thoughts: Goong (Korean)

Also known as Princess Hours or Palace
(宫 - Goong)

Yoon Eun-hye as Shin Chae-Kyung
Joo Ji-hoon as Lee Shin
Kim Jeong-hoon as Eui-Sung Yul/ Lee Yool
Song Ji-hyo as Min Hyo-rin

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The following article is a very in depth discussion of the series and may contain multiple spoilers. For a less detailed summary and thoughts post, please read intro info: Goong if you haven't seen the series. Otherwise, proceed with caution.

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There is always an annoying flaw on how women are depicted by a lot of Asian drama series. And I recently started noticing this because of the endless manga that I've read -- I don't think I'd ever viewed it as a problem before until going from one short manga story to another and continuously seeing the same type of girl presented through those plots.

The typical heroine is always some form of ditzy airhead. She is the cheerful, girl next door type that anyone would find cute upon first impression. It doesn't matter if she's not entirely beautiful or if she's entirely graceful -- as long as she's cute, innocent and sweet and always happy, then she makes the perfect heroine to any story. And then we always like to make them stupid and useless as well, needing to be picked up by her Prince Charming who is the exact opposite of her in every aspect.

And then if she's not a ditzy airhead, there's some other part of her brain that's stupid anyway; nonetheless, the girl is always so clueless it makes you want to hurl things at her. She NEVER picks up on romantic hints from male suitors and when she does, she thinks that there has obviously been a mistake.

After all, men love to see a helpless damsel in distress who's role is simply to bring sunshine into their lives. Right?

Why did I start this article with such an introduction? I'm not even sure, but the idea of the ever-happy and ditzy female protagonist kind of bugs me at times. In fact, in the near future, I might finally climb on top of my soap box and write an entire article on how much I dislike the typical romance story female main character -- especially in shoujo manga. We can even call it a crossover post and share it on my other blog as well.

Yoon Eun-hye is cast as that particular free-spirited, loving, cheerful, and stereotypical airhead, Shin Chae-kyung in this particular series. I had been expecting the entire stereotype for her character since this series came from Manhwa which is categorized in the Japanese's shoujo genre wherein almost all female protagonists are stupid, worthless ditzes who's only saving grace is her penchant for sunshine and bunnies. Thankfully, Chae-kyung isn't entirely that ditzy airhead and has other admirable traits aside from simply being an everlasting ray of sunshine -- but she DOES start off the series in that fashion and it was a little bit depressing, but at the same time, I didn't completely dislike it as she also has those comedic tendencies that make you smile cause you feel embarrassed for her continuously.

Before I get any further into my rant, you can find the summary of Palace, or Goong, or Princess Hours (whatever works for you) at it's drama wiki site: http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Goong. The wikipedia version gives away too much of the plot and is actually a little bit incorrect in some of its summarizations. Of course, after re-reading my written post, I come to realize that I might be giving away a few spoilers here and there, so beware, and maybe you might want to read my article AFTER you've watched the series? (see intro info link above -- actually, here it is again: intro info: Goong) I think this post ended up being a discussion rather than a "short summary and review" of the series. But anyway, pretty much, the series involves a common girl who marries into the royal family because of an arranged marriage and supposedly turns the palace upside down.

Anyway, I have only ever seen so many Korean drama series, and The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince was the very first one which also starred Yoon Eun-hye, but in a much different role than this one. I can definitely say that I saw the versatility that she displayed from one extreme of character to another. In Coffee Prince, she was an absolute tomboy, with the short hair, crazy strength and a skill for throwing people over her shoulders. In Coffee Prince, the character of Go Eun-chan also had a distorted sense of what was right and what was wrong throughout the entire series, all the way up to the end and a lot of selfish tendencies.

Shin Chae-kyung is a very easily lovable girl who has a strong sense of responsibility as well as undying loyalty to her friends and her family. While she starts off as a big klutz who knew absolutely nothing outside of her classes, her friends, and her family, she had a strong heart of gold and a passion for life that a lot of people now-a-days lack. Aside from being an airhead, Shin Chae-kyung was a very ideal heroine and quickly grew on you as you followed her through the series. She was loving and she was caring and she was sometimes insightful to how others were feeling. She also had a tendency to "inappropriately" act on her first instinct, doing whatever she liked to do despite all the palace regulations -- which is what I loved about her so much. In contrast to Yoon Eun-hye's character in Coffee Prince, Shin Chae-kyung in Palace was more girly and pretty -- this is emphasized by all the lovely and elegant outfits and dresses she wore throughout the series. No two outfits were the same, and they all fit her really well.

