What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (2018)

This feels like your typical shojo manga story with typical features in the storytelling, BUT still enjoyable nonetheless.

It sounds cliché but when I worked at a restaurant I met so many bosses who had married their secretaries that it felt actually quite strange. But it's a matter of fact and the funniest things happen in real life, right? So, it was even more enjoyable to watch. Also, it's been a while since I last watched a pure romance drama, so it was even more relaxing to marathon this one.

Park Min Young's and Park Seo Joon's scenes were well balanced and had really good dynamics. There was perfect timing in their facial expressions and small gestures/reactions were well tuned. It's hard to describe, but I hope you'll know what I'm talking about when you watch it yourselves.

What I especially liked in the beginning was that perfect teamwork between the both of them. It showed so well, how important it is to have a competent, supportive co-worker next to you when it comes to managing such scales. It's a bit sad that they showed less of that team-play as the drama went on. What I also liked was the transition from the newbie to that perfect secretary.

PSJ's acting performance was satisfying, as expected. The narcissistic treats of his character were well shown, even though they surfaced less often in the later episodes, which is a bit sad, imo.

I'm not a fan of kitsch, so... let's just say that the drama could have done perfectly fine without it. I don't even know how SK came up with this kind of image of a relationship in the first place, when they started to produce rom-coms in the past.

I adored all the side-characters. Lee Young Joon's parents were great. Hilariously great. Also, Kim Mi So's sisters (fresh faces who make me want to see them more often in dramas) and of course her dad, lol. And in that sense the surprise cameo. Won't say more though!

Special shout-out to the child actors. So, so cute but also so impressively well done when you think about those scenes they had to play.

And then there's Kang Ki Young. You can't help but enjoy all his roles. He has this comedic talent to make a scene look serious, yet funny without overdoing it.

Overall a well done rom-com with a few points of criticism. The acting is really good, the office life relatively close to reality (sometimes). Only the last few episodes became a bit dragging about two issues and some things were just "too much". It doesn't diminish the overall enjoyment, and with the adding of someone's hidden past you even get some suspense on the side-lines. Enjoyment level alone: 8.5.

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Before I start getting into the depths of my review, I want to address a common misconception I am picking up on when people are criticising this drama.

Any sort of drama, of course, requires some sort of 'drama' in order for anyone to continue watching, which indeed it had, with the confusing past between Mi So and Young Joon, along with the brother. However, that wasn't the main focus of this drama and what it was trying to show its audience. If you are looking for a drama which you can properly immerse yourself in and has a heavy plotline, this is not for you. What's Wrong With Secretary Kim i is a drama which is light and fluffy, something to look forward to on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, where you can sit back from a hard day of work and lose yourself in the romance between these characters - something I like to call 'vegging time' (which is necessary for all of us - don't pull a Go Gwi Nam and overwork yourself).

I can wholeheartedly say that this was exactly me. Since I usually juggle watching multiple dramas at once, I like to watch one airing drama, along with a series that has already been fully released. Since this drama is so light and easy to watch, I could delve into other dramas with, indeed, heavy plotlines, and whenever a break was necessary I could sit back and watch some Secretary Kim.

With wonderful side characters, which were NOT annoying AT ALL for once (thank you so much Secretary Kim team <3), I actually found myself enjoying this drama 24/7, and not having to skip any parts of an episode. We had three side romances going on, and I enjoyed every single couple immensely. Besides that annoying brother, which I began to forgive in the last episode, I can say that I enjoyed every single character and their involvement in the series.

But who am I deciding to pick out specifically as the one who made the series for me? Without a shadow of a doubt, I'd say my man Kang Ki Young playing Park Yoo Shik. Each of his scenes was a blessing to watch, in which I found myself crying with laughter thanks to his failed attempts to get back with his wife, his absolute EXPECTATION for his secretary to mess SOMETHING up every single day , his tolerance of Young Joon despite his narcissism and willingness to listen to his problems with Mi So, regardless of his own problems. Once he got back with his wife at the end, I found myself literally leaping with joy (and getting weird looks from my parents at the same time).

