Cunning Single Lady (2014)

An enjoyable watch through and through.

Wow, okay, so I don't even remember why I decided to finally watch Cunning Single Lady after it had been sitting in my Plan to Watch list for so long, but I did and I have zero regrets. I think I had a huge misconception when I initially read the synopsis for this drama. I thought the leading lady would be trying to get back together with her ex-husband because she falls back in love with him, but that isn't the case at all, AND I SO LOVE IT!

As the MDL summary says, Ae Ra and Jung Woo meet, marry, then divorce. But why did they divorce? Their marriage was going pretty well, until Jung Woo ups and quits his civil servant job to start his own business. Ae Ra isn't about tht life, but she puts up with it for awhile, but finally decides to divorce him. Of course Jung Woo is crushed, but years later Ae Ra discovers he's been doing really well for himself (he's a wealthy business owner) while she's still been struggling trying to make ends meet. Anyways, she's understandably angry about his success and how unfair it all is (since he only became successful with her support), so she decides to exact revenge on him by entering his company, making him fall for her again, then crushing his heart. Lol, u know, typical kdrama type stuff.

The plot is obviously nothing new, but what makes Cunning Single Lady stand out from the rest is the characters and the fabulous actors who portray them. Joo Sang Wook has my heart, and I just love his portrayal of Jung Woo. Jung Woo is just a big ol' nerd at his heart, and he was really hurt by Ae Ra in the past, so he lets Ae Ra into the company because he thinks that she wants to get back together with him cuz of money, and he plans to crush her lol. It's just all so amusing. They're little antics are great. And when I say this drama is funny, I mean laugh-out-loud tears-sprouting-from-your-eyes type funny.

While rating this drama I was thinking hard about what I should give it. Honestly, this is one of the best rom-coms I've seen, I really enjoyed it. I can't even find any faults about this drama. Maybe the only thing is that I think Lee Min Jung's acting will a little over exaggerated, but she got much better as the drama progressed. I'd recommend - it's funny, it's a solid rom-com, and it will make you smile. What's not to love?

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After waiting until drama was finished and all subbed and finally having time to watch it, I am done with Cunning Single Lady.
Started to watching it because of Kim MyungSoo aka. INFINITE's L, not going to deny that and in the end finished watching simply because I don't like leaving things unfinished. All in all it was watchable, I doubt I would watch it again, but I have seen worse dramas, but about all in time.
The plot was rather predictable from the very start, which is not a surprise with K-dramas. A romance between several couples that are made on base of one split couple. Fights, tears, reunions and breakups and so on - not my cup of tea, but not entirely unsettling. A good dose of humor, which was kindly included in to the story made it even enjoyable at times, as the jokes were very good, but a few details were too much, making things unnecessarily complicated and overly dramatic and basically oversold the depth of some characters.
When actually speaking about the characters, I was not impressed by AeRa at the beginning, but she slowly grew on me when she changed trough out the story. The CEO was definitely my favorite, as he goes in the category of the cute, awkward CEO's and those are the best. SeungHyeon was very charming trough out the whole drama and his sister director Guk was an appealing female character 80% of the drama as well. Hats off to all actors, for their great work.
The OST was not bless or rather cursed with an obnoxious main song that got stuck in one's head for days and even had song entirely in English and that was pleasant t listen to. The instrumental OST went from highly intense to mellow and romantic and that's something that is always appreciated.
A true lover of romantic comedy with sprinkle of drama will find this drama appealing, but an action lover like me would not be left truly satisfied afterwards. It's watchable, but leaves one wanting for more.

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Short but sweet.

Yes, this a short but sweet series. Scenes and story is very light but will definitely give you a good feeling. Anyone can relate to this drama, well, maybe not on the divorce set up, but taking sacrifices for the sake of their love ones and giving second chances.

The cast portrayed the roles very well. Acting were very light and natural and will leave you laughing. Some may not be well satisfied with Joo Sang Wook's acting.. Well, I say, this is a RomCom (Romance-Comedy) series so we cannot really expect to see heavy acting skill nor to hear heavy drama lines. His gestures and face expressions says it all. The emotion delivers the message well. He is a good actor after all (very charming!).

Overall, I recommend this to everyone who want to take a break from heavy dramas - Fast phasing series that will keep you wanting for more. Great choice of music that added life to the drama (though I honestly don't understand the lyrics cause I'm not a Korean, but the rhythm will keep you moving and makes you sing a long). Well selected casts and unquestionable acting skills. Yes, this drama got it all. I just wish they keep this series a little bit longer.

