michelleoc

Worth watching for the four main characters

Let me start by saying that I could watch and listen to Woo Do Hwan read the telephone book and be perfectly content. He is exquisitely attractive and he has a wonderful, deep voice. There are certain actors/actresses that you just feel drawn to, for whatever reason, and for me, he is one of them. This show is the Korean version of Dangerous Liaisons/Cruel Intentions, which almost kept me from watching it. I do not like to watch people being mean to others, especially without reason. I was pleasantly surprised by the triad friendship of Kwan Shi-Hyun (Woo Do Hwan), Choi Soo-Ji (Moon Ga Young) and Lee Se Joo (Kim Min Jae). To say they were each dysfunctional would be an understatement. There were a lot of very amusing scenes with the three of them interacting. These were scarred people that grew together as friends, to protect each other and build each other up. When the three of them were in scenes together, I felt sometimes like I was getting ready to watch a traffic accident - I didn't want to watch the way that they were behaving, but I just couldn't help myself. And when Shi-Hyun gets involved with Eun Tae-hee (Joy), their chemistry was smoldering. They were wonderful to watch. Woo Do Hwan's transition from cold and calculating to being in love was intense, and there were a few scenes of him trying to be "cool" that were funny. At the beginning, he's pretty emotionless (as a character, not the actor), but once he falls for Eun Tae-hee his smiles just light up the screen. I even thought the way he said her name was special. Joy reminded me a lot of Kim Go-eun from Goblin, and I found that a little distracting. I have to admit I was fascinated by the relationship of these four people, and I could have cared less about their families, and found myself fast forwarding through the family stuff. I'm not giving anything away to say there is a happy (though too rushed and short) ending, along with the obligatory separation for years. Seriously, why do they only give us four minutes for the ending?!?!?! And how many years have gone by? She says that she's made the same wish every year. They were such a lovely couple, I really wish they would have devoted more time to the ending.

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Just my opinion

I know that a lot of people liked this show, but I couldn't, for the life of me, forgive the mess that I was watching. I was very disappointed in the writing, not the acting. Lee Jong Suk and Park Hae Jin were both wonderful in this mess of a drama. I'm all for suspending disbelief, but this show, in the first place, didn't seem to know in which direction it wanted to go. Baddies that don't die no matter what happens to them, a change in the focus of the show (N. Korea was a good starting place, but went horribly awry), things happening in a hospital that have absolutely no foundation in reality, name/identity changes (who can keep up with the names?), and it seemed like the inmates were running the asylum! The ending was very disappointing and caused an even further suspension of disbelief - the main characters disappear for a year - did no one look for them? Ugh!

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My rating might have been higher with less episodes...possibly

What I loved:
-Park So Yi as Bok I Na. She is a terrific young actress, I've loved her in everything I've seen her in, and am looking forward to her growth as an actress.
-The youth romance of I Na. I would have liked to see more of them.
-Oh Man Seok's character of Gi Ju's father. What a calm, warm and lovely character.

What I didn't like (not in any particular order):
-I have liked Jan Ki Yong in other works, but I didn't think he did a good job here. He didn't look depressed, he looked drugged. I felt like he was just moving through the drama. I got no emotion from him.
-Chun Woo Hee looks just like Song Hye Kyo to me. Since I'm often not a fan of SHK, I struggled.
-The timeline was all sorts of a mess. For me, the fact that she was there showed that she survived in the past. No matter how they tried to explain it, it didn't make any sense to me.
-Did the ML and FL hate each other IRL? They had absolutely no chemistry with one another and didn't like each other for so long, I never bought them as a couple.
-Can we talk about amazingly bad haircuts of Gwi Ju and Grace?
-The weight loss story for Gwi Ju's sister. We see some of her struggle, but her massive weight loss was overnight.
-Pretty much all the characters other than the couple I mentioned. Her family (and she) were awful! I get that they were swindlers, but I never really saw them turn around until the last episode. Same for his family. I just didn't like them.
-Repetitive, repetitive, repetitive script. Enough with the flashbacks.

For me (please remember, this is just my opinion), I was extremely disappointed in a show that I was so looking forward to watching.

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I can see what all the hype is about, but...

Should you try it, I'd say yes. Chinese dramas, especially historicals, are absolutely not my favorites, save a couple of exceptions. I liked this one well enough, but I didn't love it. Please remember that this is my personal opinion.

