Pandiko
I can't believe I put this drama on hold for so long. To be honest, I had a few biases that made me not want to watch this magnificent drama despite all of the great reviews it had. One of them is because I saw So Ji Sub on an episode of Infinite Challenge where he wanted to get slapped by Yoo Jae Suk. I didn't know if I could see him as a leading man after that. Another reason that more people can probably relate to is the horror genre. Kdramas are usually cutesy and romantic. I thought that half of the drama would be wasted on the horror and ghost hunting aspect. While it does have that aspect, it's not what I expected and the time is definitely not wasted (you'll probably agree that the drama is way too short later on). The side stories are an integral part to move the main story along along rather than being unessential stories that don't relate to the main characters at all. I don't want to offend anyone who's into the whole vampire and witchcraft genres, but I myself was not interested in that and thought that it was those fans who were posting all over the internet how great this drama was and that this drama was definitely not for me. Part of the reason is because of the deceptive cover photo. It has a very serious and eerie feel to it that makes it seem as if they'd spend a lot of time in a cathedral hiding from vampires (So Ji Sub looks like a vampire who's ready to bite Gong Hyo Jin in the picture). I thought that the whole plot would be like vampire stories I've heard about where the main conflict is the girl sacrificing her body to the vampire.
Unlike the the outdated, unappealing photo and any other biases I might have had, this drama really made me put my guard down. It takes a very comedic stance on how people view Gong Shil's ability to see spirits and was surprisingly thrilling at times while still portraying a sentimental approach to the connection between the living and the deceased. I have seen many Kdramas that I've enjoyed where I've seen couples that have shared cute and funny moments, but never have I seen a couple that I thought really belonged together or actually NEEDED to be together and that I rooted so much for until I saw this show. They are the cutest pair I've ever seen and I don't think I'd even care if the world just disappeared while I watched those two together on screen. I really wanted what they had together. Even from the beginning, where their relationship was a little weird, their chemistry made the weirdness (which I probably would've dropped a show for) work. The show has the cutest confession and cutest kiss. I appreciate how the side romances did not take over the story like they do in many dramas and thought that they had a bit of charm to them as well- of course not as much as the main couple, but that how I think Kdramas should be. I'll admit there were some things that I did not enjoy but they were very minor flaws like a little bit of being wishy-washy to the point that I was even unaware of what the character wanted at one point, and a few predictable things. However, I watched the entire drama in two days because I never felt that they were bad enough to make the show lose its appeal unlike other shows that have these problems which cause them to have a two or more episode slump that you usually find near episode 7-10 in a Kdrama. Some dramas never recover from that slump and turn your favorite drama into a typical or even unbearable one, which brings me to my next point. Not only did this drama have few things I disliked (which is the reason I did not give it a perfect ten), but it had the best ending (specifically the last episode which had so many hug-your-pillow-really-tight rewind moments) I've seen in Kdrama. Usually the ending is what loses me in many Kdramas, but this drama makes you love the main couple even more so at the end.
As for the acting, it's a given that Gong Hyo Jin is one of the best Kdrama actresses (and one of my favorites). Many shows that I watch are for her because I know she can act well and pick good roles unlike my favorite actress, Eun Yoon Hye, who is a good actress but can't seem to find good roles. So Ji Sub- is a name I will never forget now. Boy was I wrong about him. Never judge someone by your first impressions. He can ask Yoo Jae Suk to slap him all he wants and he will still be one of the best leading men. At first, maybe because of my bias, I was very skeptical of him and his ability to woo someone. How could he be cuter than someone like Seo In Guk who had me in tears in the first episode of Reply 1997? By the end of the drama I just wanted to hug So Ji Sub with the cute little caterpillars above his eyes. He can display so many emotions with them and his happy eye smile when he hears about money is to die for. It's not like Gong Yoo where you think he's very handsome, but So Ji Sub pulls at your heartstrings with how cute he can be. He doesn't even have to shed tears. He's good, okay? That's all I can say. MY GOSH I WISH HE'D DO ANOTHER ROMANTIC COMEDY! *Sigh* Okay, moving on. Seo In Guk is one of the few actors like Yong Hwa who can be cool on and off stage. He didn't woo me as much in this show but his kung fu moves really made me laugh, probably not for the right reasons though. On a side note, I did find the vice president likeable towards the end. The rest of the characters didn't seem to stand out too much to me since they were typical but they were likeable.
