I understand that the drama is special because it is collaboration between Japan and Korea, and it shows that the relationship between these two countries is complicated, which makes the relationship between the two main characters complicated as well. That’s why I felt that I learned a few things from it, but I wish the conflict had been explored more; that the story had been deeper. I won’t go as far as calling it plot holes, but near enough…
The basic plot is good – two young people from different countries meet and fall in love, only to discover that being in a relationship isn’t always easy. Especially not a long distance relationship, since that is another complication in and of itself. However, I feel that the story was too rushed. Sometimes, the characters did and said things that didn’t quite make sense, and many of the expected misunderstandings and conflicts seemed stupid and plain ridiculous, because it was hard to understand the character’s motivations. If the characters had talked more with each other, and explained their ways of thinking (and not to mention the differences in their respective cultures) it would have been easier to relate to them and that would in turn have made the drama more interesting to watch. I feel that we are expected to understand everything without any explanations, but just like Tomoko, I found myself confused a lot of the time.
I liked the acting, though. The actors did a good job, and this was the first time I watched anything Korean (MDL has labelled this as “Japanese”, but they do speak Korean about half the time) so it was interesting because of that, too.
So, to sum it up: the drama had its good points, the ending was satisfactory and the first episode was excellent. Overall, though, I found it to be a bit disappointing, and I wouldn't want to re-watch it because I would only be annoyed by the same things all over again.
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We can learn a lot of things here..
This drama tells us a lot about the different of Japanese culture and South Korea culture..
It is easy for Tomoko for going to South Korea, because the price in Korea is cheaper than Japan (based on Japanese point of view).
Otherwise, when Ji Hoon wants to meet Tomoko in Japan, he must work hard to earn money to go there.
This drama tells us how both of the main role try to adjust their culture (Tomoko is Japanese, while Ji Hoon is Korean) and to adapt with each mate's culture..
The conflict be more peaked when Ji Hoon parents know that their son has a Japanese girlfriend. Based on the drama, In Japan, maybe it is a common condition when Japanese has a foreign mate. But in Korea, it'll be a big problem.
When i watched this drama, I cried like a baby at the scene where Tomoko and Ji Hoon had to be parted.
But, in the end the can back together and overcome all the problem, especially the problem about different culture..
Honestly, this drama is one of my most favorite Drama.. :D
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As a an old drama fan it is a shame that I have only seen this almost 14 years later when it should have been one of my first dramas. Nonetheless it is better now than never. Once again old dramas never seize to amaze me, watching them 10-14 years later and they win my heart like no recent drama ever does which is why they are special to me. Normally people would think after all that time have passed and after watching so many great dramas, old dramas which are usually full of cliches will never stand a chance but the thing is that is exactly why they win me over and capture my heart because even with all that time they can get my heart fluttering in a way no recent drama will ever do. This rating is nothing compared to how I feel about this drama and how it made me feel, this number is nothing when I think that I actually watched this now in 2016 and it won me over just like that (I'm very tough for a drama to win me over).
4 eps long drama which gave me that depth and that beautiful warm classy feelings that I've missed and longed for such a long long time. Only 4 eps but to me it has accomplished what other dramas with recent filmography could never do, at least not to me.
Friends is a South Korean-Japanese short drama it was the first time in drama history that the two countries collaborated to co-produce the show in both South Korea and Japan. Which makes it even more special. Allow me to say, what a beautiful collaboration! It doesn't get any more beautiful than this.
The story is very simple, about a man and woman from two different worlds met in one place and due to certain circumstances they got to know each other while none of them could speak the other language so communication was a tough mission and yet as a viewer I could see that they were communicating very well through their eyes, I can feel it. I did not feel that they had issues with delivering the way they feel it's like they've clicked the moment they've met and I have clicked with them.
