Little Women is a Korean drama inspired by the original literary classic novel of the same title. It may not be considered an adaptation for they made significant changes in the story. But we can definitely see hints of inspiration and likeness from the original novel. We can consider this drama as a darker, mysterious and thrilling version of storytelling of the tale of the sisters, with hints of realistic, modern and timely tackling of poverty and its relation to the society.
The story is about the Oh sisters, who all grew up in a poor family while striving their best and aiming to live a better life. While living their seemingly ordinary life, everything turned upside down starting from death of the eldest sister Oh In Joo's friend who left her a huge sum of money, which paved way to their involvement to the rich family of Park Jae Sang and Won Sang Ah. Their eventual discoveries of money embezzlement, murders and an unusual blue orchid which are all linked to the existence of a secret society.
The plot is so interesting and the storytelling is exceptional. Also, this drama showed us what kind of output quality a drama would be when you combine all the bests in the industry, from the writer, main director, production team up to the casts. Unexpectedly, Little Women turned out to be one of the best Korean dramas I've ever watched.
WRITING & CINEMATOGRAPHY
The story and the writing is definitely noteworthy. They made the story so interesting with no boring episodes starting from the first episode up to the last. The pacing is spot on and the build up was awesome. They end each episode significantly that will make you hooked and eagerly craving for the next one. I love the use metaphors and symbolism within the drama. The details, hints and connections were intricately written. The plot also has a lot of unexpected twists that really made the viewers engaged. Most viewers even kept on predicting about the truth and of what's gonna happen next which at most times, turning out to be entirely different. Cinematography was notably great and each scene is so artistically made. It is even comparable more with what we usually see in films than in tv series.
CASTS & PERFORMANCES
This drama is definitely star studded and casts comprises of big names in the Korean entertainment industry. Starting off with the eldest sister Oh In Joo, played by Kim Go Eun who is a personal favorite of mine. Coming recently from her notable performance in Yumi's cells which added a best actress award under her belt, she became an entirely different persona and effectively transformed to Oh In Joo. Oh In Joo's character is your typical eldest sister who prioritizes her responsibilities in the family. She lives her life centered on her younger sisters, most especially the youngest one. Contrastingly, despite her sense of responsibility that led her to dream of becoming rich for the betterment of her sisters, she can be considered clueless and vulnerable at most times. Kim Go Eun played Oh In Joo's character to perfection. She really aimed to make In joo's character likeable despite her silliness which actually became our dose of comedic inserts from time to time pacifying the intenseness of current situations. As a big fan of the actress, I consider Oh In Joo as her best character yet for she was able to show more of her great acting ability. I can say that she did give her all in this drama.
Second sister Oh In Kyung is played by Nam Ji Hyun. She works as a reporter and is described as someone who has a strong sense of justice. Her character is tenacious and will find ways to know and reveal the truth. The youngest sister Oh In Hye is played by Park Ji Hu. The youngest is a really talented painter but I find her character stubborn at times which is typical given her age. Her dream is to get away from her family for she really feels burdened of always at the receiving end from her older sisters. Despite not having a lot of scenes together, these 3 main actresses were able to show a convincing chemistry as sisters.
Other characters worth mentioning is Hwa young played by Choo Ja Hyun. Her appearance in the drama maybe minimal but her presence is strongly felt in the whole drama. Choo Ja Hyun's performance effectively attained this. One of the men who got involved in the Oh sisters lives was Jong Ho, his character I think is equivalent to Laurie in the original novel. Another significant character is Choi Do Il, the mysterious money laundering expert who entered In Joo's life after the death of Hwa young. Wi ha joon was really good in playing this character and really exude that mysterious, sexy, smart and tactical aura of Do il. I love how he effectively made the viewers really doubt his character, if he should be trusted or not and whether his eventual concern for In joo's safety is still only about money. Nevertheless, he was like a hero for In joo, always showing up whenever her life is in danger. Worth mentioning also is Kim Mi Sook, the Oh sister's great aunt. Her character is vital and also has connections with the secret society.
For the villains, we have Uhm ki joon as Park Jae Sang, the power ambitious husband of Won Sang Ah. He feels very familiar because of her popular villain character from Penthouse. He is really effective in these type of characters that it is now viewed as stereotype. Great applaud to Uhm Ji Won who played as Won Sang Ah. I so love her performance! She was the perfect insane villain I have ever seen in a Korean drama. Sang Ah's character will definitely live on as one of the most iconic villain characters in the korean entertainment history.
Overall, all the performances of the actors are good in my opinion and casting were definitely on point including the side characters. I also like how they showed the Oh sisters as realistic characters. All with their positive points and weaknesses.
TOUCH ON RELEVANT SOCIAL ISSUES
One thing I really loved about this drama is their touch on relevant issues such as feminism, poverty and society. The unique thing about this drama is the strong presence of feminism felt overall in the drama. This show is actually a story about these young women, also made or created by women. The writer and the main director are women who are both considered experts in their field. As the story progresses, the writer effectively made us wonder on who the main villain is. Given this touch of feminism, it is expected that the main villain turned out to be a woman as well. Next is poverty and it's relation to the society. Though it may differ depending on one's country, the line between the rich and the poor will always be relatively felt. How one's social status becomes an indication of a particular person's experience in work, opportunities, justice and life in general. Lots of realizations may also be derived from the drama. Thoughts will come into mind such as is it worth sacrificing one's life for ambition, that money is essential but may also be considered evil. Greed for money and power will never end up in a good way at the end. I like how they ended the drama showing that there's no shortcut to success, that all will have to experience hardships and that the good will still win over evil.
SEVERAL SHORTFALLS
Even if I do consider this at the top of my list of the best Korean dramas ever made, still there are shortfalls in my opinion. First is the lack of character development for most of the characters especially with the Oh sisters. Through all the hardships that money and circumstances brought to the eldest In joo, she did point out her learnings and realizations in the last episode but still, it felt lacking. Second is about several unresolved issues at the end of the drama. Though I like how they ended it by showing how the good won over evil, it wasn't shown or even implied on what will become now of the Jeongran society after the death of its key persons. I understand though that it may be intentional on the part of the writer as she did want to focus on the outcome of the sisters, still getting what they actually desire in their lives. But leaving these out arose questions on certain parts of the story which were left hanging. Obviously, I'm not a fan of open endings. Last would be the Do il and In joo pairing. I understand that this is not a romantic drama and that the parting end of the two was reasonable given their current personal circumstances. It won't hurt though to at least satisfy the viewers who have come to love this pairing considering the subtle way they build up the romantic possibilities between the two.
TO SUM UP
Overall, Little women is one amazing drama and I really highly recommend everyone to watch this. Some may get confused for the details of the writing was so intricate that will keep your brain cells busy, figuring out connections of everything. Interestingly, the drama also triggered the feelings of doubt for almost all of the characters seems to have secrets of their own. But this just made the drama even more interesting and appealing for the viewers. For those who are fans of mysterious and thrilling shows, this drama will definitely be up to their taste. Little Women's exceptional storytelling did elevate the expectations of Korean drama fans, for more high quality made shows.
RATING: 9.5/10
