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If You Like… Noona Romances

If you’re anything like me, your ideal drama hero isn’t the cold chaebol with the icy exterior or even the perfect Daddy Long Legs caretaker. He’s the hotheaded ruffian on a motorcycle with a busted lip and a one-sided love for an unattainable noona. Why always a motorcycle? I don’t know. Blame Jung Woo-sung (Beat, 1997). And James Dean.

Perhaps you recently finished I Hear Your Voice and you’re waiting for the next Park Su-ha to come around the bend. Aren’t we all. I spent the better part of the year finally watching the family sitcom Unstoppable High Kick from beginning to end, at a whopping 167 episodes (on the upside, the episodes are super short at twenty minutes each). The thing that kept me going was my tried and true dramaland kryptonite: the noona romance.

I could fill a whole post just naming all the tropes that I love, but noona romances hit my drama sweet spot, mostly because I love soonjung narratives—sweet, innocent love backed by earnest emotion, and a drama sensibility that comes out of a genre of comics called soonjung manhwa. It’s part and parcel of why I love high school stories.

But I find noona romances particularly satisfying because they’re filled with gender reversals. Obviously to have a noona romance, the woman has to be older than the man. But if that were the only reversal in the game, there wouldn’t be much to write home about. The fun part of a noona romance is a reversal in the power dynamic—for starters, the heroine is strong, but she’s also often the boss, the teacher, the one who (outwardly) has her life together. She’s either paired with a beta male (I Do, I Do), or an alpha male in a small pond—say, other nineteen-year olds—who has no power in the real world (Biscuit Teacher).

The hero almost always straddles the man-boy divide, but often the heroine has as much growing up to do as he does. He carries a torch for her, thinking she’s unattainable (my favorite kind of drama angst). Once they’re together, age presents a real-world obstacle. And the army is Hades itself.

All noona-killers aren’t rebels on motorcycles, but that’s the iconic dramaland image because they dare to go against the grain, even if it’s just by saying that age is just a number. Mostly though, you just have to be willing to chase the girl of your dreams with your heart on your sleeve, whether on two wheels or four, or using your student bus pass.

 
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Lee Seung-gi – “내 여자라니까 (Because You’re My Woman)” [ Download ]

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Biscuit Teacher Star Candy (2005)

The premise: A high school delinquent grows up with dreams of becoming a teacher, and manages to finagle a temporary position at a school under the condition that she keeps the biggest troublemaker of them all in check. She wrangles the punk; he falls for teacher.

This drama is pretty much a soonjung manhwa come to life, with imaginary sequences featuring the heroine literally kicking ass and taking names. It’s one of my favorite noona romances in dramaland, and part of it is definitely the match-up between Gong Yoo and Gong Hyo-jin. Never mind that he’s actually older than her in real life; just go with the fiction. He’s the classically brooding rebel teenager who’s misunderstood and assumed to be a terrible troublemaker when he’s really just a lonely kid with no one to take his side. She’s a reformed misfit herself, and as his teacher she’s the first person in his life to stick to him like glue and tell him that she cares and that she’ll never give up on him.

It works, and he doesn’t just open up to her; he falls hard because he’s young and impetuous. Soon he’s running around declaring his love from the rooftops in what is maybe the cutest display of one-sided love ever. It’s the thing you think you wouldn’t ever root for—for the nineteen-year old to win over his teacher’s heart—but you’re on his side before you know it. How can you not, when he’s practically handing her his bleeding heart and asking her not to crush it?

 

What’s Up Fox (2006)

The premise: The boy next door returns from his travels abroad as a grown man in a hot body. The noona who’s known him his whole life struggles with this strange new sexual attraction, and the two land in bed one drunken night, beginning their hilariously backwards relationship.

This is one of the great quintessential noona romances that you shouldn’t miss. It’s less zippy than My Name Is Kim Sam-soon (they come from the same writer), but it has one of the more realistic noona romances that could work in the real world. Go Hyun-jung and Chun Jung-myung have a cute rapport that walks the line between too familial and sexually charged, which is the point because theirs is the problem of being TOO close. She’s literally the noona next door who used to change his diapers (or so she claims), so his struggle is to get her to see him as a man.

This drama deals with sexual attraction in a really frank way, which sets it apart from the other usually innocent noona romances. (And the heroine writes erotic romance stories for a porn magazine as her day job, so there are some hilarious fantasy reenactments of her stories that pepper the drama.) We find out that she was his first crush as a boy, but more importantly the object of his sexual awakening; as adults she’s in denial about him being a man, but can’t hide her attraction to him. This drama tackles the tough questions and doesn’t give the couple any easy outs, making their relationship feel earned. It’s also a nice ordinary story about two middle-class people (notably a commonality among many noona romances though not at all a necessary part).

 

Unstoppable High Kick (2006-7)

The premise: This is the first of the High Kick series of popular family sitcoms that feature multigenerational households full of wacky hijinks and lots of heart.

There are too many storylines to name, and a great deal of them were addictive in their own right, but none so much as Jung Il-woo’s (when he was nineteen!) as the maknae son of the main family, constantly overshadowed by his smarter hyung and blamed for everything that goes wrong in the world. He lives up to the rebel moniker to a tee, fistfights and motorcycle and all.

Much like Biscuit Teacher, this troublemaker meets his match in homeroom teacher Seo Min-jung, who takes an interest in changing him for the better. He spends a good deal of time making her life miserable, but when she refuses to give up on him, he falls head over heels and proceeds to do all manner of adorable puppy things for the teacher he secretly loves.

