Shopping King Louie (2016)

What a refreshing and light-hearted drama series! Honestly, it surpassed my expectations and proved once again how you can't judge a tv show based on the written plot.

Personally, I started watching this for 2 main reasons. First of all, Seo In Guk is the male lead and he definitely played a completely different character than usual. Second, this drama had a very high rating in the romance category. However, it was not as good as suggested but not as shabby as described in the storyline. If I had to describe the drama in short terms, I'd say that this is a "filler drama". You know, it's one of those daily dramas that you watch as you're waiting for an epic drama to drop. Yes, it's filled with many cliches that are known to the every Kdrama fan's core. Yes, the whole story and characters seem absurd and unrealistic. But we shouldn't forget that this was made for entertainment purposes and we shouldn't judge it so harshly. To be clear, this had sad scenes as well as amazing comedy and fluffy romance scenes - a bit of everything to create an unforgettable drama. The actors did an amazing job as well. So many recognizable faces too like Nam Ji Hyun, Uhm Hyo Sub. Just as I mentioned before, it was super weird seeing Seo In Guk turning into a complete scatterbrain, but it weirdly fit him. Nothing special about the OST nor have I found anything to add about rewatch the series. There are just so many episodes and in my opinion, the last couple of episodes were completely unnecessary, so I started losing interest at the end.

All in all, if you're a fan of good acting and light romcom series, this drama is definitely for you!

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Typical amnesia drama

If you have watched the actress's "100 Days My Prince" then it is almost the same. Rich kid loses memory, ends up with poor girl who takes care of him, and the rich kid is incapable of doing anything other then spending money and sometime does some cool dude things, which steal the girl's heart. This drama's got a less serious tone to it but the basic premise is almost the same.

The best part of this drama was the music and that's all. I didn't see anything that I haven't already seen somewhere else. The acting was sub-par, the story was so-so and the comedy was ok. I didn't like the boring character of the female lead. The male lead didn't really have any charms either. The villains were jokes.

All things said the story was somewhat well paced and not too draggy. Showed minimal flashbacks. The general vibe of the drama was cute.

It's an ok watch if you have nothing else to watch and need to kill time. Not a masterpiece, but it's ok.

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It is such a cute, fluffy drama. Though choosing amnesia in the plot might sound cliche but i would embrace it for this drama. It's really really so cute. The cast is amazing. I was so amazed by seo in guk ability of playing such a character, if you see him, he is tall and gives off the cold guy vibes for me. But, during the drama he was cupcake, cute lil puppy. You don't get it. I really love the story though doesn't implies in real life but it does shows the aspects of being moved from a moutain side place to city...that's what happed to our lead, she did an extraordinary job too. I was really moved by the acting, i remember crying here and there.
Its funny, slow burn romance you can say, i really love the supporting roles too, they have their stories too, there exists a triangle, but it's easy to get over the syndrome, rich girl-poor guy yk concept.

On the final note, all ends well...it's has a happy ending...it's just so underrated. I hope it helps. Byeee enjoy!!

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This was fairly entertaining, it did not feel like time wasted. That said there were some cliche moments & some unnecessary plot developments. The second male lead definitely overstayed his welcome, the actor had the exact same character in I Can Hear Your Voice, but here he had a LOT more screen time.(I hate forced triangles) This feels like the same sub genre of romantic comedy that Secretary Kim & Oh My Venus belong to, but the writing is definitely inferior. For example I was anticipating the moment of Rui returning to work after his identity is known to everyone, but they completely messed up the timing with the "OH noez Bok Nam is dead, let's separate for life" plotline , so the comedy of that anticipated moment was completely destroyed for no conceivable reason what so ever. The ending is a bit of a mess too, it is supposed to be one of those 3 hour long happy endings, where everyone is getting the happiness they deserve, but then the focus has shifted to some side characters that I did not much care about and even for them I was like WHAAAT is happening at times, like how Mari's story ended on a sour note, or how that SooBin cameo has turned out.

I listed many negatives, none the less this is still a great show. There were about 4-5 truly outstanding episodes & they did not drag out the stupid shit too much. I'm also surprised how I did not figure out the obvious meaning of Kobashi, I was embarrassed about my mind being blown in that big reveal scene at end, which was a pretty great way to end the show too.
Kim Byung Chul surprised me, at first I couldn't even recognize him being the same actor that played the main villain in Goblin. Such a great supporting actor! I'm suspecting that the gene that makes certain Koreans look like rock fishes, or blow fishes help them with acting somehow.

