Slow but Unique

This drama has a very different feel than any other I've seen. The closest thing it reminded me of are the Reply series, except with much less goofy humor, less romance, and less wholesomeness. But it was a similarly slow-paced slice-of-life about a close group of neighbors, each of whom have their own story lines. But the characters in Yoo Na were way more flawed. Most of them were either criminals or former criminals. And even though this drama was more gritty and realistic than most, I found most of the criminals to be just as unrealistic as the chaebol heirs and boys/girls disguised as the opposite sex of the typical melodramas. In my experience, most pickpockets don't have hearts of gold like the ones in this drama.

And that leads to the biggest flaw in the show, which is Yoo Na, the second most important character in the story. The show treats her like some strong, admirable, and proud person, but I thought she was a really annoying and stubborn hypocrite. Her actions made no sense. And Ok Bin's acting was really bland and failed to bring the character to life. Chang Man, the main protagonist of this show, was really foolish to pursue her. Actually, that very brief period when he had given up on her after he foiled her idiotic plan with Tae Shik, I was really glad that he had finally come to his senses. He should have stayed mad at her and dumped her for Da Young or Yoo Na's sister.

In contrast to Ok Bin's weak performance, the Colatec boss's acting was really great, even though the character was also really annoying. But he was totally believable as a former gangster, with his impulsiveness, bad temper, coarseness, and pathetic sentimentality. Other actors were very good too.

So despite its flaws, the show was engaging and stood out because it was so different from most shows. It's a nice change of pace and I would recommend it. However, you have to have some tolerance for lots of padding. There are so many scenes of karaoke singing and dancing, but thankfully I was able to increase the playback speed like 4x during those parts. And I have to admit, I also increased the speed during a lot of the scenes focusing on grandpa axe, the dog-loving loser brother-in-law, and the adulterous painter. I would have cut those storylines down to the bone and reduced the number of episodes by half.

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Loved it even more than 1988.

But I can’t decide who’s more adorable, Shi Won or Deok Sun. It’s a tie. These K-pop idols have some great acting talent.

But Deok Sun made the better choice, picking the nice guy over the asshole. I hate Yoon Jae. He treated Shi Won like shit, shutting out this person who’s like his sister even though she did nothing wrong. It was because of his own dumbshit, self-centered psychodrama. She never asked him to fall in love with him, and he didn’t even tell her. So what, is she supposed to read his mind? What a selfish dick. And then when she finally tells him she likes him and asks him how he feels, he says nothing? Why doesn’t he take it out on his brother instead of on Shi Won? Shi Won would’ve been better off with Tae Woong oppa, who always acts like a kind, decent person. Or with Jun Hee, another kind and decent guy, but too bad for her he’s gay (that aspect was handled surprisingly well in this show).

And the last straw for me is when Yoon Jae basically date rapes Shi Won. Come on you ship seki, no means no. You can’t break into a girl’s house and force yourself on her when she keeps saying no. And of course, his loutish behavior is rewarded. But I guess things were different in Korea in 2005.

Also, I wish they had cut back on all the references to pooping and farting. I know it’s a cultural thing, but this show had way more than most.

Another thing that should have been cut was most of the boy band fangirl stuff. Sure, it’s a big part of the girls’ culture, but we don’t need almost an entire episode spent on them camping out at the awards ceremony and getting into all the details of the rivalry because that’s just boring and irrelevant to the main story.

Aside from that, there was an admirably small amount of filler. 1988 had way way more filler, which is one of the reasons I like 1997 better. 1997 focused on a more reasonably small number of characters and showed them behaving in more realistic ways.

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A little disappointed

For all of the effort and money that went into this, the results were meh. Maybe the complicated plot went over my head, but to me, you could remove Anjin from the story and it basically wouldn't change anything. He really didn't do anything. And when the main protagonist isn't really important to the storyline, it feels unsatisfying.

But the episodes moved along OK and were watchable, so I never felt tempted to drop the show. It's been a very very long time since I saw the old Richard Chamberlain version, but I remember being much more emotionally engaged in that one.

