Sexy start then it fizzled

I had this on my plant to watch for a while and having recently watched one of Park Seo Joon's dramas, I was in the mood for more so I decided to watch this one.

I'm not a particular fan of Noona romance dramas despite having watched a few of them. Usually, if the leads have good chemistry I will enjoy it for the story and not place too much weight on age. The beginning was exceptionally sexy, but giving its comedic style, it introduced the characters in an entertaining way.

The story seemed to be going well up until they introduced the second love interest. From then on the tone of the plot completely changed from funny and lighthearted to dramatic and depressive. That exciting sexy vibe was no longer there and the characters' personalities kind of flipped to match the new direction of the story.

I kept waiting for the drama to pick back up to where it was before but that didn't really happen and it left me feeling unsatisfied until the end. Nothing stood out in any particular way and while it's still an OK watch unless you are a huge fan of Park Seo Joon you can skip this.

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An endearing family

Lately, I have been impressed with Kamiki Ryunosuke's works, so I decided to watch some of his previous dramas and movies. I was pleasantly impressed to find that he has a wide range of characters he can portray including comedy.

This particular drama is a cute little gem. If you're looking for a quirky and often silly and heartwarming drama then this is for you. It follows a really big family, something I found rather unusual coming from Japan, but also very intriguing and amusing. All the characters had their moment and the kids were particularly adorable. The story also does a good job of giving you hilarious scenes and at the same time bring forth pertaining social issues. This drama also includes some supernatural elements, but strangely they fit well with the more mundane tone of the plot.
Overall it is a very funny and enjoyable Japanese drama, and certainly worth a watch.

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Has its funny moments

I decided to watch this drama because it seems at first like a light-hearted and funny romantic comedy. I'm a fan of Ishihara Satomi, so I thought that I would definitely give this one a try. At the time I had not read the manga, but I did check afterward to see how well it would compare to the drama adaptation. From the parts I read, it seems actually even worse, depicting physical emotional abuse against women.

Being a Josei manga adaptation it starts with your typical Josei romantic plot. A man meets a woman and gets so infatuated, he decides to pursue her. The twist is that the man also happens to be a monk. He is someone with a somewhat old-fashioned personality and keeps trying to get a woman that is not at all the person that would be interested in a monk.

From this point on, this is where it all goes downhill for me. It was almost like they were trying to send the message that being a career woman who has goals that pertain to your professional path is not what a woman should be doing. The romantic aspect of the story is just so appalling to me. How are kidnapping, stalking, and all sorts of abuse meant to be seen as romantic? Overall the female lead even though seemingly energetic, lacks any say so in the story. She gets pushed around by everyone and just ends up accepting everything like it's normal. Overall the characters barely have any development and I didn't feel any spark between the main leads and it pretty much lacked substance all around.

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Silly romantic body swap

I really don't know what to feel about Secret Garden. It is one of those iconic old dramas that you feel an obligation to watch if you want to understand the references and enjoy the wonderful soundtrack. For me, 16 episodes would have done nicely and overall made the story seem less dragging.

From a comedic standpoint I did find this drama funny, but most times it was awkwardly silly if anything. I also did find that both leads had good chemistry together and they certainly carried this drama. Hyun Bin plays your stereotypical rude, rick guy that has kind of an idiotic flair, that makes him obnoxious yet funny at the same time. Ha Ji Won also plays the stereotypical stoic “strong female lead” that is actually physically strong, because that was the only way they knew how to portray strong women back then.

Plot-wise, there isn't much going on that makes this drama stand out from other romantic comedies aside from the body swap trope, which only served to prolong the push and pull between the leads without actually making for a compelling love story. Other than the fantasy aspect, it has exactly the same clichés and the same over-the-top situations as in other Korean romantic comedies.

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Needs a bit more growth

I actually never watched the previous two “I Need Romance” dramas. At the time that I watched this one, it had some popularity, so I decided to give this one a try since you can watch it regardless of having seen the other two or not.

I could really appreciate that the background of this drama was set in the workplace and it dealt with co-work relationships and problems with going for a relationship with a person you work with. That said I don't think the show really delivered on that aspect. The female lead, perhaps because of the competitiveness of her work, or the fact that she had to give up on so much to be successful in her job, comes off as insensitive and selfish.

