Perfume

Not a perfect drama but is still good nonetheless

It is the type of drama you would watch for relaxation or after a day of pure tiredness, the comedy is not over the top like how some other dramas are and actually lifted my mood up. They realistically highlighted how easily our self-esteem can be damaged by the current standardised beauty expectations in the media and how it is not a piece of cake to just learn to love yourself. I love the actors and actresses in this drama, especially Shin Sung-rok with the way he portrayed a shy yet straightforward man that had a bunch of phobias. The character is iconic and is a whole mood. I really don't know how else I would expect a character like that to be portrayed in the drama, and there was not really a cast member that dragged the drama behind in terms of acting skills. There are some times where I cringed at Min Kyu's parts but I don't know if it's because of his character or acting, I'll need to watch more of his projects to know. The wholesome chemistry between the ml and fl kept me watching this drama and I would love to continue following their future projects!

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I think this is one of the underrated kdramas. It was actually very interesting and entertaining. The story was well-written. It is a fantasy, but I never found it corny or boring - really no boring episodes.

It is a great idea that Shin Sung-rok would play this kind of role. He is really a great actor - either a villain or a comedian. I think it was in "The Last Empress" kdrama where I realized that he can also be a comedian, and it's great that months after the end of "The Last Empress", this drama was released. And it was really good.

Kim Min-kyu is so cute and funny. I find him very entertaining. Also, I love how he and Shin Sung-rok fight over Go Won Hee.

The story is really great, and very mature. I love how things ended.

#perfumekdrama
#perfume
#kdrama
#mustwatchkdrama
#mustwatchkdrama2019
#funnykdrama
#shinsungrok
#kdramahookedbylady28

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“Perfume” is an excellent production! The drama, although not perfect, is fun, heart wrenching, heartwarming, innovative, surprising, and a real treat to all the senses. The cast was phenomenal bringing their characters to life. Even though Go Won Hee performed very well as Min Ye Rin, the character that rounded the drama and gave depth to the story is really Min Jae Hee, portrayed by the amazing Ha Jae Sook, which is a very talented actress and she gave a stellar performance. Last but not least, Shin Sung Rok. His portrayal of Seo Yi Do as a quirky, sometimes childish and other times a profound and intense man brought the drama to a full circle. The drama is not about fat shaming but it shows the pain and frustration that can potentially leads a person to his/her doom when the people that you love is ashamed of you simply because you’re overweight, and also the inner struggles of this particular person about not been able to come out of the shell that she created for herself to escape the harsh reality of been shunned by your love ones and society. The drama is really romantic but it lacks passion among Seo Yi Do and Min Ye Rin on their romantic scenes. It is all much better when Seo Yi Deo is with Min Jae Hee; there is a sparkle on his eyes and so much tenderness, if only they would have share a kiss, the drama would’ve been perfectly finished showing the real love between Seo Yi Do and Min Jae Hee. Still, a great drama, enjoy it!

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I really liked the concept of this kdrama but felt like it was gonna be another one of those shows where the 'fat' girl was ugly and unhappy with her life, and once she'd become thin and beautiful she would be happy and get the guy. I'm happy that later on in the show you find out the guy actually loves her regardless of her appearance all along. So while this show definitely isn't perfect, it does show improvement in the way people precieve beauty and love. Since the show isn't over yet I don't know how it will end, but I hope they'll be together with Jae Hee being herself and not Ye Rin.

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Big day for Fragrantica users

I kind of hated this show at first, and it somehow managed to win me over enough that I put off watching anything else. Maybe it's because I'm attracted to Shin Sung-rok, maybe it's because it became a bit less dumb, or maybe it's because I got accustomed to its wavelength. Don't get me wrong, half of the comedy never worked for me (it usually doesn't with rom-coms, alas I continue...), but half of it did. I was surprisingly amused. The horror music that played whenever the change happened felt stupid and became repetitive only the second time it happened. I have a thing for neurotic men à la Niles from Frasier, so you can imagine I was pleased by Yi-do, who was too much of a diva to take seriously.

