Tag: Park Min Young

Review: Love in Contract

Posted December 6, 2022 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Love in Contract

Starring: Park Min Young, Go Kyung Pyo, Kim Jae Young, Lee Joo Bin, Kang Hyung Suk, Jin Kyung
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: Drama, Business, Contemporary, Romance
Country: South Korea
Director: Nam Sung Woo
Screenwriter: Ha Gu Dam
Where I Watched It: Viki
Who I Watched It For: Park Min Young

Undeniably attractive, talented, and charming, Choi Sang Eun is the living definition of the perfect partner. This is exactly why instead of marrying, she chooses to employ her skills as a contract marriage master. Transforming herself into the perfect partner for each of her clients, Sang Eun allows those who employ her services to live the perfect single life, without having to agree to a committed, life-long relationship.

A long-term client, Jung Ji Ho has been using Sang Eun’s services every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for the past five years. A man shrouded in mystery, Sang Eun knows virtually nothing about Ji Ho but that doesn’t stop her from developing some rather unexpected feelings for him. Making her life even more difficult are the equally unexpected feelings she’s recently developed for one of her newest clients, Kang Hae Jin. A popular actor who employs her services on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, Hae Jin often makes Sang Eun’s heart flutter.

Torn between her professional obligations and the feelings she harbors for both Ji Ho and Hae Jin, Sang Eun finds herself in an unexpected predicament. How can she possibly maintain her professionalism when her heart is leading her in two different directions?

I went into this drama expecting one thing but got something else in return. I’m not mad about it. I enjoyed all of the characters, cheered for the mains and was happy in the end. Watching this was a good idea. Let’s get into my thoughts, shall we?

The Story

This story followed three main leads as they try to find love for the first time. These are three individuals who have never been shown an ounce of love in their lives so it was rough going for a while. They all stumbled their way around their feelings, each other, and everything else going on in their individual lives. All of that made this show a whole lot more interesting than I was expecting when I first started it. I was expecting something light, clumsy, and silly but the show ended up being a lot deeper than all that.

Main Male Lead

I was sucked into this show because Go Kyung Pyo’s character, Ji Ho, was such a curious one. He hired a wife that only met up with him three days a week and he forced himself to not want more even though it was obvious that he had feelings for her. He read books on how to act in social situations, and he hardly ever spoke to anyone unless he absolutely had to. He was the least popular guy at work because he was so strange to everyone around him and yet, he got up and went to work anyway.

He was seeing a therapist about everything and for a while, it seemed that his therapist was the closest he had to a friend. But with Sang Eun’s help, he won everyone else over. Sure, he was still strange and it took a while but watching him come into his own and learn how to love and be loved in return was so satisfying. I adored him.

Main Female Lead

I may have been sucked into this drama because of Go Kyung Pyo’s character but I started this drama because I like and enjoy Park Min Young’s acting. I haven’t watched everything that she’s been in but the few shows that I have watched, I liked her a lot. As much as I liked her as Secretary Kim, I think that Choi Sang Eun is my favorite character of hers.

Choi Sang Eun was a dawg. She was a big dawg. She had a pretty rough childhood. She was an orphan and when a pretty woman came and took her away, she built up all of these fantasies about being part of a family so she tried her hardest to please everyone around her, and instead of being happy, she was used at every turn. She was being groomed to be married off to further business opportunities and when she couldn’t take it anymore, she stormed off and never returned to that life. She turned all of that grooming into a successful business for herself and though she lived her life for herself, she still had ties to the woman that kept trying to sell her off to the highest bidder.

Each and every single time that Sang Eun was knocked down, she got right back up and dusted herself off then went out and tried again. She never backed down from a fight and she faced each and every single thing bravely. I really liked her and liked the person she was with both her best friend but with the two male leads as well. She was strong, she was capable, and she was caring. She was the bomb even when she got on my nerves, I loved her.

Second Lead

Kang Hae Jin really grew on me. Not that I ever hated him or anything but he was never in the running for who I wanted Sang Eun to end up with. With each passing episode, I got softer and softer for him because man, my guy just wanted to be happy and in love with someone who loved him back. Who wouldn’t want that? I loved seeing him grow into his own over the course of the drama too. When we first meet him, he’s kind of bratty and the typical celebrity who is only concerned about himself but the more you get to know him, the more you realize that all is not what you see. There was depth to his character and though he was running from his problems, when he finally stands up and fixes them, I thought he handled them well.

