Legend of the Blue Sea

Legend of the Blue Sea

6/10

Legend of the Blue Sea

Genre:                                     Episodes: 20                           Year: 2016

Romance

Comedy

Fantasy

Synopsis:

In the Joseon era, a man named Dam Ryung rescues a captive mermaid. In the present day, Heo Joon Jae is a con-man who swindles money off those who have become rich through illegal means. While abroad, a strange girl ends up in his room, and Joon Jae takes pity on her and looks after her. Unknown to Joon Jae, the girl is actually a mermaid who was washed ashore in a recent storm.

Cast:

Jeon Ji Hyun (Shim Chung/Se Hwa)

Lee Min Ho (Heo Joon Jae/Dam Ryung)

Lee Hee Joon (Jo Nam Doo)

Shin Won Ho (Tae Oh)

Lee Ji Hoon (Heo Chi Hyun)

Shin Hye Sun (Cha Shi Ah)

Sung Dong Il (Ma Da Young)

Hwang Shin Hye (Kang Seo Hee)

Shin Rin Ah (Yoo Na)

General Thoughts

When the drama was good, it was very, very good- but when it was bad it was dead boring. It took me a good 8 or so episodes before I really started feeling any sort of affection towards the series, and I mark that up to nothing really happening. Sometimes I can enjoy a drama that has nothing going on beyond the characters and their relationships (Weightlifting Fairy), but other times it just bores me to tears. Or cussing.

This drama is like an attractive man who's cr*p in bed- nice to look at, but frankly a bit disappointing

I will admit, the endless stream of stills, posters and promos got me insanely excited, not to mention the actors and writer- Park Ji Eun of ‘The Producers’ and ‘My Love from the Stars’- both of which I loved. Obviously it was hard not to go in and compare ‘Blue Sea’ with ‘My Love from the Stars’ as they had so many other things in common beyond the writer- same lead actress, same mythical creature twist (alien/mermaid), same blend of a Joseon timeline and a modern timeline.

Jeon Ji Hyun is a total star

I foolishly expected a drama of the same sort of quality, and while ‘Blue Sea’ isn’t a bad drama, it has none of the wonder, sparkle or addictiveness that ‘My Love’ had. While Jeon Ji Hyun delivered an incredible performance as our mermaid on land, I wasn’t a huge fan of the character herself. She was innocent and a bit daft- which added a lot to the comedy, but sadly lessened the impact of the love-line. Chung’s childish adoration, or even obsession, with Joon Jae felt less like deep, emotional love, and more like a teenager crush. She didn’t know Joon Jae- she just instantly fell for him and he could do no wrong. It was a lot like the fluffy love in ‘My Girlfriend is a Gumiho’, and I was just expecting something with a bit more substance. On the other hand, Joon Jae’s love for Chung was lovely to watch develop. We were always shown that Joon Jae had a pretty soft interior and didn’t like turning away from Chung when she so obviously had no idea how to live on land. Joon Jae has a sweet progression from annoyance to protector to love, and his sincerity is always felt- even in the more comedic moments.

Lee Min Ho looks like one hell of a snuggler

I find Lee Min Ho to be a little overhyped, but he portrayed his character well, and did much better with the comedy than I thought he would. While I didn’t really fall in love with Joon Jae, I believed his emotions and understood his actions, and could even sympathise with him most of the time- and a lot of that comes from Lee Min Ho’s ernest portrayal of the character. The side characters were criminally underdeveloped.

Um, hello- where's my bromance?

The three con-men were pretty much the first people we saw (both in advertising the drama and in the actual drama), yet they don’t really get any development or screen-time. I absolutely loved the conflict that was brought in at the end that questioned Nam Doo’s loyalty to Joon Jae, and Chung by extension- but that really only came into play in the last few episodes. And poor Tae Oh probably gets less than 20 lines. That’s like one line an episode. If that. Why is everyone so against giving Shin lines? He’s a great little actor with an adorable pout and I wish people would just let him do something. Also, his love-line with Shi Ah was one of the most unwanted things I’ve encountered in a long time. It felt weird, and we’d established that Shi Ah is nasty and two-faced (by her treatment of her housemaid before and after she found out she was Joon Jae’s mum) so why force poor Tae Oh to have her? Sigh.

Shtaaaaappp iiiittttt

I generally like Lee Ji Hoon, and I loved him in his role here. He has a wonderful ambiguity about him where you can never quite tell if he’s good or evil. As it was, Chi Hyun didn’t know himself whether he was good or evil, and Lee Ji Hoon showed amazing ability in portraying Chi Hyun’s conflicted feelings of love and abandonment.

