First let me talk about the plot. I know many people have issues with the body swap trope, but I loved it. It moved the romance along in a quick and organic way while adding humor to an otherwise sometimes slow plot. The swaps were silly and cute. I'll never forget how confused they both were or Joo Won's constant consternation about Ra Im's love for OSKA while trapped in his body. The times the plot was slow were fitting and beautiful though. The romance was built up slowly and naturally. I believed their love story fully. It was so refreshing to see JooWon be the one that head over heels for Ra Im. So often the girl pines after our male drama lead for the entire show until he grows an emotion and admits his love, but not Joo Won. Joo Won was smitten. Remembering it makes me happy. His silly antics and ridiculous posturing (the tracksuits and situps and distraction poem) were all so cute and endearing. Even the love triangle was less annoying than the usual fair. The plot, for all its twists and turns and random supernatural rules, was cute and straightforward. They love each other. It's that simple.
As for the characters what more can I say? Gil Ra Im was nothing short of amazing. She is a total badass but also very feminine and vulnerable. Perhaps my favorite thing about her is how focused she is on her career aspirations throughout the entire drama. She wants to achieve greatness in her field, to prove to Jong Soo that she is a stunt woman in her own right. And she succeeds. She is damn good at her job and everyone but her knew it all along. I also love how this is one of the major reasons Joo Won loves her. He is not intimidated by her in any way. He thinks shes fantastic despite her rough edges. Speaking of Joo Won I love how imperfect he is. He has it all yet he's bored and broken inside. While Ra Im definitely helps him through it all, in the end he takes care of his own issues. He overcomes his pain and trauma on his own and it shows his personal growth through his love for Ra Im. They both grow so much throughout the show and it's all due to their love for each other. Of course no discussion of Secret Garden is complete without OSKA. What a ridiculous human being. I love him. Any time the plot got slow or the romance seemed about to fizzle out Woo Yeong came to the rescue. The way he antagonized Joo Won and craved Ra Im's approval was so great. The fact that the body swap had the funniest effects on him also helped with his personality development; he went from hopeless washed up pop star to supportive family member and hardworking idol. His love interest and tortured history with her also added to his character as he became more than just a gag character. He was perhaps the most well rounded character on the show.
The side characters were also a great addition to the show as a whole. Yoo In Na is my favorite actress in dramaland. Knowing her better now than I did when I watched Secret Garden I really appreciate how great this role was for her career. She was her usual sweet self and i loved how excentric Ah Young was. Phillip Lee was also a huge win on this show. He was broody and moody and his hair was pantene commercial worthy. His character acted as the third of our love triangle but not even that could ruin him for me. As one final note let's talk about Tae Seon. First of all good on Secret Garden for making a gay character that was more than his sexuality (or for making a gay character at all. Korea is notoriously bad with gay anything so this was huge). Second can we talk about how cute he was?? Lee Jong Suk really played this character so well. I cried for Tae Seon but was also so happy for him.
Overall Secret Garden was a great experience for me. The show is the reason I continued to watch kdramas and I'm so happy I saw it. It is one of only two shows that has a perfect 10 rating from me and it deserves every bit of it. The show is a kdrama classic and it truly deserves the title.
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what I loved about this drama is the solid cast and their performances, the lead actress is a surprising lead, you don't expect to see such a female character in K Drama, not appealing nor eye candy nor weak and vulnerable.
Hyun Bin as a lead was a brilliant choice, he played the character so well that I loved all of his scenes, every other cast member was outstanding as well.
the story is fun, heartwarming and heartbreaking as well, it remained attractive and had some unexpected twists, especially in terms of "Progression" of relationship between the lead couple and Hyun Bin and his cousin, the singer.
I don't care for the lead actress Ha Ji Won that much but she won me over.
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This review may contain spoilers
Secret Garden is my not so secret pleasure
I watched this when it was released back in 2011 and even though ten freaking years have passed, I still go back to rewatch this gem whenever I miss Hyun Bin (and Ha Ji Won).This drama is a must watch because:
- Hyun Bin - enough said. He’s a dream!
- Ha Ji Won - she’s a great female lead / actress.
- the sizzling chemistry that feels so good and feels so real
- swoony Hyun Bin - in the drama, he is so cute and handsome and funny - love!
- the story is fantastical and yet believable
- the supporting cast is great
- the music is so well composed and lovely to listen to
- rewatchable and one of the best ‘classic’ k dramas out there
The part that I didn’t like:
- male lead’s mother is crazy
This drama is wonderful! I love it. I love the leads! I love Hyun Bin!
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Hyun Bin who played Kim Joo Won was convincing even when the actions called for the switch of a female. It was hard for me to watch BUT I laughed! But the best part about this young actor is that he can also sing besides acting. I researched him as I do other artists. My favorite song by Hyun Bin is "That Man". The song that played throughout the Kdrama was his singing except for once or twice it was a female singing it.