This romance is mainly thwarted (as is Biscuit Teacher’s, oddly enough) by an uncle who’s sweet on the same girl. He’s everything the rebel isn’t—a grown-up, her equal, and her ideal. It’s more heartbreaking in High Kick’s version because the uncle has the dominant love triangle in this show, not to mention the fact that this kid loves his family. But it also pulls the angst strings a little more because of it, to great effect. Here the one-sided love feels more doomed, and therefore plays up the achingly sweet gestures of affection that go unnoticed by the heroine, that only the hero and the audience are privy to. I dare you not to become a puddle of goo. High Kick is just a good family show anyway, though it’s worth mentioning that you wouldn’t be left completely in the lurch if you picked it up for the noona romance. It isn’t the main story by any stretch, but it can (and will likely) become the thing you end up watching it for.

 

The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry (2010)

The premise: Three thirtysomething girlfriends tackle dating, work, friendship, and love with a sense of humor. The heroine strikes up a relationship with a man ten years her junior, though in some ways he’s the one who schools her on romance.

I’d recommend this drama for the girlfriend camaraderie and the comedy alone, but it’s also one of the better noona romances of the non-high-school set. Kim Bum and Park Jin-hee play a significant age gap, but the problems are also those of adults who have dated, not the undying first love of a teenaged rebel. It’s as much a story about the start of romance, with all the cute, awkward, confusing, and swoony things that characterize a new relationship. It just also happens to then deal with the specific struggles of dating a noona, from the basic (What do I call her?) to the complicated (How do I explain this to my mother?) and everything in between.

This is one of the more mature noona-killers in this set, by which I mean he’s pretty adult for a man-boy. He’s in a rock band, so he’s by no means buttoned-up, but he strives to act very adult around his girlfriend (which is just not the case for the average noona-killer, who is mostly childish, and on a good day gets his act together to do something manly). If you’re iffy about noona romances, this is a good one to start with.

 

Baby-Faced Beauty (2011)

The premise: An unemployed but talented aspiring designer gets mistaken for nine years younger (she’s 34, they think she’s 25) and keeps the lie going to work for a design company, where she is treated as the lowly grunt by snotty sunbaes who are years younger. She gets off on the wrong foot with the hero, but they eventually become workplace friends and confidantes. He assumes he’s the oppa and enjoys playing the part, so when the truth finally comes out, the jarring reversal puts the brakes on the developing romance, until they figure out a way around the mindfuckery of her going from rookie kiddo to a noona seven years his senior.

Age is most definitely the central conceit, challenge, and conflict in Baby-Faced Beauty. So while it’s not your standard noona romance, our couple definitely bumps up against the noona issue over the course of their courtship. The numbers screw with his mind in a confusing, head-spinning way that almost feels too mean to enjoy, except that it’s really enjoyable.

The lie goes on for long enough that the dynamic is firmly established by the time it gets all shaken up and needs to be redefined. Suddenly Daniel Choi goes from talking comfortably in banmal with Jang Nara to stuttering in jondae, catching himself in fits and starts and feeling terribly uncomfortable with how everything is suddenly backwards. Nothing’s changed for her, yet when the perception of the power dynamic is suddenly different, there’s no fooling yourself that things are still the same. Plus, the hero has been stepping in frequently to help her (although the drama avoids the damsel in distress quagmire, thankfully) which means that he gets to feel that he’s the manly man, the older and wiser oppa taking care of his younger girl. Then one day the world flips and he’s stuck in a noona romance without even knowing it. Muahaha.

 

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop (2011)

The premise: A teenage boy is raised in a bizarre bubble of wealth and privilege, wanting for nothing in the world except the ability to understand human emotions. The heroine is the first person to ever challenge him, and he mistakes love for anger and heartburn before realizing that he’ll have to come down from his ivory tower to chase the girl he loves.

This drama has no realistic characters whatsoever. It only barely has one foot in the real world, but that’s kind of its wacky charm. There’s no question that Jung Il-woo is in his element here as the noona-killer, and this character has all the trappings of adulthood—money, status, a laissez-faire attitude about casual dating—that make him seem more grown up. It’s all smoke and mirrors though, because he was raised with such kid gloves that he needs an interpreter to explain things like “jealousy” and “feelings.”

Lee Chung-ah does start out as a student teacher, but this drama isn’t really among the teacher-student set like Biscuit or High Kick. They soon move to a ramyun shop that becomes the main backdrop for the series, and the rich hero takes up a part-time job there just to be closer to the heroine. There’s a fun to the reverse-Cinderella-ness of the series, because while most chaebol heroes bring the girl into his world of privilege, here the average heroine brings the hero down into her world, where he learns how to live among the people. There’s zingy chemistry and the show moves quickly, though you really do have to embrace the comic-book feel to get into the show. Or yunno, you could just check your brain at the door and watch it for the kisses. Mmmm, Jung Il-woo kisses. Wait, what was I talking about?

 

I Do, I Do (2012)

The premise: An aimless slacker has a one-night stand with a successful bossypants shoe designer. She gets pregnant and doesn’t tell anyone about the baby daddy, and then one day he shows up as the rookie employee on her staff.

The setup is better than the execution in this drama, but it does feature a unique pairing between an alpha heroine and a beta male, no qualifiers, no hedging. She’s the boss in the workplace and in the romance. We do find that sometimes her control freak perfectionist nature is to her own detriment, and to some degree it makes Kim Sun-ah’s heroine cold. But Lee Jang-woo makes up for the warmth in the pair with his adoring noona-loving ways.

