It took me about five episodes to finally begin to like the characters. Also, there are some interesting issues that are brought to this drama, some now familiar to me and some new, as I think I have about 7 (yes, 7 as I write this!) K-dramas under my belt. The commoner-chaebol heir pairing has been a common one (Heirs, What Is Wrong With Secretary Kim?), and one that is always fun as it’s an issue of overcoming socio-economic class boundaries. In the case of Oh My Venus, Kim Young-Ho seems to have missed out on camping and umbrellas to shield food for the next meal. In the case of What Is Wrong With Secretary Kim?, he’s never had ramen noodles, street food or gone clamming evidently! Anyway, I digress. Another issue is the work/life balance in Oh My Venus that seems to be mostly the case of Oh Soo Jin, rather than Kang Joo Eun.

I actually liked the series overall but was annoyed by some aspects. So, here’s what I found annoying, from most annoying to least annoying, in order. 1) The Kim Ji Woong character keeps saying weird things, tries to get everyone pumped up with stupid slogans, calls Kang Joo Eun “Ma’am” and claimed that he graduated from Harvard. What??? Why is he someone’s manager after attending Harvard? That is not the path of a Harvard graduate! 2) Why did Kim Young-Ho not contact Kang Joo Eun for an entire year after the “incident” even though she contacted him! Who does that??? I know that he felt he’d want to reconnect with her and lose focus if they were in touch but they were getting close to getting married before the year-long hiatus! Ugh! 3) At the end of the series when Kim Young-Ho, Kang Joo Eun and Kim Ji Woong are gone for three months and they meet Kang Joo Eun at the airport where she is obviously overweight AGAIN, that hardly seems realistic. She worked out for an entire year during Kim Young-Ho’s absence! Come on! And, Kim Young-Ho seems to only want to see her in thin form, which, of course, is understandable, but I can see that this issue is going to be problematic in their future marriage, haha!

There were many aspects of the series to like. There was the chemistry between the main characters (after episode 5), the fact that Kang Joo Eun’s character is warm, forgiving, and motivated and the fact that Kim Young-Ho’s character is persistent, determined, and caring. Overcoming obstacles in life is something that ties these two together. There was the constant physical exercise starting around Episode 5. It makes you feel inspired to get on the treadmill! Who doesn't love to see someone successfully lose weight, especially to an ex!?!

Overall, I enjoyed it, with the minor annoyances notwithstanding!

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What a wonderful slice of life. It took me back to my 20s when I felt like there were so many goals and dreams I wanted to pursue but I was hampered by lack of experience and my youth. It’s not easy to make your way through this period yet it’s a time of such promise—it really is the time to pursue your dreams, have fun, and fall in love, sometimes multiple times. Park Seo Joon and Kim Ji Won were so wonderful together, and their relationship made me laugh but it was so sweet too. The path to true love can be bumpy. It was fun to see many of them again in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim!

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I just finished this and absolutely loved it with one exception to be mentioned momentarily. Another strong independent female lead and potential gold medalist weight lifter who has her own goals and has to come to terms with her feelings about her childhood friend who is also a promising medalist swimmer at the same college as her make for a dynamic plot. It was great to see the two navigate through early adulthood as she is first annoyed by his antics while pursuing an unattainable, one-sided relationship and while he is goofy yet a supportive friend and unaware of his true feelings for her. And, in this one too, there are great supporting cast members surrounding both leads who are multi-dimensional and fun. The one part that I absolutely hated and which shocked me was the use of corporal punishment on Kim Bok Joo. WTF?!?! This is a series filmed in 2016! This actually goes on? What?!?! I am an American, no experience with the Korean culture really, but this seemed WAAAYYYY out of line. And then Coach Choi finds out the real reason that she was running off and she's nice to her again? That was weird. If I was the subject of corporal punishment and physical discipline, I'd be suing Coach Choi! Putting that aside, it was momentary, and seemed like an artificial construct, but was upsetting frankly. Otherwise, great series!

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Yes! This one had a ML and FL who were a good match and who were equals in intelligence, aptitude and personality! Granted, FL (AG-3/Ji Ah), who has an empathetic and kind nature but is spunky, had to deal with some psychological oddities of Kim Min Kyu at the beginning, and she, of course, duped him as a robot for quite a while but this was simply adorable!!!! So many laugh out loud moments! When he opened the box to see AG-3 and she jumped back and yelled—that was so funny! Couldn’t believe how I loved this and had to rewatch the last 4 episodes just because I was so happy they were together.

