Top 5 K-Drama Girls to Love

Top 5 

K-Drama Girls to Love

Seeing as I did a valentine special to celebrate some of the best Oppas K-Drama has to offer, I thought I’d do a similar follow up for White Day. Since it was Oppas last time let's have a look at the special girls (Unnies? Noonas?) that populate K-Dramaland. Similarly to the previous post, the actresses will have to be pretty well liked, star in good projects, and be generally more active in dramas rather than movies. Again, as I’m the compiler of this list, my preference will have some (a lot of) sway. 

5: Chae Soo Bin

Chae Soo Bin is a newer actress, with her earliest credit being around 2015. However, her awesome acting talent has propelled her to the forefront of Korean Drama, and she’s quickly making a name for herself as one of viewers’ favourite girls in K-Drama. It doesn’t hurt that there seems to be a lack of decent actresses in their early 20s- but if that means Chae Soo Bin gets more roles, I’m not complaining! She first grabbed attention as the stunningly beautiful second female lead in ‘Moonlight Drawn By Clouds’. I haven’t actually seen her next two dramas ‘Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People’ or ‘Strongest Deliveryman’ but I’ve heard raving reports of Chae Soo Bin’s performance in both. I watched and adored her in her latest drama ‘I’m Not a Robot’ where she was a delightful, adorable lead that filled her character with charm and warmth. If you want something shorter you can also catch her in last year’s KBS Special ‘If We Were a Season’.

4: Kim So Hyun

This wonderful girl was able to transition splendidly from child roles to teen roles and has now even delivered some dynamic performances as adult characters. From the moment I saw her in ‘Moon That Embraces the Sun’ I knew she was going to be an actress to watch out for. She has a whole list of credits earlier than ‘Moon’ and a whole heap after- the girl keeps busy. Not only is she gorgeous, but she’s an incredible actress that is able to play a variety of characters from villainous to petty to delightful, and has a way of wringing emotion out of an audience. Some of her biggest recent hits include ‘School 2015: Who Are You?’, delightful short series ‘Page Turner’, ‘Let’s Fight, Ghost’, ‘Ruler: Master of the Mask’ (admittedly this one is a total dud and I warn you against watching it), and you can currently catch her with Yoon Doo Joon in ‘Radio Romance’.

3: Park Shin Hye

Park Shin Hye is one of the bigger names in K-Drama, as she has a knack of signing onto projects that become huge hits. In fact, after a while I think part of the reason her dramas became huge hits is that people were watching due to her being in them. While she tends to play pretty similar characters, she does add a certain charm to them, and rather than seeming boring it’s more like comfort food- simple, and sweetly familiar. I haven’t caught many of her earlier works, first seeing her as the whacky, yet fun, crossdressing nun in ‘You’re Beautiful’. She went on to film ‘Heartstrings’, ‘Flower Boys Next Door’ (my particular favourite), ‘The Heirs’, ‘Pinocchio’, and ‘Doctors’. Her most recent drama was mid 2016 so hopefully that means we’ll be able to catch Park Shin Hye in a new production sometime soon.

2: Park Min Young

Park Min Young is definitely one of my favourite actresses in K-Dramaland. While she might not have been in as many productions as some other actresses, her characters tend to have a bit of backbone and personality (unusual for K-Drama heroines), which makes Park Min Young really stand out. She stole hearts as the leading lady in the widely popular and wildly loved ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ and followed that up with the big hit ‘City Hunter’. ‘Dr Jin’ was next, and I honestly can’t remember whether this was good or bad (I haven’t seen it myself). But I have seen, and fondly remember her latest three dramas, in which she delivered strong, dynamic performances in all- ‘Healer’, ‘Remember- Son’s War’, and ‘7 Day Queen’.

