Little Women (2022)

little women but real humans

both this drama and the 2020 adaptation of the novel 'little women' were really good and feminist in nature. i don't have to explain why the 2020 movie was so revolutionary because really it speaks for itself but in this drama, the feminist tones are more subtle in nature.

our main character (albeit disliked by a lot) was someone who openly defied the usual female main character mold for whom money does not matter at all. she openly claims to like money and is willing to play a little dirty to get it. also, she has been divorced, she works a normal job and she openly states wanting to marry a rich man! what an unusual main character! she is not a superhuman though. she's just normal, average and ordinary. she isn't sending people flying with just one punch, she's just trying to live her life and provide for her younger sisters. she likes girly things (she is LIKE the other girls), she likes lip glosses and she still likes to binge on ice cream. she knows she's popular among men, she isn't modest about it. yet, she knows she is not very intelligent and is honest about her depositions. injoo feels like a real person. she is not a blank slate you can project on, she is not the quirky 'not like other girls' character, she isn't park shin hye's 'the heirs' character. she's somewhere in the middle. she is an amalgamation of all the heroines who weren't given a chance to be themselves, who were put in a box, who were just there to be the male lead's arm candy- the difference is that she was actually allowed to be who she was. she is oh injoo and she is a real person trying to get by.

our second sister is oh inkyung. now oh inkyung is a badass, okay? for me, she is the most relatable out of the three sisters. i could see so much of myself in her that her scenes were sometimes hard to watch. as a highly sensitive person, navigating the world could be hard. when every single thing affects you and you let yourself be affected by it, your life is anything but a smooth sailing ride. ignorance isn't for us. inkyung is tough yet soft, she is determined yet wavering. she has a strong sense of justice and for her, justice is more important than money. although, she juggles between what is more important: her family or justice which is understandable. she is rash and makes some horrible decisions but they come from a place of wanting to do the right thing. inkyung loses and loses during the entirety of the show but her morals never lose. she's what i call a 'strong female lead'. she is a superwoman but not in the sense that she can land a punch on you and you are done (sorry saebom from happiness, this all feels targeted at you) or even using a bitchy attitude to overpower you. she uses facts, logic and yes, emotions to defeat her nemeses. and although it's slow, she surely wins at the wind which is so satisfying to watch.

our third sister is oh inhye. to inhye, her sisters' love is suffocating. it is a burden. she can be immature at times but that is okay, she is just a teenager. she is our meg march. although, she is still very different from the actual meg march. she too chooses true love over anything else. for inhye, chosen family is much more important than your real family. while it is an obligation for injoo and inkyung to love her and provide for her, hyorin loves her for who she is so sets off with the love of her life. it's a fairytale come true and although, a lot of people might think that her art is more important to her than anything else, it is actually her love for hyorin and vice versa that is the single most important thing in her life.

so these are our three sisters and who make this show what it is. there are other characters as well but none of them are written as well as our three main leads. all three of them are very different from each other, yet all three have something that connects them to each other. it is love, familiarity, obligation and duty. as the plot progresses, we see where each character's priority lies and how differently they interact with different situations and characters.

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Unconventional take on a classic novel

Growing up I really loved the different versions of "The Little Women" from the novel, to the children's cartoon, to the different movies made which is why when I first saw the trailer for this drama I really didn't know what to expect but boy oh boy did it deliver.

The show started in a quite slow pace that gradually became more and more intense as the show went on but it wasn't until episode 10 came where the story just exploded into a fireworks show. After that episode all I can say was just "wow". The characters, the acting, the portrayal were all top tier!!!! Personally, there were still room for improvements in the story telling but it's okay, nothing's perfect anyway. But IMO I just found it weird that the 2 kids (Inhye and Hyorin) suddenly disappeared from the plot considering that their families were in the headlines of everything. It was weird also that the parents of Oh sisters did not reach out after all the news about their daughters. For sure, whatever was happening in their home country was really hard to miss out.

The ending was something I did not really expect 100% but it was definitely an ending that they deserved but of course one of the biggest regret there is the FL and ML. It was just sad that the ML said they will see each other again, but they never did :( Their chemistry were on point!!!! Love it!

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Absolutely Amazing! Speechless of how good this drama is.

Every little aspect and thing if this drama was amazing. From episode 1 to 12, there is not one flaw I can pick. Man I only go out of my to write reviews if the drama is superb it hits me and makes me feel so emotional and empty (in a good way). I've only done this for Vincenzo and now Little Women. Haha, both by the same director. The plot was amazing. The action was amazing. The suspense was RIDICULOUSLY amazing, the acting was superb. The actors portrayed their characters too well.

