ThiefHott Too much of everything

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

troylb Every time I watch a show from Korea, I am never disappointed. This one is no different. An emotional roller coaster show with fantastic characters, beautiful cinematography and amazing soundtrack. You will fall in love with the show and its characters. The script is well written and the actors and actresses have such chemistry.You will find yourself laughing, crying, smiling and being angry right along with them.A word of caution though. You will find yourself wanting to start the next episode once you reach the end of the one you are watching because it is that good and addicting. I was sad that I got to the last episode and it ended. So, I started watching from the first episode again. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

vampiroconti SPOILERS !!! 1- It's not funny, I hardly ever laughed. Part of it could be poor subtitles, but you don't need those for physical comedy, and there's precious little of that.2- The main premise of the body swap, which offered unlimited possibilities, is terribly underutilized.3- Characters do not behave in a realistic way, for example we are asked to believe that while swapped they aren't curious about their new bodies. Also why pretend they don't feel any kind of sexual impulse? If the creators didn't want them to have sex before marriage they could have found some perfectly good excuse.4- How and why the female lead, from the original distaste for him, comes to love the male lead, is poorly explained, we are left to assume she gets tired of him insisting so much and gives in.5- The story arc of the sidekick couple, even in its simplicity, is a lot more interesting than the protagonists' one.6- While the bodies are swapped they are sometimes showed as un-swapped (for the viewer benefit I guess?) but this only causes confusion and negates the premise.7- The main actress shows good acting skills when she does a man in a woman's body, but below average ones otherwise.8- The two most important conflicts (the difficult love stories of the two couples) are resolved too soon, so the final episode lacks any punch and is reduced to some 50 minutes of happy ending, which is way too many.9- The evil mother thing is overdone.10- The sister of the main character is first introduced and then completely forgotten about.11- Other characters which either had the potential for an interesting sub-plot (the gay musician) or were genuinely funny (the assistant of the department store director Park) were underdeveloped/underutilized.12- To an extent this is to be expected in most TV shows, but when it comes to Secret Garden there are way too many plot holes and inconsistencies.13- For a series produced in 2010, there are too many K-drama stereotypes: rich boy/poor girl, evil mother, sidekick couple, hospital… we've seen this for a decade now. Still it would be OK if at least it was well done, but it isn't.The series by which I jusge all others is "Kim Sam-soon" which, with all the limitations inherent to a family TV program / k drama, is funny, realistic enough, not too syrupy, and sports the best female lead character in the history of television.That show set the standard for rom-coms, and therefore we can expect it to be copied a lot, but Secret Garden went to far: - same actor in the male lead role - in both shows there's a trip to Jeju island - in both shows the male lead had a life threatening accident when younger - said accident left the male lead unable to ride a transport (car/elevator)

hyunha007 The title head pretty much described it all, with such unique story line of modern fairy tale and the harsh reality, it was sure hardcore for everyone who watched the whole series. They have deviated from the usual KDrama style, plot and conflicts. It is fantasy by the way, but the great thing is that it was not greatly emphasized in the early episodes (the switching part). They did not spend most of the time in different bodies, in contrast to what others would have expected. Sure it was fun to watch the actors played so well but in the latter part it played a big role in story development and made the story what it is: destiny, love, magic and everything else in between.More on the deviating from usual KDrama trend, let's go to love triangles. Pretty much empty, for the first part again I expected Oska and Yoon Seul to be big third parties in the rel. of the main characters (just like in Full House) but again wasn't interesting anymore. Another thing is the conflict between Joo Won's mother. I thought it would be another main conflict but the theme of the story prevailed : Love conquers all! I would also like to commend the writer for such great plot. I love that she did not revealed everything in the first parts, opposed to many KDramas that tells the social status of both protagonists, family background and conflicts at the start of the story. If it had been like that, it would not make the story interesting (I was really guessing what could have happened to Ra Im's father, or Joo Won's life-changing accident, nor how the Oska-Yoon Seul bitterly ended) .It was obviously not a character-driven plot, it was more on what's going to happen to Gil Ra Im and Joo Won next that would help clarify the past.There were many metaphors, symbols and recurring themes (eg little mermaid) and if you had not appreciated this series, I say you missed it. Clearly, it was a work of a genius to think of such great script and plot.Another common mistakes of Kdramas is that you would end up loving the actors because of empty reasons. Secret Garden got me so hooked up to Gil Ra Im and Joo Won that i did not bother searching their names in Google when i was watching the series (I only did that after finishing the series). Their undeniable chemistry would sure fire up the intensity of the key plots, making them effective actors. BOTTOMLINE: I fell in love with the characters! Not with the actors !The ending was absolutely perfect. It wasn't a fairy tale like ending. Ra Im did not turn into Cinderella, nor Joo Won into Prince Charming. In the end, it was their love that prevailed amidst imperfections in their relationship and differences. Finishing the story with the lines, "We still don't have a single wedding picture, but we fall in love every single day, like living a magical life". That's what I true magic brings into our lives: blissful love beyond imperfectionsThe story itself was well-written, plot was well-thought, the casting and the chemistry of the actors have pretty much set the tone for the success of the series. This may sound biased but overall i say this is the BEST KOREAN Drama i have seen in years, and I would be sure there won't be any KDRAMAS that will be as good as this in the coming years.

