Marriage, Not Dating
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama, Family
Origin: South Korea
Episodes: 16
Air-date: July 4, 2014 – Aug 23, 2014
Starring: Han Groo as Joo Jang Mi, Yeon Woo Jin as Gong Ki Tae, Jung Jin Woon as Han Yeo Reum, Han Sun Hwa as Kang Se Ah, Heo Jung Min as Lee Hong Dong, Yoon So Hee as Nam Hyun Hee
Wealthy plastic surgeon Gong Ki Tae is a successful and happy bachelor who does not want to find himself a wife. He believes that his life is perfectly planned, and being single is the only option he accept. However, his family is badgering him to marry. In an effort to get his parents off his back about the constant string of blind dates and marriage prospects, Ki Tae purposely brings Joo Jang Mi home to meet his parents posing as his girlfriend, certain that they’ll never approve of her.
mydramalist
It is so hard to believe that even though I considered this drama to be one of my absolute favorites and a go to recommendation, I have never done a proper rewatch of this drama. Therefore, with my back against the wall, I decided that it would be fun to revisit this and see if I still enjoyed it as much as I did back then in 2016 when I first watched it. So… did I?
The answer is ABSOLUTELY! Yall this drama is still giving what it gave back then and that is why I stand firm in my belief that these new romantic comedies just do not hit in the same way. Like this drama served up all the delicious tropes, but there was just something more to it that gave it heart. As we all know I am a positive sucker for the fake dating trope and that shit hits so good in this drama. I love that it was the type of fake dating where everyone slowly saw their charm and that everyone knew it was real before they did.
This time around something that I really appreciated was the portrayal of the mother. Here was a mother that was simply trying her best to make her son happy and it wasn’t because of greed or a need for money, but simply desiring that someone would love and take care of him the way she wasn’t able to. I loved that even though they had moments where she seemed stern, that there were genuine moments of humanity throughout.
I also loved that friendships that existed in this drama and the fated field trip that they took. Everyone had an agenda, but they also were just having fun by the beach. I SQUEAL AT THAT KISS EVERY TIME. I feel like for a drama of its time, it really did touch on topics that are now more openly discussed in dramas, but still need some work. I also find that I want to see more of Yeon Woo Jin’s filmography because it’s not like Han Groo has much for me to watch. Hahahahahaha. It’s so interesting to me that this writer also wrote Introverted Boss which I did drop after 7 episodes, but I think I may want to give it another go.
Reasons to watch:
- Good story
- Fun cast
- Nice Chemistry
- No dumb breakup
- Couples get to be couples
I think the only thing that prevented this drama from getting bumped to a 10/10 was because I am in the mood right now where I dislike propaganda about working hard and not wanting to be Cinderella!! TAKE HIS MONEY!! TAKE ALL THAT HITTA’S MONEY!!
ORIGINAL RATING: 
CURRENT RATING:
Unbothered Unnies 