[Korean Drama Review] A Gentleman's Dignity (2012)

I finished A Gentleman's Dignity a few days ago. First, I want to begin by saying that I really really enjoyed it. It's been quite a while since I thoroughly enjoyed watching a series as much as I did this one. From the beginning to the very end, I was filled with endless good feelings. At no point did I feel overly annoyed or even fastforward! The last drama series I watched and loved as much was Rooftop Prince, back in May.

Let's talk about this series in detail shall we?

To enjoy A Gentlemen's Dignity you have to accept the fact that there's not much of a plot. The series revolves around four high school friends who are now 40 and are all sexy as hell. For the last 20 years, they've remained big 'ole man-children. Life begins to change for all four because of the women in their lives. As they fall in love, fight, and deal with drama, they finally grow up and become gentlemen with dignity.

For 20 episodes, viewers follow all four couples as they deny having feels, confess, date, break up, get back together, fight, marry, the list goes on. If this series had been about only one couple, I wouldn't have gotten even half way through, let alone have finished. I would have gotten bored with the serial, episodic TV show aspect of the plot. However having four, very different couples for me to fall in love with made the series amazing. Just as I was getting tired, annoyed, or sick of one couple's issues, the series shifted onto another couple's troubles. That's how I remained hooked.

Next is characters!

I ADORED the cast. Some characters I liked more than others, of course, but in general it was a great cast. The lead couple, Do-Jin and Yi-Soo were a joy to watch. They were both beautiful and the development of their relationship was so much fun to watch. They reflected the silly, cute aspects of being in a relationship. I loved watching how they would tease and play with each other. I also loved the honesty of their actions, especially Yi-Soo. I loved watching her cry (I'm not a sadist, really). It was often funny, cute, and a little unreasonable, but that's what made it real. Seven out of ten crying fits with girls are unreasonable, no? I'm sure that's scientifically proven somewhere. And Do-Jin, that handsome devil. He was such a hoot. Sometimes smoking hot, other times completely immature. I loved it.

The other couples were also just as interesting, though I had varying feelings towards them. I absolutely adored Flirty, Adorable Jung-Rok and Super Cool, Boss Lady Min-Sook. They were the most fascinating couple to me. They just seemed so wrong for one another at first, but you gradually see the depth of their love. I actually would have liked more of a focus on the two of them. I felt they made up a little too quickly at the end, but it was so adorable how it happened that I don't much care. Guess I'm easy that way.

Yoon and Meari. Oh, Yoon. If only this man could exist in real life, I'd be a very happy woman. Meari annoyed me sometimes during the series, but in an affectionate big sister kind of way (even though she's older than me). Most times, I found her adorable! She was like a precious puppy following Yoon around. But she got her man in the end, so you go girl!

Tae-San and Se Ra were my least liked couple. They just had too much drama for me. Most of it of their own making. At the same time, I felt they were perfect for one another. They were simply not people I would want to know in real life, unlike the others.

Humor!

A Gentlemen's Dignity was a really funny drama! I laughed so much through all 20 episodes. In particular, I absolutely loved the little scenes of the boys being undignified and ungentlemanly at the beginning of each episode. While they often ruined the mood of the previous episode if it had happened to end on a dramatic note, they helped keep the series light-hearted. Perfect, if that's what you wanted like I did. There were also a lot of spoofs and running jokes throughout the entire series. The humor is what made this series the most enjoyable for me. I can say with 91% accuracy that I would not have finished the series if it hadn't been so darn funny!

The Soundtrack!

Was amazing! Each song was perfect for the particular scene. The songs were catchy and easy to fall in love with. The best part was when music was used for comic relief. Check out episode 18 to see what I mean. Also, check out some of my favorite songs from the OST below. (I'll leave it at three for now, but seriously the entire OST is simply beautiful.)

The Ending!

As I was watching the last episode, I was increasingly nervous as it didn't seem to be ending. The first 45 minutes of the episode were just a continuation of episode 19, but without that "things are coming to a close" feeling. Endings are so very important as they are the last thing you see. If I hate the ending of a series, it often ruins the entire series for me and I DID NOT want that to happen with A Gentleman's Dignity. Alas, ten minutes from the very end brought an enormous smile to my face. The ending was perfect. Fun, silly, and oh-so-cute, perfectly suitable to the couple and the series as a whole. Our man-children finally become gentlemen with dignity.

One little thing that bugged me:

Some things didn't get quite as wrapped up as they should have. [SPOILER ALERT]
Do-Jin's illness and Yi-Soo's relationship with her mom, for example. I would have liked that background information.

FINAL VERDICT!

As I said earlier: If you want to watch A Gentleman's Dignity for a plot, you'll be disappointed. There isn't much of one and the attempts at plotting are not very good. However, if you want to watch simply for a relaxing, enjoyable 20 hours of laughter and smiles, hot men, and super fun characters, I sincerely recommend you watch this.