3 out of 3 people found this review helpful:
5.0Overall
5.0Storyline
3.0Music
5.0Characters
5.0Animation
I have to say that after I finished watching this, I tried to think of what other drama's I loved just as much as this and I couldn't think of any and I quite a favorites list going.
I was going to try to be neat and organized in my review because I find it impressive when see other reviewer do that , but that's just not me. But I this review is still helpful to you.
There are fifty episodes in Gloria but when I first started watching it, I didn't know that. I don't really like watching dramas that have so many episodes because they tend to be needlessly repetitive. The music is a little repetitive in the beginning but it's only for a few episodes. It's about a group of people on opposite sides of the tracks who's fates are intertwined. Jinjin aka Gloria, has been taking care of her older disabled sister since she was kid because their parents died in a car accident. She works six part time jobs trying to make ends meat. Through a series of events she ends up as singer for a company called Double# Entertainment. As she and her boss, Kangseok, start falling for each other, she finds out that her sister used to be a singer for the same company and that she had an affair with Kangseok's brother Jiseok. In fact, it was because of Jiseok that her sister ended up the way she did. While this is going on, her best friend Dongah, meets and falls for a woman, Yoonseo, who is the daughter of a very wealthy powerful man, who loves him back but is supposed to marry Kangseok and who is also the love interest of Jiseok. If that's not enough drama and twist for you, you'll be at the end of your seat because there's much more. This drama never gets boring. You may get annoyed with certain characters but all of the actors are great and play their characters well. I'm not a romantic but this drama had so much heart ache in it that I teared up and cried at times. I just finished the final episode and while it did cause me to tear up and feel sympathy for characters I never thought I would, I was really happy with it and very glad that I was fortunate enough to watch this.
I don't think you'll be disappointed.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful:
4.5Overall
4.5Storyline
5.0Music
4.5Characters
1.0Animation
aren't all dramas soap operas? anyway i started watching Gloria on this site first, and as i didn't know, the show was still on the air in korea, so i had to wait. i then did some googling, and found out the show would air on tv every weekend, saturday and sunday. theres some other sites that really get into this show, and they would record and upload the next episode after its done airing in korea tv, so wow lol, talk about keeping up with each episode. i like the effort of the fans who fansub each episode in english, good work.
there is something about this show that i like so much, and maybe because i can relate to some of the characters to why i kept watching. i was very worried to how this series was going to end. after all the chaos, i wanted certain characters to die, and at the end, i don't wanna spoil it, but there is death, just wish they showed it graphicly. the final episode doesn't disappoint in my opinion. they do have enough good stuff written down to please ya. if the last part ended more like a movie, that would of worked a little better, but overall i wasn't complaining.
i've been reading what others had said, they aren't reviews, more like comments. complaints about the show recycling its plot repeatedly. well, other k-dramas do this as well, so i don't know what the problem is. the same plot plays out differently. in most korean tv series, if you've notice, not only they use the same ingredients, but they connect like all the characters together, its like connecting dots. also like they'll have the protagionist be in a situation where the antagonist once were, its like a bad case of karma or something. korean story telling in tv series are mostly like this.
The show intrigued me and i enjoyed it. if you don't like the risk they took, don't bother. like making Bae Doo-Na sing, and she's not a singer. through the series, she does get criticize, so they don't hide it, if she sang bad, they do have characters telling her off. some of the problems in the show i felt that needed to be taken care of, is the songs Na Jin Jin sings at the night club. most of the time she's singing the same songs, but from the way they showed how the night club works, its like walking into a chinese restaurant where you hear the same music repeating it self lol, just think of it like that i suppose.
about the cast, they have quite a team here, a lot of talented actors you can say. i was excited seeing faces i know collaborate together. starting with Bae Doo-Na, since i feel like bragging about the stars now, i first saw her in the Perfect Neighbor, and i had no idea she was in the movie Ring Virus (korean version of The Ring). Seo Ji-Suk, i saw him in The Bow, and Hearts of 19. Han Jin-Hee who plays Lee Chun-Hee's dad, is in Hearts of 19 as well, and he played So E-Hyun's dad in Assorted Gems aka The Jewel Family. as you see them in Gloria, just remember its not ruby and her dad this time lol. Kim Yeong-Ok who plays the old grandma, is from Coffee Prince, and Assorted Gems. Lee Chun-Hee, i remember him from the film Too Beautiful To Lie, so seeing him in Gloria, it was a first seeing him in a tv show. Lee Jong-Won, i first saw this guy in Sad Love Story, and since its one of my favorite shows, i know the cast well. Na Young-Hee and Lee Yeong-Ha whose also from Sad Love Story are in Gloria too. they were kinda a dysfunctional couple in Sad Love Story, and their son is played by Kwon Sang-Woo. in Gloria, they aren't a couple, but friends, but they could of been a couple, and this is one of the ideas that got to me. Na Young-Hee is the mistress of Yeon Kyu-Jin, and their son is played by Seo Ji-Suk. you get what i'm trying to point at? its kinda neat. Oh Hyeon-Kyeong, is from High Kick 2, she plays Na Jin-Joo in Gloria. she's very attractive and pretty, but she was over acting a bit playing Na Jin-Joo. if any of you are fans of her's... you probably know about her uh...! scandal that messed up her life for a while. Lee Seong-Min and Choi Jae-Hwan are both from Pasta, so seeing them in Gloria is kinda cool. for the 2 dancers in the show, Jo Hyang-Gi and Ha Hyeon-Ju, they are both cutie pies lol. i would love to date Jo Hyang-Gi, or Ha Hyeon-Ju hehe, because they're just hot. Seong Byeong-Suk who plays Lee Jong-Won's mother did a terrific job too. for the rest of the cast, they all did a fine job. at times, over doing it i say, but i don't know... maybe they were excited lol.
going into the music of the show, there is a few i like, and the one i enjoyed the most is Ha Dong-A and Jung Yoon-Seo's song. each couple have their own love song lol. when you see Jin-Jin and Kang-Suk, you hear their song. as for the musical score, and the rest of the songs, its all good.
the show does have its korean touches, stuff you seen before, so if you don't mind those same stuff, you won't complain. they just had to add in toilet humor, which i felt... i don't know... i think the toilet scenes shown in Assorted Gems was enough. i don't understand korean humor all the time. anyway another element that was a plus, was the fight scenes. i still remember the kick Kang-Suk did. it kicked ass, and i bet even Tony Jaa would be impress.
one last thing i wanna go into is, the surprise guest star, you can say, helped boost the show in my opinion. the character Lee Ji-Seok who had a affair with Na Jin-Joo, already was taken, so Jin-Joo is like his mistress. the other woman, who accidentally hurt herself, and passed away, her grandmother, of all people we think we wouldn't see, appears, and she's basically out to seek revenge. that grandmother turns out to be Kim Yeong-Ok's friend, a she is played by Ban Hyo-Jeong, who you all might know from Brilliant Legacy, and Seeking Love. some of the stuff written for her, if i didn't know any better, is a throw back to Brilliant Legacy, because of the things she say and do.