Be Melodramatic (2019)

Fellow Im Jinjoo Kinnies Where We At????

UGH THIS SHOW !!!! MY ABSOLUTE BELOVED !!! I feel like a lot of kdrama comedies who try that 'quirky' 'goofy' style come across as really stale or 'try hard' but this show just exudes natural charm. Literally EVERYONE in this show is INSANE and off the walls weird and I love them for it. It never comes across as forced, like all these characters are just so REAL. The writing just feels so fresh and natural and ugh I love slice of life done right. There's just a breezy feel to watching this drama, the dialogue is sharp, the characters are full of depth, the chemistry between the characters are so fun, and the show is full of bright colors and its very easy to watch. Yeah, the first ep is a bit depressing as it goes into the backstories and motivations of our three leads, but it's incredible how invested I became in these characters and their friendship. I love this silly found family so much they're so <33 Hanjoo, Jinjoo, and Eunjung play off of each other and balance each other so well its not even funny. I especially how Hanjoo and Eunjung and how they work as foils to each other. Hanjoo being the one who, on the outside, seems the weakest and most vulnerable but is full of perseverance like idk how she does it, and Eunjung being the first to want to kill anyone who hurts Hanjoo but who's also bottling all of her issues up and ignoring them like I love the contrast in their characters and how well they work together as besties.

And then there's Im Jinjoo.

Where do you even start with Jinjoo? She's the PERFECT protagonist for this show. I would say personally I think Eunjung and Hanjoo are the most likable of the three leads, and I think that's why Jinjoo works as the protagonist. She's messy, self centered, and just all over the place. She's incredibly stubborn but also fiercely loyal and I do love her for it. She's a hopeless romantic who lives for the drama and can't stand being rejected by someone she dumped a gazillion times but kept coming back to even though she hated him. She's a complete mess of contradictions and she's always trying to rationalize her insane behavior and it's insane how relatable she is. I love getting inside her head and her thoughts about the world cause I just find her so incredibly relatable ugh I love her <33 She's also so annoying I love how annoyed she gets by Beomsoo and decides to clown him through the song he hates and literally mocks he past love through out of key singing in the middle of a public building. I LOVE HER. But I'm with her Beomsoo was an arrogant prick and he and Jinjoo were literally made for each other. They're like the same person and they're so the kind of people who just need to be arguing constantly for no reason and they can so provide that for each other. I love how awkward their loveline was and just how incredibly stupid and cynical they are i love them <3

As other characters go, I loved the rest of the supporting cast, like Somin my BELOVED ! I love her shes so fun as the ditzy actress type and her and Eunjung had such a fun dynamic. Minjoon was a fun love interest for Somin and obviously I can't go with out shouting out Son Seokkoo <3 His weirdo director character was just so ??? Like that guy was actually mentally insane I'm obsessed with him and I love him and Eunjung's dynamic so much they weirdly worked together. I am so glad they kept them platonic though <3

And UGHHH ohh the plots in this show <33 They're just so heartfelt and it's so easy to root for the characters. Like you want to see Eunjung finally tell everyone about what she's going though and stop bottling up all her pain and ohh her backstory broke my heart
There is really nothing like this show like the slice of life vibes have never been this FUN <33 I really just love love this show and all its characters ugh <33

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Short: This was absolutely fantastic! There was humour, there was grief, there was romance, there was everything. Paradoxically, it's like it is a drama written about writing that drama. It was simple, yet complex. Brilliantly acted, fantastic (and humorous) music and a brilliant story. The ending barely matters, this one's about the journey, and it's such a fantastic journey.

Detailed:
What did I just watch?! This was brilliant!

Three women living together in their thirties along with one of the ladies gay brother. Everyone has a story, sometimes the stories come together, sometimes they're quite heavily entwined, some times they're not. Whether it's one of the women who is facing severe grief following the loss of her partner, with moments that will likely have you reaching for the tissues, or another of the women and her hilarious relationship with her director, or the relationship one of them has with a co-worker.

Strong women, strong men. Great characters and brilliant performances by their actors.

The stories all go in different directions and the writer brilliantly crafts the tales to take those stories to places you probably didn't expect by the time they're done.

I really don't want to say too much and undo the writers fantastic work, you just have to watch it.

Very re-watchable too.

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Captivating, quirky and Meta!