When I started watching I was expecting a workplace romance, but it actually turned into a noona romance. I have no preference between the two, but in this case, I felt I was cheated out of both. The second lead was very into himself and he really didn't even feel like an option as it progressed. As for the male lead, I could not see any meaningful emotional growth out of Joo Yeon that would make me believe the intense feelings Joo Wan has for her. The way he sees her and the reasons why he cares so much do not match her actual personality. Their interactions are so one-sided that it becomes hard to watch.

Overall it has some intense romantic scenes, but it was not enough for me in the end.

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Good premise, but felt contrived at times.

I watched this around the time it started airing and I remember reading an article where someone stated "It is a well-made drama" in reference to the drama Beyond the Clouds. After having watched it I still can't grasp what made them say that. Was it the story? The acting? The direction? Everything? Maybe it's because I don't often go for melodramas, but I had a really difficult time watching it until the end. While there were some intense and interesting moments, especially from Jung Se Ro, I didn't find it sufficiently captivating as a whole. I usually quite like the revenge theme, and up until halfway I felt the story was well-structured and developed at a good pace. After that, it dragged needlessly making it absurdly boring up until the last two episodes. Personally, while I enjoyed the angst and the dual feelings in the main character's actions, I did not find their romance interesting or necessary. One, because of the way it was written, and two because of how poorly the female lead conveyed emotions. There was simply not enough passion portrayed between the leads to make me care for their relationship. Don't even get me started on the whistle. Overall I felt that Beyond the Clouds had a good premise and story. It had many heartfelt moments, it posed pertinent questions about how your life choices affect you, and how money, greed, and power can turn your life, and the life of others upside down. If you like melodramas why not give this one a chance?

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F40 Friendship

After watching many types of romance dramas with a much younger cast, I was actually very interested in watching a more mature sort of characters being portrayed. Of course, once you start watching you realize that despite the age, everyone seems to act like teenagers. Nonetheless, I truly enjoyed the F40 friendship and their stories, that was the best part of this drama. Even though they often acted immaturely, they appeared self-aware of their own flaws and used them to create strong bonds. In other words, it is a group of adult men trying to catch up mentally with their body's age. They will make you laugh and cringe simultaneously and, if you're around their age, probably relate to some situations. As for the romance storylines, I didn't find them particularly interesting or mature enough, maybe because I didn't find that any of the female characters matched the main male cast personality-wise. Perhaps if this drama also focused on the female friendships I would have enjoyed it more. but since this drama went for a more comedic approach, I think the end result worked just fine if you're looking for a lighthearted romance and cute moments. One last thing that made me enjoy this drama was the soundtrack. Every song perfectly set the mood in my opinion and I actually still listened to some of them even after the drama finished airing. Overall this is worth a watch.

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Had Potential

The Producers

I remember watching an interview with Kim Soo Hyun where he was asked why he agreed to be part of this drama. He replied that he wanted to shed his Do Min Joon character and I decided to give it a try. I thought it would be also good for me to see him doing something completely different.

I didn't have any expectations going into this drama but looking at the cast, I thought maybe this was going to be amazing giving the different storyline and the fresh documentary editing style. It had great potential from the start but as it progressed and perhaps given the short numbers of episodes, nothing was really well developed and there was never really a point to anything. I did find the day-to-day struggles that PD's face in this drama was very interesting, but it failed to have proper depth, choosing instead to focus on a silly romance that was not going anywhere.

Overall I enjoyed watching Kim Soo Hyun in a new role but ultimately this drama suffered from changing directors halfway, not having more episodes, and a bit more time to develop characters and story-line.

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Went for a sound of Music feel, until it didn't.

Prime Minister and I

I went into this drama not expecting much, but the first few episodes really drew me in. I don't particularly like Ahjussi-romance, but this drama had a bit of Sound of Music feel to it that piqued my interest for a minute.

This drama started off in a lighthearted and refreshing way. Here you have a quirky and bright young woman coming into a family that is seemingly drifting apart and manages to change the whole mood with her laid-back personality. Honestly, the trope of having an outsider coming in and changing up your routine was really well done. Their interactions were natural and there was a good balance between comedy and drama that made me care for the characters and their issues.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, the plot really took a turn for the worse. All the interesting questions that this drama posed were set aside for some badly concocted drama, that suddenly made the story seem unnecessarily angsty. Overall it is an OK watch if not for the last few episodes.

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Normal girl becomes princess

I don't recall exactly why I started watching this. At the time of airing, it had so much hype and so many people were talking about it, that I decided to give it a shot.

