Oh boy... this is the first drama that I ever watched, the one which started it all. It will always hold a special place in my heart, on a high-high pedestal, perfect in every way, the drama to which no other drama could ever compare. Well... it is really hard to think another drama might take its place in my heart. However, as I've watched more and more dramas I've found this level of love for other dramas for a whole plethora of reasons. But no matter how many dramas I watch I highly doubt that the special and honored place that Boys Over Flowers has in my heart will change.

In my opinion this drama is an excellent choice to introduce the non-K Drama-believer to the world of K-Dramas. For me it made me hungry to know more about the culture of Korea, the language, and the story concepts used to tell this tale. Because of this drama I was introduced to some very basic concepts of the K-Drama scene. Chaebol, Eomeoni, OTP, OST, STP, Flowerboy, Sunbae, Wae/Wae-yo, Ya!, Second Male Lead Syndrome, and Oppa. As I watch more and more dramas I gather more and more terms and words to my knowledge base. I’m sure there are other really phenomenal choices for a person’s first drama, but I’m biased and really believe Boys Over Flowers is in the top three best choices to bring people into the fold.

I won’t summarize the story here, there are so many places and blogs which rehash and retell the store in its entirety. Instead, my goal is to talk about what I liked and disliked about the story itself. Hopefully help others to decide if Boys Over Flowers is for them.

Let’s start off by saying if you’re watching a drama for the eye-candy then Boys Over Flowers has it in abundance. All of the F4 are handsome Flowerboys. Each fulfilling a different character archetype. Goo Jun Pyo is the cold hearted Chaebol who torments and tortures others with a smirk. Yoon Ji Hoo is the tender hearted and warm second male lead with a smile that can melt your heart. So Yi Jung is the suave Casanova/Plyaboy who can charm the pants off anything. And Last but certainly not least is Song Woo Bin, the enforcer and smooth talker of the group who will defend his friends no matter what. Something for everyone that’s for sure.

Geum Jan Di is the poor, working class gal who finds herself wrapped up in the world of the excessively rich. She is stubborn, cheerful, hard working, and a bright light to her friends. For me she was amazing to watch. The story put her through the gamut of emotions and she still remained strong and true to her own morals. For me that was an amazing journey to witness.

I keep saying what I loved about this show, so I should add a few notes about what I didn’t like. Geum Jan Di’s family caused me no end of frustrations. The more I learn about the culture there and the image portrayed in their TV shows I can see where they were coming from. However, this poor noona just couldn’t get over the fact that they were pretty much trying to sell their daughter to a rich family for their own improvement. Plus the strained/strange relationship between the parents didn’t sit well with me. Because Jan Di was so hard working I really wanted to see a family that supported her and was happy at home. Lastly, it bothered me that the parents left the high school daughter in charge of her middle school brother and left to make money.

The Eomeoni, Jun Pyo’s mom, yeah I hated her so much. I understand the role she played and the way she created dramatic intensity in the story, however, she was a bit much. I wanted to see her part toned down a little, because then it would have been a little bit more believable.

This story introduced me to Second Male Lead Syndrome, I’m sure there are a ton of other names for it. But what it boils down to is that I loved Ji Hoo so much that by the end of the story my heart was broken and bleeding for him and his unrequited love. I hated that he didn’t get a happily ever after, it still bothers me to this day.

Other things that I loved about this show was the secondary love story between So Yi Jung and Cha Ga Eul. It was fun to watch Yi Jung grow as a man and to see Ga Eul slowly fall in love with him. The friendship that blossomed between Ji Hoo and Jan Di makes my heart all warm and fuzzy (as long as I don’t think about his unhappy ending). I loved how Goo Jun Hee (Goo Jun Pyo’s older sister) and Min Seo Hyun (Ji Hoo’s first love) protected and supported Jan Di. I also just loved the story. Angry, rich, spoiled, brat who slowly becomes a good man through his love for a woman he shouldn’t want. The acting was superb and writing amazing. Best of all, for me, it had a mostly happy ending. There were a few sad things which I wish could have turned out better for the characters I adore, but even with these road bumps the ending was happy and sweet.

Noona's Rating
Overall: 9 (Rated at 5 Stars on DramaFever.com)
Story/Writing: 9
Cast/Actors: 10
OST: 9
Sets/Costumes: 7
Feels: 10

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I liked the unique take on an old classic. Unattractive person gains the affections of an attractive person. However, instead of the unattractive and unpopular one being the female lead it is the male lead. Even that has a twist. Our heroine is blind and falls head over heels for Dong Gun but when she regains her sight he determines that he’s not attractive enough for the gorgeous Hae Joo. Antics and hilarity ensue as Dong Gun does his best to avoid Hae Joo and even attempt to push her into the more attractive arms of his high school rival Jun Ha. This was an extremely straightforward and laid-back watch. It was fun, but I don’t know that I’d watch it again.

