May Queen (2012)

May Queen is a full on melodrama (makjang) if you do not enjoy this genre then stop reading now hahaha.

The first 8 episodes with the young/teen cast were sensational. All the young actors were excellent in portraying their characters. Kim Yoo Jung is cemented forever as the finest young Korean actress, in my book, with her touching and brave performance as the young Hae Joo/Yoo Jin. The story is set around the shipping industry, with revenge, love triangle & birth secrets galore. After episode 8 the story leaps forward 15 years later & at that point the story continues until the end of the drama.

Most of the actors in the adult cast do a very good job. Lee Deok Hwa as the pantomime villain “thug with a rug” as I dubbed him. Kim Gyu Chul as the weak, slimey butler forever in Jang Do Hyuns power. I hated them both, which was the point.

I loved Hae Joo’s adopted dad, he was wonderful and the love they shared was so moving to see. At first I didn’t think I would like the character of Hae Joo’s adopted mom but the journey she took was lovely to see. Lee Bong Hee and the Chun family ensemble provided some truly hilarious moments and much needed comic relief with all the drama going on. The Prosecutor was an admirable character, someone striving to right wrongs to the best of his ability throughout.

Chang Hee (young) I loved but I was not so enamoured with the adult version, he seemed to be weak and ineffectual even as a successful adult. I don’t blame the actor, more the writers for his lack of character development. Kang San on the other hand was played beautifully by Kim Jae Won as the happy go lucky guy hiding all his pain behind a façade of a clown.

The biggest weak link for me was adult Hae Joo (admittedly I have not seen this actress in anything else so cannot write her off completely) but in this drama she evoked no emotions from me whatsoever (except annoyance). The young Hae Joo was so excellent and the adult Hae Joo failed to live up to that promise quite spectacularly. Another weak link was Hae Joo's biological mother she just seemed to be a useless, weak woman who collapsed to the floor at any given opportunity, she did redeem herself slightly in later episodes, but her whole relationship with Do Hyun was a mystery to me.

I tend not to re-watch so that mark is always low for me.

The music/score was good, The main theme song I didn't like too much and started getting on my nerves in the end.

If you like melodramas this is well worth a watch the story moves at a fairly brisk pace (although it could have done without the extension).

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First things first: the synopsis to this isn't quite right. 2 guys do fall in love with her, but one becomes a complete ayouknowwhat.(sorry if this feels like a spoiler.)

Second, if you have heart problems, don't watch this. It will make you furious and cry alot. If you like dramas about revenge, this is perfect to watch.

Third, this is one of the best dramas I've ever watched, and i don't say that often. It has everything in it, melodrama, romance, comedy, suspense, and awesomeness!

You will not regret watching it, the first episode might make you have doubts, but stick with it!

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Don't let the length of this drama stop you from watching it. It was interesting all the way through. It is a kind of mix of King of Baking, Kim Tak Goo, Feast of the Gods, and Equator Man. It is melodramatic from start to finish. It has murder, kidnapping, betrayal, romance, and of course the birth secrets. I loved it.

The story is really too complicated to even begin to explain. It has twists and turns that keep you guessing, because all of the lives of the characters are so intertwined. The writers really did a great job.

The young people that play the main characters as children are amazing. Kim Yoo Jung is so believable as Chun Hae Joo. For her only being 14, she has been a LOT of dramas. Most recently The Moon that Embraces the Sun. She makes me want to watch that drama.

Han Ji Hye's character is the adult Chun Hae Joo. I have not seen her in anything else, but I think she did a great job in this drama. She gave Hae Joo a strong character. It is refreshing for the woman to be strong in a drama. Kim Jae Won plays Kang San as bright and optimistic. He cracks me up when he speaks in English. It is just too cute. Jae Hee plays Park Chang Hee. This dude can act!!! I really don't know how he gets his eyes to be cold and warm like that. His character went through a lot of emotions and I believe that Jae Hee nailed them all.

I usually hate a lot of side stories and characters, but in this drama I felt like most of them were needed. Hae Joo's mom, Geum Bo Ra was an excellent character. I really had love/hate feelings for that character. Then Hae Joo's other mom, Yang Mi Kyung, was just outstanding. To watch her go back and forth in her emotions was true talent. Veteran actress really know what they are doing.

I enjoyed the music in this drama, but it isn't anything that I will remember.

I probably won't rewatch this drama, because of how long it is and because I already know what happens.

I really enjoyed this drama and I think that it is definatly one you should watch if you like melodrama.

