Short Synopsis: Dong Hae was born and raised in America by his mentally deficient mother Anna Laker. His father is a man he has never met and known only to him as “James”. He came to korea to compete in a sporting event and to meet up with his girlfriend. A series of unfortunate incidents happened and now he found himself betrayed, heartbroken and facing a complete career change to make a living. Soon, he met a good woman to love and met people that will forever change his life.
A month ago, I asked the friend who hardsubbed this drama @SD-AD.net, a.k.a. “The Site”, to tell me if downloading and watching this 159episode drama is worth my time. Unfortunately for me, I only got to read his reply to my message weeks after and by that time, 70+episodes are already safely downloaded on my lappy and I have already seen half of it *Orz* still, im glad he was able to warn me of what to expect… when watching dramas, “forewarned is forearmed” is always good for my sanity^^ I always want to know in advance what im up against^^
*credit uploader "kimsik4"
Actually, I got interested in this drama ‘coz I saw some episodes of it in a hotel room in Taipei earlier this year. I kinda liked the cast and saw a good number of people from “The Site” are requesting for Smile Donghae. Must be good I thought, besides, it got some pretty decent ratings, awesome ratings in fact! Now that I’ve seen half of this drama, I know exactly why it was a hit with the general public(in Korea). It’s the winning mix of evil villains, the poor unfortunate hero/heroine, revenge, hatred, lies, secrets, and of course, the cliffhangers in every episode. Why those kind of stories, situations and characters appeals to the drama viewing populace is beyond my comprehension which makes me ask myself, why the h*ll do I consider myself a drama afficionado when i expect common sense, rationality and logic in dramas when I know for a fact that they are practically non-existent in most soap opera *Orz* forgive me people, clearly, the problem lies with me ;)
Haaay... *exhale* … I hate to admit this, but, my patience was defeated by this drama *Orz* im ashamed to admit this ‘coz this is only the 2nd drama that I could not bring myself/force myself to finish. Based on my tract record, I really, really thought I would/could finish this drama no matter what but, the final straw for me was when i took a peek at the last episode. It was a happy ending for the leads alright but my sense of justice was horrified at what happened to the villains. *no spoilers* I had to stop ‘coz I was seriously afraid I would go bald from pulling my hair out of frustration, trying to make sense of the scenes and situations im watching onscreen. Characters unnecessarily making a fool of themselves or choosing to make life difficult by making mountains out of molehills episode after episode after episode is, I have to admit, too much for me to watch. I could have stretched my patience had this drama been a little shorter BUT, 159episodes is uber much of a sacrifice for me, I wouldn’t/couldn’t do it even if the pope himself promise to canonize me for sainthood in the event of my death as a reward for my patience ^^
Nevertheless, asian drama fans all over the world, you don’t have to take the same route that I took, please go ahead and watch this if youre the type that likes those long running American/Mexican soap operas and the likes ‘coz Smile Donghae is definitely of the same mold. you have to please take note that Smile Donghae was NUMERO UNO(number 1) in the ratings for the longest time so most people will say there's nothing at all wrong with it and its me and my tastes who's got a problem *Orz* As for me, im looking for the next drama to watch, I haven’t seen a good one lately so here’s hoping and praying that the new year will bring great asian dramas for 2012. Until then, im leaving you with an MV starring the main love pair of this drama, watch it please for I’m positive you’ll like what you’ll see …
*credit uploader "wangshouyu"
