Cunning Single Lady (2014)

I went into this knowing it will be a typical rom-com k-drama. It just so happens I love those, and welcome them as much as possible. Life's hard, man... I just want something fun to take my mind off it.

GOOD - (Eye Candy) In the EC department there are two major... MAJOR lookers: Joo Sang Wook (the main guy) and Seo Kang Joon (beware of second lead syndrome!) They may not seem amazingly cute at first, but they will attach themselves to your soul after the third episode. It may also have something to do with the way their characters are written. Anyway, good luck.

GOOD - (Acting) Overall not INCREDIBLE... but good. Not many awkward moments. Lee Min Jung is a pretty solid lead and so is JSW... everyone else isn't bad either.

BAD - (Flashbacks) You know when there is a flashback of something that happened in the same episode the flashback's in? Yea this happens often here. Which to me means there isn't much writing going on, or not enough of it at least. It is flashback galore in this drama. Some scenes are flash-backed more than once.

MEHHH? - (Character extremes) Although the writing itself isn't bad, and there are brilliant moments, and funny moments between the characters, there are a lot of extremes. Sometimes the "good" guys are too innocent and good, the bad guys are too crazy and conniving... Gestures are exaggerated a bit. People aren't that definitive in real life. Don't know how much that takes away from the drama though?

OVERALL - Watch this if you like romantic comedy k-dramas. You know more or less whats gonna happen, but you love it anyway. The characters are funny, cute, and not really annoying (except maybe for a few backing ones) ...The key is not to expect crazy surprising twists and turns. Just have fun while watching, cuz that's what its all about!

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This was a solid show, it went on smoothly and wrapped up nicely. All side characters had their own places and were interesting enough to not make me hate them. The story moved on without any letdowns and it wasn't draggy. Though towards the end both second leads started pissing me off because they stopped acting human and turned into generic Korean second leads, they became annoying, boring and predictable.

More than anything I'd say this show was enjoyable. It wasn't that funny, didn't make me laugh out loud much but it wasn't sad or boring either. There were lots of cute and sweet moments but I wish there would have been more! More of Joo Sang Wook's cuteness. He was so damn good in this! So even despite all the romance I felt like there were not enough sparks between Ae Ra and Jung Woo.

What tickled me off were constant flashback about same exact scenes almost in every episode. I think I memorized all those freaking flashbacks by heart. Another thing, even though the drama concentrated on the main leads great deal their pasts weren't introduced that well. For example what about Jung Woo's mother and sister at the end??? Despite hooking me pretty well this drama lacked something, I can't quite point my finger at that something though. Maybe the lack of sparks or romantic scenes?

I also didn't quite understand why this drama was about a divorced couple? Well, that's something different from CEO and ordinary woman love stories but still... Because the reasons for the divorce were pretty messy and sounded like the writer had forced them out of his dull imagination. Ae Ra was pretty much a biach for leaving Jung Woo like that and he was pretty much an asshole when he came back rich and successful. When young she was only after money and he was a loser so I am not sure why they even got together in the first place, since she could have gotten anyone. Also why is it always the guy getting all rich and famous? Anyway, this drama can teach you something about married life, like what mistakes not to make. The couple should always talk things out.

But yeah, I am still not convinced about the reasons to make this a 'divorced couple gets back together' drama (other than telling people that they should never divorce, in other words forcing all that old fashioned morale on the viewers). This could have been more fun if they had different past, only dating or something like that.

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Love it

Love this drama, it not only shows about one person struggle but shows how much you have to work hard to get where you want to be. Not everyone is born rich, everyone have to suffer at one point, besides getting where you want to be it’s also an impact on your relationships. Because for one person success you can’t be greedy for your own and forget about your spouse/ mate. It takes two to be happy and successful, because at one point you will gain one thing and lose another. This drama shows about how much ML want to succeed in life and support his family but then again didn’t realize what his wife wants. And marriage life got in between, not realizing how much their marriage was failing.