My only complaint about her is that, as the story progressed, she began to change her personality into a much more melancholic one. I'm not sure if this is truly because of the fact that "Palace life" was changing her, but it sure did catch me off-guard. I found that I missed the Shin Chae-kyung from the very beginning of the series -- wherein, even if she didn't quite have enough courage to stand up against people, she still was able to stand up for herself instead of letting people walk all over her. She remained bubbly and happy and figured out how to survive in a place that didn't seem to suit her.

Many even claimed that the palace was molding itself around her and learning how to adjust to her presence. She was the type who didn't let anything change her in the slightest.

Except until she finally fell in love.

After that point, it seemed to be downhill for this girl and suddenly, she was the damsel in distress who didn't seem to have any fighting spirit in her anymore. No matter how many times someone would say, "Our Chae-kyung is a survivor. If you left her in a desert, she would build her own oasis," I rolled my eyes. Because there were so many times when certain things happened that I wished that she would just say, "To hell with palace life, I didn't even want to be Crown Princess in the first place!" But instead, she swallowed the injustices and apologized profusely for something that she didn't need to grovel about.

The girl made many little mistakes throughout her life in the palace, as anyone would expect from someone who grew up carefree and nowhere near strict regulations and the like. For crying out loud, that palace was like some sort of prison, a dictatorship, even, that controlled the everyday lives of each and every person in the royal family as well as their servants. You were not free to do ANYTHING at all.

But I guess that's the life of a royal. Being born and raised in America and living a common, middle-class lifestyle, I guess it's hard for me to understand the direness of strict regulation among a family of royals who are watched and criticized by the public and the government regularly. I understand family duty, obligations and honor... but these guys were taking it a little more extreme.

But anyway, this is my rant on the unfairness of how some females are depicted. Because while I can stand the ditzy airhead of Chae-kyung's character in the beginning of the series, that was because her saving grace was the fact that she was strong of heart and had a lot of good traits going for her such as excellent comedic timing. She also wasn't a complete idiot as she was rather good at what she went to school for and didn't lose out in other parts of her education such as English or the like. She had a knack for catching onto things rather quickly, which is more than I can say for a lot of other shoujo manga girls who are pretty much lost causes from the start.

By the end of the series, having matured and taken on more responsibility, she lost a good part of her airheaded tendencies, but then she gained a whole new flaw. Shin Chae-kyung became a helpless girl who didn't know what to do with herself after falling in love with her prince. She spent a lot of her time being depressed and moody; she suddenly based her life around her prince, crying continuously about him, for him, and with him. She'd lost that strength she had started off with and replaced it with a suddenly dreary life. Her moping around about her unrequited love and the hard adjustment to palace life often got to become irritating repetition.

This is not the Shin Chae-kyung that I had expected. But then again, I guess not everyone can be perfect, right? The story would be too dull and the series wouldn't have it's inevitable environment of tragedy like the rest of the Korean series that everyone fell in love with -- someone has to go through turmoil to fit the trend; or in this case, everyone goes through hell and back again, when a lot of it could have been prevented had someone just stood up for themselves. And then endless crying and melancholy ensues.

Thus is the life of royals, I assume. I can't complain too much. I really DID enjoy the series despite a lot of things that irritated me. And since nothing is perfect, there's no reason for me to expect every series to be ideal in my favor because you cannot please everyone. Nonetheless, I really, really had fun watching Goong. While there were many sad parts, the happy ending and the enjoyable, endearing moments made up for a lot of it.

Setting aside the character of Shin Chae-kyung, the rest of the series was rather enjoyable.

Joo Ji-hoon was cast as the prince, Lee Shin, who grew up in the palace as the lonely and restricted Crown Prince since he was five years old. He knows little about life outside of the palace, and because of his position, has come to the conclusion that the world revolves around him. Unable to publicly allow his emotions to show due to the way he was raised, this young man is probably the loneliest, most depressing main male lead ever. This is Joo Ji-hoon's first main role, I think, and he really does an excellent job portraying the array of emotions and the arrogance and playfulness that the prince struggled with throughout.

While it may have seemed like Lee Shin had everything in the world, there were so many restrictions placed upon him that it was almost akin to having absolutely nothing. All he really wanted was adoring love from his parents, which he could not receive because of his position, and he ended up wanting to have a dream rather than having his life conclusively planned out for him up until his old aged demise.

