New Tales of Gisaeng (2011)

Okay,
A lot of people slept on this drama because the writer is a complete nut that is infamously known for wack plots and nepotism. But, this easily in my top 20 and one of the 10 I recommend for anyone dipping their toe in the kdrama world for the first time.
Bad stuff first:
Slow start. Give it the necessary 8-10 for the real fun to start.
There's a F-ing ghost and not a good one, like why?.... The writer, that's why.
Dumb af birth secret you realize you don't care about and then they give you another one.
Sung Hoon's acting, most are more than a little green be he stands out as the worst in the beginning.
Eeyore gets a hairdo and it ain't pretty.
Her other choice of ...~cough~ partner...~gross~.

The good stuff:
Sung Hoon takes a shower.
Chock full of madness to make you yell at the screen and tell off the jerk of a male lead who really gets pulled through the wringer, deservedly so.
Sung Hoon takes his shirt off and starts yelling about how much he loves you and wrong for everything.
The male lead actually shows growth as a character without just waking up one day with a change of heart.
Sung Hoon crashes your Skank-wedding, sorry "Courtesan-Wedding"
The lead female isn't a doormat either.
Sung Hoon is all Boo-hoo at your feet begging you to take him back.

Rewatch factor: High.
I have found myself rewatching this one when I'm in a drama slump or I need to wash the sting of a disappointing drama from my mind. So at least 5 times that I've watched this one.

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Long but enjoying

I might drop even those dramas that are of 16 episodes but I can't believe that I watched the whole of 52 episodes!!

This drama depicts the difficulties and the prejudices that Gisaengs face in today's world. It was very touching. I really liked how any of the characters were not so negative that our blood starts boiling. I won't give a major spoiler but Ra Ra was a really good best friend. She did not become a b!tch like most of the Chinese dramas and made up with Sa Ran so quickly. She didn't break her friendship for a man. This whole drama was completely logical (except that ghost part). Never did I get those thoughts like ''seriously?'', ''what's going on?" or "this is too much" etc. while watching this drama.

Overall it's a good watch.

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Like most Korean dramas, the biggest problem for me was the pace. It started off fast and then came to a complete stop in the middle and then slowly began to pick up the pace more towards the end. I can say that it was entertaining, though. The subplots were interesting in their own ways, but I'm not sure if I like that everyone was somehow related to everyone else...like everything happened in this small bubble of a world where everyone knew everybody else and they were all connected, especially since this story was set in Seoul which has a huge population.

The acting was really good for the most part. Baek Oh Dam (Gong Joo) had me balling every time she cried. I loved the OST.

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"I think dying by your hands would be better than losing you and dying of heartache" - Ah Da Mo

I smiled, laughed,swooned,screamed and cried while watching "New Tales of Gisaeng". Wow, what a journey this has been. What a absolutely marvelous story of fate, family, sisterhood, pain, trauma and the teachings of life this brought to every character. But most of all, the central and epic love-story of our main-leads, they are star-crossed lovers Ah Da Mo & Dan Sa Ran portrayed by Soo-Hyang and Sung-Hoon. These two on-screen created fireworks, just gosh what a beautiful pair they are! It was long time coming for me to watch "New Tales of Gisaeng" since it has been recommended to me for some time now but i never came around to actually watching past 20 min of first ep in the past. I think the time was not right for me, i gave it another shot last week and decided that i firmly would finish 3 episodes and when i did i was stuck. I knew this was a drama i had to and would finish watching. It is a wonderful story that depicts the magic of fate and how it entangles characters in their lives. This drama has characters that makes you root for them and i grew so fond of everyone, even the elders. Then we have the romance that feeded my romantic heart, ah what a magical and electrfying chemistry our main-leads have!! The dialuge, the glances and the touches between them, just stop it!!!KYAAAA!!!

Sa Ran is unlike many of the heroines i have seen in other dramas. She is cold in the sense that you would outwardly think she is arrogant, but she uses it as a mechanism to not open herself up to anyone. She does not speak of whats in her heart and mind, and the awful loneliness that consumes her. She has this firm dignity and great love for dancing. She is beautiful and has such a beauty in her heart.No wonder our leading hero Ah Da Mo fell madly in love with her! Ah, i love the way they hated to love each other. Hardcore hate-love story this one, and i loved every damn bit of it!!

Ah Da Mo has such a compelling character developement throughout the drama. He is very arrogant, bitter and cynical at the start. He lives his life with the following flow, knowing his place and situation in following his fathers footsteps as an heir to their family company and knows what is expected of him. He is not a rebel, but he is angry at his father for neglecting him emotionally throughout his child-hood, and that he even regards the dog Andre more of a son than Da Mo is, which is a humiliation to Da Mo`s ego. He slowly changes when he gets to know the dancer his grandmother invites to his house, the beautiful Sa Ran who is incredibly attracted to at first sight. But due to a awful misunderstanding caused by Da Mo`s cynical views she insults and hurt his pride, which makes him in return pursue her for his selfish reasons in making her fall for him so hard she would throw herself at him. (sigh, these arrogant male heroes always dig their own graves) but he senses how incredibly he is softening towards her and gets frightened out of his wits when he suspects that he is growing feelings for her. And that my friends was his gravest mistake. He run away from his own heart and bitterly regretted the awful consequences because of it. Thank god he comes to his senses and does everything there on to make her forgive him...i love how he declared that he lost to her. That he would rather she kill him with her own hands, than him dying of heartache living apart from her.

I also need to mention how fond i became of second female lead Ra Ra who also was given such a wonderful developement in character from a spoiled and entitled princess into a strong, loving and caring young woman who tackled the harsh surprises life gave her. The actress protraying her Hye-rin gave such depth to her performance that you could not help but root for her happiness as well. I love that she found true love in her new friend and protecter, Kyle that teached english at the Gisaeng House. They are absolutely wonderful together, love the deep sense of trust and friendship and admiration both have for each other.

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I absolut love this drama!!!!!!
Many haven't watched this but i really really love this drama. I Really recommend this drama for everybody who likes family dramas with romance and a nice storyline.
When they made this drama most of the cast was unknown and it were their first time acting in a drama but their acting is really good! So i really loved the cast and their characters!!! The drama is a little 52 episodes for some people but for me it was perfect.
But in the beginning some parts were to slow but is normal, and if you hang on you will realise that this is a really good drama.

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