Rari

Show tries to illustrate that inner beauty is more important than outer beauty.

I honestly started this show because I like Joo Sang Wook and also because I wanted to watch something light.

The general premise of the story is good, a marginalised woman decides to get plastic surgery thinking that once she's slim and beautiful her life will automatically change for the better. She does find love yes, but she also realises that she has to resolve all her issues the hard way regardless of how she looks.
The show does a good job of lauding inner beauty as opposed to outer beauty; Our female lead was not blessed with outer beauty but she has immense inner beauty, conversely the second female lead is blessed with outer beauty but has a rotten heart.

The show delivered hilarious hijinks right up to the 12th episode, after that it started to drag and I fast forwarded some scenes. There is an annoying period where the female lead indulges in some poorly thought out noble idiocy and the villains in this show were irritatingly irrational.

The acting was ok. Joo Sang Wook shone in this comedic role, he was so charming and lovable. Han Ye Seul was ok, bordering on bland. The supporting cast was good, Jung Gyu Woon and Wang Ji Hye were great as second leads.
The chemistry between the leads is negligible, they did a lot of smiling at each other but there was no real connection in my opinion.
This show would have done better with less episodes.

The music is ok, nothing really stuck with me.

This is a pleasant watch.
I give it a 6.5 out of 10

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The story takes off sprinting and is instantly captivating. As each layer of the puzzle is peeled off, we get deeper into the intrigue and family secrets. I enjoyed the way the story was told, we're shown a man whose mind is playing tricks on him and controlling his life in a very real sense. The mental illness DID ( dissociative identity disorder) is shown in a compelling way.
This drama also has the issue of fate or destiny between the two main leads, they have an intertwined past and meet in the present in the right circumstances to enable them to solve the mystery of their childhood.
The love story is inevitable and I must say it didn't capture my interest too much, the chemistry was off in my opinion; Ji Sung and Hwang Jung Eum had much better chemistry in Secret.

The acting in this is very good. Hats off to Ji Sung for bringing his seven persona's to life in such an authentic and heart wrenching way, he is an amazingly intuitive actor.
Hwang Jung Emu held her own and provided some much needed levity in this story; I did feel at times that she was a bit shrill and didn't inject her character with enough nuance.
I also really enjoyed Park Seo Joon, he was wonderfully conflicted and I especially like the way he resolved his inner conflict unlike other second leads, he gave up on his unrealistic dream of being in love with his stepsister and instead became a strong support for both her and her new love.
Kim Yoo Ri's role is negligible, why was she even there? It was a waste of a decent actress, they could have fleshed out her character a bit more, the same goes for Oh Min Suk, his character fell flat and there ultimately wasn't much to him.

I think this drama should have just had the standard 16 episodes because it began to drag in the later episodes, I found myself wanting it to end, and the incessant flashbacks didn't help matters either.

I loved a few tunes in the OST especially "Auditory Hallucination" it's a great song

I gave this drama an overall score of 8, and I am unlikely to rewatch it, but I did enjoy it enough while I watched it.

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I enjoyed this one, it's very well written, it has no uncessarry angst or comedy, it's just right.

The story is good, of course this is a remake of a Taiwanese drama which also has a Korean remake. In my opinion this version has the most concise story and picks the best aspects of the previous two dramas. For example I found the Taiwanese version too long winded with a tad too much slapstick comedy, it also has low production value. The Korean version has two amazing leads, the most wonderful OST ( which I still listen to to this day) and is a real tear jerker.

However, I found the Thai one avoids most of the negative aspects of the other two and is tightly scripted and acted, the two leads are amazing together and I enjoyed their interactions, their relationship comes across as very true to life and is not stylised ( something I struggle with in many Kdramas)

Production value is high and I really appreciate the way the lead actress is not dowdily styled, she is very chic and still manages to portray her character well both before and after the break up.

The music is a bit of a let down, but in my opinion it doesn't take anything away from the story.

I marathoned this drama and enjoyed it immensely.
Overall 9.

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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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This drama is in a genre that I haven't watched much of, I tend to watch rom coms but I now have an interest in watching Melo/suspense/romance dramas.

The story is well set up, the initial episodes are gripping and made me want to keep watching, the story is very dramatic, it has most of the elements of a melodrama, doppelgänger's, birth secrets, switched identities, revenge, murder, blackmail, corporate greed, secret affairs the works. For the most part the story handled these themes well, my only problem is that some of the plot lines that were established earlier in the story were not resolved at the end, the most annoying one being "were Seo Un Ha and Byun Ji Sook biological sisters?"
The love story between Un Ha and Min Woo is very charming and sweet although I wasn't crazy about the lacklustre chemistry between the leads;

Soo Ae's portrayal of Eun Ha and Ji Sook was spot on, she managed to give each character its individual identity so that the two were very distinct. Her steely determination and quiet strength were very well executed.

