personal taste and first time experiences.
One watched it and fell in love with korean drama and Jang Nara. The show was basically built around her after all. It was a way of cashing in on her huge fame at the time, yes believe it or not but Jang Nara was Huge in Korea at the time ,she was literally everywhere and whatever she touched was gold.
One watched it and didnt like it..maybe because one was male and one female..who knows..I have always found Jang Nara totally adorable..so yes when watching her my brain may turn off to a degree so I didnt mind her rough acting..though she certainly gave it plenty of energy!
She was pretty new to acting then too, with only nonstop and Bright Girl behind her, she certainly a great deal better actress than she is now than she was those days. I think the feeling she was playing herself in MLP is from the fact that she is very honest and straight forward and what you see is pretty well much what you get.
While she did start as a singer [she was a model in her teens]in the factory of Korean Production companies where everyone comes out all looking and saying the say things, everything they say and do written for them by those production companies losing all personalty in doing so, she was lucky enough to get her contract cut..other word kicked out. The company she was with decided to push for BOA and didn't want her to come out and compete against her. So she never had to suffer though the company system most other Korean had to, this made her very much more open and unique.

@bjharm
Wait a minute, she was with SM aka root of all evil?!

It is nice when sub-par dramas can trigger some deeper emotion - it doesn't take a good drama to do so, necessarily, and I think that's a good reminder. (And some technically apt dramas can miss the mark for me.) I watched a couple episodes of MLP tonight, and it, uh, did not trigger those feelings for me. I didn't hate it, but I felt like there were missing steps involved. Like, Kim Jae Won's character just magically implicitly distrusts the evil stepsister! How convenient! And in this case, it's not just a plot contrivance (which is fine) but a character contrivance, and it really pissed me off.

All About Eve was the drama I haaaaaated. Hated. I watched every damn episode, too, just to make sure I wasn't missing a turn around. I think that was the drama that broke my pure and innocent K-drama heart.

I remember watching this but I don't remember if I had liked or hated it. It was enjoyable I'm sure just memorable. But you guys sure make it fun. Thx for the laugh.

Edit: @Dav Thanks for your opinion by All about Eve. My friend keep telling me how good it is but it doesn't seem interesting to me. So I be skipping that one.

*sob* yup I'm always late...

PATZZI MUST DIE!!!

seriously the poopoobear of the east, stop murdering and offering us an neverending supply of blood sacriface.. geeezzz we have our bloodied hand full.

I have nth against JNR and I can perfectly understand for the delusional cute = goddess= cant do no wrong = great actress = cant do no wrong = PATZZI MUST DIE!!!

Dav : while MLP was only ten episodes long so didn't have time to go into character development it was pretty clear that Kim Jae Won’s character was pretty sharp and quick on the uptake, he was after all the rich guys son so he knows a girl on the hunt for his status when he sees one, so one he not going to believe what she says straight off and two it also explains his attraction to Song-yi who unlike the second lead girl and likely most of the girls he had meet over the years almost painfully honest [not to mention a lot cuter!] it was also why he dropped her so coldly at first after finding out she had been lying.
In many way MLP just laid down the bare bones of the actors characters and it was up to the watcher to full out the flesh, so to speak when watching it from what they got from the actors playing the roles.

LMAO, Dahee, thanks for the good laugh. Was never interested in MLP and would probably never watch it, but it's still entertaining to read your thoughts.

Also, you may be called picky and harsh, but that's what I respect about you. You always expect the best in dramas and take them seriously. This is why even though our taste may not match all the time, I always take your recommendations and criticisms seriously.

Now that everyone's been singing praises for Conspiracy in the Court, I should really buckle down and watch it.

Waooooo that was definitely a good read. Well from my years of watching K drama, Jang Nara in My Love Pazzi and Jan Di in BBF will be the most annoying character ever encounter. Its sad but so far i have avoided watching any other work they have done so far.

You guys are awesome! What a display of unity in diversity. Thank you Samsooki, JB and Dahee_Fanel! :)

So much fun, guys! Everyone makes solid cases for themselves. I haven't watched My Love Patzzi and probably never will. And I have a sneaking suspicion that Samsookie's post and Javabean's and Dahee_Fanel's rebuttals are much, much more fun that the actual drama...

hahaha...had so much fun reading Samsooki's , Dahee's and Javabean's posts... i enjoyed reading them more than i did when i watched MLP

Hahaha, this is so much fun!

