Encounter (2018)

I think the best way to review Encounter is to talk about episode one. Absolutely phenomenal opening episode (in fact, the show is pretty amazing until episode 13-ish). The best I've ever really seen from Korean Dramas. The rich cinematography is right on display with the beautiful scenery of Cuba and South Korea. The great introduction for our main leads, allowing us to learn their motivations and dreams outside of the environment we'll typically see them in. Soo Hyun and Jin Hyuk's introduction and how two opposite people are able to connect so beautifully in a neutral zone and develop intense feelings for each other. Despite age, class, circumstances being worlds apart. It was a strong beginning and Encounter is able to mix usual K-Drama tropes, such as disapproving rich in-laws, themes on social class and the typical break up at the end only for the couple to get together, with good storytelling, great down to earth acting and scintillating chemistry. And not just sexual chemistry either because it's not that. It's certain chemistry that makes you feel like they make each other happy as human beings. It comes off so well and makes the show worth watching without factoring other plots and characters. Encounter is far from one-note. Don't get me wrong. There is plenty to love in this series. And while the finishing episodes aren't quite as strong, There is a good chunk of quality.

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This drama is a poem ??

If this drama is a poem, here's how I would love to write it:
The sun is about to set. You’ve been holding on for too long.
It’s the right time to end it all, you think.
You’ll be gone as soon as the sunset, you believe.
But as you close your eyes to surrender your pain and yourself to nothingness, he's there sitting next to you.
When you think you about to fall to the deep of the blue sea, he places your head to his shoulder.
That’s how you realize, the moon will keep you safe when it gets dark.
You could have some rest, forget about the world a little, but when you’re ready you could begin again.
The pain is there, but he and the night had helped you to heal, to become stronger, to walk with confidence since that encounter.

---

(Pardon my English skill, at least that's how I would describe this drama)

This drama shares the same feeling with painting or poetry. The narration doesn’t explain but visualizes the situation. It won’t be hard for you to put yourself in the main characters’ shoes because it’s all written in all the details you find in the drama: the setting, color grading, OST and even the words that have been carefully chosen for each scene.

I used to avoid melodrama. I haven't’ watched any melodrama before beside Something In The Rain and Be Melodramatic but I really love watching this one. This drama is so beautiful. Even though at some point I feel depressed, mostly it’s a beautiful thing that makes me cry throughout this drama. The main character of this drama makes me realize things I might have taken for granted and teach me how to be grateful. I feel like growing together with the female lead. That’s how strong the male lead character is. He is not that common "manly" type of man yet he makes you feel like being cheered up and protected. Overall, the mood of this drama is that time between sunset and sunrise spent with a hot cup of tea. I would love to rewatch again.

I know this review is so subjective. I’m just trying to be honest with my feeling because this drama feels so personal to me. You should definitely give it a shot, especially when you feel tired and discouraged.

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Dreamy romance without the toxicity of classic kdramas

plot
though the series is not plot driven , we can say that it follows a hotel CEO that has been isolated her whole life and forced to shrink to fit into a certain image, to not upset her father's political career. so she had married the man they dictated and did the job that was expected of her. but she got out. and that's before the series start.

romance
the drama starts when a sweet man appears in her life and shares with her experiences she didn't have until now. even sharing a meal with her colleages wwas something foreign to her, but with his love and unwavering support she manages to keep control over the hotel she fought for and enjoy the simlicity of love

overall
sweet, meaningful, full of green flags

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i don't understand her ex husband .... if he loved her and never cheated on her , even if he wanted to free her why didn't he at least try to change things first , make her happy , protect her from his mother , like did he think i'm gonna act like i cheated and then get a divorce , then fall in love ?!! i think divorce should've been the last solution and he is stupid AF and doesn't think , what a ridiculous thing to do , and her mother , what a bit** , i understood the chairwoman but her mother is fu*ked up , and her father's character was so weak like he was pushed around by every body , his wife , the chairwoman , how is he a politician

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Uma bela obra

Como foi bom de assistir esse drama, foi como abri um livro e desfrutar de uma boa leitura. Com um enredo bom e um roteiro belíssimo esse show arrebatou meu interesse. Tudo foi tão bem executado nessa obra, a história o elenco tudo fluiu em harmonia.

Falando em elenco, tenho que parabenizar todos pois foram muito bons, que personagens agradáveis, esse drama tem tudo que eu gosto, personagens maduros , inteligentes , simpáticos. Eu não senti raiva nem dos vilões pois tudo foi muito bem colocado. Adoro a falta daqueles clichês que sempre tem nos dramas. Nesse romance é diferente , a protagonista é uma CEO , linda, inteligente , independente, como gosto de ver protagonistas assim.