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Not a typical revenge on the ex story

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2014 South Korean television series spanning 16, 60 minute, episodes.
Na Ae-ra (Lee Min-jung) grew up believing she was born to be only pretty and not smart. While working at her family's restaurant, she falls in love with Cha Jung-woo (Joo Sang-wook), a geeky engineering graduate student studying to enter a civil service job. Na Ae-ra wants to become a housewife, and after Jung-woo promises that she will be, they get married. During their 100th day wedding celebration, Jung-woo announces that he has quit his job because he has an idea for a business. Jung-woo's businesses keep failing and Ae-ra struggles to keep them afloat by working multiple jobs. After secretly suffering a miscarriage from the stress of being the sole breadwinner and living in poverty, Ae-ra divorces Jung-woo after four years of marriage. Three years after the divorce, Ae-ra discovers that Jung-woo has become fabulously successful and wealthy, while she is still paying debts that accrued during their marriage. The fun begins when Ae-ra schemes for revenge, with Jung-woo believing that Ae-ra wants him back because he has become wealthy.

Spoiler ? This was not at all what I expected. I thought the ex-wife would be coming from a position of power at the outset and she really was not. I should be used to the premise not fully giving me insight into the complexities of the story line. it is part of what I love about Asian dramas. From synopsis I expected this to be similar to some American shows I have seen where exes get revenge - and it was not like that at all. I was also surprised at the sympathy I felt for the "villainous" characters and the unexpected evolution of some. I liked the way it explored the many levels of miscommunication that can go on in a marriage and the qualities that someone who should know you better than anyone might fail to see. It was moving, complex, but still light and refreshing.

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Easy watch

I started this show very suddenly, not looking for much. I wasn't hoping for anything but it surprisingly lured me in. There's character development of course, but despite the female lead being a little pitiful in the beginning, she's not the naive damsel in distress and can fend for herself. I liked how they wrote the characters. The second lead is the same from cheese in the trap and he's cute as hell, along with the assistant of the male lead. It's not a one of a kind kdrama but it's an easy watch that can pass your time. I don't think you'll regret watching it if you're in to while away your time with a simple , heartwarming kdrama that's easy on the eyes

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At first i didn't really want to watch this drama, mainly because I do have a problem with couples who got separated and then back together. But it kept popping as a "need-to-watch" show, so I tried and i kind of got into it.
The plot was not exactly great , in the sense that it really appears as a terrible decision for those two to try to be a couple again , but the acting was pretty good.
And what i found really interesting is that the main female character showed a very human side , i couldn't help but still like her even tough she seemed like the most horrible gold digger ever .
It made me forget the rational side (if we look at the facts, she abandoned her husband without real explanations mainly because he was struggling financially and then came back once he was rich, so she is not a good person, lol ) and really forced me to see the emotional one , with a nice evolution of the main characters , who are both trying their best , but still make mistakes.
It also pictures pretty well the fact that in Korea, money and financial stability are major standards to be accepted in the society and even more to get married.
So , more than the acting and the basic plot , what i really enjoyed in this drama , is how human and vulnerable the main leads were.
I ended up cheering their love story , so yes, i recommend this show !

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Light and corny....

For lack of something to watch while waiting for the latest episode of Extraordinary Atty Woo, I found myself browsing the Kdrama options on my list. Decided to try this since the ML is currently playing Jang Goo in Alchemy of Souls, and the FL was Lee Byung Hun's wife.

The premise of the drama sounded promising. An ex wife who worked as an intern for her now rich husband. While I enjoyed their interaction as a couple, the support characters were just bothersome to me. I wanted to slap both the second female and male leads because they insisted on pushing their feelings on the leads. Their father is no different.

The office workers are extra noise in the background which frankly, the story could do without.

This is an older drama but it is weird that almost all Kdramas have scenes where someone is visibly tailing the lead or watching the lead and yet, remains unseen by the lead. Go figure.....

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This drama was not a random watch for me. I love the role of Lee Min Jung in Boys over flowers and I wanted to see more of here, so I ended up watching this lovely drama. The acting was great. Min Jung is capable of playing any role she is given and this was a fine role for her. Her character went through a roller coaster of emotions and she made it believable. Joo Sang Wook, although not my favorite actor, was a decent leading man and also put a spot on performance of a heartbroken, but now extremely successful man. They had an excellent chemistry and made the coupling believable.  The supporting cast is also wonderful. The story is interesting and follows a nice pace, which makes this drama a pleasant watching material. I definitely recommend this drama to all romance lovers, especially those who love a great romance story with a strong, independent leading lady which Min Jung in the role of Na Ae Ra most certainly is.

Saruman approves!

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