Mariage Not Dating (Korean Drama)

2014 had actually been a disappointing year for me as a korean drama fan. There was not even one drama which I could say i liked so much to go crazy over for. There were a few big star dramas that went top in popularity. But unfortunately, they were just not up to there, for me. Everybody loved 'you who came from the stars', and I found it just okay. I found 'Doctor Stranger' really mediocre and boring at times. And I totally hated the female lead characters in both the above dramas.

That is when I watched 'Marriage Not Dating'. Although I did rather like other 2014 Korean Dramas like 'It's Okay that's love' and 'You're All Surrounded', for me, 'Marriage Not Dating' was better than them. According to me, the best Drama of 2014 is 'Marriage Not Dating'.

'Marriage Not dating' did not have top lead stars. So it's a drama that proves that to be entertaining and likable, top stars are not the most important element.
'Marriage Not Dating' was really entertaining from start to end, and told a good love story, plus conveyed really touching relationship between parents and their children. It had a refreshing air to the whole thing too.
That's how 'Marriage Not Dating' is not just the best drama of 20014, but it can even come under top 10 in the best dramas ever category for me.

Even when we say that there is no big star in the drama, I actually did like like the cast even before this drama, because of their previous works.
I noticed Yeon Woo Jin as 'Ju Wal dhuronnim' (young master Ju Wal) in 'Arang and the Magistrate'. I had liked him even if he had played sort of a negative character. So I had watched the drama special 'Just an Ordinary Love Story', just because of Yeon woo Jin, and liked that drama special really a lot too. So Yeon Woo Jin had actually been in my good list even before 'Marriage Not Dating'.
Also, I did like Han Groo as Mini Dong Bi in 'Can we get Married', a lot. So she was also not new to me.
I'm fan of 2AM, but had not been such a fan of Jinwoon's acting in Dream High 2, but Jinwoon won me over in 'Marriage Not Dating' by his acting and charisma.
So I can't much comment about the actors not being 'the top actors in industry', because all the actors were actors I do like.

But 'Marriage Not Dating's is not about the actors. It's about the script and the story. The way it just captures us and entertain us from start to end. The characterization of each character and the comedy of situations really contributed well.

The prologues on each episode worked really well, as it makes us anticipate for that moment, and keep us excited. Although a few of the prologues were just false alarms to tempt us or scare us, they did work out really well in keeping interest.

Each episode seemed to have a theme and they were really interesting. Even the names of each episode were satirical and funny. I especially liked the title of Episode 2 - 'Widespread Advantageous Kindness : Managing Your Fish Pond'. The term 'Managing your fish pond' ('ojnag kwolli') is usually used when a person is flirting with too many people of opposite sex, in the sense keeping everyone in hook. But here in this drama it's used in case of Gong Gi Tae's mom's people management skills, where she doesn't openly admit that she dislike a person and keeps everyone hanging. 

And I really liked the dialogue 'That person called my name like a flower'. The sentence seems to be like from a poem. But it's used in the drama to describe how Gi Tae's mom calls Jang Mi's name. Also, Jang Mi means 'roses' in Korean, and that is why it's said 'that person called my name like a flower'. And every time Gi Tae's mom calls Jang Mi's name, the sound 'Jang Mi' is given a sort of effect to make it funny and IRRITATING. 

And I also liked the fact that Joo Jang Mi was conveniently just wrongly dressed for the occasion when she first meets Gi Tae's family for the first time. They don't plan and make her dress wrong, as we suspect after watching the prologue. She just could not change after visiting club. So it's just an outfit that she might wear on some occasion. It's not like a girl who always wear good decent dresses is wearing short wild one just to get in bad books of the family. In total, Jang Mi never pretends to be bad to help Gi Tae's plan of getting the marriage dropped. She just stays as who she is. The problems arise from her being who she is. That's the best part about this drama. 

The drama also discuss a serious topic as the validity of marriages in society. Would marriages last forever, when most marriages just ends in disaster and divorce. The lead's parents's marriages are shown as examples. The couple who always fought and brought up the topic of divorce ends up united and the couple who were polite to each other despite the wrong things between us ends up divorced. Two cases are shown to generalize the cases of failed marriages. In the middle of these two failed marriages, the children of these two couples decided to may each other saying 'even if we fight later, it's worth to marry now'. They openly say that they are willing to take the risk and will marry even then. That is sort of a positive message.

I also liked the way they show the relationship between Going Gi Tae and his mom. Gi Tae's mom seems to be a really cold and strict person, but when the grand mother tells Gi Tae that he was not alone at the time when he had thought he was alone, and was with his mother, it becomes a really big realization to us. Actually, Gi Tae's mom's character is a really deep character. We get to discover her more through the drama. The person seems irritating and strict and fake, but as she opens up a bit, we began to empathize with her. Somehow, that character has left a huge impression on me.

Jang Mi's parents' relationship is also shown so sweetly. Especially the postcards at the end. That was a really really memorable and nice touch to the story. When I saw that scene were the mom gets first set of cards with messages 'fool','idiot','dog' ('bhabhu', 'mongchongi' ,'tong ghae') written on it I laughed to death. At the same time when the final set of post card came with 'Did you eat food?', 'Is your health okay?' messages, like Gong Gi Tae, I also though those were the best love letters ever. Those simple words made the care between the couples so evident. Such a strong point.

Another strong point was Joo Jang Mi's personality. Innocent yet strong. And know what she want type person. And she totally rocked when she was drunk. We would love her bright and cheerful nature. And totally love the way she cries out 'Nemoyaaa' whenever she is near Gong Gi Tae's fish tank containing clown fishes. And she had a freakishly good chemistry with Gong Gi Tae's mom. (Yea, with mom. Her chemistry with the three guys, gong Gi Tae, Han Yeo Reum and Lee Dong Hoon were awesome, but her chemistry with Gi Tae's mom was the best, I think).

