Reviews

I hadn't watched a J-Drama since a long time as I was into K-Dramas lately. So, I picked up 'Utsukushii Rinjin' randomly when I was going through the Drama database of MDL. I read the plot and it seemed to be kind of... interesting. As I was only watching romantic stuffs and stories about the young generation, I decided to give this one a go as the story was different. And I am so glad that I picked it for watching.

You should definitely watch this drama if you are a fan of the suspense genre. The story is UNIQUE and UNPREDICTABLE, and it kept me wondering what was going to happen next.

The cast is awesome. Nakama Yukie and Dan Rei have done great acting there. The supporting characters are also pretty good. Nakama Yukie, especially, impressed me. She literally gave me the creeps!

The music is decent and suits with the drama. The occasional 'tik-tok' of the clock gave it a 'horror movie' feel as if at the strike of 12, a ghost would pop out of somewhere!

The reason why I gave this story a 9 is because I was not quite satisfied with the ending. I won't say I was disappointed but it's just that several questions that I had in my mind were remain unanswered. Also, I gave rewatch value a 4 because although this is a good drama, you probably won't feel like watching it again as you will already know what's going to happen next, and it is no fun that way as the suspense won't be there.

Overall the drama is a good watch. The story doesn't drag and it keeps you hooked.

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I didn't watch this drama for a long time, because the description put me off. It sounded boring and unoriginal. But when I finally started to watch this, I fell in love with it. It's unlike any other drama out there, surprising, and very good. The actors are great, and the plot is weird, at times funny, and really sad.

I don't know why the MAIN POINT of the dorama is not put into the description... well, perhaps because it would "spoil" the series... but honestly, if you're planning to watch this, here's something you would like to know, and I'll say it without giving away any spoilers; be prepared to a plot out-of-this-world, perhaps not quite scifi but close enough. But don't let that put you off; this is truly original and great to watch. My favorite dorama ever.

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Secret Garden is like an old friend whom you misses when s/he is gone and for whom you speak favourably of to others. It has been a while since this drama ended but the warmth and memories of this drama remained. As I go on with my review of this drama, bear in mind that I very rarely rate any drama or movie with 10/10 because I believe that no matter how excellent the drama/movie is, there is always room for improvement or there will always be people who will not think so favourably of it. Taking that into account, and the fact that I had pretty much "seen it all" that hardly anything impresses or shock me nowadays, let's move on with the review.



Story: This drama has a very simple storyline: rich man falls for poor woman, they were opposed by his parent(s) but they eventually have their "happily ever after". The "Cinderella story" appeals to all the romantics of the world, especially to the female viewers. We have read and watched many movies and dramas along this line. So what is new? Does throwing in a fantasy gimmick such as body swapping makes it new? Not really. Body swapping is not a new idea either. What made SG extraordinary from the ordinary? It was certainly not the story, but rather how it was told. My full brownie points go to the director for his interpretation of this story. By throwing in otherwise "cliche" albeit creative scenes, amusing lines and characters that you cannot help but fall in love with (eg: coffee froth on the lip, the sit up, the coordinated walking-side-by-side, the "New message" ringtone, Joo Won's monologue about how expensive the tracksuit is, the infamous "Is this the best?" line etc), the director turned what was otherwise ordinary to extraordinary. Without these, I believe SG would have ended up in the "Just another fantasy rom-com" pile. What I love about the entire story was the simplicity of it that turned the old into new. SG taught me that one does not need a complicated idea to make a great story; an old idea can be made into a great story if it was told from a different angle. I love the ending and the message it brought to the viewers. Thanks to this brilliant re-telling of the Cinderella story, we can now look forward to future rom-coms that will make use of the "trademark" SG scenes and lines. In this way, we know that SG has been immortalized.



Acting/Cast: I would not be able to find a better cast than the existing one. Hyun Bin successfully portrayed the arrogant and most times childish Joo Won. His acting in this drama was spot on! The fact that he was able to make me shed tears with him when he cried was the pinnacle of acting - the ability to make the viewers feel what the character was feeling. I am not a fan of him per se - he was not too bad in My Name is Kim Sam Soon but he did starred in dramas that were not so succesful either, yet in SG, he totally nailed it! Ha Ji Won as Gil Ra Im was the perfect choice for Hyun Bin's Kim Joo Won. They had such a natural and perfect chemistry that the pairing was a work of genius. I believe that for many years to come, people will walk pass Ji Won and call her "Gil Ra Im". That is how strong the impression of her character and how succesful she was in protraying Gil Ra Im. Next, I come to my favourite character- Oska, played by Yoon Sang Hyun. Oska's was an amusing and interesting character. I sincerely believe that without the excellent work by Yoon, SG would have fallen flat on its face. Oska may be a supporting character but without Oska, the drama would have lacked the necessary chemistry needed to gel all the other parts and characters together. Thanks to Yoon, Oska was a success and so was SG. The other characters, such as Kim Sung Oh as Secretary Kim, Kim Sa Rang as Yoon Seul and even the lady who played Joo Won's mother (forgotten her name!) were brilliant choices! For the cast, I award the rare 10/10 because without such an excellent cast and wonderful chemistry, SG would have turned out as a flop.



