Anyeonghaseyo!
So, as most of you have known, it is true that Playful Kiss only had 16 episodes. So sad but true. I think they "cut it short" because it got a very low rating in Korea which is sad coz it is a great drama IMO.
And it's not mainly the show's fault that it got low rating since the beginning, but it's because of the rival show getting high ratings. I know, that's competition, but how can you compete with a show that already had established a big follower before you even started?
For me, Playful Kiss is a very under-rated drama. It did received good reviews and had a great number of international followers online. I'm pretty sure a lot of us are saddened because it ended quite fast.
I wanna say thank you to Viikii, EPDrama and Midnights Dreams (and other subbing teams) for providing good quality english subbed versions FAST for international viewers like me.
And I am so grateful to Group 8 and Youtube for deciding to air web-pisodes of this drama every week. I love watching how their marriage life progressed. And the bonus of having to know Seung Jo's thoughts through his diary :)
* you can watch these special episodes at their Youtube channel: ytkiss ^_^*
My review:
I LIKE this drama because...
- It's fun to watch. I really love romantic-comedy shows.
- The actors and actresses have very good acting ability
- The lead character Oh Hani is not super dumb like in ISWAK (Taiwan version), wwhich makes her a lot more adorable to watch than Xiang Qin
- I love Kim Hyun Joong. His acting is better here than in BOF.
- This drama has lots of feel-good scenes
- Story is not dragging and repetitive
- The supporting casts is superb. They really embodied their role.
- Cute outfits!
I DON'T LIKE this drama because...
- There are some scenes that lacks the proper timing.
example: Ep13 Kissing scene in the rain: Baek Seung Jong dropped the umbrella a little late to cut off Oh hani's dialogue.
- I really hoped they also showed a Korean version of the scene where Zhi Shu got very jealous of Qi Tai in TKA.
- I hate the first part of episode 1! It's too CGI for me..
- It's too fast paced on certain scenes. I hope this drama is longer!!!!
COMPARING to the Taiwanese version...
* I love both drama and I can't decide which I love more so this comparison is done objectively*
- PK is on the cutesy side while ISWAK is a little serious
- Acting wise, ISWAK is better since Joe and Ariel are already veteran actors when they did this while Hyun Joong is just starting his acting career
- ISWAK is more detailed and consists of 30 episodes compared to the 16 episodes that PK has, making it a little "incomplete and rushed" for viewers who have loved watching ISWAK years ago (like me)
- The Taiwanese version created a whole 20 episodes Season 2 (TKA) to show their marriage life while the Korean version only have 9?? 10-minute episodes on Youtube to show that
Over-all rating for Playful Kiss: I'm giving PK 4/5 rating because they really did a great job in creating a live-action version of this manga. I really hope we can have season 2!
Congratulations to all the cast of Playful Kiss!
Kim Hyun Joong, fighting! I hope to watch more dramas with you as the lead character :)