Os protagonistas deram um show de interpretação gostei muito dos dois em tela , o romance deles era lindo de assistir , os diálogos entre os dois eram muito bons, eles eram adoráveis juntos. O protagonista masculino era muito fofo dá vontade de guardar num potinho de tão perfeitinho. Ele era romântico sem ser sufocante e clichê, era maduro porem não frio, ele sabia a medida certa para tudo, era muito sábio, ele realmente se destacou.

Tenho também que enaltecer a fotografia que era magnifica muito envolvente eles tiveram muita sensibilidade nessa parte amei. A ost também era encantadora adorei. Realmente tudo foi muito bem desenvolvido e executado nesse show, eu me vi envolvida desde o inicio .

Em fim eu com certeza indico que você assista essa bela obra, é um romance lindo , leve e comovente de assistir. Vai lá e de uma chance.

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amidst the thorns, a boy saves a girl from her gilded tower

The drama begin's on an awkwardly shot episode filled with poorly acted foreigners and even worse English-speaking scenes. I don't think Korea will ever work out the kinks of English-speaking scenes so they're less awkward and unnatural. I'll give the production crew credit for filming on set in Cuba; it's a beautiful location that allowed the poorly strung scenes to immerse me in the story.

Once our CP met in Korea, I fell in love. The plot structure is organized from start to finish and surprisingly well-crafted for a chaebol family drama. I was invested in our CEO's plight and, for a while, even pitied her ex-husband after learning his back story. As we watch our CP's romance blossom, it's both elevated and tested through a sweeping and turbulent "sea monster" that threatens to overtake their sails (as gorgeously depicted in the whimsically illustrated intro/outro imagery).

I remember encountering (heheh) this drama a few years ago and having difficulty pressing the play button. I think it was because I was unimpressed with Song Hye-Kyo's facial acting and thought I was in for a wooden ride. After watching her latest drama, The Glory, I knew the power of her acting and the nuance of her performance. This drama did not disappoint.

I'm still surprised with myself for watching 16 episodes of a drama that isn't Chinese wuxia/xianxia, or fantasy-related, as is my usual schtick. I was hoping for some gorgeous Park Bo Gum scenes and angst, and I got it all and more. Also, thank you, drama Gods, for giving me beautiful kiss scenes. Their chemistry, albeit surprising, warms on me, and I found myself cheesily smiling and crying along with them.

If you're considering watching this drama, give it a shot. Don't let the first episode or two fool you; it'll quickly hit its flow and charm you with its fairy-tale-like romance.

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Realmente encantador cumpre o que propõe

Atuação dos personagens nesse Dorama é fantástica O casal tem química porém essa química não é tão explorada assim. Mas um simples olhar do casal já diz tudo. muitas vezes não é necessário pegação como existem os dramas aí forçados. a história é triste porém necessária os personagens secundários se desenvolvem os personagens principais vão se relacionando aos poucos sem pressa a história é boa a trilha sonora é muito boa e a fotografia desse Dorama é uma das melhores coisas que já vi com certeza vale muito a pena assistir está no meu top 5.

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So far it's been a beautiful show and I find myself smiling like fool at the sweetness. Couldn't live off shows like (too much sweetness) this but I love it so far.

After finishing the show I still really liked it. Again, super sweet and a steady diet of these could probably get old. I loved the eagerness of the main male lead and the resoluteness of the female lead. You knew who these characters were and, for better or worse, they stayed true to that persona. They risk everything for each other even when you think that they aren't going to.

The secondary stories were good as well and kept things interesting. And I'm a sucker for beautiful cinematography so I was captivated. The music was good as well, I liked the music while they are in Cuba since it's closer to my heart. I also liked how they tied the two countries together in an interesting way as opposed to just the place where they met.

There was a stall (most shows have them) near the end but the wrap up was sweet and perfect and made me happy. I love happy endings.

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First thing about this drama is the acting of both the actors park bogum and song hye kyo , they both depicted their roles amazingly. The emotions of sadness,endurance ,happiness ,anger,love depicted perfectly. Not only by them and also by the supporting characters.

The drama is slow romance , the screenplay was well written that unfolds how crush or likeness on one person turns into love and it flows like smoothly like a river.

Big mention is to the ost and background score which makes drama more beautiful. In some places it makes the simple scene into more beautiful one.

Some of the scenes gives excitement to the heart. For me it is exactly in 3 scenes .
1. The jin hyuk reponse in front of all people to cha so hyun.
2. The cha so hyun reponse in front of all reporters to jin hyuk.
3. The decision made by cha so hyun when its comes between jin hyuk and ex-husband family meeting.
p.s : To know what decisions were made ,viewers have to see the drama and check it whether you also get excited at those scenes.