Music: SG has one of the most heartfelt OSTs around - that is if you are into ballads. Some of you may not, hence the 9/10 rating I gave it. Admittedly, I have my favourites and not-so favourites from its OSTs.



Rewatch value: This is where I admit a secret of mine. I had not rewatched SG since it ended, not for lack of disinterest, but rather due to lack of time. I have too many projects on hand now and making the time to watch a drama nowadays takes effort beyond my already busy schedule. Top that with the expectations from others that I write formal reviews of new dramas, I rarely have time to re-watch dramas (no matter how good they were) because I have to move on to the next new drama. So, I became very selective with what I watch. Unlike most drama addicts, I can forgo watching if the drama is not up to my taste. To me, SG has a high rewatch value. It is surely in my list of drama to re-watch when I get the time for it. I remember fondly all those scenes and lines from SG and hope that one day, when I get that break or holiday away from work, I will be able to re-visit it. So, yes, by all means, if you have the time, re-watch SG again. Better yet, go out and buy the whole original set of the drama. It is definitely a collector's item; one you will not regret keeping for years and years to come and one you probably can proudly show to your kids and next generation what "the good ol' Korean dramas were like in the early 21st century".



With this review, I end my thoughts about SG. All I can say, if you haven't watched it, you better do or else you would have missed an excellent drama that may well ended up as the k-drama of the decade!

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High powered tension, an intense love triangle, and imminent rebellion all come together to make a elaborate story I was certainly drawn into. I will admit, however, that the middle of the story seemed to drone on a tad bit and left me rather distracted, but it quickly picked up around the end as the plot unraveled and left me with my eyes glued to the screen.



The acting was absolutely superb in every sense of the word. I was completely and undeniably convinced they were who they said they were, and it's safe to say that it's rare for me to feel that way.



My only complaint is that I could've lived without the more inappropriate scenes...I felt they carried on for far too long when other more important things could've been happening.



Overall, this is definitely a movie worth seeing.

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Summary:

Over all in all, this drama has something to offer.

The twisted story about 49 days is the remarks of this drama. As it was titled of.

This all about life after death, and before death..

The romance, betrayal and corruption add ups the spice.

This is a recommendable drama to watch.



Plot of the Story:

I like the fallowing:

The main story about 49 days, it's a fantasy.

The life before death and after death.

The comedy scenes and some tearful scenes

I like the love story of this drama.

Dislike:

Some scenes are just too slow, it should be more shorter.

Cause it feels like this drama lost some excitement and importance of the story.

Some of the plots is so predictable.



Acting/Cast:



Even though it has powerful casts. There's something in this category that lock off.

I think the character of the SCHEDULER or REAPER is one of the highlights of this drama. Even though the character was a supporting role

I hate how this drama has a lot a crying scenes though it's not needed. For me it just too much.



Music:



All of the ost choices suits this dramas..

But where and when to play it, it was quite question mark? Does it should be played on that part.



Re-watchable value:



Yes, it is.. I will again watch my favorite scenes but the whole drama again

Leggi di Più

This drama never bore me to death from the very beginning. Although it did get me irritated because of how Oh Ha Ni followed Baek Seung Jo around. She seemed like a stalker and it got me really irritated but I never stopped watching. As I continued to watch the drama it made me realize that Oh Ha Ni was a much better and stronger person than how she was in the beginning. You can tell that as the drama goes on, the characters change in their own way. Baek Seung Jo who was always cruel and criticized stupid people became more caring and learned to love Ha Ni. Ha Ni who was immature and childish turns into a hardworking and strong person. Even though she was often hurt because of Baek Seung Jo, she would always put on a happy face. She kinda inspired me in a way. In the end *****SPOILER ALERT***** she got into college, got into nursing school, and even got her man. It just shows that working hard pays off. I really loved this drama and it was super duper cute! Best version and one of the best dramas ever! PLAYFUL KISS FIGHTING <3333

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This drama always had me at the edge of my seat! It never bored me to death at all. The suspense and the thrill of this drama was to die for! The acting was SUPERB!!! This drama made me shed so many tears even when it was just the 2nd episode. Each episode always had you hoping that everything would work out, but the evil wicked stepmother always made you angry and so did the stepsister. This drama is indeed like Cinderella but better. The stepmother always had you wishing that she could just die. Anyway this drama will have you going nuts. It's a great drama where you want characters to like each other, characters to go and just die, characters to just have some sense and speak up. So many secrets and lies....There are times where there were scenes that i literally punched the computer screen. It's one of those dramas where you can laugh and cry and feel the pain of the characters and see how much each and every one of them changes throughout the drama. I was very surprised at how they made their acting very realistic. You can't imagine how much pain she goes through in order for her to have the life she can finally have. This drama is very very well made. It has comedy, romance, drama, many many cliff-hangers.............what more could you ask for in a drama??? This is definitely one of the best I've seen so far!

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