Você é a Melhor, Lee Soon Shin! (2013)

I’ve spend so much time watching this drama, that I decided I should at least write a review. As I want to do it thoroughly, it might be a tiny little bit spoilerish, so if you don’t want to know anything about the plot before watching, please consider not reading this review.

First of all, the description can be a bit misleading, if you were hoping while choosing it that it will be a romantic comedy, you can end up being disappointed, because it’s back to back a family melodrama. If you consider it as such, this it will be a valuable watch.
What I found interesting about Korean family drama is that, while telling a story, it touches upon social and cultural issues between the lines, which makes me feel I’m learning something about Korean culture. (like I didn’t know how common racism was or how difficult it was for people in Korea after the war until I watched Ojakyo Brothers).

As for this drama what I really enjoyed how it broke some usual rom-com cliches and focused on development of heroines. Tropes like divorcing unfaithful husband despite having a child and then struggling with getting the once successful single life back together. Or marrying just for love and not sacrificing your career for it. These all was very interesting and fresh for me to see in a drama, especially in context of Korean society,which seems still pretty conservative (Disclaimer: I’ve never been to Korea nor do I know well any Koreans :[ so it’s only based on what I read or watched so I might be wrong). You could also see that it indeed cause some struggles between generations with grandma telling her granddaughter to forgive her husband and go back to him, or in mother- daughter-in-law differences. What was also interesting that it showed ajummas in some untypical light as well. Scene when Omounii, who was always sacrificing for her family, goes on shopping spree and buys high-end clothes for herself because “she deserves that” was simply priceless. I also really sympathized with the story of Joon Ho’s mother - I mean the male lead’s mother, in most dramas a character designed to be hated- she really got my deep compassion with her story of finding the sense in your life, when your family doesn’t care for your efforts anymore.

I really liked the characters of the sisters. Jeong Ae, who despite her mild character, didn’t weaver and was able to follow through her decisions. Joo Shin who was at the same time fierce and caring, never letting anyone to put her down.
I liked Soon Shin very much too, although she was a vulnerable character at first, not confident at all and a real give-upper -which can be pretty annoying, she really grew as the drama progressed and wasn’t afraid to speak out her feelings and resolve misunderstandings. Besides IU is so adorable and natural in her acting and such a cute and funny girl, that it’s impossible not to like her.

In the romantic department it was pretty interesting as well. Very pleasing actually, because every girl got a guy, that was really well suited for them. What was really interesting and not often seen in a drama- it was guys who chased after the girls, not the other way around. So if you’re looking for such development, this drama won’t disappoint. Because they chased after them faithfully and continuously, and they are really great and considerate guys to be chased by.

And yes we have our usual “CEO”, but he’s not usual at all! The official description could not be more wrong about him, because he is not “over confident, arrogant and coldblooded” in any way! If anything he’s selfconsious, adorably clumsy, very smart, independent and caring. I don’t know how Jo Jung Suk did it, but he played his character extremely believably, so Joon Ho seemed like an awesome, but still real-life man, not some made-up arrogant CEO, worshipped by everybody around. What I also about him was his backstory, that he wasn’t a second generation cheabol as usual, but a self-made man, who wasn’t afraid to go against his parents wishes, and after many hardships became successful on his own. He showed the same resilience throughout the drama and always made his own decisions, which I really enjoyed, even if he messed up sometimes.
It was really sweet to see how much he cared for Soon Shin and always supported her both in her career and as a shoulder to cry on. It is one of the most cutest and realistic relationships I’ve ever seen in a drama with both people really wanting to be together and supporting each other. IU and Jung Suk are a great pairing, you couldn’t feel the age difference between them, especially with Soon Shin being quite cheeky towards teppunim and him falling heads over heels for her. They really have a great dynamics and chemistry, and their scenes together were always enjoyable without being overboard. I became a fan of Jo Jung Suk after this drama, somehow he stands out among other Korean actors, because he’s very natural, has great expression and doesn’t take himself too seriously. And he was just too cute, when he looked at Soon Shin, telling her she’s beautiful

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The idea for "You're the Best, Lee Soon Shin" sounded right up my alley on paper- an underdog story with a heartwarming family dynamic at the center. Of course, the fact that it would have Jo Jung Suk in in was a pretty big plus. I honestly wasn't expecting much, however. I just wanted a drama that would entertain me for it's [incredibly] long run. I guess that was a bit too much to ask for?
Story: The story is hit-and-miss for me. The hits being the sisters and their adorable romances, the misses being the crazy mothers involved. It's actually kind of frustrating when you think of how much MORE time was spent on the mom's instead of the sisters. Really, if the drama had paid more attention to Lee Soon Shin, Yoo Shin and Hye Shin, then I probably would have given this a higher score. Instead, we got buckets full of frustrating mama-drama. Plus, Hye Shin and Jin Wook's story had so much ignored potential. In fact, a whole lot of side stories had ignored potential. It felt like the writer was just making this up as she went along without the foggiest idea of how much time she wanted to spend on story arcs.
Acting: So. Much. Wasted. Talent. Seriously. Jo Jung Suk was perfect here, but his character felt sorely underused. IU had a pretty decent break-out role, and I'm glad this drama was so popular, otherwise Jung Woo would have flown under everyone's radar for his awesome turn as Jin Wook.
Music: Like this drama, it was cute. But when the *same* song repeats the *same* word fifty thousand times at the end of *every* episode, I start to bang my head against the wall.
Rewatch Value: There were a lot of cute scenes in here that I'd like to rewatch, but I will never *ever* rewatch the entire thing. It just won't happen. I don't want to deal with premature hypertension.
Overall: My recommendation is that you have your finger on the fast-forward button while watching this. Otherwise, you're going to lose a lot of hair in the process.

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