Dramatic Drama is Dramatic

Finally got around to finishing 궁 (Goong), or Princess Hours. I have to say, for the most part, I really enjoyed this drama. It had its humorous moments, serious moments, and of course, plenty of "daaaawwww..." moments. I feel like the bones of the love story are fairly simple, and somewhat cliche: rude, cold boy meets fun, loud girl, girl turns boy's world upside down, boy's heart changes, they fall in love, yay. However, putting this plot in the context of a fictional, Korean constitutional monarchy was pretty clever. And of course, what's a drama without...well...drama? Plenty of that in this show. Former love interests and love triangles run rampant. Some of the actions that are pretty love-story-typical were a bit cheesy for me. But who knows, maybe that's what Koreans love in their shows. I felt some of the subplots in this show were really drawn out, and it made the overall story heavy, maybe even dull at times. Is 24 the magic number for how many episodes should be aired? Who knows.

Buuuuuut I have to confess that I chose to watch this drama because of the main actress, 윤은혜 (Yoon Eun Hye), after watching her in Coffe Prince, where she also starred as the main character. And I really enjoyed that show. Between these two, I definitely liked Coffee Prince more than Goong. I just think the story in Coffee Prince is better and the characters have more depth. When I think about it, I feel that maybe Yoon's acting is better in Coffee Prince than in Goong, but it's important to know Yoon's role in Coffee Prince came after Goong. I'm not sure whether this is is due to her accumulated experience between the two series that results in her acting being better in the later show. I had the feeling that she played a good bit of her character in Goong for comic effect, whenever the scene called for a comic mood. Maybe that's how the character is, but sometimes, I just felt that part of it seemed forced, on her part.

I'm really contemplating watching 아가씨를 부탁해, or Take Care of the Young Lady, next. (....where Yoon Eun Hye also has a leading role. What, I think she's cute, all right? Don't judge.)

But for now, I think I'll try something else.