Although the music did not have a specific memorable-sing-along-add-to-your-playlist-and-repeat OST like That Man from Secret Garden, the music was pleasing and the placement really helped to set the different moods. I liked the song from Seo In Guk as well. Oh, and I was very surprised that this one song that I thought was Kim Jong Kook when I heard it was actually Gummy.
Overally I'd give this drama a rewatch value of ten which is very high since I don't rewatch shows since they take a lot of time and usually give a rewatch value of 3 or less. I really want to rewatch this with other people so I can show them how great it is and make them watch Korean dramas with me. I'm positive they'll start watching after they see this with me. ^____________^
This is definitely the best drama I've seen. It has all the things I look for in a drama: laugh-out-loud-and-not-just-smile-because-it's-cute comedy, good acting (even though they never had the Gong Yoo crying in Coffee Prince, I felt just as sad looking at little So Ji Sub's little sad eyebrows), no long slump near episode 7-10 that makes the drama lose its appeal, a plot twist, and a really cute ending that's not just a bunch of mush. This is definitely my favorite drama by far. It sucks now though that I will probably have a hard time finding a good one after this.
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As a side note, I'll mention the other actors as well in case you're curious. An honorable mention should go out to Park Jin Joo for being an amazing side actress. Although I was never really bothered by it, many people have commented on Shin Se Kyung's emotionless face when she acts. Compared to her roles in HIgh Kick Through the Roof and Fashion King, Shin Se Kyung has improved quite a bit on this, and somewhat on her laugh. I've seen Yoo Chun in Sungkyunkwan and Rooftop Prince as a lead role but neither really like or detest him. He seems to always just be there but never gives a memorable performance, though I liked him some in variety shows. Unfortunately his comedy in this one sort of annoyed me and both the writing for his character and his acting when carrying the script out made me side with Kwon Jae Hee and dislike him even more. The romance in this drama was something like that of a side-couple in another drama. It's there, you watch it, but you're really waiting for the main character to get back on screen (Kwon Jae Hee). Another reason many seem to side with Kwon Jae Hee is that the writers made the detectives seem stupid. Many times they would just stand around and wait for someone who wasn't even a detective to do all the work while someone was dying. Yeom Mi was the only semi-intelligible one.
That being said, since I gave this drama a high rating, you can see how much Nam Gung Min carried the drama. I didn't plan to watch the whole thing in a couple of days because I thought it would be a weird drama from the title but this is one of the few dramas that you end up marathoning. Yes, some parts with Oh Cho Rim and Choi Moo Guk like the theatrical parts are odd, but the villain makes this drama well worth the watch.
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As a side note, and I usually don't mention this because I'm not a very fashion-conscious person, but I thought the clothing looked outdated and they have a good looking cast but the hair stylist put too much product in Wang Ji Hye's hair to the point that it looked oily and they could've done more to Han Ye Seul's hair to make it shine or look glamorous since she's the birth of a beauty (Pinocchio had a good hairstylist).
I don't even know where to start with the acting. Joo Sang Wook seemed like a good actor and sometimes his actions reminded me of So Ji Sub in Master's Sun. I think he would've acted better though if he played this role alongside a different actress such as Gong Hyo Jin because while Han Ye Seul is beautiful, her acting skills weren't too believable to me many times, especially when she tried to act cute, innocent, or does what I consider a fake laugh. To her defense, it's hard to be cute and pretty. When she tried to act innocent though, she seemed to just open her eyes wide and stare blankly, and instead of the simple-minded cute that I think she was trying to go for, it came off as a little dim-witted. A weird thing is that unlike many actors who can play cute but not serious parts, her crying was actually okay; if they added fake tears and an eye irritant to make her eyes a little pink then her crying facial expressions would seem realistic I think. Because of her narrow range of emotions, I'm a little hesitant to watch Couple or Trouble now which was supposed to show that her acting skills improved, but seems iffy to me since she should be more experienced in this drama that's filmed eight years after the praise she got for that one. Wang Ji Hye and Jung Gyu Woon's jealousy and apparent desire for revenge are a major part of what made this so interesting to watch, but while I was a big fan of Wang Ji Hye from Protect the Boss, I noticed that she has a weird look that she overuses sometimes - I still think her hissy fits were entertaining though. Jung Gyu Woon played crazy quite awesomely and reminded me a lot of Light Yagami from the anime, Death Note. Lastly, I'd like to mention Han Sang Jin. Even though Joo Sang Wook is handsome and a good actor, he had the same problem that Ji Sung had in Kill Me Heal Me- despite cute or romantic lines he's fed and facial expressions to match, he didn't have that quality about him that makes you hug your pillow really tight and hold your breath while your heart is beating in suspense for the next moment on screen. Surprisingly I did feel a little bit of this when Han Sang Jin was on screen, and maybe if he was younger or didn't look his age I would be squealing over him right now. He played both the few romantic parts he had and a villain quite well; I think his innocent-looking face made him that much scarier.
