Jardim Secreto (2010)

Poor Main male Character - Strong Female Character - Better Side Characters

Missing Review
to be quite honest this is not a perfect show at all. First of all, our main character is crappy person. He mistreats our main protagonist constantly. What are you teaching here? Are you teaching that being rude and arrogant are good traits and one should live by those and the woman of your dreams will fall? Completly crap main character. Now she is a strong female lead but cries. This ishow you make a good non-woke female protagonist. You don't have to put her saying bad stuff about men, or "I'm better than you". It's just this.

And Seul, another great girl. But the main growth and character was Oska. I have no doubt about it. He was a crappy person, but learned. He treated his cousin it seems disdain but always looking out for him. He is a pop idol but in the last episode critizies the pop industry - which should include series... Go to the internet, check any show. Almost 100% of all actors in Korea (or idol) are single or never release information about their love life. Most people under 40 finally start having a romantic life. The actors and kpop artists have some high standards that they stop having lives. My opinion.

Not the best show, at all. Go watch Crash Landing on You. BUT he is the other type of character - typical. Too good.

Korea dramas are like Telenovelas from Portugal, same tropes over and over, and half the story could be cut. :)

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It’s overrated

If you’ve watched The Glory or Goblin or Descendants of the Sun then you should know that Kim Eun Sook, the screenwriter, is one of the top in the drama industry as her dramas consistently garner high ratings. However, Secret Garden is a decade old therefore it’s understandable that it followed the same format as other popular dramas of that period. Dramas like Boys Over Flowers, The Heirs, and a handful of other which were premised on toxic masculinity and docile women.

Similarly, the production values were mediocre with terrible color saturation and cinematography. I kept at it due to the many fawning reviews on MDL but it got to a point where I just couldn’t bear seeing the ML consistently berating the FL or a FL who had zero self-respect. I wish someone would remake this because there is something unique about a FL who’s a stuntwoman and I would like to see that aspect explored more thoroughly.

Anyway, it’s watchable if you don’t mind the above-mentioned details.

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I waited for the series to end in GMA 7 before making this review. I watched the original Korean series with English subtitle but I didn’t enjoy it. I don’t know if it was the actor’s or actress’s voice or the subtitle but I really didn’t find the series appealing. So when I saw the teaser from GMA 7 a few months back, I decided to give it another try. I watched Hyun Bin from the series My Name is Kim Sam Soon and I love him ever since. That’s why watching it twice was not a bad idea.

I wasn’t disappointed. I liked the way the Filipinos dubbed the series. The “kalye” language they used was very appropriate for our culture and made the series more natural. I definitely love the “saltik” term Jamie used to call Owen. It became an endearment. (How was that possible? You should watch the tagalized series.)

Secret Garden was one of the most popular drama series to hit mainstream Korea. It has high ratings and continued to be on top of the charts till the last episode. I won’t argue with that. It was really funny. I understand why the Koreans loved it because after watching the tagalized version, I fell in love with it too. I thought that the series was like a Korean remake of the movie It’s a Boy Girl Thing (2006). I’m not saying it was the same but I think the concept was derived from this movie. The Koreans just expanded the concept and made the story suitable for Asian audiences.

Hyun Bin’s portrayal of Owen’s character was very smooth. The acting was very natural. On the other hand, Hai Ji Won’s acting may not be impressive but she improved very well since she started in the business.

Hey, wait up! It’s not all negative. There are a couple of things I love from the series.

First, Owen’s trademark track suit. That sequenced blue track suit was probably the most popular item ever copied and mass-produced in Korea. It looks funny in Owen but it looks adorable in Hyun Bin. (The analogy is difficult to explain. Ha-ha)

Second, Owen’s attitude with love. If there’s a guy out there like him, pwede akin ka na lang? (Can you please be mine?) He fought for what he wanted. He didn’t give up on love. Even if Jamie threw him out, physically and emotionally hurt him—he stayed. He showed the cold, afraid and aloof Jamie what it means to love and be loved.

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