Wonderful Life (MBC, 2005)

Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 6:17 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I happen to know the kind of drama kobe hates from earlier threads and decided to post to advice kobe not to watch something I'm fairly certain he won't like. If it seems certain that kobe will dislike the last part of the drama due to the focus on the little girl's disease, that means he was hoping for an entertaining lead-up. I felt qualified to help him out there. I don't usually talk about dramas I disliked, whether I finished them or not, but I liked kobe's previous posts and got an idea of what he liked and wished to give him advice.

But, aNtoK, just so that you are happy:

Dear kobe,

I watched the first 12 episodes of Wonderful Life. I initially thought 10, but then remembered that I sat through 2 more agonizingly slow episodes.

It starts off, in my opinion, as very fun but start to not make much sense shortly after and was by episode 6 a pain to watch. Unlike most KDramas, msot of which start to slow down in the middle part, Wonderful Life seemed to switch its genre to me a few episodes after the hilarious introduction and furst turned into a boring mess and then a weeping melodrama. I stopped at episode 12, but since I haven't finished it, I can't tell you about the redeeming (or not) qualities of the ending of this drama. But seeing as how you mentioned you didn't like terminal illnesses in dramas and we both know that it's a central theme in the ending fourth of the drama, I just wanted to inform that the build-up to the disease (which may or may not have been well-done) was quite lacklustre in my and many other people's opinions. I hope I was able to give you a kind of insight into the drama, which I suspect you will not like given of what I know about your preferences and from the 3/4ths of the drama that I actually managed to sit through.

-- Nea

Please no more snappy replies now, okay? Crying

Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 6:49 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Like anything, everyone has an opinion. Also note, my friend, that the name you mention "shares your taste in Kdrama 98% of the time", which would be, for you, a fairly valid guide for your own viewing tastes, and that's good for your purposes. I'd also venture that the "overwhelming majority of people you trust" also tend to share similar drama taste as yourself. Simply understanding that they're your opinions and that opinions vary widely on what is and isn't good or entertaining is enough.
Some folks like the long, slow-developing, sometimes draggy dramas with all the melodramatic trimmings, and some prefer the short attention-span theater shows where there's something new and excliting in every episode, and others like to change it up a bit, etc.

My intent wasn't to hurl accusations your way, though I do stand by not judging something you haven't watched fully. Saying "It bored me out of my skull so I didn't finish it", etc. is fine. A lot of it comes down to what you expect going into watching something. I'm a little surprised that you found the more serious tone toward the middle eps as a shock, as if you read any of the synops or anything you'd know that the little girl has a life-threatening disease before even starting the show.

For what it's worth, I rarely give other's opinions of a show more than about 3 seconds of consideration when deciding whether or not to watch something either. Never know what someone else will like.

Where you find it draggy or convoluted, I found it to be engaging as it spent time on a lot of the details of character development, etc. that sometimes get short-changed in the interest of holding people's attention. And that the storyline was far from a mess that doesn't make any sense. It actually seemed to flow pretty organically and believably, with a nice bonus being that the characters aren't black-and-white bad or good guys, but just people with everyday pettiness and insecurities to go with the love, courage, and gradual acceptance of themselves and the situations they're found in.

I'd take that over the cookie-cutter plots of so many other show that are coming out of late.
Of course, that's just an opinion....

btw, of course I make a drama out of many things. It's a drama site already!!!!!!! Tongue

Well, we're off to Grandma's house to open presents and make a general mess of things for awhile.

Merry Christmas all!!!

Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 6:54 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Don't worry Nea, I tend to get snappy when someone criticizes this particular show for some reason. Maybe because this and Last Dance were the ones that got me subbing in the first place? Whatever. Still my favorite Kdrama regardless....

Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 6:59 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Merry Christmas.

To give the show credit, I will admit that both Eugene and Kim Jae Won were endearing leads and pleasant to watch and if you like either lead enough, you may not mind the draggy middle part. And no, I didn't know anything about the terminal disease thing until past the first few episodes and was endlessly disappointed that the brilliant comedy of the first 2 or 3 episodes just ceased to be.

Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 9:18 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

This is what I love about the D-addicts community - So much drama! j/k guys Smile

No seriously, although the community is kinda passive, it has much more mature and rational discussions as compared to other similar communities.

Thank you both Néa and Antok for expressing your opinions on this series. If anything, it has actually increased my interest in it. You are pretty much correct in your evaluations of my taste in k-drama's Néa, but I am strange in a way that Autumn Tale is one of my favorite dramas despite the fact many people found it dragging.

Who knows, only time will tell. I will report back when I have completed the series Smile

Merry Xmas to you both and the rest of the DA community!

Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 12:57 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

i wnana see this.. on a youtube music video of the theme song i would guess? someone said its like the korean version of the thai lakorn 'oom ruk' which i liked very much.

plus this has caught my attention, what a cute family

Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 2:59 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

It's just a little crush ...

