Thursday, November 14, 2013

What's Up Fox

I picked this drama because I saw it in a blog article on dramabeans about Noona Romances.  Being a Noona myself I love this story trope.  There’s something about the younger man doggedly perusing the older woman that just pulls me in.  There aren’t as many Noon Romances as I’d like and sometimes it is the secondary story.  So if you have some suggestions I’d really appreciate it.

There were several things about What’s Up Fox that I really loved and a few that fell short for me.  First, some more mature themes were mainstays throughout the drama.  The main character, Go Byung Hee, is a reporter for an adult man’s magazine and writes erotic stories along side actual reports relevant to the male readers.  The daydream scenes of her stories were hilarious.  Because sensuality was such a main theme in the story it dealt with sex in a much more straightforward way than is typical in a Korean drama.  It was refreshing.

The humorous moments were well placed throughout the show.  It was funny without being over the top, and added in just when it was getting too serious.  Being a Rom-Com, that’s part of the formula anyway, but I found myself enjoying the series more because of it.  Additionally, there were very few instances that I felt the story progressed too slowly.  The whole show moved along at a steady pace, never really very fast, but moving things along at a rate that I wasn’t bored with it.

The main couple was great together.  Park Chul Soo took a little bit of time to admit his feelings, even after the big whoops of the first episode, but once he committed he was dedicated to wooing her.  Just the way he looked at her was adorable, puppy love all the way.  Chul Soo did his best to prove to Byung Hee that he was really in love with her, but she fought against the idea valiantly.  It was great to watch her evolution, starting out seeing him as nothing more than a little brother to denial that she was attracted to him, and finally to accepting what her heart had been trying to tell her all along.  Their chemistry was just right, the perfect amount of tension and playful banter.

Doctor Bae Hee Myung just never really felt all the strong to me.  I understand that the character was written to be pretty low key and accepting, but as a part of a love triangle he just fell short.  Doctor Bae never fought for Byung Hee, he never made an attempt to really tell her that he loved her.  And on that note, he admitted that he didn’t feel love or want to feel love.  He just wanted someone to live with, something comfortable and warm.  Not the kind of talk that sweeps a girl off her feet.  As far as a second male lead goes he just didn’t really make me pull for him.  Perhaps I’m comparing Doctor Bae to other second male leads and that’s why he just seems lacking.  But to me the other guy in the love triangle should be like Ji Hoo (Boys Over Flowers) or Kang Shin Woo (You’re Beautiful).

The side story of Go Jun Hee and Park Byung Gak was so much fun.  They were just as strong as the main couple, for me anyway.  Their love-hate relationship was hilarious.  They were just as horrible to one another and then would turn around and be wonderfully sweet.  As they grew closer and closer to one another I just couldn’t help but root for them even though they were seventeen years apart in age.  It was just such a sweet love that formed between them.

As we all know I’m a sucker for a happy ending and What’s Up Fox had a satisfyingly happy ending.  The stories were wrapped up well and the things I’d been hoping for through the whole show came to pass.  I got the warm-fuzzies, and really that’s what I love at the end of the day.  The ending didn’t have as much punch or fireworks as I wanted, and was just a little rushed I think.  But even though they didn’t show as much sensuality and love as I wanted they left it open enough I could imagine.  All in all this was a good time.    

For a full synopsis of the story check out this link.

Noona's Rating
Overall: 7.6 (I rated this 4 stars on DramaFever.com)
Story/Writing: 8
Cast/Actors: 8
OST: 6
Sets/Costumes: 8
Feels: 8

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