Review: Personal Taste (Korean Drama)
Name: Personal Taste
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Starring:
Son Ye Jin as Park Kae In
Lee Min Ho as Jeon Jin Ho
Kim Ji Suk as Han Chang Ryul
Wang Ji Hye as Kim In Hee
Choi Eun Seo as Na Hye Mi
Im Seul Ong as Kim Tae Hoon
Jo Eun Ji as Lee Young Sun
Jung Sung Hwa as No Sang Joon
Ryu Seung Ryong as Choi Do Bin
Rating: 8 out of 10
First Thoughts: When I first saw this drama would be airing I thought it could be one of two things, an offensive mess with stereotypes going left and right for the sake of comedy, or a smart drama that uses many of the Korean drama tropes but twists to create something a little different from the usual fair. I’m glad it was the second one.
Summary: When Naïve girl, Kai In, and Holier than thou, Jin Ho, meet on a bus, their encounter leads to instant dislike. After parting ways in hope of never seeing each other again, the two continue to run into each other. When Kai In gets the largest blow of her life (her best friend, In Hee, and her boyfriend, Chang Ryul, are getting married) she causes a scene and breaks up the wedding. Kai In is then left in trouble, she needs In Hee’s rent money in order to pay the mortgage she took on her father’s house Sang Go Jae. Jin Ho is not doing any better, his architectural firm keeps losing projects to Chang Ryul and he needs to land the next project in order to get out of debt.
When the next project is named with Sang Go Jae being the concept, Jin Ho rushes to get there only to find Kai In is the owner. Thinking he’s there to rent the room Kai In is uncertain, but her friend Young Sun convinces her to take the deposit since through some humorous previous encounter, she knows he’s gay.
Acting: What made this drama great weren’t the sets or the fashion, but the acting. I walked away from this drama liking most of the characters and even characters that were somewhat one dimensional were played in such a way that they were easily enjoyable. After huge success with his portrayal of the Korean Doumiyogi (Goon Joon Pyo) Lee Min Ho, was smart to wait and pick a character that would be completely different in a drama for an older audience. Son Ye Jin as Kai In, while playing the usual naïve girl, was enjoyable to watch and while I’m nothing like Kai In for the most part I definitely felt she could win over female audiences in way that most female actors could not. Probably one of the few times where I really wanted to see more of the Super Rich Bitch, In Hee was actually a joy to watch and it was probably because she moved her face so subtlety to portray jealousy, fear, and hurt under her haughty exterior. Chang Ryul was probably the weak link of the quadrangle, but his back story gave him depth normally not afforded the second banana.
Plot: I’m sure the plot was the thing that pulled in a lot of people to watch this besides Lee Min Ho, I can usually judge a show’s popularity by how hard it is for me to watch it on Viikii…it was extremely difficult. The plot started out slow, but quickly picked up pace around the 5th episode. There were plenty of AWW moments between the leads from him taking care of her through her menstrual cramps to her dressing up like a boy and pretending to be his boyfriend. The use of the gay plot line was helped by actually having a gay character that was smart and caring, and also in the fact that Jin Ho never changed his personality when he was accused of being gay. The plotline of the secret of Sang Go Jae at first seemed like extra but became essential later on and tied the entire story together in the end.
Overall: I probably can’t say for sure since I didn’t watch every Korean romantic comedy this season, but I’m sure this was one of the best. The pacing was good filled with many memorable moments, but the dramatic elements were poignant and hit at the right moments throughout the series. When the show ended I felt I had just been given the best part of a cake. I didn’t want more and I didn’t want it to just end already so I could say I was finished. This drama is definitely a keeper for me.
What’s Next?:
Mistaken Sexuality: The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince
The Prince and the Slob: Nodame Cantabile
