Viața Ei Privată (2019)

Among the healthiest couples in dramaland.

So it seems that Secretary Kim is now a fangirl as well. Jokes aside, this drama was everything that I expected from a Park Min-Young drama, and a bit more. After being on my "to watch" list since its premiere, I finally decided to give this drama a shot, as I was looking for something light and fun to watch, and I was not disappointed.

So, this is supposed to be a "mature" romcom, and by "mature", they mean that the couple we follow will actually act like a real couple. And I wasn't disappointed, Ryan Gold and Sung Duk-Mi looked and felt like a real couple, that understood and supported each other in everything. Instead of unnecessary jealousy and miscommunication that lead to conflict, they handled everything that came their way as adults, with conversations.

After watching this drama, I'm scared that I'll never find something like this again, not because the story is original. No, far from that, this drama has a lot of clichés, don't get me wrong, but the way they went about it felt exciting, and they even twist some of the clichés we are used to. I believe that it will be difficult to find another couple that is healthy and mature like them, that won't create drama for the sake of drama.

This drama is more character-driven than plot-driven, because for the most part there's no plot. In my opinion, the drama is divided into two parts. The first half is about Duk-Mi's private life, and the second half is about Ryan's private life, which is good, since we get to know both parts of the couple. Also this drama is filled with amazing romantic scenes, and don't get me started on the kisses and couple chemistry, they were amazing!

The story begins with the typical misunderstanding that leads to a "fake relationship". While I initially found an odd solution to the problem, after a while I just accepted it, and yes, this kind of trope has been done a million times already, but I enjoyed it regardless.

The side characters were interesting, I really liked Duk-Mi's family and how her mother just became everyone's mother. I liked Hyo-Jin's character growth, although her existence was merely a plot device in my opinion. The Duk-Mi bestfriend was really funny too, although I didn't like her storyline very much, I think they could've done something slightly different. My biggest criticism has to be the second lead, don't get me wrong, I loved him in the beginning, until he became the typical annoying second lead. But that's not the worse part, for me the worst was that they basically presented Eun-Gi has a brother to Duk-Mi, someone Duk-Mi grew up with, and that was raised by her mother, so it was very weird to watch this man, that Duk-Mi considers family, a brother, having feelings for her, I couldn't get used to it till the very end.

Acting and Cast: This drama had an excellent cast and good acting, which made it both captivating and not boring. In addition to having great chemistry with her male counterpart, Park Min-Young was perfect in this role. No gonna lie, at the beginning I found Kim Jae-Wook to be an odd choice for this type of drama, as I saw him to match a more villainy rule, but God was I wrong, this man was amazing playing the confident Ryan Gold. And I think overhaul all the cast was really good in this drama.

Cinematography and Sound/Music: Starting with Music, this drama has an incredibly catchy intro song. Although I thought most of the OST was adequate and what I expected from a romcom, I found Cha Sin-Ahn's group song "snapshot" to be rather annoying. As for sound mixing, I think they did a good job. The way they associated a melody with the bubble paintings was great; every time I heard it, I knew one of those paintings would appear. As for cinematography, this drama looks good, I think this is something common in romcoms, they always look pretty and bright with low contrast, even with the sepia filter in the flashback scenes. They also used a "photoshoot" style editing in some cases, that fifty percent of the time made sense, and the other fifty not that much. And except for some odd effects I noticed on a particular scene, this drama looks very pretty.

Will I watch this drama again? Probably yes, I really enjoyed this drama, and especially this couple, and I can see myself watching it again when I want to watch something light and fun with a healthy couple. Do I recommend it? Yes, if you like light hearted, slightly cliché, character driven dramas, with a healthy couple who communicate and a lot of great romantic scenes.

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Story:
It was good, very easy to pin point where's the story's going. I like that, I hate thinking so much. I want to relax and not solve puzzles anyway that's why I am watching in the first place.

