Reviews

Spy Myung Wol was disappointing, overall. There were several things I enjoyed about this drama, however. The acting was quite believable, there is an enjoyable sense of humor to balance out its otherwise sober theme, and the character development wasn't half-bad.







On the other hand, this drama had a terrible plot. Absolutely awful. This is NOT a spoiler, simply a synopsis: A North Korean spy invents a story for why she was in South Korea, ensnaring herself in a plot to bring a K-Pop star to the North. First of all, this drama tactlessly, carelessly and inappropriately portrays North Korea as a slightly more strict version of South Korea. North Korea is a starving, suffering dictatorship, and yet this drama was handling the situation with complete disregard.







If you can get past that (I started to ignore it after a while), the plot is still full of holes and unanswered questions and misunderstanding that are never resolved. The ending was awful, though at least it was a "happy" ending.







I don't recommend wasting your time on this! But it didn't leave me feeling angry or annoyed, just unsatisfied. Secret Garden and Kimi wa Petto are much more interesting dramas, as well as City Hunter.

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Wow...to think that this drama is already over makes me sad. This was one drama that I looked forward to every weekend to watch - it's an excellent drama! Lee Yeon Jae, she lived her life doing the same thing everyday, working, getting paid and not living happily. When she's told she has cancer she suddenly changes and takes on a new meaning to life. She starts living her life and doing what she wants. I loved this drama because it makes you think of how precious life is, and maybe sometimes you just need a wake-up call to start living your life.



The acting was terrific! Every emotion was felt, every heart aching, heart breaking moment. And then the happy moments were filled with so much joy. I've never seen the actors in any other dramas, but they were all great! Kim Sun Ah as Yeon Jae, Lee Dong Wook as Ji Wook, and Uhm Ki Joon as the main characters were all wonderful! Their characters were ones that you could easily relate to and love. The other actors were great, too!



The only character that I didn't really care for, and still didn't even at the end - was Sae Kyung. You'll see why when you watch the drama.



The music is another wonderful thing about this drama. Kim Junsu's "You Are So Beautiful" and MBLAQ "You & I" are 2 of my favorite songs! And the other songs they played throughout the drama were great as well!



Will I rewatch this drama? Probably sometime down the road. I really enjoyed it!



Overall - I think this is a must watch of 2O11! Life is precious, and this drama really makes you wonder what you would do if you were given such news - would you choose to live as Yeon Jae did? I highly recommend this drama, although be warned there are parts that make you want to cry, or start crying. The ending...without giving spoilers - is something that makes this drama even more perfect. So watch it!!



Also, I agree with everyone that made comments on her wardrobe - she always had the best clothes!

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I loved this drama to bits, but not for the reasons I was meant to.
Imagine you are sold a book with the cover of a travel guide and on reading discover that in fact it contains a romantic novel. You are captivated by the story and read it to the end, but you'll have to go out again to buy that travel book you didn't get in the first place.
That's exactly what happens when you start watching Scent of a Woman. You prepare yourself for a romantic comedy and find out that there isn't even a hint of comedy. The scenes which are meant to elicit a laugh range from painfully embarrassing to bitter-sweet.

But I loved it nonetheless. If the definition existed, I'd call this drama an "urgent passion". Urgency is the undercurrent of the whole show, to the point as a viewer I found myself praying for more time along the main female character. And passion for life is the glue that keeps all plot lines together.
The actors are amazing. All of them. I can safely say this is the best acted drama I've seen in a while. If you want to feel true empathy, cry, smile, grit your teeth or fall in love, watch this. The chemistry between the leads is tangible, and it grows so subtly and gradually it becomes a natural process in their story. I understood why they loved each other and not because the writer wanted me to, but because they were so incredibly believable.
The same applies to all the secondary characters. You'll grow to love them or hate them, they are not bi-dimensional people. They stay consistent to their nature and when/if they change they do so without pomp or unbelievable u-turns.
And I love that the message of this show is not a simple "live your life to the fullest". There's so much more. As I see it, the main theme of Scent of a Woman is: we are not alone here; everything we do, and the way we do it, effects the lives of those around us in a huge domino effect.
Message subtly told and beautifully executed.

