Title: 시크릿 부티크 | Sikeurit Butikeu | Secret Boutique
Genre: Melodrama | Drama
Episodes: 32
Broadcast Network: SBS
Broadcast Period: September 18, 2019 to November 28, 2019

Synopsis:

Jenny Jang is a beautiful, successful and powerful right hand woman of Kim Yeo-Ok, the owner and head of a conglomerate company, the Deo Group. She rose from success from the trenches of being helper of a bathhouse and dirt poor through hard work after Kim Yeo-Ok took her in her wing. She grew up being close to Kim Yeo-Ok’s son, Wi Jung-Hyeok, whom she secretly loves and brought with her as she rose to success, her childhood friend, Yoon Sun-Woo. Jenny rans as well a very unique boutique that doesn’t sell only fashion lines but solutions to fix the mess of powerful people get into. She knows many secrets that people do not want to reveal including the people she grew up with. And, she too, has her own hidden agenda as everybody thinks she’s just ambitious, but, she’s actually driven by a much deeper reason. A secret that’s only known to Yoon Sun-Woo as they work together to make her plans of revelations a reality even at the peril of their lives and others.

Characters:

• Kim Sun Ah as Jenny Jang | Jang Do Young
• Park Seo Kyung as 9 Years Old Do Young
• Jung Da Eun as 18 Years Old Do Young
• Jang Mi Hee as Kim Yeo Ok
• Park Hee Bon as Wi Ye Nam
• Jo Min Ah as 18 Years Old Ye Nam
• Go Min Shi as Lee Hyun Ji
• Kim Jae Young as Yoon Sun Woo
• Lee Shi Woo as Teen Sun Woo
• Kim Tae Hoon as Wi Jung Hyuk
• Yoo Jung Woo as 20 Years Old Jung Hyun
• Ryu Won as Wi Ye Eun
• Ryu Seung Soo as Cha Seung Jae
• Han Jung Soo as Butler Hwang Suk Joo
• Kim Young Ah as Mrs. Hwang
• Yeo Moo Young as Wi Dong Sup
• Park Byung Ho as Monk Woon San
• Kim So Young as Cha Soo Bin
• Kim Bup Rae as Do Joon Sup
• Joo Suk Tae as Oh Tae Suk
• Jang Ryool as Lee Joo Ho
• Jang Young Nam as Park Joo Hyun
• Yoon Ji In as Kim Mi Jin
• Choi Dong Hwa as Ye Joon
• Im Chul Hyung as Jo Yang Oh
• Jung Wook Jin as Lee Sang Hoon
• Song Ji Woo as Yoon Hye Ra
• Park Jae Joon as Jang Do Yoon
• Baek Seo Yi as J-Boutique’s Employee

My Review:

Ever since I’ve watched Kim Sun-A in “My Name is Kim Samsoon”, I have admired her as an actress. In fact, “My Name is Kim Samsoon” k-drama is the first k-drama I’ve watched after doing a hiatus of 3 years of not watching Korean dramas. That drama was so good that I got interested of watching again k-drama series after being frustrated for so long of the repeating story lines and plots of Korean dramas 3 years before taking a break from it all. Kim Sun-A became one of the actresses I watched out for every time she has a project and rarely did she disappoints me. Thus, how can I miss this one?

So, What do I Like About this K-Drama?

(1) Kim Sun-A is as usual a powerhouse on this k-drama. I can’t even see any reflections of her dowdy character in “My Name is Kim Samsoon” because on this k-drama she oozes in style and beauty. She also got thinner from the last k-drama I’ve seen her. Bottom line, the story became interesting because of her even if it is a typical revenge drama.

(2) Of all the actors on this k-drama besides Kim Sun-A who shined is Go Min-Si as Lee Hyun-Ji. She has spunk and her role is quite interesting. She gave an added flavor to the common story line, otherwise, this k-drama would have been just okay for me.

(3) The writer and the director effectively made certain twists and cliff hangers that made me want to watch the next episode.

(4) I love the clothes and fashion shown here especially those worn by Kim Sun-A and Jang Mi Hee. It is like watching New York fashion week.

(5) It is interesting that k-dramas now are starting to come out of their shell of avoiding sensitive subjects brought by a very conservative society. This k-drama started to delve into same sex relationships on the small screen. It is the first time I’ve seen an actual character in a k-drama with an open role of a gay man.

What I do Not Like About this K-Drama?

Kim Sun-A recently tends to choose projects with edge and grit. She doesn’t go anymore with the typical romcoms like “My Name is Kim Samsoon”, maybe because she’s not getting any younger. And, her choices of story lines are something I do agree and enjoy watching. However, this K-drama was a little bit passé in story line. If not for her and Go Min-Si, I will probably not watch it.

(1) I find the male leads kinda uninteresting and weak.

(2) For some reason, the way the story led to in the ending is quite unsatisfactory for me. After all the bad stuff Kim Yeo-Ok did, she got off quite easy.

(3) The some sort romantic angle between Jenny Jang and Yoon Sun-Woo and Lee Hyun-Ji and Yoon Sun-Woo were not that effective. They were kinda bland and uninteresting. Surprisingly, if I would made to choose, the latter pairing is much better than the former and it would have been better if they have explored, or, better yet, the latter pairing ended up together.

Would I recommend this K-Drama? Yes

My Rating to this Drama
( See My Rating System: ) 3/5 Stars

OST:

01. Masquerade – Aalia
02. My All – Jung Gi Go