Secret Garden (2010)

For me, it was forgettable

The story line was interesting, but I didn't feel the leads did a very good job when they exchanged souls. So, trying to keep track of who what saying what to who was aggravating. Toward the beginning of the show, when he was already attracted to her, the looks he would give her...sigh! But later they didn't really seem to have that much chemistry. Plus, they fought ALL THE TIME. Hated the evil mother (I know, that was the point, but she continued to have her way, even at the end, hated that). I had watched this on DramaFever and couldn't even remember it, so I watched it again to review it. I now know why I couldn't remember it. Not that impressive. Loved the architecture, even though this was filmed long before WWWSK, it will always be the WWWSK house!

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Entertaining show, not fulfilling modern standards

When I tried watching Secret Garden the first time I dropped it after half an episode. Like many pre-2015 dramas it is really
Horrible production value both in video and audio - think of an older daily soap,
bad acting or rather alternative acting skills - painting a caricature of the characters rather than being believable and
cringe-worthy moments - have you ever heard a Korean woman demonstrating her English skills with a high pitched "excuse me"? That sends shivers down my spine.

When I picked the show up again, I steeled myself to at least watch 2 episodes. And the good news is: you get used to those points and the show actually is entertaining enough to let you finish it.

But even then there are multiple issues with the show: It is weirdly paced, with the supernatural elements only kicking in 6 episodes in and a lot of comedy resulting from them were a miss for me. You have the whole "Korean super-rich - we do not behave like humans - everybody around us is forced in a servitile position"-trope going on which isn't my favourite. And at the beginning the male lead is stalking and harassing to a point slightly outside my comfort zone.

Don't get me wrong: there are good sides as well, like properly dealing with its more serious themes like injury and social pressure.

If the production value was up to today's standard I would give it a 7 or 8. But as it is, it is mediocre at best and I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it.

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Don't hesitate, just watch this drama.

I'll keep it simple this is a much watch for every drama lover. Everything is iconic, the characters, the scenes, the humor and of course the romance.

The female lead is a strong character who takes no shit from people, and the male lead is a funny asshole whom you'll grow to love. And then there's Oska, I won't spoil it but he's the most iconic side character in every drama.

I can't help but give it a solid 10/10. This is one of my favorite drama's, I've watched it two times and will most likely rewatch it again in the future.

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An entertaining drama with some cliche scenes

I binged watched all of hyun bin’s drama on netflix after crash lading on you. I was hesitating on this as i found him a little too skinny in this show for my liking. But knowing the hype it generated back then, decided to give it a try.

I was really irritated with JW’s behavior in the beginning as he was really stalking the FL and disrespectful to her in many ways. It made me question whether that was an appropriate way to woo a lady. FL also seemed to be very disturbed by his actions (i would be) but somehow still decided to fall in love with him. I was on the verge of dropping the drama at the start but still decided to pull through it as i was curious about the whole gender swap.

I must say that the gender swapping scenes were what really made it interesting for me. The leads were really brilliant acting as each other, especially HB. His actions and facial expressions were so similar to Gil Ra Im and he was really comedic in his scenes with Oscar.

A memorable scene for me was when JW was stuck in the lift and as he was claustrophobic, he started gasping for breath and fainted. That acting there was really epic. I could literally see his veins popping out. Ha Ji Won even praised HB for his acting in that scene which was certainly well deserved. I am glad that he received awards for his acting in this drama as well.

Now let’s talk about some of the cliches used.
The evil mum who throws an envelope of money to the woman who dares to go near his son. The mum was literally overreacting in every scene that i was so afraid she might just combust.

The romance which i felt was unconvincing. What made JW fall head over heels in love with GRI? Love at first sight? All he saw was her fighting and suddenly he was so in love with her that he had to stalk her. And when exactly did GRI start liking JW? To me it was also very sudden. I felt that she would probably be better off with her boss at the martial arts school.

The kisses. The famous foam kiss was rather cheesy to me... and also the typical scenes where the MLs tend to force their kisses on the FLs while they struggled. Those just don’t feel right to me.

Despite all these grievances, i completed the drama whilst fast forwarding the scenes involving the side characters. I must say the JW started becoming more likeable towards the later episodes and i was even rooting for him to have a happy ending with GRI. I kind of forgot how arrogant and irritating he was at the start. I wished they did not end it with them getting married and having kids though. Knowing that they would stay together would have been enough.

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My Personal Comfort K-Drama

This was the first k-drama I've ever seen. It soon became one of my comfort shows, and I still love rewatching it again and again, even though I now know it by heart.

