I was so pleasantly surprised by Ho Goo's Love. At first I wasn't impressed at all, and It definitely took a while for me to warm up to the characters. A naive character falling in love with a cold hearted character is a standard K Drama formula, so I couldn't imagine how this could cause so many reviewers to describe it as "original". Wild imaginings... frustrating misunderstandings... high school flashbacks... secret crushes... All of this has been done in so many other dramas, so why is this one special? Well, for me, there was a moment that took me so by surprise that I just had to watch the next episode immediately. From that point on I was hooked.
In a lot of ways this is a conventional rom-com, but the love stories themselves are definitely unconventional. Sure there is a love triangle, that turns into a rectangle, but it's a refreshing approach that got me more invested with each episode. There's also one main character, who doesn't say a word, who was the true star of this love story, at least to me.
The cast is really awesome, though I will admit that my least favorite was Uee. She did a good job, but I just didn't like her as much as the other main characters. I admit that her "revised" look was distracting. I can't really say anything bad about her performance, but I was only interested in seeing her on screen with Choi Woo Shik, who she did have great chemistry with.
Choi Woo Shik, on the other hand, totally won me over. I thought he would be too silly to take seriously, at first, but he was the perfect balance of sweetness, and seriousness, to make me fall for Hoo Goo's charm. Im Seul Ong won me over too, when I swore I would hate him. Kang Cheol flips conventional arrogance on it's head, which makes him an awesome character. My favorite cast member turned out to be Lee Soo Kyung, who I was surprised to see was so much younger than the rest of the cast. She was so good as Ho Gyeong, also the only character that I liked from the very beginning, and I am looking forward to seeing much more from her.
I should also give an honorable mention to Ho Goo's parents, who I thought were really great too! The cast, as a whole, really had great chemistry too!
Even though I loved the cast, and the love stories, I could not give the story a super high score. To me, even with all it's originality, there were a few too many clichés, and preachy moments. Though I would consider this a light drama, it does touch on some very serious topics, though only lightly. I'm sure certain topics are more serious when considering Korean culture. I wonder if any controversial moments went over my head because of cultural differences. I am sure being American is what made some of the moments feel so preachy to me.
The music? Well, it didn't really stand out to me, which makes it neither good, nor bad.
Would I watch it again? Sure! Some of the charm will be lost, now that I know what's happening, but there are so many moments that I could watch again. Immediately after the last episode, I had the urge to flash back to my favorite scenes (I'm still laughing about one kiss reaction in particular).
Overall, I would recommend this drama, especially to those looking for a good love story. It's also a much funnier, and lighter drama than the subject matter suggests. They don't take certain topics as far as they could have gone, but I applaud them for going there at all. I also liked the ending, and what it had to say about relationships in general.
I say, give it a chance, and wait until at least episode 5, if you're not convinced that you will like it. It took me about that long to really get into it, and now that it's over, I really miss it. Add me among those who consider this an underrated drama. I'm so glad I found out about it.
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