The power of friendship

This show speaks to the stresses that are put on them by their parents, their teachers, each other, and themselves. There was a lot of emotional/psychological bullying in this one, which was hard for me to understand, because I wouldn't have put up with it. I was sorry there weren't consequences for the bullies.

There is a bit of a romance here, but mostly this is about friendship, and it tells the story well. It's about believing in your friends when they don't even believe in themselves. About how you can trash talk your friends, but nobody else had better try it. At the beginning, I was worried, because the acting seemed pretty stiff, but that eventually worked its way out.

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Too many episodes for the story

This story was done very effectively in the movie version. Sadly, I felt that this show had too many episodes. There were many, many times that I fast forwarded through scenes.

Acting: I really enjoyed all the actors, for the most part. Seo Hyun Jin, as usual, is very good. She's tremendously self-centered and over-the-top at the beginning, but eventually settles into her role. She has a sweet playfulness about her that I really enjoy. I have to say, I don't particularly care for Lee Min Ki as an actor in general. He's too much like an automaton. There is one scene where she smiles at him and he's completely gobsmacked, but in general, the fact that he remains expressionless is a problem for me. I didn't care for the second couple, she was completely unlikeable throughout. I liked both her agent and his secretary.

This show had the problem that it didn't really know what it wanted to be. Is it a comedy? A melodrama? Her disorder seemed to, for the most part, be played for laughs, but when it switched to seriousness I wasn't buying into it. His disorder is SO overused in K-dramas! I was loving the fact that he could recognize her in any body she was in, then they went and tipped that on its head. That bothered me as well.

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It grew on me

At the beginning I was getting the "how many times have I seen this before" vibes. I didn't find it too interesting, but then about halfway in, I think I just decided to enjoy the ride.

It's a story about first loves, fractured relationships, budding friendships, with the obligatory corruption thrown in for good measure. It was enjoyable to get to know the people, some more than others. I thought the 3rd couple was irritating and unnecessary - lots of pouting, whining, and other very juvenile behavior.

The main couple was cute, though I saw them more as friends than anything else, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I did like how they didn't have any misunderstandings and were there for one another at all times.

BIGGEST DRAW FOR ME - Choo Young Woo as Jung Young Joo. I've not seen this actor in anything else and he was captivating. The ultimate bad boy, but with a strong sense of family and decency. I loved the way this character was written, and Young Woo embodied the part totally. He was very serious, but when he broke into a smile, watch out. And I have to say, surprisingly, that my favorite parts were the development of the relationship between Jung Young Joo and Kang Seo Young. Trying not to be in a relationship, but falling into a relationship, their scenes in the last couple of episodes were just darling.

Disliked - the head of the school (though I was supposed to, so she did a good job). Even more than my dislike of that character was the song Dream On. I swear, they must have played the one line of that song about 250 times. Fingernails on a chalkboard!

I don't feel the need to watch it again, because I didn't love it, but it was certainly worth watching for Choo Young Woo. It's a sweet, low-angst watch.

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Good, in theory

I love me a good office romance. I also love when the woman is strong without being a witch. The man falls first? Yes, please. I was so looking forward to watching this one, but unfortunately the execution wasn't that good.

Aviis Zhong - she is absolutely gorgeous, and I'll admit I was a little enthralled with her. She started out very strong, then she began to show some good signs of vulnerability, but then she kind of fell apart for me.

Wes Lo - I think my biggest issue concerning him were the random, strange camera angles. Extreme close ups tended to make him look very cartoonish. I'm not into stalker behavior, but I was willing to overlook it to a certain extent since it furthered the storyline. Sometimes he was very attractive (in looks and in actions), but then other times he was more like a buffoon (especially in the strange way he walked (I know, strange thing to focus on).

The leads had some cute scenes together, but I didn't feel chemistry. I also wasn't able to ever figure out why they liked each other. We never got to see a progression of their feelings. Add to that some open-eyed, fish kisses and I wasn't believing them as a couple.

The storyline for the assistant that became somewhat of a psycho...terrible!

In no world would I ever feel the need to watch this again.

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What fun!

I decided to watch this so I could see Mamiya Shotaro in a lead role, and he was completely different than in other roles in which I've seen. Loud, mean, uncouth, brash, driven, set-apart - these are words you could use to drive his character. And you would, at the beginning. Wait until you are further into the movie, and you'll think caring, hidden depths and thoughtful, not only in his outward actions, but in the way he he was going through life.

He and the FL had such a fun relationship. This would NOT be a healthy relationship in the real world, but when played for laughs it absolutely worked. Never have two people been more in sync than when they are screaming at each other! I'm going to do some research to see if the two actors have worked together before. I would love to see them together in something else to see if the chemistry is still there.

I loved how this movie focused on the main couple and everyone else pretty much faded into the background. They were there solely to bring the spotlight to the main couple.