In case some of you don't know about Korea-Japan relationship, this relationship has always been sensitive and still is. Even though things have gotten much better now but there is still that tension between the two countries. This drama was trying to teach us what kind of complications a Korean person and Japanese person could face not just in falling in love with each other but also as people. What it takes for a Korean person at that time to travel to Japan and vice versa. Also culture wise, society, language and most of all family complications. Can love really overcome all that? Considering that both countries value these aspects a lot.
Personally even though I watched this knowing pretty much everything I could know about Korea-Japan history but Friends 2002 still taught me things I wasn't aware of. The most important thing that I got to feel which I never did pay attention to before is the fact that there must have been people from those two countries who actually fell in love with each other despite all these complications, which makes me wonder did they ever get their happily ever after ending?
I loved both main leads here character wise and acting wise I really loved them. I have seen Won Bin before and he is one of the best actors but all I had for him is respect as an actor I never really did warm up to him or fall in love with him. This is the first time I warm up so much to him and I felt I saw something in him here which I never saw in his other projects and that made me happy. However my absolute favourite one and the one who stole my heart RIGHT AWAY is Fukada Kyoko. I can not believe this beautiful lady stole my heart the moment I laid my eyes on her from the very first scene. She was the one who made me feel "I don't know why but I think I'm going to fall in love with this drama" (I watched the drama without reading the synopsis because I simply love to discover things on my own). Fukada Kyoko's way of playing Tomoko forced me to believe her pure innocent way of falling in love (which is very hard to pull off since in real life we always ask ourselves "can there really be such a pure innocent naive love?"). To be honest I really believed her, I believed her feelings, I believed her tears, I believed her innocence, I felt that it was her first love and she was overwhelmed, I felt her confusion and lostness and most of all I really did believe her love as naive as it was. I've never seen an actress who can pull this image so perfectly and so raw and real. Now I can only see her as Tomoko.
Music: Classic, one of those OSTs that I will never forget (it is a given since it belongs to the year 2002). I fell in love with every melody and song here but my favourite is One by Lee So Jung.
I don't rewatch dramas, I have very few that belong to my rewatchable list and this one definitely makes it to the list. It made it to my all time favourite :)
This is a must watch drama only for those who appreciate simple but carries deep meaning kind of story, those who appreciate classics and classic vibes, those who like dramas for the "feels" it delivers and finally those who like to see love overcoming boundaries and to see the bonds that bind people together.
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this movie is trying to make a solidly founded bridge, and telling sincere hearts, no matter how simple can cross and win over all complexities.
All languages are beautiful and have their very own strength, but the strongest and most beautiful of all language is love.
Friendship, purity, sincerity, passion are all its accompaniments.
When Heart and mind match their frequency & waves, when simple souls recognize each other, love can make its own language.
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Love knows no bounds.
What a rare spectacle it is seeing a J-Drama so far removed from the norm; a short story about the chance encounter and eventual love between a Japanese and a Korean despite neither knowing the other's language (nor a common ground language such as English).I relate somewhat personally to this drama as it reminds me of how my parents met (Mom is Canadian, dad is Swedish, email pen pals for the longest time before meeting) so seeing all this in a drama format was really nice.
As I mentioned above, this is a very rare format, I've hardly seen any J-Drama where they leave Japan, let alone have true foreign actors/actresses (meaning not speaking Japanese), it as genuinely really cool to see this drama share practically half of it's screen time with a Korean setting and a Korean cast (who many of you probably know are all rather famous themselves). I like the themes presented in the show too, really gave me a proper grasp on just how bad the Korean Economy was at the time compared to the also poorly performing Japanese (I won't over explain any of it but yes I know the Japanese were MUCH better off still) along with the still present cultural resentment towards the Japanese.
I enjoyed the acting very much, I found the way Tomoko and Ji Hoon communicated through the language barrier very realistic and rather sweet at times.
Overall a very good short drama, I recommend this to absolutely everyone (especially Japanese learners, for obvious reasons, Tomoko uses pretty easy to understand Japanese most of the time)
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