Cast:
WOW for Kim Jae Wook. He's Handsome, so. I became a fan in an instant.
AS for the female lead, she is one of my Fav.

Music:
Just right for my taste aswell especially "Thinking of You"

Rewatch Value:
I already rewatched some of its' episode, fake dating scenes most of them.

Overall:
I like this drama, though it's very simple I mean the problems arising were very heart breaking and deep like the abandoned kid and the death of a sibling but it was presented beautifully in way that my heart did not ache so.
I hate it when I have to cry so much because the scenes are so heart breaking.
So really like that this drama because it gave me smiles, lessons and romance in an exact temperature that I am looking for, just the way I want and just the way MY heart can handle.

:)

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If you're in the mood to watch something funny, like a rom-com I really recommend this. I just finished watching a drama that gave me an emotional ending with joy ykow... and I was craving something funny to boost my sadness. I always watch those youtube videos where a lot of kdramas are mixed and 'Her Private Life' keeps popping up, especially the funny moments and after days, I decided to watch it, and wow, that was good. I didn't really have a lot of expectation on this drama, I really just want the cute and funny moments which they have given us... A LOT and I like that. The plot tho, it's not bad... them 'the two main' encounter were good, and then being together was <3
I don't really know what to say, I just watch this drama for the rom-com. lol
But... this drama represents those fangirl/fanboy of kpop, which was funny and good, they gave us like the background of the reality of being a celebrity and how they are the same as us, human-being. We get hurt, become sad and yediyada
But ye, that's all. idk. xD
1/18/20 9:45pm tumae eh xD

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Mature romance without stupid breakups

If you want a fun, mostly light show with a wonderful romance without the usual nonsensical separations/breakups, I could not recommend this show more highly. I'm getting so weary of the shows that go on for 16-24 episodes and the main couple only spends part of one episode together, the rest is filler, and they tie everything up in the last five minutes. This is far from that. That's all you need to know. If you are so inclined and want further thoughts, feel free to keep reading.

There is so much to love about this show. I must say, this is my second time watching it, and I upgraded my rating - maybe I'm looking for something different in my romances these days, but this one ticked all the boxes for me!
ACTORS:
Park Min Young as Deok Mi - I have loved her in everything I've seen her in. She is so classy and beautiful. She has the most beautiful hands, and they take many opportunities to show them. I found her very irritating and immature as a fangirl, but that was necessary for the story. My only complaint was her hair - through most of the show the style they had her hair in was NOT attractive, messy bun, shorter hair hanging down in the front, parted in the middle, flat with no body. But aside from that, her character was lovely. A career woman with a secret life.
Kim Jae Wook as Ryan Gold - I've not seen him in anything before, and I'm going to be on the lookout for him in the future. He was wonderful. His character was strong, yet approachable, with hidden things in his life that you find out later in the show.
Park Jin Joo as Deok Mi's friend Seon-joo was, as usual, lovely. She's so cute and seems to always play the supportive friend. Ahm Bo Hyun as Eun Gi was excellent.
I must give a shout out to Kim Sun Young as Uhn So Hye - the boss that was removed while being investigated for embezzlement. She is such a versatile actress, and she played this part in a way that bordered on charicature. Between her terrible haircut, her breathy/creepy voice and her over-the-top clothes, she was a hoot!
SCRIPT- Wonderful. This is a romance-lover's romance. They start out antagonistic toward one another, with a slow buildup to a relationship. I LOVED that once they were in a relationship the drama came from elsewhere, not from them breaking up for any ridiculous reasons. They had a wonderful, mature, loving, supportive relationship. Their conversations were real, raw at times. Their apologies were heart-felt, short, sweet and to the point, and they were mature enough to move on and not hold grudges. Every character was so well developed that I didn't feel there were any extraneous people that should have been left out. The character of Eun Gi, Deok Mi's long-time male friend, was absolutely wonderful. I just watched this for the third time and realized that his character touched me more than everyone else. I found myself shedding a few tears on more than one occasion when he was involved.
CHEMISTRY- Oh my gosh! The chemistry between the two leads was exceptional. The looks, the almost kisses, the kisses, the hugs (it got me every time they hugged and he settled in and closed his eyes - like he'd finally found his home)
FRIENDSHIPS - the relationships between the friends was a joy to watch. What happens when one friend crosses that invisible line to attraction? This was handled so well!
WARDROBE- Kudos to the people that dressed the cast, especially the leads. She wore classy, sometimes edgy outfits. His clothing especially, impressed me. Loose silk pants, boxy jackets - they really dressed him to emphasize his attributes. Plus, he always seemed more approachable, since he wasn't wearing typical suits.
SOUNDTRACK - there were two songs in particular that I really liked. The music went along well with the storyline.
ASIAN CLICHES THAT THEY DID/DID NOT USE - I don't remember seeing an arm grab. He grabbed her hand a lot, but it totally went with the storyline. Thankfully, there were no evil parents trying to keep them apart. The second leads/romantic rivals were short-lived and made sense. There was, happily, a shirtless shower scene. There was only one drunk scene but he was so precious in it I actually enjoyed it. No fish kisses - their kisses were oh so good! They did do a time jump, which I didn't feel made any sense and they could have done without.