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A family melo and the fact that 2 leading actors I really like are acting in the same drama really made May Queen a drama to look forward to…

Story: Honestly I didn’t find the shipbuilding theme interesting at all but the writers did well in keeping the audience from becoming bored by introducing the cliché makjang elements, especially towards the end. With that being said, I would have enjoyed it much more if they did NOT provide an extension. For someone like me who gets bored easily, pacing is most important and towards the end, the pacing stalled and I got restless. Another thing that I found disappointing was the romance of the main OTP. Their relationship really didn’t start until almost episode 30 I believe, because the main girl was still hung up over her past love. Really, I understand that loving someone for 15 years and then getting dumped can hinder new romance but its hard to root for a couple whose romance isn’t straightforward. The ending was perfect.

Acting: Jae Hee and Kim Jae Won of course killed it. Unfortunately, I found Han Ji Hye's portrayal only serviceable. She did not have many expressions and her emotional scenes didn’t move me. Also, she had no chemistry with either leading men, which rendered the romances worthless. I even think the actress that played Inwha did a more believable job playing her second lead role. I enjoyed her relationship with Jae Hee's character more than the main OTP. The supporting actors did a great job but I found Hae Joo’s fake family annoying and useless to the plot. I shipped Jung Woo/Bong Hee couple (their odd relationship is so much fun!). As for our villain, Lee Duk Hwa is an actor who is right at home with his character and as usual does every evil thing imaginable, but has the chops to make you sympathetic for his character in the end.

Music: Fit the drama but nothing I’d remember down the line.

Rewatch: Here’s where it becomes tricky. It was well written but my enjoyment the first time around wasn’t that great, so Id pass on another go around.

Overall, this is a very good family melo that’s worth a watch if your into those, but don’t expect a masterpiece like Can You Hear My Heart (I kept comparing the whole time and it just made me want to rewatch it instead), an epic romance, or amazing acting by the lead actress or you wont enjoy the drama.

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Ahhh now that was a long drama i must say! Just got over with it right now and well in my defense i wouldn't say it was a regretful thing to watch it. There were severe moments when i screamed out to my self that why did i even start it in the first place? To be more specific there were a lot of scenes which don't seem necessary to exist at first but then we find out it had some meaning to it later in the story. The whole ship plot was indeed different and something very new, and unlike most people it had not bored me much. What had bored me up was the part where the main girl being confused between who to choose, as in between Park Changhee oppa and Kang Sanie oppa. That part annoyed me quite a bit and at point the story took such turn of event that it practically seemed pathetic to an certain extent. Overall i gave it a 7, which is not at all bad, it just indicates to the readers that it was a alright drama, but i got to admit not my best. The music was good, and infact worth downloading and keeping it in your music listening device. Re-watch value was scored low by me since honestly i am not going to watch it the second time, not because it was bad but the story had secrets which once revealed kills the curiousity to watch it the 2nd time. The cast overall did a great job and specially the fathers and mothers acting was amazingly real and drove me into the inner core of the story. To be honest what made me cry was the evil old guy ( forgot his name ). It was actually funny since not the leads made me cry but the evil dude did :D Anyways, altogether I wont hesitate recommending this drama to anyone, but watch it at your own risk, it does have parts which can annoy and bore to the most extensive point. But it wasn't that bad so give it a try ^_^ You can watch it in dramacrazy.net for those who are inaccessible
for watching in viki.com due to regional problem. Thank you! Hope my review has encouraged to to watch this amazing melo-rom. And one more thing :P Kim Jae won oppa looked really hot here so yeah :P :P :D

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This is your typical melodrama so be prepared haha.

This is also very funny to watch after watching Golden Rainbow, since there's like 4 actors that are in both and they have varied roles from that drama.

Anyways, onto May Queen! It's a very long drama, but it's worth the watch. It has your typical tropes of birth secrets, revenge, love triangles, etc. etc. For the romantic portion, it was very sweet for once to see both male leads treat her with respect until, well, something happens to one of them (a typical kdrama trope, but I won't go into detail because that will be a spoiler). At times, Hae Joo is encouraging to watch, yet her naivety may annoy some at times. Many of the supporting characters, however, are quite lovable (Jung Woo, Bong Hee, etc.) and you'll appreciate them in times when the plot really tenses up.

I believe some of the best acting was during the childhood portion. Yoo Jung always does so well..and the man who was her father also did a great job. I can't say much about the others since I haven't seen them in other dramas. I would say that Geum Hee is very tiring to watch. It seems the only thing she does is cry, collapse, and hit whichever male figure is near here. Though she does play a crucial role later on, and she does change some, for the greater portion of the drama she's just...there. Crying probably. And Il Moon is just hopeless. Eugh.

I found the music beautiful and I wish I could find them somewhere to listen to online, and I mean the classical pieces--the actual OST was okay. Typical of any makjang drama.

And rewatch value is low because it's long! It took me roughly 40 hours in total to watch it all. But it's worth it. I was almost crying with joy when I finished it. It's a beautiful story, with tragedy mingled in.

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