Flash Review: Romance Full Of Life [Three Colors Of Fantasies: Green]

Real Life’s been pretty hectic for me lately, and I find that with so many things competing for my attention, I have less time for dramas than ever before. I also find that when I do have the time, I often don’t have the mental bandwidth for full hour-plus episodes.

(Don’t panic; I’m still watching regular dramas. Just.. much slower than usual.)

This little show fit in nicely with my current challenged drama capacity. Not only were the half-hour episodes easy to make time for, the light tone and uncomplicated treatment of the subject matter made this one easy to digest as well.

Sure, it wasn’t as good as I thought it could’ve been, but it was still a pleasant and easy drama fix.

Since some of you guys might be similarly drama-challenged right now, I thought that I’d share this one with you too.

WHAT IT’S ABOUT

Nerdy awkward In Sung (Yoon Si Yoon) keeps failing the civil service examination to become a police officer.

One day, at a particularly low point in his life, after being dumped by his girlfriend So Ra (Jo Soo Hyang), he participates in a high-paying medical experiment, and suddenly finds himself with super senses. Will he be able to use his new super senses to turn his life around?

STUFF THAT WORKED FOR ME

Here’s a quick run-down of the things that I enjoyed in this little mini series.

1. Yoon Si Yoon is very good, as he always is. As a bonus, he looks endearingly cute as a nerd. I seriously love those glasses and that unruly mop of hair on him. <3

2. Show does a good job of making In Sung a sympathetic character, and I quickly found myself rooting for him. I love me an underdog story, and by the end of episode 1, it was clear that In Sung was something of an Ultimate Underdog.

3. I liked the concept of the medical experiment turning In Sung into some kind of perfect guy with superhero abilities. You guys know I have a soft spot for heroes who seem like superheroes. 😉 Ultimate Underdog to Ultimate Superhero? Yes, please.

4. Generally, Show’s pace is pretty zippy, which is nice. Each episode flew by easily, and Show never felt like a drag to watch, even when I didn’t love everything about it.

STUFF THAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME

It took me a little while to adjust to Show’s tone, which is more comedic than its sister mini drama Queen Of The Ring, which leans sweeter.

Beyond that difference in tone, however, it soon became clear to me that, unfortunately, Show’s concept is better than its execution. There were a number of things that didn’t quite work for me, during my watch, and here’s the quick spotlight on ’em.

1. I liked the concept of In Sung’s makeover more than the makeover itself. On a shallow note, I didn’t like his new copper-colored hair. More importantly, I didn’t like his newfound arrogance.

[SPOILER ALERT]

I particularly disliked that In Sung would put the moves on the girl that his apparently only friend Ji Sub (Kang Ki Young) was crushing on, in episode 3.

That felt really disloyal. And it’s not like he even likes the girl himself.

[END SPOILER]

I would’ve much preferred if In Sung had gotten all supersensy, but had retained more of his dorkiness.

2. The execution of In Sung’s super senses is kind of clumsy, in that it’s very obvious when a body double is used, for his super feats. I rationalize that maybe it’s meant to be funny that way, but it did mess with my ability to believe in In Sung’s superhuman-ness.

3. I’m sorry to say that Jo Soo Hyang didn’t really work for me, as this story’s female lead. It seemed to me that she had a heavy, wet-blanket feel about her, in this show.

While that might be rationalized as being part of her character’s struggle, I have to say that her delivery overall – which included happier times for her character – leaned rather flat, for me. Her character never popped for me, through to the end of the show.

4. Additionally, I also wasn’t feeling the connection between our leads. By the end of the show, I was still struggling to feel the chemistry between our OTP.

[SPOILER ALERT]

In episode 5, we get an OTP kiss, and I think I was supposed to feel sparks with he kisses her, and then she grabs him and kisses him again, but I felt.. nothing. Eep.

[END SPOILER]

5. The second leads, Kim Min Soo and Jang Hee Ryung, are.. pretty bad. I thought they were serviceable in the earlier episodes, but by the second half of our story, they were.. noticeably less good than in the early episodes.

[MINOR SPOILER]

I found Jang Hee Ryung particularly cringey in episode 5, acting as a drunk Tae Yi.

[END SPOILER]

THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]

Unsurprisingly, In Sung doesn’t get to ride on his super senses to ace his exam. Also unsurprisingly, Show still ends on a hopeful and positive note.

What was surprising to me, though, was how moved I felt when In Sung, who’d decided that acing the exam was literally more important than his own life, ditches his exam without a second thought, when he realizes that So Ra’s been in an accident.

Which means, So Ra is more important to him, than his own life, no exaggeration. There’s something undeniably affecting about that.

I also rather liked the call-back to the earlier scene of their break-up, this time, with So Ra being the one to offer In Sung gimbap and banana milk, and cheery encouragement for his next exam.

I also appreciated that So Ra dismisses In Sung’s assumption that she won’t want to date him anymore now that she’s passed her exam; it feels like the least she could do, after dumping him so unequivocally in episode 1. Yes, I kind of hold a grudge, heh.

