I'm always careful with dramas that put soul-switching/multiple personalities (or whatever you may call it) on their front page, and it depends on the writer's skill whether I will like it or not. I have not yet seen Kill Me, Heal Me (but I want to), so the only other drama I can compare this to is Hyde, Jekyll and Me which has also some diverse opinions. I don't want to scare anybody away from this drama just because he/she didn't like Hyde, Jekyll and Me. There are not much similarities, I only felt slightly reminded of it in the beginning.
At long range Meloholic has its own charm. It starts as a rom-com with a silly student who doesn't care to feel embarrassed while confessing his love for his girlfriend in front of everyone - with the most cringy method ever. Of course it leads to the guy getting dumped. After an incident he achieves the ability to read the minds of women by touching their hand - ONLY woman that is. Later on he meets this girl that seems so different from everyone else he's met over the last years (of course there is no other girl that wears her heart on her sleeve - therefore as we all know it doesn't need further explanation how and why the leads will fall in love, right?). Crucial point about this girl though: She has two personalities and therefore doesn't want to date anyone.
It sounds kinda like your default premise, doesn't it? Well, I won't deny that. And throughout the drama you won't find any unique tropes at all. It's the same chair with just another covering. Even the crime case that suddenly pops up out of nowhere is nothing new anymore. BUT it spiced up the story quite nicely.
It was well connected to the romance plot and moved the story forward. It subtly gained more weight until the right time was near for it to come to the fore. The more you got to know about it, the more thrilling it became. There were only two things that bothered me. It always looked like they wanted to hide the culprit until the story was ready to expose him. But it was pretty obvious who it was since early on. That attempt to hide him was too strong to be trustworthy. The second issue was the finale. Some nonsensical decisions took place that marred the otherwise well done crime.
Because of the additional crime theme the psychological part of the romance and personality aspects is kept short and superficial, so don't expect any deep analyses of dissociative identity disorder or telepathy.
If I had to mention something positive, it would be the comedy. Seriously, I'm quite picky with that one, but I liked it in this drama. Even though it was pretty daring sometimes (yeah, call me a prude but some of them went overboard), it made me laugh out loud other times. And even though it's being used in every drama by now, I still can't get enough of that whiny puppy sound they play whenever a character is showing his puppy eyes.
Okay, let's get to the cast.
Kyung Soo Jin. I love her - like forever. The first time I saw her in was Shark. She was already in her mid-twenties but played a high school girl with so much confidence that it made me remember her for future projects. It's so nice to see her play adult roles because she's capable of so many versatile characters which I just confirmed with this drama again. She is playing two very different personalities stuck in one body. Believe me, you don't recognize the previous personality when they are switching. She's pulling off that role so well that even though the script doesn't allow her to deepen the character, she still manages to breath life into Han Ye Ri/Han Joo Ri. If it wasn't for her, this drama might have become one of the few I would have dropped eventually.
Why? Because whereas there were other entertaining traits, the male lead was a huge turn off. I can't exactly outline what bugged me. His acting was really strange sometimes and it felt awkward to watch him. Especially the kisses. Even though they became a little better towards the end, it was still not enough to satisfy me. There were times when I thought that he looked too much like pervert, although half of it was intentional for the comedy. Maybe... another part of my annoyance might also have been his character. Except for breaking promises he made to his girl, the biggest failure he kept doing was holding her hand to check her thoughts - whether she does say what she thinks or is lying. That's the biggest betrayal of trust you could actually do. If you truly care for your girlfriend, you have to trust her. And if you can't help but to touch her (of course you won't be able to hold back at some point in a relationship), wear some goddamn gloves (even more so tell her about your ability).
Other than that - although it might sound like a contradiction - the leads did have chemistry. I enjoyed their lovey-dovey behavior at times. It was cheesy and exaggerated, but still kinda cute.
Choi Dae Chul, who is playing a university prof and the non-related Hyung of the male lead, is my personal highlight in this drama. He was a pleasure to the eyes and I was fancying over him throughout the whole show. Can he get a lead role in an awesome drama, please?
