In order to not swoon myself to death over the gorgeous thing that is the Park Min-young and Kim Jae-wook relationship in Her Private Life, I have been taking detours all over the place and picked up 2 new Cdramas that Netflix has added. The first of these is I Hear You; the second is Well-intended Love and I’ll write about that one soon. Wile neither was top-drawer, they both have things to enjoy and even admire.
I Hear You is the story of opposites attracting (of course), and it ends up as a cohabitation drama. Ye Shuwei is a gifted violin maker and Bai Erduo is an aspiring voice-over actress. He’s tall and (overly) fashionable (in a manga hero way) and she’s petite and more the casual type. He’s established internationally and she’s yet to find success but is studying hard. He’s tsundere (of course) and she’s candid and outgoing. They are paired up on a reality dating show by his uncle (a younger uncle played by a guy with a strong resemblance to BTS’s Jimin), the show’s producer, and her best friend, the show runner. Their first meeting prior to the show casting is tainted by a misunderstanding; she thinks he’s been bribed or enticed by another voice-over actress with less talent but influential connections. He’s miffed that she would judge him so without knowing the facts, or even who he is.
On the show they must portray a real-life couple, but her poor first impression makes this a challenge to play along. Also, they’ve not really had romantic relationships before so they struggle with finding the way to do so genuinely. One scandal in the making leads to another and before you can say “Bob’s your uncle” they’re sharing his palatial home (separate bedrooms, of course).
There are some very predictable but cute moments between them that makes the show entertaining to watch, but what I really appreciated was the focus on her trying to develop her career and not depend on his connections. She’s studying Japanese, for example, to win a place at a good school in Japan and get proper training, and the show is a way to earn enough money to get there sooner. He doesn’t get in her way, and he doesn’t go overboard in trying to help her behind the scenes either — no fairy godfather stuff.
The relationship between the show producer and show runner though is very interesting too, especially the choices both make in the course of the story. If you watch the show, or have seen it, I would love to discuss Tang Li’s decisions in particular! (And also, tell me who you think she reminds you of because she’s not done much besides this so I’ve not seen her before. Some of her mannerisms remind me, in a way, of Gong Hyo-jin, but there’s someone else and I can’t put my finger on it…)
It’s not perfect; I find that they went a little overboard with the manga-esque characterization and costuming of Ye Shuwei because it takes you a little out of the moment when he’s cutting wood for a violin in a suit. I also was not keen on Bai Erduo’s mom and the money situation at times, but it wasn’t horrible, and that’s what the fast-forward button is there for.
One final comment (but it’s a spoiler so it’s after the jump)…
We Talk Dramas All Day 