You know how sometimes you like a certain aspect of a movie or tv show or book and you go looking for it in other such movies and books? Sort of like how I fell in love with Twilight and went on binge reading the entire series of The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and The Vampire Diaries by L J Smith. Well there are some things that get a tad bit too boring after the second try. Today I’m going to write about some lame (don’t hit me!) Korean Dramas that hopefully I would be saving you the trouble of watching.
Firstly Playful Kiss. I mean as far as translations go its absurd but to have a 
word literally translated into the above mentioned phrase just makes me want to shudder. I was apprehensive – a level 100 on the “things I shouldn’t broach” – and yet because of Kim Hyun Joong I braved myself and began to watch. Now high school drama and puppy love is not lost on me. I get it, its a phase. But to have 20 something year olds acting childish and immature? Nope, not working for me. It just makes the whole drama all the more spoof-like. The concept of having a bad boy who is popular and doesn’t even blink an eye at his so called “fan following” in school has been used so much – it must be discarded ASAP!
I do wish I could have picked some better drama for the 16 hours that I spent on this one. I didn’t like the female protagonist’s acting one bit. The ending was a little rushed. For today’s youth, the character of Oh Ha Ni is extremely weak and soppy. She is portrayed as being so desperate for the guy’s attention and even after being insulted she persists. Which shows something about her strong resolve and sense of loyalty but I felt her strengths were misplaced and focused too much on the guy. 
Then there is Heartstrings. Oh sweet Lord! Why? Unfortunately apart from the music, there wasn’t much I liked about Heartstrings. Maybe if I were a 14 year old I would have bought the plot but in real life, arrogant jerks don’t wake up the next day in love with the docile classmate. Lee Shin’s heartache upon losing his father was one of the other minor things that I could empathize with. Gyu Won was a better female character compared to many others, in the sense that she stood up for what she wanted but sadly, Park Shin Hye didn’t suit well for the role. I really liked her performance in The Heirs and so was looking forward to her in this drama. The sacrificial nature of Gyu Won and Lee Shin’s relationship could have been avoided. In terms of adding conflict it lacked conviction. Plus in many of these dramas that involve a cold hearted lead, his sidekicks are rarely given much lines. They just tag along and contribute a word or two. I guess that’s something I’d like the script writers to work on. Why add so many characters if they don’t serve a fruitful purpose? Its once again a very sappy kind of high school romance based drama that you could watch if you are into the genre. But I’d say download these OSTs and pick something else worthwhile.
Ratings – 2.5 stars on 5 [for both]
Mia
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