First, I have a question: Do you ever have that mood, when you're trying a bunch of different and good dramas, and you can't watch even a 1/3 of episode, and none of them stands out. And then you find it, a GEM, you put the drama on and you know: THIS IS IT! And then you can't stop watching until you end it in a marathon? Well, because it happened to me yesterday with this drama... I'm still recovering...

Why is it worth a perfect score?

Story: I love this kind of stories. It's a story about people who have a very responsible and demanding job, who love that job and practically live for it. It's a really motivating drama, makes you wanna find your dream profession, pursue it and then do something meaningful in your life. The drama does not drag at any moment(well the beauty of jdramas- they have only 9-11 episodes and you're left wanting more). There is also a love story, though not a heart-wrecking romance as somebody observed, but as it normally happens - you meet someone you like, so you want to be with them and you wish all the best for them. There is also a great bromance,heart-warming family(Shinkai dad-GREAT!)and random hilarity (the girl next door-LOL) in it as well. Generally, all of the characters were very well crafted and you want to know more about them.

Cast: It's Kimutaku in his prime - with his boyish charm and in uniform ^_^. But all the cast members were great and their characters were complex and interesting.

Music: As it didn't attract my attention at all, I have nothing to say about it.

Rewatch: I already want to rewatch! Actually I even did a bit- the best scenes.. ;)

This drama is really outstanding in my opinion, so I highly recommend it.

Lire davantage

I’ve spend so much time watching this drama, that I decided I should at least write a review. As I want to do it thoroughly, it might be a tiny little bit spoilerish, so if you don’t want to know anything about the plot before watching, please consider not reading this review.

First of all, the description can be a bit misleading, if you were hoping while choosing it that it will be a romantic comedy, you can end up being disappointed, because it’s back to back a family melodrama. If you consider it as such, this it will be a valuable watch.
What I found interesting about Korean family drama is that, while telling a story, it touches upon social and cultural issues between the lines, which makes me feel I’m learning something about Korean culture. (like I didn’t know how common racism was or how difficult it was for people in Korea after the war until I watched Ojakyo Brothers).

As for this drama what I really enjoyed how it broke some usual rom-com cliches and focused on development of heroines. Tropes like divorcing unfaithful husband despite having a child and then struggling with getting the once successful single life back together. Or marrying just for love and not sacrificing your career for it. These all was very interesting and fresh for me to see in a drama, especially in context of Korean society,which seems still pretty conservative (Disclaimer: I’ve never been to Korea nor do I know well any Koreans :[ so it’s only based on what I read or watched so I might be wrong). You could also see that it indeed cause some struggles between generations with grandma telling her granddaughter to forgive her husband and go back to him, or in mother- daughter-in-law differences. What was also interesting that it showed ajummas in some untypical light as well. Scene when Omounii, who was always sacrificing for her family, goes on shopping spree and buys high-end clothes for herself because “she deserves that” was simply priceless. I also really sympathized with the story of Joon Ho’s mother - I mean the male lead’s mother, in most dramas a character designed to be hated- she really got my deep compassion with her story of finding the sense in your life, when your family doesn’t care for your efforts anymore.

I really liked the characters of the sisters. Jeong Ae, who despite her mild character, didn’t weaver and was able to follow through her decisions. Joo Shin who was at the same time fierce and caring, never letting anyone to put her down.
I liked Soon Shin very much too, although she was a vulnerable character at first, not confident at all and a real give-upper -which can be pretty annoying, she really grew as the drama progressed and wasn’t afraid to speak out her feelings and resolve misunderstandings. Besides IU is so adorable and natural in her acting and such a cute and funny girl, that it’s impossible not to like her.

In the romantic department it was pretty interesting as well. Very pleasing actually, because every girl got a guy, that was really well suited for them. What was really interesting and not often seen in a drama- it was guys who chased after the girls, not the other way around. So if you’re looking for such development, this drama won’t disappoint. Because they chased after them faithfully and continuously, and they are really great and considerate guys to be chased by.