Also, even though the production went for Japanese authenticity, I thought the acting, directing, and editing had a very western feel. But the acting overall was very good, although some of the actors I felt had a strong contemporary vibe, such as Hira Takehiro, Asano, and especially Anna Sawai, who not only seemed to me like someone from today, but I thought she had a very Nikkei aura.

In contrast, I thought Hoshi Moeka did a fantastic job as Fuji, and I really believed she was a woman from that setting. In fact, she was by far my favorite thing about the whole production.

One last observation is that the opening credits sequence was clearly copying Game of Thrones, and I didn't like that.

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Inferior to the other 2 series in the franchise

This was disappointing. I think it was inferior to 1997 and 1988 in every respect. I’ll start with the things I liked.

Na Jung was OK. She was very likable and her acting was fine. In terms of the writing, her character lacked depth compared to Shi Won and Duk Sun though. Samcheonpo and Yun Jin were also good and probably had the most interesting story of all the characters. Hai Tai was likable too but his story needed to be fleshed out more.

But there were lots of flaws. First of all, I was kind of repulsed by Se Re Ki, both in the writing and acting. His acting was flat, he had no charisma, and his looks weren’t worthy of Na Jung. And his character was kind of creepy. I was really turned off by the patronizing way he treated people, especially Na Jung and his little puppy Bing Gu Re. Just thinking about him tickling his chin and calling him gangajee makes me shudder. And I would never trust the care of a neurosurgeon who was a slob that wears dirty underwear, eats rotten food, and never showers or cleans his room. Also, what kind of 26-year old would argue over music with a teenage girl on a bus and then violently attack her? I know that scene was played for comedy, but imagine if that happened in real life. If I were one of her friends sitting on that bus with her and I saw this creep laying his filthy paws on her, I and the rest of her crew would have jumped on him and strangled him with his own intestines. Is this the kind of guy that Na Jung falls for?

Also, I know this franchise is toying with this incest fantasy thing, which is really popular in Asian dramas and especially in anime, and I understand the appeal. However, in the other 2 series, this incest theme was kept to a fairly harmless level, but in 1994, it passed into the realm of (sorry for overusing this word) creepiness. I mean, I thought Yun Jae was Shi Won’s brother for like half the first episode, but in 1994, it wasn’t until a couple of episodes that I realized that Se Re Ki wasn’t Na Jung’s real brother. They really were brother and sister in just about every respect aside from biology. I don’t think this type of romance is very common due to the Westermarck effect (google it). When I think of girls that I grew up with, I don’t feel any sexual attraction towards them at all. So that just makes Na Jung’s irrational crush on her oppa that much less believable (in addition to the other ways that he lacks appeal).

Chil Bong wasn’t a great option for Na Jung either. He has the looks and the status, and he was a nice guy who was at least more consistent and confident in his feelings for Na Jung than that wish-washy fool Se Re Ki. However, his character was way too bland and paper-thin. We really never got to know him at all.

I’ll end on a very negative note: Se Re Ki’s little puppy dog Bing Gu Re. What’s up with this guy? He just seemed like a little babo crybaby to me. Why would a lively, assertive girl like Die Die have the slightest interest in this weak-assed kid?

I haven’t even mentioned how there’s no plot and tons of filler (overextended scenes of watching the World Cup, driving on the freeway missing multiple exits while Aboji needs to pee, basketball fandom that went nowhere, etc.).

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A masterpiece

I usually don’t like overly stylish movies that look like a perfume commercial or music video, but when it’s so incredibly well done like this one, I make an exception. Everything was top-notch: the directing, photography, editing, music, writing, and acting. I was especially impressed that the actors playing the students were actual teens, and they did an amazing job. And I need to give a shout out to Masaki for totally nailing his role as the inspiring young teacher from the typical J drama or movie, but this time subverted as a clueless laughing stock. He was absolutely perfect for the part.

Out of all the Japanese movies I’ve seen from this millennium, Confessions, along with Love Exposure and A Bride for Rip Van Winkle, were the greatest.