But changing his hairstyle was a bit of a giveaway that he was now a 'bad dude'

The main villain, Evil Stepmom, was a bit of a stock standard K-Drama villain, but at least she made things happen. To be honest, I didn’t really care about Joon Jae’s father and whether he lived or died, but at least his death (and thus Joon Jae’s revenge) made something happen in the story that went beyond ‘the mermaid likes Joon Jae’. I kind of wish the relationship between Stepmom and Da Young had been explained a bit better, as it was mostly just up to our own imaginations to fill in the blanks. They were children at an orphanage, then murderous adults, and we weren't really shown how the two got there. I would happily swap some silly Spain episodes for a bit more backstory on our villains. The Joseon part of the drama was endlessly interesting, and I thoroughly enjoyed whatever time we spent in that timeline. It was an interesting twist to have Dam Ryung just as aware of Joon Jae as Joon Jae was of him. The past timeline ensured we had the beautiful, bittersweet, tragic love story that K-Drama seems to love so much, and the present timeline gave us the happy ending we were all wanting. Also, the way the timelines worked together to reveal whether Nam Doo was a bad guy or not was just absolutely perfect.

Pure brilliance

What Was Great:

No Noble Idiocy:

There was the chance for noble idiocy at every turn, and thankfully no one in this drama took it.

This is so much better than forced separation

The idea was tossed around a bit, and we could see both Joon Jae and Chung considering it, but at the end of the day no one buggered off under the delusion that they were protecting the other. Sure, Chung did bugger off- but that was because she was going to die (more on this later). Having a set-up like this one (mermaid’s heart only beats if the man continues to love her) is basically every noble idiot’s dream. Chung could have left saying Joon Jae would be too sad when she died, and Joon Jae could have pretended not to love Chung in some stupid attempt to send her back into the ocean and stop her heart from hardening. But instead, they choose to stay together and do cute couple things and just generally be adorable. Yay. 

It’s Pretty:

Everything is lovely to look at. The scenery is stunning- particularly in their overseas shoot, and the cinematography is just beautiful. The Joseon era was particularly lovely, and had a real magical air about it. Jeon Ji Hyun is of course very beautiful, and makes for one gorgeous mermaid. She did a fantastic job of looking at home in the water- rather than being uncoordinated, she moved through the water very gracefully. The soundtrack was nice and complemented the prettiness that was on screen well.

So nice to look at

What Wasn’t:

The Beginning:

For the first half of this drama I was pretty darn angry. Because nothing seemed to have a point, even though the drama seemed to think it did.

Sure, it was a little fun- but by Ep. 3 I was expecting some sort of plot

We had a whole bunch of episodes in Spain- but then these all get erased from Joon Jae’s memory, and the only part of it that actually mattered was Joon Jae meeting Chung and telling her to come to Seoul. Like, c’mon. You could have put that in one or two episodes- do I really need to see them escaping from random hoodlums for a whole episode? And even when Chung gets to Seoul, beyond a few fish-out-of-water jokes there wasn’t much going on. Sure, Joon Jae was starting to like Chung and whatever- but we’ve all seen it before. In Spain. He just doesn’t remember. But I sure do. Really, until it was revealed that there was an actual threat out there (not just Chung’s heart maybe not working anymore), I had zero investment in the series. I mean it was all pretty and cute, but it was the life-and-death, get-the-ending-we-didn’t-get-the-first-time stakes that I was really interested in.

The End:

The last episode stank. What a stanky episode. I liked everything about it, but the fact that she erased everyone’s memory just made it stupid.

'Please don't take my memory.' Proceeds in taking memory.

It basically rendered the whole drama pointless. Sure, she met Joon Jae and he hadn’t forgotten her (somehow), but every other relationship I watched Chung forge and enjoyed watching develop was completely erased.

Joseon ending was far more dramatic

What. The. Hell. And it wasn’t even for a good reason. Not to mention that it totally negates the earlier message the drama was sending. In Joseon, Dam Ryung criticised Se Hwa for taking his memory without permission and says he would have much rather been alone with the memory of loving her than have no recollection of it. It’s the whole old ’tis better to have loved and lost the never to have loved at all’ thing all over again. And Chung seems to finally have got the message when she refused to erase Joon Jae’s memories of his dead father even though he asks. Then right at the end Joon Jae specifically asks Chung not to take his memories and she tries to do it anyway! Why? Whyyyyy?! And then she seems all upset that no one remembers her when she returns three years later- like, what did you expect? Ohhhhhh, so frustrating. I can live with Chung returning to the ocean for her body to recover (even if it would have been nice to know that was why she went back before she went), but taking the memories of her friends without their knowledge was just stupid, and quite frankly selfish.