This is a show that had so many scenes that needed to be replayed just because they were so lovely. I'm glad I re-visited this one!

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It was light hearted and entertaining. The storyline was interesting with twists of childhood connection between the main characters. I was little confused until I was happy to receive answers later. The chemistry between two leads was adorable. I don't find it boring and it was not complicated since I was satisfied with this story. The main opening song was good.

Park Min Young as Sung Duk Mi was acting well. I love her fangirling moments lol. I think her acting in What's Wrong With Secretary Kim is better . Kim Jae Wook was not bad at acting but need to work on expression a bit. Ahn Bo Hyun and Park Jin Joo have a good job at controlling emotions.

Oh, I agree about sasaeng fans are scary!

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A good romcom without unnecessary drama (:

I actually really liked Her Private Life! I have been in a bit of a K-drama slump for quite a while now, and I've been looking for some fluffy and wholesome K-dramas that I won't get too frustrated or bored with. Many dramas have some boring corruption storylines or some dragged-out unnecessary misunderstandings or other stupid drama going on, and I don't really love that because in a way K-dramas have become my escapism from real life problems that stress me out. So long story short: Her Private Life was essentially what I was looking for in a drama these days.

Story:
I liked the story of HPL a lot. It had a good balance between the different aspects of it, and I loved that it showed representation of a more "mature" fangirl, because as a woman in my 20s who still loves Korean music and dramas, I felt like I could relate to the FL a lot :D Also, at times the relationship between the FL & ML reminded me a lot of my relationship with my boyfriend haha! I loved it. There was also some casual (though very very lowkey) LGBT+ rep so that was nice (:

Acting/Cast:
I liked the cast a lot! I feel like there weren't really any weak links in neither the main or the supporting cast. I liked the main leads, and I would just like to voice my appreciation for Park Minyoung and the fact that she's really taken that "strong & determined but also very sweet career woman" role in several dramas and turned it OUT! I'm happy she has gotten herself into those type of roles now and not whatever the heck was going on in "Healer" like lol sorry girl but that wasn't really your best role ^^" Any way,, the supporting characters were all great too, I really liked them, and the cast all did a good job.

Music:
The music was okay, although the "theme song" had kind of weird lyrics that kind of bothered me at times. And in my opinion they kind of overplayed "The Idol Group Song" a bit, but other than that I don't have many complaints of the soundtrack or music. It was a pretty standard romcom soundtrack.

