Genre: Romance, comedy, fantasy, thriller
Episodes: 16
Aired: 2015-Jul-03 - 2015-Aug-22
Network: TVN
Synopsis:
Na Bong-Sun (Park Bo-Young) works as an assistant chef. Because of her timid personality and low self-esteem, she doesn't have any friends. Since she was a child, she has been able to ghosts because of her shaman grandmother. One day, she becomes possessed by seductress ghost Shin Soon-Ae.
Kang Sun-Woo (Cho Jung-Seok) is a star chef. Na Bong-Sun has a secret crush on him. He is good looking and confident as a chef. Even though he is popular with women, he has yet to get over his ex-girlfriend. He begins to notice Na Bong-Sun after her sudden change.
Main Character(s): There were really two main characters (sometimes sharing the same body!)
Na Bong-Sun and Shin Soon-Ae. So, here's the down low on these girl(s). Na Bong-Sun is a timid girl who wants to be a chef. She's always had the ability to see ghosts, so she's very jumpy and introverted because of it. She kind of comes off as a bit of a cry-baby at first, but I think she deserves forgiveness because she is haunted like 24/7 by ghosts. She also has a secret crush on Kang Sun-Woo (who everyone calls "Chef").
Shin Soon-Ae is a ghost (played by Kim Seul-Gi when she's in ghost form). She died almost three years ago and she needs to move on before she becomes an evil spirit. She believes the reason she's stuck is because she died a virgin. If she can only seduce a man (by using the bodies of unassuming women) then she can pass to the afterlife. She finds Na Bong-Sun, who's frequency exactly matches Shin Soon-Ae. That means that Soon-Ae gets stuck in Bong-Sun. And hilarity ensues!
I love love love Park Bo-Young. She plays both the timid Bong-Sun and the saucy Soon-Ae perfectly. They are two very distinct characters and she's just the best at being both. She also is adorable and all of her other roles are just as wonderful. I cannot say how much I love her.
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| OMG, she's just so adorable and hilarious |
Love Interest: Kang Sun-Woo AKA "Chef." He's a bit of a jerk. He's cocky and self-centered. He's a famous and celebrated chef and very popular with the ladies. However, he might be that way because he got his heart super broken before. He isn't the nicest to Bong-Sun/Soon-Ae at first because they get in the way. However, this story is just as much about his development as well.
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| This GIF cracks me up. Bo-Young, Jung-Seok, and Seul-Gi are awesome together. |
Allies and Enemies:
Seobinggo - The hilarious Shaman woman who can see Soon-Ae and tries to get her to give up her grudge and move on.
Lee So-Hyeong - Sun-Woo's first love.
Kang Eun-Hee - Sun-Woo's sister and Choi Sung-Jae's wife.
Choi Sung-Jae, Sun-Woo's brother-in-law, a cop, and Soon-Ae's first love! What a small world! He hangs around the restaurant to see Sun-Woo and his wife, Kang Eun-Hee.
Shin Myeong-Ho - Soon-Ae's father, he owns a small restaurant that Soon-Ae used to be the cook for. He drinks too much ever since his daughter died and Soon-Ae, as Bong-Sun, befriends him.
Heo Min-Soo - Hilarious Assistant Chef who kisses up to Sun-Woo and abuses his authority with the other chefs.
Jo Dong-Cheol, Seo Joon, Choi Ji-Woong - the other chefs who make up the whole gang at the restaurant. (Also, I have a crush on
Kwak Si-Yang as Seo Joon. I love that Min-Soo gets mad at him for being so hot, hehe)
Random Thoughts:
This show rocks! It was tight plot and pacing the whole way through. Some stories start out great and then get sloppy in the end, but Oh My Ghostess kept the awesome going the whole way. I wonder if it's because the writer's knew the entire plot and never diverged, or if it's because the actors were so great with good chemistry. Probably a mix of both.
Each character got a good and solid backstory and character arc. The chef starts out cocky and selfish and he learns to care when he learns to love (awww, a reformed jerk, I have a soft spot for them, I can't help it). The main girl starts out timid because she grew up able to see ghosts. So, while I usually feel really lukewarm about timid heroines, I thought Bong-Sun had a valid reason for it. And I loved seeing that she developed as a character because of her relationship with the ghost and her ability (she also developed because of her relationship with the chef, but that wasn't the only reason. So I applaud the writers). The ghost's personal story was great. I did not think they were going to give her such a complex and developed story, but it is a huge part of what drove the main conflict/plot. I really liked Kim Seul-Gi in
Flower Boy Next Door. She was so quirky and weird in that. And I thought she brought a lot of that great energy to her role as the wayward ghost Shin Soon-Ae.
The love story was actually really well developed and sweet. Who would have thought that a love story that started out as a ghost trying to score with the main guy by using the main girl's body would turn into something so sweet. But it did (trust me).
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| OMG, look at this chemistry! <3 |
Love the side characters. The assistant chefs were great comedic energy, and I love how they struggled with the hierarchy of the restaurant (both because of age, title, and romantic entanglements). I feel like Min Seo had his own mini-character arc. I started out really annoyed by him, but I kind of found him adorably flawed by the end.
Didn't love Chef's younger sister, Kang Eun-Hee, but she was a character who played her part well. I think that the mother was a fascinating side character. And I loved her relationship with the shaman. The fact that she treated the shaman like her boyfriend was hilarious, constantly texting her and asking her to go out for food and drinks. The shaman herself was a great character too. She was a good mini-adversary for the ghost, but she wasn't a bad guy. She was just someone who wanted something the ghost didn't (at first).
Overall, I loved this drama. It won my Best Drama of 2015 Award in my end-of-the-year post. And I think it really is a great watch for people whether they're fans of Korean Dramas or not.
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| Oh My Ghostess Jjang! |
