Drama Review: Haeundae Lovers
Title: 해운대 연인들 / Haeundae Lovers / Lovers of Haeundae
Director: Song Hyun Wook (Brain, Comrades, Hot Blood)
Writer: Hwang Eun Kyung (City Hunter, Daemul)
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Lee Tae Sung is a prosecutor and a job that has him busy even during his wedding takes him to Haeundae (Busan). Where he goes undercover as a stunt man named Nam Hae and rents a room at So Ra and her mob family's house. They used to be a big time mob family but now they just run a little fish shop. Incidents happen and Tae San loses his memory and ends up really living as Nam Hae, falling for So Ra and become a part of the family and soon a part of the Mob family. The question is will he end up living his life as a gangster or regain his memory and return as a prosecutor?
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Kim Kang Woo as Lee Taesung/Nam Hae
Jung Suk Won as Choi Junhyuk
Kang Min Kyung as Hwang Juhee
Kin Hye Eun as Yook Tamhee
Lim Ha Ryong as Ko Joongsik
Park Sang Myeon as Lee Sunsin (Hello Kitty Uncle - 1)
Lee Jae Yong as Bu Yungdo (Bandana Uncle - 2)
Keon Il as Lee Dongbag (Maknae Uncle - 3)
Park Su Yeon as Lee Kwansoon (Bandana Uncle's Daughter)
Choi Sang Hun as Lee Sejo (Tae Sung's Adopted Father)
Kim Tae Hyun as Kang Mingu (Good for nothing ex fiance)
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This drama was such a sweet and funny drama. Even though it does start off slow it is so worth it to stick out those first four episodes. We basically follow our main leads as they get tangled up in each other’s lives and the other characters that are tied to them. The other story that takes this drama along is getting the Hotel back that was run by Go So Ra and her family. Another driving part of the plot is the connection of family whether that is good or bad.
I cannot stress how amazing the on screen connection was between our two leads Kim Kang Woo and Jo Yeo Jeong. I love watching our lead characters’ journey falling in love with their hearts rather than using their heads which happen with their first relationships with other people. I quite enjoyed the story line of family how the connection to both characters can be good and bad. Kim Kang Woo did an awesome job with both personas of his character, the cold, workaholic and ever obedient son Tae Sung and the lost and loveable Nam Hae.
It was interesting to see the very law abiding Prosecutor interact with the characters around him, from family to colleagues and to suspects. Go Sora right from the beginning you could tell that family meant the world to her and she is willing to do whatever it takes to care for them. Seeing as they feel that they hit rock bottom when they lost the Hotel she viewed life as everything can only go up from there. This care free yet very strong personality weaves it’s way under the cold exterior of Tae Sung even before the memory loss. Even though Se Na wanted a life with him we can see that the love was not really there even though she thought she loved him. So Ra’s care for him brought the warmth of true love. The scene that I love to watch between Tae Sung and So Ro is when she is able to help him sleep. There is just something about giving the other person power and (without knowing it) your trust to take care of you as you enter your most venerable state. To me that was so big and much more moving than actually the kissing scenes.
Now, So Ra’s personality as this care giver to all the characters around her (well most) is a great thing but I found was also a bad thing. She was able to help those around her be the person they were meant to be but in parts that had pushed her to hold back and be who she wanted to be and do what she wanted to do. I say that because of the promise she made with her father about marrying Kang Mingu. You could tell that her affection towards Mingu was due to the respect and love he had from her father. However you really could see that she didn’t love him especially when Tae Sung became more a part of “their group”. I loved loved memory loss Nam Hae. It brought him back to a childlike character which made him innocent. Less corrupted and altered by society. He was in a safe place with So Ra and was able to truly be himself. His heart was also more open to feel and act on love and connections. He did more what was right for him and not what would be right for his father and his job.
