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Reviews
Save the Last Dance for Me (2004)
Holds up well for a 15 year old series
This series is all about leaving things unsaid and needless suffering to avoid burdening your true love. A subject K-drams explore so well.
JI Sung does a marvelous job in one of his early roles. You can see his craft developing. It is also interesting that he meets his real life wife, Lee Bo Young, on this project.
But I've seen other Ji Sung series, so that wasn't what stood out in this series for me. Rather, it was Kim Yu Jin, now called Eugene, who gets the attention. She has a real magnetism that keeps the viewer coming back for more in this series. I looked her up on the usual sites and she doesn't seem to be doing much work these days. She seems to be a very underappreciated talent. So I will check out her works from 5 to 10 years ago.
Aneun Waipeu (2018)
Great lead actors, good plot, good investment of your time
To all divorced men: if you could go back in time before you met your ex and avoid starting that il-fated relationship, would you do it? And what if you encountered said ex later in your new reality and found her to be vibrant, beautiful, vital, and exciting - the epitome of that woman you thought you were marrying earlier in your first life - what would you do? Would you leave her alone? Would you try to strike up a new relationship and avoid the problems you perhaps caused in the old reality? What if, by some rift in the space-time continuum, your paths crossed and she came on to you? Would you spurn her? Would you feel some sense of responsibility and watch out for her? Would you tell her you two are not meant to be?
These are the questions Cha Joo-Hyuk (Ji Seong) must wrestle with when he chooses to go back in time and erase the marriage he had with Seo Woo-Jin (Han Ji Min). The moral of the story is best summed up by Seo Woo Jin when she responds to Cha Joo-Hyuk's confession: "There are no one-sided relationships." Couples should give each other second chances and try to make the best of things.
Some reviewers complained that the plot got boring after episode 12, which admittedly is the emotional peak of the series. I don't think they quite got the gist of the last four episodes, wherein the two go back in time once more, only this time at Seo Woo-Jin's behest. Now Cha Joo-Hyuk is really in a bind. He knows that, without him, Seo Woo-Jin has a great life, even though she feels something is missing. Should he take the safe route and keep her away or let her back in, take the chance and try to do better?
I recently saw One Spring Night with Han Ji Min and really liked her craft. I searched for other dramas with her in it and found this one which is even better (heads up Netflix). IMHO she is a top shelf Korean female actor and she acquits herself nicely in this series.
I had never seen Ji Seong before but I am very impressed with his acting. I will keep an eye out for more of his work.
If you like K-dramas, Familiar Wife will be a good investment of your time.
Bombam (2019)
Something in the Rain with a bit more depth
Han Ji-Min plays a strong willed librarian who, just off of a withering relationship with the arrogant son of her father's employer, happens to meet a pharmacist (Jung Hae-In, Something in the Rain) and falls, head over heels for him, despite all the social conventions that would argue against it. She is very convincing in her portrayal of a wide range of emotions. Her true beauty didn't strike me until a few episodes in when she began to show the more vulnerable side of the character.
This series adds an interesting complication to the usual relationship issues in K-dramas: the pharmacist has a son whose mother abandoned them at birth. There are also some intense side plots that explore Korean culture and the heavy toll it takes on women. One Spring Night gives more depth to many of the characters and paints an overall more somber picture.
Half the cast of Something in the Rain seems to be in this series as well as music by Rachel Yamagada. Overall this series is a bit more mature, three-dimensional, edgy and more realistic than Something in the Rain, which is why I give it one more star.
Bap Jal Sajuneun Yeppeun Nuna (2018)
Korean societal and family traditionalism vs modernism ... oh, and it's a romance
After watching this series a second time, I am upgrading the rating to 9 stars.
Situated in 2015 Seoul, a 35 year old submissive woman meets younger guy, is wooed and falls in love. The relationship between Jin-A and Jun-Hui, 10 years her junior, is both touching and annoying. The miscommunication, indirectness, missed opportunities, etc., make for some interesting plot arcs. It is enjoyable to watch Jin-A progress from a woman who cannot believe she possesses a guy who is totally consumed by her into someone who, in one sense, doesn't need him anymore but, in another sense, knows he is the only man who will ever truly love her and thus won't settle for anything less.
At the lowest level, this series is a Romeo and Juliet type of love story, but it has a number of other more interesting plot issues that make it one of the better k- dramas that is definitely worth the viewer's time. The most important one is the heroine's development into a self confident woman who maintains her compassionate dignity. Next is the sexual harassment plot arc that must be fully played out and ultimately affects the romance. The ultra-traditional mother, who demands Jin-a marries a wealthy husband to the point of, absurdity, takes on a comedic role at times. American viewers who know nothing about Korean culture, like me, may be struck by the constraints placed on Korean women: family duty, the favoring of the son, male chauvinism and laws that seem to treat women as 2nd class citizens. This realistic glimpse into Korean life may be the series best aspect and sets it apart from many other Korean shows.
Son Ye-jin, whose wholesome beauty and effortless acting in the role of Jin-A, has a good screen presence and stands out by virtue of the seemingly mild mannered self-deprecating character she develops into mature self-confident woman who decides to live life on her own terms. Supported by a very capable cast, Son is able to juxtapose her character against a panoply of relatives, friends and colleagues who, due to their bondage to Korean traditions, have some significant issues that test Jin-a's determination and humanity.
All told, this would make a very good first Korean drama series for you to watch