My Sweet Mobster has been taking the drama world by storm this summer and for a good reason – it brings the refreshing rom-com feelings we’ve all been so dearly missing and a great cast as cherry on top. Today we review this great drama.
I was counting the days until My Sweet Mobster was finished because I knew I would have to binge the life out of it – seeing all the snippets online, I realized that waiting episode after episode wasn’t going to work for me and I was definitely right. My Sweet Mobster is definitely one of the dark horses of k-drama world this year because I feel like everyone was intrigued by those silly posters before the show aired, but also not certain what kind of path the story was going to take. 2024 is the year of men being losers in love and I’m absolutely here for it because, between My Sweet Mobster and Lovely Runner, the standards have been set high this year for male leads. Let’s get into the review because I’m excited to blabber about these lovely people!
From MyDramaList: Seo Ji Hwan, once a legend of the underworld, is CEO of a food company that offers a fresh start to ex-convicts. His gangland past, though, has a tendency to follow him even after retirement. His personal history is murky and he has no known vices. Go Eun Ha, known as “Sister Mini” to her web channel’s mini audience, is a popular but struggling children’s entertainer. She does her best to make children happy with no strings attached. Eun Ha’s show is inspired by memories of her childhood companion, Hyeon U. After a series of embarrassing, comical, and painful misunderstandings Ji Hwan and Eun Ha begin to get to know and understand each other. Jang Hyeon U has fulfilled his ambition of becoming a prosecutor but is also a grown-up fan of Sister Mini. He is suspicious of Ji Hwan’s past and actions and is uneasy about Eun Ha’s relationship with him. The three cross paths as they pursue the truth about a missing ex-con and encounter Ji Hwan’s rival gang.
No spoilers ahead:
Now, this is what I call a rom-com. From start to finish, My Sweet Mobster delivered everything I needed and more – the cheesiness, the chemistry, the bubbly female lead, the loser trapped in a gangster’s body male lead, the found family trope, some drama, some romance, some humor, you name it. I’ve enjoyed every single episode of this drama and I’m so happy that I gave it a go. Starting from our leads, both Uhm Taegoo and Han Sunhwa (SECRET’s I’m In Love aka one of the best k-pop songs ever playing in the background) have done a great job in their respective roles here. I’m pretty sure I’ve never watched anything Uhm Taegoo was in but oh my god, where has this talented man been my whole life? He was made for this role – a seemingly cold and ruthless gangster who is hiding a sad past and a lot of love that he has to share with others. I don’t think anyone else could’ve done this role as well as him and I really loved Ji Hwan and his struggle to live the life he deserves after all the suffering. Sunhwa’s Eun Ha was also a lovely character who I connected with and I think she did such a good job portraying her bubbly and loving personality. She was the true glue of this show and story as well as all the other characters – a sweetheart until the end. I will not take any slander against her!
Their chemistry was also so cute. It was just wholesome all around and it was nice to have such a feel-good ship happening because they both deserve each other and happiness so much. I was rooting for them the entire time and I think that the combination of being shy and being bubbly was so cute to see between them. Their chemistry with everyone else was great as well. I’m not the biggest fan of pushing the second-male-lead who is desperately in love with the FL so much in k-dramas but I kind of enjoyed Kwon Yul as Hyeon Woo – as much as he contributed nothing to the love triangle (which is why I’m not sure why the writers had the need to include it in the first place). But he’s a nice character until the end and even goes through some character development himself so I can’t say I was irritated by his meddling into things. I loved the little hints of a healthy rivalry and bromance between him and Ji Hwan at the end.
Now, if you know me, you know that found family is my absolute favourite trope and My Sweet Mobster absolutely gave me everything I needed. Every single side character in the “gangster” house was so good and I loved their side stories and the friendship that bloomed between them and Eun Ha. It was nice to see Jaechan in a drama again, as well as Kim Hyunjin who I’ve watched in Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale right before I started My Sweet Mobster. Everyone had their own story, their own charm and it’s nice that we got to see so much of them throughout the drama. It really made it feel special and created this homey atmosphere from start to finish for the viewers. I even loved that we got a proper supporting love story – Il Yeong was getting cuter and cuter in each episode, can’t believe he was all fluffy and happy by the end of the show. I even liked Ye Na who was a bit annoying at first but also dedicated and ended up being a nice supporting character in the end. Love me some good found family and character development! These are my best friends (real).
Now, the gangster aspect was so-so at times. I love Im Chulsoo (and he’s a versatile actor) but he does tend to go a bit over-the-top for his comic relief characters and I wasn’t sure how fitting that kind of vibe was for this sort of drama. Yes, it’s a comedy, but I feel like it was done a bit too much in-your-face so I wanted to skip scenes with Go Yang Hui (the wordplay is top-notch though) most of the time. I wasn’t too invested in everything happening on that side of the story and feel like it was a bit lackluster in general. But considering this was a fluffy and sweet rom-com, it fits the concept and the whole mood of the show. Things progress very slowly and very naively but I think that’s what we all needed this summer – happiness and hugs, and happy endings in general. This was a really cute underrated drama and I hope we get to see Uhm Taegoo in some more great dramas in the future – My Sweet Mobster gets an 8.75/10 from me for its genre. Now, let me go dig through some fantastic movies I’ve seen Uhm Taegoo has done so far.
PS. I need Uhm Taegoo to narrate everything from now on, because that voice? Lord have mercy.