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first of all, this drama had the cutest fluffy romance ever. The couple both Louis and ko bok sil (as characters) are so soft and innocent. This drama is not something that will shook you or make you wonder about love. This drama is something really different. though, this drama does have many clichés like amnesia (memory loss), car crash, blah, blah & blah. BUT, this drama has so much perfection and beauty, like it's a simple and easy going drama but its not at all boring. Initially, I was like I would not like this drama or couple but still it works!!

I was so impressed with the acting of the characters and their roles were amazing. And omg!! Louis does speak English s well, that made me fall for him even more. The way he speaks English is just so adorable.

This drama also tells us various life lessons like if something is meant for you, it will come to you eventually. AND destiny is so powerful, believe in it and it will help you meet with the right person at the rightest time and another thing which is depicted in every drama is the significance of karma.

Overall, watch this show if you like
- cute fluffy soft innocent romance
- rich people things
- easy going light drama

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Interesting Story & Good Performance by Seo In-guk

Love the fact that they use American and European songs in the soundtrack in addition to Korean songs: She by Elvis Costello, 2 songs by Bruno Mars, A Whole New World from Disney's Aladdin movie, Be My Baby by the Ronettes, Can't Smile Without You by Barry Manilow, Memory by Barbra Streisand, The Winner Takes It All by Abba, My Way by Frank Sinatra, When You Wish Upon a Star from Disney's Pinocchio movie, and even All You Need Is Love (but not sung by the Beatles). The music director of the series must be a Baby Boomer ?
(Fun fact: the song She by Elvis Costello was also played in SML Yoon Sang-hyun's prior show in 2010, Secret Garden, in which Hyun Bin was the ML)

Predictable rom-com plot: Rich boy, poor girl, heir to a conglomerate, love triangle, initial parental interference, ML appears out of nowhere with an umbrella to cover FL in unexpected rainy weather, villain confesses and/or goes to jail at the end, FL and ML unbeknownst to them had met when they were children (plot also seen in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, 100 Days My Prince, Cinderella and the Four Knights, Moon Embracing the Sun, Hometown Cha Cha Cha). Nothing is outstanding or unique in this show, but enjoyable nonetheless.

This is the first time I've watched Seo In-guk and conclude that his acting skills demonstrated in this 2016 show have potential. I will watch him in his latest show, Cafe Minamdang (2022) next to see if his acting has improved.

I have previously seen FL Nam Ji-hyun in 100 Days My Prince and feel that she has grown in her acting abilities.

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Despite its flaws in the storyline, I found myself loving this drama. The amnesia thing was very cliche but there were some points that made it unique.

The characterization of Louis was fine but it was annoying me sometimes because what he had was amnesia but he was acting like he went bonkers.

I LOVED THE OST EVEN THE INSTRUMENTALS AHHHH A+

I will definitely watch this again because it is such a feel good series. It made me feel warm and I loved every moment Bok Sil and Louis made.

BONUS POINTS FOR FRAMING AND COLOR GRADING!!! I am such a sucker for nice views and pastel colors.

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It was OK

This was such an odd series. I struggled to get past the first 4 episodes, when they are either getting beaten, robbed, scammed, etc. In fact, I think I skipped Ep 3 as it was getting to be too much. But once it hit its stride around Ep 5/6 it was cute and worth watching. Has one of the most eclectic OSTs ever, whoever curated the music was either crazy or a genius or both. I didn't care much for the ML or his character, but to each his own. And the FL character seemed forced and unrealistic. But the supporting cast was great with many familiar faces: Kim Gyu Chul is a standard in Historical Dramas and delivers another standout performance as the greedy Mr. Baek. "National Grandma" Kim Young Ok does her thing with aplomb (seeing her in heels was odd, to me, though). And the utter shock of seeing Chae Soo Bin in a cameo role at the end was wonderful (one of my fave actresses). What's funny is I'm also watching "Once Again" and many of these actors are in that show too, LOL. When they tied up all the loose ends (oddly in Ep 15 and not the finale) I wish they had addressed MaRi & InSung. The lead's ending was not unsatisfying without a wedding and seemed fitting. Rewatchability? I dont' think so, but I don't regret watching it.

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Unpopular opinion: Seo In Guk is terrible

My first moments with the drama were very positive. I thought to myself "wow there are such a crazy characters here that my cheeks will soon hurt from laughing". Yes .... the beginnings were good, but unfortunately it finished here. Till it's half, the drama was pretty cool, refreshing and had an interesting concept, but the weirdness and crazines of the characters started to bother me and I ended up disliking the drama.

