Left alone on a trip to Hong Kong, Tomoko, a sales woman from Japan finds herself the victim of a purse-snatching. The police arrest the man she points out, but it turns out to be the wrong person: a young Korean man named Ji Hoon. Despite his anger and humiliation, he takes her out to dinner since she has lost all her money, and in return, she agrees to model for his amateur film. What follows is a magical and romantic two days. Upon returning to their respective countries, Tomoko must return to her nine-to-five job and Ji Hoon must resume studying to join the family business rather than pursuing his dream of becoming a film director. But soon the two begin to email each other and rekindle their relationship despite the distance and obstacles between them. Marking the very first time in television history that a drama has been co-produced between Japan and South Korea, the story shows us that love has no borders. (Source: DramaWiki) Edit Translation
- English
- Polski
- magyar / magyar nyelv
- dansk
- Native Title: フレンズ
- Also Known As: 프렌즈 ,
- Director: Doi Nobuhiro
- Screenwriter: Okada Yoshikazu
- Genres: Romance, Life, Drama
Cast & Credits
- Won BinKim Ji HoonMain Role
- Fukada KyokoAsai TomokoMain Role
- Lee Dong GunPark Kyung JooSupport Role
- Han Hye JinPark Hye JinSupport Role
- Ozawa YukiyoshiSakamaki ShotaSupport Role
- Yada AkikoYamagishi YukoSupport Role
Reviews
I understand that the drama is special because it is collaboration between Japan and Korea, and it shows that the relationship between these two countries is complicated, which makes the relationship between the two main characters complicated as well. That’s why I felt that I learned a few things from it, but I wish the conflict had been explored more; that the story had been deeper. I won’t go as far as calling it plot holes, but near enough…
The basic plot is good – two young people from different countries meet and fall in love, only to discover that being in a relationship isn’t always easy. Especially not a long distance relationship, since that is another complication in and of itself. However, I feel that the story was too rushed. Sometimes, the characters did and said things that didn’t quite make sense, and many of the expected misunderstandings and conflicts seemed stupid and plain ridiculous, because it was hard to understand the character’s motivations. If the characters had talked more with each other, and explained their ways of thinking (and not to mention the differences in their respective cultures) it would have been easier to relate to them and that would in turn have made the drama more interesting to watch. I feel that we are expected to understand everything without any explanations, but just like Tomoko, I found myself confused a lot of the time.
I liked the acting, though. The actors did a good job, and this was the first time I watched anything Korean (MDL has labelled this as “Japanese”, but they do speak Korean about half the time) so it was interesting because of that, too.
So, to sum it up: the drama had its good points, the ending was satisfactory and the first episode was excellent. Overall, though, I found it to be a bit disappointing, and I wouldn't want to re-watch it because I would only be annoyed by the same things all over again.
We can learn a lot of things here..
This drama tells us a lot about the different of Japanese culture and South Korea culture..
It is easy for Tomoko for going to South Korea, because the price in Korea is cheaper than Japan (based on Japanese point of view).
Otherwise, when Ji Hoon wants to meet Tomoko in Japan, he must work hard to earn money to go there.
This drama tells us how both of the main role try to adjust their culture (Tomoko is Japanese, while Ji Hoon is Korean) and to adapt with each mate's culture..
The conflict be more peaked when Ji Hoon parents know that their son has a Japanese girlfriend. Based on the drama, In Japan, maybe it is a common condition when Japanese has a foreign mate. But in Korea, it'll be a big problem.
When i watched this drama, I cried like a baby at the scene where Tomoko and Ji Hoon had to be parted.
But, in the end the can back together and overcome all the problem, especially the problem about different culture..
Honestly, this drama is one of my most favorite Drama.. :D