Dynamite Kiss

Cheesy, cute but heartbreaking

This was a very interesting watch. I’m the first few episodes the drama seemed like a classic cheesy (veryyyy cheesy) romance. And though it did have cheesy lighthearted parts throughout, it was surprising tragic and dark at times. Although I did find myself really enjoying this drama, I couldn’t get past the fact that her lie impacted him so deeply and actually really broke his heart, and the reason she had for lying didn’t seem at all valid after all the damage it did. I hate to be on a man’s side but he really cared for her, was always there for her, and was deeply in love with her, and though she cared for him too it seemed so one-sided. He tried so hard to move on from her but she seemed to do everything in her power to pull him back in and it’s actually heartbreaking to watch. I would find myself vouching for them and swooning over moments of them together, but thinking about the lies took away from it. It got better towards the end and overall I did enjoy it, not the best drama ever but good if you’re looking for a drama with all the cliches.

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A Cliché bonanza, tropes-infested drama that needs not just suspension but shutdown of disbelief

This is a rather long review, parts of which I wrote midway through the watch (specifically after ep 12) and parts (between *) I wrote after finishing the drama.

The beginning although feeling a bit rushed especially in igniting a flame between the main leads, and despite being greeted head-on with a bunch of well-worn tropes such as the chaebol-orchestrated poor girl makeover and the pretend relationship, it still was somewhat fun to watch and roll my eyes at the predictable cliched sequences.

This should have been a sign of what was to come, but positive-thinking me only thought it was just like many a K-drama as of late that choose to rush the story in the first couple of episodes to reach the somewhat climatic part or turning point from where the story progresses in order to suck the viewer in and keep them engaged. But unfortunately, it wasn’t just the first episodes, and when it comes to rushed and sudden emotional progress it didn’t just involve the main couple, but also the supporting characters’ romance felt sudden and lacked believability IMO. An art gallery director from a wealthy family falls head over heels at first sight with a divorced photographer with a kid, as a combination not rare, but it needs buildup to be endearing, but when they turn from attracted to madly in love in the flick of the finger it just feels contrived.

As for the main issue with which most viewers found trouble with; the FL’s choice to fake being married to land a job despite her poor qualifications. In order to sell us on this choice and convince the viewer that what she was committing was not downright fraud, they chose to orchestrate this sudden financial ruin of her family, leaving them in deep debt with foreclosure on their house looming, and her mom having to undergo heart surgery and long-term hospitalization. Even if I can somehow convince myself that she was cornered with not many other choices and needed to quickly find a full-time job to support her mom, the more she became involved with her colleagues and her boss/ML, it became annoying and infuriating to endure her lies and deception. And I know the technique of creating this lingering big misunderstanding or hidden secret is common in K-dramas, it aims at making the viewer watch with breaths held for the moment it gets revealed or resolved, but the wait here was filled with infuriation rather than anticipation.

On the other hand, one of the few plots that I liked was the concept of the ML’s tormenting guilt at being attracted to a married woman having been traumatized by his father’s affair and the psychological damage it caused his mother, and that might have been one of the rare moments were the drama presented something in a somewhat serious tone, even though the viewer knew his guilt was unfounded.

But more than anything, what dampened the watching experience for me was the sheer amount of k-romcom tropes that this drama was plagued with. I don’t mind me a little bit of cliched story plot or sequence of events here and there, but this one was just a string of clichés one after the other! It was like the writers opened the catalogue of K-Romcom drama tropes, and didn’t just pick a couple, the picked almost all the well-worn inside-the-box K-drama tropes fit for a fluffy romcom save just a few like cohabitation, amnesia, noble idiocy and last-minute separation, and the main leads having a hidden childhood connection. (At this point I would not be fazed if any of them are used)
* I started writing this review to vent my frustration with 2 episodes left, and I mentioned that save just a few cliches, this drama almost utilized all the k-romcom cliches in the book. The most astonishing part is that most of the tropes I mentioned eventually showed up and drove me to scream at my screen literally!! *

It almost felt as if the writers realized that they might be taking it too far so they just thought they might as well throw in more cliches just for fun, turning the whole thing into a Shojo manga.

