Another forever friends kind of plot and it was my Covid show! I completed it fairly fast because there wasn’t much else to do when one just needed something not too taxing while resting and recovering.
TKD and MMA are really not my kind of thing but I got interested when I saw Hwang Bo-ra (playing Chan-sook) in the trailer. Just looking at her makes me smile and she did not fail me here – she’s funny and memorable, although a minor character. Then I realised that Gong Min-jung is here too, playing a ‘friend from the past’. And then, there is Kim Ji-won…
The two actors that stood out for me were Park Seo-jun (playing Dong-man) and Kwak Si-yang (playing Nam-il). I found them the most natural actors.
The coach and fellow trainees also did well and Kim Tak-su (played by Kim Gun-woo) was a hilarious villain.
The parents were occasionally amusing and Ae-ra’s mother Hwang Bok-hee (Jin He-kyung) was particularly interesting.
Hye-ran (Lee Elijah) was also annoying-funny in all those ‘oppa’ moments.
The problem I had with Ji-won here was that I didn’t like her character – too brash and too contrived. Well, this was how Ae-ra was written and she did a decent job delivering it. No doubt, though, that she is impressively versatile.
I also had a problem with Ae-ra and Dong-man’s relationship. I didn’t like how it was revealed that she had liked him all along. I’d have preferred them to go from friends to coupledom.
I liked Seol-hee (Song Ha-yoon) – such a giving and positive person, sometimes funny too.
I have nothing much to say about Ahn Jae-hong except that he played his role, as he did in Be Melodramatic. Here, he at least had some crying scenes, which he did well. I thought Seol-hee could do well in life without him but not so, say the scriptwriters.
The young girl at the office Ye-jin (Pyo Ye-jin) is such an entitled and unethical young lady. Didn't have any sympathy for her at all!
And what a cute surprise to have Park Gyu-young as the new girl who has trouble with the copier!
This show was very popular, and Ae-ra and Dong-man a favourite couple, but there were too many gaps for me. It was mainly because some of the minor characters had more interesting and well-portrayed storylines, such as Nam-il with his various discoveries and decisions, Kim Tak-su stealing the show in all the fight scenes, and even horrid Ye-jin growing up a little. Chan-sook and also Ae-ra’s other beaus were much more compelling characters although they appeared only briefly.
16 episodes, KBS
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