The pregnancy takes up a good deal of real estate in the story, even more than the romance, and the workplace drama adds even more filler. It’s not a drama I regret watching by any means, but there are no surprises, and I would’ve gladly traded all the workplace stuff for a meatier romance with more development. There’s so much good conflict to mine in a noona romance with a baby on the way! Alas, everything remains a little undercooked for my liking, despite the couple being really cute whenever they have a chance to let their feelings show. The fast-forward button is your friend.

 

Big (2012)

The premise: High school rebel gets body-swapped with grown man, who happens to be his teacher’s boyfriend. He falls for her thinking she only sees the man on the outside, while she struggles to figure out if she’s in love with Soul or Body.

There are so many reasons I wanted this drama to work, because what a fun twist on the noona romance—the body-soul confusion is the quintessential man-boy conflict of all noona romances made literal by drama magic. The problem is that it doesn’t answer many of the questions it raises, and instead of trusting that the audience could buy the relationship it had been selling all series long, it copped out and sort of glossed over its own central conceit.

That aside (and it’s a huge aside), it does play with all the notable recurring themes in a noona romance, and does a good job of using the body swap to ask the heroine if she can look beyond the trappings of the external—a man who’s age-appropriate, with money, status, parental and societal approval—or can look beyond that to the heart of the person on the inside, no matter his (very young) age. It’s the usual love triangle of noona romances squashed into one mystical and admittedly head-spinning conundrum, often to amusing effect. Just don’t blame me if you smash your hand through the TV at the end. Consider yourself warned.

 

I Hear Your Voice (2013)

The premise: A super-powered boy who can read minds nearly dies witnessing his father’s murder. A brave young girl saves him and testifies to put the killer away, solidifying the hero’s undying devotion to her. Ten years later, he finds her again when he’s a high-schooler and she’s a jaded public defender. This time he vows to protect her when the killer comes back for revenge.

It’s actually difficult to sum up this drama’s premise because it’s so many different things (suspense, comedy, romance, law drama), but the emotional through line is the hero’s endless quest to protect the heroine at any cost. Lee Jong-seok is puppy love incarnate, and has an achingly sweet one-sided love for a good portion of the show’s run. My heart still hurts when I think about it, and I mean that in the best way.

Lee Bo-young has never been so sparkling as she is in this drama, where she plays a deeply flawed, petty, cynical heroine—she’s the object of a ten-year-long first love that’s been built up on such a pedestal that no human woman could live up to it. But what’s great about her is that she shatters that fantasy in one fell swoop only to build it back up again, one reluctant caring gesture at a time. If ever there was a noona romance where a boy lived and died with each thing the heroine said or did, it’s this one.

Their relationship takes on many forms, from idealized first love to familial, supernatural, self-sacrificial, and finally romantic love, and the heightened emotion is backed by the life-and-death circumstances of the narrative. This is also a cohabitation noona romance, which is a rare bird, given that most noona-killers don’t usually get this kind of ’round-the-clock access to their crushes. They start out living together because the hero has to protect her from a killer, and that constant threat of ever-living terror is what keeps them attached at the hip. Serial killers be good for something, y’all.

~

 

Z.I.N (D-Unit) – “군대 보내기 싫은데 (I Don’t Want to Send You to Army)”
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The Secondaries:

 

Bottom of the 9th With 2 Outs (2007)

The premise: Two BFFs take the long way around to love. In the meantime, they’re roommates who give each other relationship advice, and the heroine dates a young baseball player who struggles to make their noona romance survive in the real world.

I’d recommend this drama for the main pairing—that’d be Su Ae and Lee Jung-jin—but I actually liked the noona romance early on with Lee Tae-sung too, even if it’s a secondary couple. It’s the non-fantasy version of the noona romance, where real life problems get in the way, and introducing your new older girlfriend to your friends and family is an awkward affair. They discover in a realistic, bittersweet way that a man who’s just starting out in life and chasing his dreams is in a different place from a woman in her thirties who’s searching for that big life-altering love. But they still put their best efforts into making it work, and they change each other for the better.

 

My Sweet Seoul (2008)

The premise: A thirtysomething careerwoman navigates love and career and friendships in this low-key, thoughtful trendy.

My Sweet Seoul isn’t a rom-com in that it’s not very funny, though it has a lot of the trappings of romantic comedies with the light touches and focus on the heroine’s love life. The noona romance between Choi Kang-hee and Ji Hyun-woo is not the main loveline but it does take up a significant amount of the drama and is often very cute. Still, be forewarned that if you’re watching for noona-lovin’ funsies, this one may be more likely to leave you with a bruised heart.

Ji Hyun-woo is absolutely adorable and wonderful as the devoted young twentysomething; she’s certainly his noona, but he’s mature and thoughtful as a boyfriend. The obstacles they encounter feel realistic and mundane (in a good way); it’s not makjang twistiness forcing them apart, but real-world concerns of what it is to be in different places in your life. You can’t hate the heroine for breaking puppy boy’s heart… only you kind of hate the heroine for breaking puppy boy’s heart. Still, the drama has its lovely moments, and Mr. Voice Lee Seon-kyun is always a draw, especially when he gets to be the hero.

 

I Need Romance (2011)

The premise: A thirtysomething woman ends a decade-long relationship when her boyfriend cheats on her, and searches to redefine herself as a single woman. She discovers that what she needs is a little old-fashioned romance, and strikes up a relationship with a doting younger man.

