Synopsis
Popular actress Yoon Yoo Jung has just returned after becoming successful in Hollywood. Her image is that of an elegant goddess who innocent and pure. Women love her kindness and to men she is the first love they can always admire but never have. As a result of this image Yoo Jung has been left with little chance to have a dating life. She is desperate for someone to love and end up trusting an up and coming ne'er do well who strings her along for her popularity all the while cheating on her with a rich and successful woman. Spurned by the man she believed to be her soul mate she finds herself in a scandal that can ruin her career. Thankfully she has meets Cha Woo Hyun who is a successful dermatologist with a secret. On all accounts Woo Hyun is an up and righteously moral man, the perfect man for Yoo Jung to help fix her image. They make a dating contract where they decide to pretend to date so Eun Jung can bring her reputation back and Woo Hyun can slip from familial responsibilities he does not want.
Review
Hello, dear reader! I hope the Thanksgiving Holiday found all of you happy and full of good food. Well, to start this blog off I want to say this series did surprise me. I was not intending to watch it but I was in need of a K-drama after the end of the Terrius Behind Me. I was feeling a tad empty and somewhat like a wonderer when I saw an add for this on Viki. I decided to take a chance and watch it. Thankfully I was pleasingly surprised. It was a serendipitous find to be honest. I enjoyed the first few episodes and didn't even notice that I had already plowed through the first 5 in one day. Before I knew it I was caught up and had to wait for the new episodes.
It's already about halfway into the series, so I did rate it on my sticky notes. I gave the storytelling a 90% and the direction a 4/5. If you are a first time visiter I'd like to explain just what my ratings mean. I rate on both story telling and direction. Under the category of storytelling I take in to account the acting as well as the writing of the series. The reason I do this is because it takes more than just a good writer to make a good show. It also takes the right actors who can breath a character into life and to make it believable that the character is indeed real. The direction is judged on the staging and the overall interpretation of how the show is represented. The director's eyes and ideas are major components in creating a series.
That being said, I've definitely loved both the direction and the storytelling in Love Alert. In K-drama's it isn't uncommon for the main male, or sometimes female, character to begin as a rude, self-centered, and cantankerous person. Thus, after they meet their significant other they become a lighter and kinder version of themselves. It is basically a K-drama cliché that I fall for every time. However, when a drama begins with two already well rounded and kind individuals I find it refreshing. They both have problems of their own, Yoo Jung has to maintain her image but feels lonely while doing so. Woo Hyun has familial issues that are coming to the surface with his father wanting him to take control of his substantially successful company that he built. They are still both incredibly kind and loving which brings the actual drama of this show have more significance. The way the character's are portrayed almost reminds me of Queen in Hyun's Man, which is my ultimate favorite K-Drama's. So, to see that dynamic again really does take me by surprise and I enjoy it immensely.
The acting is seriously topnotch. You can honestly believe Yoo Jung's heart ache and confusion about what is happening in her life. Yoon Eun Hye does an excellent job at breathing life into her character, her tears almost seem real. It even seems like the character's personality was tailor made for her. It seems so real at times. Her performance, while not in quite the same dramatic setting, I would compare it with See In Guk in The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (I swear that man needs an award).
Chun Jung Myung is also believable in his role as Cha Woo Hyun. The character is a complex and hard man to pin down. He's kind but he has this sense of morality and need for privacy that can sometimes make him seem cantankerous. He has somewhat of a short fuse and gets quickly angry at certain things. Jung Myung does well in portraying those bouts of anger and yet is still able to keep the character's sense of kindness. He makes the character believable, even displaying the his guilt for reacting in such a way.
In all, the side character's also add to this ambiance of great story telling. I think the Yoo Jung's younger brother is so darn adorable and the love that the two siblings have for each other is seriously sweet. Woo Hyun's mother is a little silly and somewhat aggravating, but not too much to stop watching. I am watching the series on Viki.com. The sight is free but you'll have to wait a couple of weeks before the new episodes are available to you. If you are a paying member of Viki then they are available as soon as the show airs. I am enjoying this series and I hope you give it a chance. If you have began to watch then leave a comment down below and tell me what you think. Also, if you have seen the series anywhere else leave a comment on where you found it. You never know, it may be of help to someone. If you liked the blog and found it helpful let me know and I hope you return! Goodbye and until next time, dear reader!