I Need Romance 2011

I Need Romance 2011

5.5/10

I Need Romance 2011 

Genre:                                   Episodes: 16                                   Year: 2011

Romance

Comedy

Melodrama

Synopsis:

The story follows Sun Woo In Young and her two friends, Park Seo Yeon and Kang Hyun Joo. Sun Woo In Young is a concierge manager at a hotel, and has been dating Kim Sung Soo for around 10 years. Bae Sung Hyun is her junior at work who has had feelings for her for quite some time. After In Young discovers that Sung Soo has cheated on her, Sung Hyun sees it as an opportunity to confess his feelings. Kang Hyun Joo is a divorce lawyer who is left at the altar, but hires a man to pose as her husband to prevent embarrassing herself in front of her many wedding guests. Hyun Joo is distraught after finding out that she was dumped because her fiancée does not find her sexy, and sets out to lose her virginity. Park Seo Yeon is the president and model for a popular online clothing store. She is a serial-dater with a unique, open-minded view on love.

Cast:

Jo Yeo Jeong (Sun Woo In Young)

Kim Jeong Hoon (Kim Sung Soo)

Choi Jin Hyuk (Bae Sung Hyun)

Choi Yeo Jin (Park Seo Yeon)

Choi Song Hyun (Kang Hyun Joo)

Kim Hyung Min (Kim Deok Soo)

Ha Yeon Joo (Yoon Kang Hee)

General Thoughts:

I’m so conflicted about this drama. I absolutely HATED the first half, but I absolutely LOVED the end, and I know there’s no way we could have had that ending with any other start but the one we had. While I wouldn’t go as far as saying I liked the drama, somehow I still have a weird fondness for it. It makes me feel like a schizophrenic.

I don't know how to feel

I wasn’t particularly drawn to any of the characters, but they were developed well. The writers were very clearly able to easily and accurately display who our characters were, and they were consistent throughout- none of this character flip-flopping we often get in K-Dramas. All the characters were very unique, without coming across as over-fictionalised or unrealistic.

Moral of the story:
Jeong Hoon can cheat on you as many times as he wants cuz he has killer puppy-eyes

Apart from the continual relationship developments, there wasn’t much else going on plot-wise, but there was so much happening with relationships that this didn’t really matter. The main love-triangle was also nice and unpredictable- right until the end it’s hard to tell which way the main female lead will swing. I actually spent a good portion of this drama believing she would end up with nobody. Which was totally possible, because this drama does not follow any sort of common storyline with any K-Drama I have seen so far. The acting was all brilliant- you can’t fault anyone there. Kim Jeong Hoon makes the greatest abandoned, remorseful, despairing boyfriend ever. Choi Jin Hyuk makes a pretty top-notch chaebol too.

What Was Great:

Unpredictable:

The leading female character has a mind that is all over the place. This results in a plot that is damn near impossible to predict. A lot of the unpredictability actually came from In Young acting in very realistic ways. While it’s easy for an audience to see what the ‘better’, more sensible choice is, as a character In Young is not privy to all this information. As a viewer, we can also detach our emotions from the situation and view it rationally, while our characters (rightly so) cannot do this.

I'll admit- it's a tough choice

One of the fantastic aspects of this drama is seeing In Young debate the two paths she has in front of her. She has a pretty good idea of which man she should rationally be choosing- but a very human lingering attachment keeps her looking back at Sung Soo. And after 10 years, who can blame her?

Female Characters:

While the bulk of the main plot circled In Young and her two very handsome men, the underlying friendship of the three women was consistent throughout. It was just such a nice change to have more female main characters than just the leading lady and her love rival. It was actually extremely enjoyable that the love-rival, while very present, took a backseat to our heroine and her two friends.

Because who need boys?

It kept the b*tch levels down and prevented us from falling too deeply into the tired and overused plotline of a jealous side-girl messing with the main female lead for the attention of a man. This common plotline did peek its head in a little, but was thankfully kept minimal. Hyun Joo and Seo Yeon both have interesting storylines in their own rights and are cute, unique characters that differ widely from the main female lead.

Snogging:

It’s nice to have some decent kissing and not just the frozen-in-place, camera-spin-around kisses we usually get.

Are you taking notes, Park Shin Hye?

That Ending:

Oh it was perfect. I was so surprised. I had virtually checked out of this drama- I didn’t really like anyone, but I wanted to know what happened, and then that wonderful, masterpiece of an ending. It wasn’t showy or cheesy, but it was so, so, so deeply satisfying. All at once everything just clicked into place, and you understand why the beginning of the drama went the way it did.

What Wasn’t:

Instant Depression:

In the beginning, all our characters were pretty crappy. I appreciate flawed characters, but so many of characters didn’t even have redeeming qualities.

My emotions at the start of this drama

The situations, paired with these awful people, left me feeling pretty darn grim. While the concept is not exactly bad, I detached myself pretty fast. It’s understandable that drama requires conflict, but when everybody sucks and does sucky things, it just plain sucks. And that’s not why I tune in to K-Drama.

Over-Sexualisation:

While it’s a nice change from the overly-innocent, naive female characters we get in most dramas, it was overplayed. Do these women do nothing more than sleep around or cry about not sleeping around? Really. I appreciate that our characters were supposed to be modern, free women who don’t adhere to society’s rules on women’s sexuality. However, it felt counter-productive that these women defined themselves based on their own sexuality, when they are criticising the rest of the world for doing just that. Kang Hyun Joo is ‘naïve’ because she’s a virgin, Park Seo Yeon is ‘strong’ and ‘independent’ because she’s had multiple sexual partners, and Sun Woo In Young sits somewhere in the ‘healthy’ middle. The whole time I was watching, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that the drama was trying way too hard to be ‘American’.

Because nothing says 'independent' quite like sex

Re-watch?

No. After finishing the drama I can appreciate it for what it is, and I totally understand why so many people love it. Focusing on the friendship between the girls is a definite bonus- but it just isn’t the drama for me.

It does have its own kind of magic though