Melo Is My Nature/Be Melodramatic is a bundle of surprises. When I started watching, I didn’t expect that I would end up binging it. The first couple of episodes are a bit slow, with the introductions still happening and due to it being very different from the usual dramas you aren’t sure if you’ll love the characters and the story or not, but there are some scenes in the first few episodes that force you to continue. And after that, each episode is only better than the previous one. I was very impressed by the acting and the characters portrayal. Especially when heavy emotions had to be depicted. (Trigger warning: depression, homophobia, emotional and verbal abuse, loss of a loved one)

When it comes to the second half, some dramas which start off well often fail to live up, but this show continued to exceed my expectations. With every passing episode, the characters continue to grow and so much was said in between pauses and silence. Once again, props to acting! So many emotions felt SO real and I often teared up. This is a beautiful drama that you’ll come back to repeatedly.

I’m slightly disappointed with the finale, because there were certain arcs that didn’t go my way, but the writers do a convincing defence on why it actually makes sense and though you might not agree entirely, you can see TID happening as well.

Another favourite of mine was how throughout the drama, it continued to break the fourth wall and parodied some of the lines and scenes from other well known dramas. And of course, the PPL was hilarious and so well done!

If you enjoy watching slice of life dramas or dramas with interesting characters and storyline, you cannot miss out on this. This is easily in my top ten dramas for now.

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I honestly cannot be mad at this show but I’m a visual person so I can’t say I didn’t skip parts of the show because I had more favorite characters than others and it’s whatever. Is this one of my top shows for 2019? Possibly. The storyline of friends and family are my top things with a little bit of romance and I’m not even mad. I liked how they all clicked but you had loss with one girl, figuring themselves out and heart break with another. I shed some tears and felt frustrated all around together honestly. I even cracked up laughing and binged most of it towards the end though. But the beginning of the show was way better than the end, I started to skip through and feel a little bored but it didn’t mean it wasn’t a good show. There just wasn’t anything to make it go crazy or make me go crazy or out of my seat, it’s literally a slice of life when you’re a little older; it shows what happens when you have loss, when you have love, confidence and you’re feeling lost in general. The reason that I adore it all together is because of the emotion it swayed and I felt. I adored the friends, the family and just all around every individual persons story. I loved Eun Jung and Han Joo the most, didn’t really care for Jin Joo and I also loved the gay brother and the kid. Overall good story, acting and music. Would I rewatch? Once is probably enough. But definitely a good show; good for the soul or when you just want to feel. It’s full of mixed emotions and it’s not 10/10 but it’s close.

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Well done. The drama cleverly skewered a number of overused drama tropes. I enjoyed the story arc of each one of the roommates, partcularly that of Lee Eun Jung's, which was moving and poignant. I also loved the Hwan Han Joo character, who is much tougher than you'd think and who has some of the funniest moments. I applaud the drama for casting Ahn Jae Hong as a sought after male lead, even though he doesn't fit the tall, willowly, jawline-that-could-cut-glass stereotype of the usual Korean male lead. Shouldn't all of us choose someone smart and funny like him over Mr. Handsome Arrogant and Smug Chaebol? But this opinion apparently is in the minority in drama-watching land.

Sometimes the humor could be a little slapstick, especially when it involved Im Jin Joo but other parts were laugh out loud funny.

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This drama is simple and light, but that's why it's perfect for me. The story is related to my daily life (apart from the love story), plus I will be 30 years old this year, so I got a lot of things from this drama.

I like every character in this drama. I like it because this drama focuses on the power of women, with all the problems in life.

The character I like who has only been in the last few episodes is Director Hey!. He's weird but warm-hearted. I don't expect the character to have such a twist. I like him.

The ending of the story is also not forced, it flows as if it happened as it is. No romance is forced, which is why I really like this ending.

Overall, this drama is really good! Such an oasis in my hectic daily life.

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This show must be seen by every adult at least once in their life.

