My ID is Gangham Beauty

My ID is Gangham Beauty

7.5/10

My ID is Gingham Beauty

Genre:                                                   Episodes: 16                                      Year: 2018

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Kang Mi Rae has always been teased and bullied because of her ugly appearance. Before entering university, Mi Rae has plastic surgery to become pretty in order to be able to live without being ridiculed. At university she meets Do Kyung Seok, who used to attend her old school and knows what she used to look like.

Cast:

Lim Soo Hyang (Kang Mi Rae)

Cha Eun Woo (Do Kyung Seok)

Jo Woo Ri (Hyung Soo Ah)

Kwak Dong Yeon (Yeon Woo Young)

Park Joo Mi (Na Hye Sung)

Min Do Hee (Oh Hyun Jung)

Park Yoo Na (Yoo Eun)

Kim Do Yeon (Jang Won Ho)

General Thoughts:

I always like when I go into a drama not not really expecting much and end up happily surprised. I thought this drama was going to be pretty light and fluffy, with some fairly standard inner-beauty commentary, but it turned out to have much more substance than that.

A cute, fun rom-com that also has a bit of meat to it? Score.

Every time I expected this drama to take the typical K-Drama route, it tended to go in a way that I didn’t think it would. The plot overall was pretty predictable, but the characters were what made this drama so interesting. To start with, we were given a great heroine. This drama could have totally fallen on its face if it didn’t have a decent heroine to back it up- as this whole story is basically the story of Mi Rae’s experiences.

She was so easy to love

Despite the premise of this story being centred around physical appearances, it was a smart move to not have Mi Rae focus solely on being pretty- she just wanted to be average. We started the story with Mi Rae being bullied and ostracised because of her appearance, and we really felt her heartbreak and her struggles- particularly when she thought that by losing weight she’d finally be accepted, only to learn that if it wasn’t her weight it was her face that people would make fun of. It was upsetting and confronting to watch, particularly as I’m sure we can all relate to Mi Rae’s character in some way. We were all at one point either Mi Rae, the ones who teased her, or the ones that turned a blind eye. Because this situation is one we all know goes on in our appearance-focused world, it made it that much more heartbreaking for our heroine. Early on we were rooting for Mi Rae and wanting her to find that normal life where she fit in that she so desperately wanted. Then we follow Mi Rae on her journey into her new life with her new face, and see just how much (or little) things change due her now attractive appearance.

Go for it, girl

What made Mi Rae even more relatable is that she wasn’t chasing perfection. Had Mi Rae got plastic surgery for the sole purpose of being pretty, she risked being a character that people wouldn’t be drawn to- as that desire would be perceived as shallow. Mi Rae believed her looks were what prevented her from having an ordinary life where people would treat her equally,

'Looks don't matter' says Mr. Handsome

and so she did what she thought she needed to do in order to be ‘normal’. And it’s just hard to dislike someone for wanting to fit in. Similarly, Kyung Seok is a character that could have been perceived badly, but actually ended up being charming and endearing. There’s something inherently annoying about attractive people saying looks aren’t important (like, would you still feel that way if you weren’t a 10/10?), but Kyung Seok’s disinterest in those around him did help in making it a bit more believable that this good looking dude didn’t really care about appearances. Why would he care about appearances when he doesn’t care about people in general? Kyung Seok’s character hit the sweet spot of being cool, yet approachable. He was more or less a passive observer of life, and only really disliked those who went out of their way to hurt others- such as Soo Ah and Chan Woo. I appreciated that our two leads weren’t strangers at the start of the story, as I would have found it hard to believe that Kyung Seok wouldn’t have cared what Mi Rae looked like had he never encountered her pre-surgery.

They're so cute and awkward

Their love story was sweet and simple, and I actually ended up enjoying how uncomplicated it was. The interest in their relationship came from watching them slowly discover their own, and then each others’ feelings, and I always find that much more enjoyable than when a third party tries to butt in. I ended up enjoying Soo Ah as an antagonist more because Kyung Seok saw right through her facade. It made Kyung Seok feel smart and switched on (unlike other K-Drama heroes) that he didn’t naively assume that everyone was nice.

