Admittedly, I don’t have high expectations for SBS’s body-swapping fantasy-romantic-melo-comedy (woo, genre mishmash overload!) Secret Garden, despite liking the main cast (Hyun Bin, Ha Ji-won, Yoon Sang-hyun, Kim Sa-rang, Philip Lee). And I am not a fan of the On Air and Lovers writer-PD pairing.
But I’m not writing it off yet, because body-swapping hijinks can yield some interesting results, such as the wonderfully funny and heartfelt 2008 Yoon Kye-sang offering, Who Are You?, which surprised me by being so much better than I thought it would be. There was also 2006′s comedy Please Come Back, Soon-ae, which was light and amusing.
(Note: It’s funny that in English, the term is “body-swap,” whereas in Korean it’s “soul-swap.” Significant or not? Food for thought.)
The story: Hyun Bin plays Joo-won, the typical cold, rich businessman. I’m okay with this cliche since the premise so thoroughly overturns it by putting him into the body of Ha Ji-won’s stuntwoman character, Ra-im. Yoon Sang-hyun is Oscar, a playboyish Hallyu-star singer who’s big in Japan (who should never wear his hair straight again, as far as I’m concerned, based on all the stills of him so far). The connection? Joo-won and Oscar are cousins, yet also bitter rivals. (Example: If Oscar buys a sports car, Joo-won buys a sports car dealership. Dudes, just whip it out and measure it already.)
Another hostile pairing is between Ra-im, aforementioned stuntwoman, and Yoon Seul (Kim Sa-rang), an educated and talented CF director. They get tangled up in one particular encounter, and the former scrapes the latter’s pride, rendering all future encounters tense and contentious.
Rounding out the main cast is Philip Lee (who I’ve been referring to mentally as “sex on legs” since his role in last year’s Story of a Man — rawr), who takes the role of martial arts director and Ra-im’s instructor. The role will likely take advantage of his fluency in English, as his character studied abroad and worked in the Hollywood system.
The drama airs after Life Is Beautiful wraps, its first episode broadcasting on November 13.
Via Newsen, Review Star
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RECENTLY COMPLETED
oh god yoon sang hyun’s hair horrible!!!! eek
but i am kind of looking forward to it…
lets wait and watch…
everyone’s hair were terrible actually.
i think Philip’s is good. he looks sexy in a pony tail.
But i hate that of YSH’s hair. it doesn’t suit him at all. is he trying to look young? it’s giving me the opposite effect.
all of them have a terrible hair..
hyun bin’s hair eekkk..
Yoon sangHyun’s hair eekkk
drama with Terrible hair style.
( that’s ok this is for their role Girlss, unlike taiwan drama / idol most likely they never want to change their hair style for their drama + their acting usually pathetic )
but i am dying with this drama hahahhaa..
I keep looking at the stills and all I keep thinking is that the hair stylist (or coordinator) has been reading to much yaoi. Especially Yoon Sang-hyun. You could practically see flowers blooming behind him.
It looks like Javier Bardem’s hair in No Country For Old Men. Haha.
It will be nice if the drama will use some of the songs of Rolf Lovland and Fionnuala Sherry of Secret Garden. ^^
hyun bin, i dig. yoon sang-hyun, not so much. but if this turns out fun, i’ll be watching! (if school doesn’t kill me first, that is)
this.
The fur vest thing is questionable.
that’s Bora’s! BORA MUST DIE!!
LOL!!!
this show is giving me the creeps. Why that hair?!? and the vest…! *shoots self
first?
Looooove Ha Ji Won noona
not so in love with Hyun Bin previous work..(has to admit he is good lookin’,though)
still hope this role will give him better space to prove his skill..
definitely will watch this
‘specially coz Ha Ji Won has been on top of my fave Korean actress list since MiB
Can’t wait…
Han Ji Won, is she the one was in the movie Duelist with Kang Dong Won?
If so, she was awesome! I totally dug that movie! That also makes me interested in watching this.
“(Note: It’s funny that in English, the term is “body-swap,” whereas in Korean it’s “soul-swap.” Significant or not? Food for thought.)”