I do think I watched the first episode of My Love Patzzi and was immediately discouraged from continuing...

ahhhhh.. i saw a mention of Sangdoo Lets go to School...

the drama (ending) that caused me to stay away from K-melodramas (until WISFC came along)

@happy reader

BTW, the bad perm ahjussi was paired up again with the one who played the evil girl as a younger guy - older woman romance in Golden Bride.

FIGHTING!!!!! ahahahah

Bingo!! Subjective is the word!

Loved the writing, you have a delicious way of writing, hehe! But totally disagree with your views on this drama, 'cus hey, it's all very subjective, see!

Seeing the screencap which here was used to demonstrate her overracting and gurning facial expressions... sorta reminded me how I sorta liked that scene, not in a masochist way, but for me this drama came about when I was still raw about being brutally bulied in high school, I was always outnumbered too, but I stuck with that school till the death, just because I wanted to leave with my head held high and not be 'chased out'. So maybe I loved this drama because it inspired some semblance of an unfaltering fighting spirit, which was also a bit of drama novelty back then.
When KRW began falling for her, I remember directing two thumbs up to the screen in jubilation saying ''Well done girl, well done, you snagged him!''

This drama DOES have raw production value and story, yet it worked for me then, at that time. So it's forever in my good books. Even though kdramas have progressed faaar beyond this, but I still look back to remember this fondly.

Le Grande Sigh... Kim Rae Won! How I miss thee!

Bingo!! Subjective is the word!

Loved the writing, you have a delicious way of writing, hehe! But totally disagree with your views on this drama, 'cus hey, it's all very subjective, see!

Seeing the screencap which here was used to demonstrate her overracting and gurning facial expressions... sorta reminded me how I sorta liked that scene, not in a masochist way, but for me this drama came about when I was still raw about being brutally bulied in high school, I was always outnumbered too, but I stuck with that school till the death, just because I wanted to leave with my head held high and not be 'chased out'. So maybe I loved this drama because it inspired some semblance of an unfaltering fighting spirit, which was also a bit of drama novelty back then.
When KRW began falling for her, I remember directing two thumbs up to the screen in jubilation saying ''Well done girl, well done, you snagged him!''

This drama DOES have raw production value and story, yet it worked for me then, at that time. So it's forever in my good books. Even though kdramas have progressed faaar beyond this, but I still look back to remember this fondly.

Le Grande Sigh... Kim Rae Won! How I miss thee!

Sorry, that above anonymous was me, forgot to sign my name. Ran out of time to request deletion too. D'oh!

Dahee, loved the intro! And couldn't agree with you more on the ending. On a side note, your point on critics discussing kdramas is really valid---which is why I enjoy reading your opinion on kdramas even though I may not necessarily always agree :)

JB, Dahee, and Samsooki thank you for the wonderful and witty discussion on MLP! But yeah, I'm totally on JB & Dahee's side on this discussion...JNR acting in MLP was really frustrating to watch and she does have a tendency to over-exaggerate her expressions. But MLP isn't the worst drama I've seen and JNR is better than many other actresses.

ARE THOSE TEARS SALTY, SAMSOOKI?

Best line ever!

=D Maybe not having a Y means you can't under MLP.

your writing is very different compared to your Year-End review. :P

Oh Samsooki Oppa...*pats back*...at least you tried. In all fairness, a mere mortal going up against the Blog-Gods is destined to fail the first time around. I'm sure you'll learn tactically next time. ^_^

@Dahee, I've always respected and often loved your commentary. I completely concur with the lack of abundant critical review on KDramas, not only online, but within Korea's industry itself. I feel immensely horrible for the dramas that try valiantly to break the mold and don't get the successes (either with ratings/popularity OR critical acclaim) it warrants. So keep that wrinkle between your brows, and your grumpiness - I rather like it. lols.

@JB: Thanks again for the creation of this truly open and brilliant haven. You know we all love you right?

good one! Now I'm interested in checking this drama out. haha

@ reluctantbutaddicted
"(My own curse from the grave would be directed at Sangdoo, Let’s Go to School where I felt betrayed to the very deepest core of k-drama trust, and I don’t have enough drama-hating emotion left over from that to feel so intensely about MLP.)"

I totally agree with you! I was interested in watching that because of Rain but... Oh Lord, you know I trust the inspiration you give to directors and scriptwriters but please, please let there be no thing such as this $#^+ in the future.

Is there possible to have more debates like this? I like!

post 52 Cranky "@bjharm
Wait a minute, she was with SM aka root of all evil?!"