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Oh, this was disappointing. It started out well with some laugh out loud moments in Episode 1 and then it just fell flat. However, I kept at it because I thought for sure that things would change, but alas, they didn’t. ML was an entitled jerk at the beginning and then three years later, he’s now a General Manager with a strong work ethic. What? How did that happen? FL is a bumbling dietician in training but finally manages to become a trained dietician, against all odds. When they accidentally are reunited because FL is now working as the dietitian/nutritionist at company run by ML, FL acts timid and lacks confidence while ML bullies and manipulates her constantly! You’d think they’d both grow out of these major character flaws but no! We, the viewers are subjected to seeing this behavior for endless episodes. Somehow, they’re both still attracted to one another despite these issues and finally begin to realize and act upon their feelings for one another. Even so, it took about 13 ½ of the 14 episodes before each of them actually shows the maturity they should have started developing in Episode 5. I really wish the FL wasn’t such a milque-toast and that ML wasn’t such a bully so often. The other issue that baffled me was how they had a connection. Granted, they slept together three years ago and there were fireworks but besides that, all they seem to have in common is his malnutrition and her ability to provide nutritious food. You don’t get the sense that they have much else in common. She literally is Miss Frumpy and he’s Mr. Model. Side note—he is SO good-looking! It would have been nice to see her dress nicely and it really didn’t seem that she would be his ideal woman at all. I didn’t like the other woman who thought she was his girlfriend as she was conniving and superficial but I don’t know which one was worse. Clearly the FL at least was honest and had integrity. Of course, she was hiding a lot—herself, her family, her past, etc. All that added to my frustration. I mean, be your own person! The best character in the whole series, in my opinion, was FL’s friend—the author/Book and Beer owner who was kind, forgiving and loyal and cute too! He seemed much more the type for FL frankly. Anyway, I skipped Episodes 10-12 but finished it simply because I couldn’t give up since I was so deep in but it wasn’t a favorite. This is the first one that I really didn’t enjoy that much and still feel frustrated by so many aspects because it really had a lot of potential. I think the actors did well with what they were given but ultimately it was the plot, and the writing, which lacked depth in character development, that let this series down.

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As far as time-travel romances go, this one is really enjoyable! Both main characters end up going back and forth a few times to their various origin eras which allows them both to understand the difficulties that they each face within those eras. I thought the ML was a bit too goofy in the first few episodes and it was hard to swallow. It also seemed weird that the FL liked to go clubbing, a hobby she seemed to drop like a hot brick when she met Joseon Man. As the series continued, they both come and go from modern-day Seoul to historic Joseon together, not apart, which was important in developing their relationship. In so doing, the FL at least is able to see how ML suffered so much and her sympathy for him grows. BTW, what is up with all the hats and headgear from the Joseon era??? Seem might uncomfortable frankly! I think the straw lampshade and the black cap with the propeller on the back are standouts, though. OK, I have to address what I can only label ML’s bipolar-ness. I get that he’s going through a transition as a person but he seems to choose the extremes. Either he’s really serious about doing his work and in his life or he’s Mr. Happy Bubbly. When he came back from Joseon and worked for Director Ma was when he was really, really weird. He completely cut off communication with FL. Then, finally, when he realizes and/or matures into being the best version of himself, he abandons the Oriental Medicine Hospital and goes back to the oriental clinic where he seems to be on Cloud 9. Anyway, it was great to see that he finally matured into the ultimate version of the doctor as a compassionate person but a bizarre process. SPOILER ALERT HERE: Onto the last episode--I cried through 80% of it (and 75% of previous episode) and really thought that their separation was final, but no, in the end, despite that he’d been told when he goes back, he can’t return, he actually returns!!! What?!? Was that by accident? If so, how did that work? And, I know this is fiction but HOW is he going to practice without a license? I HOPE that there’s a way for him to get it without having to go through formal schooling. The last 5 minutes of joy left me with more questions than answers!

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Repressed Emotions Delay Happiness!

Finally, a kdrama where I’m not having heart palpitations in every episode because of scary situations, violence, or love triangles getting overly messy. I felt that this was a wonderful slow walk through the garden. It also highlighted the impact of domestic abuse. Clearly, if it is part of this series, it must be an issue in Korea, and I’ve read is an issue in Korea. Hopefully the series will help to bring the issue to people’s attention. However, like most kdramas, the problems of the main characters evolve from lack of communication. After I watched the scene at the high school reunion where they ask who liked whom in high school and ML (Im Eun Sub) says he liked FL (Mok Hae Won) and then he goes home and is totally embarrassed when she knocks on the door, I was actually laughing to myself. In the US, the scenario could have played out like this: Boy admits he likes girl. Girl texts him later and says something like, “So, did you really like me in HS or were you just saying that?” Boy replies, “I really did—didn’t you know?” She says “Hmmmm…well, that’s good to know, I thought that might have been the case.” He says, “Do you want to meet tomorrow?” She says, “OK, text me tomorrow.” They then proceed to date and either it works or it doesn’t! No weeks of trying to figure out feelings, etc. The American boy might have been a little embarrassed to admit that he liked her in high school but he might have also been a bit happy to admit this to everyone. I know--there are plenty of Americans with communication issues, etc. but almost every kdrama is based on buried feelings so just worth noting!