1: Gong Hyo Jin

When you think rom-com, you think Gong Hyo Jin. Admittedly, she’s been in far more movies than dramas, but she’s still been in an enormous amount of dramas- most of which are insanely addictive and extremely fun. I first saw Gong Hyo Jin in the weirdly successful ‘Hello My Teacher’ which was hilarious and delightful. Since then I’ve seen all her works (bar ‘Pasta’) and mostly loved them. Gong Hyo Jin always brings a certain quirkiness to her characters and has an abundance of chemistry with her male leads- she’s said in the past that she actually falls a little in love with each of her co-stars, which definitely helps make the on-screen romance adorably believable. Her big hits (which is basically all her dramas) are ‘The Greatest Love’, ‘Master’s Sun’, ‘It’s Okay, That’s Love’, ‘The Producers’, and ‘Jealousy Incarnate’. I actually did a Top 5 list all for Gong Hyo Jin which you can check out here.

Happy White Day!

Top 5 Gong Hyo Jin Dramas

Top 5 

Gong Hyo Jin Dramas

Gong Hyo Jin is in no way an unknown face K-Dramaland. Her dramas somehow always manage to make it onto people’s favourite lists, so chances are if you’ve already dipped your toes in the K-Drama water, it's likely you've already encountered her. Gong Hyo Jin has a knack for picking great projects (there have been some duds also, but we’ll ignore that for the moment), and tends to play her characters with a straightforward, likeable attitude. Her chemistry with her costars tends to be pretty explosive- making for some delightful, addictive romances. Regardless of if you liked or loved (or heaven forbid disliked) the drama, shows with Gong Hyo Jin always remain memorable.

5: Jealousy Incarnate

It’s not my favourite drama- far from it. But the fact is, when considering a ‘Top 5’ you can’t ignore the opinion of the masses. And according to the masses this is a fabulous drama. Gong Hyo Jin’s character does feel a little similar to other characters she’s played, but the effect was still nice. In a world so full of Candy heroines, Gong Hyo Jin always feels like a breath of fresh air- and she continues to be that way in ‘Jealousy’. She brings the humour in a fantastic way, but what really sells the show is her adorable bickering dialogue with Jo Jung Seok. The two get along like a house on fire, and that alone is worth the watch.

4: Master’s Sun

Gong Hyo Jin plays another plucky heroine, with the small addition of seeing the dead. The show really captures Gong Hyo Jin’s wonderful ability to bring out the earnestness of her character in the midst of a comedic scene. While there can be some hilarious ghost shenanigans going on, Gong Hyo Jin’s character never feels like a ridiculous cartoon character. She plays the part (as she usually does) with a delightful mix of humour and sincerity, and it gives the show a great deal of heart. Also, she’s got wonderful chemistry with the lead, So Ji Sub.

3: The Producers

Definitely one of my favourite Gong Hyo Jin dramas- the mockumentary style seems as if it was made for her. It totally capitalises on her straight-faced humour, and somehow it’s always funny to see her blatantly state something in interview, and then act the complete opposite (unknowingly of course) once the cameras were turned. The writers seemed well aware of what Gong Hyo Jin’s strengths are, and so the story and character just suit her perfectly. The character’s overplayed and often misplaced confidence becomes doublely hilarious when paired with bright-eyed honesty that Gong Hyo Jin exudes. And let’s not forget the love-lines. There are love-lines everywhere so Gong Hyo Jin gets to rub her chemistry on everyone. She has an adorable noona-romace line with Kim Soo Hyun, and a comfortable, hilarious friends-to-lovers line with Cha Tae Hyun. It’s icing on the cake that Cha Tae Hyun is such comedic gold- when you put the two together the result is marvellously hysterical.

2: The Greatest Love

This is one of Gong Hyo Jin’s funniest works in my opinion. While much of the humour comes from the wackiness of her costar Cha Seung Won, Gong Hyo Jin plays her character with the same straight-faced humour she’s known for, which provides a solid base for the comedy to work around. She grounds the series in reality and gives it a sincere tone, while allowing full room for Cha Seung Won’s antics. What sets this drama apart from the rest is the constant banter between the two characters that is laced with humour, wit, and often deeper meaning. While the comedy is what makes the drama stand out, the romance is what gives the show an addictive quality, and Gong Hyo Jin is charming throughout. 

