18 vs. 29

18 vs. 29

2.5/10

18 vs. 29

Genre:                    Episodes: 16                          Year: 2005

Romance

Comedy

Family

Synopsis:

On the way to file for a divorce, Yoo Hye Chan is involved in a serious car accident. After waking at the hospital, it becomes apparent that 29 year-old Hye Chan has lost all her memories after the age of 18, and still believes herself to be a high school student. Hye Chan is shocked when she is told that she has married her high school nemesis Kang Bong Man, who has gone on to become an extremely successful actor. While Hye Chan worries over Bong Man’s close relationship with his co-star, Shin Ji Young, she grows closer to an 18 year-old boy she met while still believing she was 18 herself.

Cast:

Park Sun Young (Yoo Hye Chan)

Ryu Soo Young (Kang Bong Man)

Park Eun Hye (Shin Ji Young)

Lee Joong Moon (Kim Noon)

Jo Eun Ji (Yoo Hye Won)

Lee Sang Woo (Kang Bong Kyu)

Park Min Ji (Yoo Hye Chan)

Choi Siwon (Kang Bong Man)

General Thoughts:

I did it guys. I made it through. Not completely unscathed, however I did finish the drama. Why? Because apparently I don’t know when to quit. If ever there was a drama worth dropping, it was this one. But I persevered in order to deliver this review to you, along with a firm warning. I strongly believe that it is in your best interests to not watch this drama.

Don't do it guys- DON'T WATCH IT

Sure, there were parts of the series that weren’t all bad. Namely Kim Noon and young Choi Siwon. If you were curious- yes. Yes, Choi Siwon has been adorable and insanely charismatic his whole life. Waffling and fan-girling aside, the drama- it’s not good. The premise is interesting enough- married woman wakes up believing she is still 18. It basically opened a whole door for cute, hilarious shenanigans. But did we get cute, hilarious shenanigans? Of course not. We got ‘Full House’.

Let the madness begin. 

But worse. Because rather than lying about being married and being forced to be cute in front of others, we have two leads that are actually married, but it appears they kind of don’t want to be. Cue the unrelenting bickering. Kang Bong Man didn’t get a great start, with the show making out like he cheated on his wife, then it’s all good because she can’t remember. However, as we become aware that this is not actually the case, and that Hye Chan’s really just a complete over-reacting psycho- Bong Man does gain some points. His complete devotion to his wife and tireless efforts to save their marriage do a lot to elevate Bong Man’s character. However, just when you think you can start to like him and cheer for him, he does something stupid or insensitive. Sure, the cute was there in his thoughts, but we need to see him actually caring about Hye Chan while she’s in front of him. Instead, we get him quietly worrying about her and trying to care for her from the sidelines, while getting angry and yelling at her when she doesn’t understand what he’s done for her. Number 1 way to not get a lady to fall for you- yell at her all the time when she doesn’t know what she’s done wrong. On the flip side of that is Hye Chan. And what a total mess she becomes. At first it’s easy to forgive her mistakes, because she’s scared, confused, and honestly believes that she’s 18. But as the drama goes on and her actions continue to be based firmly in the realm of selfish and idiotic, it becomes hard to support (or even like) her character.

Behold this K-Drama mess and weep

She becomes increasingly more selfish as the drama progresses, pulling Bong Man close or pushing him away on a total whim. She never understands her own shortcomings or how her actions have such a negative impact on her husband. Number 1 way to not gain love from your audience- have a self-centred asshat for a heroine. It also didn’t help that Hye Chan acted like she was 12 not 18. The music was forgettable, the plot was slow and uninteresting, and the characters were irritating. The acting was all pretty good- but when your characters are that sucky, sadly the acting doesn’t count for much.

What Was Great:

The Young Boys:

Choi Siwon and Lee Joong Moon are some much needed eye-candy in the series. Not only were they the cutest (by far) actors in the whole show, but their characters were also easily the least irritating.

In case there was any doubt- Siwon was always dazzling

The same traits that were annoying in Kang Bong Man were acceptable, if not adorable, when acted out by Choi Siwon. Because, you know, he’s an adolescent. And has no idea how to express his emotions. In a young boy- cute. In a grown man- not so much. And then there’s Lee Joong Moon as Kim Noon. Ahhhhhh Noon-ah! Literally the only reason I didn’t drop this drama. He carried the Noona Romance torch bravely and sweetly, and did everything right. He provided some pretty hefty Second Male Lead Syndrome when you consider he’s 11 years younger than our heroine. Noon did everything right to gain the love of our viewer hearts. I loved this character so much that I actually didn’t even want the heroine to fall of him because I truly believe that she didn’t deserve what a thoughtful, wonderful man this 18 year-old boy was. Of course this means that the bratty, selfish 18 year-old classmate didn’t deserve him either- but in a drama full of disappointments of course the most likeable character is going to get paired of with a snotty little sh*t.