AAAAH – asia and their whole spirituality angle versus western world and their emphasis on the physical!
just the same as how holding hands = true wuv, and sex on first date = meant to be… *shakes head*
and i think yoon sang hyun tried to make you happy with his lower half curly hair, bangs and upper half all straight…
he is not making me happy!!! fo my sanity’s sake!
i personally think ‘soul swap’ would mean that the body is the main element and your swapping souls , whereas the soul is the main element as its what makes you you and not your body therefore ‘body swap’ your simply swapping bodies because you are your soul.
sorry for the little rant, you can probably tell im western!
Because I do love Hyun Bin (for his facial features and acting skills) I will give it a try. However, if I’m not feeling it after the second episode, as in “Snow Queen”, I will stop watching. The only reason I got through “The World They Live In” was because of the sub-story lines.
The young lady that played is love interest in that drama (I’m aware that they are now dating for real) was horrible (jmo). As he is a good actor as is Ha Ji-won, I’m a little more optimistic.
def be watching. WOOT WOOT HYUN BIN!!!!
Where is the like button on this durn thing?
hyun bin and phillip lee . . . aaahhhh! yeah, i’m watchin’ just so i can stare . . .
I’m actually hyped about this drama… almost as much as I am about Athena… that and Mary coming up.
Like button! Body swap dramas and films are so fun to watch.
agreed…thats the reason why i’m excited about this despite Kim Eun Sook
It’s weird, but YSH kinda reminds me of KimuTaku with that hairstyle. Just a little, but enough that it bothers me. ><
Also, I really hope they make the leads have crushes/develop feelings for the second leads (or vice versa) AFTER they've done the soul-switching. Because I would find it hilarious to see Binnie's body pining for YSH. XD;;
LOL See? You can’t deny your true nature. *whispers conspiratorially* A slasher, if I ever saw one. *high-fives*
You see KimuTaku in YSH and all I see is Binnie’s shiny, shiny outfit. Ow, my eyes.
It’s all because of SKKS, I swear! ><;;
To be fair, I also think it'd be pretty awesome to see Ha Ji-won's body pining for that other chick. Pseudo-lesbian tones? Yesplz.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that
That still falls into the “slash” category, bb!
You’re such a bad influence on me, unni! ㅠㅠ
Maybe it’s just ’cause I think Korea could do with some more homosexual undertones in their dramas/movies. Yeah, that’s it. >.>
ermmm don’t you guys get enough of each other on Twitter?
Twitter alone isn’t big enough to contain our love(?) ㅋㅋㅋ
Good god. Get a room ladies. Your love is bursting across the universe and digital mediums.
I have expectation about HB-HJW couple. even it’s not real, maybe my heart feels easy after seeing HJW together.
look forward to!
It’s interesting. Body-swap? So Ha Jiwon’s soul is trapped inside Hyun-Bin’s body and likewise for his. So when they supposedly fall in love with each other, would it be like they are falling in love with their own look?
i dun think they would fall for their own look but most likely they will be attracted to their new bodies…
dun mean to sound like a perv..
” So when they supposedly fall in love with each other, would it be like they are falling in love with their own look? ”
I would say : yes and no.
See, I’m a sucker when it comes to gender-bender themes and in a case of a romantic soul/body swap I had never thought that it would interfere with the love process.
So I started to wonder why after reading your question.
And here is the thing : IMO, the soul/body swap plot device is a way for each character to :
- experiment empathy. Living in another person’s shoes usually help the character to grow and to let it go all kind of prejudices.
- to love beyond appearances. Once the souls/bodies are swaped, like we viewers, the characters are pretty aware of who they are and in which body they stand. When they fall in love it’s not at first sight, it’s usually through understandings.
So at the end when character A falls for character B, it’s not about their body but their souls… And now that I think about it, I don’t remember a story where the 2 characters have sex with their exchanged bodies… Usually the souls switch back before anything happened… Mmmm…. Interesting ^^
Anyway, my point is : if the soul/body swap plot can sound like a narcisism theme at first glance, I would argue that to the contrary, it actually leads to the opposite effect : empathy.
