[SPOILERS INCLUDED]

Title: 동안미녀
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 20
Average Episode Rating: 12.3% Nationwide

Main Cast: I love Daniel Choi! Ever since seeing him in High Kick Through The Roof, I’ve loved him, so I knew that I had to watch this drama. Although I don’t know much about Jang Nara, I did admire her for expanding her career into the Chinese market so I was excited to see her back on the small screen in Korea after quite a while.

Jang Nara as Lee Soyoung:

Jang Nara made her acting debut in the sitcom Nonstop 2, and then continued on to act as the main lead of the 2002 hit drama, Successful Story of a Bright Girl. After that, she went on to work on some other dramas in Korea, and then she focused on the Chinese market. She landed a few main roles in mainland China dramas and she’s fluent in both Korean and Mandarin. She’s one of the few Korean celebrities that are actually fluent in Mandarin.

Lee Soyoung is a 34 year-old who just got fired from her job at a sewing company. She was always very talented with fashion designing, but she was unable to go to her dream college (which accepted her) because her dad left the family and she had to support her mom and sister by working. She goes into a fashion company as a 25 year-old model in place of her sister, and is later able to showcase her talents and skills and actually design and sew clothes there instead of just simply modeling.

Daniel Choi as Choi Jinwook:

Daniel Choi is not a complete newbie to the entertainment scene as he has acted in a small number of dramas and movies. I think that his role in High Kick Through The Roof really shot him up to fame; his face become even more recognizable after he took part in the movie Cyrano Dating Agency, which was released last year. If I’m not wrong, then this is the first drama where he’s playing the main lead.

Choi Jinwook is a 27 year-old who looks older than he actually is. He’s from a rich family, but he doesn’t want to rely on his parents’ wealth, so he lives independently from them and he earns his own money to support himself. He has bad fashion sense and he’s very clumsy, not to mention unorganized and sort of the definition of a loser.

 Ryu Jin as Ji SeungIl:

Ryu Jin has acted in a whole lot of dramas! The list seems endless (okay, so maybe not endless, but it’s still pretty long). The only drama that I saw him in was I Really Really Like You; other than that, I don’t know him as well as I know Jang Nara and Daniel Choi.

Ji SeungIl is the stiff president of the fashion company. He’s very strict and not very nice to those around him. He’s divorced or separated from his wife, and they have a child.

Kim Minseo as Kang Yoonseo:

Kim Minseo acted in Bad Guy and Sungkyunkwan Scandal. In SKK Scandal, she was most popular gisaeng/prostitute (named Cho Sun) that fell in love with Park Minyoung’s character. Yup, that’s all I know of her.

Kang Yoonseo recently comes back from abroad. She’s in love with Ji SeungIl, even though he doesn’t even notice her much. Moreover, she’s beautiful, young, and someone that can find a better person to love, but she chooses to stick by Ji SeungIl for some reason. She’s pretty much the opposite of Lee Soyoung.

Director + Producer + Screenwriter:

There are no big names directing, producing, or writing this drama, so I won’t bore you with the details.

Synopsis (from Dramawiki):

This story is of Lee Soyoung, a 34 year-old woman who’s saddled with family debt and only has a high school qualifications, but dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Her youthful appearance is her only advantage; she is mistaken for a 25 year-old university graduate and subsequently lands her dream job when she’s hired by a fashion design company, where she meets Choi Jinwook, a man who looks more mature than his young age.

First Few Episodes:

The first few episodes of this drama were very entertaining to me. The martini scene in the beginning was probably one of the best ways to have the two main characters meet each other – it was creative and something new for a change.

The episodes were also funny and I loved them. I don’t have much else to comment about regarding the first few episodes, but they were definitely enjoyable and I don’t regret watching them.

Highlights:

Lying is bad, and this drama is full of it, but I think that this drama is about more than lying. It’s about a girl that rises up above the ranks and proves herself to everyone. It’s about someone that finally gets to live her lifelong dream. Of course, this drama is also realistic in the way that Lee Soyoung doesn’t automatically receive love from those around her in the company. She has to struggle through various situations and she has to deal with life in the workplace.

Hyeonyi, the president’s daughter, is another highlight of this drama. Her blunt personality made this drama hilarious at times, especially when she talked back to Yoonseo (oooh, burn). She displays the best character trait of a child: honesty. She can see through people’s actions too, revealing their intentions and ulterior motives. She sees that Soyoung is a good person and that Yoonseo is only being kind to her because of her father. She can see who really cares about her and who doesn’t. I love this character and I’m glad that such a character was created.

Lying is never good, but I believe that if someone at least feels regret for lying and if they confess their wrongdoing, then they should be forgiven and let off the hook. Yoonseo found out about Soyoung’s lie early enough, and she was even going to reveal it at the company’s 35th anniversary, but instead, Soyoung confesses first. She reveals her true name and age to everyone and then leaves the company. The fact that she confesses shows that she’s human and does have pride and feelings. I liked how this drama highlighted that and emphasized it.

Also, this drama is realistic in the way that Lee Soyoung gets punished for lying. She loses the trust of those around her and she loses her job. She later receives an opportunity to work at the company again, but she has to work hard to earn her position back. Her large lie does not go away easily – it stays with her for a while until she’s able to redeem herself.

In addition, I loved all the competitions that took place in this drama! They certainly left me curious about the outcome and what would happen. I enjoyed seeing the process of losing first but then coming back up stronger than ever and winning. Since I’m a female, the fashion and clothing designing was a huge plus for me here.

In most (if not all) Korean dramas, in the past and nowadays, the love lines are very sweet and innocent. But I think that out of all the Korean dramas that I’ve seen, the love story here was the most innocent one. There were no “other” characters that greatly interfered with the main characters’ love, and I felt that Lee Soyoung was Choi Jinwook’s first lover and vise versa. When dating or flirting scenes of the two came up in the drama, I found myself laughing and smiling because both characters behaved in such a cute and innocent way, as if they were high schoolers, when in reality, they’re adults. For example, Choi Jinwook would act really sweet and kind of clingy (in an endearing way), laughing in this giddy voice, while Lee Soyoung would shyly smile.

The ending was cute and really completed everything. Sometimes I hate how the drama fast forwards a year, but I loved it here. Everyone’s happy, successful, and the ending was just really cute overall.

Shortcomings:

Unlike other dramas that aired simultaneously with this drama (Miss Ripley, Greatest Love, Romance Town, Lie to Me), this drama’s plot was more low-key. Situations weren’t as dramatic (although a few were) and most scenes took place in the workplace. The storyline progression in this drama is slower than most, but if you stick with the drama, it won’t disappoint.

Another problem that I had with this drama was the way that it never really hooked you. It did make me wonder what would happen in the next few episodes, but it was pretty predictable and there was little to no surprise factor. In every competition, I could predict the outcome- frankly, I feel that Lee Soyoung shouldn’t have won every time. Which leads to my next shortcoming- unrealistic.

This drama has its realistic side but it also has its unrealistic side. I don’t want to reveal anymore spoilers although I probably already have in this review, but let’s just say that the unrealistic nature of this drama goes hand in hand with the competitions and their results, which also became repetitive as more competitions took place in this drama.

Additional Commentary:

I don’t really have much more to say about this drama other than what I mentioned earlier in this review. This drama is overall pretty average – nothing special, but not horrible either. However, out of all the other dramas that I was watching at the time, I had the least expectations for this one, yet it gave me the greatest impression. Compared to the various dramas airing at the time, this drama turned out to be the best one, which was very surprising to me.

Subjective Rating (how much I personally liked the drama): 6.5/10

Objective Rating (how good the drama actually was): 6.5/10