Tags
CNBLUE, Girl's Day, Kdrama, kdramas, kim yoon hye, Kim Young Dae, korean actors, Korean drama, Korean Movie, Korean Series, Korean TV series, Korean TV shows, Lee Jung Shin, Lee Seung Hyup, Lee Sung Kyung, N.Flying, Sh**ting Stars, Shooting Stars, Sojin, Yoon Jong Hoon
Shooting Stars (also going by its stylish name, Sh**ting Stars) is a delightful, adorable drama with lots of fun, ebullience and heart. Imbued with charming characters and excellent chemistry across the board, the show won my heart completely.
ABOUT
The drama revolves around a PR agency. Gong Tae Sung (Kim Young Dae) is a top star represented by Starforce Entertainment and Oh Han Byul (Lee Sung Kyung) is a competent PR team leader there. Both go back a long way since they met in college. The show depicts their journey to love, as well as giving us a ‘behind the scenes’ look of stars and the people associated with their management.
REVIEW
Shooting Stars is an absolute feel-good drama that is brimming with comedy, fun and romance. There is a perfect contemporary vibe and the show is painted with vibrant colours. Each and very character, big or small, leaves a lasting impression and contributes in making the show so entrancing. Usually rom-coms are not funny enough and lean more towards romance but Shooting Stars delivers many ‘laugh out loud’ moments. The show gives us a ‘behind the scenes’ glimpse of the entertainment world — the shoots, the handling of scandals, the stars, fandom, involvement of media, stalker fans, anti fans.
The drama has many couples (around 5!) and I loved all of them so much. Each pair has a different energy and dynamics and the drama provides oodles of chances for us to feel butterflies.
The main couple, Gong Tae Sung and Oh Han Byul, gives us a ‘bickering friends to lovers’ romance. They are ADORABLE. They remind me of the classic OTPs. He is a really cute and a bit immature guy who is a soft-hearted person. She is competent, mature and sassy. I loved both characters so much! Kim Young Dae is winsome and my latest Kdrama crush. Lee Sung Kyung looks gorgeous and delivers a fabulous performance.
Kang Yoo Sung is the senior manager in the agency. LOVED this character — mature, thoughtful and easygoing. Yoon Jong Hoon gives a swoony performance. Park Ho Young is another employee at the firm who is very hard working and tomboyish. Their pairing is unexpected but so satisfying. Kim Yoon Hye owns the part. Kang Shi Duk is a rookie actor discovered by Ho Young and he one-sidedly falls in love with her. It’s a cute side plot and Lee Seung Hyup is adorable as the broody newcomer.
CNBLUE‘s Lee Jung Shin plays the legal advisor to the firm, Do Soo Hyuk. Soo Hyuk is a bit eccentric but as we move forward, we see so many layers to him. His bromance with Gong Tae Sung is one of my favourite things in the drama. And it’s lovely to see the gradual closeness between him and journalist Jo Ki Bbeum, played by Sojin. She is a sensible, mature and no-nonsense woman with a sense of humour. Both actors are pitch-perfect in their respective roles.
Then we have adorable relationship between Gong Tae Sung and his manager Byun Jung Yeol, a rookie who is initially naïve, dedicated and innocent but we learn with time that he has smart brains too. Their interactions provide so many laughs.
I loved the friendship between the three female leads who regularly discuss work and life over drinks. Another favourite was the trio of office employees belonging to PR department who love to gossip and speculate about romance between the main couple. So funny and relatable! I love how the show has distinctive and engaging interactions between many different combination of characters, resulting in believable companionship of the team.
Shout out to the arc involving another PR agency CEO Han Dae Soo, whose scenes involving his reluctant tolerance of the tantrums of his rookie actress, leaves us in splits. Kim Dae Gon has perfect comic timing.
The drama has a zippy soundtrack and I especially loved the duet My Secret, My Everything. Shooting Stars keeps things light but not frivolous. It has many heartwarming moments too. The drama has lots of cameos (as it is set in film and television industry) — surely the cherry on top!
My only complaint is the track involving Gong Tae Sung’s mother which drags a lot and makes the pace very slow. The arc about anti fans also takes up more time than necessary. Thankfully, there are still gem moments to balance the drag.
BOTTOMLINE
A funny, charming and romantic journey into the world of stars and their managers. delightful characters with lovely camaraderie. I miss them already!
MY RATING: 9 out of 10.
The Drama Corner 
Wow, you really loved this one! 🙂 It was cute but a bit so-so for me. I’m happy you enjoyed it so much because it’s always wonderful to find a drama you love 🙂
I think sometimes a drama comes to you at the right mindset and probably that’s why I loved it as much as I did. I understand why some people might not like it as much though lol. It did have its flaws.
Very true. I find timing and mindset to play major roles in how we experience a drama. And flaws don’t really matter if a drama just clicks with you. I absolutely love lots of dramas that are very flawed. Flaws won’t stop me! lol 😂
Sounds like you really enjoyed Shooting Stars. 🙂 It’s always geat to come across a show that “speaks” to you. I didn’t watch this, but then I didn’t watch many others either this year. There are way too many dramas to choose from these days.
“It’s always great to come across a show that “speaks” to you: couldn’t agree more.
This show is not perfect but it had everything that I love in a show or maybe I was just waiting to watch something like this!
So many dramas to choose from – it’s actually tiring lol. SO many streaming giants entering the drama sphere is good and bad!
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