Lucky Romance

Lucky Romance

7/10

Lucky Romance

Genre:                             Episodes: 16                          Year: 2016

Romance 

Comedy

Synopsis:

After the death of her parents and an accident that places her little sister in a comatose state, Shim Bo Nui believes she is a symbol of bad luck that will bring misfortune and suffering to those around her. She relies heavily on superstition and the predictions of a fortune teller. As her sister’s health deteriorates, Shim Bo Nui’s Shaman tells her that the only way to save her sister is to spend one night with a man born in the year of the tiger. The only tiger Bo Nui is able to find is Je Soo Ho, a genius game developer who cares little for interpersonal relationships and shuts himself away from the world.

Cast:

Hwang Jung Eum (Shim Bo Nui)

Ryu Joon Yoel (Je Soo Ho)

Lee Soo Hyuk (Gary Choi)

Lee Chung Ah (Amy Han)

Jung Sang Hoon (Han Ryang Ha)

Lee Cho Hee (Lee Dal Nim)

Na Young Hee (Yang Hee Ae)

General Thoughts:

It’s a remarkably interesting drama given its complete and utter lack of plot. I don’t jest. There’s none. The quirky catch that Bo Nui must sleep with a man born in the year of the tiger is abandoned after the first couple of episodes, used only as a tool to have our main leads actually interact with one another. 

Because they didn't actually need to  sleep sleep together

Rather than the drama being a story of a woman embarking on a bizarre quest to save her sister, it becomes the story of a young man who learns how to love and connect with the world around him. Which is pretty darn cute. 

I could watch that all day long. Which I did. Several times.

I went in expecting the drama to be all about Bo Nui wooing Soo Ho and all the hilarious situations that would be results of her attempts, and the gradual realisation that she was actually falling for the man for real- much like ‘Oh My Ghostess’. Instead, what I got was Soo Ho falling hard and adorably fast and having to try to convince Bo Nui that she deserved happiness for herself. Happiness of course equalling Soo Ho. And surprisingly I wasn’t disappointed at the turn this drama took. I’m very used to Hwang Jung Eum being the main lead of a series, with heroes often taking a backseat. It was refreshing to have our hero being the one who was making all the moves and being the star of he show. Which he totally was. Because after Soo Ho fell into his complete love for Bo Nui, Ryu Joon Yeol just let loose. His acting was phenomenal and wonderfully believable- even as his character shifted between detached, mathematical genius, and adorable puppy in love. These shifts in character were acted out so seamlessly that it never seemed out of character when Soo Ho was excited or giddy or acting completely like a high school kid in love- because Ryu Joon Yeol had always been able to express the way Soo Ho kept that detachment and isolation as a front, and a protection for himself to prevent getting hurt. But once you get past that front, he’s all cuddles and feelings and complete wonderfulness. 

So snoodley 

As for Hwang Jung Eum…well it wasn’t her best performance ever. And that’s through no fault of her own. Shim Bo Nui was just not a character that developed very much, and it’s hard to stay connected to a character that refuses to change in even the slightest, even when their situation changes. 

Hard to dislike her when she makes our hero act so cute

All Bo Nui’s development happened off-screen during the time skip (to which- ugh), and she only seemed all the more immobile when you had Soo Ho doing such a fantastic job of adapting and opening up beside her. Points do go to Hwang Jung Eum for making Bo Nui at least a likeable character. On paper our heroine doesn’t look all that great- a superstitious woman who thinks everyone she comes in contact with will suffer misfortune and never seeks out her own happiness. Yeah, doesn’t sound like a super fun heroine, does it? And yet, through Hwang Jung Eum’s performance and the early focus on Bo Nui, we see her vulnerability and the circumstances that led her to this point. While the script gives us insight into Bo Nui’s situation, Hwang Jung Eum shows a saddened, valuable character, and you truly do want her to find happiness for herself. But as the drama progresses, f*cks given for Bo Nui decrease, because Soo Ho is awesome and Soo Ho is wonderful and if your superstitions are getting in the way of beloved Soo Ho’s happiness, then up yours. Moving on to side characters- there’s really not a lot to say. Lee Soo Hyuk and Lee Chung Ah were cast as typical secondary characters. 

Guess how many f*cks I give. I'll give you a hint- it's not a lot.

Side male who loves our heroine and pushes his feelings on her even if she has less than zero interest. Only enough character to see that he’s a likeable dude, but not too likeable that you feel all torn up when he’s kicked to the curb for our very likeable hero. Side female who’s basically a b*tch and will do anything to win the love of our hero. Given a half-assed redemption at the end that’s only deemed passable as she’s not always a total b*tch. Then there’s Dal Nim and Ryang Ha who are given to us for the laughs- which is just as well because there’s not a lot of laughs coming from anywhere else, apart from Soo Ho’s complete inability to hide his feelings. 

And OMG the bromance was top stuff

Because when the melo kicks in between our main couple (as it inevitably does), it kicks hard. And in all too predictable ways. The plot was really nothing more than how adorable can Ryu Joon Yeol be? And how can we have this make the slightest bit of sense in the minimal story we’ve actually set up?

What Was Great:

Ryu Joon Yeol as Soo Ho:

I want one

Show carrier for sure. Who cares about the heroine’s struggles with her perception of herself? Who cares about Gary or Amy or any of the other characters we’re mildly introduced to? Who cares about building and releasing some game? Who cares about some guy hacking said game? No one. Because Soo Ho is all we really want to watch. Because we love our tin-man. And tin-man goes on a journey to discover his heart and finds a girl to give it to along the way. And he does it in the cutest way imaginable. 