The only flaws of the series I came to pick up on, which explained the 9.5 is how the drama dealt with Young Joon's narcissism. Besides the fact that Young Joon did NOTHING the entire series to help my precious baby Park Yoo Shik with his wife problems (which really got me annoyed, especially considering I had waited for the entire series to see Young Joon return the favour and help him out for a change), was never really 'finished' to my taste. One of the main themes of this drama was the narcissism of Young Joon, one of the main reasons that Mi So had decided to quit her job, but instead of really battling with this aspect of him, it was put aside for the audience as well as Mi So to simply just accept. Now, I can understand the argument against this which first comes to mind, that it was about Mi So learning to love him in spite of his narcissism, but I think there was just so much more they could do with that quality of him, more comedy and indeed some more emotional chemistry between the main couple as Kim Mi So helps him overcome it.

But why am I so hung up over it? For me, the narcissism of Young Joon was actually due to the fact that he was incredibly insecure. With family issues left and right, having that sort of 'disconnect' from his colleagues and friends, it was obvious that he wasn't the kind of person to get love or befriend others, because he couldn't do the same with himself. Instead of Mi So helping him learn to love himself first, we were just thrown the choice to 'accept it or leave'. As a key theme (even being in the description of this drama), I feel quite disappointed that from the main theme at the beginning towards the middle, it became an underlying one at the end.

Then again, I suppose you can say that I am always quite stingy with rating dramas a 10 and look for any sort of flaws with a drama in order to not rate it a 10. Although it is important to notice that I believe that if a drama can make up for its flaws in other ways, it can one hundred per cent deserve a ten.

Thank you very much, What's Wrong With Secretary Kim Team, for a wonderful drama that enjoyed immensely, and thank you for taking the time to read my review.

~ Ambi x

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If I had to describe this drama in just one sentence, "A rom-com drama done right." I think this describes the drama in the best way possible.

- This drama has its fair share of clichés, maybe even more, from rich man poor woman, boss falling for his secretary, possibility of a past connection, and many more. But the execution of these clichés is done in a way that's really enjoyable for the audience.

- A narcissistic male lead, who is NOT unlikeable at ALL. Other dramas need to take lessons from this one on how to write characters in such a good way.
We could never get enough of Young Joon expressing just how perfect he was.

- A hardworking and smart female lead. She does everything to accommodate her boss but at the same time, she doesn't let him push her around. Now that's something we love to see!
Also a side note, just how pretty is Park Min Young?!

- The chemistry between the leads!! They are so adorable together, and when they want to be, so , so hot too!

- The side characters are just as likeable to watch as the leads. Same goes for the side romances.

- Hard not to mention Mi So's dad. So very unlike the usual dad's (or just parents, in general) in Kdramas, he didn't get on his daughter's boyfriend for no reason. His scenes were just so fun to watch.

- Almost every episode would have (more than) one scenes that would leave you with a silly smile on your face. This drama is just pure fluff. While it had its serious moments, they far from overwhelmed the light, fun and cute scene. The drama is a breeze to get through.

- The 'main plot' of the drama gets resolved waay before the finale. Afterwards, it's just pure romance. While to some, it felt draggy at that point, to some, it was enjoyable to watch more of their OTP. The last two episodes specially, are pure fillers. But the kind of fillers you can actually enjoy. I guess it depends on the viewer to an extent.

- Over all, I'd say I really enjoyed this show. It's a great rom-com, one I'd recommend to people. But it's not something I'd rewatch. Still, I had an enormous fun time while watching it the first time.

Most probably you've already heard all the good things about this drama, and it's already on your PTW, but just in case it isn't, what are you waiting for? It's already completed, it has a great cast, a high rating, good comments- basically it's a complete package! So, please, go ahead and start this. You'll have a great time watching it!

Happy Watching!!

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Highly overrated! Unrealistic ML who is just over qualified to win Nobel and Olympic at once!