I found Joo Ji Hoon's acting to be quite wooden, he doesn't seem to have many facial expressions; he had an excellent script and role to work with though and I think that was his saving grace. I will admit to him being charming though.

Yeon Jung Hoon's portrayal of Min Seok Hoon was great, he gave the character sufficient menace without being inelegant, He was cooly focused on his revenge mission and used every weapon and opportunity at his disposal to achieve his goal. I will say though that the story set him up for big things which I feel he ultimately didn't live up to.

The character I enjoyed the most in the drama is that of Choi Mi Yeon played by Yoo In Yung. For the majority of the drama I found her irritating so I shouldn't say I enjoyed this character, it's more accurate to say that when I finished the drama hers was the most complex, subtle, and many layered character in the show. Mi Yeon is not simply good or bad, she has so many layers in between and varying shades of grey that she was often frustrating to watch. Mi Yeon's inward struggle was always on show, her constant battle to do the right thing while trying to hold onto a husband she clearly knew cared nothing for her was heartbreaking to watch, her moral compass was so shaky that half the time she didn't want to know what was truth or lies, preferring to make up her own reality. Ultimately she realises that she cannot live a lie or bury her head in the sad any longer. this is a sterling performance from Yoo In Yung.

The music is good background, and suitable for the action on screen.

I don't usually rewatch shows that have a suspense premise, because I already know what's going to happen.

Overall I give this show a 7.5

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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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Ok, so my experience with this drama was interesting; I watched the first 19 episodes which were quite good but I got annoyed with the OTT antics of the antagonists: the crazy, shrill mother in law, the psycho, hysterical 2nd female lead/love rival, the slimy, greedy and very many business rivals and finally the cowardly, pseudo-cool big brother. So at that point I decided to give it a rest, but I wasn't willing to drop it because I could see that there was something there, I just had to refresh myself and come back to it later ( the large episode count was also very off putting )
I took a break, watched Goblin and Marriage Not Dating ( I watched both within the space of a week!) and then I picked The Wife's Secret up again.

I started off watching on fast forward from episode 20 to episode 30, then gradually without even realising it I stopped fast forwarding and was fully engaged. I do admit that you have to suspend logic sometimes in this drama, the melodrama and illogical decision making of the characters was not realistic and was frustrating in a lot of instances.

However, this drama has a solid story, it explores family relationships juxtaposed with romantic relationships, it explores blood ties juxtaposed with ties that a person chooses themselves, it explores the relationship between parents and their children, mothers in law and daughers in law, it explores the dynamics that play out when a child discovers that they are adopted and most importantly it explores the meaning of true happiness, is it money? business success? or having family and people around you who love, accept and value you for who you are not what you have or can do for them?
This drama explored all these issues and answered them.

The drama has overall, one of if not the best character development I have seen in any drama, the character arc for most of the cast is very satisfying and logical; even those characters I disliked so much in the beginning are fully realised by the end of the drama, there is a strong sense of most characters coming full circle and applying their experience to improve themselves or to come to terms with issues that they struggled with in the beginning of the story.

I've read some reviews where the two leads are criticised for not having much chemistry; I fully agree that the OTP had very little on screen chemistry, but I think that's because it's not that kind of drama, although the love story is at the centre of the drama, the surrounding family circumstances are integral to the progression of this love story and vice versa. So overall I would say that this is a story about family, the family you are born to and the family you choose along your life journey.

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A cynical, satirical, burlesque portrayal of glaring disparities between poor and wealthy in society

This is quite the interesting drama, I was prompted to watch it by the extreme publicity and international hype that it's received since it won the coveted Palme D'Or.

Storywise I'd say there's nothing out of the ordinary about this story ( I mean the implied and overt conflict between the rich and poor) the ingenuity comes in with the way the simple subject matter of socio economic disparity between societal strata is tackled. The way a straightforward tutoring job of one family member morphs into the entire poor family of mother, father, son and daughter being employed by the same wealthy family. What struck me the most was the entitled mindset of the poor family, their apparent lack of remorse or shame for their dishonest actions; my attention was drawn to the unusual portrayal of poor people as unscrupulous and dishonourable, this was particularly evident in the behaviour of Kim Ji Sung (the daughter) After watching many a KDrama where poor people are portrayed as principled, hard working and honourable, this aspect of the story was jarring. In this case poverty was debilitating to the extent that they were prepared to do anything to overcome it.

