Song Ji Eun is cute as the shy and repressed Yoo Mi, and Sung Hoon is perfect as the "sexy and he knows it" typical spoiled chaebol's son Cha Jin Wook. Of course their paths keep crossing in the expected ways, and their chemistry goes from annoyance to playfulness and then escalating quickly... VERY quickly. I think that's what initially got me hooked. Still, it was obvious pretty early on that there wouldn't be much to this story. As cute as they were as a couple this love story got repetitive pretty quickly, and towards the end was so unrealistic and overly cheesy that I stopped being interested in them at all. Their inner monologues tried so hard to be deep but they seemed really shallow, and the stakes just didn't seem as high as their reactions made them out to be. The more dramatic it got the worst their acting got.
I think the drama did have some entertaining supporting characters. I enjoyed the mom, even if she was a frustrating mess, and Nam Ki Ae is always good at playing a mess of a mother. I liked the second lead, although he didn't have much of a story to work with. My favorite was the Secretary, who's suits made him an instant scene stealer, and his boo in the kitchen staff. The supporting cast helped to make some of the most repetitive moments easier to sit through.
Even though this drama is shorter than most, I still think it was too long. It could have easily been 10 episodes, or maybe even less. I still found myself eager to watch more moments between the two characters, but in the last episodes it was like they just gave up and started to rely on flashbacks! Ugh! The flashback abuse in this drama is pretty epic. Not only does every episode end with recaps that were super literal, extra cheesy, and felt completely unnecessary, but the final episodes almost seemed like music videos strung together with fan compilations of all the cutest scenes. The last 4 episodes are almost unwatchable because it was mostly everything I already saw. They repeated scenes so much that they lost all of their previous charm, including the kiss scenes.
The music is also super cheesy, which matched the show well, but it was driving me a little nutty. There was even a moment where Yoo Mi sings for so long I though it was turning into a musical. So I give the music a 4 for simply not being my taste. Not to mention the damn sound effects. Someone got a little too happy with the sound effects machine!
Would I watch this again? Maybe. I would probably skip the last episodes 10-12, but it's entertaining enough to watch if I need another quick romcom fix. The ending is such a let down, so I'd really have to have run out of other things to watch.
Overall this is a quick romcom you can easily binge watch, but I say keep your finger on the fast forward button for those repetitive flashbacks. If the idea of literally falling into someone's arms sounds too corny, or if a boss using abuse of power to flirt with an employee sounds like a reason to visit HR not a premise for a love story, then maybe you should watch a different kind of drama instead. I really wish they would have put more effort into the story, but for what it was, I was entertained enough to keep watching. For those not scared away by these mediocre reviews I'd say lower your expectations, and enjoy this cheesy romcom snack. (get it... she makes food :( sorry! )
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EP 10-12 were painfully slow, they could have been cut and pasted into 1.5 episodes.
13 was ehhhh.... This isn't a masterpiece, the writing is loosely constructed and poorly executed. The story has little depth or substance to hold it together for 13 hours. I can't connect with the female lead's choices (especially in the later half) or her pitiful deer lost in headlights expression...I was hoping it would be a drama somewhat like 1% of Something since the director is the same, but it doesn't even come close in comparison. I Liked Ep. 1-9 but Ep. 10-13.5 are a hard sell.
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I am happy to admit that my secret romance is exactly like that. Starting it I had no expectations and I had braced myself for the impending, inevitable hard-drop! Even though, I can easily name this the cliché-est kdrama I’ve ever watched; the cheesiest, corniest, fluffiest shit I’ve ever put myself through, yet against all odds, I deeply loved it and honestly I stand here in awe of it. As a rom-com hater, how is that even possible? Well, looking back, I can name a few things.
Secret Romance, despite its heavy cliché-ridden self, had this exclusive, borderline inexplicable dosage of fresh air in it. Kinda contradicting isn’t it? Well, that is the main reason it was so good!
Starting off, the drama is characterized by its archetype characters. Cute female lead in need, shy, naive, with sad mommy issues in her backstory striving to survive and make a living y’know, usual stuff; paired with the uber classic chaebol hawt arrogant womanizer. Been there, done that. What secret romance did differently, ultimately breaking the mould of rom-coms in the best way possible is the realistic and natural expression of young adult sexuality. HELL TO THE YES PEOPLE! No more over-romantic, fake and unrealistic holding hands as the expression of ultimate love. It was ‘bout time drama gods!
More specifically, sexual jokes, innuendos and gestures, taboo job occupations, actual kissing, underwear clothing products and finally the acquittal of sex as a despicable act in kdramaland! There is nothing wrong with expressing sexuality people and it was about time we saw that in kdramas.
In all honesty, I have never witnessed a better romance development in a kdrama. The flirting felt real, the chemistry was exquisite and I enjoyed every moment they had building up their relationship. Nothing about it was really new, but it was the way that it happened that not only felt right but left extremely close to me as a person. The archetype characters strayed only a little bit away from their lanes just to make the drama that much more addicting.
