The Greatest Love

The Greatest Love -such an appropriate title!   It has a great plot, great writing, great cast, great acting, great music… it’s just an all around great Kdrama!  I enjoyed every minute of it.

If you’re into love stories you should defiantly put this on your “must watch” list.  It’s the story of Dok Ko-Jin, a famous and highly loved actor whose personality resembles a cross between Kim Joo-Won, from Secret Garden, and Seong Min-Woo, from Oh, My Lady.  Ko-Jin thinks he’s the coolest person around and, therefore, acts like it.  He’s the type of person that could look you right in the eyes and calmly say, “You’re nowhere near as awesome as I am so go play with someone else.”  If you knew a person like that in real life you’d probably want to punch him, but for some reason you just love Ko-Jin.  (Maybe that’s because we see him from a distance and don’t really have to deal with him our self.)  Unfortunately, he has a weak heart and the drama starts right out with him on the operating table while the surgeon plays a song called Thump Thump for inspiration.  Way later, after the successful surgery, he meets Ku Ae-Jung at a gas station and they instantly clash, big time.   Ae-Jung certainly doesn’t appreciate Ko-Jin’s arrogance and he is put off by her because it’s painfully obvious she is way below him.  You guessed it, Ko-Jin eventually falls for Ae-Jung which bothers him immensely.  How, in the world, could he be attracted to a no longer famous member of an old girls’ singing group?  She’s not beautiful, rich, or intelligent so something must be wrong with him.  The problem is, he can’t stop liking her no matter how hard he tries.  And to make things more difficult, there’s another man who likes her as well, so Ko-Jin has some competition and he doesn’t like losing to anyone!

Yoon Pil-Joo, a successful and very handsome naturalist kind of doctor, is the guy that likes Ae-Jung.  He is on a bachelor type TV show where he gets the chance to be with Ae-Jung, since she is one of the contestants trying to be his chosen lady.

I have two favorite scenes in The Greatest Love.  The first one is when Ae-Jung donates her tennis shoes to an online auction to raise money for charity and there’s a bidding war that goes on between Ko-Jin and Pil-Joo.  They both come to the realization that they are bidding against the other and the testosterone begins flying each time one of them raises the bid.  I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see which one of them would win the shoes.  The other scene I loved was at the end of episode 14.  Sorry, but I can’t give you any details about it.  All you need to know is I was fighting back tears watching that part.

This was my first time seeing Cha Seung-Won act.  I thought he did a wonderful job playing the egotistical actor, Ko-Jin.  He really knows how to be funny.  Writers come up with the silly lines, but it takes a good actor to make us laugh at those lines.  His facial expressions are fantastic.

Kong Huo-Jin, who plays Ae-Jung, is one of my favorite actresses.  She does a great job in making her character come alive.  You can’t help but love sweet, humble Ae-Jung.  The hair and make-up folks did a great job making her look young in the parts where she’s in the girls’ group.

Yoon Kye-Sang is Pil-Joo, a charming, kind, intelligent, and right-at-the-top-of-the-handsome-list doctor.  He’s definitely the kind of guy I’d go for.  I love Yoon Kye-Sang.  He began his career as a singer in the boy band g.o.d. but went on to acting.  As a viewing audience we sure are lucky he did.  He is perfect in every role I’ve seen him in, out shining everyone else on screen with him.

The music in this Kdrama gets two big thumbs up.  Because You Are My Man, Thump Thump, Don’t Forget Me, Real Love Song – all wonderful. You ought to give them a try.  I’m sure you’d love them.

This Kdrama doesn’t take us to exotic places but you don’t care.  The show is so entertaining you really don’t even notice where they’re shooting.

The Greatest Love is a sweet and funny love story that glides along at a perfect pace, making it a relaxing Kdrama you can enjoy episode by romantic episode.  Please, oh please, make time for this one!  It’s so worth it!

Score: 9

The Good:
Writing
Perfect mix of romance and comedy
Likable characters
No evil people
Enjoyable, original plot
Yoon Kye-Sang
Great soundtrack

The Bad:
Nothing I can think of