1: Hello My Teacher

I still remain completely and totally baffled as to why this drama is so wonderful. It really shouldn’t be when you look at it on paper, and yet whatever Top List I’m trying to make, I always want to sneak it on because I LOVE IT. The ridiculous chemistry between Gong Hyo Jin and Gong Yoo is probably what did it. The drama is fairly early on in both their careers, so the casting director probably didn’t even know what an absolute gold mine he was hitting when he put them together. The whole story becomes hilarious and heartwarming just because the two leads make it so. No one else in the drama really matters, and doesn’t that just go to show what great actors they both are- they completely monopolise screen time and story, yet make it into a highly successful drama rather than a total flop.

What are your favourite Gong Hyo Jin dramas?

The Greatest Love

The Greatest Love

8/10

The Greatest Love

Genre:                                 Episodes: 16                            Year: 2011

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Gu Ae Jung was once the popular leader of a famous girl group, but after the group disbanded her image was ruined. Meanwhile, Dokgo Jin is a popular actor at the hight of his career. Ae Jung continues to meet Dokgo Jin in a series of chance encounters, and their relationship turns from general dislike into a begrudging friendship.

Cast:

Cha Seung Won (Dokgo Jin)

Gong Hyo Jin (Gu Ae Jung)

Yoon Kye Sang (Yoon Pil Joo)

Yoo In Na (Kang Se Ri)

Lee Hee Jin (Jenny)

Im Ji Kyu (Kim Jae Suk)

General Thoughts:

I see now why the Hong Sisters have such a good reputation. The writing for this drama was fun, witty, and the dialogue really made the relationship between our two leads much more enjoyable. Two thumbs up.

Fun and funny

Having one of our leads being a famous celebrity is nothing new, but I must say that I enjoyed this scenario much more than I have enjoyed the celebrity aspect of K-Dramas previously. For starters, the Entertainment Industry wasn’t treated as the greatest thing ever, nor was it treated as this horribly dark place with a shiny exterior- it was just a business with a lot of employees, each trying to get ahead in their careers. Like any other workplace there were nasty people in it, but there were also good, likeable people in it. One of the better aspects is that the President of Dokgo’s company wasn’t an evil, money-hungry woman- she was a business woman, and even when she was slightly meddlesome, it was clear she was intervening out of a desire to do what was best for both Dokgo and Ae Jung- which is always nice to see.

And boy, 'fans' can get pretty darn nasty

A large part of this drama’s conflict is the idea of image, which is an interesting idea to explore. Despite being a wonderful, lovely person you can have a bad image, and good image is what you really need to be successful. It was interesting that the drama treated the celebrities images as a tangible thing, rather than an abstract concept. It was something to be traded and given away- but also something that could be taken from you.

Ahh...the things you'll do for a good image

The biggest conflict was definitely how the relationship between our leads would impact their images. Other dramas I’ve seen haven’t really managed to snag what is so important about image, but ‘Greatest Love’ did an excellent job. It was always understandable why the two didn’t want to run headfirst into this relationship, because without image neither of them have a way to make money and support themselves- because their image is their career. It was much more interesting to have the conflict between our two leads as something internal rather than external. While the problem itself was purely external (how will the public respond), it was the way Dokgo and Ae Jung handled that problem that sparked much of the interest. It wasn’t as though they were two people deeply in love separated by some great external force- they were just two people who liked each other but weren’t sure how to go about it, as the relationship would have a negative impact on not only themselves, but the other person as well. The entertainment and investment came not from if they would move forward together but how they were going to move forward. The push-and-pull paired with witty dialogue was wonderful to watch and drew us in as an audience.

The pull made all the push worth it

Despite not having a lot of showy plot (there were no huge fights, or dangerous villains or mysteries to uncover), the show was extremely entertaining from beginning to end, and much of that credit has to go to our leads. Cha Seung Won and Gong Hyo Jin were just superb.

Half the fun is just waiting to see what ridiculousness he'll do next

They perfectly sold the relationship between the two characters and made it feel real- despite the occasional absurdities of their characters. I mean, what man that age can’t differentiate between his heart beating and liking a woman? But Cha Seung Won sold the character and his slight ridiculousness, and the humour that resulted from his confusion made it easy to overlook the over-simplified reasonings of Dokgo Jin. He was just hilarious. He never gave a half-hearted performance and really dived into the comedy. Gong Hyo Jin played a nice stable character for his silliness to bounce off of, and actually made the humour seem more real. Alone, Dokgo Jin seems ridiculous, but paired with the world the Hong Sisters created and Ae Jung, it becomes quite plausible that he’s a man that turns into a bit of a weirdo when he’s alone or around people he’s comfortable with. The show gave us a very understandable world filled with likeable, funny characters that really dazzled, and the whole thing was just an extremely enjoyable, fun ride.