Re-watch?

Goodness me, no. The beginning and the last episode thoroughly irritated me.

You guys totally just could have bought a house by the sea at the start and skipped all the angst in between

Big

Big

5/10

Big

Genre:                                   Episodes: 16                                   Year: 2012

Romance

Comedy

Fantasy

Synopsis:

Gil Da Ran is a substitute teacher engaged to Seo Yoon Jae- a kind, well-mannered doctor. Kang Kyung Joon is a young, immature student from the US who transfers into Da Ran’s school around the same time her fiancée starts to become strangely distant. After a car accident involving both Yoon Jae and Kyung Joon, Kyung Joon wakes in the body of Yoon Jae, while Yoon Jae remains in the comatose body of Kyung Joon.

Cast:

Gong Yoo (Seo Yoon Jae/Kang Kyung Joon)

Lee Min Jung (Gil Da Ran)

Shin Won Ho (Kang Kyun Joon)

Bae Suzy (Jang Ma Ri)

Jang Hee Jin (Lee Se Young)

Baek Sung Hyun (Gil Choong Shik)

General Thoughts:

I started this drama for Gong Yoo and the great cover. I had heard some critiques of the series, but bravely ventured forth regardless. For the first, let’s say half, of the drama it was great. After that… not so much.

Rather accurate representation of the direction of this drama

The first episode is marvelous. We get introduced to everyone- boring but gorgeous Yoon Jae, gorgeously childish Kyung Joon, and the girl. It’s fairly evident where the drama is heading with the tension between Da Ran and her fiancée and the spark between her and her student. It’s a nice substantial, action-packed first episode that is a great start for the series. However, as the drama progresses it begins to lose steam. After about the midway point

Coming Soon: B*tch Who Can't Make Up Her Mind

they should have changed the title to ‘B*tch Who Can’t Make Up Her Mind’. Because that is all we get for a long while. Gil Da Ran is engaged, Gil Da Ran is not engaged, Gil Da Ran likes Kyung Joon, Gil Da Ran is going to force herself to not like Kyung Joon. Eish. The drama really missed out on capitalizing on some great plot devices. While Da Ran always refers to Kyung Joon as a ‘kid’, there is never really a cute period where she allows him to be close to her under the guise of ‘he's young and I’m looking after him’. While she does hold this sentiment, she still keeps him at arms length because she views him as a ‘man’? I don’t know. Missed opportunity. I also think it was a mistake to leave Yoon Jae in a coma for so long. We missed out on what could have been some fantastic awkwardness and confusion and given us an idea of why she moved from Yoon Jae to Kyung Joon (apart from the fact that one was conscious and the other wasn’t). Us viewers weren’t given much about Seo Yoon Jae at all, besides some quick flashbacks and Da Ran reminiscing. Again, as is common with many rom-com K-Dramas, there wasn’t much going on story-wise apart from the feelings of the leads- until about two-thirds in where it got very ‘Days of Our Lives’ with fake parents and siblings and secret DNA tests.

It's a miracle I didn't shoot anyone after finishing this drama

 What Was Great:

As Usual, Gong Yoo:

He even impresses himself sometimes

Despite what a bore this series became Gong Yoo is still exceptional. His acting is perfect, and similarly to ‘Hello My Teacher’ he superbly channels the angst-filled schoolboy.

The Brother!:

In K-Drama land we are plagued with people who can’t make up their minds on who to love. Whether it’s a love-triangle or denying their feelings for the greater good, there is always some obstacle. I think this is why characters who wear their hearts on their sleeves are so well loved- and in this series we get two! While Kyung Joon is stubborn on his feelings for his clueless teacher, we also have Gil Choong Shik who actively pursues Jang Ma Ri- despite her complete obliviousness and devotion to another man. It’s cute, it’s funny, and it’s fantastic to watch him attempt (and fail) to be cool in front of his crush.

Lovely Love:

The couple scenes with Kyung Joon and Da Ran are acceptably adorable. Nothing outstanding as far as K-Dramas go, but good enough. These scenes bought a great sense of light-heartedness to the drama. However, I would’ve loved to see more couple moments as apposed to awkward pre-relationship mode.

