1% of Anything

1% of Anything

7/10

1% of Anything

Genre:                                Episodes: 16                           Year: 2016

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Lee Jae In is a smart, successful man who comes from a wealthy family. Seeing that his grandson is growing arrogant and has few personal relationships, Jae In’s grandfather orders that Jae In cannot inherit the family company unless he marries Kim Da Hyun, a kind teacher who has no interest in money who Jae In has never met.

Cast:

Ha Suk Jin (Lee Jae In)

Jeon So Min (Kim Da Hyun)

Kim Hyung Min (Min Tae Ha)

Im Do Yoon (Jung Hyun Jin)

Joo Jin Mo (Lee Kyu Chul)

Kim Sun Hyuk (Park Hyung Joon)

Choi Sung Jae (Jung Sun Woo)

Seo Eun Chae (Han Joo Hee)

Baek Seung Heon (Ji Soo)

Lee Hae In (Soo Jung)

General Thoughts:

I haven’t seen the 2003 original, but the 2016 version of ‘1% of Anything’ is just delightful. It had the old-school rom-com vibe that I’m sure comes from being based of an early ‘00s drama, but it also had a nice modern feel that prevented the show from coming across as too dated.

So much cute. Like, SO much.

The source material itself is nothing new- rich guy meets poor girl. It is literally the most common of all K-Drama tropes. You’re pretty much guaranteed to get a handful of dramas along those lines every year. However, despite its rather common set-up the show itself didn’t feel common. The characters were fresh and interesting and made the story seem new even if we’ve heard it a thousand times.

Girl got sass

The biggest difference between this drama and every other chaebol rom-com out there is that we weren’t given the stock standard Candy girl heroine. That’s right folks- our heroine actually had personality and autonomy! And boy what a difference that made. For one, it actually made sense that our hero would fall for her. Yes, Da Hyun was sugar and spice and all things nice, but she also had a refreshing sassy streak. Rather than accidentally and quietly bumbling her way into a contract relationship she adamantly refuses the hero’s offer until the contract relationship becomes something she’s willing to do for her own benefit. Not once in the whole drama did Da Hyun do something without seriously thinking it over and deciding for herself what she thought the best course of action was. Not only did Da Hyun’s large amount of personality and character simply make her more appealing to watch, it also made situations in the story more interesting. It’s much more fun watching a girl trample on a rich man’s pride than it is watching her go meekly along with his every whim. In fact, it was really more of the opposite.

Dada calls the shots here

Sure, Jae In was the one who originally proposed the contract relationship, but before long it becomes clear that Da Hyun is the one calling the shots. The slight power reversal made the show feel unique and interesting, and served to make Da Hyun seem stronger and more confident than other heroines and Jae In seem softer, and frankly more likeable, than other assy, rich heroes.

Gradual development rather than sudden transformation

Jae In’s character was more stock-standard than Da Hyun’s. He was your usual rich boy who’s doesn’t have great interpersonal skills. But the show did handle his development nicely. What the writers managed to convey really well was that Jae In had always been a nice guy- he just covered it up in order to get the job done at work. He was always sweet to his adoptive mother, and didn’t appear to hate his cousin at all. By showcasing this softer side of Jae In, even just a little, the show made it abundantly clear that Da Hyun wasn’t actually changing Jae In at all. She was simply bringing out the best traits that were already there. Around Da Hyun, Jae In could relax and felt safe opening up, so it made sense that in that situation his more vulnerable side was shown. Jeon So Min did a great job as our heroine- the blunt, slightly sassy character fit her to a tee. Her character actually reminded me a lot of the way she is on ‘Running Man’, so it was excellent on her part that as the show went on I was viewing her as Da Hyun rather than Jeon So Min despite certain similarities. I’m really starting to warm up to Ha Suk Jin now. I think we just got off on the wrong foot, as I found him and his character really sweet and endearing in this drama.

What a total marshmallow 

He’s very good at taking bristly, prideful characters and showing how they soften as they are loved. I will admit that I found Jae In quite pushy at times though. The amount of times he grabbed Da Hyun by the wrist and dragged her around (even once their feelings were mutual) didn’t sit quite right with me. As enjoyable as the character was, I do think he came on way too strong at times. It’s a good thing we had a heroine who was so good at expressing when she was uncomfortable, else Jae In might have come across a wee bit creepy.

