Asian Addicts Anonymous

I really wasn’t sure if I was going to attempt to watch this even with liking Yoochun, Lee Tae Sung, Lee Min Ho, and Jung Suk Won [thanks to him participating in Dream Team]. Even the previews didn’t really seal the deal for me. Because, let’s face it, the plot has been done before. I may not be able to name Asian dramas and movies that have the relative same plot [i.e. time traveling to the future], but I can actually name quite a few British and American movies. So, not original, but I decided to give it a try and I have found that I have enjoyed the first episode and have good expectations for this drama. Hopefully it will not disappoint.

Yoochun’s acting is getting increasingly better with each drama. He did a good job in his first leading role in Sungkyunkwan Scandal and got even better in Miss Ripley [though I have only watched like 3 episodes of that so far :P]. His acting here [in yet another fusion saeguk] is good. As for Ha Jin Min, I will admit she looked familiar and I couldn’t place her. Is she really the same girl from Padam Padam? Yes, she is. I wasn’t a huge fan of her acting in that per se, but I am not minding her so much in this drama as of yet. Lee Min Ho is fresh off of his METS success and doing yet another saeguk [granted this is a mix of modern and historical]. Loved him in Gumiho and METS, so I am really looking forward to him in this series. As for Suk Won, I am up in the air about him. Yes, I like him. No, I don’t always like his acting. Sometimes it is really good and other times its more meh. Lee Tae Sung as the villain? Interesting.

That being said, I was wondering how they were going to do this drama and I was pleasantly surprised by the dual story lines. We also get to see how the past and the present are entwined and history does repeat itself. I really liked those connections, but I also feel that the flow of the drama isn’t very smooth because of them. Sometimes the transitions between the past and present work well and seamlessly, other times you have this segue and you have no idea what just happened. How did we go from point A in the past to Point B in the present? The jumps don’t always make sense. We also get time jumps from early childhood to adulthood and back, which confused me a wee bit, I won’t lie.

I find it interesting that in the past, Hwa Yong was disappointed that she wasn’t the chosen one to be the crown princess, but it was her little sister Yu Bong instead. You could tell that Hwa Yong was disappointed and jealous and even seriously thought of hurting her little sister. However, it doesn’t look like Hwa Yong really had the courage and thus when the accident happens, Hwa Yong has the opportunity to gain everything she wants. Does she feel guilty about the accident? Well, it really doesn’t seem so as her dreams came true and her poor little sister Yu Bong is scarred for life and has to wear a veil to cover the blemish. Poor girl.

In the dual present storyline, Se Na [the present-day version of Hwa Yong] isn’t like that at all. She is conniving from the get go and completely hates her stepsister Park Ha [modern day version of Yu Bong]. At least in the past story line, Hwa Yong seemed to really care about her little sister [until that crown princess matter sprang up]. While Se Na seemed a bit conflicted about letting Park Ha get taken away, I don’t Also in the present story, we have Tae Moo [no character in the past as of yet] who likes his cousin Tae Yong [who is crown prince Lee Gak in the past], but who is also jealous since Tae Yong is the legitimate heir. Tae Moo uses an accident to his advantage as well, but he seems more guilt-ridden by his accident than Hwa Yong/Se Na felt about hers. I wonder if the guilt will continue to haunt him or if he’ll just go plain evil as the story progresses?

I admit surprise when Hwa Yong becomes the crown princess, because it just didn’t seem like she would be the girl [given the previews], boy that was a surprise. Hwa Yong may be the beloved crown princess, but it is Yu Bong that Lee Gak really gets along with intellectually. You can feel how jealous Hwa Yong is of that relationship, but her beauty wins out and she is Lee Gak’s beloved. So when she winds up dead, he is devastated. When the officials of the palace want to lt the drowning go as an unfortunate accident, Lee Gak gets his posse together to find the real truth. Meanwhile, in present day, Tae Yong sees Park Ha from afar and takes an instant liking to her. Hmm, interesting.

Now that the boys from the past meet the present, I am sure more comedic hijinks will ensue and we’ll have two mysteries crossing – Tae Yong’s disappearance [although the audience already knows the story behind that one] and Hwa Yong’s untimely demise.

I have to admit the part that took place in New York was horribly corny. Why is it that most English-speaking actors in Asian dramas are usually bad actors? And while Ha Ji Min’s English isn’t bad, I am curious to know how long she lived in the states that her accent would still be so thick. It’s kind of like in Smile, Donghae where Ji Chang Wook had never been to Korea, yet lo and behold there was the Korean accent and the fact he spoke flawless Korean. It kind of takes the believability out of parts of the story.

Cheesy comedy? Check. Mystery? Check. Good looking actors? Check [not necessary, but they definitely make the drama even more enjoyable].

Hopefully this drama will keep going strongly and won’t fall flat as it continues. I am really curious to see how are quartet from the past can handle and adapt to living in modern day Korea. I am also curious how they will handle the fact that Lee Gak is from the past and thus how can he and Park Ha of the present have a relationship that will last? Will it end up similar to Heaven’s Postman where Jaejoong was really just unconscious the entire time and will wake up to not know who this girl is, but to know that he strangely likes her?

What do you think so far? Oh, and if you’re looking for recaps, I am not doing them as Dramabeans is churning them out already.