It was made at the beginning of the 2010's, when there were flip phones with batteries you could take out of the phone just to be dramatic, and they do that a lot in this (take out batteries as well as being dramatic).

The premise is really fun and quite original, and the two main actors are amazing and very believable at playing all the roles they are given. Not once I am confused as to which character they are embodying. I love it.

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A zany and enjoyable adventure

Watching Secret Garden is a great time. At times hilarious and adorable, at times devastating and intense, incorporating elements of magic, action stunts, family drama, and long lost secrets, Secret Garden runs the gamut in TV storytelling and character growth.

The plot is 80% comedy, especially in the first 10-15 episodes, as the Gil Ra-im and Kim Joo Won meet, stumble around each other, and try to figure out the other's lifestyle. Hyun Bin is hilarious as Joo Won, strutting around in his fancy Italian tracksuits and trying to keep up with Ra-im's badass action woman stunts. Then, in the last five episodes, there's a lot of melodrama; think a bunch of classic Kdrama tropes all piled together (ie. car accident, coma, amnesia). But there's a good resolution that maintains the earlier episodes' lighter tone.

I LOVED the cast and characters. The two leads are excellent. At first, the two second leads annoyed me, but both of them went through some satisfying character development, and I really felt invested in their storylines by the end. (Kind of reminded me of Seo Dan and Seung Jun from Crash Landing on You). Honestly, everyone should have a friend like Oska; he was so sweet and hilarious to Ra-im and everyone else. Even the other supporting characters were great :)

The one drawback is, that like with many East Asian Dramas, there's always the disapproving mother-in-law character who relentlessly tries to keep the main couple apart for NO GOOD REASON. There was definitely a lot of that in Secret Garden although the leads are able to stand up to her.

The soundtrack is ON POINT. Doesn't hurt that one of the main characters is supposed to be a K-pop star, so there are a lot of great bops as well as more soulful music. Hyun Bin even sings a song or two!

In conclusion, I recommend this drama; it's a crazy adventure and ultimately a fun time.

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I watched this drama for Hyun Bin, Ha Ji Won, Lee Jong Suk, and Kim Sung-Oh.
I am a huge fan of those four that I just named.

I've seen 4 to five of their movies/dramas. Wonderful acting.
Since I love them so much, I watch any drama with them in it. Whether they're villains, whether they have a cameo... whatever. I'll watch it for them.

Secret Garden is indeed a wonderful drama. I laughed throughout the entire show. I cried a tad bit later on, but it wasn't for long.
I suggest that the one's who haven't seen it, please watch. This is the only drama I'd proudly recommend. All 10 stars!!

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I can't believe I postponed watching this :|

AYO for some reason whatsoever, I paused this drama a couple of years ago, probably because I got bored during the middle, but then I restarted all the way from the beginning and carried through AND I DO NOT REGRET A SINGLE THING. actually I regret pausing but other than that nothing else.

everything was 5 stars to besides the story and that's only because Gil Ra Im, whose supposed to be skilled in multiple areas of martial arts, self defense, and works out daily because of her job, is constantly overpowered by Joo Wan, which by the way FRUSTRATED ME quite a bit. another thing was that most of the physical power he forced upon her felt like borderline sexual assault if this was real world but bc I watched the NG cuts & behind the scenes, I found it (guiltily) cute.
ALSO Joo Wan's mother was EXTREMELY ANNOYING and STUBBORN but that's part of the plot so there was nothing to be done about that.

I don't have any complaints against anything else. I love the way she made things difficult for him because he deserved it most of the time. the struggle was REALLLL satisfying. the bond between Joo Wan and Oska was a beauty. every other part of the plot was just intricate and didn't leave any obvious foreshadowing, plotholes, and repeatative scenes. my favorite thing was how they kept introducing new scenes that haven't been shown throughout the drama. (that may have been a slight spoiler). the chemistry was just perfect, comedy was funny, dialogue was interesting, and I love how the focus of the story (soul switching) wasn't the only part to the plot. They were somehow able to spread that across the drama and incorporated it differently from how dramas currently doing. (maybe it's just me missing 2010 type of dramas).

the characters had amazing growth, the OST has been added to my playlists, and I AM DEFINITELY REWATCHING THIS DRAMA. Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Won look too good in this drama not to. I cried, I laughed, I loved, I was angered, and I had my expectations risen so there's pros and cons, mainly pros.

though many might not even know of this dramas existence anymore, I do hope this gets recommended or at least diffused somehow for a longer time because this drama really deserves its love and fame. it really gives me nostalgic feels

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Original storyline, great romance, & terrific comedy

I didn’t watch this drama until 2020 because I didn’t like the storyline. But after seeing Hyun Bin in “Crash Landing On You” I wanted to see more dramas with him in it. He’s such an amazing actor with great visuals. I was worried that everything would look old and outdated or the cinematography and special effects would be really bad. I have to say that the clothes, cars, and scenery looked very modern and fresh. And the cinematography was great. If someone told me it was a 10 year old drama I wouldn’t have believed them. Don’t let the age of the drama hold you back.

