I mostly enjoyed this show, with huge thanks to our favorites, Kim Seonho and Go Younjung. But I admit that it was not perfect and there were things that I wished were done/handled differently.
Plot
Joo Hojin (Kim Seonho of When Life Gives You Tangerines, Hometown Chachacha, Run On, and Start-up) is an interpreter by profession. He knows several languages. During one of his trips to Japan, he finds himself in the same restaurant as Cha Muhee (Go Younjung of Resident Playbook, Moving, and Law School), a small-time actress and a scorned woman on a mission to find her ex who cheated on her. Hojin ends up translating for Muhee as she tries to confront her ex's new girl. The meeting was cut short though because Hojin's greatest love, Jisun (Lee Yidam), was also in the area and Hojin wanted to find her.
Muhee quietly pursued her acting career but she became famous overnight when she fell off a building while shooting a thriller movie. With her new found fame, it was now easy for Hojin to follow Muhee's career. And while the timing was never right for their love story to blossom, they always found themselves working with and helping each other. They had a love-hate relationship that had a never ending list of problems and challenges. The drama tells the story of how Hojin breaks through Muhee's walls and how the time finally becomes right for them.
Kim Seonho as Joo Hojin and Go Younjung as Cha Muhee/Dorami
We've seen quite a lot of Kim Seonho and Go Younjung so we can really attest to how good they are as actors. And this show is no exception. They're both so beautiful and extremely talented that you can always hold on to them when the show makes you want to give up.
The thing I loved the most about Hojin was how he was genuinely overprotective of Muhee. He saved her from humiliation in front of her ex's new girlfriend. He remained gracious and considerate despite knowing her past. He visited her in the hospital after the accident while she was in coma even if their meeting in Japan was very brief.
Hojin was there for Muhee when she revealed having visions of Dorami. And he still worried about her even after she rejected him.
He protected her against her obnoxious Japanese co-actor, Hiro (Sota Fukushi). He even went out of his way to bribe Hiro with hockey tickets to convince him to resume shooting just so the show and Muhee won't suffer.
Hojin took care of both the little and huge stuff. He didn't brush off Muhee's quest in finding 7 four-leaf clovers as immature. He even helped her find the 7th one. And he also respected her by being honest with her about his feelings for Jisun, how he refused to lead her on by telling her that he needs to think things through but he was willing to face that "Jisun demon," if only to give his and Muhee's love story a fighting chance.
And nothing can be grander than his ultimate sacrifice of first, leaving Muhee when Dorami said that that will make Dorami go away, and then agreeing to keep on seeing Dorami so she'd stop bugging Muhee. That selfless act helped shield Muhee from the pain of not knowing her "other" life and how he used Dorami to understand Muhee better.
And how he was ready to face anything for Muhee. He refused to break up with her even if it meant turning his life upside down, the way celebrity relationships often turn out.
Muhee won't be my favorite Go Younjung character but portfolio-wise, this role might have perfectly showcased how well-rounded Go Younjung is as an actress. She was amazing in handling the comedy stuff. But she really shone as the scary and loony Dorami. She scared me.
But of course, she was cutest when she was in love - acting giddy when Hojin flattered her, romantically asking him to join her show as interpreter so they can see the aurora borealis together (which they did!), making up stuff like "forgetting" her room keys so she can spend the night with him in the hotel lobby. The way she moped around when she was pining for his attention felt so real. It was subdued and never overdramatic but I felt it. Her funny analogies helped too - like how she compared their relationship to a seaweed broth that's taking time to boil.
And it was also painful to see Muhee so convinced that she didn't deserve love, after being traumatized by her highly demanding mom. That could have been one of the reasons why she initially encouraged Hojin to go after Jisun.
While the timing always seemed bad, I'm glad that Muhee and Hojin perfectly complemented each other. She was nosy, warm, and bubbly, while he was often stiff, cold, serious, and nonchalant.
I enjoyed watching them experience new things together, especially how he kept her steady and grounded as she navigated her rise to stardom.
