Flower Boy Ramen Shop (2011)

I only started watching this because a friend of mine was watching. I initially thought the whole thing would be too silly for me, but I was hooked after the first episode. I absolutely loved the chemistry between Jung Il Woo, and Lee Chung Ah, and I felt ashamed for rooting for them. I can't say enough good things about Jung Il Woo in this. He took a cliché character, and brought some depth & charm to the role. Lee Ki Woo was also incredibly sweet in his role, and I developed a little crush on him while watching.

The story is pretty standard, but the cast took a predictable scenario and made it fun to watch. There are many KDramas with similar love triangles, but the over the top characters, and humor, kept the episodes fresh. There are quite a few "poop" jokes that remind you not to take this drama too seriously. There are also quite a few rewatchable romantic moments. I found all the episodes so entertaining, that the time always seemed to fly by. The final episode was a bit weird, but I loved that all the great supporting characters got to have a real finale scene.

This really was a great, lighthearted, romantic comedy that I would definitely watch again.

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What a delightful drama! Flower Boy Ramyun Shop became a weekly addiction and pulled me out of my drama funk. It was hilarious and touching, warm and fuzzy. There were analogies and metaphors galore to explain the relationships between rich and poor, how people fit together and whether or not they should. There were analogies about ramyun and the pots they are cooked in, analogies about pillars, analogies about grass and lions, analogies about poop! Every one of them was funny and sweet. They all made perfect sense to me!

The thing that makes this drama so special besides the amazing writing, which seemed fully formed and not a slapdash patch job every week, was acting done by the cast of quirky characters we got to know during the last 16 episodes. Each had their own distinct personality and each character had a steady growth and relevance to the main story line. The interactions of friends and family whether tied by blood or tied by choice were so lovely and funny. Eun Bi and all her Flower Boys made this drama so fun. I've read some people don't like Eun Bi...But I loved her. She was silly, serious, not always sure of herself but...she always stuck up for herself and I could definitely relate to her for those qualities. ♥

Another thing that made this drama great was the tongue in cheek handling of the typical drama tropes you see in every Kdrama ever. There was makjang! But FBRS dared to ask the viewer, “Is this really makjang? Or is it purity?” There was a typical chaebol falling for a plucky average heroine but this drama dared to ask the question, “Who really needs saving here?” and “Is it really better to only eat caviar and steak instead of experiencing all the wonderful flavors of ramyun you could be missing?”

Every episode was delightful and didn’t drag the show down. The technical aspects of lighting, cinematography and most especially the directing were excellently done. The editing was particularly creative, with almost every episode having a scene that would partially play out but then we would go back and revisit to see full conversations or replaying a scene to explain someone’s actions. Stellar!

Jung Il Woo as Cha Chi Soo…or was it Dog Chi Soo? Or rather, Dong chi Soo? Anyway, Jung Il Woo stole every scene. I have to admit, for me , he rivals Hyun Bin’s Joo Won for messed up crazy chaebol with his performance of Chi Soo. I think because Chi Soo was so delightfully pampered and sheltered he had no filter and absolutely no self awareness other than his outward appearance. Watching him fall for Eun Bi was by turns completely hilarious and also very heart tugging.

This drama has so many little moments, little details that make it exceptional. If you are looking for a good drama to marathon, to savor, to make you want to eat some yummy Ramyun while you laugh and cry and sigh…Flower Boy Ramyun Shop is the drama for you! Don’t miss it!

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The show Boys Before Flowers should be doing 30 to life for the impact it has had on the Korean film and television industry. In this case, it married Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy to produce a baby with the worst characteristics of both its parents. Imagine Boys Before Flowers as a Noona romance with the world's worst teacher and you'll only be in proximity to the awful that is this show.

While some viewers may be thrilled to watch yet another clueless, awkward Candy bumbling her way to the love of a Chaebol, this is not one of those viewers. And while Korean writers are obsessed with the humour that comes from emotionally-stunted man-boys learning how to human, in this case the show is made even more tedious by the fact the male lead is an actual highschool-uniform-wearing boy. Albeit one who dresses like Gu Jun-pyo and has hair like Yoon Ji-hoo.

While the material in Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy was at least handled by exceptional actors, the acting in this is pretty sub-par - although I doubt anyone could have elevated the material these actors were given.

Regressive, reactionary and poorly-shot, with lacklustre direction and dated cinematography, this show is more of a televisual anthropology lesson than anything else.