If you are looking for something fresh, light and will give you a good laugh, then this series is for you. Seriously, I watched this twice over the weekend and it gave me the same good crazy laugh. Joo Sang Wook did a great job on this, considering that this is his first RomCom series. Well sir, you're good at it so I guess you should do more. Cheers to you and all the casts! *clap, clap, clap*

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This is so addicting and you'll definitely be hooked!! ~ooops! I'm not talking about the drama I''m talking about the 2nd leading man, seo kang joon! lol

the story? no definitely not for me. I thought I was gonna love it since it's romcom but I didn't. I skip some part to finish this drama. hmmm what to say? the only thing that I like is whenever the 2nd lead guy have his moments. am I being to harsh and biased? anyways that's what I really felt, he made me laugh, smile and cry if it wasn't for him I would not go this far

Lee min jung is great. The acting of the main guy didn't like it at all especially when he acts cute it just doesn't suit him, the way he cries, laugh it's a no for me even the chemistry between the main cast is not so real, kinda stiff whenever they act sweet together I don't see sparks.

for the secretary L his acting was good :)
SKJ acting is good even though his a rookie:) for his role as guk even though he didn't get the heart of the girl that he likes at least he was able to capture the heart of audience, like me!! lol :))

ost? There are 2 soundtracks that I really like :))

but I'm still thankful to this drama cause I get to meet a great guy seo kang joon :) overall I won't recommend it to those who have seen a lot of drama.

WARNING: If your gonna watch it, be careful you might have 2nd lead syndrome, it's contagious.

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Strange Romance

This entertaining series brought a few different twists to the internal strife of an IT company. It was easy to watch, and I found myself binge-watching it over three days. Since I come from an IT background, this was right in my wheelhouse. The acting was good, especially Lee Min Jung’s portrayal of Na Ae Ra. The story was believable and had some twists that made me feel good. When Cha Jung Woo left the CEO position of his company, it made him look good when we were all expecting him to cave into the toxic whims of the family controlling the company. However, the story did take him from a strong CEO back into a different character that wasn’t very manly. But I took that as part of the comedy element. I like that they worked to bring closure to each character in the story.

However, the birthday party at the end was a complete disaster to the story. It didn’t make Ae Ra’s character look very good. In fact, it felt more like a betrayal than anything else. It left me wondering if she would do that after they were married too. Gook Seung Hyun’s character spent half his time destroying Jung Woo and the other half going after his woman. Why would Ae Ra, who supposedly loves Jung Woo, attend a birthday party that rubbed salt in the wounds of that relationship? When Jung Woo protests over the phone, she hangs up. It makes you wonder what happened at the birthday party and left me with the feeling that Na Ae Ra thought that was the right way to treat a man when you’re in love. It just didn’t fit. Even when she finally accepted his proposal, she did it in a weird way that wasn’t funny to me. The last two episodes diminished the strength of Jung Woo’s character and his relationship with Ae Ra. I found myself just feeling sorry for him and wished he would go his separate way. Ae Ra didn’t look very appealing at this point. I read about ten reviews on this show, and I think I’m the only one who felt this way. I can only say that I watch shows because of the romance. I tend to pick it apart when something doesn’t fit.

That’s the ups and downs of a story that will keep you entertained. It’s worth watching. You decide and let me know what you think.

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This was one of the first dramas I watched when I started watching Kdrama last year. I was quickly smitten with the leads and it'll probably always hold a special place in my heart.

The story makes out like Ae-Ra is a gold-digger at first coming after her ex-husband because he is successful now. But as you get into the story, you see that is not it at ALL (Plot summary writers for kdramas are really bad sometimes!). Ae Ra and Jung Woo loved each other then, and they still do now. The lack of communication was their downfall during their marriage. Watch them as they work out what went wrong in their relationship and make their way back to each other.

Joo Sang Wook as the ex-husband Cha Jung-Woo is so adorkable - he quickly won me over with his nerdy cuteness. Ae Ra and Jung Woo could be petty with each other, but they also looked out for one another and wanted to take care of each other. The 2nd leads are a little frustrating, but not overly so. The brother/ sister duo are battling their own issues and Ae Ra and Jung Woo get caught up in the middle as the 2nd leads vie for their affections.
The first episode is mostly setup, so at least watch through episode 2 before making up your mind on it.

The main theme song is pretty and is something I ended up humming during the day.

This is a drama that I enjoy coming back to occasionally for the feels it gives me.

