my ajumma notes

True beauty is: Friends you can count on   The girls are the typical friends-are-forever lot and I like how fellow bully victim Hye-min (Oh Yoo-jin) eventually becomes part of the group. The guys are my  scene stealers  for the show.  Seo-joon’s non-gangster gang is hilarious, along with Tae-hoon (Lee Il-joon) and the guy in specs.  Their best parts were the hospital room scene and them chasing the ‘ugly ghost’ at the school camp.  Brilliant juxtaposition of the guys finding the white sheet at the bottom of the slope with Soo-ho (Cha Eun-woo) confessing to Ju-kyung (Moon Ga-young).  Loved how the Soo-ho/Seo-joon (Hwang In-yeop) ‘fight’ looked like a weird romp in the fields from the guys’ perspective.  so funny to have Seo-joon faint at the sight of 'ugly ghost' where else in the world can we find a school campsite with a romantic boat setting? Special mention for Tae-hoon, who was instrumental in Soo-ho taking his first step, ...

Sam-dal is not the only one with problems in life. Because this is my first life (2017) This was my first time watching Jung So-min.  She’s cute and sweet!  Ji-ho is so much more engaging than Sam-dal and she has  real  issues to deal with.  Poor girl works so hard and has her script made over into a cliché plot by the chief writer.  That assistant director she liked (Gye Yong-seok playing Kim Wook) is quite the jerk, trying to manipulate her and never truly supporting her.  Was I glad to see her tell them and the Director off.  This is how to deal with problems head on, Sam-dal! I couldn’t stand how Ji-ho is treated like an extra by her family.  Why does she have to be the one to move out of the apartment and find a new one on her own?  Since the father favours her brother so much, he should just get another place for him and the pregnant girlfriend.  At least Sam-dal had an extremely s...

Story-wise, a let-down, saved by the sea and little touches here and there.   First, the things that kept me on the show (I finished it). The sea and other Jeju scenery. Ji Chang-wook ’s voice and eyes.   His Yong-pil is exceptionally kind-hearted, big-hearted and strong-hearted but underuses his ability.  Yong-pil is a little layered and he could easily carry off more layers than that!  The man is nearly 40, so please don’t have him doing cutesy cringey parts, even if they’re meant to be flashbacks of their 20s.   The sisters’ stories, characters and acting. Jin-dal (Shin Dong-mi) is the one who makes a firm impression – steadfast and admirably standing up for what is right even if it's at her own expense, and hilariously paired with Jeon Dae-young (Yang Kyung-won), my scene stealer for this show!  The poor guy, called ‘that idiot’ by everyone, is one of my favourite characters – helpless, hapless and endearingly loving Jin-dal s...