Regulations are everything in the life of a royal and so every person living in the palace is pretty much controlled to be the same, boring and dull "doll". They are merely present for the public to admire from afar and idolize and respect throughout life. In fact, they don't even really have the power to govern, so it made me wonder why it was even necessary to have a monarchy if they don't even have power. Tradition, maybe? These people were like famous movie stars or something.

It's nice to live the life of a royal when you think about all the nice things they get. Summer palaces, extravagant homes, luscious meals, beautiful clothing, large bedrooms, personal servants... etc., etc.... But compared to the rules and regulations you have to live by just to have all of this -- is it really worth giving up freedom for luxury?

And then what's up with the women staff being restricted to be single for the rest of their lives like nuns? This is a more modernized Korean dynasty, but why are we still succumbing to age-old customs for these poor women? As far as I know, back in historical monarchies, there was a very unofficial law which pretty much said that if you are a woman working as a servant in the royal palace, then you are ultimately the emperor's woman and must remain as such until you either die or are discharged from the palace. This is something I learned from watching various historical Chinese series and I almost assume that this is true to Korean monarchy as well. This is why women working in the palace were never allowed to get married or to be around other men -- it was inappropriate for any of the emperor's women to be touched by others.

But with this modern monarchy and apparently the kind who only has one wife, one queen, you'd think this tradition would have already been abolished.

But anyway, back to the series...

As far as character goes, Lee Shin certainly had a lot of growth and development throughout the series. Going from being an arrogant, self-centered, dull prince to becoming a more caring, more understanding, and less childish man, it really did show as he interacted with Chae-kyung and her family as well as went through his own obstacles. Sure, he started off as the untouchable and charming noble who had a secret heart of gold; but he was spoiled and arrogant nonetheless and it makes one smile to follow his progress.

Granted, he still had his irritating moments. I totally wanted to flip when it seemed like he wouldn't move on from being angry at Chae-kyung for making her first serious mistake. He had been involved in his own scandals, he had hurt her relentlessly, time and time again, and he always pushed her away, being untrusting and being uncaring, and never really thought about things from her point-of-view. The worst thing he did was push her away when he should have just opened up to her.

I understand the need to be alone to think things over when your life comes across obstacles. I understand that he had been so used to carrying his burdens alone that he didn't feel he could rely on anyone to help him. But if you don't allow someone else to share your trouble and then expect her to come running to you at all times... I'm not sure how that works out. If he never really trusted Chae-kyung to be there and if he never bothered to show her that he really DID care about her, how was he to expect her to come to him with her woes and sorrows when someone else was willing to hear her vent and rant? And then when she DID turn to him, all he had to say to her were nasty words akin to, "Well, you dug your own grave, how do you expect to fix it yourself? Don't come crying to me about your problems."

Yea. I think our little Crown Prince had a lot of issue with communicating in a better way.

And as Chae-kyung said, all she really wanted was a sense that he cared, even if all he knew how to say was, "It's okay. Everything will turn out all right." A hug, and some comforting would have been a plus. But Lee Shin couldn't even give her that much.

Whenever he hurt her feelings or betrayed her trust, she easily forgave him; but when she did it, it was like his world suddenly ended and he was extremely stubborn about forgiving her or even giving her the benefit of a doubt.

Some would say that maybe Chae-kyung was asking for too much. Maybe she could have been more understanding. Maybe she shouldn't have run into another man's arms just because he was better at comforting her than her own husband. Maybe she should have pushed harder for Shin's reciprocated feelings.

But the relationship that the prince and princess had was not built on trust to begin with. They continued on throughout the series doubting each other at every turn and every corner. Both of them were at fault for the problems that happened to them again and again. Because neither of them really quite knew what it was like to actually be in love and have that love reciprocated. On top of that, they lacked communication and honesty.

Nevertheless, the relationship between Chae-kyung and Lee Shin had its ups and downs. During the downs, it got to be somewhat irritating because this couple lacked a lot of communication and constantly got into one misunderstanding after another. They were the typical drama romance couple where, as soon as things started to look up for their love lives with each other, something happens, like an ex-girlfriend or a persistent suitor, and then the rapport they had built suddenly comes crashing down. All memories of having had fun and having had wonderful conversations with each other don't exist anymore. But during the happy moments, they were very cute together and knew how to be happy and have fun. It was rather interesting to watch two complete strangers get married and then slowly fall in love with one another, but battling that idea subconsciously just because they didn't think the marriage would last based on an arrangement by an already deceased royal king and a grandfather.