The storyline is cute and I laugh so hard for the first 3 episodes I thank the writers and the Secret Garden team which consists of the cast and everyone else. Watching this for the 5th time, I now get it. I'm happy with the ending. I don't know where my mind was when viewing this... but I get it.
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This show is brilliantly written...it is soo funny even b4 the body swap and after it just becomes awesome. Atleast the first 15 episodes u will die of laughter and lust.
The leads share incredible chemistry...like ufffff...:) and the bromance is amazing too.
For me, there are a few slow moments like the long walks and the day dreaming which is why I deducted half a star....but that is nothing...first watch u won't even notice it!
I love the writer of the show Kim Eun so much bcoz she has written some really gr8 stuff....and here too the characters are soo fun to watch..
Yumm show but after it ends be prepared for a hangover...Hyun Bin one...
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This review may contain spoilers
The ultimate classic
Ah, where to begin..? I have a lot of feelings about Secret Garden. Rewatching after ten years, however, made some of these feelings conflicting.First of all, the cast is amazing! Hyun Bin, Ha Ji Won, Kim Sa Rang, Yoon Sang Hyun, and even a guest appearance of my love, Lee Joon Hyuk. I adore every single one of them!
Their portrayal of the characters is real and relatable. While I love Kim Joo Won and Gil Ra Im, it is Oska and Yoon Seul who own my heart. Both times rewatching, they were my favorite plot line. Sure, the main plot is hilarious and dramatic and sweet, but it is Oska and Seul that I can relate to. Especially Yoon Seul, I adore her. When I first watched Secret Garden ten years ago, I was going through a tough time and her character actually helped me through it. And Oska is honestly the heart of the show.
The main pairing however, during my latest rewatch, made me a bit uncomfortable at times. I know it is normal in Kdramas for the men to drag the women around by their arms and yell at them for weird reasons, but somehow, Joo Won is on a whole other level. Especially the various scenes of him pushing her on some bed (and the one where he tries to break into her hotel room) had me shift uncomfortably in my seat. (Also, that really long forced kiss that she keeps hitting him during.) I guess the fact that Ra Im could throw Joo Won on his back and break his arm within seconds if she really wanted to, was somewhat consoling, but that doesn't mean I was a fan of those scenes.
The plot has some amazing climaxes and plot twists but it also has parts (entire episodes) where it really drags. I think the first switching should've happened sooner. Otherwise, some people (my sister) could already loose interest before it happens. Furthermore, the conversations between Joo Won and Ra Im and with Joo Won's mother felt quite repetitive after a while. In episode 17, the writers really redeemed themselves with a great creative plot twist but then I think they should've gone all the way with it or at least dragged it out. Instead, they introduce YET ANOTHER dramatic development and continue the same conversations with the mother. ugh
Despite these plot weaknesses and a basic lack of 'no-means-no', Secret Garden knows how to touch you in those moments when the plot is at a high. There are a lot of really emotional scenes that always touch me deeply and make me cry like a baby. Also, despite their flaws, you continue to root for the characters and suffer along every step with them. The emotions, of course, are intensified by the amazingly beautiful OST.
Secret Garden is definitely not the most eloquent drama out there, but you will scream laughing and cry your eyes out, plus it is the ultimate classic, brought to life by an outstanding cast. So, yes, you should definitely watch it.
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Trust me u will not regret it if u watch it.
This drama has everything the chemistry between main leads, and i think that is why this drama was soo populer.
acting\ Ha ji won was great as always, and Hyun bin was great too, everyone in this drama, was wonderfull, that is what make this drama great.
music\ This drama had the best OST, the best.
Rewatch\ I think i rewatch it every 3 months.
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This review may contain spoilers
I watched this show because I'd heard such wonderful things about it, I'm going to talk about what I liked and what I didn't like in each category.The story for me started out very well, episodes 1 to 6 were excellent, well executed and snappy. The premise is your standard rich man poor woman push and pull courtship. The male lead was suitably arrogant, pushy, selfish and self important (a very special mention to Hyun Bin for his excellent acting and portrayal of this character ) and the female lead was super indifferent, as you do. After episode 6 the drama dragged a bit and went around in circles, the story was established but there was no forward movement in terms of plot, and I must admit I lost interest and watched a few episodes of another drama.
Show picked up again at episode 13 where the female lead Gil Ra Im had a breakthrough and I finally got a dose of good acting from her, It felt as though she had slowly been warming up to her role and was finally comfortable with it. Her confession in episode 14 was amazingly done but to me it felt as though it came from nowhere, in the sense that her acting up to this point was not nuanced enough to convey a reluctant attraction for Joo Won, because I just got reluctance period.
