Plus Nine Boys (2014)

This drama really charmed the socks off me. I really liked having a drama finally focusing on some "good guys" for a change, instead of introducing a horrible chaebol heir seeing the error of his ways due to some candy.

My Rating: 9.0

In Short: I really liked the premise of this, It's simple, but original and effective, and gives off a "slice of life" vibe that I enjoyed. I also liked the cast, particularly our "lock and key" couple.

Pros: A realistic view of relationships in four different age groups, with a refreshing cast, great music and lots of charm. I also really liked the 14-episode format. For me, even 16 episodes can sometimes be way too long.

Cons: I would have liked to see even more interactions between the boys, not just their lives outside of home. I feel like the great scenes in the last episode really show us the potential in this. After all, five people who live together are bound to interact and influence each other a lot.

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First, I just have to let you know that the music in PNB is excellent. It really helped make this drama. The story isn't anything new or different, but it is completely interesting to follow the lives of these boys/men. I commend the director for the ability to balance four stories without leaving the viewer confused or wanting more of any thing. There is great flow and character development.

The actors and chemistry are what makes this drama fun to watch. Oh Jung Se portrays a mature yet still naive Gu Kwang Sul. For all his success in life he is still lacking in love until he finds the beautiful Ju Da In played by Yu Da In. They aren't my favorite couple but I definitely enjoyed their story line. Kim Young Kwang is mistaken player Kang Jin Gu. Poor guy has already grown as a person when we meet him, but the director shows us what he grew from with flashbacks to how he was. I loved to watch his interaction with his love interest Ma Se Young played by Kyung Soo Jin. They are my favorite couple. Next we have teenager Kang Min Gu played by Yook Sung Jae. Surprise...he can act. I know some people don't like idols turned actors, but I think they will make an exception when watching Sung Jae as he chases his lady love, Su Ah played by Park Cho Rong. Last but not least is the cutie Choi Ro Woon as Kang Dong Gu. He is so adorable and he has two love lines...one with his mom and one with tiny cute actress Lee Chae Mi. They are so adorable and bring a light hearted feel to the drama. I enjoyed them all immensely. I think each viewer will end up picking a favorite.

Again, the music is top notch.

I may rewatch this at some point.

This is an easy to watch romance. I recommend it to everyone.

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I really enjoyed this drama, I thought it was original and very well thought out and directed. I loved how each episode had a different title and how they worded things by the end of the episode to complete the titles meaning.
Cast: My favorite couple was Kang Jin Gu & Ma Se Young (Kim Young Kwang & Kyung Soo Jin) - they were the couple I was rooting for the most. I picked up the drama for Kim Young Kwang (as he has always played supporting characters in dramas I have previously watched, I thought he deserved a lead role and since this drama was giving him one, I had to watch it, and I'm ever so glad I did. This was the first drama I saw Kyung Soo Jin in but she was a great actress and I loved her scenes with Jin Gu <3 My second favorite couple would have to be Kang Min Gu & Soo Ah/Bong Sook (Yook Sung Jae & Park Cho Rong) they definitely grew along the way from not knowing each other to finding out everything about each other - they were sweet to watch. I liked all the cast/characters in this drama.
Music: Very good - indie (which I usually don't listen too, but I have heard of Standing Egg which was in this drama ;) ) if anyone knows what song it was where a male singer sang "yeppo (music) yeppo (music)..." ectra - they sang the same word - translated "pretty" over and over slowly - I loved that song but I can't find it - PM me if you know - thanks :D
Re-watch value: 7/10 - I'd probably re-watch this drama on a rainy day sometime - it's perfect for that - it's really cozy and nice <3

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I want to start off by saying that Plus Nine Boys might be the most underrated drama this year. I haven't seen a lot of attention around it, but everyone should give this one a shot. While the story itself isn't anything special, the execution of it is. Tasking the PD with finding a way to balance screen time between four separate love lines is no easy task, but the PD exceeded my expectations in this sense. However, since there are four separate relationships to juggle, the gist of each relationship's plot is standard. Despite that, the cast is where this drama truly succeeds.

What stood out to me was each couple's chemistry. Each couple was cute in their own way and the entire cast seemed to click. Everyone looked like they were having genuine fun with their roles. I originally thought I would end up watching this drama only for my darling Chorong, but I was proven wrong within the first couple episodes. I found myself picking my biases and obsessing over certain character's appearances. Not only that, but the men in the drama have dynamic personalities and are also all good-looking lads.

As for the music, I fell in love with Standing Egg because of this drama, and I found myself downloading dozens of their songs. As a matter of fact, I frequently paused episodes in order to Shazam a lot of songs or try to search for them. The soundtrack and BGM were pleasant to my ears, and I must say that I favor this drama's soundtrack second only to 'It's Okay, That's Love' and that soundtrack was a masterpiece (in terms of K-Drama OSTs).