The good:
Gorgeous lead couple.
Excellent enemies to lovers, with a slow progression as they get to know one another.
A strong female lead that remains strong throughout. She had a sharp mind, was kind, and stood her ground.
Cute side love story.
Beautifully filmed.
Costuming and the sets were good.
Happy ending.

My issues:
FL reminded me so much of Zhao Lusi without her charisma. I kept waiting for more wit from her.
Why do people have to have multiple names? Keeping everyone straight was a nightmare for me!
Entirely too long, with long periods of nothing happening. I had to FF too much.
I can't forgive them killing off my favorite character.
Boring, abrupt and lazy ending.

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Spoilers, Spoilers, Spoilers

I tend to be very specific in my reviews, just so I can remember what I watched. I put off watching this one, because so many people didn't like it, but, since I like Kim Young Dae, I decided to give it a try. And I can say that I am so glad that I did! Lots of spoilers in this, so if you don't want to know what happens, all you need to know is that I recommend you give this one a try for yourself.

What I liked:
The story. I do have to say that their past life was more well-developed. Their current lives focused more on other people. I have the attention span of a goldfish, so for me to not have to fast forward at all says a lot. I thought it was very engaging, though sometimes suspending disbelief was more difficult than at other times. I did feel that they spent too much time in showing us that they loved each other, rather than letting us feel their love.
Kim Young Dae. I loved him in Sh**ting Stars. I thought it was unfortunate that he was cast as yet another celebrity, but that's a minor quibble. My only real complaint was he was often too emotionless, but I also have to say that he has the most expressive eyes. I could see them change as he looked at her. Minor complaint - that one lock of hair in the middle of his forehead that was longer than the rest that hung over his nose - did someone just forget to cut that piece?
Pyo Ye Jin. I wasn't sure if she could carry a lead role, but I was very impressed. There was something about her that I can't quite explain why I think she was perfectly cast. She's not beautiful in the typical K-drama sense. Sometimes she would look very pretty, other times just like the girl next door. Her carriage and bearing in the past life were perfect for her role as someone from a powerful family forced to be a slave, but she wasn't about to be anyone's doormat.
Jung Woong In. He was the best villain I've seen in a long time. He was so charismatic, he commanded every scene he was in. And on the creepiness scale, for me he was off the charts!

What I didn't like so much:
Dead fish kisses. I think this was the fault of Pyo Ye Jin. She just looked really uncomfortable. Can the director not see how bad a kiss looks? I think sometimes that no kiss at all is better than bad kisses.

What I hated:
The ending!!! MAJOR SPOILER ALERT. So, this guy has been a ghost following her for 1500 years, in love with her all that time, never wants to be without her, but he disappears when the bad guy dies. The body that the ML had inhabited died. But he disappeared while the funeral was going on? He kept thinking of her name all the time, wanted to meet with her to talk about it. The bottom line? He has no memory of her or the love he had for her!! I'm sorry, to me, that just diminishes their love story. What made it especially sad was, since he was famous, for her whole life she'd see him in projects that he's done, and throughout her whole life she'll miss him and be sad. I know one of them said they'd be together in their next life, and we got three minutes of that next life, when she almost falls and he catches her (is that the most overused trope ever?!?) They said a couple of inconsequential things to each other and stood far apart, staring at each other. THE END. I'm sorry, if I can believe that the guy came back to life, I could certainly believe that he'd remember her somehow. It really made me mad and I dropped the rating a bit because of it. How hard is it to give us a lengthy, happy ending after keeping them apart the whole time!?!?!

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Unpopular opinion here

My rating of this show was all over the place. Started out good, but hated the FL. I asked my "watching buddy" how long she was going to be irritating - she was truthful and said for quite awhile. She was right. The whole middle part dragged for me - how many times do we need to hear the discussion about the age gap? I was just getting ready to power through with the help of my fast forward button, when, at about episode 20, things turned around. That raised my rating again.