As the first in the Oh! Boy Flower Boys series, I doubt it is necessary to watch it before moving to the more superior shows made later on.

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Oh look, it's review time!

I don't usually watch dramas like this anymore, but I found myself without an internet connection for a few days and this lingered on my external harddrive. Guess that's how life works, eyh?

I plowed through this in three days. It's a really light watch. There's no rocket science involved in any way, and to be quite honest - the story line is rather predictable. However, it did have some good points.

The story is decent enough. It's nothing extremely original, but it gets away with being charming and light hearted. The title would give you the impression (or at least it did to me) that this is gonna be hardcore ramen cooking from start to finish. I was surprised to see exactly how little focus there was on the actual ramen. I'd like to throw in a comparison to emphasize my point; In Baker King Kim Tak Goo, which is a drama about baking bread, you get to learn a bit about the process of making bread and how one should proceed. As for this one, we learned nothing about the ramen, which is a rather complex skill. I guess I was a little disappointed by that.
I know some of you are gonna go "Yeah but this is a romantic comedy, it's supposed to be about relationships and silly acting". I get that, and Baker King is a completely different genre.

I'm just saying.

Moving on!
I have the impression that romantic comedy is a very "silly" genre in Korea. It's all about overacting in front of the camera in what is supposed to come across as cute and funny (apart from the boy meets girl part of course).
Weeeell this drama, for me, takes it to a whole other level. The camera closeups on Yang Eun Bis face and the awkward hand movements, which were topped off with sound effects, were just extremely hit and miss. They could have gotten away with way less and made it easier on the eyes in the process. However, for it's genre it does hold some comedic value. I just don't feel like it served it's purpose the way it could have.
Other than that, I don't really have any complaints. Some rookie actors made their characters rather bland (*cough* Yoon So Yi *cough* Woo Hyun Woo *cough*) but what can one really expect. The main leads did their job fairly, and all in all it was an enjoyable watch.

The music is rather bland in my opinion. It never really stuck. If someone played a song from the soundtrack for me right now, I wouldn't have been able to tell where it was from. I don't feel like it emphasised the drama the way it should have.

I'm not one to re-watch dramas often. In fact, with a few exceptions, I never do it. However, 6 is a rather high rewatch score for me. This is because the drama, despite my concerns above, is a lighthearted and silly (but not ridiculous) drama.

The good things about this that I would like to underline, is that it's fast paced. The episodes are short for a korean drama (45 minutes), and time really flies by while watching . The episodes are never really dull, and never at any point did it become a hassle or a duty to keep watching. However, it really depends on what mood you're in while watching. Don't expect a life changing drama. If you're after a drama where you can turn your brain off and just lay back and enjoy, this is the drama for you.

And for that reason, I rate this a 8/10.

PS: For those who are interested, you are welcome to join my "We who want to high five Yoon So Yo in the face with a hammer" club. We meet every wednesday at 6pm. I bring cake every two weeks.

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Honestly I couldn't figure out what the big fuss about this drama was. Okay so the guys were eye candy and Jung Il Woo was really hot. But that cannot possibly make up for the lack of a story or an actual plot. Things kept happening between Chi Soo and Eun Bi which made no sense whatsoever and there was obviously no logic to a brat like Chi Soo suddenly developing feelings for Eun Bi, who seemed to have no redeeming qualities except knowing how to play volleyball and acting like a klutz. The only saving grace in this drama is Lee Ki Woo, whose character was quirky, funny and charming. Ba Wool and Hyun Woo's act also provided the much needed comic relief from time to time, and made this slightly watchable.

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Since I'm really used to the typical angst-filled Kdramas that make you cry your heart out at the end of every other episode, I was really delighted that Flower Boy Ramyun Shop didn't focus on such feelings. Being classified as a rom-com, I expected a great deal of humor and awkward situations and the actors did not disappoint me!

The story was, in my opinion, a well made one; some unnecessary clichés and turns in the plot, but overall an unexpectedly deep story. Sure, it isn't supposed to be a really deep one, but it was nice to see the characters developing a bit.

The acting was pretty good, although there were cases of over-acting, but hey, that didn't ruin the fun. The never ending bickering between Chi Soo and Eun Bi were the highlights of the drama for me as well as seeing the couple grow more fond of each other, although the bromance between Ba Wool and Hyun Woo was really adorable as well.

