Showing posts with label So I Married an Anti-Fan (Kdrama) 4.2 || 4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label So I Married an Anti-Fan (Kdrama) 4.2 || 4. Show all posts

19 September 2021

K Drama Review: So I Married an Anti-Fan (2021) 4.2 || 4

Oppa is really expanding his K Pop horizon. Apart from IU, he's now a huge fan of the Girls' Generation (SNSD) members. He started out with Yoon A (Exit and Confidential Assignment) and he's now into Choi Soo Young. We watched Soo Young in Run On where I found her okay and worth watching again. We were in the mood for something light too and this show seemed like it would meet our requirement. I admit though that I had a slightly different expectation because my sister told me it was not a romantic drama, which of course, turned out to be so not true. :D

Plot


So I Married an Anti-Fan (SIMAAF) tells the story of Lee Geun Young (Soo Young), a magazine reporter who experiences a series of unfortunate events - she finds out her boyfriend is gay and she's terminated from work after getting involved in a controversy with K pop star, Hoo Joon (Choi Tae Joon). Hoo Joon, being the most likely suspect for Geun Young's termination, is at the receiving end of Geun Young's wrath. She decides to protest in front of his agency and write crazy comments about him online. Of course, Hoo Joon's die hard fans won't take those criticisms sitting down so they launch various attacks against Geun Young. A network wanted to capitalize on the hot issue so it creates a show, SIMAAF, to cast both Hoo Joon and Geun Young. Initially, Geun Young was against it because she really loathed Hoo Joon. However, she agrees eventually because she's jobless and homeless. The show takes us through how Hoo Joon and Geun Young get to know each other better and how they overcome their pride and prejudice against each other.

Soo Young as Geun Young

It was so refreshing to see Soo Young in a much meeker role. I definitely preferred watching her here compared to Run On. I loved that despite the meeker role, I could still see traces of the snarky Soo Young that I enjoyed in Run On. 

Soo Young did a much better job here because she had more opportunities to show her comedy skills. She handled the funny scenes really well. Even her dramatic scenes were done way better here. She was able to fix whatever issues I had with her drama scenes in Run On. 

I loved Geun Young because there was just so much positivity in her despite the hardships she's gone through. Even though she hated Hoo Joon and she was desperate for a job, she still rejected an offer to work for a magazine where she had to spy on Hoo Joon. I liked how she slowly started to care for him the more she got to know him. 

I loved Geun Young's fighting spirit too. She was both scared and hurt with how Hoo Joon's fans were treating her yet she never quit. She just took it all in. And even if you felt the pain through her eyes, she always tried her best to look cheerful. 

I liked how Hoo Joon's manager Ji Hyang (Kim Sun Hyuk) thanked Geun Young for being in Hoo Joon's life. He acknowledged that the K pop start was lonely, he felt alone, and he had no friends. But with Geun Young around, Hoo Joon now had someone to tease and annoy. 

What I loved most about Geun Young was her patience and understanding, which were like saintly levels for me already. Hoo Joon kept her in the dark about so many things and she felt alone yet she still chose to wait for him. 

I enjoyed watching Soo Young here and I might just follow Oppa into being a Girls' Generation fan. :)

Choi Tae Joon as Hoo Joon

It was our first time to watch Choi Tae Joon and he totally did not disappoint me. He's such a joy to watch because of how good looking he is. He definitely looked the part of the K pop star Hoo Joon. He was so good in pretending that he was a two-faced jerk who was full of himself, when in fact he was a really good-natured person (like how he drove out of town to bring home a fan who ran away or how he paid for his former manager's debts even if the latter practically destroyed him). It's a plus that he looks so cool riding a motorcycle. :) He would need to work more on his angry/drama scenes though, probably to put more restraint on them. 

Although Tae Joon was lovely to look at, Hoo Joon was not that easy to love as a character. He was harsh and mean towards Geun Young and he really seemed like a pretentious guy. But I loved how we got to know him on a deeper level through his manager's stories to Geun Young - his dad abandoned him and his mom, his mom was cold and distant, and his friends left him too. Once you get to know his sad background, it becomes easier to understand why he lives that way. 

