My Girl

Country: Korea
Genre: Drama
Release Year: 2006
Type: Series

User Reviews
There are 2 total user reviews.
Average User Review Score

97.5%

My Girl Review
Ju Yoo Rin is a tour guide on Jeju Island. Her father is an addictive gambler, and because of him, Ju Yoo Rin often has to pay back his debts. Since Yoo Rin and her father have had to move to many different countries to escape their debts, Yoo Rin learned many languages and uses her talents to entertain tourists from many countries. Seol Gong Chan, the wealthy director of a top hotel, happens to be looking for a translator at short notice, and because he has no other option, he hires Ju Yoo Rin. After being hired as a translator, Ju Yoo Rin takes advantage of Seol Gong Chan's wealth and stays in his beach house to escape the debtors that are looking for her. She also steals the oranges in Seol Gong Chan's orchard in order to make a profit by selling them. When Seol Gong Chan finds out that she has been swindling him this whole time, he tries to get as far away from her as possible. At the same time, however, Seol Gong Chan's grandfather wishes to see his long-lost granddaughter before he dies, and Seol Gong Chan decides that he must use Ju Yoo Rin as a fake substitute in order to fulfill his grandfather's dying wishes. The more they interact, the more it seems that Seol Gong Chan and Ju Yoo Rin are falling for eachother. Yet there's still Seol Gong Chan's ex-girlfriend to consider, and Seo Jung Woo, who seems to really have the hots for Ju Yoo Rin.

My Girl is more of a comedy than a drama series. The characters, especially Ju Yoo Rin and Seo Jung Woo, have incredibly funny personalities. Although the storyline was slowly paced at the beginning, the series really began to pickup during the middle. I didn't really feel the urge to finish the series like I did with Full House, but this is probably because My Girl is less dramatic and more light-hearted than Full House, which is also a good thing. Still, sixteen episodes felt a bit too long for this series. It seems that most Korean dramas like to span this length, and although it's satisfactory, I would have liked the series to speed up to the "good parts" instead of focusing on some small details. There were a number of extraneous sub-plots and events that seemed to detract from the main storyline. Seriously, I could care less about the relationship between auntie and Mr. Jang or Jin Gyo and Secretary Yoon.

I thought the characters were great in this series and there wasn't one character that I thought was poorly developed. Lee Jun Ki, the actor who plays Seo Jung Woo, was one of my favorite characters because he had some very funny parts and a charismatic personality, or maybe I just liked his hair, either way, I thought he was one of the best sub-characters in this series.

There couldn't have been two better lead stars in this drama series. Lee Da Hae has an exceptional talent to make you laugh and to make you cry. She is wonderfully versatile in her portrayal of Ju Yoo Rin, and her role is arguably the most diverse and deep in this series. She's pretty, but not quite as pretty as some other Korean starlets, and instead, she radiates an aura of cuteness that is undeniably attractive.

The other lead, Seol Gong Chan, is played by Choi Dong Wook, who is definitely a very handsome guy. He's not only eye candy for the ladies, but his acting is also very impressive. Although his personality is more reserved, we get to see different sides of him as the series progresses.

The other supporting cast members don't really play a huge role in this series. Although Park Si Yeon's character, Kim Sae Hyun, is the girlfriend of Seol Gong Chan, I didn't feel any bitterness against her character. The same can be said about Seo Jung Woo, who is a competitor for the love of Ju Yoo Rin. Although Kim Sae Hyun and Seo Jung Woo are both antagonists, they are still very likeable, which is another reason I enjoyed this series so much.

My Girl has an interesting soundtrack. One of the tracks sounds like a mix of western rap and k-pop. Unlike other drama series, however, the soundtrack in this one isn't so extraordinary that I would consider listening to individual songs. The music is appropriate for this series, but it's not quite good enough to warrant listening to over and over again.

All things considered, My Girl is one great Korean drama series. To compare, it's not quite as good as Full House, but it's still better than 90% of the Korean drama series I have seen. It's also very lighthearted and not quite as sad as many other series, which gives it a much broader appeal. This series is a definite must-watch.