And yes we have our usual “CEO”, but he’s not usual at all! The official description could not be more wrong about him, because he is not “over confident, arrogant and coldblooded” in any way! If anything he’s selfconsious, adorably clumsy, very smart, independent and caring. I don’t know how Jo Jung Suk did it, but he played his character extremely believably, so Joon Ho seemed like an awesome, but still real-life man, not some made-up arrogant CEO, worshipped by everybody around. What I also about him was his backstory, that he wasn’t a second generation cheabol as usual, but a self-made man, who wasn’t afraid to go against his parents wishes, and after many hardships became successful on his own. He showed the same resilience throughout the drama and always made his own decisions, which I really enjoyed, even if he messed up sometimes.
It was really sweet to see how much he cared for Soon Shin and always supported her both in her career and as a shoulder to cry on. It is one of the most cutest and realistic relationships I’ve ever seen in a drama with both people really wanting to be together and supporting each other. IU and Jung Suk are a great pairing, you couldn’t feel the age difference between them, especially with Soon Shin being quite cheeky towards teppunim and him falling heads over heels for her. They really have a great dynamics and chemistry, and their scenes together were always enjoyable without being overboard. I became a fan of Jo Jung Suk after this drama, somehow he stands out among other Korean actors, because he’s very natural, has great expression and doesn’t take himself too seriously. And he was just too cute, when he looked at Soon Shin, telling her she’s beautiful

Lire davantage

I like the concept of this drama, it's like watching several dramas in the price of one. You get 2 major love stories, 2 smaller ones, some family drama, bromance, revenge, redemption and even a bit of action. The plot is so complex that you really can't get bored while watching. I really admire the writers for being able to intertwine so many stories together. Throughout the whole drama there are new characters appearing, some disappearing for many episodes to appear again and new connections are revealed. Even if you are able to predict the eventual outcome and some ideas are something you might have seen before, you really cannot predict when something new will be added. At some point I was a little bit worried if they will be able to wrap up all of story lines, but they did a great job with that too and the ending is very satisfactory.

I really liked most of the characters. Female leads were really awesome and that doesn't happen too often in dramas. I really love Ja Eun - she is one of my most favorite heroines now, Soo Young was also adorable - hard on the outside, but very soft and warm inside.

Only characters that I didn't like too much was Soo Young's parents, maybe most of their scenes were there for humor but I've found them a bit annoying.

And I really love, love, love Ja Eun and Tae Hee story! If you like romance, I suggest watching this just for them.

Lire davantage

I've given it the highest score in everything, because it's my most favorite story ever. Being a big lover of classical music and always charmed by world of musicians I really couldn't ask for anything better. The acting is outstanding, not only the leads, but also the supporting characters are all very lively and unique. Some of them may feel a little bit overdone, especially foreigners played by Japanese actors, but they will make roll with laughter. Takenaka Naoto as Franz Strezemann was just epic. Apart from all the enjoyable silliness, the drama, at least in my opinion, was very touching at times, especially the follow-up story in specials and movies. That's why I highly recommend to watch it all.Even my husband, who usually don't care about that "asian stuff" that I'm crazy about, loved it and watched it 3 times with me. If you like classical music, but you think of it rather emotionally than seriously and you enjoy anime-like gags, you will have a blast watching this. I did!

Lire davantage

First of all- I want to thank some fellow MDLers for introducing this drama to me. As this drama is not that new and the description doesn't express the awesomeness hidden in it, I'm not sure if I would decide to watch it on my own. But because some respectable ^_^ members of our community kept mentioning it here and there, I decided to check it out. And I'm glad that I did! Thank YOU! Hail to the most awesome community ever! Now, the review...