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Firstly,the reason why I watch this drama is solely because of Lee Min Jung alone. I really like her acting *can't deny a great visual she has which also made me as a woman really envious of her :D* and I follow her in most of her drama she was in after Smile,You. That drama is the starting point of my fondness of her. But I'm also thinking twice whether to watch this or not because I don't like the main actor,I've tried to watch him in his two previous drama but..ya knoww,his acting does'nt capture me enough to like him. Enough for the intro,let's get to the real point.

THE STORY: I admit when I was watching the first 6 episode I don't quite understand the reason why heroin did what she did to get revenge on his ex-husband.Can't she just let go of the past? That guy brought pain in her past,and the right thing to do is just don't see him again. No pain gain from doing that, so just move on,girl! -.-" I'm even trying to make my own reasoning for her revenge mission to made myself accepting and feel less awkward with the whole situation.'I need to finish this drama so I must understand what the character's feel first..' that's what I've told myself while watching the episodes.Another thing to say,the title of the drama is quite misleading because she's been cunning only in the early episodes,in later episodes we see a new side, a likeable side of her. That's what I thought about the story.Just a so-so storyline.

ACTING: It's just good. Lee Min Jung was great as always but the main lead..his acting's sometimes put me off especially when he's acting all cute and that fake laughing thingy. It looked sooo unnatural and I can feel the awkward vibe comes to me when he did that. And this is a rare thing to happen to me in dramaland,I fall in love with the second lead's character instead.Seo Kang Jun.This guy's character is made of full of charm that's what I though. There's once/twice that I wish that Lee Min Jung end up with him instead :B

MUSIC : I think the OST is one of the good thing happened in this drama. I especially like Yoo Seung Woo's song What Do I Do the most.

REWATCH VALUE : I just give a fair value in this section because I'm not a rewatcher person. Unless the drama is really2 bad in my opinion,that for sure get a lower score from me.

OVERALL : This drama is just good. Watch this if you want some laugh,a light story to watch when you're in Final Exam mode *like me :P* and a story to brighten up your mood when you're sad :) TQ for reading.

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Hmm... lets see, when I first heard about it, I thought the idea was kinda stupid, but it was interesting and since many people were watching it, I thought I'd give it a try to, but to say the least i was not disappointed at all

Let's start with the story, it was interesting and easy to get into and the comedy was a plus, it was a bit heart touching at some points, where you could actually understand where the character's decision or choice was coming from so on the whole the story was pretty well written though at some points I just got tired of the story since it would have this small bump and I would think i should just get over with it, but it would come back again nicely so all was well, though in the end it seemed to become a bit too predictable, but what can we say that's the case with most dramas

The Acting/Cast I was whole-heartedly satisfied with, not only were they able to pull me into the story but they got their characters quite well, the expressed the characters properly so that you could understand that no matter what decision the character took he had a solid reason behind it. Cha Jung Woo's character is not the type of character that I usually fall in love with easily because usually there's some glitch in the way the character is portrayed, at least for me but what can I say Joo Sang Wook portrayed the character amazingly, he did not eave any room for me to dislike the character. Ae Ra was portrayed nicely by Lee Min Jung, you couldn't help but love her for being the way she was.

Music was okay, sad in a sad part, happy in the happy parts but i did not understand the critical situation music sometimes, because sometimes in critical situations you don\t go around hearing soft music so I did not really like that much. So on the whole there was nothing special about the music, it was fine but that's all.

I'm giving it a rewatch value of 8, because in times when I don't know what to watch and just want to reminiscence about what I've watched, maybe take a little fast forwarded tour through one of my old dramas, this would fit into that category quite well.

So overall I think and 8 best suited the drama from the story to the cast, music and rewatch value

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I was initially not interested in watching this drama - the published storyline seemed crass and very unkind. I was so pleasantly surprised to find that, while revenge on a ex-spouse was indeed part of the initial plot, it wasn't the majority of it. Yes, a plot about gaining and keeping self confidence might not draw in the crowds - but it should. Every person from potential villains to potential love rivals had a backstory that drew on a lack or an overabundance of self confidence.

The plot, while fairly mild, had to do with real life experiences - who believes in your dreams? Who helps you achieve those dreams? What are the costs? Where does love - filial or romantic - fit into this? I like a plot where characters hold real jobs and real relationships.

Cast wise - I knew of actress Lee Min Jung (Na Ae Ra) before but once again, she surprised me by developing a real, honest drama character. Yes - some nobel idiocy rears its head. But the rest of the time, her character is a nice, honest, hardworking-without-being-a-Candy kind of girl. The guys did a good job as well - you could really see Joo Sang Wook as the geeky-smart but not good at relationships Cha Jung Woo. Although he made some rough decisions, he was never off the charts as a hateful lover. And Seo Kang Joon's thoughtful co-worker Gook Seung Hyeon - what a charmer. Quite frankly - either guy would have been a good choice for our heroine.

The supporting casts of co-workers, parents and siblings were also charming. What a great group portrait of a workplace and families! I am so glad I took the time to meet these characters - they deserve a much better plot synopsis.

Although the main song in the soundtrack was definitely overused (think shades of the theme song of BOF!), the rest of the music was appropriate to the scenes and quite pleasant.

All in all, this was a surprisingly good, short drama that drew me in and encouraged me to find other works by the main actors. Heck, I think I'm going to look up the writer as well! High rematch potential without too much over-emoting.

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Definitely Underated

I have watched this drama many times. It is an absolutely lovely drama.
The story is about second chance when the divorced couple meets and they know that they still love each other a lot. I like how the characters were developed. The second leads were also very good. The 2nd ML is very cute and may give you 2nd lead syndrome. The female lead was a bit annoying at the start but then you start to like her in no time.
The leads look amazing together. Great chemistry!
The story has good humor. Even though the story has nothing novel nor any twists or revelations it still keeps you engaged. The story progresses at the right pace.
The drama has lovely OST. Great job by the cast as well.
It is a good drama to watch and worth the time.

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Fantastic character development in a meaningful workplace romcom

Cunning Single Lady has its issues, and watching it now does make some of the storylines feel dated. BUT overall it’s a really great show with some of the best character writing in kdramas.

The lead actors do a fantastic job portraying the rocky relationship between the ML and the FL, and the ending really feels satisfying given all the struggles they go through to get there. Plus, both actors have impeccable comedic timing, leading to many laugh-out-loud moments.

I would recommend this drama to anyone looking for a romcom with some more mature leads and deeper storylines relatable to older viewers.

Tropes:
Workplace romance
CEO ML to working-class FL
Enemies to lovers
Pre-established relationship; leads start out divorced
ML falls first
Double love triangle with scheming second leads

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I've been watching korean dramas for three years but I still can't understand why the korean screenwriters think that the viewers would enjoy if they include unnecessery drama and drag the story out in their show. You have a nice romantic story, you have sixteen episode to fill and instead of including sweet moments between the leads to make us, viewers, satisfied, you decide to fuck the things up and make the story as cliche as possible. I don't get that shit, honestly. Do korean viewers like this kind of plots? I'm wondering.

''Cunning Single Lady'' had so much potential and I was going to give it at least 8.5/10. I'm really angry right now because if episodes 14-15 did not happen, I would have been more satisfied. Overall, the drama has very enjoyable plot and it's very addicting. I binged it because I was always way too excited to watch the next episode which doesn't happen often, since I'm quite a picky watcher. I did fell for CSL's unique charm and I don't regret it at all, even though I felt disappointed at the end.

I loved the main characters' development here. It's insane how much they grew on me and how close I felt to them. Na Ae Ra is one of the best female leads I've seen in a while. She was strong, independant and very kind-hearted. I understood her perfectly and even though the decisions she took were not always the best, she realized her mistakes and apologised. Cha Jung Woo was such a jerk at the beginning, but, trust me, you'll start loving him as soon as he shows his true identity. He was extremely cute and just like Ae Ra, he was also a very strong character. It just took me a little bit more time to understand his point of view.

The side characters were also nice, I especially loved Jung Woo's secretary and Kang Min Young. Na Ae Ra's and Jung Woo's families were irritating, but I tried my best not to pay them much attention.

Which leads me to the second leads and their family. The drama would have been so much better without them. Seung Hyeon was useless. I never liked him and he acted childishly most of the time as if his feelings were the most important. (Na Ae Ra was also at fault because she kept him by her side the whole time.. guuuurl, why?) I loved Yeo Jin at first and I foolishly thought that she won't cause any problems... Yeah, anyways. Neither Seung Hyeon nor Yeo Jin were bad characters at first, but the writer ruined them. They were basically there to cause problems which was very stupid. They just didn't fit. And their family was horrible.

So overall, I do recommend Cunning Single Lady (who is not that cunning tbh) if you are patient viewer and you don't mind cliches. It was quite a nice ride and I had great time watching it. It could have been more, but it was still pretty decent.

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