Jealousy Incarnate (2016)

This drama was pure bliss! Had the best time watching it. The writing and direction made what could have been a cookie cutter plot, unconventional and hence, interesting. I could relate to the struggles the female lead faces while trying to establish her identity at work, all the while experiencing dating for the first time (Surprisingly always the case when Gong Hyo Jin plays these characters :D). The realistic nature of the plot and dialogues, was so refreshing. Acting was as amazing as you would expect from these seasoned actors. Jo Jeong Seok was the heart of this show though, and he earned a new level of respect in my eyes. Loved his performance :) ! To sum it up, this drama was gripping, funny and relatable till the end and I am putting this on my re-watch list. So if you haven't watched this yet, what are you waiting for? ;)

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After watching Jealousy Incarnate I might have a new favorite actor. I loved this drama so much! It was on my watch list for awhile and I am so glad I finally watched it because it really got under my skin. I could not stop watching it and thinking about the characters throughout the day. I even replayed some episodes and scenes over again while I was watching. Now that it's done I started re watching certain episodes just because I am not ready for it to be over. Episodes 8-14 are so good! Not that the rest are bad, but these are so good.

This drama features several love triangles and for people who can't stand the love triangle cliche, this might be an exception to the rule because the characters are so endearing and the acting is so good. The secondary love triangles have their moments and are somewhat cute, but the main love triangle is the best love triangle ever.

Jo Jung Suk was my favorite. I want to watch all his other stuff now. How did he he make his arrogant jerky character so lovable and magnetic? He shows Hwa Shin's inner turmoil, heartsickness and insecurity with a subtle change of expression or shift in the eyes. The second lead character Jung Woon is a dreamy perfect guy and the main character Na Ri is warm and lovable. They all have great chemistry together and the friendship between the two guys is so good too. They stole my heart. Thanks to the great character development and acting, it was actually believable that Na Ri would be so conflicted between these 2 guys that are such polar opposites. I totally understand people routing for the second lead in this drama. I admit I was conflicted too for a few episodes, but finally I was won over and satisfied that Na Ri found her soul mate.

The drama isn't perfect. The secondary story lines weren't as interesting to me as the main one, but they did have their charms. The story slows down a little in the second half and doesn't have the same flow as in the first half, but it's still good and it ties everything up in a satisfying way. Even though the finale took me a little off guard in how it was done, I think it was a fun goodbye to the characters. And the main love story brings the whole thing up for me.

Aside from the heart fluttering romance, this drama is funny and cute and had me giggling out loud many times. It also deals with some serious issues that bring more emotional depth to the relationships, but it never gets depressing or too heavy. If you have been putting off watching this you should do it.

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Quite Possibly Your Next Comfort Kdrama

This drama was a pure joy to watch! With its unique plot of carefully woven together stories, Jealousy Incarnate is one of the best romantic comedy kdramas out there! The 24 episodes can seem scary before starting the drama, but once you get sucked into it there is no getting out!

24 hours of happiness.

This dramas beautifully portrays the complexity of love, examines the different shapes and sizes of families, looks at male breast cancer (and the prejudices towards it) and explores some aspects of asexuality. Combine all of this with fiery chemistry, on point comedic timing and you have Jealousy Incarnate.

Personally, I would've liked the love triangle to play a less significant roll in the show as it was so painful at times. That said it never took away from the my enjoyment of the show.

Overall, I would recommend this drama to anyone who loves a good romantic comedy, Jealousy Incarnate may well be your next comfort kdrama!

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Short: Fabulous! Chemistry between the leads is amazing, some genuinely difficult issues are tackled and some of the performances are just outstanding. It's a love story, but with many wrinkles along the way. It's familiar in some of its tropes but at the same time unique. Ending was perfect. Really enjoyed this one!

Detailed:
It's 24 episodes, one of the longer dramas I've watched - but I enjoyed every single minute. As soon as I realised where this one was going I was glad they'd given it the extra time.