I love that he saw straight through her bull

On the flip side, Mi Rae did kind of believe that everyone was nice, but even that was understandable as she’d spent so much of her life thinking that people would like her and treat her well if she was pretty, that she just assumed that would be the case. Even though I usually want a bit more substance in a university romance than what you get from a high school romance, I found that the innocence and awkwardness of Mi Rae and Kyung Seok’s relationship pretty sweet.

She gave 110%

Due to the fact that both of them were isolated from their peers growing up, it made sense that neither really knew how to go about being in a relationship- which made their baby steps cute rather than unbelievable. The chemistry between Cha Eun Woo and Lim Soo Hyang wasn’t exactly fireworks, but it was cute and bubbly in a way that made it fun to watch. I was impressed as a whole by Lim Soo Hyang’s acting. For starters, I think that this kind of role is one that an actress has to be very confident to take on. The makeup was incredible, and was done in such a way that it made Lim Soo Hyang look like she really might have had a whole lot of surgery (whereas when you see her with regular makeup she just looks far less plastic). With the topic of the drama being plastic surgery, it was obvious that no matter how she looked, people were going to talk about whether the leading actress had got any work done or not. Which must be pretty intimidating. Yet Lim Soo Hyang just dedicated herself completely to acting out her character the best she possibly could. She was sweet and funny, and I adored the hint of backbone that she gave Mi Rae. Even in Mi Rae’s moments of insecurity and low self esteem, Lim Soo Hyang made her character’s desire to adapt and change prevent her from becoming pathetic or irritating.

Her insecurity was understandable rather than annoying

On the other hand we have Cha Eun Woo. I can see why he was cast- he’s super handsome and does look kinda like the character from the webtoon. But no one is kidding themselves into thinking that he’s a good actor. Thankfully his character was one who didn’t really show his emotions to begin with, so it made it less noticeable, but it was still clear that he’s got a ways to go before he can properly handle a leading role- Lim Soo Hyang did all the heavy lifting here.

Very pretty, but pretty wooden

Cha Eun Woo is improving, don’t get me wrong (he’s come a looooong way from ‘To Be Continued’), but he’s just not quite there yet. Even so, he was more cute awkward than painfully bad. Kwak Dong Yeon was absolutely delightful as the sweet Sunbae, and he smashed his role. He turned his charm up to the max and delivered an endearing character. He’s an actor that improves with every drama he films, and he’s the type of actor where seeing him in a project makes me excited to see what he’ll do next (please give the boy a leading role now). Jo Woo Ri is interesting because I feel like for a drama that seemed pretty focused on getting actors’ physical appearances to match the webtoon characters, Jo Woo Ri didn’t really look like Soo Ah in the webtoon. That being said, she did act out the character’s duality well. She was able to flip believably between Soo Ah’s sweet public face, and manipulative real face, and made her character feel unique and set her apart from regular, obviously b*tchy second female leads. I think all the support actors did an amazing job rounding out the cast, and gave 100% percent to their characters, no matter the size of their role. One thing I always find with dramas, is that you can really tell when the cast members are having a fun time- it makes watching them all that more enjoyable.

This drama was so fun

‘Gangnam Beauty’ was one of those dramas where you can just tell that people were having a great time filming it. The actors felt calm and relaxed, and able to bring their best performances, and the energy was really buzzing in scenes that involved the extended cast. 

What Was Great:

Social Commentary:

The winning point of this drama is definitely the way it approached the construct of physical beauty. It’s not the first drama to give it’s heroine a makeover at the beginning so we can see how her life changes, but admittedly I do tend to shy away from these sorts of shows (‘Birth of a Beauty’, ‘200 Pound Beauty’).

