‘Secret Garden’ delights Filipino drama fans
One of Korea's top 2010 dramas is showing on local television and it has won thousands of fans. As reported by Yahoo! OMG! Philippines last April, "Secret Garden" (Hyperlink: http://ph.omg.yahoo.com/blogs/okpop/secret-garden-soon-air-local-tv-20110404-045824-679.html) is a highly successful Korean drama starring popular stars Hyun Bin ("My Name is Kim Sam Soon") and Ha Ji Won ("Hwang Jin Yi"). This award winning melodrama started airing on GMA-7 early this summer and as expected, it has become the talk of the town.
"Secret Garden" tells the story of Owen or "Kim Joo Won" (played by Hyun Bin), a rich and arrogant mall heir who falls in love with a simple stuntwoman named Jaime or "Gil Ra Im" (played by Ha Ji Won).
Prospective viewers need not be turned off by the drama's seemingly formulaic "rich man-poor girl" storyline as "Secret Garden" has a lot of unique features to offer. In the middle of the drama, the two main protagonists experience a "body switch" which functions to make them understand each other's worlds and also provides a lot...and I mean, a lot of hilarious awkward situations for all the characters. The reason for the "body switch" becomes more and more significant as the drama progresses. "Secret Garden" is definitely not a typical drama. The story is full of surprises for the viewer to look forward to. Reminiscent of the rich subplot of the popular drama "Coffee Prince", "Secret Garden" also features an interesting story between Oska (played by Yoon Sang Hyun) and Sophie or Yoon Seul (played by Kim Sa Rang), a woman intended to marry Owen.
There is a saying that imitation is the best form of flattery and this is true for "Secret Garden". The drama has spawned countless parodies and commercials of its signature scenes including the "foam kiss" and the "sit-up scene". In fact, K-Pop royalty Big Bang has done their own parody of the drama as part of their comeback strategy early this year.
"Secret Garden" is indeed drama at its guilty pleasure best so if you haven't tuned in yet, start tuning in. "Secret Garden" airs Mondays to Fridays at around 1030PM on GMA-7.