So yeah, I loved him too.

The Cast

From Ji Ho’s work place peeps to Hae Jin’s work place peeps and then Sang Eun’s best friend, I thought each group was a lot of fun though my favorite group of the bunch is definitely Ji Ho’s work friends. They each made me laugh, made me mad, or just made me happy. I thought each of them really delivered their best efforts in trying to bring the stories to life and I really enjoyed getting to know each of them.

Hae Jin’s family was a piece of work and I wanted to kick them all in the dick right along with Sang Eun’s Mom. I’m glad that both Hae Jin and Sang Eun were able to find their own people who loved and supported them. Does Sang Eun’s Mom play any other kind of character though? I’m tired of hating her in every drama I see her in. A lot of the cast were new faces to me but I enjoyed them a lot so I’m looking forward to seeing them around other k-dramas. Lots of fun folks for sure.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this drama was an unexpected delight for me. I went into it thinking that I’d get one thing and got something else completely. Something much better. This is a totally bingeable Korean drama. Its packed with a great cast of characters that made me laugh, cry, and happy sigh. Each episode built the story up bit by bit and I appreciated the writers efforts in delivering an enjoyable watching experience. I definitely recommend this drama if you’re looking for a straight up good drama.

Final Rating

via GIPHY

4 out of 5

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Review: Forecasting Love and Weather

Posted July 28, 2022 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Forecasting Love and Weather

Starring: Park Min Young, Song Kang, Yoon Park, Yura
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: 16
Genre: Contemporary, Drama, Romance, Office Romance
Country: South Korea
Where I Watched It: Netflix
Recommended By: N/A
Who I Watched It For: Song Kang

A romance drama about the work and love in the office of National Weather Service, hotter than tropical nights and more unpredictable than localized heavy rains.

Jin Ha Kyung is an intelligent and highly organized individual who does everything by the book and is fastidious about keeping her personal and professional lives separate. Due to her cold demeanor, she has few friends at work and has become an “outsider by choice.”

Lee Shi Woo is a free spirit who is always thinking outside the box. Although he can appear clumsy, he boasts an impressive IQ of 150 and is able to achieve anything once he sets his mind to it. However, in spite of his intelligence and abilities, all he cares about is the weather.

Han Ki Joon is a handsome and quick-witted character with a silver tongue. Using his formidable powers of persuasion, Han Ki Joon eventually gets scouted by the spokesperson’s office after struggling in the early days of his career at the service. However, because he has lived his entire life as a model student, he has a hard time dealing with failure.

Chae Yoo Jin is a daily weather reporter. Although she went into her job with lofty dreams of breaking news, exciting scoops, and on-site reports, Chae Yoo Jin was ultimately assigned to the “weather and lifestyle team.” While she was initially disappointed by the assignment, she eventually comes to grow fond of her job.

Park Min Young and Song Kang are two actors that I like so I knew that I was going to watch this one when it dropped. I watched the entire thing and this was one of those shows that while I was watching it, was great. I enjoyed the characters, the romance between the main and secondary leads but the time in between??? Yeah, I was never rushing to watch the new episodes.

The main leads delivered their characters well. I enjoyed getting to know both Ha Kyung and Shi Woo. They were good at their job and I loved how protective Shi Woo was over Ha Kyung’s reputation at work though I felt their romance moved at warped speed in the beginning, I came to really love their mature relationship. I loved how Ha Kyung was all in, honest in how she felt, and quick to apologize when she was wrong. She was a lot better than I am because even when she had an attitude, she was able to set things right without blowing shit up. When the inevitable break up happens, I thought it was pretty dumb and though their romance happened pretty quickly, the pacing of the show as a whole was pretty slow and I think that played a huge role in why it took me so long to gear up to watch the episodes every week.

I did think that their jobs were interesting and never would have paid any mind to forecasters if I hadn’t watched this show. This show paints a realistic picture of how important and how varied the jobs of forecasters and weather people are. At least, a realistic picture in the sense of every factor in the decisions and announcements that they make to the public. Their jobs aren’t easy ones and I loved seeing their work dynamic with their team. The reporters who report the weather have loads to juggle as well and seeing all of these guys in their element made watching the show easier when I was watching it.

