Warm and Cozy (2015)

Warm and Cozy is a je-ne-sais-quoi type of drama. It has a simple plot that everyone has watched many times if they love romantic comedies. Yet, it is alluring and I found myself wanting to watch more despite there was no real plot. The last episodes are nice too, but there's a lot of parallels that drag the thing a little. I found the small world of Jeju and his funny and eccentric inhabitants, quite like the tvshow Gilmore Girls. It has a similar humor, and I found myself laughing a bit. The obstacles the various characters had to face were also not so big and everything was generally quite calm. It is a drama one should watch to keep their spirits up, because it is a light kind of watch. If you like simple romantic comedies with a push and pull relationship and with love triangles (and quadrangles), you will enjoy this.

Acting wise, I believe the couple Kang So Ra/Yoo Yeon Seok had great chemistry. Their first kiss left me a bit mmmh, but then they make up for it. I like when Korean actors are able to act kissing scenes well. After all, it is censorship that limitates the passion during a romantic kiss, but the actors do that as a job and I suppose they also know how to kiss. Back to the couple, they were cute and I felt they were comfortable around each other. The other actors were also okay. I didn't like how some delivered their lines, but I can't have it all...

In the music department, the OST got stuck in my head. They played the songs a lot, that is probably why. They were likeable, especially "Butterfly" and the one by Hyorin.

Overall, I would rewatch this if I am bored because it is not a tough drama. But I would not define this a masterpiece because the plot has been used and overused in kdrama land. Honestly, I expected more from Hong sisters but I don't dislike what they have created.

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I really loved this drama so much. I found it so sweet; from the the lead romance to the side romances as well. I've seen a lot of criticism about the male lead being lacking as a character, but regardless, I still liked this drama. I also really liked the aesthetic & everything that was portrayed about Jeju Island. Everything was just so beautiful! But the actors, the storyline - everything was really lovely. I don't normally have the urge to watch dramas twice, but with this, I do! I'm sad but so happy for the end of this drama. These last two episodes were fairly well done too, I feel. Second last episode gave a lot of feels inside of the leads' romance, and then the last episode really did conclude everything quite nicely. Nothing was hanging in there, & everything fit pretty nicely. I'm also glad that we got to see more of the main romance past reconciliation + rekindling, to the point where they are thinking about their future and what they would like to have together.

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This was worth a one-time watch. That being said, there were several flaws in this story that I just didn't care for, though. I liked the main actress, Kang So Ra as Lee Jung Joo very much, but I wasn't such a big fan of the lead Yoo Yeon Seok as Baek Geon Woo all the time. I understand why he was fit for this role though. Geon Woo was not always a likable character for me. By episode 4, I was actively starting to dislike him and was almost holding out hope for the Mayor. I don't know if that was the writer's intention, but I just barely warmed up to Geon Woo when he finally started to mature a little bit. . Although I really liked Jung Joo, both she and Geon Woo were confusing with each other most of the time which was frustrating. The second lead, Mok Ji Won, was also hard to watch. She was a very unlikable character - but, in her case, that was intentional. The push/pull between the leads was nearly just too much for me. Although I did watch and somewhat enjoy the whole series, I would not re-watch. I thought Geon Woo was pretty immature for most of the series, so I had a hard time with Jung Joo faithfully liking him. A couple of scenes in particular really were hurtful. I thought the secondary romance was a good one, and would liked to have seen that explored more, but it probably would have been too much if they had. Some of the backstory was also a little confusing (especially Jung Joo's family realations.) and I'm positive there are some massive plot holes, but if you can overlook most of that, maybe you might enjoy this in spite of yourself.

I know I sound very critical, but it was still enjoyable in spite of the difficulties I had. Kang So Ra makes this worth it in the end!

