Orange Marmalade has an interesting take on an amalgamation of cliches - you have high school romance, Joseon era romance, love triangles, love squares, vampires falling for humans and vice versa, accident-followed-by-amnesia - anything and everything cliched is here. And yet, it's got an impressive take on things. Issues like discrimination, friendship, acceptance and maturity show up frequently here.
Story:
As many have said before, the drama can be split into 3 parts: High School Part 1 (HS1), Joseon Era (JE) and High School Part 2 (HS2). I liked HS2 a lot more than HS1, because HS1 seemed more rushed to me than HS2, if that's even possible! JE was actually enjoyable to me, believe it or not. I liked watching it but more so because of the relationship between Jaemin and Shihoo. In the HS2 part, I have a certain weakness for Ara - maybe it's because I find her relatable? The HS parts, both 1 and 2 could have been developed more and tied in better with the JE section and we could have had more character development - mostly Shihoo and Ara!
Acting/Cast:
Unfortunately, the show really takes hits here. I gave it a 6, because it's barely above average to me. Yeo Jingoo does well in his role, however his restraint comes through as bland, which is definitely a problem. Still, I think it was good and he did well. Unfortunately, Seolhyun was really weak in her role and it really takes much away from the drama when the lead is not on a good level. Her visuals were perfect but her acting left much to be desired.
Onto better things! Lee Jonghyun - what can you not do, seriously?? Even though I came in here as a Boice and expected to be biased, Jonghyun really did almost meet my expectations. He wasn't spectacular but he did well in portraying traits which I felt defined Shihoo - the delinquent bad boy brashness and aloofness which later translates to a reticence and maybe even awkwardness? Gil Eunhye is gorgeous as Ara and she really does justice to the role - ah, why do I like Ara so much...? I also enjoyed Park Guntae's character a lot - he kind of looks like BTOB's Lee Changsub to me? Or is it just me? Seriously, the supporting cast really made me watch on!
Music:
Cute but not memorable. The main song that Orange Marmalade performs sounds very much like an anime OST and honestly, I don't remember much else about the drama's music. Though, special mention to the flute piece that played in the JE part - I loved that!
Rewatch Value:
Once is enough for me.
Overall:
While it wasn't utterly disappointing, it wasn't quite the best, either. The reason the rating went down was because of a lack of character development and partially due to weak acting. I think most of the epiosdes were hit-or-miss for me but with the last episode being a total hit - I'm glad I went through with it!
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Orange Marmalade embodies all of the above and some.
So how did I end up watching Orange Marmalade and stuck with it through to the end? Because there was enough intrigue to this madness and it was sufficient to keep me tuned in each week.
I was fascinated by the boldness (or some may say craziness) of the production team to take on a challenge that is such a departure from the normal formula of kdrama success. It is supposedly an adaptation of a popular webtoon but it is nothing like its predecessor. It is but a myriad of cliche tropes, creatively brave screenwriting, mix in some non conventional programming, good looking casts, and there you go - Voila! Orange Marmalade!
At first I was intrigued by the mini teasers which did a fantastic job of marketing the show. I was sold by the mystique of the elusive vampire girl and the puppy eyed, longing stares of Jae Min.
Yeo Jin Gu’s superb acting won me over in those few seconds. I am already a fan of CNBlue’s Lee Jong Hyun therefore having him as the second lead was a bonus.
Two episodes in, I was ecstatic! The Show exceeded my expectations. It started out really well in introducing the storyline depicting the struggles of the vampires trying to live incognito among humans; reminiscing of real life discrimination faced by many in our society today. And throw in a few light-hearted hilarious moments, I was sold! My reaction...Wow! They did that on prime time public television?
Episode 4 was the turning point for me. The pace was suddenly so fast it was like watching a completely different drama. Suddenly the Show introduced all kinds of loopholes, sub-plots and question marks. And then the big reveal - flashbacks to the Joseon era. At this point I was close to dropping the show but curiosity kept me reeled in.
It turned out I actually liked the Joseon episodes the best even though I was cringing when I first heard about it. I really enjoyed Shi Hoo’s story in the Joseon era. His character had more depth and layers than the other two leads. The bromance between Shi Hoo and Jae Min was cute and touching. The love story between Jae Min and Ma Ri was endearing but a tad ordinary and predictable. I actually felt more for Shi Hoo’s restraint love for Ma Ri. It was respectful but heart rending. The secondary characters were interesting and their stories closed the gaps in understanding the relationships of these characters in the present day.
I also enjoyed the story development surrounding the human-vampire conflict and how the pact was reached that carried to the modern era. I was mostly invested in Shi Hoo’s story though how the show dealt with him in the present day was a tad too convenient for my taste.
The chemistry between the second leads was excellent but in typical kdrama fashion it was a bit rushed in the end.
