Delightful Girl, Choon Hyang (2005)

I found this by accident and even if it's a bit outdated I decided to try it anyway.
I liked the fact that the main lead was not the always present dick of a chaebol but a normal guy, yes he's not poor but he's not the top of the top of the top and so I didn't had to watch any of those cringeworthy scenes of him choosing between a several amount of clothes , cars and whatever. So no "wealth bragging" and his character was quite cute, I can even understand why for a while he was confused between Chae Rin and the female lead, I mean she loved that noona for so long and she didn't see like us her true face..so the male lead, considering this is from 2005 was cute and I happily cheered for him!
The fem lead was okay I guess but she was kind of annoying in the middle, they both made clear they feelings for each other but they were going slowly because she was reluctant to go for it.
The supporting characters I loved were the father in law (cuteness run within that family lol) and the male classmate, he had the right intuitions and gave the best advices (at the very beginning I thought he was going to be a love rival, fortunately he had only eyes for Dan Hee), also I can understand why at some point Dan Hee pushed Chun Yang towards the awful ceo, she was trying to protect her from the sufference caused by Myong Ryong's wavering.
The second leads just made drop the value of this drama, but you know, without them the show would be ended by the 4th episode xD
The things that made me despise them are two: the motivations for keep chasing the main couple were based solely on pride and jealousy and not love but most of all they were always in the right place at the right moment eavesdropping some important infos (like where the main couple is or what are their intentions)...at some point I exclaimed a "come on" so loud because of this that I scared my husband xD
Oh another annoying thing: the opening with all that screaming and noises. (????)?????

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When I watch old dramas I really miss those times when the Korean entertainment industry didn't take itself too seriously yet. Back then, Hallyu was not popular outside Korea and dramas had a very specific target audience. Therefore, the production standards were pretty low.
But at the same time, I feel that the stories were sometimes better than in more recent dramas.
That's what I felt watching Delightful girl, Choon Hyang.

I love Hong sisters storytelling style. It's fast, it's hilarious, it's full of references to Korean popular and traditional culture, sexual innuendos... DGCH's plot is actually a modern twist on a Korean folk tale. I loved all the comedic sketches at the end of every episode parodying sageuks scenes.

But above all I LOVED Jae Hee. He does a great, heartfelt job as Mong Ryong. Han Chae Young is not a great actress, but I liked the fact that she took a risk with a different role such as Choon Hyang's. And she has good chemistry with her partner.
Ahn Suk Hwan was also hilarious and endearing as Mong Ryong's father. And the couple who are friends with Choon Hyang and Mong Ryong were quite lovable as well, although she was a little irritating at times.

I like the fact that everything was not solved quickly in just 60 minutes in the last episode; instead, it took three or four episodes to close everything.
And I also like the fact that main female character is a strong independent woman, even though in the original story, her strenght is based on the fact that she can remain a virtuous woman -which was the female ideal type in Joseon era- before the constant harassing of a vicious nobleman.

What didn't I like? Well, I hated the second lead female character. She didn't contribute with anything to the main plot. She was just the ordinary second female lead you find in almost every romcom drama, the evil girl who interferes with the main couple's love story. And the resolution of her character felt too hasty in the end as well.

The soundtrack was a little irregular. But it's worth mentioning the main title song by Jiny, which sounds really cool and is so distinctive that it must have become a classic by now.

Anyways, I really enjoyed this drama and I really recommend it, and I have the feeling that it's sadly underrated.

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The first ever Kdrama that literally captured my mind and soul back when I was in high school. The drama is so well done that it's incredibly memorable. This show is also very entertaining from start to finish and there's no moment of slapstick comedy rather just genuinely very funny interactions between people of opposite personalities trying to adapt to each other, from Myong Ryong-Choon Hyang to his father-her mother relationship. The progression of the story is really enjoyable where they started off as high school students, then people who meet again in their college years and finally in their adult workings lives. In a sense, the story does not fall flat in the trap of teenage love, rather was given enough time and space to mature.

Jae Hee's performance as Mong Ryong is absolutely flawless as the very mischievous high school kid who's literally an idiot in love yet able to love so faithfully, and is the biggest reason why this drama worked so well for me. The troublemaker kid who literally goes around living his life so recklessly managed to make a dent in his life with Choon Hyang's presence, and even without her. Jae Hee in particular has delivered the many different turmoil of his character so brilliantly. Chae Young plays his love partner, and she acted out her fiesty parts as Choon Hyang so well to match well with Mong Ryong, that's it's really hard not to root for them.

All of the OST are really great songs, especially the one titled Emergency Room.

