Another Oh Hae Young (2016)
Grade:
B
18 Episodes, 70 minutes each
+2 Bonus “Making Of” episodes
Sound producer Park Do-kyung decides to
have his revenge on his ex-fiancee and ruins her man's business, all
with a simple suggestion for a large investor Do-kyung happened to
know to pull out his money. In the meantime, Do-kyung starts to have
visions of a girl he's never met. A few weeks later he runs into the
girl, stunned that she actually exists, and even more surprised once
he notices that the visions seem to be showing his future with her.
The mystery girl's name? Oh Hae Young – the exact same name as his
ex-fiancee. Do-kyung then discovers he's made a terrible mistake: he
is responsible for destroying THIS Hae Young's marriage by
bankrupting HER fiance, not his ex-fiancee's man, all because the two
Hae Youngs went to the same high school! What happens when both Oh
Hae Youngs find out what Do-kyung did? Will the Hae Young in the
visions change Do-kyung's life for the better, or will he die alone,
full of regret?
*This
Korean drama is currently the MOST successful cable television series
of all-time in Korea, but I did not love it. I actually found the
love story between the secondary characters much more compelling – the one between Do-kyung's older sister and his
best friend since childhood. The characters were strong, plus the
actors for those two have a large on-screen presence that really
takes away from the main couple. I didn't like some of the
cinematography either – lots of screen jumps that were just too rapid
(especially since I have to keep an eye on subtitles). There were
also several times I could not distinguish between a “vision,” a
flashback from the past, and a quick look back from earlier in a
“day.” Usually there is a certain type of screen effect or special lighting to make
it obvious, but the shots were too similar. The plot does
have an interesting supernatural element, but the only explanation,
that his love/regret is SO GREAT it tears through the fabric of time, didn't quite work for me. I didn't really like the actress that played
the second Oh Hae Young, either. Overall, it's a pretty cute show,
with some slow, sad, self-imposed misery in parts but also some great
comedic moments. I might watch it again.*