Sibling Romance:

Lee Sang Woo is always all kinds of amazing in whatever he’s in. At least the drama didn’t manage to kill how wonderful Lee Sang Woo is. His character was excitingly different with his inability to speak, and while the drama made no effort to capitalise on this difference it was still interesting to have this kind of character grace my screen. Yay to Lee Sang Woo knowing sign language- it was awesome.

But first- Imma take a selfie

I also tend to enjoy Jo Eun Ji’s performances, and she provided another down-to-Earth, logical, and simply nice character in this series. The relationship between Jo Eun Ji and Lee Sang Woo’s characters was enjoyable and cute, and a wonderful distraction from our main pairing. While the romantic relationship between the siblings of our hero and heroine was not without its difficulties, the two managed to work through their problems together. Not only were they able to sort out their own issues, but these two characters also played a great role in assisting our main characters and their highly dysfunctional relationship.

The Ending (I Suppose):

Considering that K-Dramas are notorious for notoriously average finishes, it was nice surprise for the wrap up of ’18 vs. 29’ to not completely suck. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was a good ending (as to have a good ending you require a good drama) but it was definitely a step up from the rest of our series.

In one word- insufferable

We had the better relationship (Hye Won and Bong Kyu) get a sweetly satisfying conclusion with their marriage, and even our main pairing were able to pull their sh*t together enough to start acting like believable adults. While I never honestly believed that the characters in the main pairing truly loved each other, at least by the end I was convinced that they could stay together. And not threaten to move out or get divorced every five minutes. Maybe. The clear up for Hye Chan’s amnesia was pretty well done. As her memories returned she became more like the adult she was before her accident, but with the added knowledge of the misunderstandings that had been cleared up during the time she had believed she was 18. It also provided an acceptable out for Noon’s feelings- because she wasn’t the girl Noon had fallen for. He had loved the adult who held a childlike innocence and found joy in simple, uncomplicated things- just as an 18 year-old would. When Hye Chan regained her memories, experiences and maturity, she was no longer the same person Noon had fallen for. I really appreciate the time the drama took to express this issue when it could have quite easily left Noon out in the cold while wrapping up Hye Chan with Bong Man under the excuse that they had loved each other all along for 11 years.

Weirdly satisfying relationship wrap-up

What Wasn’t:

Pretty Much Everything Else:

Our two leads were pretty sucky. All their fights and misunderstandings were sucky. The jealous co-worker was sucky. The complete inability of our characters to think of someone else’s perspective and feelings was SO sucky. And last but definitely not least: the plot was sucky. The whole drama basically circles around the fact that Hye Chan doesn’t know if she wants to be with Kang Bong Man or not. And that gets old pretty darn fast.

We're married- now let's fight for 16 hours

The drama may have held more interest if the writers had chosen to focus on rebuilding the love that was shaken between these two individuals, but instead it chooses to centre around 18 year-old Hye Chan having to deal with 29 year-old Hye Chan’s problems. And that’s not all that fun. Due to her immaturity and unwillingness to cooperate with Bong Man, rather than Bong Man attempting to assist her and romance her again, he just becomes frustrated and angry with her- as do we all. It was also a mistake to have the audience doubt Bong Man’s sincerity and loyalty to his wife.

I feel like I've seen this character before. Because I have. In every K-Drama ever.

Had we known all along that he had always been faithful to Hye Chan and had never even considered Ji Young in a romantic light, at least the audience would have been completely supportive of him from the start. As it was, we were led to believe that Bong Man had cheated on or been unfaithful to his wife in some way, so our opinions of him were lowered right from the start and we sympathised more with Hye Chan. But as it became clear that Hye Chan was selfish and crazy and that Bong Man had done nothing wrong, Hye Chan quickly lost our sympathies. Which unfortunately meant that viewers were feeling no connection or warm feelings towards any of our main characters. Except Noon. Because he was perfect. The supposed ‘love rival’ was just purely dislikable. She had no redeeming qualities and couldn’t even play the pity card- it’s no one’s fault but your own if you let yourself fall for a married guy. As Bong Man only saw Ji Young as a colleague and had always made his feelings clear, Ji Young’s role was basically redundant. Even if Bong Man and Hye Chan broke up (with or without Ji Young’s meddling), Bong Man would never have made the switch to Ji Young. Irritating and stupid as many of the characters were (Hye Chan, Ji Young, Grandfather, and at times Bong Man), my biggest issue with this drama is that there was no overarching plot.

0 effort to re-romance his wife

Sure, Bong Man and Hye Chan were rediscovering their feelings, but they were doing so in a slow, round-about way made up of many smaller happenings. The drama didn’t even have Bong Man trying to romance his wife again the way he had when they were 18. Like, c’mon dude- you’ve done this once before, you know what worked when she was 18, at least try and do that again.

