Monday, March 26, 2012
The Greatest Love: First Impressions (ep 1-4)@3:12 PM
So I recently started a new drama, The Greatest Love (or Best Love). I had been planning to watch it and I have had it in my hard drive for forever. It racked up a bunch of awards last year in the drama awards I watched. And plus, it is of the Hong Sister's brand, and I am a diligent watcher of anything they write. (To be exact. I've watched EVERYTHING they've ever written).
So the premise of the show (credit: dramawiki) :
Ae Jung was once the most popular member of girl band The National Treasure Girls. However 10 years ago the band broke up and she received most of the blame. Despite her warm personality her career has suffered ever since and she now spends her time fighting for air time on variety shows. Dokko Jin is a top movie star at the height of his career. The two meet and become involved in each other's careers. Yoon Pil Joo is a doctor of oriental medicine who has no interest in the entertainment industry but agrees to make a dating show. Dokko Jin helps get Ae Jung a role on a new reality show called Couple Making. Pil Joo is the bachelor being set up on Couple Making. Both men fall for Ae Jung both off and on the screen.
The Characters:
Gong Hyo Jin as Goo Ae Jung
I'll be honest, this casting has been bothering me from the beginning of this drama. She's so awkward. Like she is the most awkward female lead I have ever seen in a Hong Sister drama. I've almost always been tolerant of/ liked the castings for the Hong Sister dramas. It's not even because she's older/unattractive, it's cause she's awkward. Like I feel awkward FOR her when I watch this drama. I do agree that her character is supposed to be this way, but it makes me kind of cringe when I watch the drama. Although, I'll also agree that she's growing on me, as her warm side shows more and more... It's easy to see that she's playing her role as the typical not so pretty, but very kind person to a tee.
Cha Seung Won as Dokko Jin
Wow. 180 degree turn from his normal characters. It's taking a bit of getting used to. Cause like...
THAT is my idea of Cha Seung Won. Cause I mean... I watched Athena first. And he was the number 1 badass of all time. But nevermind that. I LOVE his character in this drama though. He is like the world's number 1 badass turned MAN-CHILD. He is unreasonable, childish and perfectly capable of throwing crazy temper tantrums. He kind of runs this show for me, it's so amusing. And I noticed his accent... And he's been efficiently carrying out the majority of the Hong Sister puns and jokes. (I SAW THAT... BREAKING THE 4TH BARRIER AND MENTIONING HIMSELF IN THE DRAMA... BAHAHAHA).
Yoo In Na as Kang Se Ri
I REALLY REALLY REALLY love Yoo In Na. She's one of my Korean actor biases. So it's kind of making me sad that she's playing a bad girl character in this drama. I actually prefer her as the dumb blond type character that she played in Secret Garden I don't care that she got a larger role than the main character's friend. I like her better as the airheaded character. She's kind of a bitch in this drama... but I keep seeing her innocent looking face and being like -_-;;; at her attempted bitchyness. Just let her be nice! JEEZ.
Yoon Kye Sung as Yoon Pil Joo
I'll be honest, I don't think I've ever watched any of his dramas (Although I meant to watch Who are You?). I do know he's in High Kick 3, but he's been playing his character pretty well. He's the typical, perfect, charming young fellow. He's kind of awkward and I find his bluntness toward women kind of amusing, but he's rather charming. I'll be honest about that, I think he was a good cast for the typical nice guy role. I liked the tell-tale typical Hong Sister "earmuff/earplug/earblocking" scene. It was cute.
Not just the leads...!
Two other castings I like from the show are Im Ji Kyu as Kim Jae Suk and Lee Hee Jin as Jenny. I kind of hope the Hong Sister's will draw out their "couple" as a comic relief. Cause I actually find Kim Jae Suk's character to be quite amusing.
Other Reactions:
So far this drama has been purely amusing, but I think my expectations for a Hong Sister drama is higher than most, because they're my favorite brand. The drama isn't as smooth as My Girl or You're Beautiful was, but those are my favorite dramas. So if you hear me complaining a lot, the drama itself isn't bad. It's actually quite good. I think the predicament of the main girl character is actually quite sad and very relateable. Although I don't like the casting that much, I rather like her warmhearted personality.
So far the plotline isn't bad and there have been rather amusing parts of the show.
Cha Seung Won shouting "MY PANTIES, MY PANTIES" gave me quite the fit of giggles. As a light-hearted and fluffy drama, I have high expectations for this to be the type of "feel good" drama for me to watch. I've had way too many disappointments in terms of movies so far. And yes. I WILL GET AROUND TO REVIEWING THOSE... But for now, I'm going to be watching this with a light heart.
Ding Dong!
Rei ☆
PS: You can't ever go wrong with Pororo!Labels: Impressions, The Greatest Love