Dear K-Drama writers: pushy men dragging girls around are NOT APPEALING

As for the side characters…wait, were there any other characters in this drama? While this K-Drama did have a few characters sprinkled through it, they really did nothing. They were only there for our main leads to bounce off and interact with when they couldn’t interact with each other.

Mildly unimportant

And to occasionally bring out a particular plot point. But to be frank, I didn’t really mind that the side characters didn’t matter all that much, because I was just having so much fun watching Da Hyun and Jae In interact with each other. Tae Ha was probably the most unseen second male lead ever. I don’t even think he made a proper appearance until about halfway through the drama. As a character he was sweet, and I enjoyed that he had a friendly vibe with Jae In rather than being the usual rival. It might have been nice to see a bit more of him throughout the drama, as it was kind of hard to get a grasp on his character as we saw him so little. I wouldn’t have minded at all if his love-line with Hyun Jin had been brought in a bit earlier, because that was adorable and hilarious. Joo Hee was a total whack job so I’m glad that her screen time was pretty minimal. That being said, I appreciated how Da Hyun didn’t fall for any of her stupid manipulations and actually had the opportunity to give Joo Hee a good smackdown every now and then. It showed that our heroine had backbone and that our hero wasn’t getting swayed by some manipulative cow. 

You tell her what's what Dada

I enjoyed that for the most part the parents were kept out of the story. I understand that Korean parents and in-laws are probably more involved in their children's’ relationships than in western culture, but one of my biggest hates in K-Drama is functional adults caving to their parents’ meddling. It drives me nuts. The issue of parental consent was still there, but it wasn’t a heavy plot point and was resolved fairly quickly. It was nice that Jae In’s mother wasn’t the one who was against the relationship (the way it usually is when chaebols want to marry an everyday girl). I absolutely adored the scene of Jae In’s mother standing up for Da Hyun in front of other rich socialites.

Mum's approval earns my approval

The visuals of the drama were quite nice, but I did occasionally wish that our characters would venture somewhere new. It sometimes felt as though there were only certain places our characters were allowed to interact (the hotel, their houses, the school) and they didn’t often stray outside that setting. It could have been nice to see how different settings brought out different characteristics, such as their date on the beach did, but all in all it’s not a big complaint.

What Was Great:

All That Cute:

The biggest thing this show has going for it is just how darn cute it is. Sometimes it’s a bit funny how K-Drama rom-coms tend to lack basic skinship.

Look at all those adorable feelings

The characters will be declaring that they’re madly in love but will barely hold hands. Not here. ‘1%’ is loaded with close contact. It started small and warmed up to the bigger moments and longer kisses. It made the relationship feel real and authentic (normal adults don’t date for months with only 3-second kisses). It also provided another way to see our hero’s feelings. At the beginning of the relationship he didn’t really touch Da Hyun. However as he started to fall for her we could see him starting to reach out for her by holding her hand or touching her face. It was a cute look in on how fast and how deeply he was falling for Da Hyun. The same could be said for Da Hyun. She never went along with anything she wasn’t comfortable with and wasn’t afraid to give Jae In the cheek when she didn’t want to kiss him. It made the moments they did share together feel special and earned, even when they occurred so often. Although the show had a lot of skinship in it, it never felt like skinship for skinship’s sake. Every touch and every kiss had a reason and helped further develop the story, the characters or their relationship. Jeon So Min and Ha Suk Jin had some excellent chemistry, and it felt like they were really comfortable with each other.

And look at all that fantastic snogging

They had a light, breezy vibe but could hint at the deeper feelings beneath their flirting. I also applaud Ha Suk Jin for being able to say so many cheesy lines with such a serious face. It was all kinds of delightful, and I loved watching this couple be together.

What Wasn’t:

No Extra Punch:

It was cute and it was fun but it didn't have that special something. It was missing that 1% if you will (ha ha).

But I'm sufficiently happy watching them like each other for 16 hours

I can’t quite put my finger on it because I really enjoyed the show, but there was nothing in me that was thinking ‘yes, this is a phenomenal K-Drama and I must tell everyone about it’. Perhaps it’s because the stakes were pretty low- like, there was no way this couple was going to end up not being together, or perhaps it was the lack of depth in the side characters- like, is Jae In’s sister even remotely important to this story? I think it’s just the way these light and frothy rom-coms are. They’re easy to enjoy and can be completely loveable, but they feel very safe. There’s nothing really wrong with that, particularly when the leads are so wonderful, but it does mean that I might not be as emotionally involved as I am with dramas that have more dramatic tension.

