Delightful Girl, Choon Hyang (2005)

I watched this drama for the first time in 2018 and I'm not biased when I say that it has aged very well. Yes, the cell phones are enormous, and the fashion ridiculous. But other than that really, it holds up very well.
I think the story is really good, the show is packed with content: young love, delinquency, "forced" marriage, and most importantly the growth of this young couple into adulthood.
The casting is great, except for the second female lead. But I was simply blown away by Jae Hee' acting skills. He is great, and super handsome. I wish he would be in better productions nowadays.
The music was something special in this drama. I don't usually pay much attention to the music, unless it's horrible. But the OST for this drama is really good, from the kitsch opening credits song to the music throughout the show. It feels surprisingly contemporaneous and I will definitely listen to it often (if I can find it).
Overall a really good drama, not without flaws but endearing enough that I decided to overlook them in this review.

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I watched this drama without any knowledge of the folklore the story is based upon nor have seen any previous dramas the main leads have starred in. I picked it based on the recommendations from past titles I’ve already watched. I had no biases going in, I simply wanted wanted to be entertained without investing too much time and this drama cleanly ticked all of the above.

Viki did not carry this title in my country and as this was an old drama I had a hard time looking for it on the net so I could not really enjoy the prologue/epilogue sageuk scenes. Apparently they were funny and would have been fun to watch. I liked the plot and the fast pace although it slowed down quite a bit in the last 5 episodes. The main characters were introduced and the heart of the story was revealed in the first 30 minutes. Two things I disliked: too many brooding scenes of the 2nd lead in the final episodes and the confusing messages the FL kept giving 2nd ML . I get that he is deeply reflecting and contemplating his next steps but how many “drink alone” , “look at the window” and “stare at the necklace” scenes do we really need to get the point?

The actors did a wonderful job, special mention to male best friend, dad and Chun-hyang. Best actor definitely goes to Jae Hee who played Mung-ryong. He might be over the top sometimes but in a forgivable cute sort of way. He reminds me of the actor who played the lead role in Chief Kim (aka Good Manager), Namgung Min. I will be on the lookout for his other works. This drama touched my heart in a special way and will be in my re-watch and recommended list.

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Uma Atualização Vibrante de um Clássico

Delightful Girl, Choon Hyang é uma adaptação moderna de uma famosa lenda coreana, transmitida pela KBS2 em 2005. O dorama conta a história de Choon Hyang, uma jovem espirituosa e independente, e Mong Ryong, um rapaz rebelde e despreocupado. Após uma série de mal-entendidos, os dois acabam se casando em circunstâncias improváveis, mas o amor verdadeiro demora a florescer, à medida que enfrentam obstáculos e rivais.

Este dorama é conhecido por sua abordagem leve e divertida, equilibrando perfeitamente a comédia com o romance. Os protagonistas têm uma química incrível, e a evolução de seu relacionamento, de brigas a paixão, é o ponto alto da trama. Delightful Girl, Choon Hyang também se destaca pela sua modernidade ao retratar personagens femininas fortes e por subverter alguns dos clichês típicos dos dramas românticos.

Com um enredo vibrante e personagens carismáticos, este dorama é ideal para quem procura uma história engraçada e comovente, que faz referência a uma tradição cultural, mas com uma abordagem contemporânea.

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История начинается, когда родители Lee Mong-ryong в очередной раз переводят сына в другую школу. На этот раз из Сеула в Намвон. При первой же прогулке он случайно знакомится с Chun-hyang. Слово за слово... короче не понравились они друг другу. Однако вскоре произошло недоразумение, которое грозило большими неприятностями нашим героям. И единственным выходом оказалось - поженить их, чтобы присечь кривотолки. Поженили. Дети успешно закончили школу, поступили в университет и переехали в Сеул. Однако, на личном фронте у них все разладилось, появились всякие бывшие и другие поклонники. Треугольники, четырехугольники и прочая радость корейского дорамопрома. Причем все это заняло солидное время. Годы. Но от судьбы не уйдешь.

В целом, сериал по настоящему очень смешной, так искренне я давно не смеялась. В конце серий идут маленькие зарисовочки, в которых герои сериала разыгрывают сценки из "Сказания о Чхунхян", просто бесподобно!

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The first couple episodes were really good, the middle episodes were either frustrating due to too much indecisiveness on the male lead's part, and the latter episodes were ok although they still made me a bit frustrated. Also the CEO going after CH was just wierd and how manipulative he was made me angry and creeped out.

This is just an ok arranged marraige drama when compared to Sweet 18, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The acting was fine as the characters all had their strengths, flaws, and unique presonalities without an excess of overacting. I don't think I'll watch this again because there are dramas I enjoyed more that are less frustrating which equals a no go for me on rewatch value.

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It's not the meme, its how you use the meme --the first Hong Sisters' script

2005; 17 eps at 1hr ea. 10stars because it is a classic, not bec it is perfect. Apologies in advance for a series of longer reviews of early Hong Sisters' shows (getting ready for can this love be translated).

The first HS script. Comedy predominates. The internationalization of kdrama has meant the slow disappearance of toilet jokes and most of the continual threats of slaps and punches amongst family members, but they still form part of the broad-comedy style here. The soundtrack is much less intense than a super romantic drama too.

It's not the meme, it's how you use the meme. Pouting, slouching bad-hairdo teens in the boonies end up in a contract marriage after an innocent (in every way) drunken mistake. Frenetic and weird, but honest and familar teen-stupid behavior.

Then..they endearingly almost immediately bicker and protect each other like a decades-long married couple, and this remains the central joke and plot point while they work through eternal problems of miscommunication and the backwards joke of contract-marriage-before-confession. The hairdo etc styling is the contrast to the adult problematics of true love.

Classic self-referential meta touches from the H-sisters. The real Korean legend of Chunyang, a smart cool heroine, involves a tardy almost-too-late return of a scholar-family-son from his career-exam-appointment in the capital to fulfill his promise of marriage to a country-girl-daughter of a gisaeng, rescuing her from death and a bad guy, an oppressive-magistrate-son.

Here the girl and the guy are in a silly highschool setting usually seen with more angst in romances. The end-of year school play is always Romeo and Juliet. If the actors really kiss, the teen legend is that they will stay together forever. The play ends in chaos of course, the kiss lands and the drama goes on in high gear from there.

Most of the original premise of the legend undergoes funny reversals and enjoyable transformations in really quick tightly constructed dialogue. The girl isn't left behind, her guy is a bit dim or, more charitably, immature, etc. Lots of hullabaloo and plenty of angst somehow resolve, in the musical sense, sweetly into love by the end of the series.

first posted August 2024 on Viki

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