The Day of the Kidnapping (2023)

The two leads form a splendidly unique mixture, providing unique heartbeat and appeal to the story

“The Kidnapping Day” is all about its two great protagonists. I'm tempted to say: it is about the female lead character. The actress is simply wonderful and perfect for this character. Nevertheless, in my opinion, in her eccentric role she comes into her own so brilliantly precisely because her adult counterpart: the Kidnapper, who is just the way he is – as a rather clumsy person, he is practically the antithesis of this cheeky eleven-year-old but highly intelligent know-it-all. Yet, he ist the one who is sort of seeing, liberating and nurturing her usually neglected self, that is hidden underneath her intellectual brilliance: First of all she is just a child with all needs that come along. So, he might be not as smart as the little girl, yet he is actually the true grown up, who is not letting him be mislead by her genius, but watching out for her and intuitively caring for the child she is, too. This splendid mixture provides the unique heartbeat and appeal. So together they form this edgy team, keeping the audience in a good mood.

The plot offers a lot of humor and quite some comicalness of the situation, but there are also serious themes lingering. After all, there is an unsolved murder case. Furthermore, it is nevertheless a case of kidnapping, even if the prefix may change over time. Added to this is the sad fact that health is often a question of money. And ultimately, behind all of this, there is also the issue of abuse. “The Kidnapping Day” is also able to tackle the ever late-breaking topic of “education hype in South Korea” in an original new way, entangling it in an exciting crime thriller.

What initially starts as kidnapping quickly takes a completely different direction. The victim becomes the mastermind. The police, or at least one of the investigators, dares to think twice and appropriately take unusual paths according this unusual case. Good and evil, black and white, its blurred. Yet, there are still unscrupulous villains. We are also stumbling over complex enmeshments, lying way back in the past.

“The Kidnapping Day” knows how to deliver on a variety of levels. Accordingly, the number of viewers has more than doubled over those 12 episodes. The special charm of the two leads also got me and I was happy to stick with them. Mind you, this was basically because of the charming relationship dynamics of the two leads, and how the two shape the kidnapping scenario along the way in a pleasantly witty way, including the solving of the murder case and at last providing a solution .




P.S.
The two protagonists, their particular relationship, THAT is the clever strength and the endearing piquancy. The rest might at times come across rather careless and pallid. Obviously, this is (once more) the product of the new era that has dawned in the KDrama orbit. Numerous new networks are now happily playing along on the market, including ENA, former SKY, which has repositioned itself in 2022 in order to get involved with its own KDrama productions in the top Pay-TV segment. (ENA belongs to Korean Telekom and produced 22 series in 2023 already.)
In general, with Disney, Netflix and others, I´d say KDrama productions feel like having doubled in 2023 (I didn't count, though). But what seems like a blessing at first sight turns out to be a bit of a sham, too. Where are all the original ideas supposed to continuously come from? And if there is a promising plot idea, it is yet far from being thoroughly worked through... Quantity rarely automatically goes hand in hand with quality. And it doesn't work the other way around either. Accordingly, “The Kidnapping Day” also suffers from the ravages of time: negligence can be observed here and there. However, the main strength and driving force of this story - the strangely lovingly developing relationship of the two unconventional leads - luckily is awesome enough to carry and equilibrate.

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Perfectly constructed, every episode is just amazing, go watch!

Desperate to fund her daughter’s surgery, Myung Joon (Yoon Kye Sang) kidnaps a feisty child genius Rohee (Yuna), who lost her memories. When his call for ransom remains unanswered, Myung Joon drives to her house only to findher parents were mysteriously murdered.

I’m going to first mentioned my most memorable aspect, that is Yuna as Choi Rohee! Yuna’s performance was such a delight! she stole the show with her vast range of emotions and also strong nuances in her micro expressions. It's magical how her emotions tore me apart. I laughed and cried for her! In one scene, I cried so hard and still cry however many times I watch the scene. T.T, I also love The Kidnapping Day for the solid storyline. It blends different genres expertly, giving me a high-stake, angsty, funny and endearing feel altogether. It’s a found family through kidnapping, but it never delve into Stockholm Syndrome as Myung Joon and Rohee dynamic is equal. Myung Joon is silly but caring, while Rohee tends to dominate, but as a child, she’s yearning for family love.

I enjoy how unpredictable and unconventional the mystery unravels. The investigation isn’t drag, the police make progress, obtain evidence, etc. We are rewarded with clues and twists constantly without them being overwhelming. It's rare to experience a drama that’s perfectly paced & each episode is juicy like this. For me, it’s the best release in 2023 and will always be one of my tops of all time! Wonderful!!

-Oct 2023, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge

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"I have never been more free than the 20 days I was kidnapped"

Just finished watching this one and have enjoyed every moment of it.