This one has a love triangle in it predominantly but before you switch off - I thought they had a really interesting take on it, and it was made all the more interesting and difficult simply because both guys were great, so it's not like you are looking for her to pick the "right" one. I thought how this was resolved was really good too. I also thought it was amusing that there are numerous triangles between various cast, whether it's the two mums and the daughter, or the two mums and the restaurant owner, or the two guys and the FL etc. It really felt like they were hamming it up a bit as if to say, if we're going to do a love triangle, let's ramp it up :)

Numerous things come up in the story and each time there's a thought out resolution. The length going to 24 episodes instead of a usual 16 or 20 means that there's time to do a proper job, but at no point did I feel like it was dragging.

Of all the dramas with Gong Hyo Jin (It's Okay That's Love, Masters Sun) that i've seen, this is probably my favourite of her performances. There's one scene where her whole expression is full on, and she goes from a big full-face smile, to crying - and the way her whole expression morphs and her faces changes colour to a deep red, was incredible.

This is probably my second Jo Jung Suk drama (Oh My Ghostess being the first) and I probably enjoy his work a lot more after this (and I enjoyed OMG a lot). His character goes through some tough times - things that I am delighted to see being covered, it's very rare that male medical troubles are ever touched upon and in this they are far more than simply touched upon - his character changes a lot, and he's able to deliver the full spectrum believably.

Seo Ji Hye (Black Knight and Crash Landing On you) was good to see in this drama too, I like how she plays strong women and I actually think her along side Lee Da Hee would be something awesome to see.

There's numerous little cameos too, whether it's Han Ji Min (One Spring Night), Go Sung Hee (Suits, My Holo Love), or one that I am not 100% sure of but I think was Lee Sun Kyun, who Na-Ri goes out on a blind date with and judging by the comments made it sounds like he's the guy from Pasta (a drama that both Gong Hyo Jin and Lee Sun Kyun were in).

Some of the visual effects were added nicely too, some of the repeated use of TV screens to show what was going on in their heads were interesting and at times quite amusing, but keep an eye out sometimes it's not obvious and easy to miss.

Music was fantastic, several tracks stood out.

The ending was perfect. I had in my mind how I wanted it to end, and if they went down that route, how I wanted them to finish in the final scenes and they did just about exactly what I had hoped. Can't ask for more than that :)

Just absolutely great, heartily recommended.

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This drama has Melodrama at its core covered with Romance and sprinkeled with comedy.
Yes, This drama should have a Melodrama tag in genre section.
There was a time while watching this drama that I almost dropped it, reason being the drama became unbearable to watch.

Things I hate about this drama:-
Sad and heavy moments were dragged unnecessarly
They went unnecessarily too far with second male lead.
Situations when story required drama to be serious, they tried to lighten the situation with comedy, (If a food is spicy will adding sugar make it less spicy, No it makes it tasteless.)
This drama should have been 20 episodes only and should have cut unnecessary crap filler stories.

Things I liked:-
Comedy element in the early episodes was good
Acting from cast was spectacular
70% of story was captivating and intresting.
They provides satisfactory followup ending story to characters which was a nice touch.


Overall:-
Drama is like a dish which has most parts that are good some are delicious but some parts are unbearable to taste. Conclusively its watchable.

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Step Step Where Do We Go Now?

I watched this drama for the first time about 2 years ago, when I was in a ‘Gong Hyo Jin Marathon’. I ended up having a crush on Jo Jung Suk.

I remember I hated his character here, and had a Second Lead Syndrome. I couldn’t understand why Pyo Nari chose the rude Hwa Sin over gentle Jeong Won, apart from her empathizing with his battle with cancer.
Also I was so exasperated by the pull and push plot, the indecisiveness of Nari and the ridiculous fights between the ML and SML.

But in my second watching I totally enjoyed the ride, everything makes better sense. I can understand all their behavior and even found their competition and constant bickering as funny and endearing. I didn’t even have the SLS anymore. Well maybe just a little bit, 😂

Story.
My Mother died after battling breast cancer which was already spread to her lungs. So I can understand a little bit what Hwa Sin had been going through, although I’m sure it’s even harder for male patients. The writer and the producers had done their research properly, the details about the disease and the treatment are quite accurate. The nurse gave a prescription for Tamoxifen which was only subtitled as ‘medicine’ by Netflix.