He thought she was cute and fun pre-op

Because usually in these situations there’s someone on the receiving end of being called ugly. And as this show pointed out, beauty means different things to different people, and what some people find attractive/unattractive, others might not. I’ll never get over how angry I was at ‘Queen of the Ring’ for calling the insanely adorable Kim Seul Gi ugly. For starters, ‘Gangnam Beauty’ never showed Mi Rae’s face before she had surgery.

This worked so much better than I thought it would

It was an interesting choice, as it made filming a little trickier, but in the end I believe it was highly successful. We understood Mi Rae’s pain and self-loathing, but there was never any anger or resentment for some poor girl getting cast as ‘ugly’ Mi Rae. It also happily avoided the issue of young girls (who are the target audience for a drama like this) looking at the actress playing pre-surgery Mi Rae and finding similarities in their appearances and thus forming the idea that they are physically unappealing. It’s a big tick from me, as this is usually a sticking point I can’t get over in these transformation dramas. I expected this drama to be pretty light-hearted and for its final conclusion to be that it’s inner beauty that counts- which is a nice idea, but one that is ultimately incorrect. What I adored about ‘Gangnam Beauty’ is that it took the idea of beauty seriously and didn’t wash over the issue with the typical ‘it’s what’s on the inside that counts’. Instead, this drama took the stance that inner beauty is what should matter, but it’s not, so how do we deal with that? A much more realistic, thought provoking position. Because the fact is that if inner beauty is what mattered then Mi Rae would never have been bullied for her appearance in the first place.

Looks should matter less than personality, but the sad truth is that's just not the case

Rather than simply stating that the world should be one way, this drama explored how and why our world is the way it is. And it’s alarmingly shallow. People like appealing things, and want to possess appealing things. So if you’re not appealing, it stands to reason that people won’t like you. The interesting aspect that this drama explored is definitely the natural vs. man-made stance.

I enjoyed how there was various opinions on the matter

Soo Ah was well liked because she was pretty, and considered a ‘natural’ beauty. Mi Rae was also well liked because she was pretty, however there was an underlying feeling that Mi Rae was a bit of a cheater because she had used plastic surgery to become pretty. As a ‘Gangnam’ (plastic) beauty, Mi Rae wasn’t on the same ‘level’ as Soo Ah. The way the show expressed its commentary was through the views of each of its characters. Each character had a different view on what was pretty and how important being pretty was, and each character had a different view on plastic surgery- some thought it was fine to use surgery to become pretty while others viewed it as fake. It was the female characters that felt the most pressured to be pretty, with Mi Rae being an obvious example. However, the show also expressed the pressure through other characters such as Soo Ah and Tae Hee, who felt like the world expected them to be a certain level of attractive in order to be treated well. Interestingly enough, it was also the female characters who tended to be the most judgemental of each others' looks, which I also think rings a bit true to real life.

I appreciated that the drama didn't try to pin all women image issues on men

The boys tended to just focus on the pretty- they saw someone pretty and so they liked the pretty person. Feelings of jealousy, inadequacy and superiority were often brought in by the female characters- though with that being said Won Ho also had these types of feelings towards Kyung Sung, showing that it’s not necessarily a gender-based cycle with only one gender perpetuating unhealthy ideologies. I think that each viewer is going to come out of this drama with a different conclusion on what this drama focused on, as not only are there commentaries made by the drama, but these commentaries are impacted by our own views of beauty that we hold before we even go into this drama.

I could ramble for hours about the different topics and character reactions

By having so many characters expressing so many different views, the drama was able to look at the issue of beauty from several angles, and managed to get away without offending anyone (as far as I can tell). 

What Wasn’t:

Mentally Ill, Not Mean:

Oh K-Dramas- unless the antagonists are nothing short of pure evil they will always try to save them. The redemption arc for Soo Ah in this drama I found particularly irritating. I could see that we were going down this path, and I wasn’t all to happy with it. 

