secret garden

kdrama’s making a comeback, well at least in my life. i used to be a korean series addict- winter sonata being my first kdrama series ever. I stopped watching when I couldn’t find good ones anymore. the first wave of hallyu actors such as won bin, kim ha-neul, kwon wang soo, etc were getting less visible and I just don’t get the appeal of the new generation with their plucked brows and metrosexual style. plus, the last few dramas i saw were disappointing. so I stopped. but the batch of hallyu actors I am fond of is staging a comeback so now i rekindle my love relationship with kdramas.

after cinderella’s sister, I was in search of another nice series. my princess was in my list but since its subtitles are still incomprehensible, pass muna ako. AC’s officemate recommended that we watch secret garden and even gave us a copy. so watch it was what I did.

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my thoughts about secret garden:

1. old-school korean actors- hyun bin and ha ji-won. although all the while I thought it was kim ha-neul haha. it’s such a comfort to see familiar faces ;) well, hyun bin isn’t as cute as he was five years ago and I reckon he’s a too skinny now, but he’s still cute. not as cute but still cute. ha ji-won still looked like how she looked like five years ago, though I prefer her with long hair.
2. huge doses of kilig factor- oh yes I live for this. I must have smiled, giggled and squirmed in my seat countless of times over countless kilig moments as if it were happening to me. piggy back rides. benches. staples of korean love stories. kahit paulit-ulit, parang hindi ko pagsasawaan.
3. oska. I have a love-hate relationship with this character. he’s funny and he’s nice to gil ra im but I really can’t stand his wardrobe. and that hairstyle, omg. an almost fallen star finding a way to make himself big again who’s at the same time nursing a broken heart. this reminds me that you can't really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.
4. what’s up with the action school director’s hair? haha. he’s cute when his hair is in a ponytail but when it’s just buhaghag, he just looks like a crazy homeless person. one thing I don’t get from these dramas- director kim has been harboring more than just platonic love for ra-im, even before joo won got in to the picture, so why only now? time is of the essence, people! haven’t we learned our lesson from p’shone (sing lek lek/crazy little thing called love) yet?
5. hyun bin’s character, joo won, showed us the meaning of persistent. or in tagalog- makulit. as in super kulit. pasalamat siya at cute siya kasi kung hindi, nakakatakot. with his sequined tracksuit, he pursues ra-im to no end, going wherever she goes and this he can do because he has the means to do so. a little childish but very, very cute. but come to think of it, if you encounter a 34-year old guy like that in real life, cute pa rin kaya?
6. the soul-swapping angle of the series was made the main plot, although I think they could do without it. it would still have been a nice drama without the swap. well, maybe they included it there so both characters would better understand each other. and come to think of it, it was pretty handy for ra-im. at least she wouldn’t have to prove to joo won that his mother is trying to tear them apart.
7. and yes there’s also amnesia. who would’ve thunk, right? but but but this even made it more nakakakilig cos joo won still liked ra-im even if he thinks his 21-year old self wouldn’t like a girl like ra-im. I don’t think I am even making sense but I hope you get what I’m saying.
8. lola kisses! joo won kept on doing this all throughout the drama. i get giddy over lola kisses all the time.
9. notice how their worlds seems to be so small? their lives are interconnected, parang facebook lang and they seem to know all the right people. parang destiny lang… haha. yes, I think this drama is all about destiny and all that shizz. joo won and ra-im were meant to be together. if they hadn’t met back then, they surely would meet each other some other time. personally, I don’t believe that there’s one person destined for us but I believe that if something’s for us, it would find our way to us or we would find our way to it eventually.
10. ending was a little anti-climactic but I loved it just the same. and they gave me an ending and didn’t leave me hanging as with other dramas ;) a little sad that joo won’s mother still didn’t accept their union.

oh yes I really really really enjoyed watching  secret garden. giddiness galore, just what I like and what I live for- just vicariously albeit. next drama in my list is my girlfriend is a gumiho. I wish it wouldn’t disappoint cos I’ve read good reviews about it but then again I should remember not to set my expectations too high.