Drama Pick of the Week: Secret Garden

#2 Secret Garden

Title:Sikeurit Gadeun/ 시크릿 가든

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Supernatural (a bit), Gender-bender

Number of episodes: 20

Year of airing: 2010

Promotional Poster

OTP: Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Won....need I say anymore?

A kiss that became iconic in K-dramaland

I watched this drama when I was not at all familiar with either of them; I had just dipped my toes into the waters of K-dramaland with Boys Over Flowers, Playful Kiss, Faith, City Hunter, Coffee Prince, Shining Inheritance, My Girl and You're Beautiful. Truth is, I kept putting off this drama for a long time for some unknown reason. But when I began watching it, I just couldn't stop. 

It's witty (typical Kim Eun-Sook), hilarious and the chemistry is sizzling hot...it oozes with sexual tension. Boy, I was fanning myself when they were at each other's thoughts. Somehow, even when they were furious with each other, they had this amazing sizzling and electric sexual tension, as if they would tear each other's clothes at any moment. Of course, the leads are brilliant. Anyone who knows about K-dramas WILL know that Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Won are two of the most brilliant actors. 

DO YOU SEE THAT CHEMISTRY!!!?

WAZZ IT 'BOUT?

The typical plot- rich guy, poor girl, evil mom. The only twist is that the rich guy is eccentric, absolutely and purely eccentric, which makes this drama such great fun to watch! Your sides will ache with laughter as you watch this man-child (child-man) that Hyun Bin portrays with flair. He develops interests for the poor stuntwoman he meets accidentally but he cannot imagine what the strange feelings he is experiencing are. Hence, he decides to follow her around until he understands what exactly these feelings are. Of course, the plot is predictable except that...wait for it....THEY SWITCH THEIR BODIES! Which of course, procures hilarious results. xD

There's also a side story involving, the lead's cousing who is a Hallyu star, his girlfriend from the past and an amateur singer whom he decides to train. Guess who that newbie is....

YEP! LEE FREAKING ADORABLE JONG SUK!!! 

Secret Garden is one of those dramas that became landmarks in Kdramaland. It gives you all the cliches in a Kdrama- the rich guy, the poor girl, gender bending, evil mama, hilarity, tears and even amnesia (CURSES ON YOU, AMNESIA!!); it's a quintessential Kdrama that will have you rolling on the floor laughing, especially Hyun Bin's antics. However, do not try to dig below the surface; I tried to and ended up being disappointed because there are no layers to this drama. It's superficial and a fun drama to be watched for pure entertainment. 

IF YOU STILL HAVEN'T WATCHED IT, GO WATCH IT, MY FELLOW KDRAMA FRIENDS!

Recommended New Drama: Pretty Man

#2 PRETTY MAN/ BEAUTIFUL MAN/ BEL AMI

Title [Hangul and Romanization]:
Genre: Romance, comedy
Number of episodes: 16
Currently aired: 14
Cast: Jang Geun Suk as Dogo Ma Te
         IU as Kim Bo Tong
         Lee Jang Woo as David Choi
         Han Chae-Young as Hong Yoo-Ra
         Kim Bo-Yeon as Na Hong-Ran
     

WAZZ IT 'BOUT!??

A ridiculously beautiful man- Dokgo Ma Te (Jang Geun Suk)- at the sight of whom girls melt and swoon, lives his life by feeding off from rich women. No difficult task given the fact that he makes the utmost use of his beautiful appearance. 

Having a crush on him ever since she saw him when she was in high school (or was it middle school?) is Kim Bo Tong, an average and your next-door girl. Her only ambition in life is to be Ma Te's wife (which is so ridiculous that I almost stopped watching the drama at that point).

However, Dokgo Ma Te's mother dies, living the identitly of his father unknown and the only way to reach his father is a password, which is in the hands of the beautiful Hong Yoo-Ra, the ex-daughter-in-law of a chaebol. Desperate to reach his father, Ma Te agrees to Yoo-Ra's plan (who decides to help him for her own agenda), which includes him to seduce ten different ladies, who have succeeded in different fields. The aim is for Ma Te to learn their special abilities and bring down the chaebol. 

Ma Te ropes in Kim Bo Tong to help him and in the process, David Choi as well (who is in love with Bo Tong) and ensues is a hilarious drama as they fumble and stumble while trying to achieve Ma Te's aim.

MY FIRST IMPRESSION:

My first impression about this drama was that it is HILARIOUS. And when I say hilarious, I mean the non-sensical kind of hilarious; something akin to the hilarity in the dramas of the Hong sisters. It is not surprising, given the fact that Pretty Man is a manhwa adaptation and hence, I had sort of expected the outrageous comic effect, yet I can't stop myself from laughing.

The first episode itself got me hooked to it, chiefly due to the comedy (As I have already mentioned) and the suspense element that was introduced at the onset- Who exactly is Hong Yoo-Ra? What is the password?

Jang Geun Suk's expressions are amazing as always. He does a fabulous job as the young man who has not quite experienced or understood the ways of the world, and yet prides himself for being able to seduce and fool some of the most beautiful and powerful women for his own material gain. Jang Geun Suk successfully plays him with aspects of humour, while at the same time giving him enough depth. Ma Te's angst at [SPOILER ALERT] at his mother's death is heart-wrenching and evoked a few tears from me. [That porcelain skin of his! SIGH!]

IU, adorable as she is, is perfect for the role of the love-struck and obsessed Kim Bo Tong. Her character reminds me of Oh Ha-Ni from Playful Kiss, except that I found Oh Ha-Ni's obsession with Baek Seung-Jo extremely irritating. However, IU's portrayal of Kim Bo Tong has the required effect- she is funny without being irritating. Normally, I despise female characters who follow their lovers like puppies, yet astonishingly, I love Kim Bo Tong. Fighting, Kim Bo Tong!

The premise set for the drama is strong enough although I did not fall in love with it. Honestly, I wasn't expecting a mystery/suspense, and hence, the ending of the first episode was a pleasant surprise. Nope. I'm not complaining at it at all because otherwise, the plot would have been too simplistic, too cliched. The part that I'm enjoying the most is the reversal of the whole 'women as objects' issue. Here, the man, not women, is the object that is played around with. While I'm all for equality, the devil within me is having a laugh at this reversal of stereotypes.

If you want a fluffy, fun romance with an element of mystery in it, go check this drama out!! It is quite promising!