Isinuyasha

I disliked Goblin and DOTS and I disliked this one as well, for the same reasons (maybe because it's the same writer and director in all three). It's really lovely to look at and has a wonderful production-value, both in casting and cinematography. But the plot just seems lackluster after the first half. For all three shows, at least to me. All three felt slightly aimless after a while, as if the shows didn't know what story they wanted to tell. The characters are great though, so you could still give it a try. Sadly, I just forced myself through the last few episodes, personally, but that could just be my personal taste. Still, not the worst drama I've watched.

This was absolutely lovely and will be on my "Re-Watch" List! If you want a sweet, funny, romantic and fluffy drama: This is it! There's nothing overly dramatic happening, which I don't see as a flaw, because the less annyoing drama (by which I mean, drama that could be resolved if protagonists would simply TALK), the more I want to rewatch a drama. It's nothing groundbreaking or awe-inspiring but it gave me butterflies and made me smile happily on my daily commute. Would recommend this, if you're feeling down!

This may very well be a unpopular opinion but I didn't really enjoy this drama. Personally, for me, it suffers from the same fate as Goblin and DOTS, which, ironically, are all from the same director and screenwriter . All three dramas have something in common: They have a crazy production value. They're visually impressive, the cinematography is awe-inspiring, the cast is grand and the topics seem deep and meaningful at first glance. All three feel aimless, though, as if they're loosing their essence throughout the course of the drama itself. What is the message of the drama? The beginning was great, it felt as if people could really change something if they put their mind and heart to it. The characters where great! Eugene, Ae-Sin, Gu Dong Mae, Kudo Hina and Hui-song...even Kyle Moore! They were all SUCH interesting characters. Somewhere in the middle though, they all lost most of their spark and became empty husks, despite the immense potential they had (Gu Dong-Mae could have so much interesting screentime, about his identity crisis, his subordinates etc. ... but it all went to waste for his obsession with Ae-Sin that's hard to understand). We all know that around 1910 the Japanese take over Korea, so we basically know how this drama will end from the beginning, but the first half definitely managed to inspire me to hope. The second half felt lackluster though. At first I was hesitant to watch this drama because of the age differnce of the leads (20 years), and I mentioned this in a comment here on dramalist but ppl were quick to reassure me that the romance is very innocent. And it truly was, to the point where it was sometimes hard to understand their love at all. Especially near the end it felt like a constant back and forth that was very tiring and didn't feel worth the effort.

All in all it was an okay drama, wonderful to look at, very emotional and interesting to see how Korea changed/adapted between Joseon and the Japanese Occupation era and how it tried to keep its identity. The cast was brilliant, especially Lee Byung-Hun was absolutely amazing in his role, he portrayed the serious yet sometimes clumsy/awkward soldier perfectly. Still, I probably wouldn't have finished it, if I didn't watch it on Netflix during my daily commute. I forced myself to watch the last few episodes and didn't feel much afterwards. If you liked Goblin and DOTS, you will probably enjoy this one as well. It's just not for me, I guess.

You mean Boys Love? No, not in this drama.

Looks like the movie "On Your Wedding Day" with Park Bo-Young and Kim Young-Kwang :)

It does :)

I gave this drama 9.5 stars...which may seem too much, as I've given way more impressive dramas like Goblin or DOTS less stars. BUT, let me explain. This is a perfect feel-good drama to me, with an incredibly high re-watch factor (which is important to me. Just because a drama was impressive, doesn't necessarily mean I'd watch it twice).
The story isn't anything unusual or groundbreaking but I was very much impressed with the characters and their actions. I've watched my fair share of dramas and there are some things we, as watchers, just know, like...oh so the couple is happy around the EP. 10 mark? Shit will hit then fan soon. Oh, the evil second lead pretends to be good to the female protagonist? The latter will totally fall for it.
This drama does nothing of the sort. The protagonist is strong in her own way. While she's the victim of bullying, she stays true to her line in the first episode "I was bullied but I always stood up for myself". It is so unbelievably refreshing to have a male lead that sees behind the mask of a typical "evil"-female from the very beginning, without any doubts. It is also refreshing to have a female lead who stands up for herself and ACTUALLY thinks about stuff for a second. I had to laugh out loud repeatedly when the female lead said "Do they think I'm dumb?" because many female leads are exactly that, or at least act that way. I am very thankful for the writers of this show for giving the characters a brain. The actors for being cute, entertaining, funny and real. The show did a fabulous job of entertainming me for 16 episodes straight, without getting boring in the middle or having weird misunderstandings that reduce the re-watch factor. Thanks for all the cute bits that made me smile and actually have butterflies, despite thinking I've seen too many dramas to still enjoy their innocent skinship. I didn't give this 9.5 stars because it's a masterpiece. I gave it 9.5 stars because it made me happy, all the way from episode 1 to 16.