Moreover, nothing about the romance was idealized here (finally); but rather, it was so fucked up that it ended up being relatable – expressing how we can hurt but also heal through an unexpected relationship, how easy it is to misunderstand and how easy it is to misinterpret. So relatable it felt too real! All in all, the best part of the drama for me, besides the lovely chemistry, was the natural expression of sexuality in its complete spectrum, while always keeping it real, cute and never filthy or awkward. I salute the writers for taking a chance here and actually making it work.
Having said all that, I cannot argue that secret romance was perfect. Critically assessing the drama, I have to admit that there were no substantial side characters or stories, most of them misused and underdeveloped. Simultaneously, while there was some basic effort to make the characters feel real giving them stories of their own to grow on, these backstories were barely ever elaborated on and were resolved abruptly at the end out of the blue.
I can safely say, the drama is not perfect and the more you think about it the more problems could be found. This is a drama to just smile and spend 13 fun hours doing nothing but letting your heart flutter. However, the fact that the drama did romance so well and touched upon -otherwise normal- stuff that are for some reason unheard of in kdramaland easily make me give this a well-deserved 8.5 just for that.
As far as the acting is concerned, no awards will be given here, but I don’t think anything was problematic.
I should mention at this point that Song Jieun is my 2nd ultimate bias in kpop (and my list is big, so I do love her) so I might be lenient and biased when I say that I absolutely loved her as Yoomi, she felt thoroughly real and behaved very accordingly to her role. She definitely had this role down and was a perfect match. Since her last project that I couldn’t help but drop, she was overwhelmingly improved and I can’t wait for her next drama.
I will not stay and talk about trite things like how unrealistically handsome Sung Hoon is, like everybody with a pair of eyes can see that. I will talk about how good he is, considering he’s a former athlete though. I am not entirely sure how flexible he is as an actor, and for a moment there I did believe that he won’t be able to act in any role other than the arrogant womanizer chaebol, but let’s not be quick to judge. I’d love to see him again, preferably in a different role next time.
Concluding, my secret romance is like a good pasta dish in a lovely restaurant. You know what it is, you’ve had it a thousand times but each time it is as good; and to top all that off, this plate of pasta has a very unique ingredient inside it to spice things up and leave a unique experience. Therefore, I would wholeheartedly recommend this drama to every rom com lover and honestly pretty much everyone who is looking for an easy watch.
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The middle episodes were a bit better, but this was no great drama. It was still pretty cheesy, and the epilogues at the end of each episode were strange. They didn't add anything to the story at all. They were just basically little recaps. Episodes 11 and 12 could have been cut out almost completely. Episode 11 was basically all flashbacks and had zero plot movement. Episode 12 was a lot of the same. I'm not sure why they needed to stretch it out so far. Ten episodes could have wrapped this story up well. As for the romance, they didn't totally sell it to me as the characters were pretty shallowly developed. The two had a one night stand and didn't see each other again for three years, but yet he can't forget about her? She was a pretty weak lead honestly, and there wasn't anything so special about her that I bought that he was pining after her for three years. And the chemistry between the leads was only so-so.
The music was ok, also nothing special.
I wouldn't recommend this unless you were really hard up for rom-com. I fully admit that I only gave this show a second chance because I have a soft spot for Sung Hoon after his roles in Oh My Venus and Five Children. I was really hoping that he would have a great lead role in a rom-com, but this wasn't it. I feel bad for the actors of this. I think they could have done better if they had a better story and better production.
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People will love it if they like that sort of thing, even if it's not even the best example of it. But if you're tired of everything about the setup and execution of romcoms then strictly avoid. The worst thing about this show is that it was made in 2017 but feels much older in how regressive it is.
Candy is here in all her incompetent, self-absorbed, whiny victimhood and she falls for Chaebol in all his asshole finery. Candy is a nutritionist, not like that matters either to her or anyone else. Especially not to the writer who seems to have only a vague notion of what nutritionists do for a living. It's just a new way to throw her in the path of Chaebol, with whom she shared a (naturally drunken) one night stand three years before. Can't have anyone thinking she's a slut by letting her choose to sleep with a guy when she's sober.
At the beginning of the show, there was quite a nice connection between these two characters. Both were incompetent losers even if one of them was a rich one. But when the show shifted forward three years, any goodwill from their initial interactions was quickly lost as he uses his position of authority to bully her and she acts like both a martyr and an idiot about it - not necessarily in that order. Episode after episode involved him ordering her to bring him food and then either abusing, insulting or harassing her when she did. She endured, as Candy does, and still liked him even after all of this. Dude must have been amazing in the sack. That's the only explanation.
There's a second female lead in this. I don't even need to tell you about her - you already know. Get a life, old-school second female leads. You're pathetic. There's a thing called feminism. It's well over 100 years old. You might have heard about it. It'll help.
There's also a second male lead. You've met him too. He's perfect and in love with the female lead but at least he never Nice Guys her so he has that going for him. He deserved to be in a better show.
While Asshole Chaebol at least retains a core of vulnerability that allows you to keep some sympathy for him as a character, Candy is endlessly self-absorbed and wedded to victimhood, especially around her mother and the dreaded S.E.X. on account of being a good girl and not one of those sluts.
