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List of KDramas and Their Grades

To make your next drama selection a little easier, I have sorted all the Korean dramas I've watched into one list, ranked by grade. They...

Friday, May 22, 2015

KDrama to Maybe Watch: Bride of the Century (2014)

Bride of the Century (2014)


Grade: B- (former grade: B+)

16 Episodes



Chaebol Choi Kang-joo is in an arranged marriage with Jang Yi-kyung, and he couldn't care less for his future wife. Yi-kyung's family business is in trouble, however, and the marriage will save their company. There is a rumor about the Choi family, how the firstborn son's first wife always dies, but the Jang family proceeds, hesitant but ready to take the risk. Meanwhile, Yi-kyung's half-brother Yi-Hyun randomly encounters a girl who looks identical to his half-sister. It is then that Yi-kyung's mother plots to use the doppelganger, Na Doo-rim – at first as just a one-time stand-in, but later as a sacrifice to the restless spirit that protects the Choi family (if there truly is such a curse). Will Doo-rim be able to fool Kang-joo, and for how long? What will the ghost have to say about all of it?



*This is an epic-feeling fantasy romance, with lots of humor for the initial “meet cute” between Kang-joo and Doo-rim. It did drag in the middle and felt heavier and darker than I prefer, but it has a good, solid ending, and the soundtrack definitely matches the epic feel to the show. It's interesting how the generally accepted cultural belief is that everyone is reincarnated eventually. Also, I had a hard time taking Kang-joo seriously, simply because I had first seen the actor Lee Hong-gi as Jeremy in “You're Beautiful,” and he plays the comic relief in that show. The girl who plays Doo-rim is pretty adorable, and I think she managed both her roles (as the evil Yi-kyung too) quite well. I'd watch this again.*

UPDATE FALL 2020: This drama is about 5 episodes too long, with such a slow, heavy, dark pace and several character inconsistencies, that I actually changed its rating! This is the first time I've changed a previous rating for a kdrama. I did not enjoy watching the antagonists try to destroy each other, and one of the "good" characters is actually an adulteress, so it doesn't feel terribly satisfying for her to win. I won't watch this again. 

2 comments:

  1. Hi Mary - I just finished watching this one tonight and I really enjoyed it. Your reviews are right on for me. I'm so glad you've taken the time to write these up! I'm trying to decide what to watch next. It takes me a little while to finish a season, just because I'm not always in the mood for subtitles. But I love me some Kdramas.

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  2. Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear this is helping someone select their Kdramas after all! And yes, sometimes I feel burnt out from reading, too :p My Korean friend keeps telling me I need to just learn Korean, then I won't have to use the subtitles, hahaha!

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