Recommend?

If you’re looking for a light and bubbly rom-com this is the one for you. It’s fun and interesting but not too taxing on the brain.

Fabulously fluffy

Radiant Office

Radiant Office

7/10

Radiant Office

Genre:                                 Episodes: 16                           Year: 2017

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Three young adults who struggle finding full-time employment meet in a hospital after all three of them are rescued from suicide attempts. They overhear the doctor saying that one of them has a terminal illness, but must sneak out before finding out more, as they can’t pay their hospital bills. Later, the three of them are hired as temporary employees at the same company.

Cast:

Go Ah Sung (Eun Ho Won)

Ha Suk Jin (Seo Woo Jin)

Lee Dong Hwi (Do ki Taek)

Hoya (Jang Kang Do)

Kim Dong Wook (Seo Hyun)

Han Sun Hwa (Ha Ji Na)

Kwon Hae Hyo (Park Sang Man)

Jang Shin Young (Jo Suk Kyung)

Oh Dae Hwan (Lee Yong Jae)

Kim Byung Choon (Heo Goo Dong)

General Thoughts:

This drama surprised me in many ways. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, and I certainly didn’t expect to love the hero, Woo Jin. I’ve yet to watch an office romance that really sucks me in the way other rom-coms can, but ‘Radiant Office’ has probably come the closest.

Office politics just aren't as fun as love shenanigans 

There were times were I felt the plot could stand to move a little quicker, most often being when it came to the office politics. As someone who doesn’t work in Korea, it can be hard at times to relate to the way the everyman worker has to act in the workplace- it’s one of those scenarios that highlights culture differences. If a superior was forcing a new young female employee to drink, it would be the superior getting dark looks- not the new hire for trying to refuse.

This guy made me want to barf

While *ss-kissing definitely happens in Western culture as well, its much more obvious in Korean media. It also seems to be much more frowned upon and seen as a slimy thing to do in Western society, whereas it’s almost expected in Korea. It doesn’t seem like a big deal but it did prevent me from connecting with some of the characters and it made some of the office workers pretty dislikable. I will give the show props for showing how difficult it can be for a woman to succeed professionally in Korea. The drama made a real point of showing how Suk Kyung was constantly overlooked for promotions simply because she was a woman. It also made our main man so much more endearing, as by the end of the series, one of his main goals was to make Hauline a company that doesn’t discriminate against women. I loved how Woo Jin not only saw Suk Kyung’s promotion as Suk Kyung’s own success, but also as a positive step forward for Ji Na, Ho Won and all the other women in the company. Although the company politics didn’t tend to be all that interesting, it was the effect of those politics on the employee relationships that was the draw of the drama. The three temporary employees always supported each other and looked out for each other no matter what mistake they might have made.

Suicide Squad

These three brought a lot of warmth to the show, and were one of the truest, nicest depictions of friendship I’ve seen on TV in a while. I adored that the two who were hired as permanent employees weren’t even happy on the day they were promoted simply because they were too busy feeling sad for Ki Taek who had failed. The three were just lovely to watch on screen, and had a nice easy chemistry between them.

You might not be a nice guy but my goodness you're a cutie 

The way their characters drew together after their failed suicide attempt and sudden hiring felt natural, and they really felt like one team. It would have been an easy plot option to have the three temporary employees fight each other for the permanent positions, so it was nice that the writer took the less obvious route. The friends never tried to pull one over on each other just to get a leg up in their career (except Kang Ho that one time early on). Instead most of our conflict arose because of Hyun. Who was…confusing to say the least. Early on he was super sweet and super likeable. My first experience with Ha Suk Jin wasn’t exactly a nice one- I hated his stuck up, I’m-better-than-you character in ‘Drinking Solo’, and it looked like he was going to be playing a similar sort of character here. I was all ready to be feeling some serious second lead syndrome. And for a while, I did. Kim Dong Wook is a good looking man, and his smile is just too adorable. Next to the cold, unsmiling Ha Suk Jin he seemed really cool and really swoony. But as the show progressed, his character became more and more confusing. While Hyun had definitely always had an air of mystery about him, once he closed his hospital and started getting involved in the company, he became downright incomprehensible.