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Gives you a good and romantic feeling

I have seen this drama twice and have always felt the same way -- believe and hope in love. Yoo Yeon Seok has portrayed his role well and very natural. After seeing him in other drama and movie of different genre, he can really pull a role like this with ease. Kang So Ra suits Yeon Seok as lead role, both in screen look and acting aspects.

I like how simple the story revolved in a small setting or locality yet tackles many themes -- family, relationships, choices, business, community, support system, and the like. The choice of location for the drama is very interesting for foreigners and gives us ideas of what to visit when in Jeju.

The whirlwind romance is not stressful unlike other drama. Yet makes you look forward to every episode. The infusion of culinary in the plot gives a different to viewers - apart from living up to the title 'warm and cozy'.

The pacing of the story is just right. No hurried or dragging scenes in any episodes. No wonder I can re-watch it again (after watching it twice already).

I hope you enjoy this drama as much as I have and will continue to!

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Warm and Cozy is like a field of weeds with a few pretty flowers; you're not sure if those few flowers are worth labelling the field as "pretty" or if, on the contrary, the field should be called "ugly" because it's basically just weeds. In other words, it's difficult to say if this drama is worth watching or not.

At first, I liked this drama best for its fun simplicity. It was "warm and cozy" at the beginning as well as at the end. The OST was also nice to listen to, almost soothing. This drama feels like an open love letter to Jeju-do with food as its main theme. What not to like really?!

Unfortunately, problems reared their heads around episode 10 and stayed until episode 14 or so. All the dragginess and useless overcomplication made the drama lose most of its appeal. It felt as if the writers were suddenly displeased with doing simple and decided to overdramatize everything. A 12-episode format would have fitted this drama way better in my opinion.
Because of these problems, it's easy to get frustrated by the main couple but thankfully other characters are here to save the show. Except Mok Ji Won who is awfully one-dimensional, her character is so awful that I'm not sure if the actress that played her was really bad or if she did really well with what she was given. Overall the acting was good but I wasn't totally sold by it; my main complaint lied with the kiss scenes that felt so stiff it took away most of the charm of the scenes (thankfully it got better in the end).

To conclude, the Hong sisters didn't try very hard with the plot and although there are a few gems here and there, the drama is "warm and cozy" but in a very forgettable way. It's an enjoyable watch during a lazy summer week, nothing more. A nice little summer fling.

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If I had finished Warm and Cozy when I originally started it, I probably would have rated it higher. I felt like I took forever to complete this drama, which is so weird, because when I had originally started watching it, I marathoned right through, up until ep 13-14.

Warm and Cozy is a super cute and fluffy drama, but it is extremely frustrating. Baek Geon Woo is an absolute asshole, his level of assholery is too a whole new level. I found myself wondering why Lee Jung Joo liked him in the first place. But that's not even what irritates me to no end. The fact that these people are HORRIBLE AT COMMUNICATION. I don't think I've ever come across a drama where the level of communication was SO BAD. Omg, like the simplest things are misunderstood. Simple communication would fix 99% of the problems within this drama. Also, this is a drama where you'll definitely root for the second male lead, but u just know that he's not gonna get the girl. Jung Joo is kind of an idiot, but w/e, she loves who she loves.

A downside to this drama is that it's completely forgettable. I don't even know how long it had been since I watched it, but I picked it back up recently and just wanted to continue from where I left off. Like I said, I was at ep 13-14. And I had forgotten nearly everything. It was extremely annoying that this drama didn't provide clips of the previous episodes so people could refresh their memories. But w/e, I finally finished it and imo it really isn't a bad drama per say. It's just frustrating and annoying. It has its moments of 'awwwwwww' and it can be actually really cute and sweet. And there was a happy ending as well, plus I wasn't annoyed that the two mains ended together. It was really cute, but I just can't bring myself to rate it higher. Definitely NOT a must-see, but if u feel like passing time on a drama, go ahead n watch.

Sidenote: the music is really cute and catchy. Fits the drama really well.