The rest of the characters were also interesting to follow. Chae-kyung's friends were more likeable than Shin's friends, I will personally admit. Kang Hyung was the typical nerd girl with priorities. I was almost expecting her to have a side plot romance for herself because of the fact that she's a pretty girl hidden behind a pair of glasses and a steel fist of duty and schoolwork. But I'm kind of glad that the story didn't do that, because it would have been pointless and kind of ridiculous to include something out of the blue like that. Tweedledee and Tweedledum were exceptionally wonderful as the comedic reliefs and best friends to our heroine -- I really enjoyed watching them. The three comprised a group of loyal friends until the very end, always supporting and looking out for Chae-kyung's well being and always lending an ear for her to vent her frustrations.

As for Shin's friends... I just kept wondering what the point was in having them around. They didn't share in any of his problems and seemed to make his life worse. They were the typical rich and spoiled brats who looked down on commoners, and aside from being a group of dudes for the main male lead to hang out with, I couldn't quite figure out the meaning to their existence. Their only redeeming trait was their sudden interest in Chae-kyung and Shin's welfare by the end of the series -- at that point did I realize that they actually DID exist as Shin's friends and not just as some guys that Shin hung out with randomly. They also seemed to exist as Hyo-rin's "gang of lackeys" when they were trying to help her bully Chae-kyung during random scenes -- these weren't really that significant though.

Lee Yool, also known as Prince Eui-sung, played by Kim Jyeong-hoon was the nice guy third wheel. As someone else had put it, he was a very admirable prince charming. He was sweet, caring, good looking, understanding, and he didn't act all arrogant like a royal normally would. And he fell in love with Chae-kyung and would have been the perfect man for her if not for her pairing with Lee Shin and a few unredeemable flaws that he ended up presenting. But he was a tragic hero. His love was doomed from the start and his life seemed to have been predestined to be miserable. As the former Crown Prince who lost his position at the tender age of five after his father died, he seemed to have lost everything in the world.

I'm not sure whether or not his greed or lust for something he couldn't have came with his fate or if it was just a trait passed onto him through his mother. But it was depressing to watch him continually pine after Chae-kyung, knowing full well that he shouldn't, but refusing to give up because some part of him was persistent to the point that he thought he had a chance at winning over a married woman who was obviously very much in love with her husband. It didn't matter that Chae-kyung told him again and again that she liked Shin, poor Lee Yool just didn't want to let go. And because of that, problems began to present themselves and in the end, his persistent love for Chae-kyung pretty much causes more trouble for her than was really necessary.

He was a very sweet and charming person; I will admit as much. But there is a very blatant flaw in his love for Chae-kyung that only serves to make me pity him rather than feel touched. In contrast, the role of Kang Shin-woo from a different series, You're Beautiful, was also a man who harbored a one-sided love for the main girl in the series; but his love for her was much more endearing and made me feel for him instead of pitying him. Like Yool, he was always there for the girl, lent his shoulder for her to cry on, and took care of and protected her in his own little way. He loved her secretly and due to circumstances, he never pushed for anything more than friendship until the very end when he knew he would never have another chance to tell her how much he loved her. This subject may or may not be touched upon later on in a different article.

Yool, on the other hand, selfishly forced his feelings onto Chae-kyung despite telling her that he didn't need any reciprocation from her. It was as if he thought that his passion would win her over if he kept moving forward and kept working his way into her life. He never heeded the warnings to keep at a distance, and he never seemed to step back to allow her the chance to breathe. Fighting for your love is commendable, but fighting for the heart of a married woman might be somewhat questionable, especially if she's already told you that she can only be friends. AND especially if her every move and action is being scrutinized by the public, by the royal family, and by the elders -- causing a scandalous affair to appear in the media because of his persistence probably wouldn't be the best way to show a girl how much he loved her.

Yool was plain and simply a selfish young man despite his princely attributes. He never once thought to look at how his actions would affect Chae-kyung and only thought about how he would show her how much he loved her. He only ever thought to make himself happy by winning over a girl who was unattainable to him.

