Ockoala's Take on Playful Kiss

I mentioned in my old post that to end the year right, most K-drama lovers will give their final thoughts about the dramas that have come and go this year.

Well, one of them would be Ockoala of Ockoala's Playground, well I know every PKisser knows her blog because she did recapped  our beloved Playful Kiss. Ockoala's blog has been my personal favorite since she started to recap PK. I love how she can be critical to PK but she still show how she loves and adores it. She's every affectionate about PK, that as an avid fan of PK, I do really appreciate it.

Its been wonderful reading her thoughts and views about PK. So in her own year end review, I did ask her permission to post a part of her review and luckily she did say yes to it.

So below is her review on our beloved Playful Kiss.

Excerpts from Ockoala's Review

Playful Kiss/Mischievous Kiss (“PK”)

The PK couple, Jung So Min and Kim Hyun Joong
So adorable!

Is there anyone on this drama planet that doesn’t know that I love Playful Kiss? LOL, while it’s pretty clear that I adore this drama, and have written reams about it, it still deserves a critical eye at the year-end reviews to make sure my opinions haven’t changed. It hasn’t, don’t worry. PK gets my vote for cutest and most exasperating drama of the year. It’s like my baby girl – the cutest thing since Knut the baby polar bear, but when she’s in a pique she frustrates the hell out of me because she makes no sense and I can’t reason with her.

From the BTS pics of  PK YT episode 2

PK had both the ignominy of being the lowest rated drama of the year, and the glory of being the first drama to be continued after its television run with a Youtube special that broke records for online viewership for this type of content. Rather fitting for a drama that divided fandom with a schism I can still recollect with a shudder, the screams of the “Oh Ha Ni is a mindless, spineless, sorry excuse for a female” versus the “Oh Ha Ni is a persevering, kind-hearted, dedicated example of love conquering all.”

One of my favorite scene in the PK series, the hug after the kiss in the rain
And below were few BTS pics which were equally spazz worthy!

In the end, PK became a reflection of each viewer, its strengths and weaknesses acknowledged by viewers who accepted its shortcomings, finding that the good outweighed the bad. It was never going to be a ratings hit like its manga-drama cousin Boys Before Flowers (which was the anomaly rather than the norm), but the beating it took from all corners really made me extra protective of it because it was so very innocent and pure of spirit. It never aimed for epic storytelling or slice-of-life realism. It was always just a little drama with a lot of heart, undermined by a lack of proper execution and a love story that you either loved or hated.

One of the sweetest backhug I'ved seen the K-dramas!

There was almost no middle ground with PK, and that was quite fine by me. PK gave me lots of enjoyment, some of which had nothing to do with the drama proper, but more to do with the group of drama-fans I watched it with here at the Playground. This was not a great drama, nor even a very good drama, but what it was a happy drama. The conflicts minor in scope, the comfort it brought major in impact.

Kim Hyun Joong as Baek Seung Jo -the robot-boy-genius
who needs to grow a heart

 

Jung So Min as Oh Hani, a Noah's snail kind of girl but
with a good heart that is full of love

Jung So Min was a revelation as Oh Ha Ni, taking an unlikeable character and making her loveable. Kim Hyun Joong improved as an actor and made Baek Seung Jo come to life. Together, they created one of the most endearing K-drama couplings in recent memory. They also took a rather unpalatable love story (it was a how-to guide in stalking your way to landing a husband), and made it sparkle with mirth and angst, leaving me satisfied with a journey that felt very young, but was destined to grow very old.

The love story of Oh Hani and Baek Seung Jo
A testament that LOVE indeed  is patience and kind.
......LOVE....It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Credits: Ockoala of Ockoala's Playground, MBC and dscs.uueasy.com