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Best out of the first seven movies in the series

I'm slowly making my way through this series, and I feel that "Good Samaritan" was a big step up in quality from the previous movies. For instance, little touches in some of the train and bus scenes had a documentary feel that reminded me of Yamada's masterpieces "Where Spring Comes Late" and "Home From the Sea." And the relationship between Tora and his sister Sakura, especially in the latter half of the movie, reached a deeper level of emotional realism than ever before. Also, it's always a pleasure to see one of my favorite actors, Tanaka Kunie, grace the screen with his brilliantly earthy, twitchy, expressive acting, brief though his part may be.

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An entertaining watch with decent cast, but editing was horrible and commentary could be better

To me, an interesting and engaging cast of members is the most important aspect to a reality dating show, and this show was better than average in this regard. But the production/editing/pacing is almost as important, and in this area, I thought the show was average or worse. It really pandered to a low-brow audience with the manipulative pacing and storytelling, incredibly annoying repetition of scenes, and artificial melodrama. I much prefer a more natural and relaxed style of editing and pacing that feels more realistic. And the commentators were OK but could have been better. I know I'm a horrible and prejudiced person for mentioning this, but there were way too many close-ups of Lee Hye-young's unpleasantly artificial face (bless her soul though, and please forgive me Hye-young-ssi), and it almost seemed like a metaphor for how fake much of the show felt. But I'm glad that there were at least two relationships in the show that appear to be genuine and potentially long-lasting. As for the relationship that was the show's main focus, Ha-rim and Ricky, I never believed in it. Right when Ha-rim abruptly and rudely said "OK gotta go" in the middle of their first conversation, I knew that they were incompatible. Ricky seems like a very nice but uptight and boring guy who would probably provide a lot of stability and reliability to a woman who valued those qualities above all else. Ha-rim, however, is obviously more of an impulsive, emotionally unstable girl who needs constant stimulation and chaos. The fact that they chose each other and devoted so much time and energy pursuing a hopeless relationship gives me a clue as to why they're divorced in the first place (but much of that effort was probably for the sake of the show). Incidentally, as someone who lives in Irvine, it was interesting to me how 3 of the cast members either worked or lived in Irvine, and it was funny seeing all these familiar streets and sights in and around Orange County. And now here's my last mean and grumpy comment--watching this show is an incredibly effective form of birth control, and makes it very understandable why birthrates are falling like crazy in Korea and just about every other developed country.

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Emotionally satisfying

I'm surprised that this turned out to be one of the most enjoyable K-dramas I've ever watched. I haven't had much luck with medical dramas in the past, and I've dropped way more of them than I've finished. Usually, their repetitive medical emergencies and life-or-death surgeries in which doctors miraculously save patients from the brink of disaster happening every episode again and again just bores me and strains my credulity. That was even true to a certain extent with this show, but I felt like there were fewer sensationalized medical emergencies than in most such shows. It had a little slower pace that let you get to know the patients and other characters better and become emotionally invested with them. And the medical situations seemed slightly more realistic than in most medical dramas.

Another good thing about this show is that Joo Won's acting got me interested in the character right from the beginning and involved me deeply in the story. Unfortunately, you have to put up with lots of painful scenes in the early episodes of horrible abuse and discrimination towards the Shi-on character from most of the people around him. Even several of the characters who end up redeeming themselves later in the show start out treating Shi-on terribly. Do-han was one of the worst offenders in the beginning. So much so that I almost can't forgive him even after he changes his attitude. Thankfully, all these hardships made Shi-on's triumphs later on in the show more satisfying. It was truly moving to see this good-hearted, talented guy finally get the rewards that he deserves.

Chae-won was really great too, playing one of the few characters who was on Shi-on's side from the beginning. The show did a nice job portraying their realistically sibling-like relationship, but then when their relationship suddenly shifted into the next gear, it didn't feel quite as believable. That part could have been handled a little more skillfully, but it was still satisfying to see the romance actually develop, because I wasn't sure this was going to happen.

I wish they had skipped all the tiresome and familiar hospital politics stuff, which contributed nothing to the show. I don't understand why just about every show that focuses on a workplace has to waste so much time on corrupt politics and power struggles. Does anyone enjoy watching that stuff? Fortunately, that made up a smaller part of the plot, so it didn't detract from the overall experience too much. I would have also cut out the equally cliched dad from hell stuff, which I thought was not only unpleasant to watch but unsatisfyingly resolved.

