Forest

I would rate this K-Drama as 6.5 stars (rounded up to 7), with little that stands out either positively or negatively. It was a pleasant, if generally tepid watch, with nice scenery, acceptable script, and a story and characters which were interesting, but not compelling enough to produce a lot of buy-in (for me).

The one noteworthy point was the ending, where the writers made an obvious effort to tie up all the loose ends for a clear-cut (if slightly unrealistic) conclusion. In short, if you like stories where justice is served, and the power of love changes people for the better, you might go for this one.

ROMANCE RATING: 7/10 * * * The romance in this show generally stays in the "warm fuzzies" category, with 4+ kiss scenes featuring gentle kisses or brief pecks. PHJ and JBA have believable chemistry together (though IMO it could have been even better). Sadly, the only real sexual tension was in a heated, pre-dating kiss scene where the leads are using their heart rate to prove how unaffected they are by each other. It would have been super spicy if not for the sound editing, which failed to adjust the BPMs and therefore made the intent of the scene confusing/ distracting.

I watched this based on some tremendous reviews on Viki, and I enjoyed it but not quite as much as some rave reviewers. The acting was good and the scenery was beautiful. There was more than just a lovely romance, but also a rather complicated but exciting storyline which really got interesting in roughly the last third of the series. I liked both the main characters and I especially loved Choi Chang and his infectious smile!

Compared to many favorite romance dramas, this one seems highly overlooked. This drama should be sporting an overall rating of 9+

Although the cinematography isn't the best, the story, actors, characters, soundtrack, pace and romance are exceptionally good. In a word, Excellent. There are no stupid fisheye kissing scenes. In fact, the kissing is on the adult level - no immaturity involved. And while this might seem slightly a spoiler, there's no love triangle. How spectacularly refreshing.

Jo Bo Ah is one of my favorite actresses. First saw her in Destined With You, Tale of the Nine Tailed and then Doberman. Most recently her role in Dear Hongrang was also compelling. Park Hae Jin I am less familiar with, although he was good in My Love from the Star. With both actors being so attractive and well matched, the drama was easy to get into from the very beginning.

Highly recommended. I enjoyed it so much.

I still had this image of Park Tae jin from bad guys of being a psycho so it was hard for me to look at his charisma in romantic settings. I also felt that there's so many talks in between romantic scenes that it becomes boring. Also, the conflict was overly emphasized in a way that it becomes annoying as you watch it till the end.

" Forest " had potential but it didn't really exploit them.

The first episodes and the last ones were actually great. The couple had also plenty of romantic moments and they were sweet and adorable. Their love story was enjoyable to watch especially since both of them helped each other get through their phobias and problems. The big mystery behind the forest was solid too. In addition, the second couple was quite entertaining. Finally, the performances were great from all actors and actresses, though the bad guys tended to overdo it sometimes. And yet, somehow, the drama ended up boring. They didn't really handle the story very well and most of the episodes were tiring if it wasn't for some entertaining moments here and there.

So, overall, five out of ten.