It Was Cute:

Much of the cute came from Ryu Joon Yeol. In whatever scene he was in he was able to give us happy, warm, fuzzy feelings. Whether he was jumping in excitement from one text, trying to find an outfit to wear on his date, or gossiping about love with Ryang Ah like high school girls, he always did it in the best way possible. The relationship between our two leads was adorable in every way and perfectly captured that honeymoon phase of dating. Sure, there wasn’t a lot of story movement, but there’s something weirdly enjoyable about watching two cute people be so happy and in love. 

I really, really want one

What Wasn’t:

That Melo:

It’s not hardcore melo- it’s your typical rom-com melo. Melo that’s caused by people being idiots and melo that can only be healed by the gradual passing of time (which of course we don’t get to see). 

Noble Idiot in 3...2...1...

From about the half-way point you can see the Noble Idiocy coming. You can see it from a mile off. You can see it from China. You can see it all the way down here is Aus. There is no way that this series was going to end without our heroine f*cking off into the void and breaking our tin-man’s newfound heart. Ohhhhmygod lame. While it probably is one of the most justifiable uses of the Noble Idiot Disappearance, this plot device has just become so ridiculously overused that everyone can see it coming, and we’ve all watched in a million times before. Sure, it’s understandable that Bo Nui bolts at the first sign of trouble because you know what, a lot of real sh*tty things have happened around her in a short space of time and she has a d*uchey shaman telling her she is the root of all evil. But if you just up and leave right after our hero seriously injures himself while saving your life- probs not gonna like you. Especially if you leave him unconscious and bleeding in the street without taking him to a hospital. If the whole point of your vanishing is to save the man, you might want to check that the poor bugger isn’t actually dead already. Just sayin’. Then to follow the dreaded Noble Idiocy card we get the dreaded time skip. A year passes and magically Bo Nui has come to accept that she isn’t the cause of all death and destruction and she is allowed to be happy with a man she loves. 

More or less my reaction whenever I see that 'X Years Later' tag

How did she get to this healthy mental state? I wouldn’t be able to tell you because I didn’t see it happen. She just does. And then rejoins Soo Ho for a magical reunion of happy feelings and love and wonder and enchantment. Because obviously Soo Ho feels no hurt or resentment for being ditched for a whole year while Bo Nui sorts herself out on her own. That would be ridiculous. K-Drama once again shows us that a year is really nothing when faced with true love. Because while Bo Nui’s whole character can be entirely redeveloped over the course of a year, it’s inevitable that nothing will change in her relationship with Soo Ho. That would be silly.

That Plot:

The black hole in the series. There’s no ongoing plot besides the relationship development (which was adorable, thank goodness), and the game development- which no one actually cared about. 

No plot, but bags of cute

There was enough in the character development of Bo Nui that showed she was seriously willing to change from being a superstitious nut-job into someone who relies on herself and her partner, but that was swept under the rug as the writers opted for Noble Idiocy. Had the writers made more of an effort to make Bo Nui’s struggle feel more real to us, perhaps the drama could have been a little more engaging. Sure, Ryu Joon Yeol was engaging enough on his own- but imagine if you’d added a kick-ass heroine with the will to change, who painfully goes against years of instinct and steps outside her comfort zone. That would have been cool. The drama could have gradually doled out the steps Bo Nui took sever her reliance on superstition throughout the whole series (rather than in that one year we skipped over and didn’t get to see), and probably would have made for a much more substantial plot. Because the actual plot is weak as washing.

Please Kick Out Those Stupid Characters:

Shaman Goo Shin. Won Dae Hae. Two completely sucky characters that for some reason kept appearing on my screen. Goo Shin is basically the devil in Bo Nui’s ear- telling her she lame and that everything she touches will die. Yeah, what an ass. 

That guy sucks big time 

His motivations are totally unclear. Does he actually believe this to be true and is telling Bo Nui to protect the people around her? Or is he he telling her this so that she keeps returning to him for talismans and fortunes? 

This guy also sucks big time

I don’t really care either way, but I was waiting for some sort of comeuppance for the mean Shaman. He was the only real sort of villain we had as our hacker remained pretty anonymous and only impacted the release of the game, rather than our main characters the way Shaman did. But no- no big kick of karma for Shaman. Nothing like that. Then there’s Dae Hae. He is literally the reason why Bo Nui thinks she’s bad luck. Almost all recent bad things can be traced back to Dae Hae. Sure, he had nothing to do with Bo Nui’s parents’ deaths or her sister’s coma but he sure as hell was responsible for Daebak Soft going under. Oh yeah, he also let the hacker in to mess with Soo Ho’s game and destroy his career- the event that reignited Bo Nui’s doubt after she’d been learning to trust Soo Ho and not Shaman man. Again, no kick of karma for Dae Hae. No, he gets to join the team that reopens Daebak Soft and continues to work under Soo Ho. I’m not a superstitious person- but that dude is lazy and plain unreliable. He would have no such place on my team. Sadly, these two characters did manage to sap a bit of fun from the series, particularly when they managed to walk away from all the events unscathed.   

Re-watch?

Not a chance. I didn’t know that Ryu Joon Yeol could be that cute, and I’m super glad I found out. But I feel like if I watch the series again it’ll just make me painfully realise that ‘holy sh*t, nothing happens in this drama’.

So very, very cute