Really? This is who Kim Noon ends up getting?

But no, instead Bong Man simply tries to jog Hye Chan’s memory so that she remembers falling for him the first time around. While Bong Man did make an effort to relate and connect to Hye Chan, it never felt like he was making much of an effort romantically. And Hye Chan just plain never made an effort. Except for that one time she made him dinner. But then she had a complete hissy and left before he even got home, so that’s kind of a moot point. Sadly, this also meant that there wasn’t a whole lot of cute going on between our main pairing because they were always awkward or angry with each other. There were a couple of cute scenes, but in a drama with nothing else happening but the relationship development between the leads I was expecting (and wanting) a whole heap more cute. At least Noon delivered. I suppose you could say that the triangle between Bong Man, Hye Chan, and Noon was the main plot development- but did anyone actually believe Noon had a shot? I didn’t. Hye Chan only ever saw him as an adorable 18 year-old friend who she could connect to intellectually. Supposedly. I still argue that Noon was more emotionally and intellectually advanced than either of our leads.

Re-watch?

Never.

I still don't understand why I watched it the first time

2 Outs in the 9th Inning

2 Outs in the 9^th Inning

4.5/10

2 Outs in the 9th Inning 

Genre:                                   Episodes: 16                                   Year: 2007

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Hong Nan Hee and Byun Hyung Tae have been friends for as long as they can remember. They have an uncommonly close friendship where they can always call each other, drink together, and support each other. Their close friendship has often been the cause of trouble in their relationships. As Nan Hee turns 30, she realises that she is running out of time, and may only have one chance left for love. She is currently dating Kim Jung Joo, a talented baseball pitcher whose dream is to play in the American Major League, who is eight years her junior. After a disagreement with her mother, Nan Hee moves out of her family home. With hardly any money and nowhere else to go, she moves into Byun Hyung Tae’s house. As the two grow even closer, they realise that their friendship may be the reason they have never had a successful relationship, and that they must choose- love or friendship?

Cast:

Soo Ae (Hong Nan Hee)

Lee Jung Jin (Byun Hyung Tae)

Lee Tae Sung (Kim Jung Joo)

Hwang Ji Hyun (Yoon Sung Ah)

Lee Sang Woo (Lee Jun Mo)

Jo Eun Ji (Kim Chun Hee)

Park Hye Young (Park Ji Sun)

General Thoughts:

Don’t be deceived, apart from a few wild analogies- it has nothing to do with baseball. Seriously though, it’s not a bad drama, it just moves incredibly slowly. There’s basically nothing going on besides the gradual development of feelings between Hong Nan Hee and Byun Hyung Tae.

Most baseball action in the whole drama

Apart from our two main leads, hardly any characters get any development. A significant portion of the drama was devoted to Kim Jung Joo, and then he just sort of disappears. Besides Kim Chun Hee, we actually don’t know much about anyone else in the supposedly tight-knit group of friends. The drama could have been so much more heart-warming had it focused a little more on the friends as a group, rather than Nan Hee and Byung Tae as a couple. While there were definitely cute moments between our main couple, a lot of the time it felt like rehashing what we already knew. “I want to move out” vs. “I want you to stay”, “I want to love you” vs. “Don’t risk the friendship”. I originally started out watching the episodes back-to-back, but had to change pretty quickly to leaving at least a day’s gap between them, because I was just getting so frustrated at how slowly things were moving.

Cute snapshot of life over 30

The characters themselves were very realistic and believable. No one made big, bold moves that really created a sh*tstorm, because no one wanted to mess up their lives. Unfortunately though, this did contribute to the plot moving at a snail’s pace.

What Was Great:

Noona Romance:

Long live noona romances. They are just adorable. There are few things better than watching a young man battle against the odds to claim the affections of the woman he wholeheartedly loves. And Jung Joo is such a great character. He’s got our typical younger male puppy-love, immature jealousy, and burning passion. All must-haves for a good noona romance.

Can you get any cuter? 

He has that little bit of uniqueness as through all his actions, he constantly holds that tiny piece of fear that he will lose Nan Hee because he is not man enough.

Sad reality of the noona romance

This drama delved into some big, realistic problems with noona romances: the simultaneous pride and embarrassment of your partner, family objections on both sides, and loss of time. It was heart aching to watch the two circle each other, with Nan Hee feeling both like she was running out of time, and as if she was stealing time and youth from Jung Joo. My favourite parts of the drama definitely involved Jung Joo. It was after his disappearance that I felt the plot started to lose steam.

Questionable Friendship:

The relationship between our two main leads was pretty great. They were so comfortable around each other that gender didn’t play an important role- but then we got those awkward moments when our character would think ‘Oh, he’s handsome’, or ‘She’s like a woman today’.

