Twelve Men in a Year (2012)

This show had all the makings of a great drama, which I would have easily scored 10. It had a fresh story with interesting situations, which certainly made it different from other Korean dramas I've watched and that made it very appealing for me.

But as good as the story was, there was one thing which bothered me too much to be overlooked: the main character, Na Mi Roo. This woman was not what I imagined for the main lead of this drama. For me, she didn't fit the concept of it at all. She was annoying beyond belief and a few times I wanted to physically hurt her. At times, it also felt like the character wasn't well written. I didn't feel she had much character growth, if any at all. It was like she was meant to be an ordinary and forgettable supporting character and they decided to make her the main one at the very last minute.

So, in one hand we have "loser Mi Roo" and on the other we have Tanya. Now this character was awesome. She was interesting, mysterious, had depth, was funny... In other words, she was everything I had hoped the main character of this drama would be. I also felt she had much more character growth, and was better written, than Mi Roo.

Besides Tanya, all the other characters were also interesting and I actually wanted to know more about them and the reasons behind their actions. The wonderful portrayal of those characters was what kept me watching this drama.

The OST of the drama was good. I already knew some of the songs because they were in English and the opening credits track was very catchy.

And the ending was not common, but not unpredictable since I had a feeling it would end like that.

As much as I loved some of the characters (like 4-D writer Lee, awesome Tanya and cute Kwang Woo) and thought the story was very good, I cannot subject myself to watching Mi Roo for 16 episodes again, so I do not ever plan on re-watching this drama again.

Leia Mais

I just finished watching the last episode of this drama via Hulu. I thought it was a drama worth watching. It had a good premise, interesting characters and was well acted and executed. It was by no means perfect and I did have a couple of issues I was not too happy about, but even with those I would highly recommend this drama.

This drama was different from other Korean and Asian dramas that -I- have seen. The premise alone seemed daring and atypical to what I'm used to watching. One modern woman living independently with her boyfriend while not being married and then dating 12 men in one year? I believe that brakes a lot of drama cliches just right there. That alone made this drama worth watching.

I feel the drama was executed well. This is a story that deals with the question of what happens when love is not enough and does not last forever. Actually, I feel like it deals with the topic of love in a very modern and pragmatic way. It shows many forms of love in an interesting, funny and often touchy way. There is love of parent and child, friends, first love, etc...

I felt the drama was acted well enough. But, I felt the main character was overshadowed by that of the girl who plays her best friend. The way that character was written, acted and even physically, out shined the lead. There were some parts where I thought that Mi Roo was behaving like a total B...rat!. I was never really able to connect or really fully like her.
There are really no bad guys here. Everyone has their good and bad qualities in different proportions at different parts of the story. I liked that.

Now, as I said, it was not perfect. I had issues with a few things.
1. Was that by episode 4 I felt the drama lost a bit of its steam. I don't know how they were doing ratings wise or how it was received in Korea, but I felt like they decided to stop and look for that line they wanted to step on but not cross. It had this feeling of uncertainty, like for a second they were not sure how they wanted to continue. This was not really detract me from enjoying, but I did feel a change.

2. It did not feel as though the main girl had a lot of character growth. She pretty much felt the same from beginning to end.

3. I hated the main character's sense of fashion and hair cut. IT DISTRACTED ME!. At times I was busy thinking how much I disliked it and had to rewind the episode.

4.The ending felt a bit rushed.But it did tie and tell you what happens to all the important characters. I did not know who she was going to end up with.Well, I think that was not necessarily a bad thing, but it did feel underdeveloped.

Again, if you want a good rom-com, with a good story and don't mind the main girl kissing more than one man, this is a story worth watching. Enjoy!

Leia Mais

I thoroughly enjoyed this drama mostly because I could relate to the main character as I am a 29-year-old Libra myself. She was always weighing her options, but often too scared to follow through. I felt that her boss was the true hero in this story in that she pushed Mi Roo to better herself and take risks. Tanya, the second female lead, gave the most comedic value to the drama and I don't think I would have liked it as much without her. I liked the complex relationships showing that it's not always easy to forget your first love and you don't necessarily stop loving someone because you love another. I was really happy that the ending didn't follow the same as "I Need Romance", which has some similar plots.