shanatalks I waited for the series to end in GMA 7 before making this review. I watched the original Korean series with English subtitle but I didn't enjoy it. I don't know if it was the actor's or actress's voice or the subtitle but I really didn't find the series appealing. So when I saw the teaser from GMA 7 a few months back, I decided to give it another try. I watched Hyun Bin from the series My Name is Kim Sam Soon and I love him ever since. That's why watching it twice was not a bad idea.I wasn't disappointed. I liked the way the Filipinos dubbed the series. The "kalye" language they used was very appropriate for our culture and made the series more natural. I definitely love the "saltik" term Jamie used to call Owen. It became an endearment. (How was that possible? You should watch the tagalized series.)Secret Garden was one of the most popular drama series to hit mainstream Korea. It has high ratings and continued to be on top of the charts till the last episode. I won't argue with that. It was really funny. I understand why the Koreans loved it because after watching the tagalized version, I fell in love with it too. I thought that the series was like a Korean remake of the movie It's a Boy Girl Thing (2006). I'm not saying it was the same but I think the concept was derived from this movie. The Koreans just expanded the concept and made the story suitable for Asian audiences.Hyun Bin's portrayal of Owen's character was very smooth but I was more amazed with Hyun Bin's acting when the swapping of bodies occurred. He has to act as Jamie and that basically requires him to act like a girl— he was very effective. The change in characters was drastic but Hyun Bin pulled it off. It was not awkward. The acting was very natural. And as a viewer, I believed that Jamie's soul was in Owen's body.On the other hand, Hai Ji Won's acting may not be impressive but she improved very well since she started in the business. I first had a glimpse of her acting prowess in the movie 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant and she was not good. I found her acting in that movie very novice but that would be in another review. I don't think there's much difference from her Jamie-self and Owen-acting when the switched occurred. She already has as strong, tomboyish character at the beginning of the series, so I didn't find it exceptional.The series in general was slow-paced. I understand that they wanted to build the characters in the first ten episodes to make the viewers acquainted with their attitudes so by the time the swap happens, the viewers will easily see the changes. However, I was bored to death waiting for the swap to happen. This was supposedly the core of the series. Why haven't they shown it yet? When it finally did, instead of feeling ecstatic, I was relieved. At long last, the moment I've been waiting for took place.Hey, wait up! It's not all negative. There are a couple of things I love from the series.First, Owen's trademark track suit. That sequenced blue track suit was probably the most popular item ever copied and mass-produced in Korea. It looks funny in Owen but it looks adorable in Hyun Bin. (The analogy is difficult to explain. Ha-ha)Second, the unexpected kiss between Owen (with Jamie's soul) and his cousin Oska (Yoon Sang Hyun). I find that scene remarkable! I can't forget it. I know Hyun Bin was acting Jamie's character but still in reality he is who he is and Oksa is Yoon Sang Hyun and they shared a kiss?! I can't take that off my mind for a few days.And last of all, Owen's attitude with love. If there's a guy out there like him, pwede akin ka na lang? (Can you please be mine?) He fought for what he wanted. He didn't give up on love. Even if Jamie threw him out, physically and emotionally hurt him—he stayed. He showed the cold, afraid and aloof Jamie what it means to love and be loved.