Lastly, the role played by the camera it took some nice pictures .

Most of them likes a love story to have a happy ending and this drama gives that happiness to the viewers.

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A Mature Love Story, feat. Park Bo Gum's smile

The reason why I decided to continue watching this drama was purely because of Park Bo Gum's smile. I FELL FOR IT. HARD. That is also the only reason I decided to stick to it till the end.

In terms of the story, there truly isn't much. And the drama also isn't the kind of drama that boasts a grand and impressive narrative. The whole drama can be summarized as what being in love looks like. While that is understandable and I really liked how everything was very mature, it was just soooooooo slooooooowwww.

The cinematography was one thing that really stood out for me. It had these beautiful postcard framed shots, truly lovely to look at. And to add the photography hobby into the mix to show more picturesque shots... Quite clever.

Now we come to the actors... GUESS WHO'S GOING TO BINGE ALL OF PBG'S DRAMAS NEXT. I was a little uncomfortable seeing how malnourished he looked in the first episode, but that short bob was quite interesting and "exotic". But damn that smile made my day. Even his character was so earnestly written, it actually shone through the series. Song Hye Kyo's character also was interesting. I am a fan of these kinds of understated, less talkative, mature female characters who talk less but are strong-willed. And Song Hye Kyo was able to pull it off quite well, seeing that this is her forte. The chemistry between the two of them though... *chef's kiss*. Often in mature kdramas, they make up for the lack of chemistry with some kissing... but here, you could actually feel how much the ML and the FL cherished each other. Full points for such an earnest performance.
Her ex-husband's character was a bit meh, but that's okay... the series justified why. I didn't really like the chaebol eomoni angle, it was a bit too much. But seen in the korean cultural context, it makes sense, i suppose? I don't know... But the best part for me was the friendships depicted in the series... it was quite nuanced and layered, and not the straight-up "oh, I'm your best friend, and I will be there just to cheer you with pompoms" kinda depiction. The actors who played PBG's parents were the MOST REAL characters in the entire series, even more so than the protagonists, might I suggest. Lovely, lovely acting by the two veteran actors there.

As for the OST, it's one of those very well-crafted albums. It is expected to hear a song explode right after any major event in the series, like BAM! And in a few series, this can be quite the hindrance (case in point, Something in the Rain). But here, because the songs were very mellow, the effect was much mitigated. Eric Nam's song and SaltnPepper's Take Me On are the best in the album IMO.

Also, as a side note, the opening credits' animated videos of fairytale tropes are quite beautiful. Nothing extraordinary, but just very aesthetically pleasing.

Cons of this series: It's a meditative watch, not fit for binging (although I did binge it at an alarming rate).
There's nothing much going on in terms of the story. Its just two people in love and... that's pretty much it.
I do wish there was some editing involved. Towards the end, it felt unnecessarily long; for example, if you skip 10 seconds, you will still not miss any dialogue. It basically takes 10 seconds or more for the actors to move past looking at each other and do things (be it talking or moving or whatever).
The pacing... it was soooooo sloooooowwwww.... like so slow, so slow... they paid so much attention to showing the couple that they didn't bother with the story at all. As a result, towards the end the conflict resolved rather quickly (in just 2 episodes) and shoddily. I understand that in a mature drama like this, there is no space for the outlandish ML FL heroics, but some nuanced storytelling to the conflicts would be better.
The treatment of foreigners is still a pain to watch. SO MUCH TYPECASTING. >_<

Over all, the drama was a really nice, soothing watch. Best to watch it on rainy days, with a coffee mug and your partner by your side (if they're into kdramas that is). The first episode is probably one of the dreamiest episodes I've seen in a long time in a kdrama. I personally feel, the drama was able to sail its way through because of PBG's smile. If the makers of this drama focused on one thing intently, then it's the visuals. Be it the actors' visuals, or the interior design's colour palettes, or the locations, or just the camera frames, they made sure it was so aesthetically pleasing. The series proved how aesthetics can aid in falling in love.

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The visual of this drama is astonishing, no one can argue with me about that. Everything here is beautiful, the animation, the song, the scenery, the actors, each shot is a beauty. The features of Cuba made me want to go there and fall in love.

Encounter’s plot is not new to us. It’s all about two people who loved each other despite the age difference, lifestyle and status in life. It is mostly used in any dramas- US against the world. I was hoping for more creative values and significance of the story which I believe it doesn’t disappoint me. A definite yes for executions of the show, you will hate the rascals and you will sympathize the protagonist. You want to embrace the possibility that love conquers all.

What I don’t like about this drama are the slow pacing and some repetitive scenes and arguments. To be honest, I got bored in the middle, almost to give up – but what can I say, I must endure the tedium to witness the happy endings.

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