This drama is absolutely wonderful. It's a personification of a warm cup of tea when it's beautifully cold and windy and thundery and raining outside, the feeling you get on Saturday night realising that tomorrow is a Sunday and that you get one more day to have fun, the feeling of finding a hidden 100 dollar bill randomly in your wardrobe, the uncontrollable bouts of laughter while sitting with a group of genuine friends, the feeling that you've just encountered the best sunset of your life till date.
The charm of this show is also the unconventional style, with a story about a group of girlfriends that every girl wants to have. This trio truly cares about each other, and they show it in the most subtle yet overwhelming ways possible.
A simple sentence uttered by a character can open your eyes to the kind of person that character is, or tell you all about their story and make you understand them in an instance.
All the clever yet random yet in-your-face product placements were funny as hell, the songs were weird and funny and somehow fit the story well whenever they were used, the idiocy was cute instead of being annoying, the heartfelt moments between the group living together were cute, it was all SO AMAZING!
I fell in love with Jeon Yeo Been all over again. She had amazing chemistry with all her costars, and special mention to the director Son Seok Koo because he was DOWNRIGHT HILARIOUS and left a mark even in the short time he was in the show.
There are several more moments I can clearly recall in the show, that made me laugh out loud abruptly and made me interested in the show more and more.
EASY 10/10. I will MOST DEFINITELY be watching this show again in my life.

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One of my all time favourites

Alright maybe I kind of put too much stars but come on!! You have to watch this one. As a big fan of slice of life dramas (even though I literally like all genres) this is one of the best ones. The stories of all three female leads are different and unique and the roles suit all of the cast members so well.

When watching this drama I both laughed and cried out loud. This drama had such good comedy but it also had so much tragedy. This drama in my opinion portrays different type of goods and bads that people have in everyday life. Also all the couples in this drama are adorable especially Lee So Mins and Lee Min Joons relationship. So basically i recommend this drama to well.. everyone!

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I didn't know what to think of the first two episodes, but kept watching it because of the buzz about the show. I wasn't disapointed!
By the end of the 4th episode the quirky humor and an hilarious scene with a guitar had already won me over. As it evolves, the show becomes very meta, but in a fun clever way. The characters are flawed and a bunch of dorks, but they are utterly quirky and charming in their own different ways.
Kudos for the first gay character that I've seen depicted in kdrama as a real person and not defined by his gayness, it's a shame he doesn't get more scenes, but, hey, baby steps! Double kudos to the Show for remaining centered in the female leads and not presenting romance as the goal of the story!

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Could have been better

Drama had a Strange start, it was intresting but not entertaining(If that makes any Sense). But the show gradually grew on me. Lee eun jung character arc was one of the few time that made me feel something for a character in a korean drama personally after a long time.
Then why a rating of 6.5
For a drama that is trying to ground itself in reality it was too focussed on giving satisfying ending for every character.
Love story of the side characters especially the Screen writer lady was rather uninteresting. Of all the 4 main characters as in the poster 2 of the characters (Lee hyo Bong and hwang han joo) were under developed (especially Lee Hyo Bong) felt was just used to pad the run time more than anything else

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Unpopular opinion here but I prefer heart warming romance and happy endings over harsh reality

This is a 2019 South Korean romantic comedy drama with 16, 60-73 minute episodes. Also known as Mellow is My Nature.

6/10 is my rating. First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

This is a story centered around three female friend who are roommates and one of their brothers.

Lim Jin joo (Chun Woo hee) is fresh out of a tumultuous seven year relationship when a script she is writing finally catches the attention of an up and coming director. Finding intrigue in his particular brand of sarcasm, Jin joo falls for the Director, Son Beom soo (Ahn Jae hong). Relatively fresh out of a failed 7 year relationship, her feelings for Beom soo ignite while reworking the script for a 16 episodes drama. Having met his match, Beom soo reciprocates her feelings. Since fate has a sense of humor, it turns out her ex boyfriend, Kim Hwan dong (Lee You jin), is the assistant director and she has to work with him in order to get her big break.

Lee Eun jung (Jeon Yeo been) is still grieving the sudden loss of her fiancé, Hong dae (Han joon woo) to cancer. Her grief is so severe that she suffers persistent complex grief disorder and sees and talks to her departed fiancé as if he were still there. Her younger brother, Lee Hyo bong (Yoon Ji on) has continued living with Eun jung after she attempted suicide and her two friends form part of the team that live together and watch over Eun jung. Hong dae invested in a documentary Eun jung directed and she achieved wealth and success as a result of that project.