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The synopsis sounded cute and I was in the mood for something funny and perhaps a little bit campy. I certainly got both of those. Also, I am willing to watch anything that has Song Ji Hyo! I adore her so much, probably has something to do with my Running Man addiction. Regardless, I was excited to sit down and watch this. However, it was a great deal more bumpy than I expected with some serious plot holes and unnecessary twists that left me confused and unsatisfied with the movie. Jae Joong was great, a very believable haughty actor. And I did enjoy Song Ji Hyo’s character too. But I just didn’t get sucked into the story and was too confused by most of it to really invest myself in it. All in all it was just ok for me, I probably won’t be recommending this one any time soon.

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I really enjoyed this movie despite myself. Even though throughout the entire show all I could think was how similar the story was to The Greatest Love. The lead actress is the former leader of a girl’s idol group who suddenly breaks up the group to protect a dear friend and member. Years later she becomes the hostess of a radio show and clashes with her new boss who is famous in the radio show world. Despite the similarities I really had a whole lot of fun with this movie. First, let’s take a moment o gush over Lee Kwang Soo. I love him so much and he was just utterly adorable in this! Not to mention the cameo by Kang Gary and Kim Jong Kook! That whole scene was hilarious! I was not prepared for the buckets of tears the new radio station wrenched from me, seriously the stories of our heroine’s show were so beautiful and bittersweet. All in all this was a great story, well done, with lovely acting, and a sweet ending.

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As a huge fan of the Noona Romance I also really love a good Ahjussi Romance too. I think the age gap relationship has a very unique set of challenges and I enjoy watching these sorts of couples discover their path together. Additionally, the contract marriage and forced living arrangement trope is one of my favorites. So this movie had two excellent things going for it as it was an Ahjussi Romance combined with a contract marriage. This drama required me to suspend my disbelief, especially since she was only 16 and being forced into marriage. But they do have a chaste marriage and perhaps my sensibilities don’t mesh with the cultural sensibilities. Or it was meant to astonish all viewers regardless of their cultural home. Regardless, once I pushed that tidbit aside the movie was adorable. A dash of K-drama misunderstanding, character growth, and excellent interactions between the two leads. Another movie that is very much just a brain-candy experience, but a fun trip all the same.

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Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked this movie. The few brief descriptions that I read didn’t truly prepare me for the story as a whole. I knew it was about a bakery where four very attractive men worked, but that’s about it. Which means that I was wonderfully and pleasantly surprised by the story and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The characters were so much fun, well made, and remarkably intriguing. On top of that the story was unexpected. I thought it was going to be just a fluffy piece without much substance, but I was wrong. It was deep and full of substance. I would absolutely recommend this! I do believe that you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

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I was utterly unprepared for what this movie turned out to be. Somehow I completely missed the words melodrama and tragedy in the description. I was just quickly browsing for a movie to watch while I updated some things on my blog and the description sounded adorable. Snarky and entitled chaebol discovers himself in a tiny little town and falls in love. It turned out to be so much more than that. I avoid anything sad and heartbreaking like the plague, I’m a happy ending girl all the way. But it was too late when I realized the sadness I had signed myself up for. By that time I was utterly invested in the story and couldn’t turn away. Now here I am a blubbering mess of tears, a think that I do my best to avoid when picking out dramas and movies. Despite all of that I loved this movie. The story was phenomenal, the acting was good, and the love was beautiful. If you are up for a good cry I definitely recommend this one.

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Light, fluffy, and heartwarming. This movie is pretty much brain candy. It is about the journey of an idol boys group to stardom. It really did try to have a deeper purpose and meaning throughout the story, but never quite got it. They had a lot of potential within the first half an hour, but the movie kept moving back to the light and fluffy avoiding the heavier issues. I was also confused about the relationship of the main lead, the children, and the woman reading fortunes. I believe that something was lost here in translation, but close to the end I finally figured out they were brother and sister, the children were his sister's. That tidbit of knowledge made a lot of the story clearer. The meatier plot points would rear their heads once in a while, but were quickly tucked away. Though, a movie about the business of making an idol group denotes a simpler show anyway. If you go into this with that in mind then you won’t be disappointed. I enjoyed it well enough but I doubt that I’ll watch it again.