Kim Go Eun is something else. She's got some unmatched acting talent, she's absolutely gorgeous too. Her character felt so real and was pretty realistic to be honest
Nam Ji Hyun and Park Ji Hoo were perfect too. Their eyes speak volumes, facial expressions were amazing. I felt so immersed when their scenes came on. They're so precious.

Wi Ha Jun. Man what can I say. This guy can act for sure. He made a perfect fit for his role. Never knew I would come to such an emotional state for his beautiful portrayal of love for In Joo in the most pure way. His quick thinking and critical skills he portrayed were so good. Man Choi Do Il is my type, period. I've never felt such an emotional attachment to the connection between two characters until now between In Joo and Do Il.

All the actors were so good. Cinematography was splendid, man some of the shots were mind blowing-ly perfect. Props to everyone who contributed to this drama, it really did something to me.I had and still currently have such a hard time letting go of this drama. There's like a knot in my heart. But I finally mustered up the courage to finish it and hopefully move on, this drama has brought my standards sooooo high. The only tiny thing I dispute is the absence of some kind of confession between In Joo and Do Il, but they didn't die and weren't on bad terms so I'm happy. I was so scared this drama wouldn't have a happy ending.

<3

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Enjoyable but leaves some important things hanging

I am giving this is a high rating simply because I enjoyed every minute of it more than I thought I would, since I do not usually enjoy Korean suspense/mystery dramas. It was all quite compelling to me from the very beginning. I thought it would be woke, given the title, and full of aggressive feminist propaganda, which I don't normally like in my dramas. (I don't like any sort of heavy political propaganda in stories I consume purely for entertainment), but surprisingly, it's not. The women characters are not perfect Mary Sues portraying women as the better gender and as strong, independent, and perfect. They are flawed and very real and quite relatable. I've never been a fan of Kim Go-Eun (didn't like her in Goblin, but that was probably because I didn't like the way that character was written), but I thought she did a stellar job here portraying the slightly naive, slightly ditzy Oh In-Joo. In-Joo's story is super relatable, especially for those of us who have had to struggle financially. Her choices and her reactions are perfectly understandable, given the circumstances. I thought this character was what carried the whole story for me -- she is a very good depiction of a perfectly real human, not an idealized "woman power" version.

As for the story itself, the twists and turns, even though some a bit sketchy, especially in hindsight, were good enough to keep me glued to my seat and wanting more. Sadly, as with many Kdramas, the ending, although generally okay, felt a bit rushed. There are two particular story elements that I feel were not resolved satisfactorily and/or were problematic:

1. In Joo and Do-Il. This connection goes beyond a superficial attraction. They both help each other grow as the story progressed. In-Joo makes Do-Il care for someone again other than money and vengeance. Do-il helps In-joo navigate through the chaos that she had to go through and come out sane. I would have been okay with them remaining perfectly platonic all throughout the show, but the writers had to go beyond that. They obviously implied that there was something there, a mutual attraction. You can see it in the way Do-il looks at In Joo, the way he smiles when he sees her face, the decisions he made to keep her safe. Setting this connection and attraction up in this way makes the audience expect a resolution, but none were given in the end. They need not necessarily have ended up together, but they could have progressed to more than just a "see you around." I was expecting a progression to at least more closeness and openness about the way they feel. I understand In-joo might not be ready for a relationship after what she'd been through, and probably needs some self-reflection, but that could have been handled with a trusty old time jump, which might be cliche but, if done right, could have give us a more satisfactory ending for this particular story arc.

2. I find it strange that In-Hye and Hyo-Rin, two self-involved minors -- children, for all intents and purposes -- are allowed to roam the world with buttloads of cash and zero adult supervision. I am all for freedom and escaping oppressive situations, but teenagers, especially, need guidance. In-hye, despite her little diatribe at the end trying to justify her actions, is, for me, unforgivable. She is narcissistic, self-involved, and almost psychopathic in her lack of empathy for her loving sisters. Teenagers often go through this phase where they feel stifled by their family's love, but that is just a phase and part of growing up. The fact that she allowed her sisters to feel humiliated, rejected, hurt, just to fulfill her fantasies and desires is extremely self-indulgent, selfish, and cruel. Her lack of empathy is disturbing. Anyway, the teenage fantasy of escaping your family to explore the world is something everybody at some point has probably had, but there are ways to accomplish this while still being considerate. In-hye has no reason to escape her loving sisters. Her life situation is not ideal, but her sisters obviously love her. Instead of indulging in her selfish fantasy and escaping from her family, she should have learned to appreciate what she had and escaped her narcissistic worldview -- I'm going to get what I want and I don't care how you feel or what you think about it. Real progression for her would have been getting past her self-obsession and being there for at least In-Joo, who is left alone in the end. Hyo-rin's case is altogether different, but she still needs guidance, especially after everything that happened. I just find it incredibly irresponsible of the adults, including Do-il, to allow these kids to do what they want with no supervision whatsoever. Teenagers are notoriously liable to making wrong decisions that could affect the rest of their lives at this particularly volatile period of growth, so they do need someone mature to at least guide them. Are the writers campaigning for children to be able to do what they want and to turn away from their families?