This is a drama that has a really strong secondary pairing—some would argue stronger than the main pairing—that you can’t help but want to root for. Choi Jin-hyuk might have something to do with that. Just a little. He has great chemistry with Jo Yeo-jung, and plays a character who’s painfully aware that he loves her more than she loves him… which of course makes us love him more. The age gap isn’t hugely at play (she’s his noona and superior at work, but he’s secretly loaded, which ends up being a problem for her down the line) so this isn’t your average noona romance, but it’s one worth checking out. I won’t promise you’ll be happy about the outcome, but the couple does get its chance in the limelight. The drama also features a great girlfriend trio and a contemporary view of singletons looking for love, sex, and everything in between.

 

Ojakkyo Brothers (2011-2)

The premise: The youngest son in this family weekend drama has an unconventional noona romance with his sister-in-law’s aunt, which is less weird than it sounds (okay maybe it’s still weird). The couple has two obstacles to overcome: age and their contentious in-law relations.

This isn’t a secondary coupling as much as a secondary storyline in a family drama with a large cast. It’s not the most prominent couple (brothers Two and Three are the ones you watch the show for), but Yeon Woo-jin makes for a good noona-killer any day of the week. All the other romances on this show come with more dramatic downturns, but this one is mostly cute, cute, and more cute. It sort of gets to sidestep the bulk of the angst because that’s not their storyline’s burden, which means you can get to a lot of the hallmark rom-com moments—awkward non-dates that turn into dates, and blind-date interruptions with a “She’s my woman!”—without having to cash them in for tears down the line. She’s also his boss, and he grows up a good deal over the course of their romance, from an aimless slacker who skated by on his looks, to a young man with dreams and a plan. I’d hardly recommend this show for the noona romance since he’s got three older brothers to compete with for screen time, but I love the drama as a whole anyway; it’s one of the more satisfying and addictive family dramas in recent years.

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The Not-Reallies:

 

My Name Is Kim Sam-soon (2005)

The premise: An sassy foul-mouthed pastry chef starts a bizarre contract relationship with her assy restaurateur boss. Insults, curses, and sparks fly.

I actually don’t think of Sam-soon as a noona romance, mostly because the power dynamic goes the other way for much of the drama. He’s the boss and she’s the employee, and it’s not so much the gap in their ages that’s at issue between these two. It’s true that she’s older and it does add to the long list of reasons why he would never, ever, ever (snerk) fall for her, but the drama’s conflict doesn’t really stem from their relative ages, beyond the fact that she’s now north of thirty and feeling less desirable because of it. It’s not a drama I’d reach for if I were in the mood for a noona-killer, though obviously I love this classic for a million other reasons.

 

Exhibition of Fireworks (2006)

The premise: Not strictly a noona romance, this one gets the main couple off on the wrong foot with the misunderstanding that the heroine is 20 when she’s actually 30, and the immature hero treats her thusly—talking down to her, rapping her head, calling her kiddo. She puts up with it as they both join the same company as new hires, mostly ’cause he’s also the CEO’s son. Then the truth comes out, he realizes she’s his noona, and then she’s promoted above him. HA. Yay for reversals.

This drama starts off hilarious and zippy, enough to suck you in with the hopes of rom-com zaniness. The heroine is spurned by her longtime boyfriend, whom she worked her tail off to support in his lean unemployed years, only to be kicked to the curb the moment he starts his upward climb. He’s upgrading his life and she just got traded in. She decides to get “revenge” and spies on the new woman in his life, gets caught up in a bickering relationship with the hero (who’s in love with the new woman, of course), and finds herself twisted up in unforeseen complications.

Unfortunately the show loses its center pretty quickly and the rest just gets messier and angstier with characters who do things that make little sense. If there is one reason to watch this show, it’s to see Kang Ji-hwan being present and compelling in the role even as everything falls apart around him, though it’s a bit jarring when he’s the only one still acting by the end of it. Not really recommended, but sometimes you can’t help rubbernecking at the site of a trainwreck.

 

Queen of Reversals (2010)

The premise: A headstrong woman who’s used to getting everything she wants in life finds her life turned upside-down when she goes from top dog at work to low woman on the totem pole, and from happily married to divorced and single again.

This Kim Nam-joo drama features a romance with a younger man, but they’re both too adult to consider it a traditional noona romance. He’s her boss, and she’s scarred from her divorce—these things are the source of conflict, not so much age. The hero does chase her with puppy-like affection though, so you might find enough noona love there to warrant a watch. It’s mostly a workplace drama and very heroine-centric, with a focus on life after divorce. You could even just skip the first half of the drama, which features the first loveline with her husband who ends up not her husband anymore. The heroine is also more likable if you pick it up after she’s shoved off her high horse, though I’ve never had a problem liking Kim Nam-joo.

 

Oh My Lady (2010)

The premise: When a selfish and spoiled movie star finds out he’s got a young daughter, his first instinct is to deny, reject, and run away. He gets saddled with a new housekeeper who also becomes part of his management team, and an unlikely rapport springs up between them as she helps raise his child and pushes him toward growing up and learning what it means to be a real father.

Given the ages of the characters, Oh My Lady doesn’t really qualify as a straight noona romance; Siwon’s character is in his late twenties (though he often acts like a sullen teenager) while Chae Rim is solidly in ajumma territory as a divorced mother of a grade schooler. The age difference is present in their relationship, but it’s almost like their circumstances negate whatever power she would have had as the elder, because he is the celebrity and she’s his employee.