Another overrated drama providing a nonsense storyline with cheesy romance! The title should be instead "What's Wrong with this drama"

Ugh, even in fictional plot, I cant understand " how such a person exists!"
Too much dramatic, too much narcissistic ML again with nothing admirable but with a ton of money and good looking, just pathetic!!!!
I wonder what such drama aims for? I think these are dramas for "gold-digger"-type girl, utterly nonsense! Such girl can put up with a pathetic ML for his money, looking and idiotic personality.
This drama only have a good touch: the cute childhood story behind the plot, thats it. For that only I fast forwarded this drama till the end.

ML with money, good looking, traumatic childhood, with a "grownup baby" like attitude which can be single-handedly controlled by one and only FL, kind of sexist, up front rude to all other girls except FL, too much perfectionist, allrounder, dictatorship, abnormally smart (they just over qualified to win Nobel and Olympic at a time): DAMN it! Now-a-days all these abnormally shitty characteristics are forcefully portrayed as standardized example of "prince charming" for teen generations!!! Its just a both way dagger to distort the "EXPECTION" for teens. No normal guy can fulfil this qualification while no normal girl can feel satisfied with such expectation.

Now, please dont give me "LAME" excuse to justify such idiotic drama in name of "Comedy+romance" or "just entertaining" ! If u do, then I can assure you that your taste is already got distorted. And I am very sorry for that!

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Touchant et divertissant

Ce drama s'inscrit dans la lignée des histoires romantiques sans surprise ou rebondissement.

Et pourtant… Pourtant je me suis laissé embarquer dans cette histoire avec plaisir, et sans jamais m'ennuyer. C'est vraiment un drama plein de fraicheur, et le couple principal fonctionne vraiment bien. D'ailleurs, c'est un des dramas, où l'amour se ressent vraiment dans leurs gestes d'attachements, tout comme dans les scènes des baisers, qui sont clairement plus véridiques que dans certains dramas.

L'histoire des leads est recherchée, et change un peu des histoires habituelles.

Park Seo Joon porte très bien son rôle d'égocentrique qui une fois qu'il est sur le point de perdre quelque chose, se rend compte de la valeur de celle-ci, et fait tout même si c'est maladroitement, pour montrer son amour à la femme qu'il ne veut pas perdre.

Le tout saupoudré d'humour et de scène rigolotes où j'avoue avoir bien ri. Sincèrement j'ai passé un bon moment, contrairement à d'autres dramas où la romance ne nous embarque pas à ce point là.

A découvrir pour se vider la tête, et se laisser porter par une simple, mais jolie histoire d'amour.

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If You are looking for drama with deep and profund plot - better go find something else. But as long as You are seeking for nice, romantic story, a little bit cliche, yet still with lots of humour and heart-fluttering - this is drama for You !!

Let's face it - this is not a story worth of Oscar Award, but that was not the point. Despite it, I found this drama very enjoyable to watch!!! I can't count how many times I laughed while watching it - I also cant count how many time my heart flutters during romantic scenes. I am sure that for many people the plot could be very cliche, but that's how it supposed to be - just light drama to watch as a form of relax from stresses of outside world.

Let's focus on leading roles - Park Min Young and Park Seo Joon were just perfect couple. He, as a narcissistic vice chairman, and she, as his secretary, created characters that make You laugh, cry, angry. You can feel the chemistry between them. But not only them - also support actors left really good impression. In that drama there is no such person You couldn't like :D

Moreover, this drama has got one of the best special effects I've ever seen. All this flying hearts, lewd devils etc. were the perfect match to the scenery. The music also made this drama really pleasant not only to watch, but also to listen.

Overall, 'What's Wrong With Secretary Kim' is perfect, if You want to relax during the afternoons and forget about everything. Just gather with Your friends, grab some popcorn and start watching it!!! You won't regret it, so just sit comfortably and enjoy it!!!

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everything all tied up in a little bow

Came for the cute romance between the two leads and got more than what I expected! This is a simple drama to watch with a forgiving mix of romance and comedy. This drama is exactly what I was looking for when I needed something light to watch amidst other more "serious" dramas.