What Was Great:

The Cast:

Cha Seung Won and Gong Hyo Jin are just perfect. Usually one of the leads tends to sparkle a little bit brighter than the other, but the two here were so perfectly matched. Not only did they have a heap of romantic chemistry going on, but their comedic chemistry was also firing on all cylinders.

They suit each other like it's nobody's business

The two really bounced of each other’s energy in the comedic scenes (of which there were so many), and so the humour just seemed to build and build as the drama went on. Not only that, but they were both able to so perfectly undercut a comedic scene with a moment of real sincerity, which gave the show a lot more heart than your standard rom-com.

Pretty sure he pinched this move off Kim Jong Kook

Yoon Kye Sung did an amazing job as the second male lead. Despite Pil Joo not being that exciting on paper (he’s your typical nice guy second lead), Yoon Kye Sung gave him a whole heap of personality that a different actor probably wouldn’t have been able to generate. He gave Pil Joo a bit of a dorky, nerdy air about him, so he wasn’t just a dreamy doctor- he was a dreamy doctor who was a bit too in love with his job and seemed just a tad detached from the world around him. He was also never simplistically nice- Yoon Kye Sung clearly showed Pil Joo’s pain and heartache, but also his dislike for Dokgo. A couple of times he teetered on the edge of doing something douchey to discredit Dokgo or make himself seem better to Ae Jung, but after some quiet deliberation he always made the nice guy choice. He might not have ended up with the girl, but man he made one hell of an adorable, endearing character. If I didn’t find Dokgo so amusing yet sincere, I probably would have ended up on the Pil-line. These three leads were really the heart and soul of the show, and it was the interactions between these characters that held a lot of the show’s entertainment- be it comedy or conflict.

A Multitude of Metaphors:

I probably didn’t even grasp the meaning of half the banter that floated around in this drama, but what I did catch on to was so, so, so funny.

Never before has a potato held so much meaning

Generally speaking, I’m not a huge fan of push-and-pull relationships as I tend to find them a bit tedious- ‘I love you but I won’t go to you blah blah blah’. But pairing the push-and-pull dynamic with a bunch of hidden meanings becomes far more interesting. When characters straight-up say what they mean and the relationship still doesn’t move forward it can be a little exasperating, but when they communicate their feelings through metaphors it somehow becomes much more enjoyable. Sure, if handled badly the metaphors would probably still be exasperating, but here it was all handled in a funny, witty way, and there was always forward movement on one end of the relationship.

Because you for sure need a heart monitor to make sure you're in love

There were potatoes and flowers and heart-beats and cartoon characters and Pororo and cars and broken machinery and superheroes, and I don’t even think the writers could keep track of how many metaphors they put in there.

What Wasn’t:

Some Small Plot Weaknesses:

The strength of the show was really its characters and cast- not so much the plot. With so much going on between the two leads, and even the second leads, it didn’t really matter that there wasn’t a heap of other external stuff going on. However, there were a couple of times it was a bit obvious that the plot was really only being held up by the greatness of its characters.

I so prefer angst-ing together to separation angst though

The whole National Treasure Girls plot seemed pretty thin to me. I was expecting something huge to have happened to explain why Ae Jung’s old manager hated her so much, but there wasn’t a lot of substance to it. While the situation behind the girl group’s breakup was sufficient, the manager seemed a bit too obsessive and butt-hurt about something that didn’t seem to impact him all that much. It was also pretty weak how we didn’t get to be a part of Doggo’s surgery. A lot of the series had Dokgo protecting and supporting Ae Jung, and I really wanted her to be with him during his surgery- or at least during his recovery. The idea of Dokgo dying played a pretty important role in getting the two together and admitting their feelings for each other, so it did seem a little weird that we went from the middle of Dokgo’s heart surgery to two months later with not a lot of dramatic tension behind it. We’d been building up to this moment for several episodes, so even if we didn’t really think our main man would die, it felt odd not to have a big recovery moment.