I am not expecting major believability from a romcom trust me, but we are told to believe that after they were separated after their initial fleeting romance and despite the story taking place in this age and time, the two of them never exchanged contact. Let’s assume it happens, still it was even harder to swallow the ML’s idiotic attempts to find the FL purely depending on this one ambiguous landmark she mentioned was in her neighborhood, is that really the best that a head of a successful M&A firm can come up with? Has he never heard of the concept of PIs, I mean he knows her name, can guess her age, maybe go from there!

The more the story progressed the more it became harder to pretend to take anything seriously, like what took the cake for me in terms of lack of believability were scenes like the FL venturing into a raging fire, rescuing and carrying the macho ML all on her own, with both coming out without a single scratch or even some soot on their clothes! For crying out loud! You could still write a good turning point or moment of realization that pushes the leads closer or make them more forthcoming with their emotions, without having to resort to such over-the-top events. And don’t get me started about the amnesia!! They always get hit by a car, fall bleeding to the ground, wake up with no side effects except only losing the right chunk of memory that erases the romantic relationship with the FL.

* As I mentioned above that I started this review at the 12th episode, and I was ready to give the drama a maximum rating of 5, but after watching the last two episodes, I realized I would be generous if I gave it even a 3. The last 2 episodes were the result of a writer who had decided to break a world record with the amount of clichés he can manage to fit into one drama. Not to mention that everything became super easy to predict (examples: they advice her to keep recording her ideas > her phone will record something that helps bring down the villains, he’s crossing the road after crushing his envious enemy (who doesn’t mind starting an arson during an event packed with people just out of spite) and leaving him humiliated > the crazy dude will try to run him over).
I almost gave it a less score just cause of the ending sequence with all characters dancing which was stomach-turning level of tasteless. *

This drama had a mix of genres; romance, comedy, office, business & a dash of angst, but despite each having its funny moments, the drama as a whole was sub-par all thanks to the world-record-level cliché-ness the story suffered from. I would not recommend.

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Não alimente suas expectativas pelo elenco

a história começa se apresentando de maneira interessante: um CEO que nunca se apaixonou por ninguém e que não se vê em um relacionamento profundo, e de outro lado uma pobretona que não tem onde cair morta e q beira a vergonha da família pq nunca passa num concurso e tb não traz dinheiro pra dentro de casa. depois de um encontro, eles se apaixonam e tem o “beijo explosivo”. episódios passam, a história fica morna pra fria, xoxa e capenga. um loop de mentiras de um lado, com razão, mas ainda assim mentiras; e desprezo do outro lado, tentando fingir não ter sentimentos pela funcionária. como se não bastasse o lenga lenga do casal secundário, tem um “casal” secundário em q ela vive rastejando atrás de um cara que deixa escrito em letras garrafais “NÃO TE QUERO”. quem alimentou esperanças por esse roteiro pobre, meus sentimentos, pq colheu exatamente o fruto de um final pobre e sem pé nem cabeça

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rich CEO meets poor girl

Hmmmm, its one of those cliche kdramas where rich CEO meets poor girl and no one wanted to ruin their relationship.
I enjoyed it and some parts were really funny. The office drama was a given since no one was trying to break up the leads.
Fast forward to the last episode, I think they over did it with the amnesia. The dress was very predictable and having the same scene a year after and suddenly his memories come back? I didnt like how they wrote that. Most importantly, wasnt her "goal" to find her sister? Like what happened to that?
So she wasnt important? They just wrote the sister out.
I kinda like the ending because at least they started a family.

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Well, What Do YOU Want From a KDrama?

I've watched enough of these series to have formed an idea of what I want to see and why. With that in mind Dynamite Kiss delivered, even if I had to fast forward through the unnecessary parts. I suspect there are many older male viewers who share my expectations / hopes for a series: Attractive women, reasonable romance, and not too many sublots. Standard romcom fare. Sure, the cliches are bound to be there...but I don't care. Whether I'm watching Lim Yoon A, IU, Jung So-min, Ahn Eun-jin or a dozen other lead actresses, the quality of the story doesn't matter as much as just enjoying their performances. I'm certainly not a qualified judge of their acting ability, the music, the plot (unless it's terrible to even a casual viewer like me) or any of the other critiques that reviewers on this site engage in. Almost all of the series include totally unbelievable plot elements that require suspending reason and common sense. But I'm not there to watch documentaries. Sure, in Dynamite Kiss the whole accident--memory lost--memory returned idea is hardly a new...but that didn't mean that that 45 minute detour was a total waste when we finally get the re-enactment of the original dynamite kiss. The vicariously enjoyment of those moments are worth the twists and turns and for me, at least, outweigh the flaws that seem to bother the experts. And I thought the "victory lap" / cast bows was done if a fun way. I'm not going to find that kind of romance (fictional as it may be) at my age but I certainly want to be hanging out with people who are having that much fun. (I should note that I'm writing this while listening to / watching KARA and MOMOLAND music videos and want to have the kind of fun they seem to having, too.)