I'll start with the things that bothered me. I know I'm being picky here, but when you add them up, I was irritated more than I was enjoying.
1) For the love of Mike, Chinese dramas don't need to be that long! Get a good editor and tighten it up. If I have to fast forward a lot, that lowers the rating.
2) The FL was terrible (for me) through multiple episodes at the beginning. Yelling, pouting, bitter, she had it all. Then toward the end, when he asked her to marry him, she acted like she was mad...what was that about?
3) Costuming - FL was constantly running/walking in the streets wearing stiletto heals. Short or short, short skirts with high heels - just no. Clothing with ribbons hanging off of them - dangerous in a workplace. ML wore, for the most part, baggy oversized clothes (to make him appear young and immature?). ML's boss - greasy unkempt hair and his clothes were terrible!
4) Stalker girl went on for entirely too long. She should have had a restraining order against her.
5) We finally get rid of the stalker girl, and then the evil company president comes along. Why did she want to discredit him anyway?
6) Too much drinking, decision making when drunk, etc.
7) Too repetitive with the age disparity.
8) Her dressing her three-year-old son like a girl was strange.
9) The final scene, when they are panning the camera through the house, wasted potential. I was hoping we'd get to see them together when they were older, with white hair. I kept expecting that, then it was just done.
10) Attorney that she had been interested in, kept putting her off...why? Then when he knows that she's moved on, he suddenly said he loves her. Then he keeps trying to convince ML that he and FL shouldn't be together.

However, on the other side of the coin.
1) The leads were so cute together.
2) The ML was absolutely adorable, and that smile! He reminded me so much of Seo In Guk.
3) No evil parents, how refreshing!
4) I almost cried when she got the text from her MIL to be. I loved how excited she was to know that they were together.
5) The stalker redeemed herself in a great way.
6) No unnecessary breakups. Once they finally talked to each other, they were able to resolve issues maturely.
7) I love that the ML had loved her since they were children. The scene when he was 15 (that she didn't remember) was beautifully done. And I like how he never wavered.
8) Child actors were good.
9) Thank you SO much for giving us time with them together. The whole suffering through tons of episodes of the couple being apart, just to get together in the last 15 minutes, is SO overused.
10) The girl friendships - the three of them were always looking out for one another.
11) This is totally random, but I keep thinking about it. In one scene, the three friends were outside walking, and the married woman had a cup of coffee and was doing a great job of acting like the cup was hot, switching it from hand to hand. Normally, you can totally tell that there is nothing in the cups they are using.

So, at the end of the day, if you have patience for unlikeable characters, and you don't mind a lot of filler in each episode, give this one a try, you'll probably really like it.

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Thank goodness it was relatively short

I will begin this review by saying that I normally don't watch historicals, especially Chinese, because they always seem so unrealistic, too much satin, and ridiculous hairstyles. That said, if this is a genre you usually watch, give it a try, because there was a lot of cuteness, but I just judge harshly.

What I liked:
-FL is gorgeous, and I mean gorgeous. She lit up the screen.
-Though I wasn't enamored with the ML, they were really cute together.
-A nice mother-in-law.

What I didn't care for:
-Dubbing. Just why!?!?!
-The translation was so bad. Not just mixing up him/her, but there were so many times I had NO IDEA what was going on, because the words had nothing to do with anything.
-Choppy editing.
-Too much internal dialogue, sometimes it seemed that they could hear each other's thoughts, sometimes not.
-The fight scenes were laughably bad.
-was that supposed to be music in the background, or a sound effect or what?

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Suffers by comparison

This is my personal opinion. If you are wondering if you should watch Family by Choice, I would say yes, because I realize I'm in the minority here.

Yes, I watched Go Ahead first. No, I didn't love it. I felt it was entirely too long. However, Family by Choice, left out most of the episodes that had heart and, for me, wasn't able to recreate the bond of the found family.

What I liked:
-The acting was good.
-They didn't have both male leads fall in love with the FL.
-Ju Won's friend Dal. Loved her storyline with Hae Jun.
-Ju Won's dad.

Not so much:
-A lot of bad kisses. Not feeling the chemistry. Actually, I didn't believe the romance. It could have been left out.
-The actors looked exactly the same from high school to 10 years later.
-San Ha's dad. He was just there for the food and alcohol.
-I wasn't really able to feel the strong bond between the siblings, because we didn't have enough of what they went through as children to stand together against the rest of the world.
-Ju Won's dad was a lovely character for the most part; however, he seemed to love the boys more than her!
-an ode to terrible mothers. Every mother in this show was a nightmare.
-bad mother shout out - Hae Jun's mom. So, you leave and don't come back for 20 years. The reasoning was extremely weak, and she was being such a martyr. Then, moving close so she can see him from afar. Then, they have one conversation and all is forgiven.
-storyline for Ju Won's dad and Hae Jun's mom - came out of nowhere and ran at lightning speed.

