Saturday, July 1, 2017

K-drama: The Legend of the Blue Sea



Synopsis: The television series centers on the love story of Heo Joon-jae (Lee Min-ho), the son of a rich businessman who becomes a handsome and clever con-man after his parents' divorce, and a mermaid named Shim Cheong (Jun Ji-hyun).[3][4] Focusing on rebirth, fate, and unrequited love, their tale is juxtaposed with the parallel story of their Joseon era incarnations, town head Kim Dam-ryeong and the mermaid Se-hwa.
My thoughts: I wanted to do this review a lot sooner, but I couldn’t find the time to it. Anyway… This K-drama is LIT! It’s adorable, well-thought, romantic and on-point. The story is about the relationship between a Mermaid and a human. Se-hwa is a captured Mermaid in the Joseon Era and she is presented to the town head Kim Dam-ryeong as a gift. However, because of her condition, he decides to release her in the ocean, back to where she belongs. They then start a romance.
In the modern days, conman Joon Jae is about to score big. Kind of like a Robin Hood, he takes dirty money from rich people but, instead of giving them to the poor, he takes to himself. With his last pillage, he travels to another country, where he meets Shim Cheong. They spend some time together, but he doesn’t know that she is a mermaid. She then erases his memory, and he returns to Seoul.
Well, this was a blast. I’m noticing that the trend in Korea right now regarding k-dramas is the reincarnation romance. A couple that met in the past hundreds of years ago, get split, and find themselves in the present life. These calls for a double work: not only is necessary to fabricate a wardrobe for the present, but also for the past, which can be very challenging: traditional clothing in Korea is a very intricate thing, so you have to be very careful when creating them, as far as I could see. Also, there is all the scenario and script adaptation.
Lee Min Ho FINALLY delivers to me. I’ve seen a few of his dramas, but he never stuck to me. ESPECIALLY after his role in HEIRS. It was a garbage role, I’m sorry, but it’s the truth, even a true fan (and a friend of mine) has watched it and said it was garbage. In Legend of the Blue Sea however, we see a more complete and mature actor, with more natural and truthful reactions (in Heirs he looked like the Asian and male version of Kristen Stewart) and a lot funnier and amusing. And he FINALLY learned how to kiss properly. FOR PETE’S SAKE, a kiss is about moving lips, not sealed-shut mouth. You have a jaw, USE IT! They still need to perfect this VERY SPECIAL point in Korean drama, but at least in this one he moves a little bit more and make it look like he actually wanted to kiss her.
Jun-Ji Hyun has become my favorite female actress. Her role as Sim Cheong is witty, funny, adorable and quirky. She is a mermaid after all, and she portraits that role perfectly. The scenes where she is swimming in the ocean are majestic AF and the importance of her character is very well-played. She is innocent and pure, specially to the human world and their greed. Cheong doesn’t see any of that, especially when she meets Joon Jae. To her eyes, he is something close to a prince charming, and is drawn to him like a fly to a lamp.
 The mythology they created for the mermaids is very interesting. I don’t know how mermaids are portrayed in your country, but where I come from they usually sing to drown men. In the Legend of the Blue Sea, they show them as someone who can fall in love and give their heart away but, if they don’t get loved back, they can get sick and even die. Also, their touch can erase memory, as well as their kisses if they want to and when they cry, their tears become pearls; if it is tears of joy, they can be pink pearls!
Oh, and let’s not forget the soundtrack. It’s GORGEOUS! You really get into the vibe of under the sea and mermaid world. 
Finally the plot is very interesting. As I said above, the story is about rebirth and love through the eras. They show not only the struggle of the main couple to survive, but also showcase the greed of humans, our bleak thoughts and our capability to overstep anyone for what we want. Also, the tv show show how all this gets projected to your fate. The villain is like that because he never lost his grudge against the main couple; so he returns bad, and destiny makes them see face to face once more.

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