This was one of those dramas that took me a long time to complete. It had already finished for a month, and I was still struggling to get past the last few episodes. I do think the story started out with an interesting premise, but it was soon clear that it didn't have much more than that, a catchy premise.

Both Kim Tae Hee and Song Seung Hun did well as leads despite the subpar writing. They had good enough chemistry and their romantic scenes were cute enough, even though It felt to me like the couple didn't have enough rapport at the start that would convince me of their feelings for each other.

If you want silly and somewhat cute and fluffy drama about a normal girl becoming a princess and finding her prince, then this is for you,

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More absurd than expected

The reason I watched this dram was solely for the eye candy if I'm being very honest. I had no expectations when I started watching but I don't think I was prepared about the whole butler genre being a thing in Japan. The story intrigued me in the beginning but in the end, I don't think I could get past the absurdity of it all.

As it was a manga adaptation I looked into it a bit so that I could briefly compare how faithful the drama was to the source material. Unbelievably, the manga and characters felt even more shallow than the drama itself. At least in the drama Mei-chan was at least good at something and didn't feel so useless. But that is not saying much. She was insipid and whiny while having more than one guy pining for her for reasons I cannot fathom. As much as I tried I could not see the chemistry between the leads nor I felt invested in Mei-chan's struggles. Unless you're looking to watch your faves previous works, you can skip this one.

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Loved the first part...

Love Rain

I was drawn to this drama especially because it was set in Korea during the 1970s. Everything was a complete discovery and I paid attention to every little detail. The slow pace, the clothes, the architecture, the social norms, and the historical implications from that time.

I absolutely fell in love with the first part of this drama and both characters played by Jang Geun Suk and Im Yoona. I found their love story so touching and I wanted it to keep going in the same setting. Once the time skip happened, the new romance did not grab my attention. I was really hoping to see JGS act in a different type of role and after a few episodes, we're back to his usual. Their relationship felt childish and contrived in comparison to their parents. It followed the usual rom-com formula and I found it really disappointing. As it progresses their non-conversations and their ability to NOT communicate keeps the story going in circles making everything very tiresome and underwhelming.

Ultimately I really wanted to know more about the older couple. The show made it as if the parents were interfering with their childrens' happiness, but to me, their relationship was so boring that I saw it as if the kids were in the way.

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Hooray for making through all the episodes

This was one of the first weekend family dramas that I ever watched. I was fairly new to the concept and I wasn't quite sure what to look for. I started watching this drama mainly for Lee Bo Young. I like her as an actress and I usually like the women that she portrays. In this case, she plays a strong and resilient woman, that thrives even after going through a painful time.

This drama is not about perfect families and relationships. It focuses on affairs, betrayals, divorce, and moving on with your life after divorce. I do find those themes interesting but I found the interactions somewhat bland and monotonous. I loved Lee Boo Young's character and story so I decided to stick to it and perhaps the drama would improve once the love line starts to develop. That was not so. To me, they had no chemistry whatsoever. It was hard to watch them together because they just did not match. I basically tried to endure it until the end because of the female lead. I really wanted to see her succeed.

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How to bully a girl into falling in love

Hana Yori Dango was my first contact with Asian dramas, and I was not ready for this type of silly, over-the-top manga/anime live-action adaptation. I did not watch the anime or read the manga, so I really cannot compare how faithful to the source material this drama is. I went into this while I was looking for something to immerse myself in the Japanese language. As the reviews were good and it seemed popular I thought it would be a good choice. That was not so.

This seems to be your typical rich boy who falls in love with a poor girl story, but only worse. The female lead is at first portrayed as this strong, both mentally and physically type of person, that is not about to be pushed around by the school bullies. But turns out that she is actually this naive and gullible girl that is constantly harassed and mistreated by the male lead. And we, the audience, is somehow made to have empathy for this person, because he, as it turns out, really likes her. There is little to no character growth for the male lead aside from this poor attempt at a sad backstory, and he is never held accountable for his actions. Unless you are really a fan of the manga/anime or the actors, you can skip this.

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More Flower Boy

This is your normal, silly, love triangle, predictable and light-hearted romantic comedy. From the title, I was expecting more emphasis on Ramen, or food in general, but it was not so.

This drama is basically one big cliché without much depth to the characters or the story. If you're in the mood for some nice eye candy and some cringe-inducing comedy (poop jokes) then this drama is for you. Other than that, no story or plot exists, that can explain the relationship between the leads other than two random people are put together and now they somehow caught feelings. I do love a noona romance but this is just too far-fetched to me.

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