Characters are the biggest problem here - not the story. Most of them are weird to the far extend, from clothes to behavior. A little weirdness in the show is never a bad thing, but when we have 5 or 6 characters who are constantly doing something out of this world - Hudson we have a problem ? The problem of repetition that ceases to be funny. This goes also to the dumb-silly faces that Louis presents throughout the series, 2-3 episodes with the occasional expressive facial expression? OK .... But 16 and it goes more and more per episode? Sorry but I can't take it.

Louis was too childish, Bok Shil was too pathetic, Cha Joong-Won was too weird, Baek Ma-Ri was too self absorbed. Only grandma Choi (holy Kim Young-Ok) was acceptable and nice to watch. I had never seen a drama where I didn't like any of leads or almost all secondary characters. It was my first drama with Seo In Guk and he was so bad that I will never come back to his performances. People praise him for doing an amazing job in the drama which I completly don't understand.

Shopacholic Louis isn't the best and in general I wouldn't recommend it. There are much better dramas out there.

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I enjoyed this show. Truly all the actors/actresses do a great job and the story is just unique enough to feel different even though there are some major drama tropes that are often used in the series. The music is different from what I expected because so much of it is in English and that was neat in some respects, but as I wasn't a fan of all the songs chosen also a bit distracting for me at times. But that isn't anything against the show...just my music preferences.

My only real issues with this drama is the "childlike" aspect of Louis. It was understandable at first because he was so "lost", but it felt like he never grew up and, for me, that got annoying. He could make adult decisions and do all the things that an adult needs to do (solve problems, care for his family, work, etc), but his mannerisms were often SO childlike that I found it uncomfortable.

Overall though, this is a drama that I liked and as I mentioned before, the entire cast is fantastic, so you really can't go wrong with this one.

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A Rom-Com that we've been searching for all our lives.

This drama was an absolute joy to watch. It was never boring or dragged. The writers really knew what they were doing with this storyline. Gotta give it to Seo In Guk for his acting chops and Nam Ji Hyun always comes through no matter what role she's playing.

While I successfully made it through the first 2 episodes, my anxiety had already hit the roof. I was always worried about the either of them getting scammed at any given moment, and guess who got scammed by the next two episodes *sigh*
The most lovable factor about this show was how they highlighted that money is important for survival but not important enough to let go of your principles.
Although it sounds like a heavy concept, every episode was outlined and overlapped with comedy. This subtlety has me in awe. This is the kind of drama I look forward to at the end of a stressful day.
Their kisses were magical and absolutely cute, although I will always hate the fact how the female lead is so shy, it grates on my nerves.
But then again it's a K-drama so I guess I'll just have to let it slide.
The second leads were good enough but I wish their character had some substance too. It would have been nice to see them evolve as well and not hung over one person, cause it sort of made me uninterested when it came to their scenes and how they pined over their crush.
The timing for unraveling the suspense was perfect, it didn't make me impatient enough to stop watching the drama or skip some scenes. The consistency of this drama definitely deserves an applause.
The last episode was way too boring though, as much as I'm a sucker for happy endings, this didn't make me all fluttery and happy, it seemed like just another episode. Since the other episodes were interesting enough maybe I expected more from the last one too.
All in all, this light hearted drama is worth watching and it'll make you wonder if watching it once was ebough.

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Skip to episode 11

Story idea/concept (8)
The idea is not groundbreaking, but the shopping concept is interesting.

Script (5)
The writer for some unfathomable reason stretched out the setup over 10 episodes, and then had to hurriedly wrap up the show.

Directing (8)
Was ok
Pacing (7)
Was weakened by the script writers choices

Acting (8)
Male lead always has the same facial expressions in every show I’ve seen him in, with limited range, but the other actors carried the drama.

Wardrobe (8)
Was well done and ok overall.

Sets/Locations (8)
Typical of Kdramas, thank goodness the product placement was not irritating as they can sometimes be in Kdramas

Skip to episode 11, in my opinion that’s when the show finally finds direction. Everything that happens prior is rehashed in subsequent episodes anyway so you don’t really miss much, because the male lead is highly irritating in the early episodes.

Episodes 1 to 10 should have been covered in 3 episodes, episodes 11 to 16 should have been spread out to 13 episodes.

Rewatch Value (2)

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