Other Notable Characters
I was initially threatened by Jisun because I was scared she'd give Hojin and Muhee a hard time. But I slowly found myself rooting for her. I totally get why she broke off her engagement to Hojin's brother (Sung Joon of High Society), who wanted to marry her for the wrong reasons (just because she wanted to get married, duh!).
I loved that closure with Hojin - because they both needed it. Lots of what ifs there but they both ended up happy anyway.
And I was really thrilled with her love story with Muhee's manager, Youngu (Choi Woosung of She Would Never Know and At Eighteen). It was so nice to see that Youngu was the exact opposite of Jisun's ex. He cared for her. He protected her. He was so honest with her. And he wanted her so bad that he proposed when he learned he had to go overseas for work. And how she agreed to move away with him. Honestly, with all the Dorami distraction, there were moments when I felt happier with this love story.
Hiro was not a very likable character. Not his fault though because he seemed to have been written that way. The only thing I liked about him was how he was perceptive, realizing that it was the "earpiece"/Hojin that was making Muhee glow, and not him. And of course, how he gave way to Hojin without making things more complicated.
Execution
I'm guessing this show was complicated to make - at least 3 languages and 4 countries were involved. Despite that challenge, the drama did a great job in making such a cinematographically beautiful show, highlighting the picturesque locations in the countries they visited.
I liked how translators/interpreters were depicted here - how they must always be straightforward, making sure that their translations are devoid of emotions.
And the challenges that actors face. The simple stuff like having smug co-actors like Hiro. And on to the more serious side like how there is the risk of getting too immersed in your characters that it ends up haunting you the way Dorami never left Muhee. Yes, I was annoyed with all the Dorami apparitions and I wish they toned it down a bit. But it was a creative way of showing us how we all have our inner Doramis - voices we don't want to listen to because they tell us our innermost thoughts and feelings and they put us down and bring out our insecurities. And how at some point in our lives, we all have to confront our demons and our past so we can all move on.
I enjoyed the analogies especially those that came from Mr. Kim (Kim Wonhae of Samjin Company English Class, Lovely Runner, Youth of May, Monthly Magazine Home, Run On, Start-up, Hotel Del Luna, Strong Girl Bong Soon, Misaeng, and Reply 1994). Like how he said that there are as many languages as there are people because we all say and interpret words differently. Or how, acting as a bridge to Muhee and Hojin, he said that Hojin should learn to interpret Muhee's language so he can figure her out and study/learn her the way he learned languages.
Unfortunately, some stuff were not so okay with me. For instance, there was a tendency for the timelines to be confusing because the story went back and forth. Was that Jisun-Hojin scene a flashback?
There were things I didn't understand about Muhee and Hojin's love story. They had a number of confusing confrontations that left me wondering in the end what were they really fighting about?
And yes, I'll say it again, I wish we saw less of Dorami and more of Muhee. In particular, I didn't like how they seemed to take the issue lightly. She seriously needed help because she seemed to be in so much danger. In real life, I don't think Hojin's love would be magic pill that can cure whatever it is that Muhee is going through.
That whole battle royal between Hojin and his mom's boyfriend felt out of place too. It's nice that they didn't go the overly dramatic route but I also didn't like the funny and absurd way they handled it.
And I was not happy with how Muhee's family problem dragged on until the end. They made things so dark and creepy. Could that not have been resolved in the penultimate episode to give way to a longer happy ending for Muhee and Hojin? Because a lot of things needed to be resolved in the end, the finale felt all over the place - we have stories on Jisun, Hiro and his new project, and the grand revelation that Muhee's parents are alive. And now Muhee and Hojin have to break up again while Muhee looks for her parents. And after that elaborate family drama, the show didn't even tell us how that issue was resolved - did she find her parents, did she get closure, etc. Sadly all of these things took time away from what we wanted to see - Hojin and Muhee's love story.
Oppa says...4.6.
Noona says...4.4.