One of the show's biggest fakeouts revolves around Candy's little brother whom she treats as a burden and refers to as "her dog" so people won't discover the scandalous fact that he exists. These are not her finest moments in a show filled with extremely poor behaviour on her part. One of my chief gripes about romcoms is that they only include sex if they want to do a pregnancy fakeout. I was willing to give the show credit for not going there except - oh no, it went there! Not only did it include it but it executed it in the most annoying, most sexist, and most horrible way possible.
Basically, this show is a quintessential old-school Korean romcom dripping with sexism and misogynism, double standards, nun/whore dichotomies and a female lead who is as annoying as she is useless. Her actions especially in the final episode are teeth grindingly annoying.
Some people who love this kind of thing will no doubt be annoyed by how much I hated this show. I just think it's a shame that shows like this are still being made.
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Slap Kiss
Crazy Ex
Mother In Laws
Misunderstandings
Another g / b having a crush on the same girl.
Jealousy
arranged marriages
fake marriages
I loved the secretary, his suits lol.. Colourful like Versace style :) I love the little brother Dong Goo, but even his half sister was not really looking after him, he was always with Hyun Tae, like Hyun Tae is his half brother or dad. Needless to say Dong Goo is the cutest little Actor.
Yoo Mi is ashamed of her mother, she was an erotic star (well I 'm watching a Thai Drama, main lady's mother was a prostitute mother is married to main guy's dad and the daughter is not ashamed of her mother, I don't know which is more acceptable, I think I'd feel the same if I was in Yoo Mi's shoes )
The problem with this drama was it was extremely slow, they don't get to anywhere. She's ashamed of her mother, her half brother..
When it comes to the cast Song Ji Eun is a perfect choice for Yoo Mi, as she looks innocent
Sung Hoon is and always be a perfect match for rich, handsome, casanova playboy looking but on the inside it's extremely the opposite chaebol.
Mother hhaah I can't find words to describe the mother Nam Gi Ae she is another actress that is a perfect fit for this type of mother. I believe I have seen her at least in the 6 of dramas I have watched in the last couple of years, maybe more..
I expected to see a little more of their love Jin Wook & Jin Eun, at least I wanted to see getting married but nay...
Until the Secretary meets the kitchen girl tbh I thought he's gay!!
ep 11-12-13 not worth of watching, if you wanna know how it ends although it is not gonna make you happy just watch ep 14 and that's it.
We have not seen why Jin Wook mother left we have not seen him taking Yoo Mi to his mother, or even both of them going to his mother's restaurant. We have not seen much of mother son time.
For a bit I thought Yo Mi's ma gonna flirt and hook Jin Wook's dad but I was wrong but if they made that way it way it'd be quite funny though.
The music was good.
I so wished that the lil bro was their secret love child but he's half bro :((
there are loads of incomplete things wish they make S02 for us.
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Even now, I feel wronged by my own decision to rate this drama quite high up there. I was actually quite disappointed that it didn't meet my high expectations. The story is predictable, not very unique but simply enjoyable enough for me. What I really disliked was the filming style. Now, I know what a low budget drama looks like. However, I mainly wanted to see Sung Hoon oppa's acting once again since I feel like he was born to play a prince charming/rich guy in a bubbly and cheesy romance drama.
To simply describe what this drama is like, I'd say it's "almost every romance Asian drama cliche jumbled up into a draggy but cute 13 episode cycle". Would I re-watch it? Probably not. Would I recommend it? Yes, if you are single and ready to watch a romantic story that you probably want to take part in someday.
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The story was simple and in general it was beautiful, but ... I felt they tried to get the melodrama by force and it did not go well. The characters themselves were not the best either, so I did not find the novel very plausible, especially her.
For me, the best characters were undoubtedly the secretary and the kitchen girl, I found a lot of joke to both of them.
There were times when I felt sorry for the child because no one but her friend cared for him, and all the misunderstandings she indirectly created were excused and I honestly did not understand what the girl's problem was about the kid.
I feel this would be a gret mini drama or a two episodes drama.
The music was good.
I do not advise to see and I will not see this again.
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drama (not that I minded, but it was a surprise). The story is okay,
kind of interesting, especially when it came to the little boy's real
family (the boy was adorable by the way!!). But then, from episode 10
till the end (thank the production that made it only 13 episodes long,
there would have been zero point in dragging the plot for another 3
episodes), the episodes were a few new scenes and everything a repeated
parade of flash backs, from everyone's point of view. That was my main
problem with this drama. Actually, the performances weren't bad, and
the love triangle had it's moments. So, 4 out of 10.
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Anyways, I loved the first episodes and I loved the actors, OST was quite okay ( a few nice songs here and there ) but I don't think I would rewatch it due to the last episodes being somewhat dragging.
I would recommend watching this if you're totally into cheesy romance as well and might be willing to stick with the last few episodes even though they might be boring
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I recemmend this to those looking for a romcom with great kissing scenes.
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