In a different sense, the You're Beautiful role of Kang Shin-woo was in love with a single girl who wasn't receiving reciprocated feelings from the guy that SHE had fallen for. While she's still not hooked up or officially dating or serious with another man, Shin-woo had every right to try and woo her over to him -- and yet he still continued to give his girl the room and space she needed to breath. Lee Yool on the other hand, should have given up on the married woman from the start, especially after being warned, time and time again from Shin that he needs to stay away. Because, in contrast, there was much more at stake than just a lost love. Yool could just pick up and leave the country if he wanted to; but the world was watching Chae-kyung and a scandal about an affair would only serve to be disastrous.

The same went for Min Hyo-rin, played by Song Ji-hyo; except her reason for holding on was more legitimate. While Lee Yool fell for a warm and caring girl he had met for the first time and became attracted to because of his lonely history of having no friends, Hyo-rin had been Lee Shin's secret girlfriend for two years. Shin shared a history with Hyo-rin that cannot be replaced so simply. She might have been one of the obstacles in the way of our main couple, but she had good reason to be angry and jealous. In this aspect, I think Lee Shin's arrogant and spoiled personality had to do with their depressing end.

As a royal, he was being forced to marry a stranger in an arranged marriage. But he was also given the choice -- despite his choice being rather insignificant. He proposed to Hyo-rin, was rejected, and so out of spite for his family and the girl who chose her dream over her boyfriend at the age of nineteen, he agreed to marry another girl without even a direct objection. Nineteen is a very young age for a girl to have to give up her dream of becoming a famed ballerina and get married; aside from that, Hyo-rin had thought that he was just joking. I understand why Hyo-rin rejected the marriage proposal -- after all, it wasn't done as a means to tell her that he loved her and wanted to be with her forever. Shin proposed to her just because he didn't want to marry a complete stranger; he even told her so.

In this aspect, the Crown Prince was in the wrong and acted on an immature impulse. Marriage, after all, isn't something to make light of, and especially for the life of a royal, it wasn't something that should have been played with in such a fashion.

I felt sorry for Hyo-rin throughout the series and even found myself trying to make up excuses why Shin shouldn't be romping around with Hyo-rin when he was married to Chae-kyung. I couldn't help but to continuously tell myself, "Hyo-rin shouldn't be interfering. Why is she being so selfish and taking away Chae-kyung's man like that?" But as much as I like Chae-kyung, Hyo-rin really did get the bad end of the stick in this messed up love rectangle. She was not to blame completely for a lot of the scandals and problems going on. If one were to pin a fault on her actions, it would be the fact that she didn't stop persisting when she should have and that she used some rather disagreeable actions to "bully" Chae-kyung. After all, if a girl's present boyfriend suddenly shows up on the news as a married man to another girl, it hurts and he really doesn't deserve to be forgiven.

Hyo-rin, I felt should be able to do better than someone so fickle. But she persisted and then she damaged herself and caused trouble for others. I found that, after letting myself see things from her side of the conflict, I ended up fully respecting and admiring Hyo-rin's courage to want to keep her relationship with Shin going. She's the heroine that I sympathize with because she had been jilted and was merely trying to take back what belonged to her, even at the expense of looking like a horrible person. I felt bad that everyone else was making her out to be the bad woman and the terrible home-wrecker. Granted, I don't condone some of her actions, but apparently when you're in love with someone, you do a lot of stupid things.

Unfortunately, she ended up doing something extremely unforgivable and irresponsible that caused me to completely lose respect for her. For the sake of not giving too much away (assuming that I haven't already spoiled the entire series), I won't mention what it is; but the selfishness of her act made my admiration for her disappear almost completely. Because then she just turned into another damsel in distress who didn't understand that there are much more important things in the world than romance. At that young of an age, there is so much more life to look forward to that such a selfish action can never be the correct way out.

This series emphasized something rather important that many young people don't understand. While devastating at the time, nineteen is an age where you can experience a lot of downfalls, make a lot of mistakes, and still be able to move on. Because you are still young and you are given the opportunity to make mistakes until the sun rises again and again. Because as the elder Queen Mother mentions, after suffering a pain at the age of nineteen, you still have the age of twenty-nine and the age of thirty-nine and so on and so forth to experience more in life and move on from that pain.

A lost love isn't the end of the world -- even at an older age. Mistakes were meant to be made so that people can learn from them and become stronger and wiser for that reason.

The way that these kids were crying made it seem like they only lived until the age of twenty and that life was over after losing things and causing problems.

It was refreshing to see the contrast between the young ones and the eldest grandma; to see the mistakes that the kids made as well as hear it from the wizened and experienced grandmother that, life still continues to move on. It's a matter of whether or not you chose to move on with it.

