Uncontrollably Fond (2016)

A Tear-Picker

This series truly had me addicted, I started with one episode and could not do anything else, I watched it to the end. I laughed, got mad, and cried enough in this series. I truly felt drawn into the story-line. I am only sad for the ending though, I felt like their story should have been longer, I wished with all my heart he got treatment for his illness. Although I wished for a better ending I respect the cast and production for not trying to get a few more episodes out of it.

"The series focuses upon successful superstar Sin Joon Young ( Kim Woo Bin) who awkwardly meets his old flame from his youth, No Eul ( Bae Suzy), a producer of documentaries. When their respected careers awkwardly make their paths cross once again, No Eul is surprised to learn how much Joon Young has changed into a shallow and materialistic individual, rather than the kind-hearted person she once fell in love with, however, Joon Young also begins to stumble upon a life-changing truth which may finally ruin his relationship with his former love...

Undeniably, Uncontrollably Fond isn’t the type of drama to watch if you’re looking for something” fun and fluffy” ; the focal point of the series centralises upon terminal illness, tragic love and angst with Lee Kyung Hee’s ( The Innocent Man, Chocolate) screenwriting hoping to tug at heartstrings of viewers , rather than relish in a sweet romance tale (as shown in his more light-hearted works). The show is certainly effective within inflicting heartache onto viewers towards the particular fate of our characters, however, it is still certainly problematic when it comes to characterisation, as well as clearing up the evident inconsistencies which arose in this angst-ridden ride as well.It is important to note that the acting in the show is certainly quite good. Kim Woo Bin and Bae Suzy are undeniably brilliant actors, however, it is fair to say that their characters are tackled interestingly, to say the least.

Bae Suzy’s character, No Eul is undeniably a kind-hearted soul who is passionate about her work and desperately tries to make amends with Joon Young over the course of the series . On the other hand, No Eul often felt too dormant within her actual role and presence as a fleshed-out individual onscreen. Whilst it is important to stress that a show doesn’t necessarily need to go into a whole life story upon a character in order for viewers to “ get to know them personally”, it’s hard to really distinguish or get a grip upon No Eul as a character outside of her “ necessary flashbacks “ and past relationship with Joon Young. Even minor details such as her interests, interactions outside of her workplace and reactions to prominent obstacles over the course of the story , often felt passive and lacking in emotional depth to truly portray her as a well-written female lead.

Then of course there is Kim Woo Bin’s role as Joon Young. Undeniably Joon Young goes through several terrible ordeals even before the main events of the series, which fundamentally shapes his certain outlook upon life, relationships and characters (No Eul, being the evident subject of Joon Young’s changed interactions and feelings). No Eul’s entry into Joon Young’s life again comes nearly simultaneously with his life-changing news. This consequently causes him to try pushing No Eul away, as she becomes his saddening and haunting reminder of a past that he’s tried to reject, and he can never return to.

This of course leads us down two routes of “ problematic” characterization; the first within Joon Young’s behaviour, and secondly towards this behaviour is inflicted towards the female lead No Eul . It’s important to say that Joon Young’s reactions and attempts to drive No Eul away by flirting with other women, did add a slightly realistic reaction towards the male lead’s scenario. Joon Young is supposed to be only human and naturally intrinsically driven like most people towards rash decision-making.

However, Joon Young’s often anger-driven emotions and reactions towards his situation by throwing things or beginning a screaming match, soon became both frustrating when he began to lash out at times upon No Eul. A lot of fans of Uncontrollably Fond’s pairing often seem to gloss over the fact that ,for the majority of the series, Joon Young was emotionally abusive and physically harassed the female lead upon several occasions ( not least throwing her out of the car in the middle of nowhere, grabbing her arm often without consent and often manipulating her feelings rather than merely being honest).

Again, this is not saying it was “ wrong” for Joon Young to have feelings anger or for the show to touch upon emotional abuse or physical harassment, but it was concerning that the drama neither raised this up prominently as a terrible issue or relationships, and suddenly tried to “ sweeten” this by Joon Young and No Eul’s more “ romantic” feelings before the finale. This sudden transition from Joon Young tossing No Eul out of a car to hugging her several episodes later, wasn’t just nonsensical, but ridiculous in terms of character and relationship progression.Nevertheless, despite the questionable relationship between the two characters, the finale did leave a sucker- punch for viewers’ feelings. Without spoiling too much, it is fair to say that upon reflection the ending isn’t “ sad” per say because of the fate of our characters, but rather the blinded acceptance towards what is happening in their present, rather than their pasts or futures.