I'm writing this a week after I finished, and I'm almost wondering if I'm misremembering something, but onto my main issue:

It can't successfully convey its obvious, though not unnecessary, message when the older, overweight, REAL version of Min Jae-hee doesn't even get the bare minimum in a relationship - a kiss. At a certain point during the final episodes you're waiting for Min Ye-rin to go away. While that wouldn't work with how they developed her modelling career storyline (so the essential plot), Ha Jae-sook's Jae-hee is shelved from having any meaningful or fun(!) scenes with Yi-do, just convos regarding her insecurities and mortality. Her insecurities are valid as a plot point up until a point. The problem is that they're only surmounted off-screen and that the most we get as a climax is an engagement we already know Yi-do wanted; there's nothing satisfying or, more importantly, very romantic about it without a proper consummation. The romance overall was relatively chaste, but the lack of one single kiss is pretty ridiculous when the characters are around 40, and young, skinny Jae-hee got her moments. Really, all it does is undermine its message. I don't watch K-dramas for anything more than fluffy entertainment, but when a show's crucial theme is so plainly weakened by its lack of edge, it has to be acknowledged.

I also think the first love nonsense worsened the romance. Initially, I was unsure how Yi-do—a fatphobic fashion designer—would come to accept Jae-hee. While I'm not totally against the first love concept as a way of facilitating this acceptance, I felt like Yi-do's character, namely his eccentricities, was whitewashed. The character/tonal switch-up from when he was high-strung and everything was comedic, to the saccharine, overly agreeable man he became didn't fully work. Their relationship had little play or variation to break up the monotonous affability he fell into. This + the lack of, I suppose, skinship, is why I couldn't shake the feeling that he loved her just because he had to, and that there is indeed a difference between Ye-rin and Jae-hee.

Despite all this, I enjoyed myself enough to finish (more like binge) and would recommend it with a few caveats. I don't think the show is as bad as others seem to believe, though I sure don't think it did much particularly right either. I agree with ArvisJaggamar in that there's some mental dissonance in its avoidance of the essential topics that are naturally introduced by the story. Ultimately though, I just want to see Shin Sung-rok in more rom-coms.

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BEST ROMANCE - Perfect! Except...

I have a hard time suspending disbelief with rom-coms, and the CEO character is now boring for me as a 21 year old. There were so many overused tropes, and the work had such a predictable story-line. It was amazing. What an amazing watch. Exhilarating. I believe this work encapsulated the love I wanted to see.

If this was simply "a masterpiece", like how viewers on IMDB rate The Dark Knight, Casablanca, and The Godfather, I might have just added it onto my list, "completed", 5 stars. Maybe a comment. This work goes beyond it. It deserves a "proper" review.

If I had dropped this series, say, episode 10, or 11 (I wouldn't, though, the story is just too charming), I wouldn't see the most important piece of the puzzle, episode 18. Our hero, Ego (E do), stands at the end of a pier, looking over the lake where he grew up and almost drowned in. He's thinking about the past, he's thinking about his love, and he looks up, and our heroine, in her original, natural form is there, looking back at him. He reprimands her for pushing him away, he says he wished to be with her, at any point in the journey. He would be with her. She doesn't remember him. He lets her go. He walks back to the house, and continues his romantic journey with our heroine's "red shoes" appearance.

He is so fickle and vain, how can he love her, even as she was old, and obese? obese in a way that is usually always played for laughs, for a joke? so fat she isn't human? How can he still love her as she is married?

Usually this stupid "i met you when you were five, and i fell in love" trope kind of pisses me off, like, we could do without it right? I remember in Skip Beat (many other issues...), I thought "oh here we go, so annoying", and then the author just kept bringing it up and up and up again and eventually its been beaten into you so hard you just have to accept it...