Rewatch value:
I feel like I possibly _could_ rewatch this some day, but I don't usually ever rewatch dramas even if they were absolutely magnificent, so I don't know ^^"

TLDR/Overall:
Taking in count all the aspects of it, I scored Her Private Life a solid 8.5! It wasn't the absolute best drama that I've ever seen, but it was sweet and very entertaining, so I'd definitely recommend it especially if you love romcoms (:

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Her Private Life is a hard drama for me to rate because there was so much that I loved and so much that bored me. It also sold itself as a secret sasaeng drama, which wasn't very interesting to me, then turned into a random melodrama, which also wasn't very interesting. What sold me on this drama is definitely the chemistry between the two leads, which was unexpectedly hot. I never expected to like this couple as much as I did, but their pairing is pretty perfect.

I admit that I am already a huge fan of Park Min Young at this point (Sungkyunkwan Scandal, City Hunter, Healer, Queen for 7 Days, and especially What's Wrong With Secretary Kim), but I wasn't sold on the male lead who I only really liked in Coffee Prince back in his younger emo days. Together they have a grown and sexy chemistry that makes even the most mundane moments hotter than I expected, especially after the rather dull first episode. Sure, they are brought together by the usual clichés, but there's a reason why certain clichés continue to work, and they are what makes this drama work so well.

The rest of the cast is generally good, with a few favorites in minor roles (like hilarious Park Jin Joo, and
Kim Mi Kyung as another cool mom, but I also loved her in Healer too). There are also characters that I should have loved more but didn't. I thought Kim Bo Ra as Cindy was as annoying as she should have been, but too boring to really care about. I also found the object of all this fangirling, One as Cha Shi An, to also be boring. I guess his purpose was mainly to be cute anyway, which he was. I also think Kim Sun Young made the most out of her silly role and was definitely entertaining.

As for the story, it starts off as really silly, which is why the addition of melodrama seemed out of place when it became the main focus. The story is full of repeat chance meetings, misunderstandings, a 2nd lead syndrome worthy bff, and the KDrama romcom staple... "The fake relationship", but the writing does tell a complete story, and everything does come together and makes sense in the end (even for minor characters), which I appreciated. However, I still found that there were too many times, especially in the final episodes, where I was completely bored. I also didn't feel any connection to most of the more emotional parts, which seemed to resolve too quickly and neatly to be engaging to me. The comedy parts were also too silly for me, and the Ryan = Lion jokes definitely got old quick! If it weren't for the romance, I would have dropped this one for sure.

Would I watch this again? Actually Maybe, although I'd be tempted to skip a lot of parts, and maybe skip the last few episodes completely. I am also not a fan of the soundtrack, which was sweet and cute which sometimes clashed with the maturity of the story, but I guess it goes with the sasaeng vibe. That "precious little girl" song was especially irritating to me though.

Overall, I understand the appeal of this drama. I think it's a hit for the two leads, although the story is pretty dull for a romcom in my opinion. I would still recommend it for romance fans especially since I think they are one of the best pairings I've seen this year so far. Also, it is a decent story if you give in to the tropes and predictability. Just know that it's not exactly as lighthearted as it seems initially, but it's also not too heavy with drama either. I'm definitely not fangirling over the writing, but maybe I am over
Park Min Young a little who's fast becoming my romcom queen.

Also, no matter how cute and relatable they tried to make them, sasaengs are still pretty creepy to me! o.O

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I really like the plot for this, since it is very appealing for me being also a K-Pop fan, but I guess this drama shows the typical Korean drama, that I felt like I already know what will happen in it's entirety.
What makes this drama appealing for me is because it’s Kim Jae Wook’s first main role drama, since I always saw him having side roles. I really like him in other dramas, and I really hoped that this time he would shine as a main lead, but I was not really into the drama. Park Min Young may not be my fave actress I respect her but is her roles always like this? I find it repetitive. Also, I don't really like the side characters, they are so typical. I think this drama is overhyped but the hype was not maintained. I did have times that I felt the romance in the drama, since it is a romance drama, but the comedic part is not good for me. The conflict part is also boring. It is a cute drama but I recommend this more on the beginners since it does have the Korean drama style that they would maybe like.

