Secret Garden

A slice of life of the stunt world

10/10 is my rating. Two worlds collide in this exciting South Korean drama that aired in 2010 and 2011 (20 episodes). Gil Ra-im is a stunt woman who is poetry in motion when she is doing action scenes. Ha Ji-Won brings a versatility to this female lead role by being both tough and vulnerable. She also masters how to act more masculine when the body switch happens. Her cool behavior attracts multiple suitors the most unlikely of which is department store CEO Kim Joo-Won (Hyun Bin) who is drawn to Gil Ra-im despite the fact that he knows she is not the type of person that would be accepted in the elite social circles he and his family belong to. He masterfully adopts a more feminine attitude when they body switch and his slow transformation is believable. It is not hard to understand his fascination with Gil Ra-im and it is equally understanding how she would find him attractive for the security and protection his lifestyle offers.

spoiler 🚨 There are many likable characters in this drama and you want to see them all end up happy. It is uncomfortably amusing at times (like Bromance if you have ever seen it), there is suspense, romance, mystery and multiple plot twists. This is one of my favorites and should appeal to anyone looking for a unique drama.

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WOW, okay so this was my second drama that I ever watched (since I only got into this stuff recently). My first drama was City Hunter and boy, did I enjoy that one!!! So, after wanting to watch another drama, I was recommended Secret Garden.

Let me tell you, this is definitely a must watch. After watching City Hunter I had quite the expectations for dramas I'll see, and Secret Garden did the trick! At first, I really didn't get the hype at all. But then... what the heck! If I recall correctly, I was hooked from ep 1! The story is really great and you will LOVE the characters. The whole idea of switching-body-thing gives it a nice twist. The OST is great too. They have perfect songs for the funny moments and they have that perfect song for the crying moments (i.e. That Woman). I'm 99% sure you won't regret this one, trust me (and the other reviewers here)!

If you're looking for a rom-com, then watch Secret Garden. Overall, it's worth the watch:)

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cliche story but good acting and many funny episodes

Drama is full of cliches and story lines that we have seen 100000 times.
but it catches you anyway and is watchable because of hilarious turn of the story from 5 episode and really great acting from main characters.
after 1-2 episodes I was going drop it, because it seemed only cheep story full of cliches. I thought would skip few episodes and watch only Hyun Bin and then drop, but then it become really really funny and acting from ML (Hyun Bin is amazing as always) and FL was soo good, I couldn't drop it anymore.
also OSKA's part is really good too, this character is interesting, likable, funny and acting is great too.

as for story and characters - yes, ML is bad person, really bad, there were no reasons for FL to fall in love with him. But there were no reasons for ML to like FL too, let's be realistic, he looks like God, is reach and educated guy, in real life he wouldn't find anything common with girl like FL, and what is love if there is nothing common? and FL isn't beautiful, she is interesting type of girl, but not beautiful, not smart.

It's a typical Rich/beautiful guy falls for poor girl story that is so popular in Korea... but it has a realism anyway: people and especially men want something they can't have more and more. So this is the story how random girl made rich, beautiful, coldhearted guy fall for her by constantly refusing him, and it is actually realistic story.
At the beginning she was just unusual girl for him and he was interested. He was used to different type of girls and becomes intrigued, he was used to easily get everything/everyone he wants, but he couldn't get her so it made want her more. If she had go out with him, few dates and he would lost interest, because she really isn't someone so special. but she refused so long, that he really falls in love with her... and it is actually realistic...

P.S. many people critic ML... yes, even he isn't nice person, being rich and liking it isn't sin, it is his life from born, it's normal for him and why should he look at his life as something not right? we all have our usual life, are we rich or have friends, places we love... who would refuse from everything easily?

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i rarely like the show. i'm very picky and impatient so i can't stand situations where it stretches for too long. but Secret Garden was a big surprise. story, acting, cast, music... everything's perfect. there's funny and sad moments... so funny you can burst out from laughter and so sad that you're eyes get swollen.
yes, i really liked this drama, it can satisfy even a very picky person, such as me.
when i read that there was a body switch i thought "ah, every episode will be just confusions till the end, better not watch it". but then i watched few ep, and BooM i was totally surprised.
so, it is must watch drama. if you don't watch it you'll die. :D

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Secret Garden? AMAZING! I was hesitant about watching this drama at first because I thought the name Secret Garden sounded strange, but was I completely wrong alright!

The storyline is so creative, this drama has everything in it, it made me smile and laugh but it also made me cry so much! The acting is absolutely incredible, I love Hyun Bin so much! His acting was just so good, he's so talented. The chemistry between the two characters was good, and its so funny when the two are together. I was very pleased with the ending, unlike other dramas I have watched, however after watching it I could not get over this drama! Took me about a month for me to calm back down before I could watch any other dramas because I just kept watching Secret Garden MVs!

If you haven't watched this yet then please do. You will love it as much as I love it.

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If there is 1 hater it's me

Decided to leave a review, after realizing that of all the dramas I've watched over the years.... I still hate this one sincerely and completely. My disdain has never faded. Impressive. What made me such a hater? The acting was fine, it's the characters. The ML's intense classism and the FL's wet tissue-paper response to it just disgusted me. (I never made it to the end, though I think I was close.) Basically, he's established as a repulsive person who thinks being rich makes him a more valueable human being and more worthy of respect & dignity... and I could not like him. I didn't want the FL to feel inferior to him and I didn't want her attracted to him. I wanted her to toss him off a boat, miles from land, and laugh as he struggled to swim to shore.

Sorry if you like this one. But it's a "classic" so it has tons of lovers and positive notes. One detractor won't hurt anything ;)

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Unexpectedly, Secret Garden is quite entertaining. Sure, the story and the romance wasn't the best of the best, and the performances were so so, but still I can understand why this drama is so popular. First of all, the drama is about a rich, cynical CEO who meets a poor stand woman who gets his interest. Their lives get even more complicated, when they magically change bodies. Okay, the magic part wasn't that good. It was a little childish at first, but it had a not-that-great explanation in the end. And the body exchange was very entertaining the first time, but the second time was just uncomfortable. The main male character was very funny, due to his character, and in the end, that was the only thing supporting the drama. For me, the twenty episodes were a bit too much; the story could have easily finish at the sixteenth or the eighteenth episode, and still, it would have been as good, as the final episode was a quick wrap up, mixed up with a few concert songs, some flash backs and family life moments. So, 6 out of 10.

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