Here, I don't think I could imagine the story being half as good as it is if it didn't include that previous first love trope. And look, this scene, maybe it would be boring, cliche, uhh, other synonym for drab and stupid or something, but before it, he sees her. Natural her. Like, not some drama hallucination of her, he really bumps into her as she is FIGHTING her NO GOOD shit EATING BITCHASS EX-husband (nearly ex...) for HITTING HER DAUGHTER. The punk pushes her off him, she trips backwards, ego catches her, "are you okay?", the whole schebang, and when she leaves he goes outside, and he smiles softly. I think "huh, whats the matter with that? does he know the "red shoes" version is magic? does the natural version remind him of her, and he just loves her that much that hell smile over a random stranger? wtf?", and the episode continues as usual.

He recognized her, he saw her living strongly, fighting, and later on, on the pier, he released himself to go (right back to her EEEE :)).

It's the pacing. The pacing creates a real feeling to the story, it makes the happenings seem true, it's not forced, it's not rushed, and even though it's not a 12 episode drama where everything happens in the span of the pilot and you just have to watch the rest to figure out how all the tropes laid out for the viewers will be tackled. I never found myself bored watching for 32 episodes.

That is,,, except...... uh. The secretary. The brother. Aiaiaiaiiiii god.... fuck me... that shit. I can't. I can't. It's so unnecessary. It's SOOOOO UNNECESSARYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. I wish they handled it more like "Touch Your Heart", where the ex is not so PAINFULLY controlling, where the brother is not... god. that part. that part is so bad. The brother has no reason to act like this. Let them be, please just stop. You're the side couple, stick to your side of the story. fucking, oh my god, so ANNOYINGGGGGG. THIS. THIS IS THE REASON YOU DON'T GET 10/10. FUCK. FUCK. just erase itttttt fuck me that shit had me nearly yelling at the screen (it did make me yell multiple times, but im lying for the sake of appearance) SO unnecessary.

And the music, was not bad... it was music, it fit the drama. It didn't get in the way, it wasn't distracting. I dont claim to be a music expert. Tell me, though, why, before that beautiful episode, the release, the acknowledgement that our psycho CEO is human, more human than most the cast, his love is realistic, even with how unrealistic this story is, and especially given how unrealistic his standards are, he is the most human.

Tell me why before that incredible moment, you had him doing some shitty russian jig to the fucking PAPYRUS THEME MUSIC??? i fell out of my chair with that. LITERALLY, i moved in a sigh of "wtf" and fell out my chair.

Anyways this is the best love you can find in a drama, that I remember... right next to "Touch Your Heart", "Padam Padam", and "I am Not A Robot". But maybe that just shows my taste :')

Maybe I'm too young, maybe I haven't seen enough soap operas, but all those overused tropes seemed fine to me, the predictable story was enough to keep it going, and the CEO male lead wasn't as aggressive and overbearing as they usually are (completely contradictory statement to Ego's character on paper).

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Parfüm e the reál

Alternative Ending for "Perfume": The Real Transformation
The Core Idea:
Instead of a passive ending where Jae-hee simply returns to her original weight and is "accepted" by the male lead, the story should focus on self-responsibility and mental/physical health. The miracle of the perfume was just a kickstart, but the real change must come from within.
The Final Scene (One Year Later):
The scene opens in a martial arts gym. Min Jae-hee is no longer the thin model "Ye-rin," nor the depressed, sedentary housewife. She has short hair, an athletic build, and is intensely training in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). She is not "skinny" in the traditional sense, but she is strong, fit, and glowing with confidence.
She has found a new passion: protecting the weak. She uses her strength to help people who are bullied for their weight or appearance—just as she used to be. She has become an "Underground Superhero" in her community.
Key Dialogue:
Seo Yi-do: "You saved someone again? You’re obsessed with this vigilante role."
Jae-hee: "I’m not training to be skinny, Yi-do. I’m training to be strong so I never have to wait for a miracle again. My body is my temple, and I owe it to myself to be healthy. I stopped blaming my past and my ex-husband for my weight; I took control of my own life."
Jin-kyung (the daughter): "Mom, you are a real superhero! You don't need to fit into that wedding dress just for the sake of it, but I know you're doing this because you love yourself now."
Jae-hee: "Exactly. And because your new little sibling is coming, I want to be a mother who is healthy and disciplined. Happiness isn't found in a perfume bottle; it’s earned through sweat and self-respect."
The Message:
This ending emphasizes that Jae-hee's weight gain wasn't just "bad luck"—it was a result of losing herself. By finding a hobby (martial arts) that requires discipline and effort, she truly transforms. She doesn't just wait for a man's love to save her; she saves herself through exercise, healthy habits, and a new life purpose.