The drama has its merits, though it’s not for any sort of noona-ness that Oh My Lady is appealing. Its draw is for the heartwarming moments of growth as Siwon finally starts to take his responsibilities seriously and bonds with his adorable daughter. The romance that develops is less about passion or even attraction, and sometimes feels like it was forced in because it was the neat option for the star to fall for the housekeeper who taught him how to love. Though maturing and embracing commitment aren’t bad themes to end on.

 

My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (2010)

The premise: A fraidy-cat slacker frees a gumiho from a mystical scroll, and she terrifies him into being her boyfriend. Her dream is to become human, and he helps her both mystically and socially to shed her nine tails and become a real girl.

If you want to get technical, the gumiho is some centuries the hero’s noona. But she’s basically a kid (not that he’s any glowing example of maturity, but yunno). I wouldn’t call this a noona romance either, though mathwise maybe it’d be more like a great-great-great-great-granny romance, which is a little unsettling. It does have a beta male hero though, who’s extra gutless, so it taps into some of the elements that are characteristic of noona romances, but with a supernatural twist. Maybe we’ll revisit you two when we get to Lovers With Nine Lives, or Interspecies Romance.

~

Okay, that’s it for noona romances. Feel free to add to the list with your recommendations. I’m sure I’ll be the first in line to check them out!

 
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JB , thanks for the topic.

Unstoppable High Kick. Seo Min-jung was so sweet, I loved her character. Heartbreaking ? Yes, I cried a river of tears for Miss Seo.

How have I missed Biscuit Teacher Star Candy ? I'll have to watch it.

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Anyone have a list of movies that have a noona romance theme?

Definitely checking out the dramas on this list ??

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Nothing comes to my mind. Noona romances are all about character growth and building of the relationship: The drama format gives time for that. Maybe movies with that premise would feel rushed. Just my 2 cents. ^^

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You're My Pet kinda felt like it

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Personally I don't engage with Noona romances because most of the time the younger boys started so immature I just want to smack them on the head so I lost interest very quickly.

I've got one that wasn't on the list, it's called Loveholic with Kang Ta and Kim Gyuri (then Kim Minsun). He played a rebellious high school student and she played his teacher. If I remember correctly, his love confession was full of the good sort of angst: "Teacher, you know I.. I.. I've already started". That was a great and memorable scene.

The drama was, well, very dramatic. The teacher-student relationship was extremely frowned upon that she ended up getting fired from the school, and when tragedy struck he then ended up having to serve some jail time as well. When he came out of jail he's no longer a kid but a mature man and... I honestly can't remember how the story ends, but hey you can watch for yourself :)

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Daniel Choi is in Baby-faced beauty?
*takes day off*

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Of course. The reason why they were paired up again in "School 2013". Even if there were no "official" OTP (except if you count THAT OTP. XD)

Speaking of which, KBS World is replaying "Baby-faced Beauty". Am surprised about what Daniel Choi looks like without the glasses. :)

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This is what I say about DC in BFB.

Daniel Choi is so awesome in BFB, I had a perma smile on my face the ENTIRE time I watched him, and since I saw that pairing first in School, it thrilled thrilled me that they got to be romantic.

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I first discovered Daniel Choi and Jang Na-Ra in Baby Faced Beauty. As you can imagine, I was delighted to see them team up again in School 2013. I enjoyed both shows tremendously.

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I LOVE NOONA ROMANCE... & a drama of any language which has this, is assured of my curiosity :)

just wanna add something about 'woman who still wants to marry': while i enjoyed the dynamics between the kim bum-park jin hee's characters, i was actually more invested in the other noona pairing - the mom & the pilot!

i felt the mom had a lot of learning & growing up to do in terms of emotional needs, which to me made her a richer character.

the bike... *vroom vroom* surely a sign of virility, no? ;)

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How about that drama 'Romance' starring Kim Ha-Neul as a high school teacher and Kim Jae-won as her student. They first meet outside of school (and he lies about his age) and start to fall for each other only to have the school year begin and discover that she is a teacher and he's a student in her class.

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I'm going to watch this right now - love Kim JaeWon
THANKS!!

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Yippeeeeeey!!!
I love noona romance, because it leads to different kind of story and of relationship.

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Gawd BFB was adorable. I just wish the romance took the forefront and all the stupid design business bs was non-existent. Love Daniel Choi. Super cute.

I always wondered about My Sweet Seoul. I wasn't sure if it was worth watching but I might watch it now. I never finished What's Up Fox or 9 and 2 outs. Might now... a hard maybe.

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Snow White / Taste Sweet Love
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Snow_White
is a noona romance drama...it got the rebel on a bike and everything ^^
It was such a cute drama, I actually just re-watched it last week.

Love Needs A Miracle
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Love_Needs_a_Miracle
is another one.
The story is not all that, but Lee Kyu Han was just so dang adooorable.

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i think i'm gonna go for hello my teacher... many people have recommended it to me... or may be the sole reason is Gong yoo :D ;)

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I've watched Oh My Lady!, I Do I Do and Flower Boy.

Noona Romances are the Best hehehe

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My fav is oh my lady ! Come onnnnnn SI woooooooon oppa

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I love Romance starring Kim jae won and kim ha neul. It's also one of the first kdramas I watched.

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How about Romance with Kim Jae Won and Kim Ha Neul?

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this is the 2nd time im posting a comment,

thank you so much girlfriday. really appreciate this list!