Not even Hyun knows what Hyun is doing

It wasn’t clear if he had a nice character that he was covering up in order to do well in business or if he was just a straight-up mean dude who would use anyone and everyone to get ahead. Hyun seemed genuinely interested in Ho Won (he put a lot of effort into their ‘friendship’ and didn’t really interact with the other two boys), yet when he joined the company he didn’t seem to care about her at all. It wasn’t obvious if this was because Hyun just didn’t understand how his actions hurt Ho Won or if he was just uninterested in her now that he had gotten all he needed from her. In the end, his character just became a big question mark, which is a shame as he could have added a lot of uniqueness to the show. Also on a side note, Feeldog is a total scene-stealer and I adored him as the younger brother of our leading lady. I wanted to see so much more of him- and his adorable Busan accent!

Why couldn't you have been in all the episodes?

What Was Great:

Likeable Leads:

I adored both of these leads. Eun Ho Won was just so loveable and relatable. All twenty-something adults can relate to that awkward time when you come out of school or collage and have to enter the real world and you have no idea how the hell to do so. Ho Won may bumble and stumble along, but she always gave her best at everything.

No one wants to be an adult

Her despair was easy to understand as she constantly gave her everything, yet the working world was constantly telling her it wasn’t good enough. Go Ah Sung embraced the everyday, average character and gave her a life of her own. It would have been easy to have Ho Won fall into boring territory as she’s literally characterised as one of millions of young job-seekers. Go Ah Sung nailed Ho Won’s quiet discontent- and then her not so quiet discontent. While Ho Won thought she had a terminal illness, her upbeat attitude about aiming to be happy each day just made her so loveable. Go Ah Sung was excellent in the more emotional beats of the show (even though I never actually believed Ho Won was dying). She was believable without seeming over the top- Ho Won actually cried quite a lot in this drama, and yet she never came across as a total crybaby. What was more surprising is that I adored Woo Jin. He’s a bit of an unlikeable hard*ss at the start, but he actually softens up in a nice believable way. It made sense that even though the leads didn’t like each other at the start, that they eventually fell for each other.

They were unexpectedly adorable

Sometimes I can find hate-to-love relationships a little forced, but the relationship development between Ho Won and Woo Jin was so natural and so lovely to watch. Rather than instantly falling for each other or having one issue that made them see each other in a positive light, their relationship dynamic was a nice slow burn.

But I still want you to try a different character type next

Because they disliked each other so much they were hyper aware of each other. That intense awareness of course meant that they were taking close note of what the other was doing, and that eventually lead to understanding. Even when they understood each other they didn’t dive in straight away. It was nice to watch them develop a strong friendship that stemmed from a deep respect for each other. Ho Won respected Woo Jin’s abilities and skill at work, and Woo Jin respected Ho Won’s dedication, determination and unwillingness to conform to a system she didn’t believe in. Each step they took towards each other was so delightful to watch, and it was this nice gradual drawing together that made the show so exciting to watch. While I do wish Ho Won had been given a chance to be supportive of Woo Jin the way he was always encouraging her, I didn’t mind too much that Woo Jin put in a bit more effort as he had to make up for being such a weenie at the beginning of the series.

What Wasn’t:

Fast Finish:

As soon as Episode 15 ended I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to love the way the drama concluded itself- and I was right. While I adored our leads and their relationship, the end of the drama really highlighted the aspects of the show that weren’t developed as well as they should have been. When you have a drama filled with such loveable characters, viewers start to imagine their lives and how their story and relationships are going to progress.

We know what we want for these guys from ep 1

I had so much excitement for these characters and where they were headed that I was pretty disappointed when none of it played out on screen. It was hinted at that Ki Taek was the one with the terminal illness, and it was confirmed right at the end. His relationship with Ji Na was wonderful to watch mend and grow, and it was beautiful the way Ji Na realised that she loved Ki Taek for who he was and was willing to forgo financial security to be with him.