My biggest complaint:
-San Ha's storyline. I had so many problems with it.
-First, both parents were gone when his sister died. Did Child Protective Services not get involved?
-San Ha saying he wants his mother to keep thinking his sister's death was his fault. Why?
-This storyline overshadowed every other. It was extremely toxic. The actress did an excellent job, I hated her so much.
-Why would he go and take care of her? It might have made sense if he was underage and had no choice, but he was an adult. Respect for an adult/parent is one thing, but to suffer abuse from your mom for over 10 years? Plus, he was in med school - even a bystander could see that she needed psychiatric help. She should have been committed.
-I completely lost respect for him when he went to see her and got on his knees at her bedroom door. What the heck!?!?!?
-This storyline, for me, seemed to overshadow all the others, which really drove my enjoyment down.

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A little too formulaic

Just my personal opinion, but I REALLY don't like watching needy people. The FL was so desperate it really irritated me. I also wasn't feeling their relationship on a romantic level. I appreciated that they became friends, but it felt like the ending was forced to make is a HEA ending. When I watch shows, I'm all about the ML and FL ending up together, being the ultra-romantic that I am, but maybe because it was movie, there wasn't enough time to show why they fell in love. It also would have been good to have more of a secondary story about someone's choice to remain single. This movie definitely touted -- single is bad.

That being said, I did enjoy it for what it was.

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Short on romance, but some very laugh out loud moments

Liked:
1) Lee Jung Eun as Im Sun made this show for me. I've always loved her as an actor, but wow, she totally shone in this role! Her comedic timing is brilliant and she's very good at physical comedy. She was strong when needed, and vulnerable when necessary. If I WERE to watch it again, I'd probably just watch the scenes with her in it.
2) The Im Sun/Ko Won relationship. I loved it. I appreciated that the writers showed a little bit of what is required of an idol, and I liked how he learned her secret early on. Their scenes were wonderful, and I liked how they showed him most with Im Sun rather than Mi Jin.
3) Choi Jin Hyuk. Always.
4) Mi Jin's best friend. I loved her supportiveness, and they had some emotional scenes together.
5) Mi Jin's parents. At times they were irritatingly over the top, but in the end, I enjoyed watching them. Lee Hak Chan as Mi Jin's father, this may sound strange, but I love his face.
6) The mystery and the red herrings. I was surprised by the culprit, and that doesn't often happen.
7) The OST, especially Jung Eun Ji's Stay. She has a hauntingly beautiful singing voice.

Not so much:
1) Jung Eun Ji as Lee Mi Jin. Her pursed lip talking got on my nerves. Was she trying to be cute? Pitiful?
2) The relationship between Mi Jin's best friend and the ML's office mate. He was WAY too old for her!
3) The lack of romance. Literally the last few minutes of the last episode. I'll include lack of chemistry between leads. I couldn't even root for them to get together; I just wanted the show to be over by that time.
4) The styling. ML - all I could focus on was his ridiculously pointy sideburns. 2FL - terrible haircut, possibly achieved by using hedge trimmers. Mi Jin's mom - her red lipstick was absolutely caked on.
5) The female prosecutor served no purpose.
6) WAY too many flashbacks! The show could have been shortened if they'd left most of them out.

So, all in all, I enjoyed it. It's a fun watch if you want some laughs, but just look for too much romance.

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Chae Jong Hyeop - seriously!

Story - it was a really interesting premise, but wasn't executed as well as it might have been. I loved the idea that he thought in Korean, so she had no idea what he was thinking. However, she's known and worked with Akito for years and never heard his thoughts? She said that she has to look in someone's eyes, but there were times when she was hearing their thoughts and not looking them in the eyes. I really loved her being able to "talk" to her dad - that was very touching. However, the writer of the book showing up in the last two episodes felt like it was just thrown together. The older scientist guy was seriously overacting, the second couple was a wasted of time, and Nikaido Fumi as Yuri often seemed outmatched by Chae Jong Hyeop.

Chae Jong Hyeop is absolutely the star of this show. Open, energy-filled (think puppy on the loose), and innocent, I loved his joie de vivre. Him going back and forth between Japanese and Korean was a feat in itself. He was open about his feelings, not afraid to put himself out there. His smile could seriously power a city.

Nakagawa Tuishi as Akito was very good as 2ML. I adored him in Today's Kira-Kun, and if you haven't seen it, you should.

Though there was something a little off about this show, it was short, low angst and Chae Jong Hyeop made me smile, a lot. Watch it, I think you'll enjoy it.

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