Pinocchio

Pinocchio is an intriguing, intelligently written and highly thought-provoking drama. The storyline was gripping, the characters felt very genuine and the performances were perfect. There was such commendable courage, unconditional love, and selflessness shown in this drama, this brought forth the emotions and conveyed the intensity of the moments spectacularly. A very intellectually engaging drama.

This drama meticulously portrays how much a family can be affected by the negligence of the media and how a person overcomes from it's aftereffects along with romance and humour

First what attracts me to this drama is Lee Jung Sok, how can you not be with that pretty face? and of course, his good acting skills.

The casting is OK, however the chemistry between the leads are of average, but both have good acting skills, surprisingly even the supporting cast performs really well. Both Kim Young-Kwang (as Seo Beom-jo) & Yoon Kyun-Sang (as Ki Jae-myung) are both impressive, specially Yoon. BTW, they do look a bit alike, even the actors who played the younger version of the brothers are outstanding. There are a lot of characters but audience won't get confused as it was presented really well. Kudos to that!

I think the title Pinocchio is novel. Don't think I ever watched a show about how one has to stay honest all the time. Kind of a fresh idea. The theme of this series is serious, actually a very serious topic we need to ponder and rethink how it affects us. The ethical issue of reporting and the ethics of being a reporter, which unfortunately is not being explore enough.

It has 20 episodes which I think can be shortened to maybe 16 or 18. Some episodes are rather boring with all the spread and emphasis on the romance scene of the leads. The story has a couple of holes which I think is not consistent or sensible.

1. Why did In-ha insist on calling Ki Ha-myung "Choi Dal-po"? Choi represents her uncle, a family member. Since she is in love with Ha-myung, isn't she be more welcoming to the idea of having a romantic relationship with a person outside of her family? Moreover, she loves Ki Ha-myung and is trying her best to help him have his revenge, addressing him of his true identity and name should be the very first step of his healing and regaining what he had lost for 13 years

2. Song Cha-ok has so many spare phones but In -ha just happened to pick the right one? What is the probability of that luck?

This series is entertaining, with all the main ingredients available - love, family, friendships, comedy, loyalty & a glimpse of Korean business culture. The only downside I feel is it puts too much emphasis on the romantic aspect of the leads. On the personal level, Ki Ha-myung decided not to use the materials (the retrieved texts) because of his love for In-ha, seriously, your Mom committed suicide & your brother is in jail (for life) because of the setup, and here you will give everything up because of your love for a girl. It is not like it will cost her life. It exaggerated the whistle blower consequences.

On a professional level, Ki Ha-myung decided to forego his motto of what a true reporter should be - divulge and report only the truth to the world. I doubt someone so emotional can be an impartial reporter and carry out his job. In real life scenario, you don't get a second chance or opportunity to let go of the explosive material and wait for another chance which in all possibility may never come as the bad guys will be prepared. But this is Kdrama, so of course, there is drama...

The greatest things about this series was the exploration of world of media. It drove the story pretty steadily without a moment of boredom. The romance was the icing on the cake. It did bring up the series as a whole. You can't fake perfection and this series was it. I still get flashbacks sometimes of some of my favorite parts in this series. The ending was pretty satisfying and wrapped up the series really nicely.

So it's no secret that I generally either hate or am greatly disappointed by older k-dramas (my other reviews speak for themselves). I often find the older "style" of k-dramas makes them feel too dated or too much like a soap-opera. Newer k-dramas stand up to serious scrutiny and can be as entertaining (if not much more!) than western dramas.

That being said this was a very pleasant surprise! I have had "Pinocchio" on my watch-list for a very long time, and I initially tried watching it over a year ago and dropped it after just two episodes because I couldn't get past the fake "Pinocchio syndrome." This time I decided to give it another chance and just go along with the premise, and boy am I glad that I did!

Pinocchio is a very well written and acted drama. While it does suffer from some dated aspects like soundtrack and camerawork/cinematography, the very engaging plot and fantastic acting more than make up for it. This story is extremely relevant, both then and now, and it takes a look at important issues like integrity and media manipulation. Yes, there is a love story, but honestly that is not the main focus, although the love story is cute and the actors had good chemistry. I really enjoyed every character in this, they are all very well rounded and well acted by the entire ensemble. Our lead Lee Jong-Suk was terrific in this, he has great chemistry with both his romantic interest as well as his brother and even his romantic rival. I have enjoyed later/more current dramas with Yoon Kyun-Sang and Kim Young-Kwang, so seeing their familiar faces was a plus. The story is engaging and keeps you interested right up till the end, and Lee Jong-Suk really carries the show with his incredible acting, he seriously is one of the saddest actors I have ever seen.

If you, like me, tend to shy away from older dramas, definitely give this a shot, it's a rare older drama that feels relevant and is done very well.