Overall, Orange Marmalade had its moments but lost a lot of fans from the misleading advertising, inconsistent storytelling/pacing and the modern to historical jumps. But I am glad it didn’t suck and it definitely wasn’t a complete waste of my time.
The music was catchy and melodic but to be honest the exact tunes have totally escaped me so it must not be that memorable.
Is it a rewatch? No, it is one of those unique shows that will certainly divide but even for the faithful, a rewatch is probably not likely.
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This review may contain spoilers
The story line itself is very interesting.I enjoyed how the discriminite side of society is revealed.It can be interpreted in many different ways the message of the story itself.Everyone is scared of someone/something that is not normal.Overall I found the plot of the drama very unorganized.
There are three sections to this drama.The transition from the first to the second was not done well. To be honest I loved the second part because you learn more about the characters but what took away from it was how they got there.I won't go too much into detail since I will not reveal any spoilers.I usually say in dramas that the storyline is always extended and that it would be better if it were shorten.This drama is not like those other ones.This drama needs more episodes because by the end of the drama you can tell how rushed and clearly see the transition of every section.
Acting......umm it wasn't bad I will say that.This was my first time having seen all the actors and actresses.In my opinion I thought the supporting roles acted better than the main roles.I won't point out the specific episodes but overall I found mari's body language very awkward at times. Jae min I found had almost a blank expression the majority of the time, there was a part were he was supposed to look confused and scared due to an incident that took place....Yeah i thought it was a joke since his expression didn't really "sell it".I found at some points their acting very unnatural,I understand seolhyun is new to acting so i look forward to her growth in the future :3
Music..To be honest i only liked the first song they performed.The rest were boring to me so i'll have to listen to those later and read the translations so I can better understand it.(will edit this portion later)
Neither do I think I will rewatch nor recommend this drama... It just didn't make me fall involve with it.Overall it was very entertaining and I'm glad I tried it out.
To my knowledge I know this drama was based on a online cartoon.I can not give a fully honest review since I have not read it but If do so later I will come back and edit this review.
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And then slowly entering a pit of despair due to the hopelessness of this drama. Let me tell you why.
This drama is typical, predictable, and drags on.
For the first time, I actually prefer the female antagonistic side character, Jo Ah Ra (Gil Eun Hye), over our main girl, Baek Ma Ri (Seol Hyun). Which says a lot for me because I cannot withstand bullying of any type. However, Baek Ma Ri is typical and artificial, making it hard for me to relate to her in any way.
The character Jung Jae Min is an arrogant asshole so I applaud Yeo Jin Goo for his acting. Jae min makes it obvious that he hates Vampires, to the extent that the story had to shift back to JOSEON period for him to be convinced that he and Baek Ma Ri belong together.
(if y'all have to switch time periods just to validate you're relationship then thats a red flag)
Han Shi Hoo (Lee Jung Hyun), cool and indifferent, is one of the characters that seemed to shine in this drama. In fact, Han Shi Hoo reveals early on how suppressed his species is. Even with VCS operating in the background, Jae Min and most humans are too scared/closed-minded to actually get to know the Vampires. Realistic, but it makes me even more disappointed considering Jae Min's relationship with his step-dad. And I think if Jae Min had put a little effort, he would have had a better relationship with his mother, less prejudiced to Vampires, and probably wouldn't have to go back in time.
The irony is that I ONLY completed Orange Marmalade STRICTLY because I wanted to see how the drama would wrap up. Having introduced the characters' ancestors and their stories. Joseon Baek Ma Ri is portrayed to be too perfect but with decent fighting skills. The leader of the "bad" Vampires was defeated too easily, even after the "100 night" ritual thing that she performed.
This drama only gained potential when they took their band seriously. The idea of bringing two species together with music is the only thing that is NEW in this drama. Like if the plot had focused on the band and how their music was slowly changing the public opinion of Vampires (along with the high school romance and drama in the beginning), perhaps, Jae Min would have come to terms with his mother's remarriage and perhaps fallen in love with Baek Ma Ri without their ANCESTORS' HELP.
Unless you can point out something huge I missed that can defend this drama's high rating, I ain't watching it again.
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Orange Marmalade; Stuck In A Very “ Sticky” Problem...
In all honesty this review will probably be ignored or swept aside for more recent reviews by drama fans. Nonetheless, I will say that I actually watched this drama several years back after having read several chapters of the eponymous webtoon .Not remembering much about the drama ( apart from some lacklustre chemistry and plot) I decided to have another attempt at watching Orange Marmalade . It was only when watching it for a second time . did I realise that Orange Marmalade truly was its own worst enemy when it came to story progression and episode pacing throughout the show.