The casting was decent, but for some reason I really didn't like Jin Oh, but perhaps it was his character I liked less than the actor. Music wasn't memorable, but I did like that a cute little tune would play everytime someone said or did something romantic. My rewatch value is usually pretty low on a lot of dramas mostly because they are so long and there are so many out there waiting to be watched.

Leia Mais

It took me around 3 days to watch this drama because I was so drawn into it. Every episode was full of funny scenes and had its elements of sadness, sexiness and stupidness.

Story - This drama focuses on a girl who finds herself in a situation where she has to date 12 guys each with different horoscopes and write about her experiences in XX magazine, using a secret alias. I really liked this unique storyline and how mature it was because honestly I was getting a bit bored with the usual kdramas with sappy love stories and nonstop crying (Yes, I'm talking about Missing You). Good thing I stumbled across this one by accident. It really does deserve more recognition :) I was a bit unsatisfied with the ending though.. I wanted her to end up with someone else.

Cast - The 12 guys (well most) were reallyyyy hot! ;) There are quite a lot of kiss scenes with them too. I liked the actors they picked out because they fit the characters personality very well (like ALEX lol). Most might think that the main girl was annoying and different.. well I thought that at first too. "Why the heck does she have that hairstyle, it's weird.." but it grew on me and now she's a lovable, cute character to me! The best friend, Tanya was perfect- from the first scene I saw her. She was indeed the perfect best friend but of course she has her own problems too. Ji Oh looked really cute and played his role of the jealous ex well. Supernova's Sungje and Kwangsoo were also casted which I found nice since I was a fan of Supernova ^^

Music - The music was great! I loved the opening and ending song, I found myself singing the opening song many times in my head without even realizing lol The songs for the sad scenes were emotional too.

Rewatch Value - I think I'd really like to watch this again some time in the future. It's like a treasure for me now.

If you are thinking about watching this drama, then I assure you- it will not be a waste of time. ^^

Leia Mais

Hands down my favorite part of this drama was that it wasn't cliche at all. From the love triangles to the plot, everything felt fresh and I didn't find myself guessing everything correctly like I normally do watching the usual predictable kdrama.
To be honest, I really wanted her to end up with her ex, but I wasn't unhappy with how everything turned out because it was very well executed and even realistic.
As someone who's very into astrology, I have to say the creators did a great job at capturing the signs with the exception of Pisces. I am a Pisces and frankly I felt insulted lol because I don't understand why they made him a fake person when Pisces are known to be genuinely emotional. In fact, for a lot of the show I thought the guy from the cafe was a pisces. Besides that, other signs hit the nail on the head such as leo, aquarius, aries, and scorpio. However, I felt like some of them were too rushed like virgo and I also didn't like that she doesn't actually sleep with all the men or even most of them because that was the whole point of the erotic column and it would have taken the modern boldness of the plot to an even higher level. I would have also like to have known some of the female characters signs although I am almost certain Hae Rae was an Aries because of her persistence and determination for a specific love and un-empathetic personality coupled with the fact that Aries is the opposite sign of Libra (which is the main characters sign). That being said, I really hated Hae Rae and felt like slapping her just about every time she appeared on scene. However, i think she was written well.

Now, I hate to focus on this, but Mi Roo was really badly cast/dressed for the role ti the point it was ridiculous. Only twice did I feel like she was dressed for her character. I didn't think she was pretty or sexy enough for her personality and encounters with men. I'm not hating because she has short hair (i have short hair , too) but it didn't suit her face at all. And if they had to absolutely go with that hair, they should have changed the wardrobe. I didn't really believe that those men would have all been so attracted to her off the bat because of her looks. Especially men like Alex since aries is superficial and all that.

