I thought I'd try this one because I needed something with a strong female character after Wok of Love. And I kept seeing a bit of episode 2 posted on Facebook where Choi Ae Ra (Kim Ji Won) is in some kind of feisty argument with a bunch of douchebags in suits (you don't know exactly why from the clip, but now I do and yeah, they totally deserved what they got) and one of them hits her right as her best guy friend since forever (going back 20 years), Dong Man, shows up. And kicks butt. Like, flying roundhouse kicks in the air. Didn't know Park Seo Joon had it in him (or does someone do stunts for him? I dunno).
Anyway, to start in a more reasonable place, there are four friends. Dong Man, Ae Ra and the two I haven't mentioned yet: Ahn Jae-hong as Kim Joo-man and Song Ha-yoon as Baek Seol-hee. The show says it's about the four of them but it's pretty obvious (I'm about to start the 4th episode) that Dong Man and Ae Ra are the main focus.
The four have been friends since they were little kids. They all had different dreams growing up--Dong Man wanted to be a force in Taekwondo. Ae Ra wanted to be a television announcer. Seol-hee wanted to be a wife. And...er...I forget what Joo-man wanted. Something. Sorry, dude.
But they grew up and now they're mostly feeling like losers, except for the guy that I can't remember what he wanted. He's not doing that, whatever that was, but he is a salaryman and doing the best out of all of them. He and Seol-hee have been dating for 6 years. But they aren't married yet (her dream) and she's working as a customer service rep in the same company Joo-man is at and not really treated all that well there. It's obvious that their plot issue is that a new intern at the company has set her sites on Joo-man (they're hiding their dating anyway, so it's not like she would have known he's taken, so at this point in the show I'm not blaming her or anything). Funnily enough, it's the same actress that played Secretary Kim's replacement.
As for Dong Man, he's working as a pest control guy and has a horrible supervisor that dumps all the work on him. And Ae Ra works at the information desk at a department store. Something horrible (no idea what yet) happened in the past that made Dong Man give up martial arts. Not sure why Ae Ra hasn't tried to go after her dream. Lack of confidence? Which seems strange, as she's quite plucky. I like her. Though it's also obvious that Dong Man is starting to realise he likes her as more than just a best friend and she's in the methinks she doth protest too much phase.
Anyway, not too far in yet in this 16 part drama, but I really like it so far. The acting is good. So far the story and pacing are good as well and you care about the characters quickly. In fact, I might like Park Seo Joon even more in this one than in Secretary Kim. You want to give him a hug.
Man, I feel old. They're all such babies. I'm, like, 15 1/2 years older than him. Sigh. Yeah, I don't feel bad calling him adorable. At least I'm not old enough to be his mom. That's something.
As an aside, yeesh, it'd be nice to find some nice romantic dramas with actors in their 40's...
Edit: About to start episode 12 and oh man, I really love this one. Perhaps even more than Because this is My First Life. Park Seo Joon is just adorable in this one (MMA fighter or not) and I love the chemistry between him and Kim Ji Won. Dong Man is such a great character. He's not perfect, but he's just right. Park Seo Joon plays him perfectly. Such a crush, man. Now I keep adding kdramas to my list because I want to see him in more things. I am seriously a sucker for awkwardness in a romance. I don't fall for suave. Haha, husband case in point. Though he could pick up some lines from Dong Man, because I could use some romance in my life. As Joo-man says, sometimes things get dull after too much time and goodness knows we've been together for a long, long time. More years than we've been alive separately.
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| Adorable Awkwardness |
Edit: HAHAHAH OMG too funny. Ae Ra is supposed to come over for possible, er, next level stuff. Dong Man literally gets a drill to make sure his bed is put together solidly. I am dying. That and the Febreeze as body spray.
Edit: Finished it. I really love this one. I wouldn't call it perfect, but it also had no glaring false notes (like the very end of Because This is My First Life, which is still awesome even with that) and nothing that made me groan. If I ever watched it again I would probably skip episode 15 because, man, that one wrecked me. Park Seo Joon really hit that one out of the park. But I wouldn't mind watching it again because it was that good.
I didn't love that Dong Man and Ae Ra had to break up, even if it was for a relatively short time (and he comes back in episode 16 to say, hey, let's just skip all the trying to date and maybe breaking up thing and just get married because I can't live without you) but I get it for story reasons. And it was in keeping with their characters, so I'm ok. Also okay with how things wound up with Joo-man and Seol-hee getting back together as it was also realistic for their characters. Even when they were split, they had never stopped loving each other. But the time apart did give Seol-hee to gain some confidence in herself and for Joo-man to re-evaluate how they had spent their time together up until that point.
The last episode did feel a little rushed BUT the majority of things were wrapped up enough that it was a good finish. I wouldn't have minded more of an epilogue, but that's okay. It's more that you, as the viewer, want to see more of the characters and more of the after because you like them so much.
Definitely a keeper.
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