There are other loose threads, but these two are the ones that made me unhappy with the ending. Overall, it was a fun ride and definitely worth watching despite the above-mentioned flaws.

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Little women! Little things women do can bring results that aren't little! Watch! Watch! Watch!

It had been a while since I completely watched a 2022 aired Kdrama. But it was really worth the choice. Each week waiting eagerly for all the aired episodes feels quite memorable at this point. The entire drama was a roller-coaster ride of emotions. An individual though similar hardly possesses entirely same character and personality like each other.

This drama portrayed lives of women in each of their own world; somewhat similar somewhat different. Though usually when romance is added to a great extent in drama almost forgetting the original plot felt a bit bothersome but this series actually ended with hardly any. The best fact is that the chemistry between the potential pairing somewhat platonic but flavorful was more than enough to compensate.

Also, the sisterly bond between the Oh siblings shows how differently each love the other which can sometimes be miscommunicated and how families each have their own sob stories.

Truly the orchids stole the show too!!! And really honestly Won Sang A and Park Jae Sang though were antagonists but I literally imagined their childhood to adulthood journey being turned into fan-made edits; a different form of love two sided but maybe really not.

P.S: This version of Little Women let Laurie end up with Jo.

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To Suspenseful For Me

I was hoping this drama be more of the classic Little Women but it was very different. I don't usually like suspenseful thriller but I stay and watch this one. The characters are very interesting and the Three Sisters are very different and do care for each other. The suspense hits you right from the star and keep it going to the end. The twist and turns and the thrills keeps you jumping and your heart can race to a quick beating. In between all that there is a cute romance for each of the older sisters. I love the female cast in this drama especially that even the evilest person is a women. The actors performance was great and the story was good. But to scary for me.

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AMAZING!

I fell in love from it at the very first episode. The actors were amazing, the music on point and am sure noone would feel bored even for a second cause the plot is super intriguing. I would recommend this to anyone regardless of genre preferences. We need more quality content like this.
I would have preferred if the main couple actually had more romance. The chemistry was on point without a developement and to be honest it left me wondering with that open ending. I'll prefer to believe that it won't end there since they both couldn't confess their obvious feelings. MUST WATCH !!!!

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The beauty of the blue orchid

WOW WOW WOW, What a drama realy a compatible one.....
It is a true thriller-mystery Kdrama with a lot of turns and twists. The drama has shooketh me at the extent that I didn't think it is possible. The charachters that have so many secrets in their secrets now have secrets. It is so impressing to see how the mystrey keeps growing, and how far they can strech out the case.
In this drama it will be foolish to trust any charachter writing of this drama is in such a way that you will end of sussing one of the most innocents one only not to be mentioned that till the last episode I could only trust In-joo not any character not a single one but at the end it turned out all good....
The Drama is being accused of distorting history from the Vietnamese side. But according to research on battles, the ratio 1:20 even 1:100 mentioned is completely accurate.

"Operation Ma Doo I , an operation by the 28th Regiment in Phú Yên Province from 21 January to 7 February 1967 results in ROK claims of 160 People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) killed and 167 weapons captured Operation Baek Ma I, a search and destroy operation in Khánh Hòa Province by the 29th and 30th Regiments from 29 to 31 January 1967 results in ROK claims of 390 PAVN killed and 302 weapons captured for no friendly losses Operation Oh Jak Kyo, to link up the Division's tactical area of responsibility with the Capital Division in Phú Yên Province from 8 March to 18 April 1967 results in ROK claims of 831 Vietcong (VC) killed and 659 weapons captured for the loss of 23 ROK Operation Hong Kil Dong, with the Capital Division in Tuy Hòa Province from 9 July to 21 August 1967, ROK claiming 638 PAVN killed for the loss of 26 ROK. 98 crew-served and 359 individual weapons were captured"

Thsi drama is a must go the story will move around everyone but don't forget about the blue orchid.......

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It was good but it could have been great!

A solid 8/10 for me.

General Remarks:
Excellent writing, brilliant acting and a suspenseful story that keeps you on your toes.