Gong Yoo carrying Lee Min Jung like he carried this drama

60% of each episode

Family Drama:

The goings on between the Seo family and locating Kang Kyung Joon’s father were an effective way to add something new to the rather slow-moving, minimalistic plot. Though I’m not sure how much of my attraction toward this plot development was actual interest, and how much is relief that I’m not looking at Da Ran putting on, staring at, or taking off her damn ring.

Uh Oh:

Kyung Joon’s sporadic English and adorable catchphrase gave great individuality to his character- not to mention it was charmingly funny. It was also a great help in cluing in the audience as to who was in Yoon Jae’s body. Both Gong Yoo and Shin Won Ho suited the English very well, and it never came across unnatural. I would watch that first episode over and over again just to hear Shin Won Ho say ‘Uh oh’ and ‘stupid’ a million times.

Top English skills

What Wasn’t:

Annoying American:

Hopeless, but cute

I really love Bae Suzy but I HATED her in this. Her character is whiny, annoying, manipulative and selfish. All traits that I tend to find myself not loving in a person. While it is endearing for some to wear their hearts on their sleeve (Choong Shik), in this case it’s just pure irritating. We are all well aware (and so is she) that Kyung Joon is not interested and that he is heading towards a mutual relationship with another girl. And yet here’s Ma Ri butting in, making things complicated, and on multiple occasions really hurting her supposed ‘love’- but she doesn’t seem to care how miserable he is as long as he’s hers. Boo- I really dislike this type of girl and didn’t find her cute at all.

Most awkward thing ever

Coma, Coma, Coma:

I don’t know whose decision it was to leave Seo Yoon Jae/Kang Kyun Joon’s body in a coma for so long but it totally blowed. We got about 5 minutes of Shin Won Ho, which was a

He got real good at doing nothing

total disappointment as I adored him in ‘Bachelor’s Vegetable Store’ and was looking forward to seeing him in another drama. Granted, his 5 minutes were amazing, but it was such a shame that after his stellar performance all he got to do was lie down with his eyes closed. The coma also really restricted Seo Yoon Jae’s character, as all we really saw him in were flashbacks, so we never got to truly grasp who he was.

Memory Loss:

I am not a fan of memory loss in K-Dramas at the best of times, and the use of it here was just awful. It really served no purpose and I don’t know why it had to be done at all- as the whole period where the memory was lost was glazed over in a time-skip.

Time Skip:

Speaking of time-skips, I’m not a fan of those either; and this drama had not one, but two time-skips. It was even more ridiculous that these travels through time added nothing extra to the drama except as a way for explaining why people weren’t mad at each other. Time heals all. Except my hatred for time-skips.

Episode 15:

I don’t think anyone anywhere enjoyed what a clusterf*ck this episode was. Nobody made any sense. I mean really, hurting your girlfriend with fake amnesia to cover up potential future amnesia that may hurt her later? No, no, don’t do that. Would it not make more sense to just be like ‘Hey, there’s a good chance I may not remember you when I wake up, so let’s cuddle and snog and live it up while we can’?

Gil Da Ran looking for her dignity

Plus we have Ma Ri being an ass and trying (and in some cases succeeding) to manipulate people in the most OBVIOUS ways. Not to mention more or less everything that occurs in this episode is undone in the next.

WHERE IS SHIN?:

For the most part, the final episode was doing an acceptable job of clearing up the complete slop that was episode 15, when suddenly along comes the worst ending ever. I had read that it was a completely sucky ending and thought I was prepared, but no. They don’t use Shin Won Ho. While it might have been a little jarring to see Shin Won Ho acting Kyung Joon after 15 hours of Gong Yoo- it is what we all wanted. It’s a year later, they’ve swapped bodies successfully, Gil Da Ran even calls him Kang Kyung Joon. But it’s still Gong Yoo acting him! While we don’t get a shot of his face, we aren’t stupid- we know Gong Yoo’s hands, chest and silhouette. Definitely the first time I was disappointed to see Gong Yoo on my screen.

WHY? WHY? WHYYYYYY?

The whole sucky, time-skippy last episode could have picked up what was left of its dignity if it had just given us that one scene we’d all been waiting for: Lee Min Jung and Shin Won Ho kissing or holding hands or even just standing under the umbrella. But instead we got Gong Yoo’s arm. This drama is like a terrible date that you stick out right to the end, but then no one gets off.

Re-Watch?

I am going to re-watch the first episode and then pretend the rest of this drama does not exist. 

I won't lie, there were some cute scenes