Some people can just be insecure and mean without needing a sob-story

The quick backstory that got thrown in during the last few episodes just wasn’t enough to make me care about this horrible girl at all. So she had a rough childhood- is that supposed to excuse all the sneaky, hurtful things she’s done since? I really think I would have preferred if the drama had kept her as a nasty girl who couldn’t stand others getting attention, rather than making her out to be some wounded kitten. Having watched ‘Sassy Go Go’ not too long ago (though admittedly it is a few years old now) really made the character of Soo Ah (even has the same name as the ‘Sassy’ antagonist) feel dated and not very intuitive. Quick turnaround for a villainous character by suddenly painting them in a sympathetic light- done, done, and done. I’ve seen it a million times. Yes, I understand that often the case is that the writer is expressing how all people have events that have shaped them, and that detrimental behaviours don’t necessarily come from a place of evil but also from a place of hurt. But having had this spin put on so many characters it’s starting to become a bit predictable. And predictable is (usually) boring. 

Saving the mean girl is getting a bit old now

I can tend to forgive these redemptions in high school dramas, because no one really wants to say that your life is set at 15, and those characters obviously have a lot of time to change and grow. And we can’t ignore the teenage angst that makes everyone kind of crazy in high school. However ‘Gangnam Beauty’ was set in university, and the characters were all on the cusp of adulthood. Soo Ah has passed the age where you can be forgiven by simply being a hurt person yourself. She’s an adult now, and so I didn’t give her the same slack I give child characters. 

Grow up, girl

I also didn’t appreciate that the show gave her a mental illness. I feel like this was a plot point that might have been revealed slower and in smaller pieces in the webtoon, but just got dumped on us at the end of the drama. All drama long Soo Ah has been horrible and manipulative, yet completely sane. Then suddenly with hardly any buildup she’s gone completely bonkers and is ready to commit suicide. Sigh. The suicide card. It’s a quick fix that I think a lot of dramas lean towards in order to create an easy, stress-free redemption for their antagonist. 

Not all b*tches are mentally ill you know

Unfortunately, I think this kind of representation can actually be quite damaging for those with actual mental illness. There’s already a lot of stigma around depression and anxiety, so I don’t really think this idea that those with mental illness are a ticking time bomb is really one that needs to be encouraged. The issue as a whole goes much further than this drama alone, but I can’t ignore ‘Gangnam Beauty’ for perpetuating the myth. In trying to create an easy out for one of their characters, the writers (most likely unknowingly), are encouraging the idea that those with depression/anxiety will at some point self-destruct. By trying to use mental illness as an excuse for harmful behaviours, the drama is also supporting the idea that people with mental illness tend to not be very nice, and take out their pain and personal issues on others. Which is just not true. I also didn’t appreciate that the show tried to make it seem as though Mi Rae was the only one who could save Soo Ah from her world of self-loathing- as if she was duty-bound to help her. 

Let her solve her own problems

The problem with this is that it then ends up being Mi Rae’s ‘fault’ if Soo Ah does end up harming herself. Which is an idea I absolutely hate. Sure, if someone has tied Soo Ah to some train tracks and Mi Rae has ample opportunity but chooses not to untie her,

Just focus on the cute not the crazy

I can buy that Mi Rae has partial responsibility in Soo Ah’s injury. However, I argue that forcing Mi Rae into a corner where she has to help the girl who has been harming her just so Soo Ah doesn’t personally choose to hurt herself is a dirty trick. It’s a personal choice and Mi Rae does not share the responsibility for that outcome. I find placing blame on others for self-harming behaviours is a dangerous practice and is more often than not an external excuse for an internal problem. The whole situation reeks of revenge-self-harm (I’m going to hurt myself so you’ll feel guilty about not treating me better), which is a topic that I personally think should only be touched on very carefully and very sensitively (and remains one of the reasons I refuse to watch the American hit ’13 Reasons Why’). For a drama that was so contemplative and thoughtful on the issue of physical appearance and self-esteem, it was painfully ignorant and insensitive in the way it handled the mental stability of the antagonist. The whole issue could have been avoided if they’d just made Soo Ah a nasty person and didn’t try to save her character in the last stage of the show.

Recommend?

