a downward spiral. Ok, first things first, I still didn’t really ship Sung Duk Mi with Ryan Gold / Heo Yoon Jae. No offence to the actor, but for some reason he just looks so much older than her??? I couldn’t get past it. And personally, couldn’t really see the chemistry. That’s just me. And the only part I liked, turned out to be a dream!!!! Jfc
And my GOD did it get boring after like episode 10 I think it was? (after we had to suffer a whole episode of unnecessary angst with their ‘break up’) Maybe it’s because I don’t care about art, but the whole storyline was then based around the gallery and those bubble paintings and I could not have been more uninterested. And then that episode of flashbacks and drama (with their child abandonment stuff and she just all of a sudden had a little brother that died???) god why. It was just so boring, I couldn’t take it.
Then the writers just totally forgot all about the fangirling side of things, entirely. Which was what drew me to the show!! I wanted to see more of it!
You might think I’m being harsh giving it a 4.5 but I just have such disdain towards this drama.
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"Like fanfiction with a splash of art—charming, sweet, and just a little too much fluff."
"Her Private Life ): 8/10 – A Fluffy, Self-Aware Rom-Com That Embraces Its Own Chaos"✨ WHY IT’S DIFFERENT (AND LOVELY):
Park Min-young as a fangirl – Finally, a FL who owns her obsession instead of being shamed for it. (K-pop stans, this is your victory lap.)
Kim Jae-wook’s artistic himbo energy – A CEO who’s awkward, hot, and supportive? Unrealistic, but we’ll take it.
No toxic exes or evil parents – Just healthy communication and mutual respect. (Gasp!)
🎨 THE "THIS SHOULDN’T WORK BUT IT DOES" MOMENTS:
The fake dating trope – Used ironically because they’re both terrible at lying.
The fanfic-worthy confession – "Be my girlfriend… for real." (Cue squealing.)
The entire gallery subplot – Aesthetic and absurd in the best way.
🤷 THE "OKAY, FINE" FLAWS:
The second-half slump – A mild case of "we ran out of plot, so here’s filler."
That one unnecessary breakup – Three episodes of avoidable drama.
The villain-lite coworker – More annoying than actually threatening.
🎯 VERDICT:
"Like fanfiction come to life—self-indulgent, hilarious, and unapologetically sweet." Watch if: You love fluff, K-pop references, or men who simp hard. Skip if: You need gritty realism (this is a fantasy, babes).
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