As I already mentioned before, the finale was a real letdown. It had inconsistencies, stupid decisions, default dialogues, convenient accidents, more stupid behavior and one of the most common drama clichés ever. Even the villain became low-carb food in the last minute.
While my review started out quite positive, it became rather critical mid-way. I have to admit that I'm quite torn about this drama, but I also enjoyed it in some way. If it weren't for Kyung Soo Jin and Choi Dae Chul, my rating would definitely be lower. Half of the show only worked because of those two. And the crime. And the comedy. And the subtle waving between those two genres.
It's hard to say whether to recommend this or not. If you're into the male lead, then you will probably enjoy this alot. If not... phew, you have to decide for yourself whether you can cope with the male lead and still enjoy the things I highlighted ;)
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Why? Because it's a bunch of clichés thrown together with an unoriginal serial murder mystery, a dangerous mental illness that is taken as a joke, and a ridiculous love story.
Story/Plot
Pfft. Is there even a plot/story? From the first episode, you'd probably be able to predict the ending scene. There was an absence of character development and twists.
Ye Ri's DID was unrealistic, and portrayed as some sort of jest. Every aspect of it made me roll my eyes to another dimension, particularly when she "transformed".
The characters were copies of each other: bland, dense and slow. Even the killer was inadequate.
I couldn't believe in Ye Ri and Eun Ho's love, there was no build up and it seemed forced.
Acting/Cast
I have never watched a drama with U-know and Kyung Soo Jin, but it's pretty obvious to me that Kyung Soo Jin did a better job. At least she was able to play two distinct personalities. U-know could barely act out his one character.
Music
Didn't really pay attention to the music. Actually, the only time I did when Another Miss Oh's OST was playing at Ye Ri's cafe.
Rewatch Value
Um.. No. There's no reason to watch it in the first place.
Overall
Meloholic is the perfect drama to watch when you're looking to facepalm, roll your eyes and curse at utterly stupid characters that lack common sense.
No, but seriously. Find something better to watch.
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The story is innovative, i only watched drama with double personality in male characters like in kill me heal me or in jekyll, hyde and me so it was new and hilarious to discover a female with this particularity .
Suspense, romance and humour are well balanced and this was probably the inner factor.
I really recommend this drama , you will fall in love with yunho and the others characters!
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The best thing I can say about Meloholic is that it wasnt bad...
...that's about it.
There is nothing to write home about, yet there is nothing particularly annoying about the show. TVXQ's Yunho was pretty forgettable as a lead, even though his character was supposed to be charismatic and sexy. Kyung Soo Jin was fine as well, though I have to say, her portrayal of Han Ju Ri is probably the best part of this show. Individually, I liked both Yunho's and Soo Jin's characters. Together? That's a different story. There was very, very little romance development. He literally meets her and decides to date her in the same episode. Soo Jin's character Han Ye Ri was supposed to be closed off towards any and all romantic advances, but pretty readily accepts Yunho's Eunho (gawd, he even used a similar name.)
To call this a psychological show would be stretching it- there is BARELY any deep, psycho-analysis of Ye Ri and her dual personality. It was just like "Hey, heres a heroine with multiple personality disorder and her alter-ego is the total opposite of her. Done." One can't help but draw comparisons to Kill Me, Heal Me, another show that deals with the same issue, but executes it much better. I wish they used the disorder more effectively into the plotline and delved a little deeper into it instead of keeping it superficial.
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2. The ending was literally all over the place. Like what the heck. The last two episodes were extremely sudden, rushed, and was just terrible.
3. I thought the set up was good and interesting, of course, fun and cliches but terrible ending. Just terrible
4. Female lead did great, you could see her acting skill and flexibility in playing two completely different roles. Like you almost couldn't even tell it was her when she was playing a different character. She's gorgeous with and without makeup
5. My first time watching the male lead acting. He wasn't terrible. Some reviews didn't like him but I think he did well for someone who didn't start his career in acting.