And suddenly you're seriously sick

It would have been interesting to watch their newly rekindled romance be rocked again by the news that Ki Taek might not even live for another year- but we are left to imagine, as the show ended before it really got into any of Ki Taek’s illness. It was also confusing as to what stupid doctor told him that he was perfectly fine when in actuality he was DYING. It was also hinted that Kang Ho was developing a cute little crush on Suk Kyung, but that was another thing that got completely ignored. It seemed that the show was going to go somewhere with that plot line as it even introduced her daughter and threw out that she was divorced. But instead that love line just went nowhere and we were left to imagine what could have been. Hyun was another character that got completely shafted at the end. Ho Won suddenly just told him he was a nice guy underneath (pretty sure he’s not though) and Hyun’s invisible older brother stepped in to right all the wrongs Hyun had done and ship Hyun off to an American branch. And seeing that all of those things were ignored, you’d at least think we’d get a satisfying end to our romance, right? Not right. While the slow burn of the main leads was wonderful, I was still hoping that after 16 episodes we’d get a nice snog. But instead we got a small peck that lasted for like a millisecond.

Blink and you'll miss it

Not only was the kiss not great, but the scene in which it happened also felt strangely forced when the rest of their relationship had been so natural. The show had aaaaaaall this time to develop its characters and their relationships, but by the end it felt like the things it should have been focusing on were ignored in favour of office politics and the nasty office bosses. The drama is still super enjoyable, but it’s always a bit of a bummer when a great series finishes on a whimper.

Recommend?

Yeah, for sure. It’s a cute little series with an endearing hero and heroine. The romance is lovely to watch develop- just don’t expect it to be smoking hot.

I wish it gave a little more, but what it gave is still great

Drinking Solo

Drinking Solo

6.5/10

Drinking Solo

Genre:                                 Episodes: 16                          Year: 2016

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

After starting her new job as a private institute lecturer, Park Ha Na meets Jin Jung Suk, a man famous for his brilliant teaching ability and terrible personality. While others in the institute enjoy drinking together, both Ha Na and Jung Suk prefer taking time for themselves and drinking alone.

Cast:

Park Ha Sun (Park Ha Na)

Ha Suk Jin (Jin Jung Suk)

Gong Myung (Jin Gong Myung)

Hwang Woo Seul Hye (Hwang Jin Yi)

Min Jin Woong (Min Jin Woong)

Key (Kim Ki Bum)

Kim Dong Young (Kim Dong Young)

Jung Chae Yeon (Jung Chae Yeon)

General Thoughts:

I wanted to love this drama much more than I actually ended up liking it, and I’m sad to say that the main male lead is the cause of most of my dissatisfaction. The plot was fairly small and slow, and so the drama focused heavily on its characters and all their relationships. Most of the characters were cute and realistically flawed, and it was enjoyable to watch them take this journey through a very specific part of time in their lives.

Drink yourself into oblivion, you toss-bucket

The three younger boys were always fun to watch, and were insanely endearing in their friendship that could go from fighting one moment to crying and professing love for one another in the next. The two other teachers in the academy both had wonderful trajectories, their stories gradually building and unravelling before eventually entangling in the cutest way possible.

Not feelin' it

But our leads…never really captured my heart. At first Ha Na was charming in her quiet determined ways, but as the ‘romance’ started taking centre stage her personality became less and less and her determination all but disappeared. She was a likeable character as we were watching her fight an uphill battle as the newbie teacher with a lot to learn and everything going against her, but as the story shifted more to her romance she just seemed to become too boy-crazy (or Jung Suk-crazy) and her teaching completely fell into the background- along with most of her character. And Jung Suk- hoo boy. I did not. Like. Jung. Suk. I mean really, what a wanker. I completely and utterly failed to see his charm and couldn’t understand what in the world caused Ha Na to fall for him- except the fact that he liked her first. On the top of my list of most hated traits in a man is arrogance (barring things like axe-murderer or complete sociopath), and goodness did Jung Suk have a lot of that. I can deal with male leads who are hard on the outside but gradually show their soft underbelly as it turns out they’re just very insecure- but Jung Suk was not one of these men. He was just so up himself.

No. 1 teacher, No. 1 asshat.

