Soulmate [k-drama]

'

Sorry for the lack of posts the past few weeks.  School and break week had me super busy, and I decided to watch a new drama because I have a hard time finding information about this one.  Soulmate is a Korean drama series from 2006 that has been popular, but not many people know much about it.  I've had this drama in my hard drive for the past few months and had a hard time starting it up.  Korean dramas usually like to have the whole romantic fuzzy feeling cut with betrayals of best friends and such.  I was super apprehensive and the first few episodes were hard to get into because of the constant slang that had to have foot notes for almost half the screen.  But the show is all about how Koreans go about thinking of relationships and the "games" they have to play to get each other.  It focuses on different couples throughout the series and how they all have troubles and happy moments.

One of the cool things about this series, is that they use the actual names of the actors.  One two of them have slightly changed names in the series.

Lee Soo Kyung (Loving You a Thousand Times, Dae Mul)- she plays one of the main characters.  At the beginning of the series, she has been dating her guy Phillip for 5 years, and he finally proposes to her on a train.  She feels apprehensive about accepting, but feels she is really in love.

Shin Dong Wook (Stars Falling From the Sky, Money's Warfare)- he plays a music producer who doesn't believe in fate and destiny, and has never really committed himself to a girl.  He meets Yu Jin on a setup date by their parents, and feels that she is interesting enough to start dating her.

Choi Phillip (Cannot Hate You, Star's Lover)- He plays Soo Kyung's boyfriend and feels that he really loves her.  He can be cheesy, but has good intentions, until he meets Min Ae and he starts to falter in his feelings for his fiancé.

Sa Kang (Salt Doll, Our Happy Ending)- She plays Hong Yu Jin, a naive girl who is very proper and sheltered.  She is apprehensive to date Dong Wook who is much different than her, but she finds him very attractive and wants to try dating him.

Otani Ryohei (The Road Home, Love Marriage)- He plays a fashion model who doesn't believe in the whole mind tricks when it comes to love and would rather be upfront about the way he feels.   He falls for Jang Mi Ae and she feels a special connection to him, perhaps because he is one of the first men to actually care about more than just her looks.

Jang Mi In Ae (Blissful Woman, Super Rookie)-  She plays Jang Mi Ae, the hot girl who can get any guy she wants (through years of technique practice and a little pink relationship book written by a rival/friend in high school) and dates several men at once.  She is enticed by Phillip and the fact that he has a girlfriend already and sets out to make him hers.  

Kim Min Ji (there were no pictures of her online and she's only been in this show, so I had to take a screenshot from the show)-  She plays the boss of Yu Jin and Soo Kyung and has a thing for in shape men.  Min Jin ends up falling for Jung Hwan and they have quite the love-hate relationship.  

Jung Hwan (My Lady Boss, My Hero)- He plays the playboy personal trainer who feels that he knows all the moves to get the women.  Upon initial meeting he cannot stand Min Jin, but with her constant attention and even stalking they form a very unique relationship.















The guys (minus Phillip) are friends from the gym, while the women (minus Mi Ae) all work together.  Throughout the series you realize that everyone knows each other, and the concept of destiny and soulmates plays heavily into all these intertwined relationships.  The series is only 12 hour long episodes, but the last 10 are split so that one side of the episode is Soo Kyung's pov, while the other half hour is from Dong Wook's pov.  This drama is actually very funny and tackles the problems that people have with relationships such as playing hard to get or how to make a move.  There are a lot of Korean slang terms in the first couple episodes that require a bit of reading on the screen, and in the beginning I found it a little hard to keep up.  The biggest concept that they try to get across is one of my favorite thoughts that, "if it's meant to be it will happen."  I'm a big believer in that myself so it was nice to see a drama with the same outlook on love.  Many people find the ending to the series terrible, but I viewed it as you don't need to see to get confirmation.  It was kinda like how 500 Days of Summer had a hopeful ending, if you look at it the right way.  This series has definitely become one of my favorites, and with only 12 episodes it is a nice and short series that is enjoyable.

VERDICT


Characters: 4 out of 5 (The cast has all the stereotypical Korean characters to a drama, but that's what makes it enjoyable.  But each adds to the whole complete story and viewpoints on love that is needed for this series)

Story: 4.5 out of 5 (The story is really great because it is a current view on the dating game.  There were the typical cliches but how could you not with a story about soulmates?  The relationship between the two main characters has incredibly sweet moments, my favorite being one involving a day in the park with a Polaroid camera)

Irritation Level: 2 out of 5 (Of course this will occur in a k-drama, but there were only a few characters that I became really irritated with by the 10th episode.  And there are moments where you're like, "really?  You deserve happiness, don't be so self-sacrificing." But it definitely is not as bad and depressing as a stereotypical k-drama because of all the comedy thrown into the mix.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5

Loved the outlook on love that they portrayed throughout the series and how people's minds could be changed with just a few chances of fate.  The concept of a soulmate is a very romanticized thing, but this series does a good job of rounding it off with the more practical types of relationships that might happen.  There are a lot of cute/romantic gestures throughout the series that really get the "aww factor" in.  Another awesome thing about this drama is the soundtrack!  It is made up of mostly English songs and is a very unique mix of love songs.  A+ for originality in soundtrack.  Definitely try and check out this "underdog" series because it is well worth your time!

Here are some of the key songs in the series...

C'mon Through- Lasse Lindh
This is Not a Love Song- Nouvelle Vague
Oh My Love- John Lennon
Across the Universe- Fiona Apple