Finally, I can't help but compare this show to Extraordinary Attorney Woo, which I saw before I watched Good Doctor. Woo was more skillfully made in just about every way, and the legal cases in that show were more interesting than the medical cases in Good Doctor. Woo also clearly had a bigger budget and a more recent sensibility that made the earlier show really feel like it was 10 years older. And even though Joo Won did a great acting job, Eun-bin was even better. However, Good Doctor, despite its flaws and lower budget and more old-fashioned sensibility, was a little more emotionally involving and addictive than Woo. Woo is like an elegant sushi dinner, whereas Good Doctor is like a hearty Korean meal. So even though Woo is one of my favorite all-time K-dramas, Good Doctor is up there alongside it for me.

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Lived up to the hype

Usually, I'm disappointed when I watch super popular shows (like Squid Game, Crash Landing on You, It's Okay Not to Be Okay, etc.) because I can't understand why everyone loves them so much. However, Woo is an exception. I loved it just as much as anybody else, and more than many

The best thing for me was the fantastic performance by Park Eun-bin. She wasn't high on my radar because I've only seen her as the lead in a couple of shows, Age of Youth 1 & 2 and Hot Stove League. In the former, she played a character that got on my nerves, although in the latter she was fine, though not particularly memorable. So I wasn't sure what to expect from her when I started Woo. But she hooked me right from the beginning. I'm not going to get into any debates about how realistic her performance was and whether it's some kind of neurotypical appropriation, etc., because I know nothing about all that. All I know is that she flat out beat Dustin Hoffman's Oscar-winning performance. Hoffman to me was artificial and hard to relate to, whereas Park did a great job drawing you into her character and getting you to empathize with her, even while at the same time credibly performing some of the behaviors that I in my ignorance associate with autistic people I've encountered in my life.

The second best thing for me was the directing, editing, etc. I think the overall production was better than average, but not overly flashy. They kept everything going at a nice clip, with never a single boring moment, and kept you entertained all the way. I wasn't a huge fan of the whale CGI stuff, but it wasn't bad either. I could take it or leave it.

The third best thing was the writing. Most of the legal stuff was interesting and intelligently written. Of course, it had lots of flaws, including the idea that this same group of attorneys at a prestigious law firm would take on such a huge variety of cases rather than specializing in a narrow range of corporate law, and the unrealistic way some of the cases played out. But I'm not going to nitpick, because, compared to almost every other depiction of the legal profession I've seen in Kdramas, Woo was like a documentary. The only other example that was at this level of realism in my experience was Diary of a Prosecutor. However, I must say, the final 2 cases were the weakest, so that took a little bit away from the overall impact of the show.

The plotting of the other stuff, like the Jun-ho romance, Tae Su-mi, Min-wu's treachery and redemption, were okay, although they were rushed and superficial. They should have cut out some of the sub-plots and romances so they could delve more deeply into fewer sub-plots. Speaking of romance, if by season 2, Gu-rami and the hairy boss aren't a couple yet, I'll be very surprised. And aside from Min-wu's split personality and the head attorney Jang's implausible incompetence and groveling, almost all the supporting characters were really likable.

So right now, this is the main gateway show I'm recommending to my friends who aren't into Kdrama.

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One of the best TV series I've ever seen

This is not only one of the best J dramas, but one of the best TV series period that I've ever seen. It's so classy, humane, unsentimental, and absorbing. The child actors are so important to the show, and they're excellent. Hotaru is such a lovable and perfect daughter. Jun, on the other hand, has his weaknesses and flaws, and often annoyed me, but he's very relatable, and a more realistic character than Hotaru. But Tanaka Kunie's performance as the dad stood out among an outstanding cast. And the writing was excellent. For example, Jun's voiceover narration to Keiko was just perfectly written and was a nice touch. And the dialog and plot developments all felt natural and realistic - something that's very difficult to pull off.