His head was so far up his ass that I don’t think anything could unstick it- and of course, nothing ever did. While he became tolerable awards Ha Na during the progression of their romance, he still treated the rest of the people around him like garbage- which is just not cool. Even when he was romancing Ha Na he seemed to imply that she was lucky for a high-class man such as himself to take interest in someone like her. Sure it might seem cute that he sets up all these rules for their dates (like no popcorn because it distracts from the movie) only to be completely distracted by Ha Na anyway- but what happens when that initial infatuation wears off? Will he revert back to being an asshole to Ha Na? Probably- because that’s all he’s ever done.

I know I called you trash- but I stared at you for like two hours so that makes up for it, right?

While I know many viewers found him cute, I just couldn't understand it myself as I personally found him so utterly dislikable. If Jung Suk and I met in real life we would not be friends- no matter how handsome he was. And of course my dislike of the male lead meant that I was disconnected from our female lead as well- because she thinks this man is marvellous while I think he’s sucky.

WHY WON'T SHE GO FOR THE GUY WHO ACTUALLY TREATS HER WELL?

Ha Na’s personality just gradually slipped away as the drama went on, and she wound up being a rather unremarkable heroine. Plot-wise there’s not a lot going on- it’s just watching this bunch of people going about their daily lives. It’s not rivetting, but it’s interesting enough, and the three young boys carry a lot of the entertainment-factor. I do wish the worlds of the teachers and the students had collided a little more than it did, because it felt a bit like I was watching two different dramas- a really cute, fun one about three boys in a bromance studying, and a kinda boring one with a dislikable lead. As Gong Myung was the only real point of connection between these worlds (even though every character spent all day at the same location) it meant that he dominated the screen-time. I was on Team Gong Myung pretty early on, as he wasn’t a giant douche. Sure he was a little immature sometimes, but he was mature enough around Ha Na and liked her for all the right reasons- her sincerity, her determination and her personality. So next to him, Jung Suk (who is constantly calling Ha Na ‘low-quality’ and treating her like poop) looks even worse. All in all, there were heaps of great things about the show, but I wasn’t onboard for the romance which sucked out a lot of the enjoyment.

What Was Great:

Noryangjin Idiots:

The three young boys are what made this drama bearable for me. They were always fun, but could hit strong emotional notes out of nowhere. Every one of them had a serious undertone to their character even if they were mostly just mucking around.

Adorable dorks

Each of our boys faced different struggles which made them loveable in their own ways. The bromance was killer with the boys always trying to protect each other- and they were just so darn cute. Key and Gong Myung put in excellent performances.

That haircut though...

They truly shook free of the ‘idol’ tag during filming and embraced their characters. Key was wonderfully hilarious and was the source of a lot of the fun. While his character could be a tad irritating at times (he was also painted a bit with the arrogance brush), his love for his friends always pulled him through and he had a couple of nice emotional beats that really solidified him as a character that was more than just comedic support. And Gong Myung kind of stole the show. Even though the main romance didn’t actually involve him, it definitely felt like it was a story about his growth and maturing through his heart-break. Due to his large amount of screen-time and constant development, it felt a lot like Gong Myung was our main character. We watched him struggle and grow, and while he wasn’t always in the right he was an easy character to cheer for. The acting to back his character was superb. Gong Myung nailed both happy-puppy and heart-broken-puppy and delivered a strong, relatable performance. 

Emotion:

The thing the show really nailed was the way it slowly and steadily built emotion. The emotional scenes were built so subtly that it never felt like we were being thrown from a comedic scene to an emotional one, even if it did happen rather rapidly.

From dancing to weeping in 10 seconds

Characters were given their own backstories and enough hints were dropped about them and their situations that by the time it was their turn to have a bit of their story unravelled it didn’t feel unexpected or out of place.

Cuter than our leads by far

The best examples of this are definitely Jin Yi and Jin Woong. Jin Woong’s story arc hit like a ton of bricks and gave the character a huge amount of unexpected depth. Even though he faded back into the background again after his story was done in the spotlight, once his history had been revealed his character was viewed in a new light which made him more realistic and likeable. While Jin Yi was a character that was a bit up and down (she was likeable enough but it was a huge let-down whenever she got snarky and jealous of Ha Na), her resolution was superb. As more light is shed on her character, we see how unloved she feels and how her more annoying moments tend to be a result of that. Her tie-off with Jin Woong is insanely adorable, and while it came on pretty fast it wasn’t a leap of logic nor was it unwanted. All three young boys had similar flows of emotion, going gracefully from comedic to serious and back again. Weirdly, it was our two main leads who didn’t really snag the emotional flow. 