Still, i don't agree with other commenters saying Tanya should have been the main character. She is a leo so of course it feels like she is the center of attention, but she would have been too easy going and experienced for the plot which was about discovery and all that. She outshined the main character because they didn't make Mi Roo attractive enough to stand next to her. Her love triangle experience and the conclusion of it was very well done and well written and super cute!

Leia Mais

I really wasn't sure what to expect from this drama, as I myself don't put much stock in the whole signs of the Zodiac thing, but I actually really liked it.
The casting was pretty good. Mi Roo was not quite as good as she could've been, and I wanted to strangle a couple of the men she dated (because of the acting, not because of the story), but aside from that, everyone else was well cast. The actors who played Kwan Woo and Tanya did a particularly good job, but Jin Oh was really good too.
As for the story, I will only say this: this is a fluff drama. I mean, yes, it deals with some heavier issues like finding true happiness and willingness to change for the person you love, but besides that...it's all fluff.
Without giving spoilers, I can't write a review of this without mentioning the plot twist at the end. This particular plot twist by all rights should not work, and yet it does. The abruptness with which it is thrust upon you makes it a little difficult to accept at first, but it quickly slides into a more natural feel, giving you that feeling that this is the only way this drama should end. I am definitely gonna watch this drama again at some point in the hopefully near future.

Leia Mais

The premise of this drama is so interesting, and while it has a few twists and turns to keep you into it, overall it squandered its potential. I thought I was going to see the main character dating 12 guys in the year, but she didn't at all - even though I liked the reasons they ended up giving for her not to do so. However, that was done ham-handedly, in a way that ended up being a little slut shaming. Even with the character of Tanya (who was honestly better than the main character), it still felt a bit like it would have been a bad thing for Mi Roo to date that many men in general, rather than it just being a bad thing/thing she didn't want personally.

The most fun twist to the drama is that it played out more like a traditional romcom than a kdrama; if you were describing this to me as a movie, I'd assume she'd be doing all this to get over her ex/still be in love with him, but find love where she wasn't looking elsewhere along the way. With a kdrama, I assumed she'd end up back with her ex, because he's billed as the top lead. So it was a big surprise when she didn't, and honestly the only more I could ask about that is that they'd established a bit more romantic foundation for them throughout (though at least he was introduced early on).

Mi Roo was a super crazy and annoying character at first, one I agreed with her boyfriend for breaking up with and her boss for firing. But she has really great character development throughout the drama. In the hands of a stronger actress,I think Mi Roo could have been a fascinating, multilayered character. The writing for her development from super immature (especially for 29 years old) to a thoughtful grown adult was all there, but I didn't feel the development, even if I saw it.

All in all, I would really only recommend this drama for the novelty of it doing something a bit different with the romance, but go in with very low expectations.

Leia Mais

i didnt expect much coming into this b/c i hadnt really heard any buzz about the drama. i decided to give it a chance b/c it sounded alright and you never know when you'll find an underrated gem.


for the first six episodes i thought this drama was going to be one of those underated gems it was quite funny and progessed at a pretty good clip. sadly TMIAY coudnt keep it up. for me the crash and burn was sudden. maybe other people saw the problems before that, but around episode 6 the story of one of the men was ended in a completely nonsensical and, IMO kind of racist fashion and it went from entertaining and decently done to a sloppy mess.

i'd have to go back and count but i'm pretty sure the math is off somewhere and i really didnt like how what she was doing was made to look 100 x's worse than what was actually happening. either that or subbers are trying to change the meaning of words, which i doubt. for the last ten eps the story was sort of all over the place (it did have it's moments thought) and the epic reveal was so cheesy i skipped it.


as others have mention the female lead is very poorly styled. she looked terrible at best and like a color blind mentally deficint carney at worst. seiously, i could give my 6 yo free reign of everyhting in the house and she look better. Mi Roo could very well be a pretty girl, but it seems like her wardrobe and hair were picked specifcally to make her look hideous. her character isnt exactly compelling either. had she been a little more dynamic and a little more relatable and a little less... MI ROO this show could have maybe been a little better.

Leia Mais