Of course that’s not to say that the show was entirely dire ; the premise itself of an alternative reality where vampires are outcasts amongst human society ( similar to the webtoon ) was intriguing, the casting choices of fairly top-notch actors such as Seolhyun and Yeo Jin Goo as our leads added to the appeal and even having Lee Hyung Min ( Strong Woman Do Bong Soon and I’m Sorry, I Love You) and Choi Sung bum ( Jungle Fish and My ID is Gangnam Beauty) as the directors nearly sealed the drama’s fate to be a masterpiece.
So just what went wrong with such a potentially brilliant show? Well, the biggest factor was most certainly to do with the episode pacing.
Although we are introduced to our main female protagonist Baek Ma Ri ( Seolhyun) as well as the majority of our main characters in the first few episodes, there’s simply no scenes dedicated for viewers to actually get to know
our protagonists as individuals, such as ; (despite her circumstances as a “ vampire”,) Ma Ri is not shown to be as subjected or act in strong emotion ( apart from supposed “ fear”) against her peers finding out, ( unlike the webtoon) there’s little explanation or motivation shown behind Jung Jae Min’s ( Yeo Jin Goo) enmity towards vampires , and there is also very little reasoning behind Han Shi Hoo’s caution around humans. In addition to these problems, there’s also the added flaw of the show having what’s called a “ loose plot “ motive ( “ the vampire girl hides her identity”) without a greater sense of purpose ( i.e. a greater threat, antagonist or challenge) for our characters or the general progression of the storyline.
When we did actually get to see some character bond development between Jae Min and Ma Ri, a sudden time-skip for several episodes without reason or purpose to the Joseon period, destroyed this relationship’s genuine development in a matter of seconds.
It isn’t necessarily that these flashbacks shouldn’t have been included in the plot, however, it would have made more sense to have either shown us this in the beginning of the series ( as perhaps two episodes maximum) in order to build-up to the characters’ introductions in the present day, having interwoven flashbacks over the course of the drama ( either through parallel actions of our characters to the past or even through dreams) or just simply using the earlier episodes to characterise our protagonists more as individuals before introducing this new storyline into the mix .
Overall Orange Marmalade’s sweetened visage as a romance drama with an intriguing premise, is a facade for the acrid citric bitterness of terrible story writing ,plot pacing and characterisation. Certainly not worth committing time towards.
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Story
The moral of the story is praiseworthy. It tries to convey the message that discrimination should not be acceptable on any grounds and that people should search for what brings them closer than what tears them apart - and what better way to demonstrate that, than through the power of music that is omnipresent and loved by everyone no matter the superficial differences.
Story-wise i can split the drama in 2 parts. First part (episodes 1-4 and 10-12) is the 21st century scool-based part. Your average school drama revolving around a love triangle. The plot twist of the whole drama? Vampires aren't only real but they have been known to exist since forever.
Second part of the drama (episodes 5-9) is actually set in an alternate version of the Joseon empire in the 17th century when vampires were also known to exist and even had different fractions. There is a whole sub story here that unfolds. Moreover, the characters here are supposed to be older versions of the characters in the first part in an effort to link previous lifetimes with current ones and make the love triangles and ships star-crossed.
It was argued that the sageuk part of the drama was boring and unnecessary. I beg to differ. It was actually the strongest part of the drama for me, it wasn't just another cheesy drama about a love triangle, it had suspence, gave most of the characters a lot of depth, further established the main point of acceptance and the attempt to link present and past lives was pretty well-made.
However, even though the story of the drama was pretty solid, the plot development was severely absurd. Let's give the disregard of standard vampire lore a pass, they used what was convenient and twisted some of it, and let's talk about the plot itself. Most situations lacked some fundemental build up, most of it was rushed to fit in12 episodes, a lot of plotlines just popped out of the blue or were conveniently introduced unexpectedly. This made the drama kinda ridiculous and borderline laughable; what's more, even though the drama wasn't draggy plot-wise it couldn't help but be boring quite a lot.
Acting
The acting was overall a bit cringy from the ful cast not just Seolhyun. Yeo Jin Goo and Lee Jong Hyun were satisfying enough, but not perfect and sadly lacked chemistry with Seolhyun. Gil Eun Hye needs work, while Seolhyun wasn't bad but there's definitely room for improvement.
I can't say that the acting deems this drama unwatchable but if bad acting really annoys you, maybe you should steer clear of this drama.
Recommend/Rewatch
OM has its issues and they are significant. My 7.5 is definitely lenient because i appreciate the effort in being original and i enjoy the concept of present and previous lives being linked. However, even in its nonsensical and quite ridiculous nature it was enjoyable enough and quite fast and easy to watch. It targets mostly young-adults, the sageuk part is skippable if you dislike it that much but i'd advise you to stick with it. If you like youth, first love and love triangles, do give this a chance, but even if you don't you aren't missing on anything major here. I won't rewatch this.
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The actors were beautiful and the music was good too, so the whole drama just felt like such a waste. wtf were the writers thinking, honestly. watch only if you have time to waste and want to look at beautiful people. because otherwise, it's really not worth it.