Yes- for younger viewers or those who like sweet, innocent romances this is a great watch. 

An unexpected hit

Radio Romance

Radio Romance

3.5/10

Radio Romance

Genre:                                                 Episodes: 16                                      Year: 2018

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Song Geu Rim has always dreamed of being a radio writer, but her talent lies in coercing guests to star, not in writing scripts. An eccentric PD hires Geu Rim to be his main writer on the condition that she can get top star Ji Soo Ho to be their DJ. However, Soo Ho has no interest in radio and hates live shows, as his personal life as well as his acting is completely scripted.

Cast:

Kim So Hyun (Song Geu Rim)

Yoon Doo Joon (Ji Soo Ho)

Yoon Park (Lee Gang)

Yura (Jin Tae Ri)

Kwak Dong Yeon (Jason)

Ha Joon (Kim Joon Woo)

Oh Hyun Kyung (Nam Joo Ha)

Jo Byung Gyu (Ko Hoon Jung)

General Thoughts:

It’s finally over! I’ve been slogging my way through this drama for a few months now and it’s finally done! I’m freeeeeee!

Free to put off watching 'Let's Eat 3' because this drama actually made me believe I don't like Yoon Doo Joon.

I do feel like my ratings recently might be a bit towards the harsh side, but I’ve just watched so many cr*p dramas this year that I’m starting to be pretty unforgiving towards their flaws. And honestly, ‘Radio Romance’ wasn’t exactly short on flaws. In fact, there wasn’t really anything this show did well at all. To start with the plot was meandering and boring, and completely failed to earn my interest after about episode 5 or 6. Which is pretty bloody early to lose interest- that’s usually around where the drama’s first conflict is peaking.

My investment in this drama was about the level of Soo Ho's investment in this conversation

The reason for this loss of interest is that literally nothing happened in this drama. It was all about whether Soo Ho would do the radio show or not. And why should we care whether he does the show? I didn’t like Geu Rim enough to want him to do the show for her sake, and there was no real reason behind Soo Ho being the only DJ option beyond that PD Gang insisting on it. Like really, just let the stuffy star stew in his miserably rich life and get on with your program.

I don't particularly care about either of you guys

The only other thing going on in the plot was the love-line, which again I didn’t care about. I think it was a mixture of dislike of Soo Ho, a cringey age-gap, and the lack of chemistry that made the romance (ie. the central point of the show) such a bust. The plot was boring and unengaging, and the acting wasn’t the best either. I know these actors can do much better, so their less than outstanding performances made me think that their characters were really awkwardly written. Or maybe everyone was just having an off project. Maybe both. Yoon Doo Joon is well known for his smarmy, food loving persona of Dae Young in the ‘Let’s Eat’ franchise, and while Soo Ho was a similar sort of character, Yoon Doo Joon wasn’t able to inject Soo Ho with that humane warmth the way he does with Dae Young. I didn’t feel like he added anything of his own to the character of Soo Ho, whereas he’s previously made Dae Young a character so completely his that no one can imagine any other actor playing him. Soo Ho was a hard character to handle, as he’s written as an immature yet professional man- which is kind of contradictory in itself. As the plot stagnated, I could feel Yoon Doo Joon trying to pull more out of the character and make him more fun and memorable, but unfortunately it didn’t quite happen.

It's okay, Oppa, just pick a better project next time

As for our female lead, I’m starting to lose faith in Kim So Hyun a bit. I’ve been so wowed by her before, that it’s kind of upsetting seeing her in projects where she doesn’t dazzle. ‘Ruler: Master of the Mask’ was a complete waste of time for everybody, and completely failed to showcase Kim So Hyun’s amazing range, and sadly ‘Radio Romance’ has gone that way as well. I was bummed out when I first heard the casting for this drama as I knew it meant that they were going to age up Kim So Hyun,

Is there some clause in her contract that prevents picking characters that smile?