Acting and cast.
I feel this drama was made for the sole purpose of flexing Jo Jung Suk’s acting skills. Apart from this drama I only saw him in Hospital playlist and a couple of movies, which didn’t give much room to explore his acting abilities (only of course in Hospital Playlist he treats us with his singing talents).
We can see that he really enjoyed performing here, he’s having the time of his life. All of his gaze, his micro expressions, his gesture and body language are just perfect.
He embodied Hwa Sin.
Someone who acts tough to mask his loneliness, his vulnerability and insecurity. As maybe most men do in real life.
He delivered all the character’s emotions flawlessly, albeit sometime exaggerating it a little bit. Because he is a passionate, ‘all or nothing’ man. You can see it in his eyes when he’s frustrated, desperate, heartbroken or even horny, lol. And did I mention that he’s really swoon worthy here (in other word: hot).

Gong Hyo Jin, what can I say. Her acting is always impeccable. She conveys her character as a woman who is strong but understanding, tough but also vulnerable.
I’ve seen 7 of her dramas and I think she has almost the best chemistry with Jo Jung Suk, (the best being with Jo In Sung in It’s Okay That’s Love). The sizzling sexual attraction between her and the ML is almost palpable here.
But for me, she looks the most beautiful as Pyo Nari, her beauty is almost ethereal. Her smiles and laughters are sincere and natural. She’s demure but also sexy and desirable. So it does make sense how the 2 men are fighting over her. And no, she’s not naive.

Go Kyung Pyo as Jeong Won is sweet and adorable, but I like his acting better in other dramas that I’ve seen (Chicago Typewriter and Strongest Deliveryman), here he’s overusing the puppy eyes expression.

Other casts and characters are perfect and hilarious too.
Special shout for Kwon Hae Hyo as the kind and sufferable Director Oh.
Seo Ji Hye as Hye Won, the beautiful ice Queen who’s actually a nice person despite her cold appearance. She and Kim Jung Hyun (Chi Yeol) were reunited in Crash Landing On You.
Park Jin Joo as the nurse with deadpan face. And Bae Hae Son as the most supportive doctor.
Yoo Jae Myung looks like he’s really enjoying himself acting in this drama, so playful and relax.
Lee Sung Jae looks very fine.
This drama also touched the issue of co-parenting before it becomes a trend recently, with the 2 hard-headed Moms of Ppal Gang.

The soundtracks nice and catchy. Not too excessive.

My only bone to pick is that Go Kyung Pyo and Jo Jung Suk has 10 years of age difference. I must say it does show in their faces, but they played as same-age friends. And it doesn’t help that GKP is baby-faced.

Yes this drama maybe is a bit too long with 24 episodes, but I didn’t find it boring because so much is going on. Also maybe they want to show us that everything will work out in the end, even though it may take some time. And they want to tell us that fighting cancer as well as fighting for your love will be a long journey for lots of people, we just have to be patient and hang in there.
Hopefully we all will get the best result, and if not, at least we’re not giving up hope.

Step step
Here we are halfway home
And we will never give up

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Wow. Today I'm talking about my favorite drama.
The one which makes me smile the most.
The one I'm always sing the OST.
The one with one of the best love triangle.
Seriously, actors are perfect. Ok, Gong Hyo Jin is not a young women of 20 years old. She's not a beauty like IU or Suzy. But, isn't she beautiful ? Isn't she cute ? The way Korean People dress is REALLY strange, colors, and all... WARNING : For some. And it's the case of the cute Pyo Na Ri, but it suits so good on her !
For actors. I know that some people are like "AH no, I won't watch this. The lead actor is not in my taste". Right... Don't judge a book by it's cover.
Ok. Jo Jung Suk is not a beauty like Lee Jong Suk is for some people. BUT WAIT his acting is so sweet, his character in the drama is so sweet... THE WAY HE REACTS !
So... For the second lead.. Go Gyeong Pyo, he's cute, his character looks perfect, I DON'T LIKE PERFECT PERSONS. SORRY. ahah. No, the acotrs is very good. He is very good. Nothing more.
BUT THE BROMANCE, OH THAT'S BROMANCE. The love triangle is very pleasant to watch, but the bromance is perfect, seriously, I want a friend like that.