1. Story about 3 sisters with absentee parents.
2. A mystery surrounding a girl who stole 70 billion won and left it in the account of one of the sisters before she was killed.
3. Main focus is one of the sisters trying to find out what happened to her friend and why she was killed.
4. Characters mysteriously being killed and willing to go to their graves to find this stolen money.
5. The interconnected storylines and drama in each of the sister's and their enemies lives.
6. Mystery behind the blue ghost orchid and the people wrapped up in a society that pledges their lives to it.

Let's start with the positives:

I really enjoyed the storylines of all the sisters. I felt like In Joo and In Kyung always had to be so strong for In Hye and tried their best to take care of and provide for In Hye because of again. absent parents.

I thought the plot was amazing and unlike any other drama I had ever seen or watched. I didn't know so much about orchids and I thought it was refreshing to see a show centered around a rare species of orchid (the orchid of death) and the whole group of people wrapped up in the organization.

I found In Joo battling what to do with all that money to be a realistic portrayal because really and truly most persons wouldn't know where to begin if that amount of money somehow fell into their hands.

I like how everyone's storyline became interconnected and it was like each character was serving a greater purpose in Song-A's "play" of sorts. They were all like her little dolls and she basically called all the shots. At first I was led to believe that she was being forced and coerced by Park Jae Sang but soon it became apparent that everything she was doing was a ruse. She believed herself to be an actress and presented herself differently to each person. Each person was treated like a new canvas or stage of sorts.

Personally I think Sang A was the most interesting character because she was a truly evil serial killer / psychopath. She had no qualms or regard for other people or their feelings (typical sociopath behavior). Finally, a villain being a true villain without any regretful backstory as to why they became that way. Song A was just born that way and though they tried to justify her actions by saying she killed her mom on accident and was living with the guilt and the trauma in her "closed room" (ie. the door that she never opened) Imo her recreating that tragedy was sooooo sick and I loved every minute of it. She was downright horrible and at a point I believed she was going to try and take everything away from both In Joo and In Kyung. I thought In Hye would have never escaped her and she was gonna get rid of Hyo Rin and mold In Hye in her image – creating the perfect daughter. Thank god that didn't happen though!

In Joo and Do Il left much to be wanted at the end – I am disappointed that we did't even get a kiss or a hug lol! The chemistry was there and despite everything they went through you could feel the sheer care they developed for one another. They may not have ended up together but I believe important lessons we learned. No amount of money in the world could make In Joo happy / satisfied and that she would give it all up in a heart beat to protect her sisters and the people she truly loves and cares about. Through In Joo, Do Il too realized that there are some people worth fighting for and more important than money.

I never thought In Kyung would give Jong Ho a chance but I lwas literally so happy at the end when they finally got together and admitted their feelings for one another.

Though In Hye was a really complicated character I thought her message at the end was sweet and behind her depressive and cold hearted exterior was a troubled teenager with a heart. She did care for In Joo and In Kyung but just had a sh*tty way of showing it. Her message to her sisters was sweet and I could kind of understand her reasoning for being distant and wanting to find herself first before appearing in front of them again. Even though she appreciated all the sacrifices they made for her in her life she needed to go her own way and find independence.

Negatives:

I could not stand their mother. She was awful and didn't give a singular f*ck about her kids and it was so infuriating to watch. She took her daughters field trip money and just ran away with the sh*tty excuse that In Hye is young and has so many opportunities to travel and that she needs to go now because she's "old" essentially. That was just soooo absurd to me considering the fact that the mother knew damn well that was In Hye's dream and the thing that would make her the happiest????? Imo she stifled those poor girls and was not fit to be a parent, not to mention their good for nothing father who the mother ran away to help and barely heard from ever since. In Joo and In Kyung practically raised themselves with the help of the great aunt who raised in Kyung for a while and then them turning around and raising In Hye.

I found In Hye to be ungrateful and selfish and the fact that she chose to find herself and travel the world with her friend rather than stay with her sisters even when the danger was eminent left me shocked.

I wish In Kyung's alcoholism was tackled more and we could see her path to recovery not like she just woke up and magically got over it. It's a touchy subject yes but I feel like many people struggle with alcoholism and it would've been nice to see a kdrama tackle such an important issue in the midst of all the mystery and chaos going on.

I wish we saw more character development but I understand it was hard to do so in 12 episodes.