The one thing I really enjoyed about the storyline was there was no shaming the "poor girl" nor is the "rich guy's" mom spiteful towards her. I love all the familial relationships. But other than that, there wasn't really anything special about the plot. It has all the ingredients for your typical kdrama (not a bad thing). However, I did feel like it dragged out for a bit. Perhaps I am just impatient and considering that the episodes were an hour long, but I pushed on! I don't regret watching it. Like I said, it's a fun drama to watch so just don't take it seriously :)

What really carried the show was the acting especially between the male and female lead. They have so much on-screen chemistry it's insane. It really sells the story. Every time they're doing an intimate kissing scene, I keep forgetting they're doing all this while the film crew is surrounding them because it truly felt so natural seeing them together.

P.S. Don't forget to check out the OST. Every song is good

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It's a generic kdrama, if you're looking for something that's different, it's not for you

I decided to pick up this drama because of the hype going around it and I briefly read the webtoon however I personally found it difficult to engage with.
Personally, I'm a viewer that enjoys dramas that stray away from the 'narcisstic guy fell for the kind female lead' because at some point I feel that it gets dragged on for too long (maybe that's just me though because I've seen a lot from that trope). I found it difficult to engage in after seeing a 'Business Proposal' because the romance aspect of the show was dragged on for too long and there wasn't any power-duo that kept me wanting to watch more.
For the viewers, if you're looking for a drama that's different from the generic kinds of romance plots or has seen a LOT of romance kdramas, I wouldn't recommend this drama for you.
However if you're a newbie in the kdrama world, this drama is a good one to get you going.

Happy Binging!!

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A story of trauma, healing, and the journey between

I've seen a lot of bad reviews saying this series is lacking on story since there was no diabolical other woman/man, death threats, evil Mother in law, etc. but honestly it was refreshing to see the main characters growing and healing together.

From first impressions Young Joon seems to be cold and pompous but you see as the story goes why he became that way. He felt as a kid that he had to hide his trauma from not only a kidnapping but the preceding bullying that was inflicted by his brother that caused him to be kidnapped. It was implied that he was ostracized for being intellectually gifted, so instead of letting others mock him for it, he shrouds himself in a protective façade of being overly pompous. When he starts to relax around Mi So, he becomes more open and protective of her but then when he becomes nervous he will slip back behind the self protective wall of being overly pretentious. I really loved seeing him grow as a partner to her, going from "wont it be great to marry me, an amazing intelligent handsome man" to "I want to marry you, the most amazing beautiful intelligent woman, can I have that honor?"

Also seeing how the brothers guilt over what he did and how it caused him to repress the real memories and how it caused so much animosity between them. Them learning to forgive each other and regain their brotherly love was so nice to see.

Also the side couples, are the cutest. I love the awkwardness and sweet love between them.

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It’s the 21st century, let’s write better male leads

At the beginning, this drama left you questioning what was real and what was not, and kept you engaged in the story. After we find the real story of what happened in the childhood though.. the drama takes a sharp turn, the CEO was finally turning into the courageous, righteous person he was when he was younger.. until he wasn’t, and they bring back the arrogant, narcissistic speeches which become less and less funnier as the story progresses.

However, the most devastating part about the ending scenes are the female lead apologizing for things she absolutely shouldn’t be apologizing for.. first for not being sure about wanting to sleep with him, and then for taking him to the same place as the man she went on a date with ONCE.. It’s like the writers wanted us to hate this man after they wrote younger him as mature and caring, who made choices those older than him couldn’t even make (one point in case being his older brother), and giving us 1/3rd of a glimpse of what a proper male lead with that personality looked like for like a half of a second. What a shame.

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Funny drama, but loses any driving force towards the end

This had a strong start for me. I loved the characters and how funny it was at times. The plot was pretty simple and straightforward; it definitely had elements that pulled my interest and kept me watching, but around episode 12 after pretty much everything had been solved I got SO BORED. Not even my love for Seo Joon could stop my from skipping massive parts of the last few episodes, and based on what I saw during my skipping, I wasn't missing much. There's basically no plot after episode 12. Barely any conflict, which means there's nothing driving the story anymore. Anyway, a good time for a little while, but I'll likely forget about this one quickly.

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