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This one came up as a suggestion because I watched Baby & I. I watched ‘My Princess’ with Song Seung Hun and was extremely underwhelmed with the show as a whole. This is exactly how I felt about this movie as well. Young high school girl Han Ye Won insults the big man on campus Ji Eun Sung. And so he determines that she now belongs to him. This is the basis for the entire movie and they have a myriad of adventures along with several other school friends. I know with most K-dramas we must suspend our disbelief and understand that logic doesn’t always get applied to the story. Which I’ve discovered is alos true for Korean Dramas. Yet, even armed with a year’s worth of drama watching under my belt I just couldn’t buy into this one.

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So many of the things that I enjoyed from It Started With a Kiss continued in this drama and were expanded on. This review won't be as expansive as my others because of that, I'll try and only touch on what I liked and disliked from They Kiss Again that weren't already discussed in my review for It Started With a Kiss.

The second installment continued to show the evolution of the cast. I enjoyed this show more than It Started With a Kiss. It had a lot to do with the fact they weren't in high school and were dealing with more mature obstacles and issues. Xiang Qin matured a lot in this show, and I appreciated that. The character was a little hard to handle in the previous installment. But I liked her a lot more this time around.

I absolutely loved the chemistry between Joe Cheng and Ariel Lin in It Started With a Kiss was phenomenal. I didn't think it could get better, however, their chemistry was even better with this series. I loved their every scene, they were closer and more tender towards one another then even in the first show. I could really see that they were in love as characters and that made me adore this installment even more when it was just the two of them.

Outside of their interactions at home Zhi Shu became even colder then he had been in the first season. I can understand what his intentions were, he wanted Xiang Qin to become independent because she relied on Zhi Shu for everything. However, I didn't feel that was the right approach, she was such an emotional person that by turning away from her all Zhi Shu managed to do was make her act worse. In the end it did manage to help her grow and mature, but it took awhile.

Between It Started With a Kiss and They Kiss Again the entire story was fifty episodes long. Even though I liked They Kiss Again better as a whole it took a very long time for me to finish it. The story had stretched on and on, expanding on each obstacle or issue so that it felt too long. I feel that it would have been even better had they shortened the number of episodes in It Started With a Kiss, fifty was just too long.

For a full synopsis of the story click this link.

Noona's Rating

Overall: 8 (rated 4 stars on DramaFever)

Story/Writing: 8

Cast/Actors: 9

OST: 7

Sets/Costumes: 8

Feels: 8

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Was this addictive? I watched all 33 episodes in a week. Along with all the other real life things that demand my time; family, friends, and work. A week for 33 episodes is pretty crazy. It was totally cracky and I stayed up way too late again to watch. So yeah, it was so good and I would highly recommend it! It was pretty easy and fun to watch, with not a whole lot of drama. I noticed a lot of similarities to Love O2O (also written by Gu Man). Haughty, rich CEO and poor goodhearted woman. Video games also play a part in Boss & Me, she plays a game to let off steam when Feng Teng frustrates her. Both leads have friends that support them and love them, the bromance and sisterhood was strong with this one.

This was so fluffy and sweet and adorable and the love story was so wonderful. Feng Teng was cold and calculating and closed off from love. Shan Shan was silly and not quite the smartest girl in the room, but she always saw the positives. Together they were cute and so freaking sweet and watching Feng Teng melt and fall in love was so much fun. Honestly, I think that was one of the highlights. The way he slowly melted and fell deeply in love with Shan Shan was so much fun to watch. I couldn't have asked for a more fluffy and bubbly romance. It was exactly what I wanted!

Every moment that the OTP shared was beautiful. From their first encounter all the way through to the finale episode. I felt like the actors had the most amazing chemistry and that chemistry enhanced the on screen performance in the best way. It wasn't just the lead couple that had excellent rapport, it was the entire cast. Feng Teng and his best friend Handsome Qi had great interactions. Shan Shan, her cousin Liu Liu, and their friend Shuang Yi had such a great on screen bond that it added an extra layer of fun and enjoyment to the show for me. The OTP moments were amazing, even when Feng Teng was watching Shan Shan through the window in his office there was a wonderful tension and attraction there. This OTP is definitely in my top five!

As with Love O2O, there was very little drama in the story for Boss & Me. Every story has to have some conflict in order for there to be some substance. However, when it becomes so overwhelming that the story drags and nothing can move forward that's what I have a hard time getting through. There was very little unnecessary drama in this show which was great. The obstacles and issues that the OTP and group faced were within the realm of reason and added to the story instead of halting all forward momentum.

In all honesty the things that I did not like were few and far between. I'm totally ok with that! Really, really alright with that. And, these few things could be labeled as more nitpicking than anything else. None of these were negative enough to make my watch of the show drag or unpleasant, so I count that as a huge win!

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