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This drama promoted obsessive fan behavior as a normal thing. Behavior like attacking an idol's supposed significant other and general excessive obsessiveness and stalking. Someone even neglected the person they were married with and was even thinking about divorcing them. (Edit: I was informed in the comments that it was just the drama's way of mocking that part of fan culture, but I guess I just didn't interpret it that way.)

But then in the middle, the drama somewhat strayed away from that plotline and focused on the main leads romance. About that, well, the leads definitely had great chemistry, but the fake dating trope turned me off a bit, and the unnecessary misunderstanding caused by the second leads was a bit dumb, since they are adults and could have talked it out instead of letting her walk away.

Fortunately, that got resolved quickly and the leads started dating for real, but that is when the cheesy scenes also start. Don't get me wrong I love me some cheese as much as the next person, but in moderation. Still that could be a good thing if your a fan of that sort of thing.

Now the childhood plotline, there's the usual, the leads knew each other as kids but don't remember cliche, and the two mothers involved in the situation were kinda dumb and could have handled things better. It doesn't make sense to me that Ryan's mother would lose him and not call the cops or something else to look for him, that way I'm sure when he got abandoned by Deok Mi's mother at the orphanage, another dumb decision by the way, they would recognize him as the missing child and report it the police.

Conclusion: in my opinion this a forgettable and skippable drama.

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I laughed and I cried!

Wow, this was a delightful surprise of a watch! Going in I was expecting mainly a lighthearted romcom, but this drama goes beyond that. It definitely has a lot of comedy but what makes this drama special is its perfect balance of comedy with depth in the plot execution. First of all (without spoiling), the plot is quite simple, and in the first half of the drama there is a lot of focus on Deok Mi's 'private life' aka her being a fangirl blog runner of her favorite idol Si An from the group White Ocean. I was slightly worried that the drama would focus too much on the fangirling and idol aspect and stray away from the art/museum curator side of hers but fortunately that didn't happen. Our male lead Ryan becomes the new director at the museum where Deok Mi works at and they start getting entangled with eachother. The acting of our leads was superb, especially Kim Jae Wook as Ryan. I was really impressed by his acting. He can change expressions so fast in such a smooth but subtle way that’s just incredible. In my mind he really IS Ryan Gold/ Heo Yun Jae. Park Min Young was also really good and I liked that she pulled off the comedy but could also switch to serious acting. I didn’t quite like her in Secretary Kim because I thought it seemed a bit robotic / NPC kind of vibe but in this drama I didn’t get that at all, I really enjoyed her acting.

One of my favorite things of this drama is definitely the chemistry between our leads and their playful but VERY healthy relationship dynamic! They really come to connect deeply with eachother and trust eachother and help eachother overcome emotional obstacles and they're always so supportive of eachother that it just warmed my heart watching this. For example, when Ryan finds out Deok Mi is The Road to Si An he didn’t judge her nor impose on her, he truly accepts that passion of hers for what it is without being overly jealous or toxic. Even when she has a moment of verbal admiration for Si An, Ryan only gets a bit jealous but he acts on it in a playful teasing way instead of a toxic controlling way which is further proof of their trust in eachother and I love it. *SPOILER* I also loved that Ryan could paint again thanks to Deok Mi’s support and encouragement. I loved that she emotionally supported him but also pushed him at the same time in baby steps, by letting him trace her hand and in a later episode asking him to trace her profile on a canvas. When he made that painting for Deok Mi’s birthday I cried. *SPOILER END*
Kim Jae Wook and Park Min Young were utterly convincing as a couple and I wish they would actually marry eachother IRL!! I also love the amount of kissing scenes there are; it's not limited to the mere 'confession kiss' or the 'make up kiss', and it's another thing I find unique about this drama. It is really steamy and passionate and cute and it's just so good. They are easily one of my top fav kdrama couples now.
I also love that there is a lot of unscripted improv especially from Park Min Young and it just made it super hilarious to watch and it also made the conversations between them feel even more natural. I watched the BTS videos and I could tell even off screen they truly get along and that really showed on screen. Like sometimes when she’d improvise she’s actually joking around as Park Min Young and they’d end up laughing so hard and getting out of character but they put it in the drama anyway and that just makes it even more funny and awesome!
Comedy appreciation aside, there is definitely enough depth to the characters and plot that balances out with the more lighthearted aspects in this drama. Once again without spoilers both our leads have some baggage but it’s mainly Ryan who has trauma. The drama shows just enough but doesn’t make anything overly complicated either that it becomes boring and confusing, there is a perfect balance. There are also no plot holes which is another thing I appreciate because it happens often in dramas when it’s poorly written or not fleshed out.