who at this point in her career really doesn’t need to be accepting roles that age her up. She struggled a bit with portraying an older, more mature character, and while her performance was far from awful, there was something blocking me from fully believing Kim So Hyun as Song Geu Rim. She was always just Kim So Hyun for me in this drama. And I know that both of these actors can have fabulous chemistry (Yoon Doo Joon in ‘Let’s Eat 2’, and Kim So Hyun in ‘Page Turner’ and ‘Let’s Fight, Ghost’), but there was no sizzle between the two of them here. Not even a spark. Unlike the age difference in ‘Let’s Fight, Ghost’ were Kim So Hyun was paired with Taecyeon (who is actually a year older than Yoon Doo Joon), I really felt like Yoon Doo Joon and his character were far older than Kim So Hyun. While Yoon Doo Joon’s character was the more immature one, he still felt older and more travelled than Kim So Hyun’s Song Geu Rim, who felt weirdly and off-puttingly pulled together and mature considering how young she looked and felt. It’s not that you can’t have characters who are young and mature, but the show tried to cram together this sensitive, supportive, mature female character with a bright and innocent personality, and it just didn’t come together all that well.

The overly saccharine mother-daughter relationship was also kinda cringey

It felt too much like they were trying to force Kim So Hyun into suiting the character, when they could have just cast someone else who simply suited the character better from the get go. Kwak Dong Yeon has just stolen my heart as the sweet sunbae in ‘My ID is Gangnam Beauty’, and I was  impressed by his acting in ‘Moonlight Drawn by Clouds’.

Mysterious typing

But here he fell pretty flat. At first he made his character engaging and interesting, and he was very good at portraying Jason’s shadier side without making it too obvious, but as the drama started wrapping up and his character took a turn for the schizophrenic, I felt Kwak Dong Yeon starting to lose control of his character and his emotions. By the drama’s close I still have no idea who Jason is, nor why he was so intent on making Soo Ho face his Ji Woo trauma. I do believe that his performance was weighed down heavily by the fact that the writer had absolutely no idea what do with his character, which is a total shame. I mean, it must be a horrifically tough job to act out a character that isn’t explained or incorporated into the story properly. On the flip side, Girl’s Day’s Yura did a really excellent job at acting out the bratty, forgotten actress vying for Soo Ho’s attention. Did I like her? No. Did I want things to work out well for her? Not really. But did I believe her character? 100%. This was Yura’s first proper foray into a 16 episode series, and she did a wonderful job at bringing to life her bratty, entitled character.

Though I do resent that tied her up with the cute manager, cuz ya know- girl's a b*tch

Yoon Park was absolutely astounding, but more on him later. One thing that irritated me throughout this whole drama was the hair and makeup. Not on any of the supporting cast, who all looked fab (barring PD Gang who looked appropriately homeless), but on our leading characters. And really, if there are characters that you absolutely don’t want to f*ck up, it’s your leads.

Jason's biggest transgression was not telling him his hair made him look like a knob

For some reason Yoon Doo Joon was sporting a red hairdo at the start of this series. Is there some belief that top stars have to dye their hair bizarre colours to be counted as top stars? Or was this a hairstyle he had for his Highlight promotions? I don’t know, but either way it was terrible. I have never before noticed that Yoon Doo Joon’s eyes can go a pinkish shade, whether due to allergy or tiredness I don’t know, but this red hairstyle made it painfully obvious. It really brought out the red in Yoon Doo Joon’s eyes, and made him look at best ill or exhausted and at worst like his eyes were actually bleeding. Yeah, overall not a pleasant effect. Thankfully about a third through the drama, production staff realised that this was a bad call and promptly returned Yoon Doo Joon’s hair to an appropriate, appealing black. And he was back to looking brilliant. Sort of. Because on top of the red hair, his makeup was also white. Like legit white. Yoon Doo Joon’s skin is a beautiful colour, so I completely fail to see why the drama wanted to wash him out. Rather than giving him a beautiful healthy glow, his makeup instead served to make him look undernourished and kinda sick.

I mean...his face is a different colour to his neck...