Re-watch value for this one is exceptionally high, and I wish I can erase this drama from my memory because I remember the progression of every scenes in my head, otherwise I would have re-watched this so many times more. It's a timeless classic, very able to be enjoyed by drama fans of all ages I guarantee!

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I just finished watching this drama, and I can say that I liked it, although it was a bit back and forth... not to mention all the misunderstandings; it was quite the pain, and I felt frustrated more than once (not exaggerating!). But everything was resolved in the end, so I felt a bit at peace when I was finished with the drama. xD

The story of this drama was decent, but all the situations were a bit hard to believe, but it isn't that big of a deal.
In the beginning it was rather humorous and simple, and I quite enjoyed it; it was later on when everything got complicated that I started swearing at my computer-screen.
Some things that annoyed me was the lack of apologies from a couple of certain other characters, whose fault it was that Choon-Hyang and Mong-Ryong got found out in the first place. The fighting was a bit over the top and cheesy, but it wasn't that bothering, to be honest. The love-rivals of both Mong-Ryong and Choon-Hyang were the ones that made me the most frustrated; they basically played the roles of homewreckers, trying to part a married couple. I hate that in both real life and in fiction, but I beared with it.
However, I must admit that the characters, or at least Mong-Ryong, matured as the series went on; it was actually quite noticeable, and I enjoyed his character overall. His facial expressions were really animated, and I liked that.

The acting was decent, but at times over the top (although the humorous scenes required this, so I see no problems there). Like I said earlier; I liked the expressive actor that played Mong-Ryong.

I wouldn't really rewatch this drama, just because I wouldn't be able to handle all the manipulation and complications all over again. One time is enough; however, if you do like that kind of stuff, I'd say this drama is for you.

Overall, I give this drama a 6/10.

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I love this show. It was really addictive when I started watching this. Albeit it is a little slow in the second half, specially around episode 13-14, I still enjoyed this show very much. I loved their bickering and their initial care for each other. Like around episode 10-11 when they realize they can't be romantic around each other like other couples but still have their own charm to make their relationship work. I just love such couples. The acting is nice, never under played but rather over played sometimes with Mong-Ryong's antics (which were hilarious to be honest). The music is amazing as well. Not to mention, one of its song has been adapted into a Hindi song in my country. The end sequences were also very enjoyable with an alternate and funny Chun Hyang.

Obviously being from the early 2000's the show is overly dramatic at times. Too much drama means the leads are meeting and separating a lot. Both are second leads are way to elder to our main couple. One is a cougar, while the other is pedophile (not really but they have huge age difference). This show follows a lot of dramatic turn of events, but I guess that is what made me stick to drama. Recommendable to all Hong-Sisters' fans.

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This is an older drama, but beyond the fact that the technology has changed since this was made, it is still a solid drama. The leads were well-acted (the actress that played Choon Hyang was super cute!!) and had good chemistry with each other. The only real bad thing I can say about this drama is that keeping the main couple apart for so long started to get tedious. I really didn't like the 2nd female lead character at all, but that was the point I believe. As far as the 2nd male lead goes, I could have almost rooted for him for at least the first half of the drama. He was everything that Choon Hyang's husband should have been to her, until....Well, you'll have to watch. I also really enjoyed the father-in-law and his and Choon Hyang's relationship. This was a nice solid older drama. I might rewatch parts of it someday.

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The Real Sassy Girl

The silliness and the chaotic descension of old rom-coms remains unmatched. The improbable setup of their story was stretched too thin but it worked with their abrasive behavior. I found the highschool arc to be tolerable despite having the infamous "theater" episode trope just like most school themed media. The leads were a bit old to be passed as highschoolers but at least they switched the setting shortly after. The main conflict lasted for too long and the drama tried to take more serious tone during it which wasn't fitting for the story or the characters. This also forced the ending to be really short and quick. The main soundtrack with vocals was quite good. On the other hand, there's a certain type of soundtrack that always accompany Uhm Tae Woong across different dramas and I can't figure out how or why?

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The ML and OSTs are the best part of the drama

I finished the whole drama pretty quickly about a month ago and must admit, I still don't really know how to rate it (I'm stuck between 6-8). I'll try giving an honest and "short" review:

First Impression:
I discovered this drama in a FMV and didn't have many expectations, except that I read a bunch of good reviews, so I was hoping it would live up to them.
This drama is almost 20 years old (and even though I generally watch older movies, it really shows with asian dramas) and some effects and especially the intro video are kinda cringey, but you get used to them. Also I feel like the intro makes you feel like this drama is going to be a sassy lighthearted rom com, but that wasn't the case. At least not after ep 5 or 6 of the drama (only occasionally)
After completing this drama, I feel like it should be called "deceitful girl Choon Hyang" instead lol..