Photography and attention to details are spotless.
I didn't really care for the music, but this is just me. It was chosen with sense and I appreciated the fact that it was in line with the show: elegant. I'm glad they didn't go for any lalala pop song, which would have ruined the mood.

Without spoiling the end of it, I need to say the last episode was simply perfect and beautiful, one of the reasons why I'm giving the drama a full 10.
Therefore, I'm going out now to buy that travel guide book I wanted, but I'll keep this beautiful love story bought by mistake on my shelf, for future re-reading/watching.

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Honestly, the first 6-7 episodes are absolutely great. The teen actors are amazing and the story is breathtaking. if you get to episode 11 you can then jump directly to episode 16 without losing anything of any importance in between (except the scene at the library that is quite cute). Same in between ep 7 to 11. Most of the characters has some form or another of psicosis and instead of getting a treatment, they make living hell to all the others.

I got sometimes the distinct impression that the writer had a big problem with women and was trying to expel his hate for women writing down this awful scenes.



I would say the beginning it's a MUST watch, and keep note of the actor that where interpreting the teenagers, cause they're gonna do good things.

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It's a nice drama and I've even watched it in short time. I didn't suppose that the main theme are TRACKSUITS! hmmm.. for a half ftory at least. I think that there are many himono-onnas around us.

The main character is sweet and cute and actualy, I like the girl, except for her some acts. I forgive it, because she forgot what the date was... ^^

Hotaru and Makoto haven't been a good couple since the beginning. They weren't natural, so I was really surprised that they wanted to live together.

The boss is great man too. Why his wife left him? Handsome, hard-working, with sense of humor... What did she want...?

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"Right now... I'm happy." It doesn't take long to become addicted to this drama. It also doesn't take long to fall in love with the characters. It will always go back to dying, but the way that they portray the concept of dying and hoping for the future is absolutely perfect. It may seem like a basic romance/angsty storyline but that meaning runs so deep it's unbelievable, beautiful, and more importantly, believable. This drama has actually inspired me to be much more of an optimist and live in the future and plan for the future. & Not dream of being happy, but actually being happy.

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To tell you the truth I really don't like the story line in this drama but it was the characters and the soundtrack that saved this drama. I really like Park Shin Hye and Jung Yong Hwa together so I really wanted to give this drama a chance because I love them. At some parts the story was good and at some parts the story was bad. I'm still happy that I watched and finished the drama because it was cute even though they could have added more to the story. I still liked it though. I looked forward to watching this drama all Summer and it was pretty worth it. I enjoyed watching the drama and it was really cute. NOT TO MENTION THAT YONGHWA IS SO HOT!!!!!!!!!!! :)

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Sigh, another great show is finished and I have nothing to look forward to every Saturday and Sunday. Okay, so I really hate dramas when the story line has something to do with the main character being sick and soon will die because I always thought that was wrong and I hate sad endings so much, but this was TOTALLY an exception. I love this drama. So far this is my favorite drama in 2011.



This drama was superb. Just from the acting itself was amazing. The chemistry between the two main leads was very good and so believable. Kim Sun Ah is a very beautiful actress and she is one of my favorites. I really loved her in this drama. Heck I love her in every drama. This drama is Lee Dong Wook's comeback after returning from the military and he did such a good job in this drama. The actors/actresses were very well picked for the drama and their acting was superb. When they cried, heck yes I cried. When they got mad, I just wanted to kill the person that got them angry. When they laugh, of course I laughed. You get the point....