Maybe I wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t actually know what Yoon Do Joon looked like, but alas I do. And he doesn’t usually look like his face has been rolled around in baby powder. As for Kim So Hyun, I can kind of understand why her look turned out so weird- they tried to age her up to match her character’s age. The super curly perm and the red lips that Kim So Hyun’s character originally had were obviously tools that the drama was using to try and make her look older than 20. Except, she just ended up looking like a 20 year old with cr*ppy hair and makeup. Thankfully, as with Yoon Doo Joon’s red hair, the drama staff realised that this was a terrible decision, and gave Geu Rim a makeover.

It's like a competition of who has the worst hair

Though I admit that she either still had a terrible haircut, or her hair extensions were just painfully obvious. But it was still better than the perm we started out with. These might sound like stupid and petty complaints, but character styling is a huge part of dramas- how do you expect me to focus on the story you’re trying to tell if all I can focus on is all the ways someone who is apparently not that good at their job made two attractive people such fashion disasters?

What Was Great:

PD-nim:

Yoon Park as PD Lee Gang was a bright spot in this rather dismal drama. I was a bit alarmed when I first saw him, as I wasn’t entirely sure that the crazy bohemian character was one that he could pull off- I’ve seen him play sweet and sincere characters, and cold and nasty characters, but never goofy. However, he did an excellent job.

I apologise for my lack of faith

Yoon Park really embraced the character of Lee Gang and played him to perfection. He gave PD Gang just the right amount of wackiness with just the right amount of honest sincerity underneath. PD Gang became a character that was funny but also emotional- not to mention he was a doer. PD Gang didn’t wait around for things to happen or for someone else to solve his problems for him, he was always trying something or working something out. Perhaps one of my favourite things about PD Gang is that, unlike the actual hero of the story, he didn’t force his wants onto Geu Rim (except that one time he wanted Soo Ho to be their DJ). He treated her as a competent writer, and got angry whenever anyone else, including Geu Rim herself, didn’t treat her as such. He was encouraging in a tough-love kind of way where he helped Geu Rim help herself. Rather than instantly trying to fix all her problems, PD Gang helped Geu Rim to come to her own conclusions and solutions. Not only did he do this for Geu Rim, the girl he liked, but he also helped So Hoo along as well. You know, the guy who got the girl.

PD-nim! Save us from this blatant lack of chemistry!

PD Gang was never bitter, possessive or aggressive when he realised that he had lost his timing with Geu Rim, he simply let her know where he was at so that she could make a choice. While some would, and have, argued that confessing to a girl you know likes someone else is a bit of a d*ck move, I didn’t mind it too much in this case. PD Gang didn’t confess to shake Geu Rim’s feelings for Soo Ho, he was simply going on the very tiny possibility that maybe, knowing that he liked her, Geu Rim might return his feelings. And when he was told that wasn’t the case, he returned to their friendly working relationship. Leaving Soo Ho being the only one irritated and bothered by the confession, not Geu Rim.

Though I don't recall a lot of work actually getting done in the second half of this show

 Lee Gang was just a fun, likeable character in a drama filled with boring, dislikable characters, and he was acted out brilliantly by Yoon Park. He was a scene-stealer, and I absolutely adored him.

What Wasn’t:

Makne Writer:

No, I’m not talking about Geu Rim here, I mean the actual writer of the drama. ‘Radio Romance’ is her first ever drama, and it kinda shows. There’s potential there for sure, but the overall writing for this drama was just a bit sloppy and couldn’t quite pull all its threads together.

These two always looked like they were freezing their lil' buns off

The ideas were all there, but they never came together in an enjoyable, cohesive way, and as a result the overall drama just felt a bit mundane and unfinished. Plot points that should have been dealt with quickly, such as Soo Ho breaking away from his family, or Soo Ho trying to do the radio show, felt like they were dragged out far longer than they needed to be, and plot points that should have had more time being developed, such as who the actual hell Woo Ji Woo was, were rushed over really quickly at the end. The characters were also kind of there, but most fell short in some way or the other. While it was nice to have a female protagonist who wasn’t a Candy Girl, I did find Geu Rim too pigeonholed into her identity as a blind woman’s daughter. While it made sense that this was where her love of the radio came from, basically every aspect of Geu Rim’s personality, including her interactions with Soo Ho and Ji Woo, were based around her mother’s blindness. I had no sense of Geu Rim as a person, and she simply became a typical ray of sunshine for everyone. Which sounds nice, but came across as a bit blasé and boring.

