Currently Watching: Love & π
After taking a month-long hiatus from writing and sharing my thoughts on MDL, I am officially BACK!
These last two months have been a whirlwind. I got married, went on a 2-week long honeymoon, AND bought a house! To say I have been a bit busy would be an understatement, but throughout I’ve been keeping up on most of my Kdramas. And I must say this summer’s dramas have been pure fire!
So many great shows, fantastic acting, and smexy chemistry, it is hard to make enough time in the day to watch all of them!! But that’s not stopping me from trying.
Right now, one of the dramas that has really caught my attention is Thirty But Seventeen. Romantic Comedy, coma, and hilarious side characters, this drama is definitely worth checking out. You’ll thank me later.
Story
Woo Seo Ri (Park Shi Eun [young] /Shin Hye Sun) is a 17-year-old violin prodigy, who is involved in a serious bus accident before she is about to study abroad in Germany. Because of this, she falls into a coma for 13 years. When she finally awakes, she is physically 30 years old, in a body, she does not recognize, and still mentally feels like her 17 year old self.
Meanwhile, Gong Woo Jin (Yoon Chan Young [Young] /Yang Se Jong) is a 30-year-old set designer, who is traumatized from witnessing the very same bus accident 13 years earlier that lead to Woo Seo Ri’s coma. It has caused him to avoid relationships with others as he holds onto his own guilt about the day of the accident.
When fate brings these two together after 13 years, will these two be able to help each other move past their traumas and find happiness?
Reasons to Watch:
1. Comedy
This drama although it’s description sounds heavy, has a lot of comedic elements that lighten up what otherwise could have been a very serious melodrama. Instead, it is loaded with amazing side characters, especially Jennifer (Ye Jin Won), who plays Gong Woo Jin’s philosophic no-nonsense maid. This is a fun watch that will keep you laughing as you grow fond of each of these characters and their individual journeys. And you will never look at Choco Pies the same way!
2. Mystery
One of the most interesting aspects of this drama for me is the mystery. When Woo Seo Ri awakes from her coma, she finds that her Aunt and Uncle, who she lived with when she was 17 (due to her parent’s death), are nowhere to be found. Her old home no longer belongs to them, the company where the uncle was a president is gone, and because they are not her parents she cannot find out their new whereabouts from the police.
Where did they go? Why did they abandon their comatose niece? Will she be able to find them again and get answers?
3. Healing Drama
There was a great article written not too long ago by Fanitha, which spoke about the current Kdrama trend of healing dramas. “Healing Dramas” refer to dramas in which the characters have experienced traumatic or painful events that have seriously affected their lives. These characters need to heal from these emotional/physical wounds before they can truly find happiness. Some recent examples of these would be: Just Between Lovers and Come Hug Me.
Thirty But Seventeen is definitely a healing drama, although much lighter in nature than Just Between Lovers and Come Hug Me, the topics and traumatic events it portrays are extremely serious. The bus accident that caused Woo Seo Ri’s coma, not only created physical trauma for her character, but also emotional trauma. She must now cope with the loss of 13 years of her life, the loss of her home, and her inability to find her remaining family and friends. In many ways she is adrift, and she needs to figure out who she is now and adjust to her new reality. On the other hand, Gong Woo Jin, although only witnessing the accident, carries an immense emotional trauma as he feels at fault for what happened to one of its passengers. Living with this guilt, he is now unable to form relationships with others, and shuts out even those for which he was once close.
4. Romance
So far, there has only been hints and glimpses of romance, but it is there. Hidden behind the trauma are characters who want to form friendships, relationships, and crave love. After all, this is a romantic comedy and I, for one, am looking forward to watching the lead’s relationship develop. (But I can already feel some second lead syndrome forming!!)