At first glance it looks like a typical rich CEO falls for a poor working girl type of drama that we’ve all seen tons of times. But the soul swapping along with great action scenes from the female lead as a stuntwoman gives it a nice twist to the usual story. And then finding out that there’s a deep underlying meaning to the soul swapping makes it even more interesting. I also like that the female lead is a badass instead of some weak woman that always needs to be saved. The male lead is strong and never waivers in his determination to be with the female lead. I’m always a sucker for a guy that knows what he wants. And the comedy was really good. When they soul swap it was absolutely hilarious. Seeing him try to figure out a bra just killed me.

Some people might be turned off by the male leads behavior towards the female lead in the beginning. He would say rude condescending things towards the female lead about her being poor or living in a shabby place. But then he would say she was even prettier when she was angry. Or he would tell her how cool she was because she was a badass. The male lead is trying to understand why he is so obsessed with her so he waivers between insulting her and then treating her really nice. And every time something bad happens he moves heaven and earth to fix things for her. I enjoyed watching him come to terms with his feelings for her. The romance moved at a normal pace and was very believable.

Overall this drama takes a cliche storyline and breathes new life into it with original ideas like the female lead being a badass stuntwoman. Or like having them swap souls or having the secret garden where mysterious things happen. It’s a really good drama all kdrama lovers should watch. There’s a great romance with real kisses, cute side couples, lots of eye candy (did I mention Lee Jong Suk cameo’s in it?), great comedy, family drama, office politics, and a great bromance. There’s angst and melodrama and sadness but not of it goes too far. I hate dramas that stretch the sad or angsty parts out for several episodes or has over the top evil characters. None of these characters are overly evil (as in trying to kill someone or ruin them) though the male leads mom is awful the whole time but she’s not evil. There’s sad touching parts but they aren’t sad for too long. I really like how balanced this drama is. It has a little bit of everything in a very balanced way and the acting is top notch. Stop reading reviews and just watch it. You won’t regret it!

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Golden Oldie!

That is in relation to the rapid change in Kdramas in the last decade! I really love this drama. It never gets boring or draggy (not even to the very end which most kdramas do). I had watched it once before and had completely forgotten about the body swap, but that's the power of good storytelling, it is not the main focus of the story. The love & characters keep it going without having to rely on special effects as most shows these days. It really is jam packed with interest.
Ha Ji-won owns every scene, she is a total boss and carries it. I would have loved to have seen her in more kdramas as she is a really strong female role model and brilliant actress to boot. This is early Hyun Bin and not the same hunk as seen most recently in CLOY, which is a shame. You can see the age difference of 5 years and physically I don't feel he suits FL. But I guess he was cast to play her believably as a female. Those scenes crack me up, because I think even the actors got confused!

There are so many familiar faces in this drama that I was surprised they all started off here!
Lee Jong-Suk playing a supporting role but it totally fits him so much, more so than any other drama I've seen him in! Yoo In-Na of supporting actress Goblin fame, she is such a sweet actress, with great comic timing. And the ever versatile Kim Sung-Oh from Korean Odyssey. There is also a surprise cameo from SonYe-Jin, who would have thought that her and Hyun Bin would get together a decade later...amaaazzing!

There is not 1, not 2, but 3 couples and potentially 4 & 5 going on which I love as the attention is distributed in a fair and interesting manner. The OST is great & very catchy. 'The Little Mermaid' features quite a lot in this storyline. It really is a Kdrama favourite as I've seen it pop up in soooo many kdramas with the ending metaphor of turning into foam as a perpetual worry.

I love the ending where they don't have a fancy wedding, this was just more romantic and it reminded me a lot of 'Arthur' (1981) US film where Dudley Moore gives up his fortune for Liza Minnelli, maybe it inspired this drama! Also, their child rearing tactics were great! I love how their relationship was still their number one priority and the kids came second, I know it's not realistic, but hey if it happened in reality there would be a lot less divorce and I think the kids would turn out healthier too. Well, that's my 2 cents...give it a chance, it won't disappoint.

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