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High rating is a mystery even to me
Sadly, the modern ending made this a not something I'd.This was a SLOW burn romance with a good dose of feminism; Featuring strong ,determined, selfish & career focused women. In contrast, the men were ruled by thier emotions & overall seemed a bit dimwitted (clueless). The end is modern, not giving you the traditional happy ending, but hinting at the possibility the couples might be together. ( would be interested to see how others interpret the ending, as I'd like to be wrong !) However, the way I saw it, It was a cowardly, waffley "cop out". I found the lead female's character to be hard to warm up to & really it felt like she didn't know what she wanted. The whole " yes I want him & I want him to want & commit to me, but only if & when it fits into my mood & schedule, AND my goals are more important than he is !" , thing was just badly written character to me. I also found it odd that the female lead was too dense & could not see the obviousness of the male lead's interest. I did enjoy the series, but the female lead & the noncommittal ending put me off. I think what really impressed me what that this was a Netflix original. I hope they do more Korean dramas that we can view in the US
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A classic that might not age well for some
high rating is probably unjustified, but it was One of the first 3 dramas I ever watched. It made me fall in love with the genre. Time may not be kind to this drama as the clothes ARE going to be outdated, as are the many tropes & sensibilities. The tsundere male being demanding & over bearing while being a (Jane Austen's) Mr. Darcy type in many ways; I found it fun & didn't care about the possible masculine toxicity because it just doesn't bother me.I wasn't thrilled about the parental drama or the soul/body switching, but I over looked it as they didn't delve too far into the ramifications. Has a Happy ending.
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Sends mixed messages & feels like a long Lotte Duty Free advert
Lame & confusing drama with mixed messages is just one big Lotte Duty Free advertisement. The first guy (the master) tells her that she should look past what she can see (in other words looks don't matter) but in the end she & everyone else is happier with her wearing make up -and she now is spending alot more than her salary on clothes & make up. Then the boy who previously embarrassed her shows up & confesses to her & she accepts...what ???? nonsensical drivelWas this review helpful to you?
I wanted so much to love it but it fell short
Years ago I saw & loved the original Taiwanese version- & Highly anticipated a Korean version, especially with D.O. in a romantic role . As of this writing it is on Amazon Prime video [for purchase.] I dread saying it but to be brutally honest, [and honesty in this instance does feel brutal] It felt rushed , right from the start. The original version suffered from the same issue . There needed to be a sense that the leads were meeting over a few weeks , if not a few months to build a relationship. Another negative was that the camera gives you whiplash as it bounces back & forth around in different scenes (piano competition "duel" for instance) . Beautiful scenes lacked seamlessness making for a disjointed storyline. I blame the director & the editor for depriving us of perfection :PThat said; I will watch it again, good cast, lovely romance (even if it is too quickly started)
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One long joke . Stuffed with tropes, but Daniel Henney is in it
the only thing keeping this movie from a 1 star rating is Daniel Henney & the fact that they keep repeating Sweet Sorrow 's song "Tangdanghan Kunyoga Arumdada (Seducing Mr.Perfect OST)".
There is really too many of the typical tropes: getting drunk & doing karoke then mouthing off at the boss, the piggy back ride, the drunken kiss, the constant running into each other, the embarrassing moments. And though Henney really does his part, somehow the movie just doesn't work. It doesn't pull your heart strings or cause you to care.Maybe it's because the 2 leads don't have really any chemistry. But mostly I think alot of the fault lies in the way the characters are written.(& of course the tropes) The romantic happy ending is cut short & skips to a more modern one with Henney confessing to her family that he loves her, he just has no plans to marry her. Yeah, that pretty much puts him in the same category as all of June's former boyfriends...using her until they get tired of her. So everything she's learned about self respect is put aside
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Appealing cast & exhilarating race scenes
This was not my kinds of movie but I was curious because it had a cast that was appealing. The street racing was exhilarating and the group dynamic was tight, but ultimately the overall story was uninteresting to me. The violence was well done (intense & scary) ; but really, this was not a movie I was ever really going to enjoy so it was completely not enjoyable for me.Was this review helpful to you?
unmemorable
it's one of the first Asian movies I watched, back when I did not know that mydramalist existed, so all I wrote for notes is the rating. I remember the premise (it's the same as the American remake ) but this a better movie. I found the story sad. I enjoyed the dancing & the music. I especially like how there is not alot of chatter for filler, but it lets the story have quiet reflective or other quiet but powerful moments, something American films rarely do. I'm not partial to sad stories, & this was a one sided romance that wasn't going to go anywhere, so it really didn't appeal to meWas this review helpful to you?
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Attachment to who the people were in the past, not to who they are now
I liked this drama but1) if you watch it on DVD (official or otherwise) you will find that there are alot of English subtitles missing- like things are just not translated ( I know this because I speak a good bit of Korean!)
also;
I don't think the writers did a good job because they wrote a character that does a 180 degree turn about in how they treat a girl just because of her identity. (Yes, it's fiction, but honestly in fiction or in reality; Guys that are worth having treat ALL women with respect, not just the one they are crushing on !). The romance for me was a bit off because the attachment is to who the people were in the past & not in the present. it was sad that they were not attracted to each other for exactly who they were as a complete person in the present. The writer's somewhat redeem themselves by giving us a good happy ending where you can see the girl can be herself and the guy is fine with her not fussing too much about her looks, though, dang she could put a tiny bit of effort into it !
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unmemorable & maudlin
a seriously maudlin movie with horrible premise. The actors cry very well & do it until you join them. Not a light hearted or fun movie. The happy ending they serve is like melted icecream, something only a certain kind of person would enjoy. To say more would give you the impression that this is worth more words, or worth the time to come up with them & it's just notWas this review helpful to you?