I'll be honest, I don't remember the music. I was too busy laughing and enjoying the movie.

I will definitely re-watch this movie when I just need an hour or so of fun.

I would recommend this movie, absolutely!

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Slow, beautiful film

The concept was original, the cinematography was wonderful, the acting was stellar, the music was haunting. I remember seeing the American remake (The Lake House), but I could never forget that they were actors in a movie, because they were famous. This was completely different.

Though I've seen both of the main actors in other works, I was completely immersed in this story. Let's start with the locations, the architecture, the cinematography. The film was full of shades of blue, fog, mist, and water, all that gave the strong feeling of calm, quiet, and mystery. The house on the lake, I think anyone would want to live there. The house, far from everyone and everything, gave the feeling of loneliness, and to a certain, degree, depression. The character of Kim Eun Ju (Jun Ji Hyun) was just full of loneliness. She'd been unsuccessful in love, wasn't doing too well in moving on, and if I'm honest, a little irritating in that she wanted to hold on to her putz of a husband. Han Sung Hyun (Lee Jung Jae) gave off the vibe of a real loner. Someone told him early on that he needed to learn how to open his heart. He seemed perfectly content in his solitary life, yet something was missing.

The two communicate across time, and Sung Hyun even addressed the improbability in that Cola, the cutest dog ever, was in two places at once. We get to know these two better through their correspondence and I really hoped there would be a happy ending for them.

The haunting song, Must Say Goodbye, was played throughout this movie, sometimes instrumental, sometimes with words. It was beautiful and went perfectly with the movie.

I would probably not rewatch this movie, since I know what happens, but I would definitely recommend it. A warning, this is a slow movie. Not much happens, but in a world that seems to be moving at warp speed, it was nice to sit back and enjoy the slow ride.

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Finding and chasing your dreams

Spoilers (slight) at the end -

This was a take-off of The Devil Wears Prada. However, here we get some of the back story as to why the Devil Boss is the ways she is. It totally humanized her, and I found that her story arc was my favorite of the whole show.

The romance was somewhat cute, but I found myself with SLS. I think it was because the FL kept referring to the ML as a puppy, and he just seemed somewhat immature to me. They were a cute couple, but I didn't see much chemistry.

As for the FL, I think I could have warmed to her more if they hadn't made her so bumbling. Constant rookie mistakes that would have gotten her fired, talking back to bosses (which also would have gotten her fired), and the clumsiness were all a bit much.

The potential rival for the ML's affections was a nice change of pace. The usual formula wasn't used here, which I appreciated.


NOW FOR THE RANTING SPOILERS:
This really irritated me. So, the guy kisses her on the forehead, and she is already planning their wedding?! I notice that they tend to do this a lot in Japanese dramas. She can't even ask him to define their relationship. It's called communication, people. But the thing that irked me more than that, this is a woman that had no goals to speak of, finally gets a "dream" and breaks up with him when he is leaving Tokyo to go into the family business! This, to me, made everything we went through a waste of time. I was also bothered how she "saw" him everywhere. It was her choice to break up. Why does it have to be one or the other - a career OR a relationship? Could they have tried to make it work.? Having had a career that was the major focus of my life, at the expense of my relationship - I've discovered that you can't bank on a career.

Another thing that REALLY irritated me, and this happens ALL THE TIME in Asian shows - the time jump. The guy decides that he really wants to pursue photography (this didn't make sense to me because he was already a professional photographer) so we went to Cambodia for three years and didn't contact her ONCE!?!?!?! Granted, phones didn't play a central part in this drama as much as they do in others, but with technology what it is, there is no reason to fall off the grid for years at a time.

Overall, I found this to be a cute and easy show to watch. The romance was lacking chemistry, but I found the Devil Boss storyline to be fresh and well-written.

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Beautifully done

This was a lovely story about love and loss. About how things in our lives can form our characters and affect decisions we make. Mei was the perfect example of this. A tragedy in her life sent her running and she was making some bad decisions. She said herself that she didn't like who she had become.

I really liked how the friends re-connected and enjoyed each other's company. Kota was instrumental in this, and he saw the importance of them leaning on and supporting each other.

The show had the perfect balance of past and present, enough time in the past to know what was happening, but, as Kota said, "not looking in the past". They all realized that the past couldn't be changed but saw the importance of living in the present and following your heart.

I do have to say that the very last scene was a disappointment for me. The friends had all gotten back together again, but what Mei was looking at made me feel like she was still trapped in the past. Possibly not, but that's the way I saw it.

This is a drama that is well worth a watch. Depending upon how much of a crier you are, I suggest you have tissues handy.

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Sweet Japanese adaptation

This was a cute adaptation of She Was Pretty. There were a few minuses for me, but overall, I enjoyed it.