The only minor flaws in my opinion were the bizarre UFO subplot, the death of Shokichi's grandfather after selling his horse (which I thought was a little too much), and the unsatisfying last episode (which is hopefully compensated for by the specials that follow). I also wasn't a huge fan of Sota and Yukiko's relationship because I thought both of them were being really irresponsible, but it was a realistic situation. Lastly, even though Tanaka Kunie had the perfect look and feel of this man who's rough around the edges but has a good heart, but I thought that it was unrealistic that he would be surrounded by so many beautiful women like his ex-wife, Yukiko, Kogomi, and Ryoko. It might have been a little more realistic to cast more normal-looking actresses in those roles. But they all did a great job acting.

I was so surprised that a drama from 1981 could be so high-quality, comparable to the best Japanese movies of that time.

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Cute but not as good as the anime

I approached this drama as a pleasant diversion when I had a few minutes to kill. That’s why it took me a month to finish, even though I watched it at 2x speed. It was easy to consume in that way because there was no plot to keep track of, and barely anything to remember for you to appreciate it. It was just a series of pleasant moments. I think all the actresses did a good job, especially Haruka, who really captured Rin’s reserved personality, even though that went against the grain of her usually bubbly roles.

However, this failed to capture the magic and special mood of the anime. It partially compensated by offering lots of mouth-watering food porn, as well as a little extra hint of yuri romance between Rin and Nadeshiko than the anime provided.

If I were forced to watch this at normal speed and several episodes in a row like I normally do with TV shows, the lack of plot and sameness of everything, minus the special magic of the anime, would have been a problem.

One last thing - living in the US, it’s unthinkable to me that a high school girl would stay all by herself at a campsite late at night with no worries, except for ghosts. What a novelty.

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Great drama for most of its length but stumbles towards the end

This is yet another revenge story about brothers separated as children who end up by coincidence being closely mixed up in each others’ lives as adults, even though they’re unaware that they’re brothers. I was turned off by Young-dal’s thuggishness and stupidity in the first couple of episodes, but fortunately, he gradually improved, and Kim Jae-joong’s fine acting performance made him a character you end up really rooting for. And Lee Bum-soo’s intensity and utterly Korean sentimentality was always fun to watch. Baek Jin-hee was a total charmer too. Unfortunately, Im Si-wan couldn’t keep up with those superior actors. Also, his character made no sense to me.

The story was gripping and bingeable up until the last quarter or third of the season, where it became really repetitive, with one side attacking the other and the other side responding, and continuing like that over and over. And the plot became more and more ridiculous and difficult to believe. And I got tired of characters who knew they were sitting duck targets just casually going about their lives with no protection or precautions. If this were real life, all of the main characters would have been murder victims like halfway through the drama.

Still, it’s an addictive watch most of the time. Just be ready to increase the playback speed or fast forward a lot during the latter part of the series.

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Wholesome version of Himitsu

When I started watching this, I immediately thought of Himitsu (a novel that was adapted into at least 2 movies and a drama). This story might have been influenced by Himitsu, but it veered off into a totally different direction. Whereas Himitsu deeply explored the difficulties and emotional conflicts and jealousies that would realistically result from such a situation, Tsuma, Shougakusei ni Naru told a simpler story about family bonds and finding the strength to move on after the death of a loved one. Also, it avoided the eeriness and darkness of Himitsu. Even though the premise sounds creepy, and I felt a little bit of creepiness in the first couple of episodes, it ended up being totally wholesome and innocent.

One of the strongest aspects of the drama was the acting. I especially appreciated the amazing child acting by Maida Nono. I usually don't like child actors and wish dramas had way less of them (the previous drama I just finished was a Kdrama, Woman of Dignity, that featured a typically bad and annoying child performance that should have been cut way down), and a cringy, awkward performance would have sunk this show, but Maida really came through. She was a little bundle of energy and you could easily understand how she could inspire people to get out of their doldrums. Also, I was happy to see Morita Misato in a nice role like this, which she played perfectly (I despised The Naked Director, and thought she was one of the few good things about it).