This drama always had me crying from the very first episode and I hated that part. I hate crying in dramas so much it's such a pain in the butt. I normally wouldn't watch dramas like this but I couldn't help myself. It's just so good. Even when it was just the first 2 minutes of the episode you would already start crying like crazy. At the end of every episode would always leave me hanging and wondering about what would happen next. Not only was the drama good the ending was just perfect! It was a perfect ending that I never expected ever! This drama is really good and I'm sure that whoever watches this will enjoy it from the beginning 'til the end :)

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Another great show is done. It is my admittedly novice opinion that 2011 was a really great spring and summer in Kdrama land. I think Scent of a Woman stands proudly with that group.

All around, I think that acting was stellar. Kim Sun Ah was wonderful as Yeon Jae. I loved the progression of her character. She went from a frumpy office punching bag to a woman awakening to life to a serious, proud, sad woman, determined to live her life the way she wanted. There were countless moments while watching this where her emotions came across and just blew me away. Lee Dong Wook; he was rather stiff at first and that stiffness was obviously more than his character's chaebol, "all dead inside" persona. But I expected that because the man has been away for two years. As time went on, that stiffness went away and I breathed a little sigh of relief. Uhm Ki Joon (Dr. Poopy Suk) was probably one of my very favorite characters in this drama. Watching his character growth, watching his steadfast friendship as Yeon Jae's doctor was joyful and heart wrenching. All of the side characters, Yeon Jae's mom, her best friend Hye Won, the Tango class crew...Her friend Hee Joo...They all had meaning to her life and to the plot. Well done.

My only nitpick is Im Sae Kyung. I'm not sure if it was Seo Hyo Rim, the writer or both, but her character was a one dimensional terror of a witch. I wish they would have helped me have sympathy for her. I know they tried to give her that in telling her history but for me at least, they mostly failed.

This plot completely revolves around her diagnosis of fatal cancer so I'm not giving anything away. Knowing that is your starting point challenges the writer to fill in the questions of what now? What will and must your character go through? This show had some very heavy moments, and it should have. They were dealing with death. But those heavy times made the small triumphs, the happy moments and the love connections, both romantic and familial that much deeper. The writing of this was so smart. It seemed so realistic that this is what a person would go through when told they have cancer and not long to live: The denial, hope, determination, heartbreak, panic, desperation and anger; Yeon Jae and those whose lives she touched felt them all. Every phase of Yeon Jae's journey felt right to me. It was hard to go through with the characters in points but necessary and didn't drag out too long.

The cinematography was beautiful. I loved the music; the love theme for Yeon Jae and Ji Wook was lovely. I liked the light "French inspired" soundtrack during happy times and many other songs too. They all seemed to fit well with the story. I loved the color palet and design of the sets especially Yeon Jae and Ji Wook's homes. I want to hang out at the Tango place. Also, I want Yeon Jae's wardrobe! She had some awesome clothes.

The message of this drama is simple: To live your life to fullest and to be true to yourself. To find happiness for yourself and those you love and most of all; finding hope, even in the face of death.

I recommend this! You will laugh. You will love the passionate moments between the two leads as well as the light comedic moments. But you MUST have tissues handy!!

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While watching this show I started off not really expecting to like it. The first few episodes were really slow to me, and I found them a little boring. Then somewhere towards the middle it started to pick up and I found myself enjoying watching it for a little while. But then the last few episodes ruined it for me. I think they were unnecessary and the way it ended didn't answer anything [if you read the comments for it on DramaBeans it's exactly how I feel about it]. The way I feel is they could've ended it at episode 16, the ending they gave left me more confused than anything.



The story itself is a little on the ridiculous side, but I wanted to watch it to see how they would make something like it turn out. A spy coming down from the north and forcing a Kpop star to marry her and to drag him back north. It sounded interesting though. I did find myself liking both of the male leads, also, as I was watching the drama.



The acting was really good for the most part. Especially from Eric - his acting was definitely the best and he kept good even at the end. After Han Ye Seul's incident that she pulled it makes me wonder what exactly her reason was for leaving the set like that, and then coming back. Was it to draw attention to the show? Her acting was pretty good, although after that incident I had half a notion to drop the show. The rest of the cast was well acted, as well.