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"fluffy" escapism but The amount of flashbacks can be disorienting
I have watched this 2 times, this is my first review 1/2020[update will follow this review]
I watched this because I read reviews that said it was light on the drama & a relatively easy going "fluffy" escapism series. now that I've seen it I have to agree. I rank it up there with Love Cuisine in the light hearted category, but not as "fluffy" as Love O2O , which I consider to be the ultimate easy going, no stress drama series! There are 4 negative things about Shopping King Louis that keep it from being a 10.
1) music: English is my first language , so the English songs were really, REALLY cringey, annoying, & embarrassing .
2) main couple plot stalls completely somewhere after episode 13 & suddenly the plots of most all the side characters are focused on (but alot were un resolved!). This diverted the momentum & the last episodes seemed to drag on.
3) unattractive eating: the characters stuffing their faces in messy way-disgusting, not cute.
4) the plot points you are most interested in are not satisfactorily resolved.(specifically the ending)
Rewatch value: I would/ will : & I bought it!
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2025 Updated Review:
Yes, the English songs DO still annoy me, especially when they are used at odd times for example: Sinatra's song My Way, was not appropriate for a memorandum montage for the character it was used .
The amount of flashbacks can be disorienting & sometimes I started an episode & wondered where it was in the time line as new episodes do not pick up where the last episode left off.
The last few episodes try WAY too hard to make connections for the lead couple . Sadly, though the end is sweet it doesn't leave you on an emotional high.
Seo In Guk is brilliantly engaging , they just didn't let him "evolve" enough/ Regardless , the leads are a delight & a treat to watch. Seo In Guk especially expresses himself extremely well.
read on if you want to read
****Spoilers*****
Louis hits his head an alarming number of times-it was like" ah let's have him hit his head & get back a few more memories ! [Yikes!] Yoon Sang Hyun, (the second male lead), starts out as the best second lead of any drama- recognizing that he is NOT "the One" before the leads figure out they are in love,& he seems to take it like a man & be on thier side until the writers decide they need more episodes, so they make him pathetic, goofy & hastily give him a female lead doppelganger for his very own at the end.[By the way, He CAN sing !!]
I could have stopped happily when the whole group was in Busan at the dock where emotions are high
WHO hit the burglar over the head with the hammer? & the burglar was not trying to hurt Louis, he was (should have been) looking for Louis' treasure box. Also, Louis never really seems to become an adult . Instead he comes across as a bit mentally challenged, like he's seems stuck in 6 year old mode,(though his body IS very manly & he does want to be intimate.) .There is a happy ending as there is a proposal "of sorts", but there is no grand romantic gesture or soaring romantic ending, just a quiet ah, isn't that cute moment.
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farcical plot that involves mocking traditions
attractive cast and beautiful scenery can't help this silly farcical plot that involves mocking traditions and mystical butterflies. The trailer didn't look bad , so I took a chance, but once watching, I found it so boring I fast forwarded through it.What more can I say? It's totally forgettable, but I'm sure there are many people who enjoy this kind of humor
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Cute & lighthearted series
Cute & lighthearted series wastes precious minutes on the band & the evil female singing, but over all was really nice.Unfortunate digestive joke in the beginning had me cringing as my culture does not find any humor in anything poop related. Tropes, but they are on the fluffy side such as people having intersected lives in their past that they didn't realize. Satisfying ending without any expression of affection .
On first viewing I gave it 7/10
it could have been better but it was short & sweet at least & not long & drawn out painfully putting us through the wringer
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I rewatched this 5 months after my first viewing. & would rate it a 7.5 on second viewingthough male lead keeps this at a solid 9.
I saw a trailer on youtube & it looked good, but I had already dropped the "parent" drama : "NO Love No gain" ( too raunchy for me ) so I was hesitant to take a chance on this.
It IS "spicey", with bedroom settings, shirtless & lingerie moments, but it isn't sexually serious. It was way more fun, cute AND romantic than what little I saw of No Love no gain. I could do without the alpha female lead trope though .The ending could have been fleshed out better as the female lead seems quite confused about who exactly it is that she likes.( a real guy or a composite of traits ?) But taken as fantasy, don't try to over think it or the lack of explanation as to why the hater did what he did will leave you hanging with questions.
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breezy enjoyable no stress micro mini series.
I had to really hunt to find this & wondered if it was worth the effort, (it was 9 years old when I watched it) ! Happily, this holds up surprisingly well & does not seem to be dated (no pun intended since it's set in the Josen period!). I'm not super fond of the female lead but they didn't try to make her the typical female lead, so I think the result was that she was a good fit for the part. This could have been longer & way more serious, with easily more drama, but as it stands, it's a breezy enjoyable no stress micro mini series. Perfect for when you don't want to deal with too much drama or invest too much emotion, but simply smile your way through (for the most part) Everything is resolved quickly & they fast forward through the passage of time ,which is refreshing-something you wish other dramas would imitate ! tidy happy ending showing why it's happy, was a nice touch. I'll definitely rewatchWas this review helpful to you?
similar premise to the Korean drama "I am not a Robot but leads lack chemistry
this has a similar premise to the Korean drama "I am not a Robot". It was a short bit of fluff entertainment . The length constricted it so that it felt rushed & somewhat incomplete. There frequently were blurry images used & it lowered the quality of viewing. The female lead's character was shallow, so not really appealing & her switch to caring did not seem genuine. There seemed to be cultural & language difference that really were a big issue, especially for a real relationship, but it was glossed over. Both leads were rather selfish at heart. Also, they had no chemistryWas this review helpful to you?
