2
2
1
If you enjoyed Fated to Love You or Master's Sun (2 of my favorite dramas), I think you will enjoy this show also. Dok Go Jin reminded me of both Lee Gun and Joo Joong Won - like he was a mashup of both these characters. He starts off as arrogant and self-centered and he can't imagine why he's having feelings for Gu Ae Jung who is not on his "level". And he can also be childish and petty. A character that I was not remotely interested in at ALL became a very beloved character to me throughout this show. And Ae Jung is a sympathetic character - the one who gives and gives.
I would have given this a perfect 10, but the story was really just a simple fluffy romance. But it was a romance story that warmed my heart anyway. It had some flaws in the story, but they did not take away from my enjoyment in any major way. Dok Go Jin's love for Gu Ae Jung was unstoppable. There were cute moments, funny moments, teary moments, frustrating moments...The Hong Sisters really know how to illicit emotion. It may not have been a groundbreaking story, but it was enjoyable and full of heart and I know that I will watch this again. I thought the chemistry between the leads was good, and I enjoyed the secondary characters for the most part. I especially loved "Ding Dong".
I may be over-rating this for some, but I truly enjoyed it despite its flaws. And ratings are entirely subjective. ;) I also loved the way the ending was done. I'm a fan of epilogue moments, and I feel like this story was wrapped up very well with a very satisfying ending.
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The actors did a fabulous job in their roles, and the main leads were on fire with the chemistry. There are lots of great kisses too! I found myself smiling a lot while watching this.
If I had one complaint - it's a really minor one - I would say that the last episode wrapped up a lot of story almost too quickly, but it was still very satisfying. But this is not even enough for me to knock my rating down.
This drama is going on my list of favorites just because I love it for what it is - cotton candy sweetness. I will definitely re-watch this just to see all the cute moments again.
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The story was kind of cringe-worthy, so the only real thing to recommend about it was all the pretty male faces.
I truly cannot even recommend this to anyone unless you are just looking to fill about an hour or so and have nothing better to do.
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The cast was well chosen, and as the story flowed, we got to see a glimpse into each tourist in the Package Vacation. They started the trip as strangers, and somehow became friends. The relationships between the couples on the trip are highlighted in different episodes, showing why they took the vacation and a bit about their lives back home in Korea. They have some good adventures and grow closer in their travels.
The music was pretty and appropriate for our French vacationers.
I wouldn't mind watching this again one day.
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surprisingly good
I was worried after the first episode that it was going to be too over the top with the yelling and the pettiness. But it soon settled and I enjoyed the way they developed the characters, and we got to know them and what drives them, how they ended up in the situation they are in. This drama flowed pretty fast with only 13 half hour episodes, so it didn't get bogged down by a lot of useless stuff. But the ending did wrap up abruptly and very tidily, which I was both annoyed with and somehow was ok with - one more episode might have rounded it out to fill out the ending more properly. I'm not mad at it though.I have waited so long for Jung Woo to be a romantic lead again after Reply 1994 - and I was not disappointed! Oh Yeon Seo, who I've only enjoyed watching in Korean Odyssey, did a really good job in this. She nailed this role. I enjoyed the side characters - especially 'Samantha'. The neighborhood busy-bodies were nosy and jumped to conclusions, but I liked that they apologized when they knew they were wrong and tried to make things right. That made them endearing rather than irritating.
This was just a nice healing type of drama and would be great for a quick watch some rainy weekend!
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Intense show
I didn't watch this when it originally aired because I didn't think I would enjoy it. It's not my usual genre, and the plot didn't interest me that much. I've branched out quite a bit since it's release and then I enjoyed Seo Ye Ji so much in It's Okay to Not Be Okay that I decided to try this on a whim. And then I accidentally got my husband sucked into it as well.This show is intense. We were both riding an anxiety rollercoaster while watching this show and practically biting our nails wanting to rescue Sang Mi ourselves. LOL!
The acting from most of the main cast was really good. Seo Ye Ji is a master at acting. Her micro-expressions are on point, and she carries this fierceness about her that is just intoxicating. Ok Taecyeon was decent, but as the main lead (Han Sang Hwan), I though he could have done better. Woo Do Hwan is another star on the rise. He's been amazing in everything I've watched him in so far, including this. Jo Jae Yoon was terrifying as Jo Wan Tae and Jo Sung Ha as the 'pastor' was not only terrifying but did crazed zealot very well also.
