Bride of the Century

Ghostly melodrama with some romance thrown in

There was so much to like about this show:
1) Yang Jin Sung playing dual roles of Jang Yi Kyung and Na Noo Rim. She was wonderful, especially since the characters were TOTALLY different. Her coldness as Yi Kyung could actually give a person frostbite! Then she was so bubbly as Noo Rim.
2) Lee Hong Ki as Choi Kang Joo. I don't think this role was a serious stretch to his acting chops, but he did well going from the uptight, cold chaebol to the sweet man he was with Noo Rim.
3) The romance between the leads was fun to watch. I liked their initial aversion to each other and how it slowly changed.
4) I love Park Kin Joo in everything I've seen her in. Here, she played Noo Rim's friend Jin Joo and she's just got that precious, elfin look about her that draws you to her.
5) Overall, I thought the actors did a great job.
6) The storyline, with the added ghost story twist, was well thought out, with lots of twists and turns to keep you interested.
7) The music was lovely. I was also impressed that Lee Hong Ki did one of the songs. It was a heartfelt song that really grabs you emotionally.
What I didn't care for:
1) Noo Rim changed from someone that believes in herself and stands up for what she believes in to a scared, runaway woman.
2) Too many bad guys! Each person was more evil than the last. Plus, though there were natural consequences for their actions, none of those consequences helped the couple at all, that's for sure! Also, they had information on things that these bad people had done and didn't go to the police?
3) Not enough time of seeing the couple together. They were actually together for just a brief period of time, which made their breakup doubly irritating. First, do you love each other or not? Are you not willing to fight for your relationship? Plus, I didn't think their breakup was realistic because breaking up just so no one else will be unhappy is a cop out.
4) The ghost story aspect was woven through the episodes and then resolved in a very rushed fashion. It felt like the writers realized they were getting to the end of the show and had to squeeze it in.
5) The ending was so unsatisfying for me. I loved how he continued to look for her. I felt that her keeping herself from him was unfair to him (not going to say more due to spoiler). But, after them being apart for so much of the entire show, when we got to the end and they are walking in a garden and talking about a tree? I wanted/expected more romance.
So, I'd say it's a good show to watch for the acting/writing/music as long as you are okay with a lot of angst and not very much romance.

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Ok, so I went into this drama with quite low expectations, why? you might ask; because even though it has an overall rating of 8, I had read some reviews and comments beforehand and they kind of put me off. Moral of the story: try not to read reviews before watching a show because it will definitely colour your experience.

I'm so glad I went ahead and watched this anyway. This drama's plot has the potential to be a complete disaster, what with the fantasy and supernatural elements, the arranged marriage, a family curse, a ghost, reincarnation, people literally losing their mind, attempted murder, attempted suicide, secrets, you name the trope, it is probably there.
This drama does something unique with this mixed bag of themes, it weaves them into this wonderful story about finding love, fated love, good overcoming evil, good being rewarded and evil being punished, past mistakes and sins being addressed in the present day, and true, genuine love being the overriding key to peace and real happiness.
The story also has a strong female perspective as all the plot drivers good or evil are female.

I have a small criticism about the ending of the drama, I don't like the way they handled the baby issue; while Doo Rim is away, it is implied that she and Kang Ju are still 'together' spiritually and emotionally if not physically, so why then would she not tell him that she's having his baby? ( this is a game and life changing event for goodness sake!!!) and then for him to have no visible reaction to the discovery that he has a baby? this was weird and unrealistic.

The cast is very good and well placed, special mention must go to Yang Jin Sung who plays the roles of Na Doo Rim and Jang Yi Kyung to perfection, she is super believable as both characters.
Lee Hong Ki also does a most credible job, at first I thought his baby face wouldn't work with the character but he managed to pull it off very well. The two of them make a cute and very grounded OTP, I was very impressed.
The supporting cast is excellent, the two scheming mothers were initially teeth grindingly annoying, but later on there is sufficient character evolution characterised by remorse and mental anguish.
The second male lead is a bit meh, but is necessary to the plot.
Ghost lady is very entertaining and serves a narrative and guiding purpose in the whole story.
I must also mention that this is the first time I've seen such a good relationship between a chaebol prince and his father, Kang Ju's dad is simply adorable.

The music is good, there are some catchy songs, which do a great job of setting the right mood.