The soul swapping premise was comedic for the most part, but I found the character consistency went out the window, especially the first time they swapped.
Thereafter the story suddenly took a sharp turn into melodramaland with a lot of crying, tragic overtones and fantasy magic tropes. This actually ruined the show for me as I think it would have been better if they'd actually kept it a fantasy romance, one scene was particularly depressing for me and that's the scene where Kim Joo Won with Gil Ra Im in his lap, drives off into a dark and stormy horizon framed by a barren landscape; this took the show into makjang territory.
I don't normally like my romances and love stories to go so dark unless that is the clear premise at the beginning of the story, and in Secret Garden I got the definite sense that Kim Joo Won entered this dark and gloomy place when he fell in love with Gil Ra Im, isn't love supposed to be joyful and light? there was something heavy about this one.
In contrast I found the relationship between Oska and Seul more compelling than the main couple's, in the sense that It felt more real.
The casting was good for the most part. Hyun Bin is a good actor but I didn't enjoy him in this role. Ha Ji Won in my opinion was all wrong for this role, she was wooden and lacked nuance. the chemistry between the two leads was sadly lacking as well.
I loved the rest of the cast especially Yoon Sang Hyun as Oska and Kim Sa Rang as Yoon Seul, these two were great especially Oska, I loved everything about him.
The music was emotive, I liked it.
Rewatch value for me is very low, I've put it at 4; the show lacked special moments that I would go back and rewatch.
I've given it a 6.5 overall, In my opinion this show is over hyped and overrated, but still watchable for the posterity factor.
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I'm giving this 10/10, because probably this is the best drama that Hallyu produced up until like June 2013. There are of course a lot of cliches & the first 5-6 episodes are a bit boring, but from the first gender bender moment onward this was quite awesome. Typically I REALLY do not like gender bender, I think this is the second time after the anime movie "Your Name" where I had good time watching this genre. All the couples had great chemistry & the comedy was spot on too. The typical plot devices used in dramas to ruin everything for the characters were only very lightly used, which is very unusual for an older drama. I can get on board with the "main complication" that the plot had. The ending was quite long and satisfying, even the amnesia part was quite amusing. Also it was very nice that there were no annoying love triangles, or pentagons here, not really anyway. Luckily the token love interest director-nim did not have much screen time, or success. The cast was pretty good, even the evil ajumma mother was tolerable.
No kdrama fan should miss this, it's probably a huge contributor to the korean wave & it's worlds better than shows like "My Girl 2005" and "Boys Over Flowers".
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This review may contain spoilers
Honestly, i dont know where to start.Although this drama doesn't score an overall 10 from everyones ratings heres exactly why i scored it 10.
This drama is like a pioneer to many other dramas your typical love story kdrama and is considered a "classic" amongst bof and dramas that came out in that generation. Of course in our generation now we have DOTS and Goblin etc.
Why i gave this drama a perfect score?
Of course the drama wasn't perfect and there are many dramas out there where the story and everything was on point but emotions are heavily portrayed by the audience in this drama. There are many people who watched this drama when it first came out and it could've been considered the best then, the feeling of nostalgia when watching this could also correlate to everything that you experienced at that time. I am actually writing this review after rewatching it after 3 years . All the memories i had of what went on in 2013-2014 (i watched it then ) in my life and all those aspects are brought back while watching this drama, "omg life was so carefree back then, i got to do this and that without having to stress about school" feelings like that are brought back to you. I would understand if the people who just watched this gave it a decent score cos being honest if i only watched this drama now i might not have been able to give it a high rating comparing to the work they're putting it now. However this drama is considered timeless in my opinion (even getting to see Jong Suk's cute role before the fame hahahahaha)and thats what makes the rewatch value so high.
Hyun Bin, honestly theres not words to describe him i absolutely love him and in this drama his acting pulled off very well. Theres nothing to dislike about this man i must have explored all his dramas and movies after watching this drama of his through the body swap and all his acting was perfect. Especially the sad parts in this drama *not spoiling* i couldn't grasp myself and tears fell out, even after rewatching i think i even cried even more heavily after watching the scene at the end of episode 18 after all these years of boasting to my friends that i have become a man now, i crumble right infront of them LMAO. The secretaries and Ha Ji Won and especially Oska to all of them the cast was so cute and funny and loved their acting also <3
Overall;
I don't want to get too carried away but honestly if i had to describe this drama to myself, it'd be heartwarming i decided to rewatch this after going through a heavy period of depression and it honestly cheers me up so much especially Oska's role absolutely perfect for that. Missing the days of being able to play around and my childhood and bare in mind im only 17 now through this review im hoping there are a lot of people going through a hard time and could relate to how i feel when i watch this drama.
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