The music is one thing that was really good about the drama. It was well-done and the songs were emotional. They also went well with the story. Some of the instrumentals had this Mission Impossible sound going on, too, but it gave it that "spy" sounding theme.



Overall - I wouldn't say this is a horrible drama. I've seen better, but I've also seen worse. I'd say it's something to watch if you don't have much else to watch. If only to watch it for Eric Moon and the music at least. There are parts that are funny and sweet, but it just wasn't a drama that I really got into [that's just my opinion though]. The only episode that really had me wanting the next episode was episode 1O. Most of the episodes were just okay for me. I know there are people who have enjoyed this drama, so you might be someone who does enjoy it.

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Well first off, I really loved New Tales of Gisaeng. When I first started it I got stuck around episode 7 or so and took a few days off from it. I was determined to finish it though so I continued on. What I love the drama is that Ah Da Mo and Dan Sa Ran had so much chemistry.

Story: The story was pretty good. The fact that Dan Sa Ran was a foundling and the route she took in her life to supplement this was a bit different from other dramas. People usually try to live their lives better after learning something so shocking; Not sink further down not minimize the damage. I think the idea of using Gisaengs is something that many dramas have not touched upon, it really brought an old world feel to a modern age situation. I do think it was a little cheesy how everyone was connected by the Gisaeng House but it didn't take away anything from the drama. The only thing that people may find fault with about this drama is the fact that it took so long for the secrets to come out and to find out anything really. The other fault would be the story progression in episodes 40-50.

Acting: I absolutely loved the casting for this drama. Im Soo Hyang is perfect for the role of Dan Sa Ran. Dan Sa Ran is wise with classic beauty and a cautious but loving heart. Sa Ran's character was played perfectly, more so than any other character. Ah Da Mo was played by a new actor and while he was shaky in the first couple of episodes, you could see that he loosened up and really embraced his role as the cocky rich son who falls in love and is willing to give everything up. Geum Ra Ra had a lot growth in the drama, going from the spoiled rich girl to someone who really wanted genuine happiness. At first I was not sure how her character could redeem herself because the actress looks arrogant but she pulled it off and I developed a new found respect for Han Hye Rin.

Acting;Other characters: As far as other characters go, for the stepmom I don't think they could have found anyone as annoying as they did, the adoptive father was soft as tissue, and the sister took the family ties further than anyone else in the drama. The hospital director was very stoic and I felt he could have displayed more emotion. The head chef played the bereaved mother perfectly also.

Music: While I think they played the same song too many times, I can't really complain because I loved it. Kim Ye Won/Kim Shin Ah (the Vietnamese girl from Romance Town) sings the ending song for this drama. It is titled Yeonjungga (Song of Passion). It was beautiful and sad and seemed to match the drama perfectly. During happy times they would play a more upbeat song that still conveyed elegance.

Rewatch Value: Well I think that the rewatch value for this drama is pretty high (I've watched it twice already and will watch again) I think that for many of the actors to be old and quite a few of them to be young and new to the acting scene, you realize a lot of the differences between the generations. Watching it over you can discover new things and think of the situations from different perspectives. I know that the number of episodes is a turn-off for a lot of people but the drama really is worth it.

Overall: Overall I think this drama was absolutely brilliant, by far my favorite drama. This isn't just a one dimensional view of the drama. Considering the acting from Im Soo Hyang and Sung Hoon to the unique storyline, to the beautiful ending song that sprang up at best times during the drama I think this drama is a must watch.

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After watching this I can understand why Yamapi has a ton of fan girls. He was too hot! His character was sooo different than in Nobuta. Haha enough about him=D



The story wasn't out of the ordinary but it still kept me interested till the end. I didn't think I'd like a drama about basketball cause i'm not in to sports but the writers did a great job of not making it the main focus.



I really liked the entire cast. Junpei was too cute in his role.



I really really liked the music. The theme song was catchy and the classical music was lovely.



I'd like to watch this drama again.



Overall this drama is a pleasure to watch because the cast is super.

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