Story:
So this is based on an old Korean folk tale and I have skipped through Chunhyang (2000) and this drama follows the basic premise, only it adds a lot of annoying plot points. I won't spoil too much, but this drama has a very annoying love square and the sml and sfl are determined to follow the phrase "if I can't have you no one can!", because when the main couple finally decide to get married for real, you know that those two will get up to something. Also I thought they would make a good couple (sml+sfl) lol.

Not to forget that the SML meets Chunhyang when she's still in high school (and stays till the very end of the drama uchh)
and he looks like he's 30, so that's "a bit" questionable and he also seems to have a lot of free time despite being the chairman of an entertainment company and follows (stalks) her around a lot. He also just can't take no for an answer and doesn't really care about her feelings. All that to say, I hope I never come across a guy like him. Also..How much power does an entertainment company have for him to be able to frame the ML?? (idk how it works, but I'm guessing a lot)

Now onto the SFL she's really annoying up till ep 14 or 15, when she's trying to get between the main couple. Also the SFL is the ML's first crush and she rejects him in the beginning, but then when she finds out he's married she's suddenly all over him. But at least the SFL kinda redeemed herself in the end, when she got engaged herself and forgot about the ML, she even came to the main couple's actual wedding.

Marriage Plotline:
This kind of plot has been a bit overused and I think that it makes people take marriage/divorce pretty lightly.
But was nice seeing these two slowly fall for each other.

Main Couple:
After their marriage, the FL seems to fall first, but she doesn't tell the ML her feelings, because he likes the SFL at that point.
And so our couple break up, only to eventually get back together after the ML realises, he's loved her all along and after the stupid schemes of the SM/FL and they decide to get married for real BUT then the SML shows up as always and tries to "destroy" the ML's life and threatens the FL so she will have no choice but to go to the SML. So she pretends that she never loved the ML and leaves for Japan after getting forcefully engaged to the SML.

[INSERT 3 YEAR TIME SKIP]

ML is now working as a prosecutor and you can find out yourself what happens in the last few eps. happy ending, thank goodness!

OST/Music:
I liked most of the songs in this drama. Especially "emergency room" and "sarang hae yo" and a few others. They make this drama feel nostalgic for me.

Conclusion:
I'm not happy with how the SML got off the hook for everything he did in the end, but I am glad that he finally let the couple be together in the end.
This drama especially in it's later episodes gave me headaches. I guess I was pretty invested in the story, because I wanted to finally see the couple together!!
the FL kinda annoyed me in the 2nd half. I know she felt she couldn't go against the SML if she didn't want to see the ML hurt, but still..
I wish the couple would've had more sweet scenes together among all the sad ones.
Also..Where the heckos did the FL's mom ever disappear to in the last episodes?? I feel like they never mentioned her after that.
The FL's friend is annoying I gotta say, but Ji Hyuk is a good friend to mong ryong.

Rewatch Value:
I've edited this drama (into FMVs) so I have to rewatch a lot of it and there are a few scenes, I like rewatching.

Overall I'm not sure what to rate this drama.
Because of the ML being likeable I would give it an 8/10
but storywise more: 7-7.5/10

Would I recommend this drama?
I'd say it's not a terrible drama and I did like the ending, although I still wish their wedding was a bit longer. Also this follows the "add a random conflict to the last 15 mins of the drama" plot, so their wedding is very short and mixes scenes from their past lives into it.
If you like the ML actor I would watch it.
Maybe you'll be someone who loves this drama, because it has it's good points.
Just come prepared to get stressed out over this drama.

[also this drama made me get into the habit of saying aigoo too much lol]

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I watched this drama for the first time in 2018 and I'm not biased when I say that it has aged very well. Yes, the cell phones are enormous, and the fashion ridiculous. But other than that really, it holds up very well.
I think the story is really good, the show is packed with content: young love, delinquency, "forced" marriage, and most importantly the growth of this young couple into adulthood.
The casting is great, except for the second female lead. But I was simply blown away by Jae Hee' acting skills. He is great, and super handsome. I wish he would be in better productions nowadays.
The music was something special in this drama. I don't usually pay much attention to the music, unless it's horrible. But the OST for this drama is really good, from the kitsch opening credits song to the music throughout the show. It feels surprisingly contemporaneous and I will definitely listen to it often (if I can find it).
Overall a really good drama, not without flaws but endearing enough that I decided to overlook them in this review.

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