Before I post my comments on this series, there's something I need to get out in the open. I have a crush on Kim Eugene. I know this is gonna make me sound like a teenager still dealing with puberty, but I feel weak in the knees every time she's on screen. My heart seems to beat a bit faster too. This may or may not affect my opinion on the series Neutral

I see trees of green

Wonderful Life is your typical boy-meets-girl, boy-doesn't-realize-he-likes-her-because-he's-still-hung-up-on-a-girl-who-doesn't
like-him kinda story. There's also love triangles, terminal illnesses. You name it. We've all seen it before, there's nothing new that this series brings to the table, but where it lacks in originality, it makes up for in charm, and an abundance of cuteness. I guess you can pretty much determine whether you'll like this series purely on how you feel about the cast and/or the characters.

Red roses too

Speaking of the cast, I have to admit I've fallen for Kim Eugene. Before I watched this series I didn't really think much of her. I was kinda expecting her not to be a good actress and I didn't even think she was pretty from the pictures I had seen. But wow, she surprised me a great deal. Not only can she act, but she totally lights up the scene every time she's on screen (and she does get a lot of screen time). I don't really know what it is. She's nowhere near as stunningly beautiful as Song Hye Kyo or as sexy and mysterious as Kim Tae Hee, but she has this natural, wholesome girl-next-door look that is very appealing to me. I'll definitely be watching Save the Last Dance in the near future despite having turned it down earlier on.

As for Kim Jae Won, I found him slightly annoying in the early episodes. The way he makes his eyes all pop-out and his smile ... what do so many girls find cute about it? He seemed to over-act quite a bit, but it wasn't a big enough deterrent to put me off. He did however grow on me as the series progressed, and I found him very convincing in the serious and sad parts, which is ironic, because of his goofy appearance.

The girl who played Shin-Bi was of course, adorable. But her eyes are a bit strange - just like KJW - where the right eye is bigger than the left. Hmm...like father, like daughter I guess. Very talented little girl though.

Setting the pace

I found the pace of this show very similar to that of Love Story in Harvard, where everything is really sweet, light-hearted and fast paced for the first half and then just seems to grind to a halt in the 2nd half. Between episodes 9-12 were a bit draggy, but it wasn't anything intolerable. Flashbacks were used quite often, but at least they weren't used for the entire duration of a song like in the previous series I watched, What Happened in Bali.

OST

The soundtrack was decent, there were a couple of nice ballads, but there weren't any memorable tracks like in the similar series Full House.

Full House with a kid

Overall, I found this series akin to Full House ... but with a kid. Plenty of arguing and angst between the two leads, and of course, Han Eun Jung's character in WL is almost a carbon copy of Kang Hye Won in FH. Not much of a story, but the characters are charming enough to hold your interest. At the end of it all, I did find this series to be relatively enjoyable, but I keep on asking myself, what if someone else played the female lead instead of Eugene? Someone like Han Ji Hye, who apparently declined the role (?) for eg. The truthful answer is that I probably would've stopped watching after the first 5 or 6 episodes. But this series introduced me to Kim Eugene, so I guess it will always hold a special place in my memory.

Smile

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:24 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Im just at episode 8
I dont know if im the only to think that
But Jun Se-Jin deserves more Do-hyun then Han Seung Wan.Jun Se-Jin would be SURELY more happy with Do-hyun even with the baby

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:54 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I enjoyed this drama, just finished it yesterday however it is one that I probably wouldn't watch again until maybe another 5 years or so. Eugene is just superb in here and Jaewon's emotional scenes were portrayed wonderfully, I cried everytime he cried so that says a lot about his acting... he's improved I would have to say. Jihoon who played Do Hyun took my breath away... he's just so adorable but I would have to say he still needs room to grow in the acting business.

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:44 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I love this drama too. Kim Eugene, Sung Yu Ri, and Han Ga In are the best . Wub

I love three of them and love all the movies they are in. Come back to WL, Eugene and KJW are so sweet. Love their chemistry even I love Eugene and Ji Sung in SLDFM more Wub

Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 4:34 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

i love this drama i really like kim eugene she is very preety and very kind.. i already watched save the last danced i like it too but wonderful life is the best drama of eugene! so when she came in philippnes and they said that she will be a guest i wowowee(tv show in philippines) me and my cousin decided to go there so she asked her mother and our autie to accompany us in wowowee and they approved Mr. Green

.. but we failed to enter the studio Crying

... then we came up with an idea Idea

.. we waited for her in the parking exit.. when her car arrived she saw us then she told the driver to stop the car and she opened the window she let us take her picture and get her autograph cheers

... we are very lucky because there are only four of us there... and eugene is very kind to do that because behind her car there is a bus and 6 guards of her in a motorcycle. she traffic them just for the four of us Big Smile

... and gosh she looked a korean vertion of lindsay lohan in person!!!!

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:45 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:36 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Is the main actor in this drama name Kim Rae-Won who act in Romance??

i like him, if he act in this drama i will watch it later Tongue

...

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:44 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:49 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0