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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I JUST NOTICE MASTER'S SUN HEADER!!! -SQEEEEEEE-

Anyway, will be watching Whats Up Fox coz it sounded hilarious!! ^^

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it is!! you should absolutely watch it ^^

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the soundtrack is also gorgeous :)
I managed to download it for free ... but I'd still rather pay for it, for a better quality - also after finding on YouTube other gems like Kim Kwang Seok or Kim Chang Wan or other drama's OST songs, I really wish I could have them with a light heart (not weary of what malicious alien could come folded in the zipped folder) ...

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Fell in love even more with Korean dramas when I discovered noona romances from Oh! My Lady so thanks so much for writing about this. Will definitely be checking out the dramas here. Personal fave drama with noona romance is Woman Who Still Wants to... Have been looking for a really good one so thank god for IHYV.

Boku to star no. 99 isn't really a noona romance cos the guy is older, but the female is the sorta alpha, but its cute.

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Noona romances. Sigh. The undying affection the male lead has for the strong older female just gets me. It strikes me as the male being absolutely confident enough to go after an independent woman. (i'm not gonna listen to you people mumbling about a boy having mummy complex)

I've watched 3 dramas from the ones you've mentioned:

1) Biscuit Teacher Star Candy was my first Gong Hyo Jin drama! I was actually trying to find something with Gong Yoo in it (after falling for him in Coffee Prince..) and stumbled on this drama. It was soooooo goood. Oh dear me.

2) What's Up Fox. I enjoyed that one alot too. The chemistry between GHJ and CJM was so intense that it made me look past their actual age gap. And just like you said, it was a great change watching a drama where the 2 leads were normal people, not the classic chaebol-poor woman/chaebol-high & mighty female (who always get thrown down a few pegs).
Simple and sweet. It was one of the dramas where I could tolerate the angst cause it was completely realistic.

3) The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry. Kim Bum is so cute, nuff' said.

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Eek, I thought I liked the chaebol romance more. But to my horror, think I've actually watched all the Noona romance dramas.

However The woman who still wants to marry and 9 Ins and 2 outs remain one of my favourite Korean dramas.

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Haha, me too! I would have sworn the previous theme (contract marriage) was my more style - but I've watched (or at least started) almost all the dramas here.

Guess I like this theme more than I realized....

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every comment is right on.
Unstoppable High Kick, some episodes really tells us that Yunno is for Min jung but she was blinded so that probably she could not see her shining star in front of her... this breaks the viewers hearts,,, but in the end, there was a sign that the two might have a future together... so it was overall very satisfying. I love all those dramas but I thought that I need a romance's ending a bit disappointing. I would go for Choi Jun Hyuk. 'Big' was the only big disappointment for me. Part of me is because Gong Yoo played all the long so that young boy was never played by the cute youong actor even in the ending scene. I guess I never like Goog Yoo type, dark skinned husky man... I guess it might reflect my personal taste.

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I could not imagine if that kid wakes up halfway and acts the rest of the episodes, his acting is horrendous (I am sorry, but he was smiling even when he was lying on that bed. Tell me how bad was that?) I believe the viewership ratings will be even lower, as if the ratings was not already low. Lol~

Back to the topic on Noona Romances, I had watched a few mentioned. Gotta love 'Biscuit Teacher Star Candy' and 'Oh My Lady'.

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You are actually right. The boy could not act...
Oh, my lady was good but the two could have showed more chemical romance,,, from the middle point on, they just refrained themselves. I had a hard time to see if the ajumma really is attracted to the guy.

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This is debatable. Shin Won Ho is one of the few idols who can act. Of course, not many people have watched Bachelor Vegetable Store where he was convincing as the idol Daddy.
Side note about him in BIG: SWH was praised for his acting in the first eps and a lot of viewers left the drama when it was clear that he wasn't going to return to life. Too bad for the ratings... Also, if my part had been cut and I should have stayed motionless in bed for 14 eps, I would laugh my head off too, I can tell you that.

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LOL at the song of the day. So perfect! LSG is the poster boy for all noona romances, but even if I love him - I'm not into the genre.

I wasn't too fond of IHYV, but it could do a lot with me not liking LJS... What's up fox and BFRS was really engaging though. I marathoned both at some point I remember. Couldn't put them down. I should give the others a try though...

I've seen all the ones in the last batch, like KSS, gumiho girlfriend, etc. They're the best, but not really themed noona romance. I hope u guys do the best friend falls for each other category. I would marathon them all instead of get a good night's sleep :P

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Great recaps. I love it.
Yeah, I'm ,still cant move on from Soo Haa and Jang Byun love story.
Why Protect The Boss not on the list?? Even not gain a high rating, but the story was good enough, Ji Sung is so funny and hot enough.

And I cant stop agree about this sentence about BIG,

Just don’t blame me if you smash your hand through the TV at the end. Consider yourself warned.

I reallg smashed my remote control after watch the last episode. lol

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PTB -- he was actually her boss and i thought they were supposed to be around the same age?
In real life they are the same age.
I think the only noona-like thing about it was his immaturity and her tough, alpha personality. I do think their relationship exhibited shades of a noona romance but i don't think show was focused on showing a noona romance

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It's only me or you noticed also, there's some similarity in Il Woo and Jong Suk face character somehow.

Especially while I'm comparing their faces in the noona's romance drama. The hair, the face, somehow the smile...

Noona romance undoubtful is my favorite theme. The deepest desire of me LOL.

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I think there is a segment of a Podcast dedicated to that idea, and Woo Bin, of course.

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thank you for the tip on Queen of Reversals. I got bored with the first 5 episodes. I'll pick it up again in the middle =).