I loved this drama, so much, absolutely would re-watch! But...what were those kisses. Are we sure Zheng Shuang's soul didn't leave her body?
How can one behave like a dead fish with Yang Yang kissing you like there's not tomorrow... I mean, that's actually impressive, to withstand such passion. The only thing I didn't enjoy about this drama.

I thought I'd be sick of this story by now, having seen it in so many versions (often not done all that well) but I really like this one. They changed enough of the original plot to make it feel new, but it also doesn't feel as overly dramatic as the Korean one for example, or as empty/anime-esque as the Japanese version. While nostalgia might make me compare it all lot to the other versions, I appreciate the modern spin they put on it. Some parts were draggy and repetitive but mostly I enjoyed it. It's not a masterpiece, but light- and warmhearted enough to make it a pleasant watch, especially if you have Netflix and watch it on the commute to work, as I do.

I also noticed that the in-depth reviews on this page give this show quite a low rating. All I can say is...what did ppl expect? We know this story, we know which twists and turns to expect, we know it hasn't been the most original story for years and that it's full of cliches. I mean, this story emerged in 1992 (it's over 25 years old!) and has been done in various TV versions... I think there are worse remakes out there, so I still stand by my opinion. It's not a masterpiece, but it does its job at entertaining me. Also, I'm grateful for the changes they did (SPOILER: like leaving out the stupid amnesia plot for example)

EDIT: Although, I must say, what made me laugh the most in this show were probably the OH SO SUBTLE product placements... they are literally hilarious. Oh, we need a serious diversion? WHAT SHALL WE DO? Oh, yes, let's take a bath while wearing a suit and washing your hair with this GREAT SHAMPOO!

Wonderful drama, from start to finish, can recommend this to people who enjoyed similar ones like "Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms" etc. Only problem I have with it is that chinese dramas tend to rush their endings quite bit.
SPOILER AHEAD!!!: While this has a very happy and satisfying ending, the fact that it literally skipped from "hey surprise I'm alive" to "wohoo, we now have a son" was a bit disappointing. I want to see a bit of couple-bliss (i.e. cultivating - just kidding) and more of the other characters (Moon Immortal and Pu Chi for example). Apart from that, very nice, especially the first half has a high re-watch-factor.

Okay, thanks guys, I'll probably give this a go then and see how it works for me :)

I was planning on watching this but... is there romance between the main leads
Lee Byung Hun and Kim Tae Ri? Because I seriously can't with the 20 year age difference... He literally could be her dad.

I just noticed that the in-depth reviews on this page give this show quite a low rating. All I can say is...what did ppl expect? We know this story, we know which twists and turns to expect, we know it hasn't been the most original story for years and that it's full of cliches. If people expect this plot to suddenly bring forth a masterpiece, it's probably their own fault. The plot will not improve with time. I mean, this story emerged in 1992 (it's over 25 years old!) and has been done in various TV versions... I think there are worse remakes out there, so I still stand by my opinion. It's not a masterpiece, but it does its job at entertaining me.

Gotta say, up until maybe episode 12 or something this was a brialliant drama, with great chemistry between the leads despite the age difference. But the problem near the end seemed very artificial and dragged, also very much unnecessary. I'm very sad about that, this had potential to be a great re-watch drama and there are so few re-watchable dramas as is.