I personally LOVED the OST for the drama. As much as I did enjoy Jung Il Woo's solo, 'Someone Like You' (how is it that so many actors are great at singing?), the song that touched me the most was 'Story' by Shayne Orok. From around the 14 episode it was played mostly during sad scenes, which made the scenes even more sad. Ah, my fragile heart..

All in all, great drama, great actors and a sweet story!

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Honestly, Jung Il Woo didn't leave that great of an impression on me as a second lead in Take Care of The Young Lady, which I dropped. So I was hesitant to watch this but I thought - "Hey, what the hell. The cast is a bunch of hot guys, so at least if the drama sucked I'd come out of it with something." LOL. Of course, it turned out better than I thought. WAY better.

I won't reveal anything about the story because it's better to keep guessing but I absolutely loved the cast and how you could feel the actual bonds that exist between them. And I'm not just talking about the main leads, even the other pretty boys, swan lady, the teacher and the gym teacher were all an awesome combination.

What I loved about this drama is it kept the comedy flow steady even when it got a bit melodramatic at times (and they would break the tension with the most random of comments) because most romcom k-dramas tend to become depressing and serious somewhere in the middle.
If you're depressed and you feel like lightening up a little, this is the perfect way to do it.

P.S.: You will never look at crap and public bathrooms the same way again after this ! XD

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I'm almost embarrassed while reviewing after so many good reviews about this drama. Actually it was the great opinions I heard about this drama that made me watch it. And I liked the first two/three episodes even thought I was waiting for something better. The drama started getting boring and boring to the point I'd just skip some parts and dialogues. There were some funny parts but the drama didn't show that many emotions.
The plot as fine but it kept the same from the beginning to the ending. No twists and no additional characters to make it more interesting, everything was about the same thing - Yang Eun Bi.
This drama is a lot cliché and for me the main girl is annoying. Maybe that's one of the reasons I couldn't bear with it.
The drama doesn't get deeper about the characters, while other dramas have a lot of happenings in 16 episodes and make us love/understand the characters more this drama just kept being the same, the plot was repeated all over again.
The only thing that was worth it was the beginning of the last episode. I didn't skip any part there, it was funny and romantic and it had feeling. But of course they needed to ruin everything after with the quick flow.
Overall I didn't like this dramas. My high expectations got really low. It's a drama cliché, it has some funny moments but that's all.

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There will be a lot of people choosing 'Not helpful' for this review. But I can't hold back. I have to say what I felt about this drama.

Simply put, this is the worst drama I have seen so far. I have seen Shut Up Flower Boy Band (one of my utter favourites) so I thought its predecessor would also be good. Oh, how wrong I was! I think I have never been this wrong in expecting something from a drama before. With an impressive actor like Jung Il Woo this is the least I could have expected.

This drama is like the worst ramyun recipe you can come up with. It is about a downright obnoxious boy and an older childish woman who fall in love. With that, insert as many terrible sub plots you can think of a horde of boring characters. And tada! Your ramyun recipe is ready! *insert sarcasm*.

I knew I wouldn't be able to stand the woman right from the first episode itself. She has no pride whatsoever. And not to mention zero self control. There's a part where her dad has just passed away, and she is sad. The hero comes and gives her "condolence money" and says this is my way of comforting you. Okay, she did sort of throw the money back in his face. But can you EVER imagine falling for someone after they treated you like that after your DAD PASSED AWAY??? Beyond outrageous, if you ask me. So, my conclusion is that this is the worst pairing of all dramas I have seen till now. Whatever happens after that hardly redeems the main guy. He doesn't know how to change. And what is up with a 26-year-old behaving like a teen girl who is attracted to a student of hers. Need I say more? You got the point- I hated their love story.

The only character I liked remotely was her friend. She was more entertaining than the heroine ever was. Plus, their ramyun shop was such a snoozefest.

I struggled to reach the ending- which was again crappy. Plus, the slapstick comedy and hints of anime humour throughout the show was overdone and so not my thing. I regret watching this waste of a show. Unless you can bear with brainless comedies, watch it else save yourself and skip it.

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I really liked this drama because of the great comedy it has. Whenever you don't expect it they turn a scene into humor whether you like it or not, which I really like.
I did not like the music of the drama nor the ending because it was not what I wanted, many might like the ending but you want something more though. The music did not match the really good scenes at all which really irked me.
I really liked the actors/actresses though they were great and I will be watching more from them because of this drama especially since they are all hotties! ;)
Overall watch it because it is worth it and I would definitely rewatch it again.

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