And while he was mean towards Geun Young, I could not totally hate Hoo Joon because he had this unorthodox way of showing Geun Young that he cared - running around Okinawa looking for her when she got lost, upgrading her plane seat so she would be safe, putting a cap on her at the airport to protect her against his fans, buying stuff for her along with tteokboki and soju to comfort her when she was hurt with his fans' criticisms, etc. It made me really giddy when he started treating Geun Young well. 

I admit that the chemistry for Soo Young and Tae Joon was not there right away. It was probably intended that their initial moments all seemed fake and insincere. But as they spent more time and scenes together, the chemistry started to come through. They grew on me naturally although quite unexpectedly. I was indifferent towards them in the beginning yet I just found myself enjoying seeing them together all of a sudden. 

I loved how Hoo Joon confessed to Geun Young - telling her that he did not know why he was concerned with her and why she confused him. And when she didn't buy the things he was saying, I loved how Hoo Joon made an effort to win her over through her friends and family. 

I loved how good Geun Young was for Hoo Joon. Most of his adult life, he had to live that made-up life his manager created for him. He had to forget who he really was in order to achieve his dreams. Yet when Geun Young came along, he started to loosen up. He learned how to let go and he was no longer scared of losing his career because he wanted to protect Geun Young. The biggest testament to that was when he kissed Geun Young after their last shooting day for the show (which of course nobody saw but was fortunately captured on camera). 

And I loved what he did to prove that he will protect Geun Young no matter what - he left his agency and he owned up to the lies that were created about him. 

While I don't doubt his love for Geun Young, I just felt quite bad that when trouble came in the end, he chose to deal with them by himself. I wished he made Geun Young more involved so she won't feel left out and alone. I wonder if he'd do the same thing when another problem comes. Will he leave and make Geun Young wait again? 

But overall, I loved Tae Joon and I will definitely watch more of him in the future. He might even make it to my list. :)

Things That Were Okay

I admit that it was not love at first sight for me and this show. It took a few episodes for me to warm up to it. 

I began enjoying it when they started shooting for SIMAAF and Hoo Joon and Geun Young had more screen time together. It got even better when they went to Japan because that was when Hoo Joon began showing signs that he cared for Geun Young. 

The best thing about this show were Soo Young and Tae Joon. Their chemistry, although not easily apparent in the beginning, was good. The show was at its best when Hoo Joon and Geun Young spent quiet moments together or when they helped each other out. 

Apart from the main leads, I also enjoyed watching Geun Young's friends, Mi Jung (Kim Ha Kyung) and Soo Hwan (Kim Min Kyu of Nevertheless). I loved how supportive they were of Geun Young and how they never judged her despite her mistakes and flaws. 

It was also interesting to get a sneak peek at the entertainment industry. I admit though that if those things were true then it's one scary industry to belong to. The toxic fans were horrible, ready to pounce on Geun Young any time they saw her. And Hoo Joon's manager whom he trusted for a long time destroyed him the moment he cut ties with management. That was sad more than anything else. 

Jae Joon (Hwang Chan Sung of Vincenzo and Dream High) and In Hyung (Han Ji An), Hoo Joon's friends and fomer agency-mates, were initially placed under the Not Okay category. But thanks to how the show resolved their characters, I was able to move them to the Okay section. 

I could not get JJ's obsession with Hoo Joon. And how In Hyung still kept on pestering Hoo Joon even if the latter made it clear that he did not want to get in the way of JJ. It was a vicious cycle of In Hyung going to see/talk to Hoo Joon then JJ will see them and he'll get angry and fight with Hoo Joon. Then the cycle repeats. It didn't help that Chan Sung does not do angry scenes that well. He would probably be better off doing comedy? I honestly wanted to forward the video every time they appeared on screen. 