There is a definite air of melancholy in this script. I noticed almost immediately that each character aside from Chae-kyung's personality at the beginning of the series, liked to mope about how life is unfair to them. Everyone seemed to repetitively remind their fellow co-characters as well as the audience that they were in a state of misery because of how they had "lost everything". Every single one of the royals seemed to be wallowing in their own self-pity, reaching out to tell the world that they are a victim of some untold history. Lee Shin lost his freedom because he became Crown Prince, Lee Yool apparently lost everything in his life when he was banished from the palace, Lee Yool's mother, Hye-jung apparently lost her life as well, and so on and so forth. They were all just trying to prove who was more of a victim in this lifetime and it got old real fast. When Chae-kyung joined the ranks of the depressing, "I lost everything" crew, I think I let out a groan of frustration.

My goodness, life was disastrous and terrible for these people.

I'm glad that in the end, Chae-kyung managed to return to her bubbly personality and her former self.

The life of a royal just seems so depressing when you look at it through their eyes in this series. It makes me determined to take the life of a commoner over rich aristocracy any time. After all, not just the kids, the even the adults seemed to have too many complications going on: rules, restrictions, reputation, etc., etc., etc.... It was frustrating to think that, these people with money and power who can have anything they want, can't seem to enjoy their luxurious lives and just spend day after day wallowing in self misery.

In contrast, a simple and small family such as Shin Chae-kyung's, struggling to make ends meet and rejoicing in any simple achievement made life so much more worthy of enjoyment. Even though they couldn't afford to buy anything extravagant and even though they were always worried that they couldn't provide for the family appropriately, they were happy and they could express their love and desires to their hearts content. And in the end, that was all that really mattered; that they cared for each other, that they were happy with their lives, and that they didn't continuously worry about the non-tragedies of living in a restricted environment.

Palace, or Princess Hours, or Goong... whichever title you prefer to use, is a rather extraordinary series. It is meaningful on many different levels despite it's obvious target at young teenagers -- being that it was adapted from Manhwa for young girls. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, laughing at all the happy moments and crying along with the main characters. No one was essentially so malicious that you would end up hating them -- except maybe Lee Yool's mother, the Princess Hye-jung. But in that sense, I couldn't quite pinpoint what I thought about her.

The adults were really just there to propel the politics and family values and regulations. Chae-kyung's family showed up regulary to be supportive and show what type of hope there was for her outside of the palace, depicting the striking contrast between the two types of families. The King was a rather old fool and I really just got irritated with him a lot, and like with Hye-jung, I wasn't sure how I felt about the Queen's actions. At times, you understand why she does the things she does and why she acts the way she acts. But at other times, you wonder why she has to take things to such extremes and be so strict on everyone around her, including herself and her own blood-related family. She wasn't a very likable person from beginning to end and then her attempt at being turned into an understanding mother-figure was too sudden and too forced.

The court ladies were a lot of fun to follow, and I'm glad that Chae-kyung managed to remold her own two court ladies into friends rather than servants. By the end, even the overly strict and law-abiding, steel-faced Lady Choi ended up giving into Chae-kyung's persistence. It would have been fun if she also ended up finding a suitable male partner as well.

Each episode ended with a teddy bear modeling of our main characters which added onto the endearing feel of the series. I also liked Chae-kyung's Lee Shin pillow double that she made with a smiling Shin on one side and an angry Shin on the other.

Acting was great, direction was good, and the scenery and set of the palace was beautiful.

I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who is interested in a nice romance with a lot of good fun morale and friendship qualities mixed in. Despite a few of the unpleasant parts of the storyline that I question and well, ranted about, I really loved this series. I admit, without those parts that I've mentioned being faulty, I don't think the series would have been the same. Because not everything has to be cheerful and peaceful and peaches and rays of sunshine. Without a little misunderstanding and drama and semi-tragedy, the series would have been really boring. Because who wants to follow through a couple who's lives started off smooth, went by smoothly, and ended with a rainbow and a pot of gold?

As an afterthought, I may have mentioned a lot of things that irritated me, but as tradition has it, my blogs seem to get extremely long with series that I've actually enjoyed, despite the ranting. (For example, the City Hunter review from a while back which was the first review I posted on this blog.) It's the short ones that you'd have to worry about, because with those, I probably wasn't paying enough attention to the story to remember much about it. Of course, that's not always true, because I don't keep specific formats.