Twelve episodes, neatly packed up and a story that wraps up perfectly, nothing unnecessary, and no long dwelling.

The cast were amazing, you were annoyed by the bad characters and cheered on the good characters, but most of all you just want to relish and enjoy the amazing chemistry between the Kidnapper and the girl. What an incredible story supported by some incredible acting.

I'm not going to say much more, to be honest you just need to go and watch it. The music is good but you'll be right with the characters most of the way. Binge this one, it's good for your heart.

Even though I rate this drama very highly - it's not the most important thing in the room to talk about here, Yuna. Wow she is probably one of the most talented actors i've seen in a kdrama in a long time and I don't just mean among the younger ages, she's absolutely brilliant. Different approaches to different aspects of her performance throughout from the start when she's trying to come to terms with this "father" she has no memory of to when she realises who she is and is easily, easily the smartest person in any room, to little playful moments with the back scratching stick where a giggle sneaks out and to that absolutely heart breaking moment at the end when she reads what's on the scratching stick and goes from smiley face to inconsolably in tears with a transition that is completely believable. How has someone so young got the ability to recreate these things so well? I have no idea, but without doubt Yuna is someone to watch for, she's going to light up our screens (if we're very very lucky) for years to come.

Special shout out to Yoon Kye Sang who played the kidnapper and was the perfect counterbalance to Yuna's stunning talent, superb chemistry and interplay between them.

100% recommend.

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I couldn't bear it and saw it at once

I couldn't bear it and saw it at once. I witnessed one of the most beautiful relationships between Ajushi and a child (who we say is the father of another daughter, actually) and I enjoyed it to too much. ^^ The acting of both actor & actress is completely perfect and beautiful in my opinion...
I am sad that this series has not been given the attention it deserves, don't miss this gem

Really, their planning was great until now, and I didn't think that the last sequence of the seventh episode would be arranged like this.

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The most heartwarming kidnapping story one can encounter.

I cried, I laughed, I almost smashed my laptop - it was all worth it. The connection between Ro Hee and Myungjoon is not something I will be able to easily forget.

Not the brightest, but a strong man and a genius child - this setup for the main characters sounds like the beginning of an over the top, unrealistic and not easily relatable story. To make it good, the writing of the characters needs nuance, and that’s what The Kidnapping Day presents.

Myung Joon is not this dumb guy who gets manipulated by everyone while being completely unaware of what’s truly going on around him. He is not just a passive tool for others to use, and his loyalty and compassion are the exact reasons he was one of the most dynamic and driven characters.

Ro Hee is not this emotionless adult-like genius. Yes, intelligence was a big part of her, but the detailed writing did not ignore one of the most important aspects of who she truly was - a child. Many stories focus so much on characters’ cognitive abilities, they completely forget to showcase their emotional development - this way we get these robot-like smart kids who just act like adults. Not here. That innocent and child-like nature made the story far more impactful. It also made it possible to present a variety of the types of interactions she had - some treated her like a child, some treated her as a genius, some treated her just as just… I guess that’s something you will find out if you watch the drama ;)

It’s a story about making choices and facing the consequences. How some wrongdoings cannot be wiped clean, no matter how much we try. How trauma can hunt you for a lifetime. How greed can push you to do despicable actions. How everyone's idea of happiness is different. It’s a story about fear, desperation, obsession, but also compassion, family and support. It’s a whole package.

The Kidnapping Day for sure leans more into character (and relationships) driven drama, but I would never say it neglects the plot aspect of it. It was just slightly less masterfully crafted. Some aspects were not quite detailed, but all was enough to tell a cohesive and engaging story. We hit some dead ends and a few bits had not quite satisfying conclusions, but since I never viewed them as the focus of the drama, it did not bother me that much.

The acting… I have no words. Big props to Yuna who had the hardest and most demanding role to carry. I truly fell in love with Ro Hee and cared for this child with all my heart. Yoon Gye Sang presented so much warmth in his performance, I wished to have someone with a similar presence to Myung Joon in my life. I’m also impressed with Kim Shin Rok as Seo Hye Eun. I kept going back and forth with hating her and feeling sympathy - presenting the complexity of her story and the duality of it was not an easy task, but Shin Rok handled the role amazingly.

The production, directing, editing - all perfect. I even loved the small details like the chapter titles at the beginning of each episode with well selected shots as background and these tiny doodles as symbolic representation. Even the soundtrack was amazing. Especially the instrumental score.

Was the drama perfect? No. I still believe that the second episode was a poorly constructed introduction to the investigation and Sang Yoon. Some characters got me confused about their presentation - from feeling not that threatening, to then abruptly switching to the biggest threat. As I previously mentioned, there were some plotlines that could have been explored more and had better closure.

