Two awesome K-dramas to watch --- "The Greatest Love" and "Baby Faced Beauty"

Promtional posters for "The Greatest Love" and "Baby Faced Beauty"

When "49 Days" ended around a month ago, there was about a week when I was going through pilot episodes of recently released dramas in Korea (which was around the same week in May when all the new song releases came out... that was one busy blogging month!). There were two dramas that caught my attention, and I'm currently following --- "The Greatest Love" and "Baby-faced Beauty".

As expected from me, both K-dramas are romantic comedies that feature some well-known Korean actors. I've always been a sucker for romance, and both dramas deliver a good amount of that and a hefty helping of laughs at the same time.

"The Greatest Love"

Main Cast of "The Greatest Love"
(Top to Bottom) - Cha Seung Won,
Kong Hyo Jin, and Yoon Kye Sang

"The Greatest Love" stars two really good Korean actors - Cha Seung Won and Kong Hyo Jin. I first watched Cha Seung Won in another rom-com titled "City Hall" where he portrayed an ambitious politician who wanted to make a name for himself in a small, backwater town south of Seoul. Seung Won is also well known for his role in the action drama "Athena: Goddess of War", where he starred as the antagonist in the series. 

Kong Hyo Jin, on the other hand, is veteran drama actress with more than 10 years of experience under her belt, and a heft amount of movies and series in her filmography. I first saw her in the rom-com, "Pasta", where she played her role as a promising female chef in an Italian restaurant in Seouls alongside Lee Seon Gyun (*melt*) and Alex Chu (*double melt*). 

For "The Greatest Love", Seung Won and Hyo Jin are together to play the role of Korean celebrities caught in a whirlwind relationship. The series itself is a parody of the complicated life that celebrities live. Seung Won shines in this series because of his awesome comedic timing! I didn't expect that he would improve this much as a comedian, considering that he has always had relatively serious roles prior to this drama.

Apart from Seung Won and Hyo Jin, this drama also stars Yoon Kye Sang (as the secondary male lead --- sniff sniff, poor guy), and Yoon In Na (secondary female lead --- who's always entangled in some romantic triangle with either the male or female lead). A surprising favorite of mine in a supporting role is Im Ki Jyu, who plays the male lead's agency manager. Really funny guy, and he had his moments in the drama that were uber funny!

Here's the synopsis of the drama from Asianmediawiki.com:

"The Greatest Love" depicts a comical love story between a popular actor and a washed up former pop idol.

10 years ago, girl group "Kukbo Sonyeo" was a top girl group, but 18 months later the group held a press conference announcing their breakup. Since that time, vocalist Ku Ae-Jung (Kong Hyo-Jin) went through many difficulties. She released a solo album, but the album flopped. Rumors also swirled around her.

Now 10 years later, Ku Ae-Jung is unknown to most of the public, but she attempts to revive her career by appearing on any TV programs to support her family.

Meanwhile, top actor Dok Ko-Jin (Cha Seung-Won) is considered by the public as the perfect man, who is also sexy and humble. In actuality, Dok Ko-Jin is an arrogant man and down right mean. By chance, Dok Ko-Jin and Ku Ae-Jung crosses paths at a gas station. Ku Ae-Jung stands next to his decked out van, while Dok Ko-Jin is still sitting in the van. She becomes curious who might be in the van and peers into the heavily tinted windows, but is unable to see anything. Dok Ko-Jin sees her trying to peer through the window and believing she is a fan of his, grabs her arm their a partially opened window and autographs his cyrptic signature onto her palm. He then has his driver drive off without identifying himself to Ku Ae-Jung.

By chance, Dok Ko-Jin and Ku Ae-Jung meet again in the lobby of a TV broadcasting company. Through a series of mishaps, Ku Ae-Jung finds herself hiding in Dok Ko-Jin's dressing room and overhears a conversation between Dok Ko-Jin and his manager. She learns that Dok Ko-Kin had his eardrum ruptured during a shooting scene and he wasn't picked for a coveted movie role, even though he bribed the director with an expensive bottle of wine. On her way out of his dressing room, she bumps into Dok Ko-Jin and when he autographs his name on her scarf she makes the realization that he was the arrogant star at the gas station.

Ku Ae-Jung then attempts to appear on the variety TV show "Sebakwi" and lies to the staff that she can call the famous actor Dok Ko-Jin during the show's speed quiz segment. Ku Ae-Jung then asks Dok Ko-Jin to take her call but he refuses, but when the show airs he changes his mind and actually takes her phone call. Unfortunately for both, Ku Ae-Jung accidentally reveals his secrets that she overheard in his dressing room ...

"The Greatest Love" Trailer 1

"The Greatest Love" Trailer 2

WATCH "THE GREATEST LOVE" IN DRAMACRAZY.NET!

"Baby Faced Beauty"

The main cast of "Baby Faced Beauty" (L to R): Kim Min Seo, Daniel Choi, Jang Na-Ra,  and Ryu Jin

Ever since I watched "Style" with Kim Hye Soo and Lee Ji-A, I've always been a fan of any drama that tackles the glamorous world of the Korean fashion industry. Koreans have recently become trail-blazers when it comes to cutting-edge fashion, and many countries in Asia have sought to emulate the definitive style of Korean fashion. "Baby Faced Beauty" takes this on by telling a story about a girl with dreams of becoming a fashion designer in a prominent fashion house in Seoul.

While taking on that context, the drama also focuses on another theme --- how people lie about their age! It's interesting too since Koreans have always been known for their youthful appearance (it's relatively harder to guess the age of an Asian --- good thing we age gracefully, eh?). 

This romantic-comedy stars Jang Na-Ra, Daniel Choi and Ryu Jin. Although I haven't really encountered both Jang Na-Ra and Ryu Jin prior to this drama, I'm well acquainted with Daniel Choi because of the movie "Cyrano Agency" where he co-starred with Park Shin Hye (from "He's Beautiful") and Uhm Tae Woong (from the K-drama "Dr. Champ"). Daniel Choi has excellent comedic timing, and can easily shift between dramatic scenes and comedy. For this drama, he plays a fashion managing director who is assigned to take care of the female lead being portrayed by Jang Na-Ra. They start off rather rough, but in the middle of all the bickering they eventually find themselves falling in love.

Here's the synopsis from Asianmediawiki.com:

"Baby-faced Beauty" is a romantic-comedy centered around a 34-year-old woman with a babyface as she works to become a fashion designer and overcomey s obstacles like having only having a high school diploma and a bad credit history.

Choi Jin-Wook (Daniel Choi) is the heir of the famous Jokbal restaurant with millions of dollars in annual revenue. But, Choi Jin-Wook goes against his father and leaves his parents' house. Choi Jin-Wook starts to work at another company to accomplish his dream. Against his will, Choi Jin-Wook starts work in the fashion department. With his sweet character he survives there and meets Lee So-Young Lee So-Young (Jang Na-Ra) ...

 "Baby Faced Beauty" Trailer 1

"Baby Faced Beauty" Trailer 2

WATCH "BABY FACED BEAUTY" IN DRAMACRAZY.NET!