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DO NOT PUT YOUR GLASSES LENS-DOWN ON THE PAVEMENT YOU MONSTERS!

TBH, I skipped over this one many many times before I decided to watch it. The plot sounded weird and I wasn't sure what sort of drama it would be. After having watched it...the plot is definitely weird and sparse and it probably would have been a really bad drama, but the actors and the director for sure took this thin weak plot and turned it into something entertaining. The dialog is written pretty well at various points, so that helped. The music was well timed and themed to the drama's events, which is always nice.

By far, the best written and acted role was Yi Do's secretary (played by Kim Ki Doo). That little dude, I liked him so much. He was never judgy or overbearing, he listened when he needed to listen and always asked the right questions or made the right comments with genuine concern. Usually these side roles in dramas end up being overbearing and annoying because they are designed to keep the leads from accomplishing their goals to create...well...drama. But that little dude was 100% of the time the friend all of us wish we had. He didn't get much of his own character development or back story, but somehow every scene he was in was outstanding.

The other actors/actresses were good as well. They did a great job with their emotional responses and chemistry with each other. The villain was appropriately evil, that dude always plays a great villain. He's got a sort of wobble in his voice that just makes him sound so greedy and spiteful and mean. Most of the fashion in the show was decent as well...except...why the literal crap did they keep dressing the main lead like he was the child of Herman Munster?? Like...ok, dude has massive cheekbones and always looks a little gaunt anyhow, and he's beastly massive, so your plan is to dress him in obscenely oversized clothes with chin to waist ruffles?? TWICE...he wore that god awful ruffle shirt TWICE. Or harsh lined weird full box box clothes?? When he wasn't cosplaying as an Amazon box painted black, he was cosplaying as a vampire from the 1500s. It was SUCH a weird choice. Like...imagine a cute anime goth boy with an oversized hoodie that has arms so long they drag the floor...but then stick that outfit on an 8 foot living gargoyle...that's what his outfits were like. Dude is super hot, it's like they went out of their way to make him look freakish.

The film effects were a little weird. Like intentional shaking and unsteady camera at times that seemed a little extreme for the scene, or these massive screen spreading lens flares. Initially I thought, oh the weird diffused light and lens flares are comedy for whenever the idol dude comes on the screen, and so I was fine with them. Like lol it's the hot guy again. But then they started doing them all the time and it got a little painful to watch. Not like painful-ugly but like actually physically painful from having bright lights glaring at you while you're trying to watch the actors speak.

Aside from those few small complaints, the one thing that really rubbed me the wrong way in this drama...like made me cringe and want to just shut the whole thing off... was the scene that played a few times where the child version of the lead dude falls onto the ground, takes his glasses of, PUTS THEM LENS DOWN ON THE FLIPPING CEMENT, and cries. Look. I'ma be honest with you here. I've been wearing glasses my whole life, and at no point in my life ever have I not cringed when accidentally setting them lens down. The pure unbridled rage I feel watching those lenses, which are for sure scratched to hell now, being set roughly onto pavement almost ruined the entire drama for me. Mr. Director, do you have ANY idea how ANNOYING it is to look through scratched lenses? People who wear glasses take GREAT CARE, even while having a tantrum on the ground, to not scratch their MF GD lenses. That alone should have put this drama in the horror category.

I should also say, I thought they did a decent job dealing with the whole fat person vs thin person social issues. Sure, they could have done better, but they could have done a lot worse too. Mostly they came out on the winning side of the equation though. They handled things respectfully but realistically without trying to stuff social justice down your throat or fat shaming the characters.

All in all, it was a much better drama than I anticipated. I wouldn't watch it again because it's a one-and-done sort of drama, but I do not regret watching it.