Overall Uncontrollably Fond wasn’t a bad show with some well-written qualities of the psychological complexity of coming to grasps with terminal illness, relationships, love and an emotional ending. On the other hand, Uncontrollably Fond had little greater character depth, straying away from cliches and explanations ( not least the “ unexplained illness”) ,a healthily progressive portrayal of relationships and problems of sugarcoating issues of emotional abuse and physical harassment within the main couple as well. As a drama to pass the time and as a tearjerker , Uncontrollably Fond is undeniably a good-binge watch, however, if you’re looking for a show with genuine depth and a well-written relationship between our leads, then look elsewhere because Uncontrollably Fond certainly isn’t the one that you’re looking for. "

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Uncontrollably Long

This drama started so strong for me. I went into it knowing I'd probably sob my contacts out. The premise was great, and everything tied together like you'd expect from a melodrama.

But...Is it weird to be disappointed that I did cry once?

This should have been 14-16 episodes maximum. by the end I was grateful to be done. It was irresponsible editing IMO.

The OST got old very quickly.

While the leads look gorgeous together, they didn't have great chemistry. I didn't feel the pining or sense of urgency I needed for someone with a terminal illness to finally make things right.

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I cannot Even begin to explain how much I loved Uncontrollably Fond, it was all romantic,funny and touching at the same time, I rated this a ten over ten overall. Also, the writer of the story really knew what he was doing, I loved everything about Uncontrollably Fond, it was a great experience!
Yeah the writer did a good job in executing the inevitable, they could have been cruel but this is acceptable even with a broken heart.
When he fell asleep on her shoulder something happened to my heart for all I know dramas are gonna be the end of me. So yeah that's that this is a beautiful drama with realistic ending which will fuck up your feelings , bring out the demon in you, question your masculinity, I don't blame really blame people for dropping the ratings for this drama because some episode of this drama was really hard to watch not because it is bad but because it is sad and not everyone has the maturity to go through it i guess.

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Mid episode review

This is my mid review of drama Uncontrollably Fond:

Post 6 episodes :-
Sin Joon Young (Main Lead) 's mom is still pissing me off. I don't know about you all but I am annoyed by her attitude towards her son how she treats him who only wishes to see her and be loved by her.


(ps. I have not completed it yet and will continue watching it.. I will update my review after watching further.. Byee till then :)



Post 8 episodes :-

I am heartbroken seeing Sin Joon Young s efforts to gain the love of his mother and No Eul leaving behind all his pride and jealousy he is chasing her. Still she ignores him and throws him away. It hurts :(

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Plot: ????

So overall I felt like this plot was pretty good, but it started off really slow. Due to this slow start a lot of people abandoned this drama & went on to something else. I’m pretty sad that the viewership rating was so low for this drama. The first 5 episodes consist of a lot of story building which tends to be slow, but they’re setting up the story. Once you hit Episode 6 the story really takes off. There’s a good amount of drama & cliffhangers that makes the plot pretty solid. This is a pretty sad drama so it can be depressing at times but I feel like that is sometimes real for a lot of people’s lives. It did have a sad ending, but again this makes the drama feel more life-like because life doesn’t always have a happy ending.

To see the remainder of my review visit: https://awomanofdreams.com/2016/09/12/k-drama-review-uncontrollably-fond-%ED%95%A8%EB%B6%80%EB%A1%9C-%EC%95%A0%ED%8B%8B%ED%95%98%EA%B2%8C/

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sou extremamente apaixonada por esse drama. mesmo adepta dos finais felizes, o final desse, por mais trágico que seja, me trouxe uma emoção estrondosa de maneira que até hoje não consigo passar muito tempo vendo nada sobre o história que choro.
a forma como o drama trata desigualdade e injustiça social é bem explícita e não necessariamente otimista. diversas vezes me senti completamente desgastada de ver tanta coisa ruim acontecendo (e essa é, de fato, a realidade de uma grande parte da sociedade). a mais, a história de amor entre os protagonistas e o valor que o tempo possui foi o que realmente me cativou.
a cena da mãe do joon young com ele no final dizendo que foi uma honra ter sido filho dela todo esse tempo... são momentos que marcam a gente para sempre.
dê valor a quem você ama. lute pelo o que você acredita.

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