Story
It's a wonderful love story. There are 2 people, quite normal people (no okanemochi CEOs or painfully poor angels)who meet in pretty normal circumstances and then... the magic happens! Because they fall in love, and open up to each other - and we get to see that they are truly admirable, though complex people.For me 90% of the story was amazing, refreshing and truthful, I really wanted to give it 10 points, but then I didn't like about 10% of it (I've ranted about it in episodes' reviews if somebody's interested, but it contains spoilers) so thus it's a 9.

Acting/Cast

I seriously consider stalking Kimutaku's dramas now, him and Takeuchi Yuko were spectacular in this! Aki and Haru were deep and complex characters that were truly well crafted. This drama contains some of the most touching scenes I've ever seen. Ok, there were some additional characters there- better and worse, but for me they served more as a background and explanation for the main leads' story.

Music
It's Queen- it's great! There isn't much to talk about ^_^ "I was born to love you" truly fits as the theme song(actually I really like the opening- it was really cool). Also the instrumental tracks where really pretty too.

Rewatch
I can see myself re-watching scenes from this drama so it's pretty high.

I hope this review will encourage some more people to watch this drama . It's one of a kind.

Lire davantage

I read what I wrote below and thought “Omo, I such a fangirl!”, But aren’t we all?

Being a fan of Hong Ki since his brilliant characterization of Jeremy, I have waited for him to shine again, this time on the front stage. Alas, the dramas and movies that he participated in weren't all that bad, but didn’t satisfy me. I was hoping for more. And finally I got it with Modern Farmer.

The main role suits Hong Ki splendidly. He get to use his funny faces, mischievous looks, adorable smiles, and even some manly strength and seriousness. He is able to bring out his village swag very naturally and he nails yet another epic bus scene ^_^.

But Hong Ki is not the only leverage of this drama. Moving the action to the country, gave it a refreshing feeling and let me explore a part of Korean culture, I didn’t know much about. The cast members were able to bring a whole ensemble of colorful and unique characters, that escaped from typical drama cliches.

And the heroine! A beautiful country flower (that’s what I kept calling her in my head), that turned out to be a strong and independent woman. It was she who kept saving the boys, not the other way around. That’s extremely rare in Dramaland, so kudos for that.

I was impressed how well written and sensible the story was. In many ways it reminded of a family drama - usually 50+ episodes- compressed into 20-ep. format with the benefit of cutting out the most annoying, dramatic things and leaving only the fun and heartwarming ones. Focusing on comedy did well for the show. Although it went overboard with peeing jokes at some point, it got me giggling most of the time. The writers didn’t give up on exploring various human relations, however, romantic and other, so it didn’t feel as shallow, as some comedies are.

As for the music, it’s a 10+. Classic rock hits often enforced the humor. The whole concept of the protagonists being hard-rock musicians also fit in nicely. And Hong Ki’s song “When love comes” reminded me why I fell for his voice many years ago. (OK, so I started with fan-girling and ended with fan-girling.. FANGIRL4LIFE ^_^)

If you bored with typical drama schematics, I recommend you to watch this as it is definitely something different.

Lire davantage

I just finished it, so my opinion is quite fresh.

It is a typical Taiwanese rom-com, but there were some features that made it stand out.

The characters were totally likable and even the 'bad' ones weren't as hateful as usual- well they might have been at one point maybe, but they at least had some quite logical explanation for their behavior.

The lead in this drama is actually a "good guy"! It happens so rarely that it's worth watching just for that reason.Park Jung Min is so freaking adorable and his character develops so well too. You just got to love Xi Huan (Don Ji^_^).

The only thing I have to complain about is that some plot lines were not so well-done(some unnecessary), and some ending solutions were too shallow (e.g. you despise someone for half the drama and suddenly you start to get along with them).But overall I wasn't too annoyed with that, and I still enjoyed this drama.

Quick word about music: some background tracks were overly dramatic and cheesy. Some made me laugh - like super bouncy confidence track for Mi En. But Park Jung Min song is really beautiful and gets me emotionally- so I rate the music high.

Lire davantage