What Wasn’t:

Main Love-Line:

In case you haven’t already guessed, I wasn’t that keen on our main pairing. There were a few reasons this couple didn’t fit well with me (mainly Jung Suk’s overinflated ego), but the main disappointment was the lack of development in both our main leads as they fell for each other.

NOT KEEN

Ha Na is pretty sweet natured, but at no point in the series does she grow any backbone. Sure, it can be seen as a good trait when she refuses to throw others under the bus during misunderstandings in order to clear her own name (like when Jin Woong sent flowers to Jung Suk under Ha Na’s name), but when Jung Suk continued to put her down and she continued to shrink in front of him it just became a tad boring. I never quite grasped how Ha Na went from respecting Jung Suk to liking him either.

NO THANKS

She seemed fairly happy to know that he liked her (even though he adamantly denied it), but there was no real reason that Ha Na should have liked him back. And I knooooow that love and feelings don’t follow reason in the slightest, but when a man is constantly telling our heroine how trashy she is and how superior he is to her, I fail to see what part of him could be considered charming. Sure, he does some cute things for her like give her his jacket and peel her prawns- but then he also leaves her drunk on a bridge in the middle of the night with no way to get home that very same day. Yeah, not appealing at all. I could have forgiven him if he came in on his knees with some serious grovelling, and while it was amusing to watch Ha Na reject his advances, I was completely put off by his lack of apology. He acted completely appallingly towards this woman, and no amount of ‘I couldn’t take my attention off you’ is going to cover for that. The two seemed lost in their honey-moon phase, and while I can see how people found it cute, it also lacked depth. Unlike every other relationship in the drama, at no point did Ha Na and Jung Suk actually have a deep and meaningful conversation with each other. The only time that they came close was when Ha Na admitted that she liked drinking alone occasionally as well. But that was it.

Much better

There was a distinct lack of emotional connection between the leads, and it felt as though they only ended up together simply because they were the main leads. While I found Gong Myung completely adorable, I will admit that he also probably wasn’t a great fit for Ha Na- but I still prefer him over Jung Suk.

What's not to like?

Occasional immaturity expressed in goofiness is passable, but constant emotional immaturity is a big ol’ no-no. I was kind of hoping that our heroine wouldn’t end up with either of them as the story didn’t naturally flow with either brother. Jung Suk dumping Ha Na (by once again telling her that he was too good for her) because of Gong Myung’s love for her was just so out of character that it didn’t really make sense. He’s spent all drama long criticising his little brother and belittling his feelings that his change of heart is unreasonable. While it could have been a sweet plot-point, there wasn’t enough buildup for the brother’s reconciliation for it to be impactful, and instead came across as wishy-washy character construction. At no point were we given hints that Jung Suk had any warm feelings or felt any brotherly responsibility towards Gong Myung, so it all felt a bit random. The quick patch-up of Ha Na and Jung Suk’s relationship in the last episode was also rather patchy. It should have taken much more than one measly hospital visit (where he didn’t actually visit her, only glanced from a distance) that didn’t require any sacrifices, and Gong Myung saying Jung Suk still liked her for Ha Na to even consider Jung Suk again. Because he was such a d*ck.

They've hated each other all drama long but now will both give up the girl for the other (her own opinion be damned)

They also dated for what…two weeks? Three? Then they were broken up for three months. At no point did I feel like Ha Na loved Jung Suk so much that she should struggle moving on from him, because once again- he treated her like complete poo. At least I can remain slightly satisfied that they ended with smiling across the room rather than a huge reconciliation snog- because that would have been ridiculous. 

Top-quality asshole

‘Quality’:

This drama has made me hate the word ‘quality’. I wanted to punch Jung Suk whenever the word came out of his mouth. It reeked of obnoxiousness and was Jung Suk’s way of measuring absolutely everything. Example: himself- high-quality, Ha Na- low-quality. It’s actually made me hate hearing the word in real life. Thank the good Lord it’s not something Australians say often else I probably would have hit someone.

Re-watch?

I wouldn’t say so. I really disliked Jung Suk, and Ha Na’s blind love for him kind of made me dislike her too.

Side characters were so fab though