Re-watch?

Potentially. These days I rarely watch things twice as K-Dramaland keeps churning out so many new things I want to watch. Even if I don’t watch the whole thing again, I might come back for an episode or two.

When potatoes and flowers don't work, a snog always gets the message across

Jealousy Incarnate

Jealousy Incarnate

6.5/10

Jealousy Incarnate

Genre:                               Episodes: 24                           Year: 2016

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Pyo Na Ri is a weather caster at SBC. She has had a one-sided love for announcer-reporter Lee Hwa Shin for three years, but he has always found her irritating. Na Ri decides to give up on her crush as she meets Hwa Shin’s friend, Go Jung Won, sparking Hwa Shin’s jealousy.

Cast:

Gong Hyo Jin (Pyo Na Ri)

Jo Jung Seok (Lee Hwa Shin)

Go Kyung Pyo (Go Jung Won)

Lee Mi Sook (Gye Sung Sook)

Park Ji Young (Bang Ja Young)

Lee Sung Jae (Kim Rak)

Moon Ka Young (Lee Pal Gang)

Kim Jung Hyun (Pyo Chi Yeol)

Seo Ji Hye (Hong Hye Won)

General Thoughts:

I must admit, though I enjoyed many episodes of ‘Jealousy’, I walked away from the series feeling rather uninspired. I’m just not really sure what sort of story the writers wanted to tell or what they wanted to achieve.

So much happened, and yet...so little

A large part of these feelings of confusion are probably due to the unnecessary amount of episodes, along with not focusing on one main point. You’d think it would be about jealousy and a big ol’ love triangle (what with the title and all), but if we're all honest it was a one man show- and that man was Hwa Shin.

Hwa Shin > Jung Won

I don’t think there’s anyone anywhere who actually thought Jung Won was in with a shot because he was one of the blandest second male leads I’ve ever seen. He’s basically just typical nice-guy plus butt-loads of money- but no personality to speak of. Go Kyung Pyo was kind of completely out-acted by our two leads who both fit so well with this kind of bickering, confused comedy. Rather than appearing funny in his jealousy (as Hwa Shin did), Jung Won often came across as forceful, and didn’t really seem to ever listen to what Na Ri was saying. Because of the rather lacklustre second lead, the whole triangle situation didn’t really have any tension. Sure, it was fun to see Hwa Shin spewing with jealousy for a while and not knowing what to do with himself, but that got old surprisingly fast because it was just so plainly obvious to everyone (except maybe Jung Won) that Hwa Shin would get the girl. Even our heroine, Na Ri, was actually a pretty bland character. Once you take away Gong Hyo Jin’s delightful performance you realise that we know nothing about our heroine outside of her love for Hwa Shin.

Sweet yet tasteless all at once

She got confused and dated two guys for a while there- but a lot of what we saw about Na Ri was very situational and not so personal. I know that she loves Hwa Shin and loves her little brother…and that’s pretty much it. We never really get a feeling of what drives Na Ri as a person beyond her feelings for Hwa Shin, which leaves Pyo Na Ri feeling extremely similar to Gong Hyo Jin’s previous characters- because beyond Gong Hyo Jin’s take on the character, there’s really nothing there.

The many faces of Jo Jung Seok Show

So while our heroine’s character might have been boring, Gong Hyo Jin’s wonderful and often funny performance did quite a lot to distract from all Na Ri’s developmental flaws. Hwa Shin was really the only character that was explored in depth- with his cancer, his job, his family and his feelings. All these situations and the way Hwa Shin reacted to them gave a sense of realism to his character, and let us feel his emotional moments alongside him and understand him. Jo Jung Seok delivered an absolutely excellent performance, and was really the comedic heart of the show. And quite often the emotional-heart too. He brought his A-game to set and made Hwa Shin a hilarious, yet loveable idiot with all his deflated pride and stubborn floundering. I appreciate that it was his time in the hospital that really opened his eyes to Na Ri, and not just that his friend started to like her. I do wish the whole jealousy situation had played out a little differently. A part of me wanted the relationship between Jung Won and Na Ri to come to its own conclusion before Hwa Shin stepped in, because it really appeared that the only reason Na Ri dumped Jung Won was because she liked Hwa Shin that 1% more- which I suppose is fine, but I still kind of wanted a solid, justifiable reason why Na Ri and Jung Won wouldn’t work well together (beyond Jung Won being so darn plain). Actually, you know what. I wouldn’t have even cared if Na Ri did dump Jung Won because he’s plain- at least it’s a reason.