Eventually, however, I learned to warm up to JJ, especially when he drove Geun Young to see Hoo Joon and when he told Hoo Joon about the latter's dad. I began to understand that he just resented how Hoo Joon was given a lot of opportunities that he did not seem to use wisely to protect those around him. And the bigger reason was probably how he missed the good old days he spent with Hoo Joon and In Hyung. And he definitely redeemed himself in the end when he saved In Hyung. It was just unfortunate that I began enjoying him when his scenes no longer or barely had speaking lines. 

In general, I loved the show's treatment of Geun Young and Hoo Joon's love storyline. I liked how in the end, the show did not waste time making them fight over petty cliche issues like Geun Young moving out of Hoo Joon's apartment or Hoo Joon's manager threatening Geun Young to leave the star, which would have involved some running away if it happened in other dramas or Hoo Joon doubting Geun Young about leaking those bad stuff about him. I loved how Hoo Joon really trusted the people around him, knowing that they won't backstab him - like Geun Young about the leaked article and JJ on the leaked info about his past. 

Things That Were Not So Okay

Unfortunately, there were some things I didn't quite get in the show. Like the SIMAAF show and its staff who were inconsiderate of Geun Young. I don't understand why it was cool to prank Geun Young about Hoo Joon having a sprain that she had to do a lot of work for him and Hoo Joon pretending to faint from a drink she prepared for him. Wasn't that bullying already? And how presumptuous it was of the staff to assume that everyone's been to Japan already that they made Geun Young the tour guide for the shoot. And how they failed to protect Geun Young over and over again whenever she had to be in front of or near Hoo Joon's fans even if Geun Young repeatedly voiced out her concerns about this. The comedy that the show's staff tried to project felt quite contrived too. 

I also didn't get the part where a fan abducted Hoo Joon to help him propose to his girlfriend. Regardless of his purpose, did he not commit a crime? And how can Hoo Joon not inform his manager or Geun Young to keep them from worrying?

Also, why did the Okinawa hotel release Hoo Joon's ring to someone else without confirming with him first that the person was with him? 

And why was the building security in the place where Geun Young stayed so lax? A fan was able to get in. Even JJ who had no business there managed to get in. Were they not supposed to be strict knowing a big K pop star stayed there?

It also didn't make sense to me that In Hyung, who loathed JJ so much that she left his agency, would audition for a show for rookies where the winner would be managed by ...JJ!!! And how can the production staff defy JJ as their investor when he required that only legit rookies should be accepted? And why can't JJ simply pull out his investment if the staff defied him? 

And are fans still closed-minded that they would stop supporting their idols when they get into relationships as Hoo Joon's manager insinuated to Geun Young? Yes, he would probably lose some fans but I would like to believe that majority of fans these days are level-headed and they know how to separate personal from screen life and they're capable of being genuinely happy to see their idols happy. I felt that this part of the story was just a ploy to create a conflict to separate Geun Young and Hoo Joon and in the process, tick off an item in a typical K drama checklist, even if it was unnecessary and avoidable. 

While the ending was supposed to be okay because it was a happy one, I just felt that the show wasted time because the main leads were mostly apart in the last two episodes. Yes, I'm glad that they didn't break up for some petty reason and they waited for each other. But for all intents and purposes, it was as if they broke up because they were not with each other anyway. The show could have probably shortened some of the earlier storylines so that the finale could have at least given the leads more time together. With the way the story was wrapped up, I now wonder if Geun Young and Hoo Joon's relationship would have a strong foundation, given that they were mostly dating in secret and they chose to deal with their problems separately. And then the next thing for them was already marriage. Would they choose to be apart again if they experience marital problems? The show was so great when Geun Young and Hoo Joon were together and I felt the show should have taken advantage of that. 

Overall, the show was mostly fun when Geun Young and Hoo Joon shared the screen. And Bittersweet by Tae Joon's a nice song to listen to. :)

Oppa says...4.2.

Noona says...4.