KDrama to Watch: Marriage Not Dating (2014)

Marriage Not Dating (2014)

Grade: B

16 Episodes, 1 Hour Each

Viewing Platform: Dramafever

Cheerful department store worker Joo Jang Mi decides to propose to her boyfriend of one year, the playboy Lee Hoon Dong. Fortunately Hoon Dong has backup; once he senses Jang Mi's intentions, he calls best friend Gong Ki Tae to help break up the couple. Jang Mi is relentless though, and plastic surgeon Ki Tae has to step in more than once to spell out that the relationship is over. Meanwhile, Ki Tae's meddling mother is threatening to sell Ki Tae's home – his sanctuary – unless he settles down and gets married. Out of desperation and a need to settle things once and for all against his mother, Ki Tae hatches a plan: find a girl that his mother would NEVER accept, and pretend to be dating her. The perfect accomplice is of course the sincere and sympathetic Jang Mi, with the promise of revenge against Hoon Dong. What happens when the supposedly simple lie in this game of chicken with Ki Tae's mother keeps growing bigger? Will Jang Mi be able to keep seeing the mysterious and handsome waiter at Hoon Dong's restaurant? How will Ki Tae handle the realization that he doesn't want the deception to end?

*This drama is more risque than most Korean dramas I've seen, with the characters sleeping around, showing a lot of skin, and drinking a lot – but nothing more than a PG-13 movie would show. Jang Mi's character is cute, and I love when the prideful guy realizes the girl he thinks he'd NEVER love ends up fulfilling him in ways he didn't think possible. This had a great pace as well, with very few slow moments, and the writers managed to show some real character development over the course of the drama. The music was fun, too. I might watch it again.*

KDrama to Miss: She Was Pretty (2015)

She Was Pretty (2015)

Grade: C+

16 Episodes, 1 Hr each

Viewing Platform: Dramafever

Kim Hye Jin used to be a pretty, popular girl, but after puberty, the other half of her genetics kicked in, and she's no longer the cute, outgoing girl of her childhood. Instead she bounces around from temp job to temp job after college, as the larger companies won't give her a second glance. In the meantime, her chubby, awkward elementary school friend Ji Sung Joon has grown up to be quite the success, and handsome to boot. After losing contact for many years, Sung Joon makes an extra effort to reach his former friend, but what happens when Hye Jin decides to ask her best friend Min Ha Ri to pretend to be her when meeting Sung Joon again? Will Hye Jin survive her new job working temporarily at a top fashion magazine – the same magazine which Sung Joon has been assigned to save? And how long will Ha Ri keep up the charade of being Hye Jin?

*The premise is cute, with the idea of first loves finding each other later in life and falling for each other again, but the second male lead FAR outshone the lead, even to the point I was hoping Shin Hyuk would win over Hye Jin. There were even clues in the writing that hinted at Sung Joon simply needing to see Hye Jin for closure, that it wasn't necessarily his destiny to be with her, and how Ha Ri needed Sung Joon more than Hye Jin did. I also didn't think the timing for Hye Jin's makeover made sense – why didn't she do it sooner if she knew her looks were part of the problem in finding employment? Or why not do it before meeting Sung Joon, if she was embarrassed with how she looked, or after the first 3 times the big magazine boss said she didn't look the part for the job? Hye Jin's character was rather annoying as well, and I didn't like the slow focus camera technique that this director favored. It really dragged toward the end as well. If you just want a simple, light drama, this could work for you.*