Hwang Han joo (Han Ji eun) was the school beauty who was conned in love by a man who was not good at committing to anything. She married him after an unexpected pregnancy but they quickly divorced, Now her three close friends and roommates are helping her raise her young son, Hwang In-kook (Seol Woo Hyung). Her role with the marketing and production department is to ensure the production meets the product placement advertisements that were agreed to. She later is promoted to a producer position.

Review

Based on other reviews, some people really liked this or at least enjoyed it. For me it’s one where I’m trying to figure out what people might’ve liked about it. I guess if you really like pure dramas with very little comedy and you want it to be reality based, then you might enjoy this one. I watch dramas to escape reality so I don’t want or need things to happen exactly as they might in reality. Give me the well-developed happy endings that’s what I want. I was interested in the story throughout most of it although there was nothing super exciting or any huge plot twist or anything like that. The characters were interesting and it was a slice of film industry life. Where I really lost interest in it was towards the ending when it became obvious things were not going to end the way I hoped they would. Sort of a soft ending in that things were wrapped up just not completely or well. In my opinion I would not watch it again nor would I highly recommend somebody else watch it. However, if you particularly like any of the actors, they did very well and the script was written well for what it was

Spoilers

Lim Jin joo (Cho Woo hee) was not a very likable character. In the relationship with Kim Hwan dong (Lee You jin) I thought she was wrong in the arguments a majority of the time. It appeared she picked fights with him for no apparent reason. She really wasn’t different with Son Beom soo (Ahn Jae hong) but he didn’t fight back. He more joked her out of it. I think they were trying for her just being a unique personality who could not match well with just anyone. They tried to portray that some some of the roughervaspects of her personality were due to being that element that made her an edgy writer. This was supposed to lead tona determination that the only one that could handle her was another quirky person such as the somewhat edgy Director. I got where the writers were going with it but I just found her very abrasive and not very likable. I still rooted for the romance a little bit which was why the way they never really fully got together was annoying. They were dating, although still having frequent fights, but nothing much else like a solid long term commitment which was not a very satisfying ending.

Lee Eun jung (Jeon Yeo been) was just a sad case the entire time. I hoped the drama would take the turn that she found new love in Kim Ah-rang (Ryu Abell) a fellow director but that never fully happened. There were some hints they might meet up abroad but nothing definite. She was working on her complex grief but was still imagining Hong dae (Han joon woo) enough it was clear she had not fully let go. So there was no resolution to her grief and we did not get to see her happy in a new relationship.

Hwang Han joo (Han ji eun) says she is ready for a romance and there is all this build up between her and her subordinate, Chu Jae hoon (Gong Myung) and it seems headed for romance. But nope. Instead he seems to get back with his crazy ex, Ha yoon (Mi ram) who they portray as the victim in their very tumultuous relationship when everything I saw it looked like she was the aggressor. But that was an overall trend in this film that no matter how wrong the female appeared, she was in the right, and the man was the wrong one. Then, in the end, she is dating some guy she met at a club who we barely knew anything about. Why did I care she had some random romance? I wanted her with her cute assistant who seemed like her other half. Instead he is back with his personality disorder ex and she is with some rando.

Jung Hye-Jung (Baek Ji won), who was Jin joo’s former boss turned rival script writer has this whole flirtation going with Sung In-Jong (Jung Seung gil) and there is even a bit of a love triangle for awhile. So this leads you to expect she will quit being such a horror with her work and get with In jong who seems to mellow her sharp personality. But we do not know what happens as tge writers just drop that story and there is no outcome with all that build up.

There were a couple of side romances that got very little screen time that were cute but not central enough to carry the story. Eun jung’s younger brother, Lee Hyo bong (Yoon Ji on), marries his partner and moves out because his sister is finally well enough he no longer has to be on suicide watch. Probably the cutest romance of the show was between Lee So min (Lee joo bin) and her manager Lee Min joon (Kim Myung joon) as they had been friends and it was obvious he felt more for her. So them realizing their feelings and getting together was heart warming,good friendships can stand in for love,

Overall it felt like the writers wanted to convey a proposal is not necessary for a happy ending, good friendships can stand in for love, and strong independent women do not need a man. A disappointing surprise for me to find in a Korean drama.

#BeMelodramatic #MellowIsMyNature #HanJiEun #JeonYeoBeen #AhnJaeHong #ChunWooHee #HanJoonWoo #YoonJiOn #SeolWooHyung

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