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A sloppy drama, that somehow builds expectations with its promising message and context but doesn't deliver. Watch it if you want a mix of modern-day and historical plots and you are looking for supernatural and a refreshing way of integrating vampires into the world. If you hate clichés, unnatural dialogues and scenes that don't quite make sense, skip.
THE STORY
While the context of the drama was interesting (ie. vampires as a different race living among humans) and the message was honorable (ie. accept difference), there were many many things that were unforgivable in this show, starting with incoherent characters and ending with incoherent plot elements (especially the historical component, which serves no purpose in the drama). One thing that particularly got to me is that usually, some dramas overuse silences (when characters pause before saying something), but in this one, they were underusing them, which often gave the impression that characters were doing a 180 or being way too emotional. Oh, and also, how can people from the lower class in Joseon not bow down to the nobles? The drama has a good intention, but it's quite sloppy, sadly.
THE ACTING
Yeo Jin Goo is just as amazing here as in other dramas, but he was overqualified for the drama and that played against him. He was throwing all his emotions in his scenes, but Seolhyun was not very expressive, Jonghyun was expressive but not as much as him, and the whole show seemed so light that it just looked like his character was too much, all the time. Since his character was not very likeable, that was not helping at all. Seolhyun was ok, but pairing her with Jin Goo, who's a veteran actor, was not a good thing. I want to see her play in something else before I decide if I like her acting or not. Jonghyun has lots of potential and he's on the right track. There wasn't much chemistry between the trio, though. Secondary leads were fine.
THE MUSIC
I'm usually either happy or indifferent with soundtracks, but the OST for this drama really wasn't my style. There's only maybe one song I thought was just ok.
REWATCHABLE VALUE
Very, very low. The drama's too frustrating to want to watch again.
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Do take note that this live action drama is VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE WEBTOON. If you are watching for that reason, beware and do not put your expectations too high.
If I would be rating this prior to the saguek part, it would probably have received a 5/10 for me. For the saguek period, I give it a 7/10. Post sageuk and after finishing the whole drama, I give it an 8/10 and here are my following reasons for the different ratings.
Pre-sageuk:
I felt that the drama was a bit draggy and had this vampire teenage angst going on, then not to forget that I have read the Webtoon version which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was pretty much hard not to compare, which I did throughout the episodes and had myself disappointed a lot of times. It might have been better if I haven't read the webtoon first prior to watching the drama, unfortunately... the drama came 1 month after I have read the whole thing. But anyway, the first few episodes for me was blah. The fact that I wasn't a fan of the lead guy did not help at all. The other cast members were pretty much new to me as well, except for the parents of the main characters who I think brought something in at the table with their pro-acting skills.
Sageuk:
I know a lot of people hated this part, but not me. I love sageuk and this was probably one of the reason why continued on with the show, despite the fact that this was not even part of the original webtoon story line. I'm glad though that they included this, because if not, the drama would have probably ended at 6-8 episodes. This part explained a lot of things about the vampire community, the history of their diet and the treaty between normal humans and vampires. It had the cute, the romance and the exact heart breaking scenes you need in a drama to keep you moving forward. It also told the backdrop about the fate of the main characters.
Post Sageuk:
Initially, I didn't feel like continuing on with the whole thing because I was already satisfied with the saguek part so I put this on hold for a few months, but I knew I had to finish this and so I did. There was this sort of dismal feeling on the first few minutes of episode 11, but the songs and bits of change in the story line made me push through. I guess the last 2 episodes were able to give closure to the whole story and I accepted it with a whole heart.
Other bits that made me like the drama:
Second Leads - I enjoyed the fact that the supporting characters had shifted in their attitude. The way the actors delivered it may not be perfect but they still definitely gave me the feels. Compared to the webtoon - the attitude change did happen and I'm really happy about that.
Music - it was cute, bubbly and left me with a good feeling. Seol Hyun and Lee Jong Hyun's voice were pretty good. In each of their solo songs, I was caught in a bit of trance. I'd prefer rock anytime, but having to listen to their music gave me a different feeling all over.
Overall, I liked the drama and how it changed my mind on rating it. I don't feel cheated at all that I watched the whole 12 episodes. I probably just needed a different perspective.
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However, the script writers sucked.
Why, oh why. . . WHY would any sane person randomly insert 5 episodes of a different timeline without ever referring back to the main plot? This decision resulted in a cheesy, messy, and cringe-worthy filler set in ancient . . . China? Korea? . . . Anyways.
Aside from the 5-episodes long filler, this story was decent. Yes, it was cheesy. Yes, there are many, MANY cliches. But at the end of the day, cuteness slayed. If not for the fillers, I would rate this 7.5/10 just because of the main leads.
Give this a try, but beware the sudden transition into ancient Korea!
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