But even taking all that into consideration, this drama was truly a magnificent experience that kept me tense, happy, sad, angry, hopeful, scared each Wednesday and Thursday from September 13th till October 25th - and I will probably come back to it from time to time.

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Flawed but emotionally engaging drama

The Kidnapping Day is one of those dramas where the main relationship was greater than the sum of its parts but not quite enough to overcome their shortcomings. And that math makes about as much sense as some of the plot holes in this drama about a loving father figure kidnapper and substitute daughter kidnappee.

The strength of this drama was the relationship between Myung Joon and Ro Hee. The actors had great chemistry as the bumbling, good-hearted, desperate dad and genius 11-year-old who had never had the chance to form loving human attachments or simply play like the child she was. Once you left their nucleus, the characters and story began to break down with parts becoming repetitive and others lacking in logic. The plot trotted out the well-trod issues of police incompetence (with the exception of the lead detective) along with the requisite corruption issues although they waffled back and forth on the corruption. While I know women make up a small percentage of police officers in Korea it would have been nice to see one of the minor characters be a female officer in this overwhelmingly masculine drama. The bad guy pecking order and allegiances also shifted with similar incompetence issues. The overly dramatic villain left no furniture without his teeth marks as he chewed through the scenery. Class distinctions as they often do played a role in the story. And how far are people willing to go and who has to suffer for the good of all mankind or at least for those who have enough money? The role on which most of the drama ended up hinging was all over the place with motivations and reactions that often made little sense and the final confrontation missed the mark for me.

Despite its narrative flaws, I enjoyed this drama. Yoon Kye Sang gave a captivating performance as the father who would do anything to save his hospitalized biological daughter and the stranger in his care. His fists made up for what he lacked in strategical thinking, leaving the scheming up to the brilliant girl in his charge. Yuna demonstrated why Korea has the best child actors from any country. She portrayed not only the coldly, methodical experiment her character had been trained to be, but also the vulnerable child that needed an adult to protect her. Moments of the two playing, perhaps for the first time in her life, squealing in delight and getting her designer clothes dirty were heartwarming.

The Kidnapping Day may have had plot holes big enough to swallow The White Truck of Doom, but Myung’s devotion to the two little girls who depended on him covered those pitfalls enough to provide for an emotionally compelling drama. Roo Hee’s intellectual dominance might even leave you questioning who had really been kidnapped in this relationship.

10/31/23

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An enjoyable watch not for its mystery, but for the relationship of the kidnapper and kidnappee.

"The Kidnapping Day" falls short of standing out in the mystery murder genre. The storyline is decently maintained and mostly coherent, but the main antagonist lacks memorability, possibly intentionally, given the presence of the other morally ambiguous characters revolving around Rohee intended to add mystery. That particular antagonist seemed more like a device to drive the plot rather than a fully developed character.

However, the real gem of the show lies in the heartfelt journey of Rohee and Myeong Jun. Myeong Jun's character is portrayed as your typical, unequivocally morally upright father. There were a few scenes that hinted at something potentially more from him, but it was never brought up again which is truly a shame. However, despite the unexplored storyline regarding Myeong Jun, the chemistry as a father-daughter duo was more than enough to carry the show in my eyes. Rohee, in particular, will be an actress I will most likely keep an on in the future.

While the final episode and the resolution of the main story might not have been satisfying in my eyes, my overall rating remained unaffected as the show neared its end. I had already given it an 8 in my head because of the journey shared by Rohee and Myeong Jun in the drama. If you're seeking a compelling mystery, this might not be your best choice, but for the touching relationship dynamic, "The Kidnapping Day" is worth a watch.

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Good fun with the two leads, good suspense with the thriller

1/ WHAT I LIKED:
- The interplay between the ML kidnapper and the FL/Kidnapped girl. They are very funny together and their relationship starts on a very wrong foot, but they slowly develop a close relationship, some kind of affection for each other.
- The story. I did not expect it to include these subjects and themes: research and ethical science, international gangsters, family rivalry, abuse of children... The mix was coherent enough to make it interesting all along.
- The cops’ part: Good cops were not too ridiculous this time.
- The abducted girl: she is very smart, but she is so impertinent and mocking too. A phenomenon.
- Main bad guy Jackson: He is so annoying, but his demise is so satisfactory.

2/ WHAT I DID NOT LIKE
- A lot of characters are involved, and the pace is fast. The viewer must keep track of the many characters who they are and what they did, or it becomes confusing with far-fetched relationships.
- ML: I found him a funny, kind, courageous and dedicated guy to the persons he loves, I also found his goofy antics a little bit annoying at times. I put him in this category because in the end, I think he has a responsibility in what happened. Why he saw nothing?
- The culprit's identity is a surprise but also not a surprise. The final was drippling of good feelings, and it made me uneasy. There is a culprit but a lot of people responsible people.