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Stuck around for the visuals

For a cast this great, the story sure did write itself into hell. It started off so good. I watched ep 1 and 2 entirely and then episode 3 it all just started going down hill. The overall chemistry very low in my books. The only times there was tension is inn the kiss scenes and during this other scene where the women step up to protect her. I spent most of my time skipping parts and entire episodes because the cliches just got to a point. I appreciate a cliche when its used wisely but come on now...come on. I might have lost a few braincells for the amount i did watch. If you are watching this because to want to swoon, watch something heartfelt, or just watch something that will have you feeling like you got to the end of a a good meal instead of ending at two sips of an orange juice too sour, watch something else. You are in the wrong place.

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DYNAMITE VISUALS

I enjoyed Dynamite Kiss -- I really liked every single actor especially the mothers -- I mean you can never go wrong when you cast Nam Gi Ae I love her so much -- she could act in any role as any character one of the best character actors --Park Jee A is another under rated character actor these two alone can make an impossible series possible they are so good -- Ahn Eun Jin this lady is a force her visuals & her smile are enough to brighten any day & her co star Jang Ki Yong is one of the BEST leading men in the industry. He is uniquely funny maybe overacts a bit but in this series his character required it. The premise of this series was perfect & the kiss at the beginning well-- it alone is worth the watch just to see how the love story evolves & it does -- this show is a comedy of errors -- the only critique is the lack of social awareness regarding workplace Harassment I mean the main actress got smacked in the face -- thats a legal issue kind of uncomfortable for a light weight comedy series -- sometimes you don't need to go so deep sometimes a good laugh and just seeing actors do so well is enough I really liked this would recommend for some easy viewing

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Maybe it’s bc I prepared myself in advance…

But I actually ended up really enjoying this drama. I read through the reviews and was hesitant to watch this drama. But I was just in the mood for something easy to watch and lighthearted. So I told myself if the rest of the drama went to crap… it is what it is. But honestly, I was thoroughly surprised. The first couple episodes were so good and I saw why everyone had such high hopes. But then as I kept watching, waiting for the other shoe to drop, it never really did. It had me smiling, kicking my feet, and staying up way too late, reminiscent of those cheesy Kdramas I grew up watching and missed so dearly. So yeah, is this the best, most thought provoking drama with absolutely no plot holes? Absolutely not. But if you know what we’re getting into and you just go along for a cute, fluffy, lighthearted ride, then you’re good. Yeah, it’s full of cliches, some of them more annoying than others, but I didn’t care. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this drama and really, that’s all I could ask for.

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cringe acting + empty brain drama

this drama dissapointed me in so many ways.
There are soo many cliches stacked in this drama from episode 1. The cinderella concept, the fake marriage concept and on and on and on. there is no chemistry
the FL is so dumb through and through that her character is literally is made to be a punching bag.
I do think jang ki yong does the yearning eyes so wellll, but im sorry to say he didnt deliver what he could have.
everyone, the director the actors and writers dropped the ball on this one hard
this plot had potential but it went to the pits of hell

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a VERY strong start but a mid ending

Okay so I have to say that the first 2 episodes were GOLD, it was the right amount of clichés with the right amount of twists to make them really interesting.
However, it seems like the screenwriters didn't know what to do with the script which is a shame because it really had the potential to be great. The miscommunication trope about the fake marriage lasted too long and whhile it was fun to see the ML loosing his mind at first, it became cruel after a certain point. And don't get me started on the last few miscommunication, they were completely illogical and went against all the character development of the first half.

However, my rating is 7,5/10 because the chemistry was there and I still found myself giggling several times during cute scenes.
I would still recommend it just be aware that the last few episodes WILL make you roll your eyes.

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