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WAC wasn't a horrible drama, but I expected more. The story line wasn't new...rich guy, poor girl. I thought that some of the plots was good in that he helps her because he thinks she is terminally ill. Seriously cute and funny. I would have dropped this though if it weren't for the actors. It was pretty boring at times and it seemed like the writer threw the story line together trying to make it interesting. I can't post spoilers, but this is a pretty regular plot of parent issues that cause the children problems. At least the step-siblings don't hate each other.

Kang So Ra is one of my favorite actresses and she doesn't fail as Lee Jung Jo. Actually, her character was very likable. Yoo Yeon Seok is adorable as Baek Geon Woo and I liked his character also. He wasn't that much of a spoiled rich jerk. Then there is the most lovable mayor played by Kim Sung Oh. ***insert fan-girling here***

The music was nice.

I won't ever rewatch this.

If you are into a light romance, then this is an ok watch.

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Overall:
Warm & Cozy offers nothing special, but if you are interested in Jeju island and cooking, you might find it worthwhile. If aimless, slow pacing , non-existent love chemistry and an uninspired story bother you, then you might want to skip this one.

The positives:
- Jeju looks beautiful and they've gone through a lot of trouble to make the film setting look warm & cozy.
- Mouthwatering food is being prepared and consumed in many scenes.
- One of the side character romance storylines is quite funny and interesting.
- The production value seems high, everything looks and sounds polished.

The negatives:
- The main characters lacked chemistry. At some points it was practically dead... (not good in a kdrama!)
- The story is very strange, jumping from one genre to the next and never really going anywhere.
- There are many dream sequences that just ruin the atmosphere.
- The female lead relies too much on weird, exaggerated facial expressions.
- Although there are romantic things going on all over the place, you never FEEL that something romantic is going on. Especially in the latter part of the drama things begin to feel too much like "fan service".

In the end a 6.5 rating might seem kind of brutal, but for me it comes down to whether I keep watching a drama from start to finish, craving the next episode, or if I end up dropping off midway. This drama I dropped 3 times. I wanted to finish it just to finish. I did not care about the characters or the ending. I think people who are new to kdramas might enjoy this one, because it is lukewarm, looks pretty and doesn't really challenge you in any way. For those of us who have seen +100 kdramas this might feel rather soulless, shallow and pointless.

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As most reviews point out, the casting and their performances are great but the writing/story gets boring easily, or at least when it comes to the main couple. It's almost completely 16 episodes of push and pull. Some people think that's cute or keeps the tension alive, but it still feels dragged. While the reasons for the push and pull make sense, I can't say I feel satisfied with how it was executed.

The male lead was way random at times. At times he seemed to have matured from his past irresponsible chaebol upbringing but at other times he regressed back to them. He took too long to figure things out and act responsibly. On the contrary, his brother was much faster about things and from the moment he realized his feelings, he revealed them and was consistent about it. The male lead dragged some issues too long and lead on two people in the process for longer than he should have which created several problems between all three of them and the people around them, for the wrong reasons.

The premise was ok but the execution was not. I'd have liked the story better if it had progressed a different way that resolved some issues earlier and left others for the latter part, than drag on both till the very end and have abrupt resolutions to them without any aftermath which felt like a half-assed approach.

I know it all sounds very vague, but i didn't want to spoil specific details about this for anyone willing to watch it.

The setting in Jeju and the premise of a chaebol turned Chef and a good one at that, was a good one. It could have been a much more interesting drama had it progressed differently.

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What started out as an ok drama soon went downhill. There was times where the choices of the character was so petty and foolish that I wanna just quit the whole thing, To say the least, towards the last few episodes the director was just dragging pointless plots to fill in the 16 episode mark. So much so that I was just skipping scenes, as they were just beyond testing my patience and intelligence. One of the worst dramas I've seen, and the food wasn't a focus in this drama. No match for the Let's Eat series.
Trust me, if you don't want to regret about time wasted, just skip this one! You're most welcome!

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