As for the music, I'm pretty sure I've heard Lee Hyori sing the "I'm a Beautiful Girl" song on Family Outing before even though it didn't come out yet; it sounds just like it though. Other than that, the music didn't seem memorable and I don't really rewatch shows.
I'd recommend this show if you like dramas, because there's a lot of entertaining scheming and plotting with alliances formed almost every which way, but don't mind the female lead's acting and that it's not really romantic or comedic despite being a romcom.
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The cast was great because there were two members of SuJu in it and I enjoyed the other characters as well. I gave them a 7.5 because although I don't think their acting was award- worthy, it wasn't dull and kept you entertained (I might be biased since I like SuJu though). I definitely am more of a Donghae fan, so naturally instead of finding things like Donghae's little victory pose and strawberry pudding odd or annoying, I thought it was cute/funny seeing him and not his character doing these actions. The long leg thing was cute too (we all know you use insoles because of SM Entertainment, little Donghae <3). I was not as big of fan of Siwon before this show because I found him to be a little fake on variety shows, but he isn't ugly for a main role, and his acting's not too poor either. SuJu's acting must've been at least good though because I didn't even notice that they were being dubbed and that Donghae's voice was much higher than usually and that Siwon's sounded like his impression of that famous designer he always does impressions of. I just thought that that was how all Taiwanese drama's were where the voices didn't match the lip movements. Gong Xi was easy to like in the beginning because of her strong sense of purpose and since she seemed more lively than other main leads tend to be. She was cute but it was a little weird that she looked like YoSeob from Beast to me mixed with Gollum from Lord of the Rings (even more so when she held that stone). Unfortunately she seemed to get annoying and whiny towards the end (especially the baby voice and weird dancing fit?). I liked the actress who played Qin a lot. She was very beautiful and her confidence was admirable. Du Xian seemed like a very credible actor to me especially how believable his smiles were compared to Siwon's (for a while, I thought that he had something going on with Gong Xi and that they would end up together), but his expressions began to become repetitive and was a little creepy sometimes when he kept smiling to himself. His yellow phone was cool though. Mary did not seem cute at first because I thought she looked old, but later her little round face reminded me of the adorable kid from Modern Family. I'm usually not a fan of odd humor, but I thought that the CEO was interesting. I did like some of the manga effects they used in this show and the little treats that made them happy.
I gave the music a 7.5 just because I like SuJu. The beginning song was nice but I didn't really get addicted to the music.
I don't rewatch shows so I'd give this a rewatch value of 1.
Overall it was fun to watch and didn't really have many hard to get through scenes, but no wow breathtaking, heart-wrenching moments either so I gave it a 7. To be fair, I don't think that they could really have the actors get too close since it would upset their fans, and it's very rare for people who are trained to be singers to have outstanding acting like Gong Yoo's performance in Coffee Prince as well (I did enjoy Rain's acting in Full House though). If you're a fan of Donghae or Siwon and aren't overly obsessed to the point that you can't see them with another girl (which you might want to get checked if you are), then I would recommend this show. It's cute, funny, and keeps you entertained.
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The writing is the major problem in this show. Except for the grandma, the oldest sister, and sometimes Soon Shin, the acting wasn't bad. I was a new fan of Lee Mi Sook and was rooting for Mi Ryung. Yoo In Na is one of the best supports you can have (especially in Secret Garden) and even seemed to be the second lead in this drama. The rest of the side characters were quite believable and lively. On the flip side, I'm a fan of IU in Scarlet Heart Ryeo, but boy did she come a long way from how she acted here. Her acting along with the writing made Soon Shim seem like an immature brat with a corrupt view of justice where double standards between her and Song Mi Ryung were okay. She expected the world to be handed to her because she always played the victim and never thought of how others were affected. This mindset actually seemed to be the case for the majority of the characters in the drama, especially the grandmother. It’s a low blow to attack an old lady, and I’m not sure if the director forced her, but the actress playing the grandmother was over the top and annoying to be honest. I usually love little old ladies and find them cute but there was nothing loveable about the way this one was portrayed. It was not a tsundere type of character but a purely hateful one who had the victim syndrome as well. The mother was unreasonably selfish, Yoo Shin’s mother-in-law was selfish, both Joon Ho’s parents were selfish, the little girl was selfish, Joon Ho’s sister was selfish...etc. It’s a feat in itself to finish a drama with these characters.
