Stuck it out for Jeon Yeo-been

There are many remakes that bring a special touch to the original story - changes that add value or flesh out relationships that were under represented in the original. Take F4 Thailand for example. That's a worthy remake of Hana Yori Dango.

A Time Called You is nearly a shot-by-shot remake of Someday Or One Day. The only thing it's added is a higher production gloss to the story. What it's taken away though is tension, subtlety, intensity, and depth of feelings.

It's also cut out many slower moments that had helped build out the world and relationships. But most egregiously, the writer and director chose to cut scenes that fleshed out Min-ju and In-gyu's perspectives.

The time Someday Or One Day spent on those two helps viewers understanding why the ending was what it was.

ATCY treats them as secondary characters, rivals getting in the way of fated lovers. And that's a real loss for viewers who will only watch this K-drama version.

Finally, this was a waste of Jeon Yeo-been's abilities. She has already shown in Be Melodramatic that she can play a depressed, reserved character with amazing impact. But it felt like she was never allowed to tap into any depth as Min-ju in ATCY. With the exception of one scene, which just proved to me that she was holding back throughout.

Ahn Hyo-seop was just mis-cast. I love the guy, but this role was not for him.

Loved the Rowoon cameo though!

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Yoo Inna's Acting Elevated a Script Determined to Make You Hate All Female Characters

As a major Yoo Inna fan, I went in ready to love this drama. And the first 3 episodes gave me a lot of hope! Yoo Inna's Bora was a successful radio host and writer who blew up her career after a really bad breakup. The fact that the show spent almost 4 episodes dealing with her devastation and grief without allowing the screenplay to get dull or sad is incredible. I especially loved the final argument between Bora and her ex, because it started out full of pathos and ended with both of them childishly calling each other names and trying to climb into a garbage truck. It was heartbreaking yet hilarious. However that's where all the fun pretty much ended.
After episode 3 the drama decided to put Yoo Inna through every embarrassing situation they could think of, while always having the male lead, Su-hyeok, witness each one of them. It got to a point where I began betting that if Bora is about to do this humiliating thing then Su-hyeok MUST be nearby - and yep, there he was. All great stories show their leads as flawed characters, but by episode 8 Bora! Deborah had proved that the sole focus of the writer and PD was to constantly humiliate the female lead, hurt the male lead, and have both of them make extremely idiotic assumptions about the other.
Even when the show forgets to make the characters cringe-worthy for a second and gives us a romantic kiss, you can be sure that it will be followed by an episode full of such annoying miscommunication that you'll have thrown your shoe at the screen before you know it. And don't even get me started on the portrayal of the other couples on the show, especially Bora's best friend and her husband. I've repeatedly heard this couple's story line described by fans as realistic, but I've yet to see anyone explain what the point of showing this horrible relationship is. There seems to be no arc of introspection or healing happening between the two of them. It's very clear that the show doesn't think the relationship is terrible. After lying and manipulating each other constantly, one fit of jealousy by the husband "affirms the couple's feelings for each other." Those are the show's words not mine. So, they aren't showing a realistic toxic couple, they're showing a married couple the writer seems to think just needs to show more jealousy in their relationship to become more passionate. Like what the-!
*Deep breaths*
Some people don't take issue with kind of storytelling. For those who do, I would suggest maybe watching a different Yoo Inna drama, like Queen In-hyun's Man or the lovely Touch Your Heart!

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