The Happy Loner: Is Not Really Happy

Such a raw and beautiful special. I’m glad that I came upon this piece by chance. It really touched a place deep down inside. The Happy Loner in this story is Ji Young, who isn’t actually happy no matter much she pretends she is. A self professed individualist, Ji Young refuses to form relationships with other people around her including her neighbors, colleagues, and most importantly, her family. As a child, she was subjected to harsh words regarding her very existence and watched her parents get divorced. She decided she was better off on her own since her mother or father did not want her. However, over time she became numb to the world around her and would not open up to anyone, including to her ex-boyfriend. Meanwhile, her neighbor, Byuk Soo, is the complete opposite. He depends on the affection and acknowledgment of others. He wants to be loved and is so very clingy. Everyone always tries to shake him off. Of course, he tries to make contact with Ji Young who coldly shrugs him off. However, after he helped her with an embarrassing situation, cracks in the wall slowly started to form. While still keeping him at an arms length, she lets him in bit by bit. Eventually, he barges into her heart and home to try to crack her walls of steel. These two try to fill the gaps that the other one lacks.

I cried so much during this drama. As much as I don’t want to admit it, on a scale of Byuk Soo to Ji Young, I am more of a Ji Young. She tries her hardest to be complete by herself, but internally she years for affection just like the rest of her companions. I guess that is why I feel so much raw emotion during her moments of weakness and hurt. I yearn when she yearns for that sweet affection that Byuk Soo provides. This is not to say Byuk Soo was perfect. He is the most clingiest character I’ve seen who would make up a plan to barge into the life of the girl he likes. He had maturing to do as well. That is why I loved this piece so much is because it is a slice of life and very realistic characterizations. No relationship is perfect and everyone has weak points. However, if you work at them, you have a chance at happiness !

Week of Oct 25 – What I Want by NiiHwa

Live Up to Your Name, Dr. Heo: Reverse Reverse

Time travel time! However, this time we are going back in forth between Joseon and Modern times. This drama tells the story of Dr. Heo Im and Dr. Yeon Kyung. Dr. Heo is a famous oriental medicine doctor in Joseon times who has cured many people using his acupuncture skills. However, he is money hungry and enjoys the fame/wealthy his skills have brought him. In an attempt to further his career, he tried to treat the king, but ended up messing up the treatment. He was chased by the royal police, shot by an arrow, and ended up thrown into the future of 2017. He is disoriented by the technology of modern times and is fascinated by the advancements in medicine. It is hilarious watching him figure out what to do in modern times. Meanwhile he runs into Dr. Yeon Kyung, a skilled cardiothoracic surgeon who is the granddaughter of an oriental doctor. However, due to a past trauma, she doesn’t trust oriental medicine and focuses entirely on how surgeries saves people lives. She is not good at comforting or flattering people, but is competent in her ability to save lives. Of course these two clash terribly and many misunderstandings happen. She doesn’t trust his skills and thinks he is creating chaos in her life. Meanwhile, he is just trying to get by in this new world. However, she soon gets a taste of her own medicine when they end up traveling back to Joseon when Dr. Heo is stabbed by accident. Now she is the fish out of water in the olden times and must be careful of her every action.

This drama is really funny almost to a point that is slapsticky. I was expecting a more Faith like approach, but I like this much better. I didn’t know that Kim Nam Gil could be so funny as I only see him in melos where he dies at the end. Kim Ah Joong as Dr. Yeon Kyung is so gorgeous. I really enjoy her portrayal as a doctor who is confident in herself. It is fascinating to watch the differences between oriental and western medicine. Of course oriental medicine doesn’t get as much credit as western medicine does these days, but I know it has its uses! As a ICU nurse, I am inclined to lean more towards the benefits of western medicines, I am interested in seeing the natural ways of how acupuncture and herbs can heal a patient as well. This drama is so heartfelt in the ways it portrays patient and physician dynamics. I look forward to seeing the hijinks of traveling back and forth in time!

School 2017: More Stars in the Making

Yaaay for more School series drama! I absolutely love this new addition to the School series drama with of course School 2013 being my favorite still! School 2017 tells the story of Eun Ho and Tae Woon, juniors in a school where grades mean everything of course. Eun Ho is not a great student, but dreams to became a webtoon artist at a prestigious university. However, with the amount of demerits she accumulates at school and her poor family background, her future looks pretty bleak! Tae Woon is the disinterested son of the school director. He wields enormous power in the school, but he is actually working against the grain. He is student “X” who plays pranks on the faculty and school system when he deems things are getting unfair. These two come to a head when she figures out that is Student X when she becomes unfairly framed for his misdeeds. A deep friendship forms between the two as they help each other survive in such a messed up school system where the rich bully the weak and poor. Of course, this later develops into puppy love as they become each other’s support system. They also find out that they are more deeply involved in the past where Tae Woon’s other friend had taken the blame for a bus accident. This accident had broken the friendship between school president Dae Hwi and Tae Woon because their mutual third leg of the triangle died in the bus accident as well. They blamed each other for the incident and their misunderstandings alienated each other. Hopefully, their broken friendship can be mended with the help of Eun Ho who has a bright personality and fighting spirit.

Ah I have never watched a drama with Kim Se Jung. She is so so cute and has the most adorable eye smiles! I really enjoyed her portrayal of Eun Ho and can see her getting more lead roles after this drama. For Tae Woon, he is like the second coming of Kim Woo Bin. He plays a great bad boy with a softie heart. His smirks and expressions are so fun to watch. I loved the glimpse I saw of Kim Jung Hyun in Jealousy Incarnate, so I am super happy he is getting a lead role already. As for Dae Hwi played by Jang Dong Yoon, he is another young actor who is acting decently. He played a similar character to this one in his previous drama, Solomon’s Perjury. All three young teens are excellent developing actors and I know this drama will give them a leg up for future projects!