As for the side characters even though I hated their dirty little paws on Nam Hae and So Ra’s relationship I did like the spins they had put on the story. Choi Junhyuk was a weird character for me. I do like Jung Suk Won as an actor but this character didn’t sit right with me. He was very affectionate towards So Ra but in a creepy and obsessive way. I think it has to be that they were in somewhat family and yet he wanted her for himself in a romantic way, just so weird. I am happy that even though he was hurt from the final rejection he didn’t go down the road of typical evil villain. He still threw things in to the story line to turn a few happy moments on their heads. However he did not end up hating So Ra. he still had the connection that she IS family and would in the end care for her as that. I loved the bickering between him and Nam Hae (it has been awhile) but I feel like the ending showed a possible frenemy relationship? Hahaha love it!
Se Na (Nam Gyu ri is so pretty) was a fragile as a character. She look almost like a doll in most of her scenes (and I know that is mainly to do with Gyu Ri herself lol) but the fact there was no strength to her was hard to watch because she wasn’t an evil character. Even when she was trying to break up Nam Hae and So Ra there was no backbone to her side of defending who she loved. Most of it came from Tae Sung’s father. The “mean” side to her character wasn’t believable and I am not sure if that is due to the Gyu Ri’ skills or just how the character was written? So I am happy she did finally back off and was able to have the same adorable cute-meet with Choi Junhyuk at the end of the finale. I really do think that Se Na and Junhyuk were perfect for each other just as So Ra and Tae Sung (Nam Hae) were perfect for each other.
As for our main villain, Yoo Tam Hee, who was played amazingly by Kim Hye Eun. She got under my skin! Ugh just made my skin crawl….but I loved watching her fall in the end HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA so rewarding. Surprisingly a character I quite enjoyed watching was Tam Hee’s son. I loved that he was her weakness, that this controlling and power hungry character was weak in front of her son. His attitude towards the gang and industry was so fun to watch. You could tell it really wasn’t what was important to him. I loved watching the scenes when Tam Hee would throw a fit and he would just roll his eye and continue to play on his phone. HA!
Back to So Ra’s side, I like the feeling that the uncles left in the story. Even though she looked out for her family and was the head of the family (so she had to make most of the decisions) they in turn looked out for her. They each brought a little quirkiness to the dialogue and had their own personalities and roles in the family unit. Lim Ha Ryong did a great job as So Ra’s father. As someone who has worked with people that have special needs, the portrayal was realistic and not mocking. It takes a very special set of people to live with and take care of people with needs like his and the struggles they can encounter was shown (e.g. the bathroom scene and when he got scared) but that at the end of the day he was still her father who loves her as she loves him and caring from him was nothing to think about for her.
It was interesting to see each family unit and how they impacted our two main leads. Tae Sung’s adopted father’s need to control this investment he had tried to groom to be the perfect son. The hatred from his adopted mother. The obsession and love from the woman chosen by his father to his wife. As well as the memory of how his mother died and how he ended up at the orphanage and that family didn’t come to find him. This all shaped the character of Tae Sung before So Ra. But I do like that once So Ra was in the picture the love shown by her family towards each other and eventually toward him as well as the love and kindness from So Ra herself started to break down some of that hard exterior. After the memory loss I really like watching true love work its way into both Nam Hae and So Ra, helping find out what they really want and what they were willing to do for each other. It also showed Nam Hae/Tae Sung that once you care enough for what/whomever you want in life you will fight for it. About standing up for yourself and in turn protecting the people you love.
The family side of the story
American Style breakfast scene
So Ra and Nam Hae's first kiss
Nam Hae painting So Ra's nails
Hello kitty uncle and Maknae uncle's competition to win over Ju Hee(the only reason I rememberd her character)
Hello Kitty uncle skills as a hair dresser scene
Taking a while to get into the story.
Not that much depth to Se Na's character.
So Ra's denial to Mingu's scam.
Felt a little bit rushed as a lot of things came to an end and working out the conflicts so close to the finale.
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**gifs & photo cred to their rightful owners**
