I admit, I was completely put off by the title, plot and - let's be honest - main leads. And I admit it freely - I was wrong about all that. According to info site: "A drama about the wedding of the four daughters.
A mother of four daughters and the president of a kimchi factory
decides to embark on a grand marriage scheme for her children… by having
them cohabitate with four eligible bachelors.
These four daughters are Yoo Geonhee (Kang Hye Jung), Yoo Seonhee (Lee Young Eun), Yoo Minjeong (Kim Se Jung) & Yoo Minji (Park Min Ji)"
First, we have no plot about the marriage at all, the boarding house idea wasn't actually meant for that, but to convince four horrible daughters the company is reeling and family needs money. So it was a scheme to get those four monsters together as a family. And truthfully - it was a hard task.
Daughters, except for the eldest, Seonhee, are terrible young women. Selfish, stubborn and violent (Geonhee), annoying and vain (Minjeong) and clingy Minji (almost rhymed here). With drama, as always with the flow, they change, they start to see something except for their own nose and treat other people like people (weeell, Geonhee still abused Gangjae, OK). Their mother - au contraire. A very subtle, well-behaved, firm, composed and gentle woman.
From what I saw in raws, we will have the Noble Idiocy case - occurrent leitmotif in Kdramas, I can live with that since Gangjae is, on the other hand, one great guy. He's mean when he has to (and trust me, 90% of this is self-defence), he's crazy all the remining time. He's the actual locomotive of this show, and this comes from a girl who absolutely hated his (Lee Kyuhan) acting in Que Sera Sera and Smile, You (well, he was kinda bastard there). If it wasn't for ep 13-14, I'd say he's one of the most consistent, unique and natural characters in kdramaland. Writers messed him up a bit, but 'tis OK. The range of emotions he showed here is enormous, from a lovestruck idiot, depressed jerk to the pure retard. With the madman at the core.
The couple's violent and hot relationship when the poor guy is kicked, pulled, thrown at lamp-posts, walls, floor and many other places, but retorts with male-superiority-influenced language - was the highlight of this show. Fear not, they have also lovey-dovey moments as well. And executed in a squee inducing way. At least from a guy's part. Our heroine's character is a bit lacking, comparing to her crazy, crazy counterpart. I guess we have to get used to weaker (script-wise) woman characters. But it's not only korean thing, in general, women are not that interesting as characters everywhere (Ripley, Cersei and Milady excluded).
But they seemed really natural and at ease around each other, without having real-life relationship (nanana...)
The kimchi. The drama is about food company merger. Yeah, I know, how fascinating. The plot about Geonhee's mother and Gangjae's father's past is a second, or third line to that. Other sisters' lines are also given little space but not neglected. So we witness how Minjeong started to work part-time and decided to have her own money for spending, plus she started to be interested in a guy who would be ompletely out of her sphere of interest few months before. The food is tasty when it's not manufactured but made with love. How corny, right? I know, then I remembered my Mom's food (the best in the world, and don't argue!).
The marriage. We had only one in the last episode. Seonhee and Jangwon (Lee Minwoo), so the title of this drama is misleading completely. There was no wedding plot at all here. There was no parent terrorizing all neighbourhood because the kid slept with someone and needs to be married. Spending the night together wasn't that big deal here too. But suppository - oh, that was a hilarious issue!! Poor, poor Gangjae.
Is this drama (I'm still watching!) brilliant? It does have brilliant moments but it does have WTF moments as well. If we can pass horrible daughters at the beginning and witness their change - we got a treat. At least I love it and I'm having tones of funs with it. But I don't watch rom-com dramas for their depth, you know, if I want that - there are others. And books. But it has some fresh filming ways and fresh feeling to it. It's not brilliant, but it doesn't have plotholes and all ends were tied up. Even if we have some standard kdrama cliches (having fever after beaing sprinkled with water, o--key), I can live with that.
And a little digression, cause I wanted to write that few times not exactly strictly related to this drama. Minjeong is a vain young woman, all she thinks about is shopping, posing, hanging around with her rich friends. If a guy doesn't buy her diamond-studded latrine for the first date - she deems him as scroodge and ditches. The funny fact is - in real life such girls exist. My friend asked me lately why girls demand rings, bags, clothes, cosmetics from their guys even if they themselves work and can afford those. I couldn't answer him, really, because I couldn't care less if a guy buys me steak in the most expensive restaurant or just ramen. And then it enlightened me. I am NOT a paradigm for all girls. We usually see ourselves at the very centre of the universe (which is natural, and bow down you peasants!) and we judge all around comparing to us. So if people around don't wear green panties every Thursday, we deem them not normal, etc.
Showing such girls on eerhm... shows means only one thing - there are such girls in real life to. But just pay attention how those girls end up in dramas - guyless. Those hollow and vain, appearance-obssessed bimbos are shown as the losing party. meaning - money, looks and branded items are not everything. Personality is more important (which is partially bullshit, but...).
Anyway, what I like also in this drama? The fact that lady doesn't become main guy's doormat. Oh no, she's too bitchy and strong for that. She changes slightly towards making kimchi, yes, but even in the last episode she treats Gangjae with a taser and shoves him onto the wall. "Sweet love, renew thy force; be it not said Thy edge should blunter be than appetite."
There is a lot of talking about man's position and woman's position in the company, family etc. Main leads fight nails and teeth about this issue, Geonhee doesn't like the idea of marriage and she doesn't like kids. Gangjae says that women are naturally more children-inclined but it's him who makes the goofiest faces to the foster kid.
Plus, oh well, how many dramas start with beating the crap out of male lead who screams like a pansy? And how many girls piggyback guys home?
Yes, I cut the beginning.
(This post was sponsored by Shakespeare's Sonnet 56)