It seems like these stories about loved ones coming back from the dead always have sad or bittersweet endings. But I was hoping for a different kind of ending. Even though Marika-chan's mom went through a drastic change and ended up being a sympathetic person at the end, she had been such a horrible human being who hated her life. So I thought a nice solution would have been for Takae to jump into Marika-chan's mom's body and stay there permanently. Then Keisuke could marry this appropriately-aged woman without any creepiness, and I'm sure that Marika-chan would have had a happy life as his stepdaughter, and with a much more positive person playing the role of her mom, who would have given her way more love than her real mom ever did. And Marika-chan's mom could have wandered the world as a ghost, trying to learn more about life, making amends for being a terrible mother, and trying to become a better person before moving on to the next world. Wouldn't that have been perfect?

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An awesome, awesome movie

This is my favorite movie by one of my favorite Korean directors, Hur Jin Ho. It's also perhaps my favorite Korean movie in the love story/romance genre (although there's some stiff competition).

But beware, it's not for the typical MDL user. It's a slow, serious, realistic movie that doesn't try to manipulate your emotions and make you feel good. Because it's so realistic and truthful, I can really relate to this. If you've ever fallen head over heels in love with someone who had any kind of independent spirit or whose goal in life wasn't exactly to be your perfect love slave, then I bet you would be able to relate to this too. If that sounds good to you, then this gets my highest recommendation.

Also, I generally pay no attention to soundtracks for Korean movies and dramas, but the end credits song in this movie--A Spring Day Is Gone by Kim Yuna (no, not that Kim Yuna)--is my very favorite of any Korean movie or TV show. It actually isn't a perfect fit for the mood of this movie, but it's such a beautiful song, I don't care.

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Don't watch this if you have heart problems.

This show blew me away with its intense melodrama and emotion. Not only were the emotions overwhelming, they were really poignant. For example, this tragic relationship between Do Hoon and his sister/mother Do Kyung was really touching but had weird hints of incest and regret, as well as the strongest of maternal/filial bonds. It was really haunting. Same thing with the heartbreaking relationship between Soo Jung and Ha Ryu, in which you feel so sad for this innocent, good-hearted girl who's in love with a dead man. The way this drama was able to manipulate your emotions was at the highest level of skill.

Unfortunately, the plot was completely ludicrous and made no sense whatsoever. For instance, Ha Ryu was able to easily take over his brother's complicated life and difficult job with no problems at all, while spending all his time hounding Da Hae. Didn't Jae Woong have ongoing cases and projects that needed expert attention? Also, doesn't Jae Woong have any friends or colleagues who would have noticed that he suddenly didn't know anything? But clearly, a logical and believable plot was the lowest priority for the writer and director, and they knew that the audience would just get too swept up in the emotions and melodrama to care about plot holes.

As for the all-important role of Da Hae, I think Park Soo Ae did an excellent job, but maybe her casting wasn't perfect. She seems too cold and refined and upper-class to have been an orphan girl who grew up in poverty. I can imagine an actress with a little bit more earthiness fitting the role a little better.

Another minor complaint is that I wish they didn't preview the ending of the show at the very beginning. I know they do this to try to capture the audience's attention, but it gives away too much. It would have been amazing to have watched this totally cold from the chronological beginning of the story and be shocked at the twists and turns and the ludicrous heights that the situation eventually reaches.

Despite these little quibbles, I couldn't stop watching this, and it pushed all my buttons. Also, I thought this was very similar to another 2013 drama, Secret. That one was also an intense, emotional rollercoaster full of angst, and the key event there again was a murder in which the protagonist makes the huge mistake of taking the blame for a lover who turns evil and betrays the person who made a huge sacrifice for his/her sake. It also featured the main couple's child dying (supposedly), an attempt to murder a beloved father with health problems, a prison friendship that start on the wrong foot, obsessive longing for a dead loved one, chaebol boardroom intrigue, people from humble backgrounds using their ruthlessness and hard work to rise up in society, etc. I didn't notice any staff members in common, so I wonder which one copied the other. Or maybe they both copied some older drama that I haven't watched yet. Anyway, I thought Secret was a little more believable and realistic and more competently put together, but Queen of Ambition maybe had slightly more emotional depth. But they were equally entertaining and worth watching.

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