In terms of re-watch value, I normally give low scores for this part since I never think to re-watch dramas, but I'm thinking of adding this to an eventual re-watch list because I always looked forward to weekly releases, and I was a wreck waiting for them.

Overall, what sells this drama is its amazing cast and chemistry. Each viewer will have their bias couple, but that doesn't mean the others are lacking in any way. With that being said, I must emphasize that if you love the cast, you'll definitely love this drama. However, if you aren't fully convinced by the cast and are expecting an innovative, extraordinary plot, you might be a tad disappointed. The momentum of this drama is carried depending on how one feels about the cast. In other words, if you love the cast, episodes will fly by but feel draggy if you don't. In the end, I recommend this drama for anyone needing something light and easy-going.

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"Love can happen when you least expect it, and you can lose love just like that too. That’s why you should seize love, not wait for it."

Once again a tvN drama steals my heart, Plus Nine Boys, a drama about four men in a family that ages all end in 9..which according to Korean superstition is bad luck or something along those line, I wont go into full detail about it. But as we follow these men’s lives we discover that maybe it’s not just bad luck but life that is in their way. This drama overall is about the life and year of these boys as they live in their plus nine year, as they journey through both romantic and friendly relationships and just plain old every day lives and the future that is ahead of them. At first I thought this would be a drama that would be all about bad luck, that bad things would happen left and right to these four guys, but I was wrong. This is more of just every day types of situations, that could happen to anyone and how they go along with it.

The drama had a lot to do with romance/relationships which was a huge part of this drama and I personally loved every moment of it. It’s strange that this is a romantic comedy and I loved it so much, knowing me..I’m usually not up for those types of dramas but for some reason tvN knows how to produce dramas that I just fall for. Their writers or whoever come up with stories and characters I just connect with and , the comedy aspect fits with more realistic and every day situations, nothing over the top and cheesy about it and I really like that about this drama and many other tvN dramas I have seen. Its just realistic, and even when it comes to the end of the drama..its realistic. Yes some may have love and move on and marry, some may end their loves and some will just stay the same..it didn’t give up a oh well they are first loves so they HAVE to stay together, or that a relationship is perfect and it doesn’t effect anyone else, or just because you were in love with someone doesn’t mean that they want you back necessarily and they have baggage too. However, there was something that kind of bothered me about this drama and that it was too short..but I’m just complaining because I didn’t want it to end. I think it probably was the perfect length for it, nothing was dragged out of long amounts of time and we didn’t just drag our feet each episode. Each episode had its point and it kept me entertained from start to finish.

The acting in this drama was great. My little model baby Kim Young Kwang has stuck me again and I feel so proud of him every time he comes out with a drama. He did a great job in this role, and I thought he portrayed his character so well. He made me laugh and he even made me feel emotions..though I didn’t cry. I only cried twice during this drama, and it was in episodes near the end of the series. However that being said, I still really enjoyed it and the performances given. Like I was saying..Kim Young Kwang was great and handsome as ever, him and his character were both charming and I feel my mother type proud-ness towards him. Oh Jung Se was fantastic as well, he made me laugh so many times during this drama, and somehow came from being goofy to really making me see him as a man at time. Now many people may not of liked his character or the choices he made or the way he went around to getting is romance..and I didn’t agree with him 100%, but I did support him. I could understand where he was coming from, and I think the writers get a thumbs up for that, and Oh Jung Se for being able to pull off the role. Yook Sung Jae, I was surprised..I don’t know if this was his first drama or not, but for an idol (because I guess I might discriminating against idols sometimes) I thought he did a great job. I was extremely invested in him and Park Cho Rong’s story line. They really made me feel, and both of them did a great job with their characters..I even got some squeals from their adorable moments which is rare for me..so props to them.I was really surprised to see Kyung Soo Jin in this drama, I never realized how old she really is, since she played the younger high school self of the main character in Shark…I just assumed she was a teenager, but obviously not. Damn is all I can really say. I really liked her in this drama as well, she is one of my favorite female characters of 2014, because for some reason I can just relate to her and how she is guarding herself because of hurt. And some people may be angry at her for thinking its her fault, and feeling annoyed, but its just her character and it fits her personality well, and I thought she played it well. The rest of the cast I would love to talk about like, Choi Ro Woon, You Da In, Kim Hun Joon, Minha and so on but this is getting to be pretty long. Overall I thought the acting in this was great, and that goes along with the writing, because without such strong and distinct characteristics for each character it may of been difficult for them to actually portray these characters that I grew to love.

