미워도 다시 한번 – Hateful But Once Again

Cast:
Jung Gyu Woon as Lee Min Soo
Park Ye Jin as Choi Yoon Hee
Choi Myung Gil as Han Myung In
Park Sang Won as Lee Jeong Hoon
Jun In Hwa as Eun Hye Jung
Han Ye In as Eun Soo Jin
Sun Woo Jae Duk as Kim Yoo Suk

Genre:
Romance, Drama

Plot:
Many years ago, Eun Hye Jung, Lee Jeong Hoon, Han Myung In, and Kim Yoo Suk were bound together by a fate for the remainder of their lives, unknowingly dragging their children in as well. Because of an accident, Han Myung In believes her lover, artist Kim Yoo Suk is dead, and so agrees to an arranged marriage with Kim Jeong Hoon. Unable to forget her first love, she can never accept Jeong Hoon. Together, they raise Min Soo, her and Yoo Suk’s son.

With almost an obsessive love for her son, Han Myung In does everything she can to get him to become a responsible man, the heir to her company. The dysfunctional family causes Min Soo to grow up a spoiled playboy. Girls all around him try to get close to him for his good looks and rich family background. Only Choi Yoon Hee is not drawn to him, and instead, gives him a good lecture or two about how useless he is. This is definitely a first for Min Soo.

Will this be the start of love for Min Soo and Yoon Hee? What happens when Han Myung In discovers that Jeong Hoon has a family outside just when she is beginning to warm up to him? In her ambition to raise her son up, how far will she go to terrorize Yoon Hee?

Review:
I would like to say that I really enjoyed parts of this drama, not the whole thing, but mostly the parts with Choi Yoon Hee. I can’t say that she’s a top actress, but she is quite beautiful. Whoever did the design and wardrobe for Choi Yoon Hee in this drama deserves much praise. I loved everything she wore.

I think the most questionable part of the drama was the plot. The tug of war between Eun Hye Jung and Han Myung In was really annoying at times and it really got boring. Near the middle of the drama I would pretty much skip over scenes with Han Myung In and Jeong Hoon or Eun Hye Jung with her sister. I totally understand that this drama was aimed at an older audience and so that was part of the reason I didn’t enjoy the whole drama. I think the chemistry between Yoon Hee and Min Soo was decent, but Min Soo was much too psychotic and Yoon Hee was much too uptight and unresponsive. I just didn’t get the feeling that she loved Min Soo that much when they were together. When she was alone however, or with Eun Hye Jung, I could feel her overwhelming emotions. By the way I really loved her beach scenes and her emo scenes.

The other young cast was fairly good, but I think the characters were just too obtuse. I understand that Min Soo grew up in special circumstances and he has had many scars, but it still doesn’t justify him to be so crazy sometimes. Also, I think Soo Jin is also pretty crazy. She had special circumstances too but I think her character was just way too childish for someone in her position. The whole story just didn’t seem so real. It was more of a fictional drama then a drama based on real life.

The adult cast was pretty solid, other than the fact as I stated before that I wasn’t really interested in their part of the story. One thing I thought was funny was Eun Hye Jung’s character did a whole 360 transformation after all the secrets in the drama are revealed and all the challenges she overcomes. The music was awesome, I even downloaded the OST just for kicks and I’ve really been into those songs. The overall mood of the production was very good, but sometimes it got draggy. If I were to rate the drama as a whole, I wouldn’t rate it that well, but if I were to just rate on the parts with Yoon Hee, I would give this drama a higher score.

The fact that I did some timing work for Haru Haru Subs on this drama may have changed my opinion, but I think for the most part I will stick with my above review.

Rating:
3.9/5.0