I'm not one for rewatching dramas like this one simply because it was rather suspenseful, so once I know the answers to the mystery I don't really need to watch again.

Overall score is 8.5
It is a good, solid and unique drama which is skilfully directed.

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Story-----Okay so i was very suprised that this drama got me hooked at the very first episode!For me it doesn't happend often so i was so so happy that this happend after such a long time!I give the writer a big applause because he/she did amazing job!The story was well thought and everything went together like puzzle!The mystery and romance and all together was amazing..I was also happy that there wasn't any big romance triangle since that wasn't the 'drama' in this series!You know i hate love triangles so i was glad i didn't saw that here!I love the ending the most because not lot of k-dramas show us how the character's developed in future but this...aahah it melt my heart and i was jumping up and down from the cuteness!

Acting----This was absolutely amazing for me..Lee Hong Ki already had role in acting in past but finally he got main role!I was so so dissapointed when i saw him as Jeremy in You're becautiful because for me they didn't show his acting talent!The chemistry in this drama was so crazilly amazing that i was watching it with open mouth!Don't argue with me i think i'm right!If not i wouldn't be even writing this!^_^

Music----The music was awesome and it just fit so much in the scenes that i had to download whole OST album to my phone and i listen it till now!

Rewatch value----I already rewatched it so many times!It just so amazing and sweet that u can't stop!I love pure love and true love and this show proved it to me!So i give 10/10!You should rewatch it lot of time so you will never forget it!You can also learn from their story!

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Bride of the Century (2014) - this is one of my recommended dramas, I think it is good for beginners as well. What I like about this drama is that I don't know the female lead and I like her so much. Lee Hongki as the main male lead isn’t bad either. I think that since it revolves around romantic comedy, with fantasy genre and how they executed the romance, I was into it and I felt the chemistry of the leads. It has its own revelations that shooked my core, and I was not really expecting the twist at all, since I did not really have an expectation of the drama in the first place. I became attached as to how it would evolve. The drama turned out really well for me as a watcher, and I did rewatch this one maybe about 3 times. I’m happy with this drama.

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Just, wow. It has honestly taken me almost a year to watch this drama, mostly because I kept putting it off & such. To most people, it would seem like this drama was boring that I didn't want to finish it sooner. However it was not the case for me because the only reason I made myself take so long to finish this drama is because of the parts that involved the ghost, hahaha. I actually got scared, that I just didn't want to face those scenes! But I got through, & overall this drama had a lovely + interesting storyline. The acting from everybody was very well done & was portrayed very well. In that case, this drama deserves a full five stars. :) Great job to everyone involved!! ^-^

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Serie che sono riuscita ad apprezzare non poco, a modo suo. Diversa dai drama recenti, del resto risale a una decade fa, mi ha ricordato per certi versi serie romantiche come "The King - 2 hearts" (anche questa dello stesso periodo, sebbene punta di diamante in confronto). Riprese, angolazioni, scenografia, sceneggiatura... Hanno un sapore diverso rispetto alle serie odierne, ma non mi sentire di definirle migliori o peggiori. Diverse, con i loro pro e i loro contro. La commedia propone temi abbastanza classici, tra i quali la fanciulla povera che incontrerà il ricco rampollo, piuttosto che la questione dell'identità nascosta (ho poco apprezzato l'idea di due sosia identiche non consanguinee, situazione già riscontrata nel drama cinese "She who is dangerous to me" e anche lì risultata al pari di una nota stonata). Molte le scene tra i protagonisti, siparietti classici dove però, a differenza di produzioni più recenti, la capacità di coinvolgere ed emozionare è ben presente. Bravissima l'attrice protagonista, capace di offrire contemporaneamente due ritratti diametralmente opposti: quello della ragazza ricca, cinica e viziata e quello della giovane schietta ma di buon cuore, povera ma con una propria dignità e valori morali. Il protagonista passabile, ma non incisivo al massimo, soprattutto nella seconda metà della serie l'ho visto un po' ingessato nella recitazione (del resto se fatto il paragone con The King 2 hearts, lì c'era un formidabile Lee Seung Gi che catalizzava l'attenzione al pari di un magnete... Prestazione difficile da eguagliare). In conclusione, una visione che consiglio, perchè piacevole e perchè offre una boccata d'aria diversa dal solito che aiuta ad staccare dalle serie fatte con lo stampino.

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