Hu Yi Tian had a sex scandal. He went to a hotel with a girl, allegedly cheating on his gf with her as well, and she recorded him saying disgusting stuff like thinking Shen Yue (the main girl) is ugly and talking about drugs etc.

I'm really not sure why I have a problem with this show. The ratings on here are great, the praise high... but I can't get into it. Maybe I'm too old and the school setting is putting me off. Maybe it's that I find the main girl's behaviour annoying (although I like the actress in Meteor Garden), maybe I find the love interest too boring/aloof, maybe it's the disgusting scandal of the love interest's actor Hu Yi Tian...
I can't put my finger on it, but everytime I try to watch another episode, I just can't, because it's not entertaining to me and can't hold my interest. I'm not saying it's bad, per se, but I had to drop it, just doesn't suit my taste, I guess. Maybe if you're a fan of teenage/high school dramas this will work for you better but I can't identify with their everyday problems / antics at all.

I thought I'd be sick of this story by now, having seen it in so many versions (often not done all that well) but this one might actually be my favourite. They changed enough of the original plot to make it feel new but it also doesn't feel as overly dramatic as the Korean one for example, or as empty/anime-esque as the Japanese version. While nostalgia might make me compare it all lot to the other versions, I appreciate the modern spin they put on it. It's not a masterpiece, but light- and warmhearted enough to make it a pleasant watch, especially if you have Netflix and watch it on the commute to work, as I do.

I'll be honest, this was a small roller-coaster ride for me. The first two episodes blew me away and made my heart pound like crazy...then I was becoming a bit bored and thought this would be like a case-drama, were every other episode deals with a different case, which I don't like. So I dropped it for a while and bemoaned the fate of this brilliant start. But when it finished, I picked it up again (just to get closure, you know) and OH MY GOD, was I glad I did that. I didn't realize everything would be this connected and suspenseful. It was brilliantly thought out, the characters were great and everything tied up perfectly in the end.
I'm sure there are other ppl like me who dropped it early on because they thought it'd go in a different direction. I urge all of those who felt like me to give it a second try. I don't regret it and I dare say it is now one of my favourite dramas. Even a month after finishing it, watching other dramas and looking through my list again, yep, it still is really good. I'm impressed with Suzy acting, because I didn't enjoy her dramas in the past, but boy did she improve. Lee Jong Suk was brilliant as always but the supporting cast in general was awesome. (PS: Did anyone else think Suzy looked quite a lot like Yoon Eun-Hye in this?) Enjoyed this one a lot!

People recommended me this drama because I was absolutely in love with "Weightlifting Fairy KBJ" and maybe this is the reason I didn't enjoy it in the end, because I had different expectations. I don't see any similarites and cannot recommend it in the same way. Apart from the fact that the main girl is strong and the main couple is (trying to be) cute, there is nothing in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon that reminds me of WF KBJ. It tries too hard to be cutesy and carefree but also dark and suspense-filled. What I enjoyed about WLF was that the main girl knew what she wanted and she made her interest known, both to her first crush and to the main guy. That's what I love in general in a drama, when the main woman goes after what she wants (even if it takes some time) and it's not only the guy pursuing and being all lovesick. (That's why I love "Oh My Venus", "Another Oh Hae Young", "Pasta", "Healer", "Coffe Prince" etc.)
Here the main girl spends ages acting cute so that Park Hyun Shik can find her completely adorable and spend the rest of the show pining after her, with her being "adorably oblivious" as Korean drama writers like to make their women. I found this extremely distracting and not pleasurable to watch, looking back. Her behaviour sometimes didn't really fit with the whole strong woman trope. It also started going down the "noble protagonist" route near the end.

All in all a cute drama if you've got free time but I wouldn't re-watch it. The actors are good, it's not their fault the writing is weak. Don't watch it if you expect something identical to Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo.

I also enjoyed "Suki Na Hito Ga Iru Koto" by JY :)