That said, I do agree that it also opens a huge room for funny and sarcastic self-derision
“Dudes, just whip it out and measure it already”
LMAO..fo’reals if your gonna have two egoistic guys the only one to settle their “battle” is measuring themselves…lol
hmm i keep hearing about Secret Garden & wasn’t taking much interest til now that I read what’s it about. Kinda interesting, look forward to the first episode
LOL i burst out laughing reading that sentence. Guys and their constant battle over length. HAHA
I totally lol-ed irl… why do I keep noticing all this naughty things on articles?
That asides… YSH… what happenz to ur hair?
Thanks for making me spill my drink on my key-board lol.
This could turn out to be really amazing or really bad. Yes for new round of drama’s though!
It could always be amazingly bad… that’s a combination, too!
Philip Lee is such a RAWR!!
I want to see him in drama that he doesn’t have to prove that he’s fluent in English, doesn’t have to speak in English at all, he, he, he we KNOW he’s fluent.
I watch this drama for Binnie oppa ^^ soon no male k drama actor I can call oppa
The interesting thing is that, in Story of a Man, his acting in Korean was far superior to his acting in English. Weird! In Korean, he even had comic timing, a kind of self-aware tongue-in-cheek quality. In English, oh my lord, I’d rather watch an egg fry on simmer.
But he is definitely sex sex sex sex sex. So much so, it’s really comical.
Looks interesting and I kinda wanna watch it but I’m still not sure what the plot is about. Maybe i’ll have to watch it to understand. -.^
I have high hopes for this drama cuz i love her in “What Happened in Bali”.
What is wrong with Yoon Sang Hyun’s hair. NOT a good look for him. -__-
THe rest of the character is good to look at though. Hahaha
Sigh.
Why are so many beautiful, talented people being wasted on what seems like such a silly premise?
That’s scifi + fanfic plotbunnies + romance + (maybe) comedy for you. What more do you want?
I read lots of novels (and not just scifi, but of all genre) whose premises sounded silly and then they turned out to be great books. If TPTB do this right, this could possibly be any fangirls/boys’ dream come true.
Then again, different strokes for different folks
It’s amazing what shaving does for you. Hyun-bin looks 5 years younger. I also like his haircut.
these stills are pretty. i’ve even gotten used to yoon sang hyun’s hair, and the subtle perm makes it look a million times better. phillip lee’s though… not quite liking how each tendril is perfectly placed. hyun bin’s looking the sharpest.
Ha Ji-won is a goddess. I loved her in Hwang Jini (sighh, the JGS & HJW coupling was so cute/sad). She’s such a great actress – will be watching this drama (and continue to watch it, if it’s good) for HJW, although Hyun-bin…wow. Just wow… Me gusta.
Binnie, NO.
No sequined jackets for you! I don’t care whose soul is in your body. NO to sequins!
yup. feel the same way..its too much..still love him though
You’d think a feminine soul would dress him better.
Hah! Yeah, most feminine souls would go to town with a beautiful blank slate like Binnie… But perhaps HJW’s character is not such a clotheshorse, and sequined tracksuits is her thing…
“If Oscar buys a sports car, Joo-won buys a sports car dealership. Dudes, just whip it out and measure it already”
….hey at least Binnie character decided to stay away from that hairstyle…..and with that hair it wont be impossible to hate our second lead i.e if we’re supposed to hate him…i can already sense the monikers that netizens are gonna be coming up with for him….but otherwise i LOVE this cast even the supporting cast and the soul swap is such great fodder for comic situations that i cant help but be excited despite the fact that the writer doesnt work for me
I’ll watch this drama and see were it goes like you said i wasn’t all into Who Are YOu when i read the storyline but when i watched I have to say its one of my fave dramas
and as for this its to funny
Dudes, just whip it out and measure it already.)
Is it just me, or does HJW look like Tifa Lockhart in that getup?
You know what, scratch that last comment, now that I’ve looked at the pics a second time, it’s more Yuffie than anything else right?
Ha Ji Won and Hyun Bin are looking great and looking great together!
But plllleeease, stylists, change Yoon Sang-hyun’s look as the series goes on.
I didn’t like the writing for Lovers either. :/ I’m only checking out the first episode of this drama for Ha Ji Won. Then I’ll decide from there whether this drama is worth continuing.
I don’t care how bad this drama is, I will watch it. I have missed Binnie sooo much… *sigh* His dimples SLAY me.
