So, a coworker found out that I have been obsessing over Kdramas, and gave me this drama to watch, calling it one of her favorites. I know I am going to upset some folks, but I want to give my honest response. I feel like someone who came late to the party, so I missed all of the fun, and now I'm bored. I have already watched 3 Hong Sisters dramas that I loved (You're Beautiful, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, and Greatest Love), but I can't say the same about their first drama "Delightful Girl, Choon Hyang".
I will start with the "delightful" girl herself. I put delightful in quotes because using that to describe Choon Hyang seems almost sarcastic. Instead she is stubborn, has a bad temper, and usually keeps her true feelings hidden. It would make more sense calling her frustrating b#y@tch Choon Hyang, or by the alternative "Sassy" title, but I guess that can too easily be confused with the movie. I think Han Chae Young did a good job with the character, and made her likable in spite of her flaws. I did think some of the more emotional, and romantic parts fell flat because of her, and though her character is meant to be cold at times, I think it had more to do with her limitations as an actress.
Then there's Jae Hee who plays the rebel she's forced to marry, Lee Mong Ryong. I was not very impressed by Jae Hee's latest drama (Color of Woman), but I really liked him in this. I thought he was extremely charming, and I felt like I was really watching his character mature. He definitely makes a lot of animated faces, but I never found it distracting... ok, maybe it was a little distracting since In my head I couldn't stop referring to him as "Johnny Depp face" (which is definitely a compliment). As a main couple they were cute together, constantly teasing and arguing with each other, but they didn't really have an exciting chemistry. There were a few good romantic moments, but nothing kills the romance for me quicker than a bad onscreen kiss. The way they kissed was as if they were asked to freeze just as their lips touched, and they just held that awkward pose waiting for someone to finally yell "cut". Their emotional moments also often felt forced, so I didn't cry once, which says a lot since I can be a crybaby.
Speaking of nicknames, I kept using a bunch while watching this drama like "psycho-noona", "creepy dirty old man", and "the worst best friend on earth". The supporting cast is filled with extreme characters meant to keep the main couple apart. Their actions were often hard to believe, and aggravatingly annoying. Some of these characters made me angry enough to want to throw things at the screen, which means they did a pretty good job. I thought too many of the supporting characters played one note for too long, and didn't have much depth. I think the Hong Sisters were a little lazy when it came down to the supporting cast as a whole. Maybe the actors should share the blame since I found Uhm Tae Woong to be extremely creepy from the start, even when he was being kind. I thought the one exception was Ahn Suk-hwan, who played Mong Ryong's father, and was my favorite of the bunch. Speaking of parents, what in the world happened with Choon Hyang's mother????!!!
Viewers should expect some signature Hong sisters fantasy, and parody moments. My favorite parts were actually the interludes which refer to the original legend. They were clever, and offered a nice balance to the main story. Towards the end the mood shifts dramatically, as they try really hard (unsuccessfully in my case) to pull at the audiences heart strings. The time line for the story is also pretty ambitious, but I think they made it work. Still, not every episode is created equal, and I definitely prefer the earlier fun ones to the later ones. I did think the ending episode was well done, and was not as predictable as I expected it to be.
Maybe if I saw this first, or closer to when it first came out, I would have liked it more, but honestly I don't think so. I didn't exactly hate it, there are just so many other dramas that I would recommend before this one. The only way I could see myself rewatching this is with friends as we yelled at the screen, & heckled the characters. I can see why those who liked this early on would defend it, but I wanted to give another opinion for latecomers to kdrama like me who are just getting around to watching some of the older dramas. I guess I would recommend this to big fans of the Hong sisters, just so they can see how far they've come.
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