3/OVERALL
Honestly, I watched this drama week in week out until ep 7 and put it on hold because things were messy for me. Then I binged watched the remaining eps. Maybe it had a consequence on how I see this drama. It is good with a good story, good suspense, fun and emotional moments between the two leads. It is entertaining overall. 8.5/10

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the drama was so much better than i expected !!

actually when i started this drama i didn't expect it be a really good drama , cause there weren't so many reviews about it and it didn't seem like a lot of people have watched it but as i started the drama the drama just kept getting better and better , i have watched a bunch of thriller dramas , and they start good but then they get worse by the end and it gets boring but this drama was far from that cause it was good from the start and it kept track of the story , it ended quite good too , i binge watched it in two days and i wanted to to know what will happen till the very end , so it was a really interesting drama to me and i loved it ,i loved the characters and the story too , there wasn't something that big that i disliked i just wish there would be season too ..

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Subtlety is Key in This Drama's Synergy

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

Surprisingly, the many different interplaying facets within this drama work extremely well together and make for a highly enjoyable watch.

Acting/Cast: The acting was probably the strongest aspect of this drama. The male lead (played by Yoon Gye Sang 윤계상) quickly became a likeable and endearing character for me. The acting of the cop (played by Park Sung Hoon 박성훈) also stood out, which didn't surprise me because I had recently seen his exceptional acting ability in The Glory. As for the child actress (Yuna 유나), her acting felt very believable given the circumstances of her character. The cast had great chemistry together, as well. This was especially important for this father-like kidnapper and daughter-like victim plot. It was fun watching the interactions between the "kidnapper" and the "victim" with their opposite and exaggerated personalities. 10/10

Writing: The plot is right up my alley - a little bit sci-fi, a little bit hostage situationy. It's not just another cliché filled rom-com with an emotionless male lead, so, personally, it's a breath of fresh air. The writing balances out the different themes in this drama extremely well. The plot itself is very dark, involving child abuse, but the writers manage to keep a lightness about it that doesn't feel as though they are minimizing the seriousness of the plot. They were able to do this through humor sprinkled throughout the drama - just enough to break the tension and to keep things from getting too dark. It made for more of a fun but dangerous action hero adventure vibe rather than a terrifying and hopeless vibe. The corrupt police in cahoots with the villain cliché (or completely incompetent police cliché) is something that I have been sick of and this drama unfortunately has that. However, the writers kept my frustration at bay by writing in a good cop character that isn't undermined at every turn, as well as a team of good competent cops backing him. I really liked how the ending was handled by the writers. I was worried about it since the beginning of the drama, but I think they were very fair with all of the characters' fates. The court scene at the end packed quite a punch as well, which is something that was missing from Mother (a drama with a similar but darker themed plot). I felt satisfied after completing this drama as opposed to how I felt after I had completed Mother. Another thing that I was worried about was the possibility of the highly intelligent child character coming across as irritating, condescending, obnoxious, and just overall unlikeable. However, she was written extremely well; she seemed like a typical kid while also coming across as intelligent and dignified. The writers and her actor did well portraying these different facets of her character. Now for the negatives: The mystery aspect of the plot is barely there; it's pretty predictable. Instead, the real focus of the drama is the relationship between the two main characters, the importance of love and family, and healing from childhood trauma. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but because the mystery is weak, the villains are as well. I mean if you think about it, the real big baddie is disposed of in the very beginning. Another complaint I have is that I feel as though some subtlety was beginning to be lost towards the end in regards to the portrayal of the unusual relationship between the "kidnapper" and "victim". The interaction between them became a little overdramatized when in the presence of the cop character, which made it begin to feel a little cheesy. 7.5/10

Direction/SFX/Music: No major complaints here. This is definitely a well-produced drama. I can say that the music didn't stand out to me personally. I thought it neither improved nor hurt the drama. A strong, distinctive OST would have made this drama even more memorable. 8/10

Entertainment Value: I began watching this when it was still airing, so I couldn't binge it. If I could, I would have. Watching the relationship develop between the two main characters was fun and the humor was great (and unexpected). There was a nice small twist in there that I really liked as well. The mystery is pretty obvious though and doesn't add any suspense to the drama. Also, the lack of a really intimidating villain doesn't do any favors for the entertainment value either. 9/10

Overall, I gave this drama an 8.5/10. It was a very entertaining and unique drama with great acting. I wish that one of the villains (I won't say who) had more of a character arch/ redemption arch because I thought he was an interesting character that could have had some complexity to him. I think they kind of did him dirty.

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