I think the most terrifying thing about this show was that this sort of thing can and does happen to people. To watch the cult leaders twist the Bible and use it to control, abuse, and extort from their congregants twisted my insides. To see that Sang Mi had no escape and no voice - that even her own parents who loved her were brainwashed and useless to her worked me up.
I'm glad I watched it in the end. It was very well-done and a much better drama than I was expecting. The ending was mostly satisfying, but will still give you a chill. I don't think I'd watch it again, but just because that sort of genre doesn't watch the same way after knowing the outcome. If you have trauma triggers, I'd probably avoid it, but if you enjoy dark and intense shows, this should be on your list!
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I enjoyed the acting from all the main characters, save maybe the "villain" character. The music wasn't stand out, but it must not have been bad either. I probably won't re-watch this, but I could see the re-watch value in it.
This worked well for a slightly longer than movie length show, and I think it would be a great weekend watch.
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Note - I didn't give high marks to the music, because honestly, I don't really remember the music in this at all, but the system wouldn't allow me not to rate it.
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My "10" is solely based on the fact that I loved the lead romance, I loved the music, and overall was just
genuinely happy while watching it.
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Again, PSJ can pretty much do no wrong in my eyes right now. He's pretty to look at, has good comedic timing, and his romance scenes were believable and tingle-inducing. Who else could make such an arrogant guy lovable and sweet? Park Min Young - started out really well. She looked sharp, had pretty smiles, and great bantering. And my goodness- THAT PONYTAIL!! Props to the ponytail! :) But I wasn't always fully convinced of Mi So's affections towards Young Joon because of how PMY acted. I've not read the webcomic that this is based on, so I don't know how true the adaptation is to the source material. In the last two episodes, her passiveness toward Young Joon was awkward and lacked any of the passion that had been building from the rest of the story. Pyo Ye Jin as Ji Ah, was super cute, but she seems to have been typecast into similar roles now. I did enjoy her in this and hope to see her in more roles soon. Hwang Bo Ra as Bong Se Ra was a bit over the top in her comedy like she was trying way too hard. But both Ji Ah and Se Ra's office romances were very cute and fun to watch. Kang Ki Young did a great job in his role, playing Young Joon's employee and friend....but mostly his advice coach. Lee Tae Hwan, playing Young Joon's brother, was such a mild character that he was virtuously unnoticeable and fairly useless except as a plot device.
The story was thin and didn't fill out the available time for the story, but because I was enjoying the romance it didn't become super obvious until the last couple of episodes. I enjoyed the banter and the comedy between the co-workers and the romance between Young Joon and Mi So. I found the sound effects hilarious and Mi So's side eye made me laugh every time. Although the secondary romances were fairly cute, there is little substance to this show, if I'm being perfectly honest. I am all up for fluffy and light when it comes to romantic comedies- so this fits that perfectly for that. If you expect a rom-com to be anything other than this, you will be disappointed and I wouldn't recommend it. I was happily entertained for the majority of the show, though, regardless of the plot. (I'm not difficult to please when it comes to rom-coms.)
I could see myself re-watching parts of this show one day when I want something light and cute.
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I cannot, in good consciousness, recommend this show to anyone. I really wanted to. I was smitten with Nam Goong Min and Min Ah - those leads were the bright spot in the pile of poo this story became. (And incidentally, this is the first time I've seen either of them act. I've not seen NGM do his villainous roles, but I think comedy suits him.) The story is named after Gong Shim. However, the title character doesn't seem to be the focus of the show in the back half at all. And her sister, who is on the cover as a "main lead" - is relegated to an afterthought. Her story goes NOWHERE. Joon Soo, the other main lead, was likable, but mostly boring. The writers essentially did nothing with his character. The focus of the show ended up with Ahn Dan Tae. They described one story to us, and we got something completely different.
The ending was rushed and the last episode was completely and totally random and thrown together. I felt like they wanted to tie up a lot of loose ends, but they did not even do a good job of that. They had TWENTY episodes to finish this story. There was NO good reason that the ending should have been rushed. I feel sorry for the actors that were involved in this story. I would absolutely watch these actors do another show, and so wish that THIS story had been executed properly.
The Good:
The cast
The music
The comedic moments
The cuteness of the couple
The Bad:
The loose ends
The bait and switch story
The length
The unsatisfactory ending (happy ending, but not done correctly)
The Ugly:
Poorly executed storyline (throw it at the wall and see what sticks)
Characters backburnered and forgotten
Unending glares and stare-downs
What the Heck moments galore
I originally intended to give this drama a score of 7 because I WAS entertained and enjoyed ADT and GS so much. As my husband and I discussed it this morning, my rating dropped to a 6.5, and then by the end of our conversation I had to conclude that (as much as I hated to do it) that this story really only deserves, at best, a 5.5. Sorry show! I wanted to love you!