Recently, I decide to rewatch it, I was smiling, laughing as hell. So yes, It's a romcom. It's not something serious. But It makes you happy. Yes there's some moments you can be nervous for characters.. But, all elements are here for making you smile. Don't forget it.

Well, that's my longest review. If that review inspire you to watch this drama, I'm happy, I make my job.

Enjoy watching Jealousy Inscarnate ;)

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There are dramas that make you laugh without any content, and there are some, that leave you thinking and craving a little more from it. This drama has all the elements you need to binge watch because you miss the characters after a while. While the actors have portrayed their roles well, i will have to give the shout out to the writers. Taking a serious issue like breast cancer, framing it with hilarious situations and then giving it a twist of pure romance, they have reached a new heights of creativity.

Genre: comedy, melodrama, romance

Story-line : A bold yet persistent weather reporter who has had a crush on a reporter goes through a series of hard-ships to protect the reporter. The name jealousy incarnate is perfect for the story and the parallel stories go with the theme 'jealousy' well and the second lead makes you go weak in your knees. I would go on but you would really have to watch it to realize why it is worth watching. The story is unique and different and makes you laugh and cry at the same time.

Acting : The characters have been played well, but special mention to Go Kyung Pyo who is the 'most perfect man' ever. He plays his character so well that you cry with him and laugh with him. Compared to his previous soft characters this one made him come out of the 'cute' arena and made him look manly. (To be honest he is the reason i watched this drama). Coming to Gong hyo jin, while the character fit with her perfectly, it wasn't any different to her previous characters and there wasn't any special element and it got quite boring after a while. There is no drama without a mean, selfish lead so Jo Jung Suk played his part pretty well and the obvious drama triangle was completed.

Will i watch it again, NO.
Will i recommend it to people, YES.

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JI is an unusual drama. The story is character driven and they are written in a delightfully fun but deep way. The writer uses comedy to lighten the deep issues in this drama such as breast cancer and asexuality. The fun of the drama is seeing the original view points of each character from the main leads to the women who were once married to the same man. I enjoyed the character's relationships with each other so much and they all had great chemistry with each other.

Jo Jung Suk's is seriously willing to do anything for his character and shows that as Lee Hwa Shin. I love him so much for playing this role. Gong Hyo Jin's niche is romantic comedy and she does not fail as Pyo Na Ri. I did get a little second male lead syndrome for Go Kyung Pyo. Go Jeong Won is so sweet and cute. All of the actors are good!!!

The music is good.

I probably won't rewatch this.

If you like romantic comedy, then you will like this drama.

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Why I watched it: Gong Hyo Jin tends to pick winning scripts and I’m warming up to Jo Jung Suk

Was it worth it: Not as much as I thought it would

What I liked the most: The fact that it addressed breast cancer in males.

What I disliked the most: The story line involving the older characters. Slowed it down for me.

Moment Meter: 3/10 – There were some here and there, but not many that I can recall.

Other thoughts: It was very hard to get into this drama. They drop you in the middle of it and you’re forced to figure it out as it goes along. Everyone acted a bit too “eccentric” to be truly believable, but towards the end I understood how the characters worked and it wasn’t too bad. The beginning is awkward and doesn’t move smoothly at all. The drama became a lot better towards the middle and end. Everything was little more charged and exciting and made a lot more sense. It didn’t feel like a tremendous waste of time, but it’s not my favorite.

Conclusion: You really need to hang in there for the first half of the drama before it picks up. I’m not sorry I watched it, but all of the leading actors have way better dramas out there.

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Just such a funny show. I was hooked from the beginning coz pyo na ri is usually one of my favorite actors. Its grown up show with grown up problems including dating two guys at the same time. Not a common thing in kdramas so this was interesting and the fact that they shared the same room as throuples eats the cake. I found myself wanting her to have both of them and stay like that but that show hasnt been made yet. Anyways its got lots of funny scenes with the two mums and the assexual guy (another grown up problem). Since i watched it weekly i forget what happened in the beginning parts but it was good enough to keep me hooked. Great stuff

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