Male lead wasn't nearly as awful in this version. The first few episodes, yes, but then even when he was being a little mean to her, it was because of her work, plus I think he was trying to come to terms with his feelings for her. I really liked that he liked her before her transformation.

In every version of this show, I've had a problem with the friend and what she did. I mean, true friends don't do that. In this version, it bothered me even more, because she just let it get out of hand. And then when she was running away to avoid talking to her friend, that was just too childish.

I didn't have SLS in this version at all, he was just too immature.

One thing about Japanese shows, they spend a LOT of time apologizing to each other. It seemed especially prevalent in this show.

As with most other Asian dramas, there was the obligatory time jump, which I hate. It's always, "I love you and can't live without you, but I'm leaving for a couple of years. See ya!" It was a cute ending, but very rushed.

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Fun movie!

Sometimes you want to watch something that will only take a couple of hours of your time. I was concerned at the beginning of this movie, because it didn't suck me in right away, but I'm glad I hung in there. At about the 15-minute mark it really took off.

Kim Young Kwang as Woo Soo Han is really good. He appeared to be such an idiot, but the writers were able to throw in a few surprises that I didn't see coming. I got a couple of clues of his comedic timing in The Secret Life of My Secretary, and there were numerous laugh-out-loud moments in this movie, from him as well as from others in the cast.

The lead actors had excellent chemistry with one another, in an unexpected way. I don't want to give anything away, but suffice it to say, I was glad to hear that they will be making a Mission Possible 2.

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Thank goodness the episodes were short

I don't mind cliches. Actually, to a certain degree, you can't, if you watch Asian drama. Original storylines are few and far between. However, this drama took the typical new girl/most popular boy and ran with it until I felt like I was parked right in the middle of "Cliche Central". He was the most popular boy in school - we get it. All the girls are falling all over him, they are constantly talking about how much they like him, they are selling tickets to win a date with him, and he's given a ring to 99 different girls. To me, this made the girls seem ridiculous and the male lead look like a jerk. There wasn't any evidence to show how he came to like the new girl and why he was willing to give up his playboy ways. I kept waiting for the obligatory "I bet my friend that I could get you to like me, it started out as a joke," but that never happened. Plus, it's a high school drama, but these kids barely ever went to class. There were festivals, planning for festivals, hanging out on a bench, meeting in a secret room, but not much learning going on. Why did she like him? Never really got that either.

I found the acting in this to be bad, especially by the female lead. She spent a lot of time with a look on her face like she was in pain. Was it an editing issue? Sometimes her facial expressions didn't even go with the story line. That was odd.

So, it's an easy and quick watch if you just want something mindless and you don't expect much.

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Is a little chemistry too much to ask?

I found it difficult to suspend disbelief enough to believe that her parents would let her stay by herself to go to school, with Kugayama Shusei living right next door. THEN, there wasn't any build up to their relationship, it was suddenly just there. The main couple was cute together, but I didn't feel any chemistry between them. Poor excuses for kisses, they just looked so fake and awkward. The yelling of the male actors was irritating, it just looks like overacting. Sexism is alive and well in Japanese dramas - the male rating the female on a scale of 1-100, talking to everyone about her looks and lack of boobs - not cool.

Yosuke Sugino as Kugayama Shusei was good. He's got that quiet, deep-thinking thing going on. He was the high point of this movie for me.

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Cute, but nothing special

The male lead was a complete jerk, and I didn't like him talking about sex all the time. It made him seem like too much of a scumbag.

Female lead was written in such a way that she wasn't a doormat, which was refreshing.

The timing of the story was uneven. Not enough for us to see why they liked each other and then the obligatory breakup. I did like her standing up for herself.

I was disappointed in the ending. I felt that she gave up something that was important to her, to be with him. She says at the end that they are high school sophomores?!?! Too much going on for them to be that young. His confession was sweet, and long overdue.

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Easy watch even if you're a scaredy cat

This show had a good premise. I can't watch things that are going to scare me, and I took a chance just because it was a movie. I figured, less chances to be scared. The first few minutes have some scary stuff, but after that it was fine. The concept of ghosts having unfinished business, and a person that can see and interact with ghosts, if it's done right, it can be very entertaining. I'm kind of on the fence about this one. Would it have been better as a series? I don't necessarily think so, because the story was simple and straightforward enough for it to be told in movie form.

I think where this fell short for me was the writing, the directing, the acting, and the sound quality. It felt a lot like I was watching someone's attempts to make a movie for a grade at school. The acting was stiff; however, I don't think that can necessarily be blamed entirely on the actors. The writing and the directing were clunky and didn't flow naturally. Add to that that multiple times the microphones didn't appear to be in the right spot, and this just seemed like the efforts of a beginner team.

It was an okay watch, and I was grateful that it WASN'T a series, because it didn't take up too much of my time.

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