The portrayal of the wealthy family in my opinion was nothing out of the ordinary, just your average rich people living in their comfortable and nice smelling bubble, a bubble where poor people are there as a mod con to make their lives even more luxurious and fuss free. This was excellently portrayed in the scene where Madame calls from the car on their way from the aborted camping trip and instructs the maid that she should start preparing "ram-don" so that as they literally walk into the house, the ram-don will be just ready to eat.

The collision of these two worlds is what makes this movie fascinating; three separate groups of people each with their own set of expectations on what they were hoping to get from their interaction with each other. The fact that the reality falls short of the expectation is what creates the slow motion train wreck that is this movie.

The cast and acting are superb. special mention goes to Cho Yeo Jung who plays the wealthy and luxuriously oblivious wife, mother and madame of the house. Song Kang Ho is brilliant in his role of the poor husband and father who is so inured to poverty, he has developed a sense of helplessness and resentment which culminates in his crass over-reaction to events at the end of the movie, over-reaction in the sense that had he not already reached boiling point, things may not have gotten so out of hand, the same applies to Moon Gwang's husband Oh Geun Sae.

I didn't pay too much attention to the music.

Rewatch value is quite high 9/10 as I would like to see what other observations I can make on a second viewing.

Overall I give it a 9.

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Restitution.

Due to its wide and ecstatic fandom, I set out to watch this drama 5 years ago but alas could only manage 6 episodes before placing it on my dropped list; two years ago, I tried again and only managed five episodes; fast forward to 2025 and here I am, a proud finisher of NIF.

Pros:
-The show has a great cast and some memorable acting; special mentions are the Emperor, Consort Jing, Prince Yu, Jang Rui, Xia Jiang and Prince Jing for his barely leashed intensity. Mei Chang Su is technically well executed but the intangible aspects of his portrayal didn't grab me, more on that later.
-The show has detailed, complex and intricate plots. The backstory is also well fleshed out albeit retrospectively for the most part.
-There are a number of truly stunning and impactful dramatic scenes throughout the show; my favourites among many are: Jing Rui's resigned and a tinge disillusioned forgiveness and farewell of Mei Changsu before he leaves for Southern Chu, there is such an air of sadness in this scene, a sense that innocence and carefree days are firmly in the rear-view mirror.
Another great scene is Marquis (sorry forgot his name) in jail chained to the wall and the conversation he has with Mei Changsu.
The scene between Mei Changsu and Prince Jing first when Jing cuts down the bell, and then in the snow when Mei Changsu's cold and stoic demeanour cracks as he's pleading with Jing and we see his desperation and frustration, powerful.
The scene between Mei Changsu and Consort Jing in the tent at the hunt as she tentatively pulls back his sleeve to look for his identifying mole, you can almost feel his held breath, and her hope mixed with trepidation.
The scene between Prince Yu and the emperor, after the rebellion, when Prince Yu is in the cage; his pain, resentment, anger and hostility towards the emperor is palpable and heart wrenchingly executed, this is such a great scene.
There are many other impactful scenes that give this drama a truly elevated air.
-The show makes excellent use of foreshadowing as a plot device, I think this contributes to the high rewatch factor as viewers will identify more and more plot foreshadowing on each rewatch.
-The music is evocative and apt, I loved the soundtrack and especially appreciated the lyrics of the songs which told the story of the drama.
-The cinematography is very well done, there are so many shots throughout the show which are truly stunning.

Cons:
-The beginning of the show is very slow, the world building is lengthy and a lot of it is told through dialogue so there is a lot of it including many characters names to remember.
- Mei Chang Su as the central character is good, however even as I understand how he became the stoic and calculating person we see, I still wasn't emotionally invested in him as a character, I didn't love him the way most viewers do. I appreciate and admire his strategising, felt bad for his physical and mental anguish and was rooting for his plans to succeed, but I just didn't love him - the character didn't click with me even though he's masterfully written and acted.
-The show lost a lot by not showing key moments and this weakened its impact; there's a lot of tell and no showing and this contributes to a lack of connection with the characters motivations. The biggest example of this is the show telling us about the outcome of the Chiyan investigation in episode 53, rather than showing us the investigation as it took place - this was one of the biggest goals of Mei Changsu, to reinvestigate the Chiyan case and exonerate those who were wrongfully accused, but by telling us and not showing us - the show failed to give viewers a sense of satisfaction and justice being done, it was anticlimactic.
-The final episode felt underwhelming and rushed. Mei Changsu embarked on a path he had not previously alluded to and this came as a surprise, the show tried to explain it away but it felt contrived, I understand this ending is similar to the book so perhaps the show didn't adequately portray Mei Changsu's inner battle between his new and old self. Why he couldn't just reconcile the two and continue on with his faithful friends and loved ones? I don't know.

