Kyuubi
Greece
P.S. If you weren't in love with Lee Jong Suk,this drama is the one that will make you love him no matter what.
P.S.2.The female lead is absolutely amazing as well.She's a great actress and plays a relatable and overall great character.It's refreshing to have an interesting female lead that doesn't make you want to rip her heart out.
Was this review helpful to you?
The first time I stumbled upon this drama was when my mother was watching it.I watched with her one of the "bad" episodes of it,translating to one of the tearjerker episodes, and the moment I did I knew that this show would wreck me.It's been almost a year since that happened and I finally decided to watch the whole show and boy,was this a good decision.Scarlet Heart is a show that hooked me up from the first to the last minute of it.This drama was addictive as heck and once I started watching it I just couldn't put an end to it.
First,the story.Simple enough,a time slip story but it's not focused around the theme of time-slipping,rather the events coming from it.I dont want to spoil anything so I'm just gonna go on and describe as spherically as I can.At first,It's easy going.No drama,no tears,just happy and fun moments regarding Hae Soo's interactions with the princes.As much as I enjoyed the early days of this,the days to come were filled with more drama and tragedy as the plot thickened and started revolving around politics.Scarlet isn't a story about a tragedy,nor a story about flower boy harem.It's not a story about boring political issues nor a story about silly romance.It's a story that combines many elements in to what seems a perfect combination.It makes you laugh,cry,hope,love.It brings you feelings like sorrow and happiness and it can make you seriously quit thinking about anything else for days after you finish watching it.There are only a few tv shows who can make you feel this many emotions and scarlet hearts definitely is on top of them.Another thing I enjoyed about it was its pace.Neither too fast,nor too slow.It was just great because you always felt like what you watched was right.Nor too much,neither too little of it.It contained the best amount of every aspect without being boring or pompous.I cant say anything more about the plot without spoiling it.Just fair warning:have tissues around you because you'll never know when you'll cry because of it.
Moving on to the characters:Hae Soo,the leading lady is a good protagonist.Strong,fair,quirky,smart and is someone who is generally likeable.I can't say she remains like that for the whole duration of the series but I can say that her character's actions are justified (mostly) by the things she goes through.It's the second time I'm watching IU(Lee Ji Eun) in a show after My Mister and I can honestly say I had a hard time recognizing her by how immersed she was in this role.She's one of the few good idols turned actors and I'm sure she will continue to amaze.The leading boys of this drama are generally 2,one having more screen time early and the other dominating early.Kang Ha Neul is a renowned actor and this drama points out the reason why he is.His character,Wang Wook,may resemble a Disney prince(you'll find out why) but after some incidents we see him going under a major character change.Ha Neul,manages to portray him in a way that makes you feel that something is not quite right anymore but it is subtle enough to send chills down your spine.Wook may not be a bad guy but sometimes,I felt more scared watching his scenes than the ones of the truly bad guys.The other lead of this is Wang So,portrayed by the one and only Lee Joon Gi.Before Scarlet Hearts,I had only seen pictures of Joon Gi and honestly I didn't know why the fuzz.But,after watching him for the first time here,I could definitely see why.Lee Joon Gi has a certain charm that makes you want more and more of him.Even when seeing him in your screen it's not enough.The original flower boy,as some may call him,grabs your attention in this and doesnt let it go till the end.For sure,I've become a fan of his after watching the show.Anyways,his character helped a lot in my transformation into a Lee Joon Gi fangirl.Wang So is the bad boy of the show but he's also a hurt and complex character.You see his character development and you see why he acts the way he does.You root for him and sometimes you want to yell at him but you can't deny the superiority of him as a character.Surely one of the best characters in a k-drama.
About the other characters now.There are of course evil moms in this.You'll hate one particular,I promise you that.There are other pretty princes with key roles.Honorable mentions go to:Wang Eun,the kind hearted-fun prince portrayed by Baekhyun of EXO,Baek Ah,the perfect brother and free spirited artist portrayed by Nam Joo Hyuk,Wang Jeong the protective and strong friend portrayed by Ji Soo and of course Wang Yo,also known as Eyeliner (boy,he put on tons of it),the guy we all love to hate,portrayed by Hong Jong Hyun.The acting in the drama is superb and the chemistry between the actors is plausible,especially between IU's and Joon Gi's character(I still am not convinced they aren't dating in real life)
Music:
Scarlet Hearts had one of the best ost.Hands down,that's the case. The songs simply mesmerized you.From light and cheerful ones,to sad tear jerking ballads,every one of it was perfect.