Adequately amusing shenanigans

The friendship also laid the groundwork for mass-jealousy. We had jealousy from the outside- those romantically involved, jealousy from within- when they felt the girl/boyfriend was closer than them, and jealousy of each other- when one had a partner and the other didn’t. It was relaxing and easy to watch the dynamics constantly shift around, but again, not a lot actually happened.

What Wasn’t:

Slooooooow:
I’ve basically said all I need to on this. The plot was slow. Nothing actually happens. There’s some things that happen in the workplace, and a few things that happen with outside relationships, but not much. Nothing is given even close to the same amount of development that is given to Nan Hee X Jung Joo and Nan Hee X Hyung Tae.

That sexual tension though

There were a lot of half-assed side plots that never really found their feet- they just kind of lurked in the shadows debating whether or not to emerge.

Friendship Circle:

What little glimpses we got of all the friends together were actually really nice. But we were never given enough information on anyone. Supposedly Lee Jun Mo was a major contender to become Nan Hee’s husband- but did any of us believe he actually stood a chance? No. Because All we knew about him was that he dated Nan Hee a while ago, and they broke up because of Hyung Tae. We all KNEW our main couple would end up together- but a little contest would have been appreciated.

Everyone loves a bit of boy biffo

It was the same sort of thing with Yoon Sung Ah. She and Hyung Tae dated. She and Hyung Tae broke up. She and Hyung Tae dated again. That’s pretty much all there is to it. Oh, and she cheated with the dead guy. Speaking of the dead guy- what up with that? It was as though the writers only thought of this development a minute before they put it in. It could have been a MAJOR development, but it was just swept under the rug.

Oh I'm sorry, who are you?

The impact of his death on his friends was interesting to watch, but would have tugged a whole lot more heartstrings if, you know, we actually KNEW any of them. Also, why would Nan Hee not tell Hyung Tae that guitar-girl cheated on him? The dynamic between the two girls was a tad wishy-washy, I could barely even tell if they were openly competing against each other for Hyung Tae or if they just enjoyed saying snarky things every now and then.

Honestly, as much as I hate flashback sequences, I feel this drama may have needed some, or at least something to develop the group of friends beyond ‘our main couple’s mutual friends’.

Friends or Love?:

Similarly to many points in this drama, it just dragged on for too long. Really, as soon as it got to the point where Hyung Tae was ready to walk away from their friendship because it wouldn’t survive their marriages to other people, Nan Hee should have been on board. She had nothing to lose at that point anyway.

Ha Ha

While it was great to have all the awkward of slowly realising their feelings, and questioning their intentions- there was just this lull from about 2/3s in.

This guy knows what's up

Everybody knew they were ending up together. Legit everyone. It was charming for a while have our support characters chuckling from the sides, knowing how their relationship would play out but it was a little overused and bordered on irritating after a while when our main lady didn’t respond. Because, let’s be honest, Hyung Tae really did all he could.

Holiday:

It was adorable. The whole scene was pretty picture perfect and played out quite nicely. The casual confession and suggestion, begrudging acceptance, giggly honeymoon phase. I was expecting when our main couple returned from their getaway that they would be smacked with some real-world problems, and watch them slug it out together (similar to Nan Hee and Jung Joo at the start). But alas, Nan Hee turns into a big chicken and backs out of everything, and we’re back to square one- but this time with a very frustrated Hyunng Tae and a very frustrated audience. It’s understandable that she doesn’t want to ruin the friendship- it is. But when Hyung Tae was ready to walk away from their friendship anyway, and Nan Hee STILL didn’t suck it up and dive in, I wanted to smack her. Smack her hard.

What's not to like?

Development for Nothing:

I was so invested in Jung Joo’s character. Not gonna lie, when he was around vying for Nan Hee’s heart I was rooting for him- even though we all know he wouldn’t get the girl in the end. His determined passion was just so inherently likeable. He goes through so much struggle and development, and is such a driving force in the beginning stages of this drama, so I couldn’t help but feel a little gypped when he vanished off for America with no return. It makes sense storywise why he went- it was his dream, and Nan Hee would have been constantly looking towards him wanting to go back to him that it would have made things difficult to progress.

Come back Jung Joo!

While I suppose that this rings true to real life- after a serious breakup that’s the end of the role that person will play in your life, I just so desperately didn’t want it to be the end of Jung Joo’s role in this drama. At least we got the 10 second video at the end, so we know he was smashing it in American baseball.

Re-watch?

No, once was definitely enough. The development of feelings was cute to watch, and Nan Hee and Hyung Tae were both likeable characters- but everything just moved far too slow. Not every drama has to have a racing plot, but it does need at least a little forward momentum.

It may have taken 16 hours, but we got there in the end