Overall this is a clever drama. In my experience, if a show is truly enjoyable and has the X factor, I do not balk at plot holes or missteps as long as they're not too glaringly obvious and can be comfortably camouflaged by the overall awesomeness of the show. In this case NIF glided past this marker by the skin of its teeth.
It's a solid 8 out of 10.

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The Power of female friendships.

I wasn't expecting this drama to be so good, but it really is very good.

It reminded me of First Half of My Life in a way.

The female lead's outlook and the way she approached her dilemma of a cheating husband was so impressive, graceful, mature and pragmatic; she's also a genuinely nice person so that makes her endearing.

My biggest takeaway from this story is its portrayal of female friendships, the way women support and help each other is what made this story so refreshing. There are many instances where there is genuine animosity between women but the narrative takes us through a journey of the women reaching an understanding of each other and appreciating each other's challenges.

Additional themes are the role of women in marriage, the workplace, familial relationships and society in general. The story shows how difficult it is for women to balance family and career and it also highlights the different and higher expectations placed on women compared to men. Men have fewer expectations placed on them beyond being a financial provider.

This is an excellent drama with a worthwhile message.

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You know that feeling when you want to sneeze but nothing happens?......

That's exactly how it felt watching the middle to end episodes of this drama. It has a great promising start with lovely chemistry between the leads (Yoon Eun Hye never disappoints when it comes to chemistry with her co-stars) However, the show loses direction and fails to really take off.

The story is all over the place in the sense that a lot of things appear to be happening but the plot really goes nowhere. Show lacks momentum and some dramatic situations which should propel the show forward are completely not followed up on and just glossed over. The male lead is most times ineffectual who for most of the story is well and truly hamstrung by the very people he vehemently denounces.

The love story is initially developed very nicely albeit haltingly in the earlier episodes. lt fizzles in the middle episodes because the lovers have little to no interaction with each other at a time that their relationship development could have benefitted from experiencing the tough times as a solid and unified pair; in fact as the story plods on the two leads spend little time together so as a viewer there are very few opportunities to actually enjoy the love story.

Episode 12 is particularly frustrating because so much could have happened but didn't.
The drama should have been shorter, then maybe it would have flowed better. The story is portrayed so inefficiently that I even entertained the thought that the main couple should not end up together.

In a nutshell this drama has an excellent cast with an inadequate script and poor directing.

Overall 6 out of 10, and only because the cast is good.

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Be yourself, flaws and all.

This is a drama which starts off very entertaining, even though the boss -secretary dynamic is quite overdone, I still found myself marathoning the first three quarters of the show.

The male lead is superbly portrayed and I enjoyed the full range of his character, especially the unflinching depiction of his vulnerability and uncertainty in his relationship with his mother.
The female lead is very good in the first half of the show, I enjoyed her gutsy yet shy demeanour, especially the way she handled the impersonation of Veronica Park

The last stretch of the show is a bit annoying to watch as the female lead lost her gutsy attitude and had a bit of a personality transplant in that she became defeated and made decisions which were inconsistent with her earlier character trajectory.

The secondary couple of Veronica Park and the second male lead is a tad more enjoyable to watch simply because of Veronica Park; Kim Jae Kyung played this role to perfection, she is so entertaining.

Overall it's a good show for when you want a break from the heavier dramas, It's a drama about forgiveness and being yourself.

Overall 6 out of 10.

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Let's be each other's glory.

I read the book so here I am, I had to watch it to see what they made of it. I've enjoyed this very much, it's a multi faceted story that encompasses gaming, romance, aerospace engineering and the world of celebrity quite coherently. The close lens into the Chinese aerospace industry ended up being very interesting even though I wasn't too keen to see it initially, ditto with the gaming.

Apart from reading the book, I'm here for Dilraba because I find her acting so charming; coming into this Yang Yang was not a favourite of mine because I didn't enjoy his robotic performance in Love O2O, but I was pleasantly surprised here. I think a lot can be said for acting opposite a co-star who ups your acting game and Dilraba certainly appears to have done that here for Mr. Yang - he's actually very charming and endearing in this.

I like how they emphasised the concept of excellence in your career and doing what you love to the best of your ability over making tons of money. Jing Jing and Yu Tu are a very well matched couple who understand and support each other very well. There'a an abundance of cute couple moments and the grown up, responsible and drama free dynamic of their relationship is what kept me watching.

If you've read the book you'll enjoy seeing it brought to life so accurately, If you haven't read it you should watch this anyway, it's quite enjoyable.

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