This brings up an issue for me which is really beginning to concern me about these kdramas (haha!) which is that people don’t seem to be able to identify their true feelings or understand how their lack of understanding emotions impact themselves or those around them. Of course, without these conflicts, then the kdramas wouldn't last as many episodes as they do! They'd probably be 4 episodes! Even so, why couldn't the mother see that she was destroying her daughter by not communicating? That made me so sad? Why didn’t Im Eun Sub ever talk to Mok Hae Won during high school? That was weird. Why did Aunt Shim Myung Yeo act cold to Mok Hae Won, even though she was warmer than mom was? Granted, she was willing to commit suicide with her niece in the river although we find out later that it was more to relieve her own guilt than to commiserate with Mok Hae Won. Why didn’t Mok Hae Won’s best friend apologize at school? Why, why, why? Too many repressed emotions!!!!!! There were two bright lights in terms of people who were strong mentally -- Im Hwi, ML's sister, and Lee Jan Woo--ML's friend. Im Hwi was a bit of a show stealer because she wore her emotions on her sleeve. Loved it! Lee Jan Woo was hilarious, even though he had a stammering/stuttering problem whenever he was flustered. In any case, in the US, both Mok Hae Won AND Im Eun Sub would have most likely been in therapy during high school. I guess therapy's not a thing in Korea,( according to some subber comments I saw when watching) which is really unfortunate. Even so, as per required by kdrama law, both Im Eun Sob and Mok Hae Won seemed to finally get their bearings and be on the road to healthier mental states. And, all in all, even though I have spent two paragraphs enumerating my concerns about mental health, the show really was beautiful--showing the bonds of community and the consistency of love.

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I hadn’t expected to watch this kdrama as it didn’t fall into the rom-com genre that I seem to really like but I couldn’t believe how quickly I got sucked into this one. Granted, I spent a lot of time with my finger on the FF button through the action scenes as I get anxious when people get hurt. But, it was such a great story line, with complex characters, and a wide cast of them. I really felt invested in the growth and healing of the two main leads. I loved the chemistry between them. It’s a bit ironic that The Healer took the name but actually needed to find healing for himself.

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Well, here we go again with issues of communication! And, dysfunction. More than any other kdrama that I’ve watched thus far, there has been more drinking and hitting each other! That is slightly disturbing frankly. Maybe it’s because I’m American but I found it really weird that a mom would be hitting her 31-32 year old daughter. Even when Park Do Kyung and Oh Hae Young have their first kiss, it’s after she starts hitting him with her purse and they tussle one another into a wall! And, that lawyer friend and PDK’s younger brother are constantly at one another too! Park Soo Kyung’s drinking scenes were so OOT I could barely stand to watch them. Hair in front of face, total inebriation, etc. Ugh! Onto to dysfunction and back to PDK—in flashbacks from his relationship with OHY Girlfriend #1, he’s happy and smiling. After she bails on the wedding, he goes into total emotional void. Then, once he’s with OHY 2, he’s able to smile again. That seemed a bit unlikely as a premise although for the sake of the series I suppose it made sense. After reading Episode Guides, I skipped Episodes 10-13 and was glad I did as all that could have been wrapped up in one episode. Even though I was annoyed by the excessive physicality/hitting/drinking, I still was invested in the relationships, particularly of the leads, as they had great chemistry. “Ordinary” OHY was actually not so ordinary because of her bubbly, free-spirited and gritty personality. Here’s something that’s been bothering me for a while…as in all other kdrama series, the female lead never wears the same clothes twice. But their closet space doesn’t seem to accommodate all the clothes they always wear—it’s a perennial mystery to me. And, original OHY was criticized twice for having “poor” clothes. What does that mean? She seemed to dress casually yes, but in Korean culture, does that mean someone’s poor? A bit baffling as in America some real slobs can be really rich so you never know.

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So charming! The lovely Secretary Kim is badgered relentlessly by her narcissistic boss for 9 years until she pays off the family debt and decides she’s had enough! Narcissist boss Lee Young Joon suddenly realizes what a gem she is and thus we’re off to the races to see if narcissist boss has it in him to become thoughtful, kind and warm while lovely, smiling Secretary Kim needs to stand her ground in order to figure out what she wants in life. Overall, I’d give this series high marks because despite Lee Young Joon’s personality disorders, he’s actually a multi-dimensional character and has the ability to grow as a person. Secretary Kim is definitely the more stable of the two, but she too needs to learn how to be his equal in confidence. It’s sweet to see how the two grow together as a couple even as various challenges present themselves. Worth re-watching for sure!!!

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