I was surprised at how much I came to enjoy the secondary romance. When we first meet the secondary couple, we’re not fans of them. Their story unfolds slowly and goes from I hate them to I don’t care for them to awwww, I hope they make it strange for me since I hate cheaters and these two cheated on the main couple when they were together. Still, all well that ends well and everyone ended up with who they were meant to end up with. I also liked the romance between Ha Kyung’s sister and Ha Kyung’s co-worker. I loved Ha Kyung’s meddling mother and I hated Shi Woo’s dad.

I loved the weather team and seeing them all struggle through their personal lives at the same time trying to provide up-to-date weather reports to the public. I thought the way that they all took their jobs seriously was commendable and I cheered for all of them both personally and professionally. Overall, this show was slow to develop but had a satisfying ending that made me happy. The romance was strong and it was sweet, the weather stuff was interesting and I didn’t think it would be and the show itself was solid. I definitely recommend it.

The OST

Final Rating

via GIPHY

3.5 out of 5

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Review: What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim

Posted July 30, 2020 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim

Male Lead: Park Seo Jun
Female Lead: Park Min Young
Secondary Lead: Lee Tae Hwan
Also Starring: Hwang Chan Sung, Jun So Min, Hwang Bo Ra, Pyo Ye Jin, Kang Ki Young, Lee Min Ki, Kim Byeong Ki, Jung Yu Mi, Kang Hong Suk
Year Released: 2018
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Country: Korea
Where I Watched It: Viki
Watched It For: Park Seo Jun

Can you be so self-absorbed that you have no idea what’s truly going on around you? Lee Yeong Joon (Park Seo Joon) is vice president of his family-owned company, Yoomyung Group. He is so narcissistic that he doesn’t pay attention to what his trusty secretary, Kim Mi So (Park Min Young), is trying to tell him most of the time.

After nine years of making Yeong Joon look good and stroking his very large ego, Min So decides to quit her job. Yeong Joon’s older brother, Lee Sung Yeon (Lee Tae Hwan), is a famous author who is in love with Mi So.

Can Yeong Joon accept the fact that Mi So no longer wants to work for him or will he get the wrong idea?

“What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim” is a 2018 South Korean drama series directed by Park Joon Hwa. It is based on a novel by Jung Kyung Yoon. A 2016 webcomic by Kim Young Mi also was based on the same novel.

Going into this show, I was expecting something light and fluffy and while a lot of this show was that, it was also a little dark at times. This show centers around Lee Yeong Joon and his secretary Kim Mi So. Kim Mi So has worked for Lee Yeong Joon for nine years, she’s supported her different family members through school and job losses but there’s no need for any of that anymore since her sisters are grown and working and supporting themselves. Kim Mi So can finally breathe a sigh of relief as all the debt she’s been paying is done and she is finally going to start living her life for herself. First thing on her to-do list? Quit her job.

Lee Yeong Joon has become used to having Kim Mi So by his side. She’s been his right hand woman for the last nine years so he’s fond of her. He’s also completely spoiled by her so when she tells him that she is quitting her job as his secretary, he’s thrown for a loop. As the story progresses, we see that Kim Mi So is much more than Yeong Joon’s secretary. It takes a while for that story to come out and a lot of the hype that I felt for this show was due to the fact that their real story slowly unfolds with each passing episode.

Yeong Joon is not a normal person. He’s got issues from a traumatic past that we don’t really know everything about and he doesn’t even remember most of it himself. The one person who has stuck by him and helped him through different episodes that he’s had is Mi So. Now that he feels like he’s losing her, Yeong Joon decides that he’s going to try to keep her. He’s going to woo her back to his side. The lengths that he went to try to win her over made me laugh and the arrogance that he has at every turn had me laughing even more. There were just so many sweet scenes, followed by some super swoony scenes and a whole lot of funny ones thrown in for good measure. The romance between Lee Yeong Joon and Kim Mi So was sweet and just all around cute. I really liked it.

There’s a strong cast of characters in this show. I liked everyone at the company that both Lee Yeong Joon and Kim Mi So work at. I thought the secondary romance between Kim Mi So’s coworkers was fun too. Both of the secondary romances were cute and even the romance between Yeong Joon’s friend and his wife was adorable. There are a lot of ups and a lot of downs in this show, lots of times when I thought I had something figured out and was wrong but this show was a lot of fun to figure out. Seeing everything come together was a good time and though this isn’t my favorite Park Seo Jun show, it’s a solid show with a solid cast and a super swoony romance that I was here for.

If you’re looking for a good time, this is the show for you. 🙂

Listen to the OST

Final Rating

4.25 out of 5

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