*looks around furtively*
Samsooki hasn’t been around lately.. so now is my chance to grab him and run away really really fast…
MINE!
i can’t wait for this.. It sounds interesting
This is better than I thought, Hyun Bin and Ha Jin Won…I’m sure wont missed it.
I actually do not mind Yoon Sang-Hyun’s hair that much anymore. When I first saw it I was like ewwww… why? But now I guess I’ve gotten slightly used to it, and I do feel these pcitures flatter him more than the previous “solo photo shoot type” pictures. Anyways, definately will try this but I’m expecting a few other dramas in November and the coming season so… we’ll see.
Haysss Its melts meee..!!! Hyun bin Oppa, Sarangheeeeee!!! Made my day. I looking forward for this drama. Aja aja fighting Oppa! Goodluck. ; -)
Hyun Bin’s looking fiiine.
wow. hello, lara croft :\
yeah, exactly.
The cast is enough for me to at least check it out. I wish I liked the PD and writer though……I hope it turns out ok!
Yoon Sang Hyun is channelling Kim Jae Wook
omo!!…so true…i just realized that….bt why does it bring out such a very different reaction??
am i the only one loving yoon sang hyun’s new hairdo? he looks cute and younger~ hahahaha
I hate to be hating on YSH, but it’s like he’s desperate to look young. He should be playing a more mature and sophisticated character, not a fashion mess like this.
I think Yoon Sang Hyun is supposed to be trying to appear younger, in the character bio they said he was an aging Hallyu star, hence the young/hairstyle that should go away, which it will as soon as he grows up. LOL
Beautiful people. Weird plot.
)…
But I’ll still take a look at it (It’s been a while since I last saw Hyun Bin on screen as I didn’t watch “Friend”).
Yoon Sang-hyun should just have his hair cut =.=”. He was pretty fine in My Fair Lady (talking about the haircut, not his acting
I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO looking forward to this drama. Ha Ji Won rocks and she looks even more sexy as a stuntwoman =) It would have been nice to have Jo In Sund play the lead, reunite the Bali couple but Hyun Bin & Ha Ji Won pairing is not bad either =)
I am very excited about this drama. I hope it doesn’t suck, because the cast is great, and the premise is unique. I find myself looking forward to this one more than Mary Stayed Out All Night and Athena, too…
Oh, I’m definitely looking forward to this one. I need a good romance drama which promises edge and melodramatic bite.
And just look into Binnie’s eyes, just look: *squee*
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2010/sg/garden38.jpg
The more I see YSH’s stills, the more Kim Jae-wookish he looks. Not complaining.
yay for hyun bin and ha ji won! <3 super happy!
i so agree with you JB re Yoon sang’s straight hair style, eeekkk, i think i liked him in Queen of House. with his curly hair but straight hair ain’t for him! also am not a big fan of on air at all, i started watching 1 epis & had to stop!
i didn’t fancy who are you either albeit i like yoon kye sang, too much of a fantasy doesn’t really tickle me!
hey, the more I look at these photos, I kinda think that YSH’s hair will do just fine…
Its not as bad as the first time I saw it on his big pic in earlier article… I mean, maybe like the I watched all about eve. I was like..”What the…” With Jang Dong Gun’s hair… But as the story goesn see him in different angle, I think he lloks just fine with that hair nor its color…
After all, I like YSH…
Did he tied up his hair in one of that pictures ?
Sigh, sigh….. YoonSangHyun !! He’s a dream and am in dreamland just looking at him….
Err…. what’s wrong with his hair ? He has the best hair among all, duh !
Well, there’s no pleasing some people…. in MFL, they complain his hair is too red, and in QoHearts, they complained his hair is too curly ! lol
And some here would love to hate the 2nd leads, which happens to be YSH.. T_T
Must all 2nd leads be hated ? Do we hate Taebong in Queens ? Awww….. Pls don’t hate, ok ?
And must we all be DB’s echoes? Everytime she hates something or someone, all will join in the chorus, except for those who refuse to suck up.
And everytime she finds someone sexy (‘rawr’, hehe), predictably there’ll be an entourage echoing her roar, lol
But then we all love to come to her site, which manages to keep pretty up to date. Good work.
Very well said! Thank you!