Going Gi Tae's character was the usual stereotype K-drama hero, still has a little charm to it. Lee Hong Doon's character was really funny and entertaining. Jinwoon as Han Yeo Reum gave out all the charisma and made such a cool second lead. The other two girls, especially Hyun Hee (Ya, Hyun-hee, rather than Se Ah) was a bit irritating. But that's the usual way, right? All the girls except the lead female will be irritating ones in K-dramas.

Credits

Writer : Joo Hwa Mi
Director : Song Hyun Wook, Lee Jong Jae

Characters :Yeon Woo Jin as Gong Gi Tae : A successful Plastic surgeon, with a bit abrasive personality. He doesn't want to get married and likes to live alone. His explanation is that as a kid once he had lived alone for a while, and that was the most peaceful days in his life. Maybe that is because of the failed marriage between his parents.

Han Groo as Joo Jang Mi : A Mall employee. She has a cheerful character despite having problems at home. Her dream is to get married to the guy she loves. Her problem is that she can't be alone. She had a trauma in childhood, and hence she hate to be alone. That's why she seeks company always and will shamelessly evade other people's privacy too. She is innocent in some ways but strong willed too.




Jeong JinWoon as Han Yeo Ruem : A youngster with the dream of being a Chef. He was the waiter at Lee Dong Hoon's restaurant. His mother had left him when he was a kid. But Yeo Ruem doesn't get much sad over it or rather he doesn't show his sadness.  He is rather handsome, popular, cool and charismatic fellow. Joo Jang Mi and Yeo Ruem stats to like each other at first and even dates for a while, before Jang Mi falls for Gong Gi Tae.

Heo Jung Min as Lee Dong Hoon : Joo Jang Mi's ex-boy friend and Gong Gi Tae's best friend. Jang Mi and Gi Tae meets because of Dong Hoon. But Dong Hood didn't want to marry Jang Mi, and hence dumps her. Later he feels jealous as Jang Mi hangs out with Gi Tae and starts to like her for real. But soon he gets tangled with Jang Mi's friend Hyun Hee.

Han Sun Hwa as Kang Se Ah : Gong Gi Tae's ex-fiancee and another successful plastic surgeon. Se Ah and Gi Tae had to break their engagement since Gi Tae did not want to marry, but Se Ah still has feelings for Gi Tae.

Yoon Seo Hee as Nam Hyun Hee : Joo Jang Mi's junior at the Mall and her best friend. Hyun Hee starts to like Dong Hoon after Jang Mi and Dong Hoon breaks up. She starts to try woo Dong Hoon. She can be a bit irritating sometimes.

Kim Hae Sook as Shin Bong Hyang/Gi Tae's mom : She seems like a cold and strict lady. Too much perfect that she won't seem like a human. She does all the house work and keeps the house condition perfect. Despite knowing that her husband is having an affair, she never fight with him, and pretends to be a loving wife in font of everyone. She even want the perfect daughter-in-law for her son.

Kim Kap Seo and Im Yae Jin as Jang Mi's parents : They constantly fight and often stop talking to each other and communicate only throw written notes or text often. Both of them run an chicken and alcohol shop. Jang Mi's mom doesn't like to work at the alcohol shop, and that is the main reason of fight between the couple.

Story line :

Joo Jang Mi was about to propose to her long time boyfriend Lee Dong Hoon. But Lee Dong Hoon senses the danger and even before Jang Mi takes the words out from her mouth, he excuses to the bathroom, and calls his best friend Gong Gi Tae for help. Gi Tae comes and saves his friend Dong Hoon. Gi Tae and Jang Mi meets like this.

 Gi Tae tells Dong Hoon to break up with the girl completely. But Dong Hoon being a coward, starts to just ignore Jang Mi expecting that she will get the idea and back off. But Jang Mi being innocent, doesn't get Dong Hoon's intentions. Then Gi Tae has to bluntly tell to Jang Mi's face that she has been dumped. This hurts Jang mi a lot.
The above scene is witnessed by Gi Tae's mom and aunt who are trying their best to get Gi Tae Married. And Gi Tae really hates marriage and wants to live alone. Gi Ta's Mom and Aunt mistakes that Jang Mi is Gi Tae's girlfriend and she was dumped by Gi Tae.

So Gi Tae's mom tells Gi Tae to bring that girl home or he will have to leave the house he is currently living alone in. Gi Tae asks Jang Mi's favor to pretend as his girlfriend and visit his family. He tells that in return, he will help make Dong Hoon jealous.

Jang Mi agrees. Gi Tae knows his mom well, and he is sure that she will never approve of Jang Mi, because of her rash and not-lady-like manners. He asks Jang Mi to just behave as she behaves normally and create ugly scenes as much as possible. She agrees.
And proving him right, Gi Tae's mom hates Jang Mi. But because of her twisted nature, Gi Tae's mom will never admit defeat and say that she hated Jang Mi. She approves the wedding between them.

So while Gi Tae's mom is trying to make Jang Mi and Gi Tae say defeat and call of the wedding, Gi Tae and Jang Mi is waiting for mom to call of the wedding as she hates Jang Mi. Mean while Gi Tae and Jang Mi becomes good fiends. Also Jang Mi finds a new boyfriend, the dashing waiter Han Yeo Reum. Though Gi Tae is jealous about Yeo Reum.




My Ratings of this Drama : 10/10

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