I thought the last episode was rushed but again it was hard to fit everything into 12 episodes. I felt like Sang A died a quick and mildly painful death but she deserved to suffer wayyy more for her crimes... so it was upsetting seeing her die without having to atone for any of it while Hwa Young was badly burnt, survived and still had to go to prison. Imo Hwa Young has mental issues that also need to be taken care of because I don't know how someone can endure all that + their fake death and still be mentally sound. Also I am not sure how I feel about her getting involved in another gardening program (like especially if it has anything to do with orchids) like that was strange and it gave me the creeps. Hwa Young has the perfect demeanor and makings to be a villain / antagonist so it would be interesting to see her character arc in S2 (if there is one) Honestly I feel like she wasn't able to fully get her revenge and have peace of mind so I kinda do hope if there is S2 that opportunity presents itself.

Final Remarks:

Kim Go Eun really puts so much into her acting and you can feel that translate across the screen no matter what role she undertakes. Wi Ha Joon's character was mysterious and throughout watching I couldn't quite place him. Was he evil or was he good? It became clear that he was a morally grey character (which I ate up btw) essentially a wildcard that could swing either way depending on the situation.

I hope there is season 2 with a whole other mystery that the sisters are swept up in. Maybe this time it can start with In Hye and her friend Hyo Rin and then the others have to help save her. I would also love Hwa Young to make a reappearance and help them from prison if she can or this mystery finally frees her as we meet an even bigger contender / mastermind than Sang A was.

I liked it so much as I am still thinking about it and wishing there was more even though it's finished. I would definitely recommend it to others :)

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watched weekly as it aired

WOW!.. i have a lot to say but this drama was genuinely such a thrill and a ROLLERCOASTER from the start. i was so excited when it was announced that there was going to be a Korean drama loosely based on the original western little women because i loved the movie, tho i was not expecting much because i don't like to get my hopes up and then get disappointed later on :) but i was mostly anticipated to watch because of the main lead i mean there's so many good recognizable actors and a talented director and writer! i was happy to see them together and see more women working in these big projects !
onto the storyline: from the very first episode, i will say it started a bit slow, not too much but i did slightly feel the same when i watched Vincenzo (a drama with the same director) but i knew the pacing would pick up later on and it did. the oh sisters were all such unique character until the end and i loved that each had their own storyline, though i wish we could have seen a bit more of in hye (the youngest). throughout the show i did notice some similarities between certain characters and storylines with both little women adaptations but i also loved the thriller twist they made with this one, though i would not recommend someone to watch this expecting it to be the same, but there are huge differences! onto the characters: i think every single characters honestly gave it their all and you can tell especially kim go-eun, i mean she really deserves all awards because the endings she gives us is just amazing and i became a fan of her after the drama since this is the first time i fully watch a drama with her in it!
- there were many annoying characters who are obviously the villians but i gotta say won sang-ah absolutely slayed this as a villian and i was not expecting her to become the "final boss" instead of park jaesang. there was so many twists in this show that just left me gasping for air and it reminded me so much of Vincenzo and i looooved it so it made me happy (ALSO THAT SONG JOONG-KI CAMEO?!?) . i do wish oh in-joo and do-il would have at least kissed ONCE or said i love your or SOMETHING more than just a simple goodbye at the airport that reminded all of us of vincenzo and cha-young
sometimes the storyline would get confusing for me especially with the orchid history and the history distortion was just not it, they should have fixed that from the beginning and there were things i wish they would have added.

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Sisterhood caught up in a conspiracy

Likes:
1) Kim Go Eun and Nam Ji Hyun being in the same drama - When I heard that 2 of my favorite actresses were going to star in the same kdrama, I was elated with excitement because that rarely ever happens. I absolutely loved watching the sisterhood or womance between them and their natural acting continues to shine in my eyes.
2) Wi Ha Joon - this guy is so hot! Not only is he great at acting, but he's also so versatile and he's good at action. I thought he perfectly portrayed his character. You never knew which side he was on. I look forward to seeing him showcase more of his abilities in the future (Maybe a bigger role in Squid games 2?)
3) The interactions between In Joo and Choi Do Il. Although the romance is light as this is a conspiracy mystery, I was completely hooked on the question of will they or won't they.
4) All the twists. I really enjoyed not knowing where the story would end up...that is until I found out who the villain was which brings me to:

Dislikes:
1) Once the Villain is revealed in the latter half, the story becomes a bit too over the top. You will def have to suspend your belief and overlook some ridiculous loopholes at the very end.
2) Having the title Little Women, you would expect more similarities to Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, but I didn't find that to be the case, but it has been awhile since I've read that book.
3) The character development could have been better. There were a handful of times where the character was doing something that seemed "out of" character. We weren't shown enough to understand why they were acting a certain way.

But overall, I enjoyed 75% of this drama. I liked all the twists and cliffhangers leading up to the villain reveal, but especially loved seeing 3 of my fav people in a drama together.

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