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why "Dal Ja's Spring" isn't in this list , that's one of my all time favorite drama

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@fatim

PLEASE READ COMMENT # 10.1

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Currently watching Biscuit Teacher Star Candy and I don't get all the hype. I'm only on ep 6 though so maybe it'll pick up??? Also, I remember starting What's Up Fox? a few years ago and I couldn't make it all the way through.

I Hear Your Voice was simply amazing though. It makes me want to watch more noona romances. But I don't think any will be as great.

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I don't get the hype about Biscuit teacher. But I also think it is because it is an older drama, the vibe is different.

What's Up Fox is not so light hearted. In fact it was more realistic than I thought. It's not one of my favourites but I certainly did not regret watching it.

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Although I know it will never be on this list because the drama never focused on the noona-dongsaeng relationship, but King 2 Hearts is one drama I'd love to be here. Ha Ji won is almost 10 years older than Lee Seung Gi (in real life), but his maturity and growth in the drama pulled it off really well. One of his best acts ever ^^ Sometimes, it seems LSG is the oppa protecting everything.

That aside, Baby-faced Beauty was one noona romance I really liked. Simple and sweet, no dragginess, how JNR manage to pull herself up and everything ended well. Allbeit, I missed dramas like these. Simple, sweet and enjoyable. Ahem. Master's Sun. Ahem. I do still love that show anyhow hah.

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Yep, it's funny when in the drama, she was trying to act aegyo and called him Oppa and then they pointed out that they're donggaps

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This post speaks to me on a deep level. Thanks!

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These shows are my crack.

I watched most of them but not the longer ones. I still haven't been able to sit through a daily. Is there a laugh track?

PS My friend EE and I did recaps for WUF if you are interested. I linked that category on the blog in my name.

I liked Biscuit Teacher a lot, but you really really really have to throw away how mature GY looks to believe he could possibly be a high schooler. He is a '79er and GHJ is an '80'er to boot. I think that is why there was very little squick factor with this show.

What I loved about BTSC is how you really felt GHJ's love for him as a person, before it became romantic. That may be the secret to why the pairings work. Both halves have to work super hard for it to be real, and not just a flash in the pan relationship because the challenges are great.

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I'm not completely against noona romances. There are shows that really make it work, and those are the ones i really enjoy watching. It's an overworked concept in k-dramaland but I'm always open for one that just works. shout out to IHYV!

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because noona is my woman lol

LSG's song came to mind when I'm reading this post.

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Ahhh...I still miss I Hear Your Voice! As for other noona romances, Lee Tae-ran and Park Hae-jin in Chil Princesses/Infamous Princesses was a pairing that hooked me too. Also Indomitable Daughters-in-law had a noona romance involving Chae Rim's little bro Park Yoon-jae and Shin Ae-ra.

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I love how Who Are You is totally missing from this list, if ever a drama failed at OTP chemistry, it was that one (it's the oppa romance that shines instead lol)

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Ooooh, thank you for this post! I have been looking for some dramas to watch, so I am going to start on High Kick next. Cheers!! ^^

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also, I vote for the next 'If You Like.....' to be about the Forced Housemates/Forced Closeness trope - divorced from the Contract Marriage thing, of course.

(more along the lines of Uee moving into Joo-won's house in Ojakkyo Brothers, or Gong Hyo-jin/So Ji-sub in Master's Sun, than, say, Ryu Sooyoung's arrangement in his loveline on Ojakkyo, where he moved in with her after marrying her and they were kind-of rommates because of the contract marriage)

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I lOVE NOONA ROMANCE! Oops did I say it too loud... lol... Lee Seunggi song couldn't be more apt!

The memorable one...

Biscuit Teacher Star Candy... and the question. How can one not love Gong Yoo... he is like that earnest puppy... I can't... just loved him too much!!!

What's up Fox, was a little bunch of awesome... Its probably not as well known as Samsoon was but it was sweet and thoughtful in its own way... I love the second couple too... Sohn Hyunjoo ahjushhi and Go Junhee, well before she was Go Junhee, she actually change her name to the character name...
Go Hyunjung and Chun Jungmyung were so cute... The chemistry was definitely there and I was shipping them so hard and she was all like "I changed your diaper before..." whut... And he had that cute friend who said that love is all about broken soju bottles and heartache and something along that line...

And of coz Samsoon, though the age gap is not big, but man... Hyunbin aka Samshik... arrghhh... he really annoying but its just that kinda lead you fall for... And Samsoon the awesomest heroine ever... before loving realizing its most important to love herself was the best!

Also second lead from Flower Boy Next Door... that crazy editor... and Dong hoon... am quite sure she is a noona... I love Kim Seulgi!!!

And true re MGIAG... granny romance... lol...

