Discovery of Romance Review

Title: Discovery of Romance

AKA: Discovery of Love

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama

Episodes: 16

Broadcast period: 2014-Aug to 2014-Oct

Cast: Eric, Jung Yoo Mi, Sung Joon, Yoon Jin Yi, Yoon Hyun Min and Kim Seul Gi.

After dating five years Kang Tae Ha (Eric) and Han Yeo Reum (Jung Yoo Mi) suddenly break up, leaving Tae Ha wondering why and unable to move on. Yeo Reum on the other hand moved on and started dating Nam Ha Jin (Sung Joon), and has the upper hand in the relationship, not letting Ha Jin get away with anything.  After the messy break-up the two didn’t meet again, but when Yeo Reum finds out that Ha Jin is on a blind date behind her back, she follows him to the hotel, and by chance of fate she happens to sit down opposite of Tae Ha. This leads to a twirl of misunderstandings and fights, and eventually the two go their different ways.

Still unaware why Yeo Reum broke up with him, Tae Ha decides to hire Yeo Rum to do the furniture of his new company, in order to find out why she broke up with him. Yeo Reum on the other hand hates Tae Has guts, and refuses to work with him first, but due to her debt she reluctantly agrees. Not wanting to marry Ha Jin while having a debt, she starts working with Tae Ha, but refuses to tell Ha Jin about Tae Ha, much to Tae Has amusement… What’s going to happen?

Sorry for the kind of dull summary, but it really is better - honestly.

The drama is very good actually. From the actors, to screenplay, and all the way to the dialogues, the entire drama is very well written and portrayed. I like the comedy, the sass and the sarcasm, even the retributions, which by the way are quite reasonable. It is not a drama with shocking twists and family drama, rather a story of lovers, and how life actually is - with of course really good looking and rich male leads. (LOL)

All actors are great, and they really are good at portraying these characters, as if they are them. Also the dialogues are so well written that I was excited while watching, because you really do need a bit of reality as well as sass in order to make it interesting.

But that’s it. There is nothing else; it does not have the extra umph, or the extra fluttering or complications. I don’t know, it is a good drama but kind of ends there, no more.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

A Gentleman's Dignity Review

Title: A Gentleman's Dignity

AKA: Gentlemen's Class / Grace of Gentleman

Genre: Romance, comedy

Episodes: 20

Broadcast period: 2012-May to 2012-Aug

Cast: Jang Dong Gun, Kim Ha Neul, Kim Soo Ro, Kim Min Jong, Lee Jong Hyuk, Yoon Se Ah, Kim Jung Nam, Yoon Jin Yi and Lee Jong Hyun

This drama revolves around four successful best friends in their 40’s, and how they deal with life, family and love. Kim Do Jin (Jang Dong Gun) is a director of architectural firm and is the ultimate bachelor out of the four, until he meets Seo Yi Soo (Kim Ha Neul), an ethics teacher at an all-boys school. The two have an embarrassing meeting, and that leaves an impression on the playboy. But little does he know that Yi Soo happens to be in love with Im Tae San (Kim Soo Ro), one of Do Jin’s friends and his firm partner, and the boyfriend of Hong Se Ra (Yoon Se Ah) Yi Soo’s roommate and best friend. Tae San’s little sister Im Mae Ri (Yoon Jin Yi) is in love with Choi Yoon (Kim Min Jong), another of the four friends who lost his wife a couple of years ago, so he became the one in the group that they all took extra care of during that time. He is a lawyer, and no matter the situation he would help his friends in need, also the reason for him being the lawyer of Do Jin and Tae San’s firm. The last one of four is Lee Jung Rok (Lee Jong Hyuk): he is the younger housebound of the billionaire Park Min Sook (Kim Jung Nan) who married him for his looks. The two have constant fits, due to Jung Roks infidelity and Min Sook’s jealousy, and it usually is the three friends that make alibies for him, because she owns their businesses.

Their lives suddenly get twisted after a young man named Colin (Lee Jong Hyun) arrives…

It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a nicely written screenplay, makes me all teary. The dialogues, the storyline, and the acting was pretty amazing, and somehow they turned out to be much more than the usual Korean drama (or any drama at all). While watching, I was reminded of the drama ‘Secret Garden’, extremely enjoyable, and to my surprise it was the same writer. The difference is the acting ability: if secret garden is a 10, “A gentleman’s dignity” is a 15. Good acting + good screenplay = enjoyable tv-time :P

Even though it’s different, funny, cute and romantic, it ended up, like in Secret Garden, being just a bit too long; with the extra episodes of ‘should we be together’, but still good evolvement and very interesting. Recommendable!

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Jenji's Verdict
This drama is actually quite different from many of those I've watched. So it was a "mature" drama, since the male leads were in the 40's which was really fun to watch, also because it's about these four guys who have been friends since high school and seeing their relations and so. Really funny and I actually liked pretty much all couples, all of them funny and special. My favorite was Yoon and Mae Ah Ri, I was supporting them all way through hahah, and I liked how they all evolved, and changed. I just didn't like Kim Do Jin, not sure if it is because of the character or the actor. I think the actor maybe. I just reeeeally didn't like him. But I survived. I actually only feel like it was a bit too much with Kim Do Jin and Seo Yi Soo, the others were pretty fine. So really not many complaints. Very different from what I am used to and I liked it. Recommend it really!

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts