07 March 2022

K Drama Review: Oh My Venus (2015) 4 || 3.75

Ever since we watched Shin Min A in Hometown Cha Cha Cha, she's been on Oppa's radar. Still not IU level but high enough on his list to make him want to watch another one of her dramas. My sister watched this one and said it was okay. While I would have to disagree with my sister a bit, I would say this show's still entertaining enough for me. 

Plot


Oh My Venus tells the story of Kang Joo Eun (Shin Min A), a high school heartthrob who earned the title Venus of Daegu. She was so pretty that she was even offered a spot in the Miss Korea competition, which she declined. Fast forward to several years later, we see Joo Eun as a lawyer. She gained a lot of weight over the years. She seems to be living quite a miserable life, made even more miserable when her long-time boyfriend, Im Woo Shik (Jung Gyu Woon), breaks up with her when she thought he was going to propose. Exhausted from work and her sad personal life, Joo Eun passes out on the plane on her way back to Korea from a business trip in the US. Fortunately, there was a doctor on board - Kim Young Ho/John Kim (So Ji Sub of Warm and Cozy) - who helped her. Young Ho would go on to save Joo Eun several times. Turns out Young Ho is also an heir to a rich family and a popular fitness trainer. Joo Eun taps Young Ho to help her regain good health and her Venus of Daegu looks. The story takes us through how Joo Eun and Young Ho's relationship evolves from trainer-client to romantic partners and the various obstacles they have to hurdle along the way. 

Shin Min A as Kang Joo Eun

Shin Min A is still adorable as ever. Yes, she did look a bit old to be a high school student. But thanks to her good looks, she still managed to pull it off. The nice thing about Shin Min A is that she has no qualms about looking funny, ugly, or silly. So she can hack whatever role you give her. 

Yes, we also missed her super cute dimples when she gained weight. But they were back after a few episodes so Oppa was still able to enjoy the show. 

Acting-wise, the show didn't really demand much from Shin Min A. But she still managed to give a unique flavor to Joo Eun. I loved her determination to be healthy. And her desire to still be positive and cheerful despite the difficult things she had to deal with. So yep, this one's a must-watch for Shin Min A fans. 

So Ji Sub as Kim Young Ho/John Kim

I admit that it was not love at first sight for me and So Ji Sub. Yes, he's attractive. But I felt that he was trying hard to look cool as Young Ho/John Kim. He came across as someone cold and even rude sometimes. 

Eventually, however, Young Ho won me over. How can you not love someone who is always there to rescue Joo Eun? Yes, in real life, his omnipresence might actually be classified as stalking. But still I was glad that he always happened to be there when Joo Eun needed help. And as the show progressed, I understood Young Ho more - why he appears detached even if he's actually a very caring person. 

So Ji Sub was pretty good here. I especially liked him in the scenes where he's supposed to be in pain. He was really credible there. 

I absolutely loved Young Ho's relationship with his two minions - MMA fighter Sung Hoon (Jang Joon Sung of So I Married an Anti-Fan) and his manager Ji Woong (Henry). Young Ho was like a real father/big brother to the two.  

So, yep, I take back what I said earlier. So Ji Sub was not trying to look cool. He's really pretty cool actually. And I probably won't mind watching him again. 

Young Ho and Joo Eun

To be honest, I felt quite confused with this pairing. I'm not a fan of the abrasive kind of love (bordering on disrespectful) which Young Ho seemed to exhibit towards Joo Eun in the beginning. I found this really unfortunate because I felt that they genuinely cared for each other, which unfortunately was overshadowed by the rough/disrespectful behavior. 

But Young Ho and Joo Eun had their moments too. They were always there for each other - Young Ho for Joo Eun's medical emergencies and Joo Eun for Young Ho's mental health issues and scandal when his John Kim identity was revealed. I loved their cute moments too especially when Young Ho would tease Joo Eun. Although they're not that young anymore, Young Ho and Joo Eun still managed to make me feel giddy. I also liked that unique proposal Young Ho had of knitting the ring on the scarf (although risky). 

So yep, if you can go past the roughness, it's still possible to enjoy Young Ho and Joo Eun as a couple. 

Young Ho's Gang

As I mentioned earlier, I loved Young Ho's gang. I loved Sung Hoon's quiet way of clinging to Joo Eun as opposed to Ji Woong's loud and extravagant way. I was so touched when Sung Hoon asked Joo Eun to help him fix his issue with his mom (Nam Gi Ae of Now, We are Breaking Up, Jirisan, Encounter, Suits,  and Descendants of the Sun). I also liked his storyline with his mom. But I was definitely not a fan of his love story with CF star Jang Yi Jin (Jung Hye Sung), who I felt was quite over the top. 

Ji Woong was cute but also felt a bit over the top sometimes with his boisterousness. 

One of the most touching scenes for me was when Young Ho got involved in a car accident and Sung Hoon and Ji Woong were crying like orphans while waiting for the surgery to be completed. 

Although I was not a big fan of Young Ho's relationship with the stiff Mr. Min (Choi Jin Ho) in the beginning, I learned to enjoy their little bromance. Yes, I would have preferred that Mr. Min remained serious the entire show with his fatherly and loving gentleness. The attempts at making him do funny stuff felt contrived at times. 

Joo Eun's Ex-Boyfriend and Ex-Friend


I hated Woo Shik for cheating on Joo Eun. Then he had the gall to block other people from going near her after he dumped her. And probably because the show thought he was not despicable enough, they even made him plot against Young Ho when he was about to join the family company. And when he finally had the courage to apologize to Joo Eun, he still had to say he didn't regret breaking up with her but he didn't want to go back to her either. He admitted that he was just feeling selfish because she was now with someone new. Seriously??? In any case, I was just happy for Joo Eun that she finally got her closure on this relationship and they somehow managed to still part amicably. 

Joo Eun's college friend and previously overweight Soo Jin (Yoo In Young of My Love from the Star and The Snow Queen) was probably the perfect match for jerk Woo Shik. I couldn't comprehend how someone who had weight issues in the past like her would be mean to Joo Eun who was now having weight issues of her own. Didn't she learn anything from her experience? And it was absolutely unprofessional for her to power trip on Joo Eun just because she was more senior than her. Although I personally would not have forgiven her, it was still good to see her patch things up with Joo Eun in the end. 

Execution

I liked how the show touched on a difficult topic - weight and health issues - the struggles that come with it, the body shaming, humiliation, and the willingness to try even dangerous diets just to lose weight fast. I loved how the drama showed us that sometimes, it's not about a person's refusal to lose weight, like in Joo Eun's case. She almost dropped dead from trying too hard. Unfortunately, she has health issues that caused her to gain weight and no amount of exercise and diet could fix that. It was a very good lesson on how we should not sweepingly judge obese people as irresponsible. 

It was also great that the show depicted how people are typecast because of their appearance. Like how the police assumed that someone as big as Joo Eun would probably not be a victim of stalking or sexual harassment because she was not pretty or slim enough. 

I also liked the mini story on PCOS and how it can be life-changing for some people and couples. 

I also liked how the show deviated from the usual rich family against a commoner storyline that we see in K dramas. I loved how Joo Eun was not afraid of Young Ho's grandma (Ban Hyo Jung) and how she promised to never leave his side even if grandma objected. And it was surprising to hear grandma say that she was not against the relationship at all. That was quite unexpected given that she was previously setting up Young Ho with another rich girl. 

Unfortunately, there were a couple of things that didn't work for me. In general, there were a number of instances where the stories were built up in an unrealistic manner. And some things felt contrived too. Like that camping scene where they were singing. I would have preferred that they do more realistic stuff like cooking and eating together. 

I also found Young Ho's family confusing in the beginning. Things did clear up midway but I hoped they established those stuff much earlier in the show. And I didn't get the deal with Young Ho's stepmom (Jin Kyung of Wonderful Days) getting offended when grandma asked her to leave. She was not family at all. Yes, she served grandma and grandma probably should have been more grateful. But I felt that grandma explained things in a straightforward manner - Young Ho was coming back and it was going to be awkward to have her around. Didn't she prefer freedom? Or did she prefer to stay there and be treated like a servant so she can cling to money and power? 

Flashbacks were used quite excessively in this show. I'm pretty sure there's a better way of reminding viewers of what happened a few scenes ago. The only time it worked for me was when Joo Eun was going to move out of Young Ho's house and they showed a montage of her happy moments with the guys. 

The show also felt quite conflicted on sexual harassment/stalking/consent stuff. I liked how it featured the stalker storyline and how he was punished for what he did. However, the show also had Young Ho telling Joo Eun over and over again that he owned her body. Yes, I get that most of it were said in the context of  their trainer-client relationship. But did he really need to say that before he kissed her for the first time? And did he really have to add that she can't say no because he owned her body? I felt that those words unnecessarily stole the sweetness of the moment. I would have preferred if he just kissed her right away. 

I also didn't feel comfortable with the conflict of interest Joo Eun found herself in when she advised an opposing party who did not have her lawyer at that time about settling the case but dragging things on in the meantime. It was unfair to the other party because she was being advised by her opponent's counsel. (Even if admittedly, Joo Eun was being helpful.) And of course, it was problematic for Joo Eun's client who expected her to protect her client's interests. The other lawyerly stuff were not that realistic either. Like all the corporate drama they had. It was quite unbelievable that a mere director (Kim Jung Tae as Mr. Choi) could influence all the other board members when he was not even an owner. 

I also didn't get why Mr. Choi was extremely vindictive. Can someone really be that greedy that he would go as far as killing someone to protect his stake in the company? At least he had the decency to resign after all that happened. 

I also didn't like the whole accident stuff because everyone was so cruel to Joo Eun. No one bothered telling her what happened. Then they let her make that scene outside Young Ho's hospital room where she looked like someone who had no dignity or self-respect. If Young Ho truly cared for and loved her, he should not have emotionally abused her that way and shut her out as if she didn't matter. Could he not have told her in person or at least over a phone call that he needed space? Did she not mean anything to him that he could only say it over a text message while she was bawling and being watched by his bodyguards?

I hated the flawed reasoning of not wanting to see her cry because of him so he'll just give her even more reasons to cry by ignoring her. And it was sad and scary to see how much it affected her. She would burst into tears while talking to a client. :( 

I felt that the show was playing with my emotions with this storyline. Yes, it was a tearjerker with Joo Eun crying and Young Ho telling her he was tapping out through a text message. It made me cry. But I felt that it was cruel and unnecessary. Wouldn't their relationship be stronger if they went through tough times together? Joo Eun has seen Young Ho at his worst and she even proved to be helpful. Why can't she be allowed to do the same now? He might even recover faster with her by his side because he obviously missed her and he was having a hard time too. 

I was hoping that the ending would save the show for me. Unfortunately, it didn't help that much owing to the sloppy/messy/confusing editing of the poorly lumped together flashbacks. It felt as if the finale's only goal was to show past scenes of all the characters even if things were not arranged chronologically. 

I would have wanted Woo Shik and Soo Jin's storyline to be resolved first. After all, they were supporting casts. Then the finale's highlight should have been Joo Eun's scene with grandma. In any case, I was not that satisfied with how Woo Shik's story was resolved. Didn't Soo Jin at least deserve a reassurance or validation from Woo Shik that he was fine with her condition? Yes, he still wanted to marry her but I think it was important to hear that. 

I hated that Young Ho was so trusting that he still wanted to work with the people who betrayed him. He was even the one who reached out to them. Mr. Choi wanted him dead yet he wanted him back? 

The family reunions of Young Ho's dad (Choi Il Hwa of Dream High and Coffee Prince) with his second fam and Young Ho and his fam both felt contrived. It was as if they were instructed to be together in the scene but they were devoid of emotions for each other. 

I liked that bit of wedding photoshoot although I found it odd that Mr. Min was with them. 

The show could have probably been better with proper storytelling and writing. It somehow missed the opportunity to maximize the actors' potentials considering that most of them were good, especially the lead actors. But having said that, the show still managed to be entertaining so it's still worth considering. 

Oppa says...4.

Noona says...3.75.