Also one thing... this is not noona romance, but it it was, it will cause a fire... no inferno... there was this... photoshoot quite a while ago... Lee Misook and T.O.P. I swear my screen caught fire... and my eyes got burnt... it was that HOT!
http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/4352949.html

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My fav genre! Proud to have watched your list. You missed:
2002 Romance - Kim Ha Neul x Kim Jae Won
2004 Snow White - Kim Jung Hwa x Lee Wan
2005 Spring Day - Go Hyun Jung x Jo In Sung
2006 Outrageous Women - Yoo Ho Jung x Lee Ki Woo
2007 Dalja's Spring - Chae Rim x Lee Min Ki
2007 Crazy For You - Lee Mi Yeon x Yoon Kae Sang
2008 When It's At Night - Kim Sun Ah x Lee Dong Gun
2008 Powerful Opponents - Chae Rim x Lee Jin Wook
2008 Love Marriage - Kim Min Hee x Park Ki Woong
2008 Working Mom - Yum Jung Ah x Bong Tae Kyu
2010 Daemul - Go Hyun Jung x Kwon Sang Woo
2010 Baker King Kim Tak Goo - Eugene x Yoon Shi Yoon
2010 Birth of a Rich Man - Lee Bo Young x Ji Hyun Woo
2010 I Am Legend - Kim Jung Eun x Lee Joon Hyuk
2011 Royal Family - Yum Jung Ah x Ji Sung
2011 Me Too, Flower - Lee Ji Ah x Yoon Shi Yoon
2011 A Thousand Kisses - Seo Young Hee x Ji Hyun Woo
2012 My Shining Girl - So Yi Hyun x Kim Hyung Joon
2012 King 2 Hearts - Ha Ji Won x Lee Seung Gi
2012 I Love Lee Tae Ri - Park Ye Jin x Kim Ki Bum
2012 FAITH - Kim Hee Sun x Lee Min Ho
2013 Yawang - Soo Ae x Jung Yoon Ho
2013 Who Are You - Seo Yi Hyun x Ok Taecyeon

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King 2 Hearts - they were same age

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Meh. In general, noona romances are not my favorite at all. I dislike huge maturity level differences in general, though I did like a couple on the above list.

One that isn't on the list but should be is Shoot for the Star (별을쏘다) with Jun Do Yeon and a very young and adorable Jo In Sung.

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I love these themed recommendations so much!!! So excited to see a new one posted :D :D :D
Thank you *^^*

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Was Level 7 Civil Servant ever considered a noona romance? Sorta? I never really understood if CKH only acted like she was younger than Joo-won or was actually older. Not gonna delve into that story line too much though. #burningbridge

I loved Ojakgyo Brothers as well! Mostly for TaeHee/JaEun couple, but Taepil was so adorable with his noona!
Ahhhh, i wanna go back to 2011 for that drama. All those feels :) #rewatchtime

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If you like...girlfriday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ♥

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Is it strange that I've seen most of these? *loosens collar* Ahem.

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This may just be the best post ever.

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I didn't realize I had an addiction to noona romances until I red this post and have seen 14 out of all 18... And thoroughly enjoyed all the good ones. Just waiting for another good noona romance to come along.

I don't think I can make myself watch any of the high kicks. The longest drama I ever watched was The X Family - a 2007 Taiwanese drama with 55 episodes that I didn't discover until 2009. I was thoroughly addicted - thoroughly I tell you.

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I'm not really into noona romance even tho some of these "puppies" are rather cute, I'm more into older guys. Cute as they are, some are just too immature and hotheaded. I have no such patience for them. I need more oppa/ajusshi romance.

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Not bad, I have not seen only 3 out of the list. My all time fave is Biscuit Teacher Star Candy. Its actually one of the earliest kdrama that got me hooked.. Line.. Sinker.... GY &GHS just hit the spot. Baby faced beauty too. Hmm aint't Master Sun in the same category? I hear you lack something that I cant seem to put my finger on. But the OTP drooollllsss.. Ke ke ke

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Famous princesses with lee tae ran and park has Jin!
puppy love with soldier noona , yes or no for her n yes from him all d way with his meddlesome mother. Park has Jin swoonsome in here

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Javabeans and Girlfriday, I am loving your "If You Like" series. Thanks for doing this. It made me realize exactly what kind of stories I'm into by the sheer number of dramas I've watched containing them.

So far, I absolutely loved contract marriages....I've watched practically 90% of the dramas on that list of recommendations. But when it comes to noona romance, that's just not my stuff. I only watched I Do, I Do; I Hear Your Voice; Exhibition of Fireworks; and My Name is Kim Sam Soon. Obviously, only I Do I Do and I Hear Your Voice could be considered real noona romances. For IHYV, I started out rooting for the heroine and the second male lead pairing but the hero was too darn good that I was won over despite my natural aversion to noona romances. And I think that for IDID, I may have been tricked into liking the noona romance because the hero was bringing out my underdog feels so I wanted him to get the heroine because she was so unattainable. In retrospect, I also think that I liked him more with the second female lead who was bratty but harmless.

Conclusion? I might need a million other reasons to like a show before I can accept its noona romance storyline, lol.

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FAVORITE GENRE (?). I think I'll try out What's Up Fox. I've always seen it on the drama ratings list but I didn't know it was a noona romance. This is probably one of my favorite ever posts on this website.

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Indomitable Daughters-in-Law had a noona romance too, with Park Yoon Jae (Chae Rim's brother) and Shin Ae Ra.

She lives with her in-laws, and her husband had an affair and died in a car accident. Since her in-laws love her so much, she continues to live with them.

She found work at a conglomerate, and had a young colleague (Park Yoon Jae) and they had a friendly noona-dongsaeng relationship, until he fell for her.

Many ups-and-downs, and PYJ turns out to be the son of the CEO of the company, and was promoted to be a director. But he was always true to her, and always in a mature, manly way. Shin Ae Ra wasn't exactly an immature noona, but she has had scars of her own, as well as not wanting to hurt her in-laws.

Very long family drama, 113 episodes. But you could always just fast-forward to their scenes! Overall, it was quite a nice watch though!

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In fact, I found an MV that has some of their scenes! Makes me want to watch all 113 episodes again just for them!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtaPOCrBQjY

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