Overall from the amazing soundtrack (which was top..soo much good indie music that makes my soul happy) to the cinematography to the acting/writing in this drama..I really enjoyed all aspects of it. I think its a really great romantic comedy and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t really do romantic comedies. There are characters in this drama that you just cant help but love and want to root for till the end, and the at the same time you feel bad for rooting for them because it may hurt someone in the end. Its a complicated roller coaster of emotions while watching this, but I had fun none-the-less and I think it’s totally worth anyone’s time if they are searching for a new drama to watch and for those looking for a new romantic comedy in their life, I personally think this hits the spot.

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This drama had potential, but lost it in the way, is well made and in the first episodes you will wonder why was this drama cut to 14 episodes, but as it goes you might get disappointed with parts of the story and some characters.
SPOILERS ALLERT
Ma Se Young's change from the cool girl to the drama queen got frustrating. Her and Jin Gu was my favourite couple at first but then whenever they appeared, I was like not this thing again. Lying to their friends about their relationship was not cool, it didn't bother me that much because they had strong feeling for each other. But Ma Se young playing the victim when in reality the only victims were Jae Bum and Go Eun was annoying.
Da In was another another disappointment. She never talked about her feeling and always left Kwang Su suffering, this kind of love is not fair.
Not to mention the amount of disappearances in the last episodes. There is not a thing that can get more annoying than this. If you have a problem TALK IT OUT, don't let others worry.
That's why Min Su and Bong Soo couple was the best one. Despite their young age they had the most meaningful relationship. They would talk about the things that bothered them and had sincere feelings.

Dong Gu stole the show and Choi Ro Woon is a little star.

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Smooth and easy watch! Not too much drama. Kinda relatable.

It turned out okay. It's a simple drama with not much complicated scenes. Not overly dramatic. It just shows a normal life.

I love the friendship. Min Gu and his friends, Jin Gu and his friends.

I love the family theme but it kinda lacking as it focuses on their bad luck and relationships. I felt bad for Dong goo on the last episode where he misses his dad. I cried in the scene where they showed him his Dad's video.

I see why some people hate the focus on superstitions but it is the drama's theme. It's not that annoying as I see a lot of kdrama moms mostly believe in fortune tellers. It's their thing.

I love how each characters gradually developed. A boy becomes a man which is one episode title. Dong goo, Min Gu, Jin Gu and Kwang soo had their fair share of misfortunes and happiness. And all of them grow from their experiences.

I also love how it shows that there may be unfortunate events that's happening in your life but life always serve you what you deserve. Whether you're unlucky or not, whether you believe in superstition or not, your time/ your happiness will surely come.

Though the drama is not that perfect but still fun to watch. There are cute, sweet and funny scenes.

Actually, I only watched it since I'm binge watching KYK's projects. I don't have that much expectations about it I just wanna watch KYK. Hehe. Glad I watched it.

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I just started watching this but you know when you don't get popular cast due to budget cut then cast look alike actors. Thats what happened here(in my opinion).

The 19 year old one looks like Seo In Guk and the 29 year old looks like Kim woo bin. I shit you not. I had to look clearly to confirm they were not.

The premise is good and different characterisation is also good. But the 29 year old one, I mean come on. If you got crush on someone you don't go around fuc**ing people of her friends, colleages etc in front of her creating an image of playboy, slut. Then go around moping after finding that crush has fallen for other guy. Come on , what kind of shit is this character smoking??

Edit : woah.. I hated the 29 year old guy at first but he came on right track by the end. The romance was good in all three pairs. I thght it wuld not deliver but It surprised me.

This is a good drama worth of 8.5 / 10

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What I love about this show is that the +9 plot device is just a way for us to get to know our characters and their relationships. The show doesn’t get too caught up in it. Although it was meant to be the premise of the show, I wasn’t hoping for the story to be too focused on that.

My favourite story is, obviously, the 29-year-old’s story. Kim Young Kwang and Kyung So Jin’s chemistry is incredible, as friends, to playfully flirting friends, to being more than lovers. It’s also one of the better friends-to-lovers stories in the Korean dramas I’ve seen.

The most frustrating characters are those in the 39-year-old’s story. It felt like there was little movement or development of their characters. It’s not the actors’ fault, but likely lies in the writing. Really enjoyed Oh Jung-se’s acting here.

First time seeing Sungjae acting, and he did a pretty decent job.

Another standout feature of this show is the music. Clearly each song has been lovingly chosen to match each scene and the sentiments/feelings of the characters in each scene.

Overall, a really light, guilt-free rom-com watch with sufficient angst to keep you invested and interested in the characters.

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