Sure he was nice...but he was just so booooringggg

I don’t know about others, but I much preferred watching Hwa Shin have a hilariously hard time holding in his crush and jealousy than watching him and Jung Won fight over Na Ri like a piece of meat. Having Na Ri be oblivious to Hwa Shin’s feelings added a lot of comedy to the series. When she realised he liked her, she kind of became a little unlikable. Because if she honestly liked Jung Won, would she really have kissed Hwa Shin? I guess my fundamental issue with this segment of the series (because there were a lot of different segments in its 24 episodes) was that no part of me believes you can romantically like two people exactly the same- particularly when doing so becomes detrimental to everyone involved.

Funny is fine- unnecessary angst is not

I felt more like Na Ri was stalling for time with dumping Jung Won rather than actually liking him, because it was obvious to every man and his dog that she liked Hwa Shin way more. The drama tried to make use of its many, many episodes to introduce lots of different ideas between our main three characters.

It was no secret that this is where we were headed

However, having so many smaller segments kind of prevented the drama from having a lot of depth- because most of the situations didn’t get milked to their full potential. I wish the drama had chosen one way to handle its triangle, stuck with it, and really developed the situation- because as it is, it feels more like the writers were aiming for cheap laughs rather than an in-depth, constantly developed trio of characters. Because in all these situations, Jung Won was pushed to the side in order to enforce that NA RI AND HWA SHIN ARE THE ENDGAME SO DON’T GET TOO ATTACHED TO JUNG WON. We had Hwa Shin be quietly jealous while Na Ri dated Jung Won, be vocally jealous about it, have Na Ri try and dump them both, have Na Ri try to date them both, have Na Ri live with them both (for like maybe two episodes), all while Na Ri helps Hwa Shin through his cancer treatment. Frankly, all the best parts of the drama didn’t actually have Jung Won in them, and Hwa Shin and Na Ri had a far more entertaining and amusing relationship when it was just the two of them. Because the breast cancer storyline was excellent.

So much fun, so much cute, so much absent Jung Won

It added a huge amount of depth to Hwa Shin’s character, and gave him room to grow and develop as a character, all with Na Ri’s assistance. His infertility was another great extension of this, and I felt far more invested in Hwa Shin’s medical woes than the woes of the so-called love-triangle. Smaller things in the drama made the series highly amusing, such as its quirky editing. Playing back past scenes on screens around our characters was hilarious and often provided a great deal of information on how our characters were feeling and what they were reacting to. There were lots of small moments that played in the background that are easy to overlook, but add quite a lot to the series. The music choices were always excellent- properly enforcing the romantic or (more often) awkward atmosphere. And of course any scene Bum was in was delightfully funny.

The unsung hero

What Was Great:

Emasculation:

One of the more interesting plot points of the series was definitely the way Hwa Shin had to deal with his illnesses that made him think less of himself as a man. Watching him struggle with how to perceive himself over the location of his cancer was interesting and thought provoking- because we don’t often think that men can get breast cancer. Hence the pinkness of everything breast cancer related.

Breast cancer bits were the best bits

Hwa Shin’s time spent in the hospital with Na Ri had a nice balance of humour and heart, and was a great way for the two to grow closer. Nothing speeds along a relationship quite like a shared secret. Hwa Shin’s infertility was another great conflict for him, as it made him question not only his own manhood (again), but also what he could provide for Na Ri.