All in all, even though I don’t love the execution in this show, I do like the message that Show works to serve up: that no shortcut to success is worth sacrificing your health and well-being for, and that the slow road to achieving your dreams can be worthwhile – and a lot happier too.

THE FINAL VERDICT:

Good concept, pity about the uneven execution. Worth it just to see Yoon Si Yoon rocking the geeky glasses though.

FINAL GRADE: B-

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seankfletcher
5 years ago

Something a little bit twee is “I Cannot Hug You”. A modern Chinese take on vampires that feed off human energy. Our heroine (vampire) moves in next door to our germophobic hero (novelist) and discovers he is her ideal energy source. She refers to him as her “fried chicken”. It’s quite watchable and the half hour goes very quickly.

Just when I thought Money Flower couldn’t be topped, I started watching Misty. Wow! The performances alone are very good. And the use of the song Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door as a haunting link to the past is masterful. Perhaps the best use of a song I have seen/heard in any show. So much so, I reached for the guitar and played this song for the first time in a very long time. Now, my next task is to go through my vinyl record collection and dig out Dylan’s original version.

Oh, and as for “My Husband Oh Jak Doo” – I’m loving it so far. It has a clunky start, but warms up quickly, and well, I just like it 😊

kfangurl
5 years ago
Reply to  seankfletcher

Hi there Sean!! Thanks for the suggestions!! I’ve got my eye on Misty and My Husband Oh Jak Doo, and I’m really happy to hear that you’re enjoying both shows! In particular, Misty is high on my list, it sounds amazing and intriguing. And if it inspired you to actually take out your guitar, it’s definitely doing something right! 😉

I’ve also added I Cannot Hug You to my list, for when I need something a little twee (I love that word; SO PERFECT!) – and with Real Life ramping up lately to overwhelming levels of busy, I think something a little twee is just about all that my brain can handle, for a little while. 😅

seankfletcher
5 years ago
Reply to  kfangurl

Every now and then I hear a great piece of music or a rendition in these shows, so I will dig out the guitar and play along or look at how they have done the arrangement. One night last year, in a nice Australian country town, and after dinner with my then staff, I was fortunate enough to have a bit of a jam session with an Australian Aboriginal actor and musician for a few hours. He played the didgeridoo (he is the world’s best in my opinion). This is an amazing ancient musical instrument because of its versatility. We made some stuff up and then did renditions of Riders on the Storm, Video Killed The Radio Star, some blues, rock and so on. Heath has played all over the world and was about to head off and play with the symphonies in Stockholm and London. One of the highlights of my life (he is a great guy, made me sound good and got me away from watching dramas!).

kfangurl
5 years ago
Reply to  seankfletcher

Wow, that sounds like quite the special evening you had, rubbing shoulders with the world’s best didgeridoo player, and jamming for several hours with him, at that! That is really cool! 😀 I play the keyboard myself, and while I’m far from sounding like a professional, I can imagine the thrill that that session gave you. Thanks for sharing such an awesome memory! 😀

munkondi
munkondi
4 years ago
Reply to  kfangurl

I found Misty to be an absolute masterpiece, I can’t wait to read what you think of it if you do get around to seeing it!

kfangurl
4 years ago
Reply to  munkondi

Oh dear. I was getting into Misty (I think I watched about 7 or 8 eps?) and then the show ended, and in the face of a lot of viewer unhappiness, I spoiled myself for the ending. After that, I wasn’t really ever in the mood to pick the show back up again, unfortunately. 😛

munkondi
munkondi
4 years ago
Reply to  kfangurl

oh that’s sad, luckily I avoided any kind of external feedback; if it serves as any encouragement tp revisit, I thought the ending was epic and darkly satisfying!

kfangurl
4 years ago
Reply to  munkondi

Ooh. That does sound intriguing. Epic and darkly satisfying, eh? I will have to rethink my plans with Misty! 😉 I did find the episodes that I watched excellent, so perhaps I ought to revisit it sometime.

buckdawna
buckdawna
5 years ago

This might be just the right bit of fluff I need after I finish Tunnel. I also started and dropped Money Flower before I picked up Tunnel, so I’m going to need something cute and easy after this run! Thanks for the recommendation! 😊

kfangurl
5 years ago
Reply to  buckdawna

Aw, I’m sorry to hear Money Flower didn’t work for you, buckdawna! I really enjoyed that one. But I do concede that no show is loved universally, so it probably just wasn’t for you. 🙂 This one really does work well as a light drama snack, in spite of its shortcomings – I hope it’ll do the trick for ya as a palate cleanser after you’re done with Tunnel! 😉

beez
beez
5 years ago

I think I’ll check this out based on your review. From the screen caps you posted, I gotta agree about the hair. And they could’ve at least given him a stylish cut to go with the new color/ persona.

kfangurl
5 years ago
Reply to  beez

If you like Yoon Si Yoon, then this one is not a bad little drama snack. I thought his makeover was a little too idol-esque. I didn’t like the copper hair and the weird fashion. But I did enjoy Yoon Si Yoon overall, and I hope you do too! 🙂