I had to take about 10 breaks just for the last two episodes. The ending just genuinely sucked (there's really no other word for it, or need to find another word for it or else I might end up putting in more effort than the writers of the show did). It's not like some dramas where you're dissatisfied with the ending because it doesn't go the way you planned. In fact, some dramas that do that are great dramas. It was because the show was uninteresting and did not even attempt to resolve things with reason. No wonder most of the problems stemmed from misunderstandings. The writers didn't even seem to understand anything.
I know I ranted a lot, but I felt it was necessary from the stress of wasting my time on 50 episodes of this show that causes your blood pressure to go up and makes you eat fried chicken and pastries because of the chicken shop and bakery. I would not watch this again nor recommend this show to anyone.
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The director indeed has an eye for talent. Despite being afraid to watch this drama at first because of my preconceived notions that Jo Jung Suk appeared too old for Park Bo Young and had, to be honest, a scary face, in my opinion- though many would disagree (including myself) after watching this- I have become a new fan of him as well as the other three leads. Park Bo Young is a second reason that I did not want to watch this originally because the editing on the Running Man episode that I watched where she was a guest gave me a rather negative view of her. Unlike my previous opinion, this show opened me up to her through her diverse and entertaining acting skills showing me that she was far from the one-dimensional person I once saw her as. I have seen Im Joo Hwan on variety shows before but was never aware of his powerful acting skills that sent chills down my spine at times. Indeed, the writers did a good job of giving the villain a strong presence that makes you curl up in awe. Lastly, Kim Seul Gi is a name and face that I was not even familiar with before watching this. She reminded me of Gong Hyo Jin at times with a more upbeat personality and a cuteness comparable to Yoon Eun Hye. I will be sure to look out for her in the future and can't wait to see her future works.
Though the actors and writers were entertaining for the two days that it took me to finish this drama, I was quite disappointed in the last two episodes, especially the last. For being such an entertaining show, I expected more out of the ending. My opinion of the show dropped drastically when they added what I thought was a typical, predictable, anticlimactic ending that I've seen many times and one of the ones I hate at that. This is the main reason I deducted points from my score because I don't mind slow beginnings and this show had chemistry that was equal to that found in Master's Sun and suspense equal to that in highly raved-about dramas like You Who Came from the Stars or Healer. Because of this, they led my expectations for the ending to be quite high, and a typical ending just falls too short to make my score any higher.
The cast selection and directing was indeed what made this drama what it is. I was surprised at how well even the minor characters were able to portray the ghost, making it believable to me that the ghost was actually taking over their bodies. I found the ghost and Bong Sun or Jo Jung Suk to be my favorites. Definitely worth the time to watch, but don't expect to be wowed by the ending.
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Fortunately, when a story is written this way, you begin to see the true abilities of an actor and the range of their acting skills in being able to portray the same emotions in different ways. I believed Yoo Ah In was a great actor after seeing him in Sungkyunkwan Scandal in comparison to his real personality which I found to be completely different. In fact, he's the reason I watched this. He's not a bad actor, but after watching this, I found his facial expressions to be somewhat loud and over the top in comparison to Lee Jae Hoon's which gave a stronger impact without being too showy. This suited his character but made it unlikeable as well. Jung Jae Hyuk had one of the worst cases of second lead syndrome I've seen to date. His acting skills pushed him up to one of my top favorite actors ('top' because I have many favorites). As for the two girls, Shin Se Kyung was the same as she was in High Kick Through the Roof and Yu Ri was there. Yu Chae Young and Jang Mi Hee were excellent side actors.
Though some people were disappointed by the ending. I was okay with it (neither impressed nor disappointed). I did not need to know more. I was satisfied knowing it was the end and the the same thing would not repeat again. It took me a little longer to watch but I don't regret it nor think that I will watch it again.
The actors did better than I think most could with what was given to them. I enjoyed the nice scenery in many of the shots. I don't plan on recommending this show to others.
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