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A love that transcends time

I just finished watching all episodes of this drama.

First, I'd like to give a phobia warning; If you are like me and you have a big fear of a bunch of dots or holes together AKA trypophobia, this drama will be extremely triggering, the number of times I had panic attack watching this drama because ML has that phobia and the directors thought "Hey, let's show it and not give a Phobia warning!" is not even funny.

Even so, this was a really beautiful story and the acting was phenomenal. This was a story about feeling small and unwanted, but also learning to be cherished and more importantly learning to love oneself.

It is hilarious, I binge watched it in like 3 days, Seo Yi Do made me spit my drink in laughter many times, especially in one episode where he starts doing a Russian dance out of nowhere. Shin Sung Rok had a way of portraying perfectly that gloomy sickly character who's cynical of the world but in the same breath be so pure and sweet, his character development was one of my favorites.

Another thing I love is Ha Jae Sook acting as our FL, she portrayed beautifully the feeling of having felt small due to the way her character look but also being strong when needed. There was some fat shaming at the beginning and there is what some characters thought but this drama is not about that, it is about how no matter what you've experienced or how you look like, that one should love themselves. Ha Jae Sook character had to learn that, I also love that they didn't give the excuse of "Oh, she's just lazy, that's why she's fat therefor she's pathetic." They tackled the caused and gave her character the respect I feel she deserved.

Go Won Hee also did an amazing job acting as the 'skinnier' version of the FL, she also cracked me up and she had a way of acting with just her eyes that captivated me. When she sang in an episode, her voice gave me goosebumps.

I really didn't like Han Ji Na or Yun Min Suk but the actress and actors did an amazing job, they made me forget that they were acting (as did all the actors and actresses in this drama) personally I felt that both characters were shallow and annoying but even they have character developments that made them likeable.

I wish I could go name by name with each actors and what I like about them but this review would be super long.

The music was 9.5 out of 10, a lot of the songs I either had on my playlists or want to add it to my playlist, they also had a wide range from Jazz to Pop and even Cultural, the Russian dance scene will be one of my favorite scenes ever.

Toward the last 3 episodes it did feel like it was dragging and I did start to skip, I also don't really care for how the husband, who was a vile monster and the daughter's best friend who was annoying, kept being put as almost these ultimate villains, it just made it feel more like they were dragging the whole drama instead of getting to the point, but overall it was a really good drama.

I thought it was also funny since when I was in middle school, I was a gifted reader reading at a college level as an 11-year-old, one of my teachers gave me the book "Love in the Time of Cholera" which ended up being such a big focus point in this drama. I could never get past the first few pages, personally, I found it boring but the way this drama told it was beautiful.

Oh, the ending? I'll just say that she's healthy, take that as you will. I'd re-watch this again in a few years and would recommend it as well.

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I had just finished a rewatch of the Chinese drama Filter and this was the first recommendation on MDL.

As much as I love chaotic couples, I only like it when the chaos does not include verbal abuse of any sort. Seo Yi Do called Min Ye Rin worthless in so many different words throughout the first arc of the drama, that I wanted to stop watching.
And it was a good thing, at least I got to see some happy times, the final arc was better.

In the beginning, it felt as if just as she was about to escape her toxic husband she met Seo Yi Do, who was a different kind of red flag on his own. She then fell in love with the said red flag. It is so difficult to describe the duality of Seo Yi Do's character, there are parts of him that I won't ever like, but by the end of the drama he had somewhat won me over and I was so glad for Jae Hee.

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the main character in the beginning seems off putting but once I really got to know the character I began to love. her ability to encourage other when its hard to do that to herself is admirable. also how much she loves her daughter is amazing too. she is also independent which is rare with rom-com girl protagonists. the love interest is hilarious. his acting is spot-on. for me I really enjoy this sort of plot-line, so I can't say everyone will love it as much as I do. the sound track is really good. fits well with the theme. the pacing is also really good. this is my first review so thats all I have to say, but give it a try. who knows, you may like it.

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