Now the only reason I put a 9.5 score for rewatch value is because of the ending.Not gonna lie the ending was tragic.It wasn't a happy one nor a satisfying one.I don't think If I'm gonna be able to cry as much in my life again and I know watching this for a second time will make me order a truck full of tissues.I still think about the last episode from time to time and I feel like bowling my eyes out.But in my heart I still hope they make up for it with a season 2 so let's wait for that.Other than the inevitable last episode,Scarlet Heart is a historical drama that is captivating and easy to follow that should be in everyone's watch list.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Before my review begins,a bit of backstory is necessary for it.I begun to watch this drama with some expectations.Seo Hyun Jin is the leading actress(one of my personal favorite ones since I saw her on Another Miss Oh) and then Kim Jae Wook as the second lead(practically the guy that made me watch this.)I came to watch this show after finishing Voice and I was looking for something relaxing,something fun!The summary seemed interesting enough,the cast was more than great and the ost was nice too.So what went wrong?
Story/Characters:
The story is simple enough;Girl meets Boy,they fall in love but then get separated before reconnecting later on. While there were a lot of cliches,I can admit that I found myself enjoying this drama up until episode 20.It was fresh,fun,an easy watch,just what I was looking for.A good cast and a smart use of cliches can make up for a good or at least decent story.The thing is,I felt as if the drama didn't make use of its resources well enough and this is basically what annoyed me the most.
The lead female character was...well,her choices were questionable.I liked her during the first episodes and could find myself relating to her more than once but as the show progressed,we begin to understand she wasn't the mature writer she had convinced herself of being.In fact,she was more immature than even the male lead who was younger than her.That was a let down.
Speak of the devil,the male lead character wasn't that bad at all.He is not the reason why this drama didn't succeed to the point I'd be glad to say it did.He did act according to his character and some character development was evident for him too.Since I started talking about these two,I think it's only right that I state my opinion on the couple.Personally,I'm not that big of a noona couple so the couple in the show didnt appeal to me that much but it wasn't as if the two characters had no chemistry.The bummer was their attitude towards people around them.This show basically felt like:Here's the couple,enjoy lots of pointless cliche scenes that add nothing to the story.No side characters matter,just the lead couple.
The second male lead character was the character I liked the most and I have to say,Kim Jae Wook had a lot to do with it.CEO Park was good,gentle,fun,charming,caring but also had a sad past behind him.Not as if the present treated him any better.Throughout the series we experienced his heartbreak and difficulty to come to terms with being the second lead.But the thing is,he wasn't even being treated like one!He was always left outside and betrayed by those he valued the most constantly,it is impossible not to feel sad for him.If only he had been the first lead or at least the screenwriter developed his character more on screen.We need more of Kim Jae Wook for certain.
The second female lead character was the typical spoiled bratty rich girl who tries to sabotage the protagonist.But Hong Ah didn't feel that annoying to me at all.She felt rather real with all her jealousy and overreactions and I'm not being ironic.
The rest of the characters had some appeal to them but we couldn't explore them much.At least they were entertaining enough to notice.
Acting:
Like I previously mentioned the cast wasn't at fault.They did an excellent job and I even discovered new actors such as Yang Se Jong and Jo Bo Ah.Watching this show after Voice,I couldn't help but notice and applause Kim Jae Wook's versatility as an actor and that's one of the remarkable things of the show,how he managed to become a dreamy CEO when he was a serial killer in his previous show.
Music:
The ost was light most of the time and fit the scenes.It wasn't exactly memorable but I found myself singing along to the tunes sometimes so I guess it was good enough!
Rewatch Value and Overall Opinion:
Temperature of Love isn't bad.It's mediocre.It is better than High Society(one of the screenwriter's other dramas) and that's why I'm giving this a 7.5/10.I think effort should be appreciated.My main issues were with the story.Some things were hard to believe,some things were exaggerated and some other things were pointless.I wanted some more of this and some less of that.
There are far better shows to watch but if you are looking for an easy watch after an intense drama then this is a good choice I suppose.If you want a better version of Wok Of Love and worse version of Jealousy Incarnate then this is a good choice once again.If you want to see more of Kim Jae Wook,again,you're at the right place.
Was this review helpful to you?