This writer was greener than a drunk Irishman on St Paddy's Day.

She didn’t blow up or misunderstand simple things, which was a bonus, but on the flip side her emotions and reactions were so low key that she felt slightly unnatural and robotic. Soo Ho also was close to being an enjoyable lead, but just skewed too far to the *sshole side. Just because you’ve been hurt, it doesn’t give you the right to be a giant jack*ss to everyone else. Soo Ho was often childish and immature in a selfish and demanding way, which to me was extremely off-putting.

Crazy jealous just isn't my style

Sure, he was written this way because he needed to grow and develop, and probably to promote the idea that he was emotionally stunted due to his tense family dynamics, but to me he just came across as nasty and self-centred- not sympathetic. His pushy attitude towards Geu Rim and his complete possessiveness of her were red flags for me, and should have sent any girl running. I mean, when you’re not even dating the dude and he’s going around telling your friend/boss not to be near you or touch you, that’s a major jealousy and inferiority issue right there, and I wouldn’t want a bar of that. It honestly slightly concerned me that the writer was spinning this behaviour as ‘cute’. It’s not cute. It’s obsessive, creepy, and about one jealous rampage away from abusive. I have absolutely no idea what the writer was aiming for with the Soo Ho-Ji Woo storyline, as all it ended up doing for me was confirming that Soo Ho was a total d*uche who thought of no one but himself. I think that maaaaaybe the writer was aiming for a sadly bittersweet love story about the friendship of these two boys, but in my eyes Soo Ho was a pretty cr*ppy friend.

I present to you the winner of the Worst-Friend-Ever Award for 2018!

The rundown- Soo Ho meets the terminally ill Ji Woo in hospital and they become friends. Ji Woo tells him he likes Geu Rim. Soo Ho then realises that he too likes Geu Rim (which is d*ck move number one, cuz if you know your mate is crushing hard then that person is instantly off limits. Particularly if your friend is DYING.). Soo Ho then stops delivering the love letters Ji Woo was asking him to give to Geu Rim,

You played dirty bro

without telling Ji Woo (d*ck move number two, because seriously who does that, it’s so sneaky and low). Soo Ho then proceeds to make moves on Geu Rim (at this point I’m unsure whether Geu Rim thought he was the guy who wrote her letters because I don’t think it was ever spelled out, or it was and I totally missed it). Soo Ho then kisses Geu Rim, which he knows is the one thing Ji Woo wants to do before he dies (I’m losing track of which d*ck move we’re up to as there really are so many). Of course Ji Woo sees this kiss and Soo Ho feels terrible and guilty. As he should. He runs away from Ji Woo causing Ji Woo to chase him and get hit by a truck of doom and he dies. So yes, while I agree that Ji Woo’s death isn’t Soo Ho’s fault, Soo Ho is still a sh*t friend. The writer tries to turn our emotions around by having Ji Woo start to write letters to Soo Ho, knowing that he wasn’t delivering them to Geu Rim, but all that really did was make Ji Woo look like a way better friend than Soo Ho deserved. The whole plot line was random and confusing, and didn’t serve to make our hero any more likeable or sympathetic.

Oh, and Crazy Mum's redemption came totally out of the blue too

It was paced terribly, with the reveal coming in the final two episodes after we’ve all pretty much stopped caring about what went on between the boys anyway. There was no slow unravelling of the mystery- it was just withheld from us all series long until it got dumped on us right at the end.

Recommend?

No. Not at all. 

And so ends Ji Soo Ho's Radio Romance (Thank the K-Drama Gods).