Kara: Secret Love was written as five separate shows using the girls in the Kpop group Kara as the stars, each girl being the star in her own show. So we’ve got five different plots, each two episodes long, and all of them are love stories.
Episodes 1 & 2, entitled Missing You is the story of Ji-Hye who realizes a little too late how important her boyfriend, Hyun-Woong, is to her. Hyun-Woong dies in a car crash and Ji-Hye discovers a way to go back in time and save him from death. But will it all work out as she expects? (Starring Han Seung-Yeon and Yun Woo-Jin)
In episodes 3 & 4, known as The Thirteenth Bucket List, Hyun-Jung discovers she only has three month left to live. So as not to die without having fulfilled some of her life’s goals and dreams, she makes a bucket list of things she’d like to accomplish or experience before she passes away. She meets a kind young man who decides to help Hyun-Jung without her knowing it. (Starring Goo Ha-Ra and Kim Young-Kwang)
Lilac is the name of episodes 5 & 6. So-Yeol is a young girl who is rushed to the hospital after she collapses while singing on stage with some friends. While in the hospital she meets, and develops a crush on, a man who is there at his wife’s side. (She had been in a car accident and is in a coma.) The two quickly become very close and lean on each other for emotional support. But So-Yeol knows something the man doesn’t. (Starring Kang Ji-Young and Bae Soo-Bin)
Episodes 7 & 8 is A Seven Day Summer. Mary and Tae-Yang meet under not so peaceful circumstances and decide to team up in order to get what they both want. Mary wants to find out about her recently deceased father and Tae-Yang needs money Mary can provide if he helps her in her quest for answers involving her father. (Starring Nicole Jung and Lee Kwang-Soo)
Have You Ever Had Coffee With An Angel? is episodes 9 & 10. Sun-Woo is a kind woman who has been in love with hot-shot Woo-Bin ever since they were young. Her one desire is to be his wife, however, Woo-Bin isn’t the least bit interested in her. In fact, he finds her down-right annoying. Enter Angel 2013, the person who will help Sun-Woo achieve her goal. The only problem is that Angel 2013 finds himself falling in love with Sun-Woo. Just what exactly are the rules about an angel falling in love with a human? (Starring Park Gyu-Ri and Ji Chang-Wook)
So I’ll put the shows in order of my favorite to least favorite. Number 1 is Missing You. I liked this storyline the best and the acting was better as a whole than the other four. Lilac is number 2. The ending is the best part – very unique. Third place is Have You Ever Had Coffee with An Angel? It has an original and interesting storyline. Coming in 4th place is The Thirteenth Bucket List. Not a surprising plot but well performed. And last place goes to A Seven Day Summer. Good, but I didn’t feel drawn to the characters.
Since all these shows star the girls from the Kpop group Kara it’s important to bear in mind they are singers first and foremost. Their acting leaves a lot to be desired but I think it’s pretty good for a first time out for most of them.
There’s not a lot to be said for the music. I tried to find out some information on the soundtrack but came up empty. With the fact that the girls from the singing group Kara were the stars, I’ll bet they sang a lot of the songs. But I could be wrong.
The filming locations, over all, are very, very good. We get to see the ocean, fields, the big city, an aerial view of wide open Korea… fantastic shots.
You can’t put Kara: Secret Love up against other Kdramas because it isn’t the same thing. These are more like five separate two hour movies. Thinking of them in that way, I’d say they are pretty good. I’ve seen lots of Korean feature films that weren’t as entertaining as these are. Their biggest appeal is the plots – all very original and all enjoyable.
Score: 5.5
The Good:
Original plots
Filming locations
The Bad:
Non-seasoned acting
Heart and Seoul 