A fair and thoughtful drama. Entertaining yet serious about health challenges.
As a romance this is a good, middle of the road non-melodrama, no serious disparity between the classes. And delves into some interesting topics we each encounter in modern life.Not taking time to properly discern our health due to lack of time, work stress, personal image etc. And while it seems this is all related to the main two persons - it actually encompasses everyone in the story. So that is actually very good. In fact I was personally impressed with how well and nonthreatening the subject of excess weight was approached. To very honest, it made an impact on my own view of my health image. So there are many things to like and engage with in this drama. The challenge of improving one's health in the face of what is possible to change by attention. And also the almost impossible challenge of a devastating illness for which you have no control and can only try to face with technology and state of art medical procedures.
What I didn't like was the so-called bravado of "Venus" who seems to have lost grip on reality. She is no longer the queen of beauty in high school and has no presence whatever. She's overweight, dressed badly and has no concept of the danger of declining health. Granted this is where the story takes us and makes a tale of encounter that is quite unbelievable. But that is what KDramas are good at. The other things I didn't like were choice of actors in some supporting roles. But the most annoying thing was, too many popular English songs in the soundtrack. What a bore!
Still, how the story plays out is very heartwarming and suitable even satisfactory. So feel free to watch and have fun in your own way. My taste is not yours. But, Shin Min Ah and So Ji Sub eat up their roles and make this fairly compelling.
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AKA: Fated to Love You (can we agree on the name for this Korean version please?)
With all the visuals of the "generation 2 idols" it's gonna look different - even though the year is 2014. But this drama has a lot of heart. And from the very start, we meet some familiar characters: the young choenoble who needs to marry and help safeguard the future of a conglomerate and a happy, sweet but not smart poor girl who everyone takes for granted. Here ends the often seen roles of many kdramas. For you have now met two very well written and enduring characters that will deliver one of the best stories to warm your heart and become your imaginary friends.Fated To Love You is often referred to but has never garnered the kind of hype many other (undeserving) dramas have. Yes there will be a lot of meddling, misunderstanding and missed opportunities. But everyone you meet will grow on you. And you will come to love them like your own family (foibles and all).
The story is fun and remains quite humorous throughout. But that doesn't mean your heart won't ache or break as time goes by. Everyone important to you will develop and grow but will they ultimately make the right choices. Why not watch and become friends with these characters? I am glad I did. I never thought I'd meet such likably sweet and wonderfully sincere characters outside "the classics" in literature.
Definitely 10 stars!!
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Mature, intelligent and entertaining, even if it's a contract marriage story.
This drama gets a full, unapologetic rating of TEN stars. With the exception of 2 KDrama tropes, most of the "expected usuals" were put aside for an intriguing, funny, heartwarming, and romantically mature series. Much more grown up a drama than one is accustomed to find as the norm in Romance Kdramas.Released in 2016, it is a totally fresh twist of telling a story about the conglomerate family heir and all that's expected of him. There is no lacking, mousy low-income girl facing off against the rich guy who needs to intimate her. And there is no silly emotionally immature behavior between these young adults.
Our "heir apparent" Lee Jae In is worldly, cold, and focused on his own goals; he's had many shallow dating relationships. Kim DaDa is our female lead from a middle-class family and has no debt to hinder her life choices or make her the least bit desperate; she's fully aware of herself and is comfortable bing who she is. In a word, she can hold her ground intellectually. She certainly has more depth of personality than you expect when you first meet her because she is such a kind person.
Ha Seok Jin and Jun So Min are the two actors in our lead roles: I've never seen them before in my almost 200 dramas. Neither is fabulously handsome, but they are utterly convincing and likable from the first episode. In the many supporting roles and many actors with very familiar faces and they all do such a great job that this drama lacks nothing in its story telling and has no "slow episodes" either.
The plot surrounds how the lead couple enter into a contractual relationship due to the interference of the retired conglomerate Chairman, who is also Jae In's grandfather. It's a stoke of forward thinking and wisdom on his part and how this spark unfolds is where this series shines above many of the usual dramas we've come to know.
The only failing I could find in this production was the OST; it's a bit mediocre with reliance on a few boring "Western" pieces. The Korean language ballads are however, beautiful and suit the scenes very well.
I do HIGHLY RECOMMEND this drama. Why it isn't as popular is a bit of mystery. But maybe it's because of marketing budgets. The quality of the costumes and cinematography are above average but not exceptional but isn't necessary for your entertainment.
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This review may contain spoilers
A journey I choose not to take
The Writers made it the personality types of FL (Han Ji Won) and FM (Ji Sung) exceedingly clear in the first 3 episodes. This marriage was and will likely remain, an ill-fated relationship. Happy, pleasing personalities lose their spark and live in ways that make them miserable. One is too trusting and kind but has no idea how to make himself or his situation happy. The other is manipulative and aggressive to the point of extreme bursts of rage and physical abuse. As both of these actors are so good at portraying their roles - and its exactly as the writers wish - what is broken about them can only be fixed with the choice made by the ML to change his destiny. Everything from that point will make no sense no matter the context. SPOILER: when he wakes us with a new wife, he has no idea who she really is as a person. He only knows his problems are fixed. His problem is he has never learned how to be anything more than a "doormat" and therefore has no self-preservation skills...ONLY immature selfishness. HOW DOES this make for a worthwhile drama?? It's a long journey I choose NOT TO TAKE. Ultimately, they will find happiness, but it will be an absolute quagmire and too many episodes to get there.Was this review helpful to you?