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While the story sort of floundered mid-way, I can't say enough about the cast - the acting was on point. Jang Ki Yong and Nam Da Reum were kings of facial expression. Heo Joon Ho was appropriately terrifying. Kim Kyung Nam elicited unexpected feelings towards his character as well. Seo Jung Yeon was perfect as the selfless mother to sons that weren't even hers. And Kim Seo Hyung, the reporter, was even more hated than the villain of the story. I had no complaints about the acting.
I doubt I will ever rewatch this, and honestly if I had just known the ending for our star-crossed lovers, I would have been happy to have skipped out on the last episode altogether.
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The office hijinks played a large part in this show, as the description indicates. However, the office stuff was also kind of where its weak point lay as well. I enjoyed the burgeoning relationship between our leads, Chi Won and Yoon Yi, and the antics of their office department. They had a great supporting cast there. Lee Won Keun as Hwangbo Yul, although mostly a character I sympathized with, also had quite silly and annoying moments of aegyo because he's basically a man-child. Kang Hye Jung as his assistant Wang Jung Ae was just the mothering, loyal assistant he needed. I think they did a pretty decent job with the comedy parts of the show as well as the romance parts. There were lots of laughs and a few swoon-y moments as well. :)
The theme song was catchy - I caught myself singing it a few times.
I would say that this is a fairly decent romantic comedy as long as you don't set your expectations too high. It's cute and fun as long as that's all you are asking from it because the plot is a bit thin. I was just able to overlook that until it got down to the final episodes, and I realized that I wasn't going to get all the answers I was looking for. I would still recommend this to rom-com fans.
As far as re-watches go...I'd say there are several episodes and scenes that I'd watch again, but I don't know if I would do a complete run through again.
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Jian Yao started off as a smart, independent female that was in control of her life. Bo Jin Yan was this enigmatic man whose cold exterior was gradually warming up to Jian Yao and drawing closer to her. I enjoyed the episodic cases they solved together and the growth of Jian Yao as Bo Jin Yan's protégé in criminal profiling, not to mention the blossoming of their feelings toward one another. There was some quiet humor in there as well that I enjoyed immensely. But in the end Jian Yao was just a damsel in distress, and Bo Jin Yan was running away to "catch the bad guy" immediately after telling her he'd be with her "24/7" -- more than once. She was left out of the loop completely.
So....why the 6.5 rating you say? Well, that's because the last 1/4 of the show, the story, once it moved from China to America, went downhill in flames for me. I raced to the finish of this show expecting things to get back on track, but they never did. It was almost as if they changed writers because the whole tone of the show changed completely. Jian Yao and Bo Jin Yan were hardly in a scene together afterwards, and their dynamic changed as well. The chemistry and romance was lost as they pursued "one" big bad villain. The plot got too twisted and convoluted. The actors playing the Americans were atrocious. The stilted speech was one thing, but there were several goofs as well. One text was sent out - with a misspelling of "steel" instead of the word "steal" that was meant....but on the receiving end, the text was completely different than what was sent out. The actors playing the Americans had a few flubs in their delivery of lines, as well as changing the names of the other characters a few times. There were a few that also could not hold their American accents. It was horribly distracting. Also, the Americans would speak in English, and the Chinese would reply in Chinese. This seemed very unrealistic, as how many Americans are fluent in Mandarin? And apparently New York police officers really need to wear their bulletproof vests. Yikes!
The 7.5 score for acting goes entirely to the Chinese cast in this case, points deducted for the "Americans". (Edited to add: Although, I do realize that English speakers are NOT the target audience, I hope that this information is helpful for those that it would make a difference to.)
Poor Jian Yao and Bo Jin Yan were almost completely different characters by the end of this show. Not the same one I was captivated by in the beginning. That disappointed me a lot and the only reason this is getting a 6.5 is for all the scenes in China. I feel bad hating on a show that most seemed to really love, but there it is. They could have fleshed out the story and the characters better if they had stayed put and continued in the direction they started. The switchover to New York also had the undesired outcome of not completing the setup they started in China. Many things were dropped and not explained.
Despite my utter letdown in the ending of this show, Huo Wallace has gained a new fan in me. I hope to one day see him act in something that will "wow" me like the start of this did.
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