Side characters wise I do find some of them less interesting, like director Eom (very one-dimensional and exaggerated) and Seon Ju’s husband (who imo is kind of a wuss but ok), but the others I did like; especially Seon Ju, Eun Gi and Cindy. I liked Seon Ju because she’s Deok Mi’s best friend and she always has her back and I just really enjoyed their friendship. Seon Ju is also very assertive in her own way and I enjoyed that. Then Eun Gi. In the beginning I disliked him because I thought he was just gonna be the ‘jealous annoying childhood friend who has a crush on the female lead’, but he outgrew that and he definitely goes through development and in the end chooses to support Deok Mi and her happiness. With Cindy it’s a similar thing, I thought she was just gonna be the ‘spoiled annoying rival Si An fangirl who wants to knock down Deok Mi’ but she also doesn’t stay in that stereotypical trope, which is why I started to like her. She even learns to do things on her own (coming from being super spoiled and not doing anything by herself) and finds new ambitions at her work in the end which I’m proud of her for. She also ends up befriending Deok Mi and the rest and that makes me happy.
I also enjoyed watching kdrama parents not being stereotypical for once. Deok Mi’s mom seems like a stereotypical mom in the beginning but she actually cares a lot for Deok Mi and definitely shows that later in the drama, in a healthy communicative way.
Overall I did like that the supporting characters weren’t just ‘there’, but they all have their own thing going on as well.

Music wise there weren’t a lot of OST tracks, but they were simple but memorable. My favorite one has to be ‘Think of You’, it’s Ryan and Deok Mi’s song and I love it.

Overall I would highly recommend this drama. It’s heartwarming, funny, easy to watch, but also has depth and it’s definitely refreshing!

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The Chemistry!

So much chemistry!
This was Park Min Young's first project after starring in What's Wrong With Secretary Kim. At the time people were still talking about the "chemistry " in that drama. (To such an extent dating rumours began to circulate.) WWWSK honestly left me underwhelmed. The leads felt mismatched and forced. I didn't get the hype. I didn't see the love or romance.
But this one!! Her Private Life! This is what everyone should have been talking about!
This is probably my favourite performance from both Park Min Young and Kim Jae Wook.

Storyline...
I will be honest, this was a little problematic in the first few episodes. Showing grown woman fangirling was refreshing. You have no complaints from me there. But there is "liking and supporting" a celebrity, and then there is a possessive, stalking, life wasting obsession. This show, unfortunately, tried to normalise the latter. (e. g. The fans reaction to the dating rumour.)
This was disappointing and a poor contribution to an already toxic situation.
But once you get past that it is a good story that is worth the watch. Family drama, childhood trauma, second leads, lots of sparks and fireworks. Everything that makes a good K-drama.

Negatives...
It got quite slow at the end. A lot of unnecessary staring and long empty scenes that didn't move the story along.
The childhood connection was completely unnecessary. It felt forced and didn't add to the story at all. They could have left this out and you wouldn't have even noticed anything missing.

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