He just wasn't having a good time

No matter how much she loves him, she wouldn’t be able to cure his breast cancer or his infertility- problems that most other men don’t have to deal with at all. The conclusions for both conflicts were drawn in a satisfactory manner. All series long we watched Hwa Shin worry about how other people would perceive him after finding out about his breast cancer. It’s rewarding and a great display of character growth when he owns up to his illness in order to prevent Na Ri from receiving those same judgements- even if it is more common for a woman to have breast cancer than a man. As for his infertility, I adored how it was clear that Na Ri knew how he dealt with things, and knew that she just had to wait for him to accept this new reality. Hwa Shin’s fears were totally justifiable- he couldn’t give Na Ri something he knew she wanted, and failed to see how that would end with her being happy. With Na Ri’s constant support and encouragement, he comes to realise that it’s not the end of the world, and just because he can’t have kids, it doesn’t mean that Na Ri wants to go off and have kids with someone else. Not only that, but it was wonderful to see how Hwa Shin (who seems to have little confidence in his ability to care for Na Ri despite all his arrogance and pride) learns that he himself can be a source of happiness for Na Ri, no matter what he can and cannot offer her. So we'll just ignore that the end seems to forget that Hwa Shin's infertile when he and Na Ri have two kids after the time-skip- that felt like a cop-out.

Those snow-children are gonna be the only children

General Cuteness:

Gong Hyo Jin and Jo Jung Seok are super adorable and super funny so that’s always going to be an upside (thank goodness because the whole drama was basically just them).

When it was cute it was very, very cute

Their whole relationship was always pretty fun to watch, and these two actors do some of the best bickering love ever. Throw in Bum who’s always cute and adds a bunch of funny to whatever scene he’s in and you’ve got a good combo. Na Ri’s younger brother was also pretty darn cute, and I do wish we’d got to see a little bit more of him. A whole different realm of cute was the relationship between the two mums. At first I didn’t give a toss about either of these characters, and to be honest I still don’t really care about their relationships with anyone else- but I’m so onboard the sweet friendship the two mums got going while trying to decide who would live with Pal Gang. Even though it was super obvious that they’d all end up living together, the begrudging friendship between the mums was still fun to watch- particularly when they were bonding over things they had in common- like their love for Pal Gang, or how hard it would be dating an asexual man. 

What Wasn’t:

No Side Character Use:

Despite the millions of side characters this show had at its disposal and the millions of episodes it had to develop them- none of them get much screen time at all. The show is dominated by Na Ri and Hwa Shin with a lot of Jung Won thrown in, but it did seem a little unnecessary to have all these characters who seemed like they would have small arcs of their own only to then go ahead and not develop them.

Were these kids supposed to matter?

Na Ri’s brother and his two friends seemed to drop of the face of the earth- despite Pal Gang being set up as a character that seemed to matter a great deal- with her mums, Hwa Shin being her uncle, and the triangle between her and the two young boys. Only none of these concepts really got more than 5 minutes of screen-time, even though it could have been used to add a great deal of good emotion into the series. Similarly, we didn’t really get to know anyone at the broadcast station that well either. We saw some of the weather-girls and some other reporters- but none of them had story-arcs or were really essential to the show in any way.

A huge wedding where I care about none of the guests

The final episode seemed to want to be a cute big farewell to the series with all its characters coming together at the wedding- only I didn’t really care about anyone apart from Bum, Hwa Shin and Na Ri. 

Go Home Jung Won:

Fighting losing battle. And everyone knows.

We always knew Hwa Shin would win. Seeing Jung Won become so bloody whiney after Na Ri chose Hwa Shin was just plain unenjoyable to watch. I barely even found him tolerable when Na Ri was sort of considering him, so after she made her choice and Jung Won was still moping around her, he was just annoying. His insistence on Na Ri being with him felt misguided and frankly delusional- particularly when he was adamant that she would come back and marry him despite her being happy with Hwa Shin. Hwa Shin’s insistence that Na Ri would be happier with him can be given a pass because…well…she is. But when Jung Won says those same things it just feels as though he’s completely disregarding Na Ri’s feelings. Boo, Jung Won you sore loser.

Re-watch?

No. While I remember enjoying much of this drama, when I think back I can only really recall negative things. Weird.

Pretty okay though, I guess