Synopsis:
Young 30 something, Son Hae Young, has worked hard most her life to maintain security in her life. She's ambitious, and so many ideas that she believes will secure her a spot as a manager of her own team in the company. There is only one thing standing in her way, her marital status. She is young, she is beautiful, she is ambitious, and she has a secure job in a good company for education, yet she is still unsuccessful in the department of love. Hae Young has dated, but they all ended quickly for one reason or another. In fact, her most recent relationship ended and she soon discovered he cheated on her then married the woman he cheated on her with. So, with the bitter taste of love in her mouth she seeks to get married to hopefully secure all that she wishes to accomplish.
Review:
Hello dear reader, I hope all is well. The seasons are changing and unfortunately for me that means that my allergies are running amok. Thankfully I have a list of great dramas that I am enjoying at the moment. No Gain, No Love is definitly at the top of this list.
If you are new here, I rate my dramas on mainly two categories, storytelling, and direction. Under Storytelling, I take into account not just the acting, but the writing, and music as well. It is usually presented as a percentage. Under the category direction, I consider both editing and direction, editing counts for 2 points while direction counts for 3. It'll be out 5. I call them my sticky notes because that tends to be what I write my thoughts on when I'm watching. I've rated No Gain, No Love 98% on storytelling and a 4/5 on direction.
I am loving this sereis! I cannot tell you how often I have giggled, melted into the couch like butter hitting a hot pan, or squealed out of pleasure kicking my feet in
excitement. There is nothing my sentimental romantic heart loves more than a good romantic comedy. This drama is definitely satisfying that rom-com itch that I am missing in my life lately.
Shin Min Ah, who plays Son Hae Young, is a great actress. I have seen many of her old dramas as well as her recent dramas and she is definitely one of those actresses that I always enjoy watching. In fact she is the main character in one of my ultimate favorite dramas, Oh My Venus. If there is one genre Shin Min Ah excels at, is rom-com. I would even go as far as to call her the queen of rom-com in Hallyu. Her performance in this series is nothing short of great. I love what she is doing with this complex and compelling character. She brings these quirky habits, vocal inflections, and facial expressions that really make a character come to life.
Kim Young Dae is one of those actors that's been gaining a lot of traction lately and I
am not complaining. Please sir, keep going because I enjoy seeing you on screen. Not only is this man extremely attractive, but whew can this man act! He is one of those actors like Park Seo Joon, and Park Bo Gum who know who to act with thier whole bodies. I mean those eyes, those wistful eyes, those are not an easy feat and not all actors do attempt to act with their eyes alone. The small gesutres he makes, the facial expressions. You know what he is thinking without him saying a word. Yes, please. more of this! He has always been a decent watch, but the more he continues the more he improves.
If you have gotten this far, dear reader, you may be asking what the difference is between this series and Romance in the House. Both are in the rom-com genre, and if you read my previous review you most likely know by now that I did NOT appreciate
Romance in the House. Well I'll tell you, what No Gain, No Love has that Romance in the House lacks is good writing, a decent director, and actors who are good at their craft.
Now, where Romance in the House truely fails though is in the writing and direction. I love me a good screwball comedy, rom-com, and straight up romance. However, in order to make a genre like those work you need to have either a strong script, or a great director. Actors are likewise decisive proponents to a project, but they can only do so much when a script is bad and the director isn't great.
If you're asking what is the difference between the direction of Romance in the House and No Gain, No Love, it's how they let a scene play, especially scenes with comedy.
Romance in the House's director seems to push that comedy on the viewer, they don't let the scene breathe. One way is to make the actors act over the top, silly, or have extreme scewball behavior. This doesn't let the audience decide if the scene is funny, but tells them this it's funny. Another way is, through music. You put light, upbeat, almost campy music in the background of a scene and BAM that tells the audience this action, or scene is supposed to be funny. Again, not letting the writing, or the actors speak for themselves in order to create that comedy aspect. It's pushed onto the audience. If that kind of comedy is what you enjoy, dear reader, then that's fine. I for one hate it. If you are forcing something to be funny, chances are it isn't.
No Gain, No Love allowed for these comedic moments to be created either by the writing or the actors themselves. Music is present, the same kind of situation may
even be present, but the candance of the comedic timing is better utilized and it allows the audience to not be dictated to. It also doesn't make fools or, what I called in the previous reiew, hams out of the actors.
Anyway, that is my take on No Gain, No Love thus far. At this point we've reached the halfway mark in this 12 episode series. It is available on Amazon Prime. Give this series a try if you want. If you have watched it already, I'd like to hear your opinions and leave a comment below. Goodbye and until next time my dear reader!
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