Indeed she was, but BOA was always favoured over her and she was cut before making her singing debut so not to compete with BOA, who had already debuted a year before when she was 16teen I think. I understand the idea was she didn't have what it takes to challenge either BOA or others with a like image around at that time.
Actually it was likely the luckiest thing to happen to her as she never had to suffer going though production company control or get her personality 'moulded' to suit the company ideal like most Korean singers had to. She made her debut that year anyway with enough impact to get two songs in the top ten and it lead to her MC jobs that in turn lead to her breaking into acting in Nonstop2, by the next year she was matching BOA, both girls sharing the music awards from the four main TV stations 2 each, though they never really competed musically, different styles altogether. She also made Successful Story of a Bright Girl and MLP that same year and won acting awards to go with it, making her the top multi -talented girl star around..well for a time.
I can go on forever on just why she left to work {not earn money} in china, but well stop here.

still.. this is most likely the very first drama that some of us watched and then led us to the kdorama..

n what is there not to like about jang nara? she is cute. she can act. she can sing.

Dahee is at her best when she's raging!

KO KO ding ding ding! lol

Thank you all!!!

a perfect example of how you can disagree respectfully!!
Very classy the way you guys do i.

You tree are brilliant with your words :)

I love Jang Nara, and I thought My Love Patzzi was pretty enjoyable XDDD I mean, it was just a superficial, feel-good drama, and I liked the setting ^___^
I do think Jang Nara is cute, though XD

I liked Jang Nara in "My bratty princess" a lot, and I surf the dramas to watch next mostly by the actors, but MLP just did not catch my attention. Was it her acting, or the plot or smth else - just no interest. So you guys can make peace by agreeing that the actress is ok, but she did a bad drama this time :)

Just discovered this debate (a year late) thanks to today's post about KJW completing his military service. I think I enjoyed the debate more than I enjoyed My Love Patzzi. I was really happy to read some of JB's criticism in this debate because her review of MLP on the Drama Ratings page was the only one that had me wondering: what was she thinking? ("Short, cute drama with two too-perfect guys and a spunky heroine as an anti-Cinderella. Not very deep, but easy to watch. (7 / 6)"

I'm totally with Dahee when she says of Jang Nara's acting in MLP "I argue that she WAS acting – and that it was horribly evident that this was so. She over-exaggerates in everything she does, from the contorted facial expressions to the overly loud grunts of anger to the wild flailing of arms. And yet I am still expected to find her cute. I’m afraid I find that impossible." Gah!

I've seen over 60 k-dramas so far and I've gotta say that for me, Jang Nara's Song-yi was the most aggravating female lead evah! (And that's saying something, cuz I've also watched BBF.) I only stuck it out because of KRW.

I'm glad to know that lots of folks enjoyed MLP, but I'm also glad to know that I wasn't the only one who found it frustrating and who found Song-yi incredibly annoying.

LOL @ "My Love Poo-Poo Patzzi."

I really have no plan on watching this drama despite JB's rating of 7/6 (my threshold is 6/6). The ending does not sound very good to me. A drama's ending has to end on a very good note for me to say that it was good and that's also a big factor for me to watch it again (despite my love for LMH & SYJ, I really didn't like Personal Taste's last 2 episodes and so I've kept the OST but gave out the DVD).

As to Jang Nara, I tried Baby-faced Beauty but didn't get to finish it because her character annoyed me during the first episode. I heard it got better though, but it's on the bottom of my to-watch list. Jandi is a good example of an annoying character (in hindsight), but I quite enjoyed watching BOF and never regretted the hours I spent on it. Another recent annoying character for me was Yoon Eun-hye in Lie To Me. That sucked big time. I pretty much don't like her (personally) at the moment because of her character and have plans of giving out my Princess Hours DVD too (maybe not the Coffee Prince dvd because of Gong Yoo).

Anyway, I disagree about the issue that most of the readers of JB's blog are following or being influenced by her opinions. I'm one of those who go to this blog only when I've an opinion about a kdrama and wishes to see what JB & GF have to say about it too. I'm happy that most of their opinions coincide with mine, but I'm also happy that some are opposite of what I think. It's a good place to go even if my opinion differs with theirs because unlike in some other blogs (that I'd rather not name), I don't get annoyed and feel that the writer of the opposite opinion is stupid. Kudos to JB & GF for being fairly objective in your posts, respectful of your readers, and be witty, snarky, sarcastic, and cool at the same time!

BTW, @dahee_fanel - read your (old) drunken post at your blog and was dying laughing!

I really enjoyed my love patzzi it was in this drama I totally fall in love with Kim rae won

What an entertaining post, ? and follow up posts