Overall: The story line had a great beginning but it wrapped up terribly.. it's like a expensive gift wrap, but cheap gift and terrible wrapping skills.
I enjoyed the humor though.
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Starting off with the plot, I have to say I really liked it and that was what hooked me. Everything starts with something somehow supernatural, and without leaving that, we can find very interesting side plots related to the base story. At the same time, the story is kind of new as other dramas that present the same kind of double personality problem are based on male characters; here is a woman the one who has issues with her personality. Having these two elements in the drama from the start makes the drama very attractive for the audience, but then the story also turns into a melodrama, a very good one. Overall, I really liked the evolution of the story, there were some episodes that I couldn't stop watching in the same night because of how good they were. I also have to mention the drama is very light to watch, which makes it easier to love it.
When it comes to characters, I'm very satisfied with the cast and their acting skills. I think the roles were made for the final cast of this drama. I have to admit, though, the weakest actor here was Yunho, probably playing a student isn't really his thing, but was still very good. Kyung Soo Jin, on the other hand, was immaculate: from playing the innocent and cute student to the sexy and bold woman, she nailed pretty much everything. The rest of the cast was a surprise for me, in a very good way, as most of them were by the time this was released either new or unknown, but their acting was superb. Leaving the cast aside, if we focus on the characters themselves we can see a clear evolution in all of them, from Eun Ho to Han Ye Ri / Han Joo Ri, the characters change and prove to us they are very human, having to face situations that also make me wonder how would I act if I was in their place.
The music of this drama was very good, I even bought the OST. We find songs that go perfectly well with most of the situations showed in the drama. Having as the lead singers for this soundtrack excellent singers like Park Ji Min or Yoo Yeon Jung from WJSN, I still listen to some of the songs as they remind me of this drama; songs with that much of identity are not so easy to find.
As a side note, I want to mention some stuff that made people kind of awkward with this drama. There are some unusual scenes that we don't always find in a great part of dramas of the same genre, that's true, but I think that also makes this drama very special. The story is very realistic, and so are these kinds of scenes, they are not trying to censor anything and at the same time, they are necessary to understand some parts of the drama. Personally, I don't think there are any "sexual themes" or that this drama is not for people who want to see something "light"; in fact, I think those scenes make the drama lighter and more humorous.
All in all, Meloholic presents an almost perfect blend of supernatural, romance, comedy, and suspense with great touches of cuteness and sexiness. All this with the great execution of the story as well as the superb acting of the cast makes this drama gets a well-deserving 9 out of 10, an almost perfect score for an almost perfect melodrama.
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What I saw about the ratings and reviews were actually pretty bad but I didn’t really care about it and give it a try. All I can say that everyone has their own taste of what kind of drama they like. Giving it a try won’t cause me or you any harm. Sometimes drama rating may be bad but it could turn up to be a very good drama to you after trying it. The ratings won’t determine anything.
Overall I don’t feel this drama is really that bad. I did encountered and watched drama that has DID plot in it. I find this drama is way much better as compared to them. If you guys haven’t watched a plot that has DID in it, why not give this a try? No matter if its good or bad, I believe its still worth to kill the time. Bad rating doesn’t mean bad drama. Hope you guys will try it :).
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Unpredictable
I come MDL because I wanna know where I can watch this drama again. This drama disappear from the channel where I watched it 2017. Maybe it caused the rating is low.I read some reviews here, which dominated by commenter that dislike this drama. After reading the reasons, well, some I agree, some I don't. Especially for the person who said the story is predictable, I don't agree, I guess you only watch maximal the first two episodes. Because if you watch it till the middle, you can find the story become more complicated than what we thought at first :)
Frankly, it little bit disappointed me because the story is not light as what I expected. I expect this was comedy cheesy & predictable light drama, but it turns into thrilling and dark drama. But yeah, it become interesting although I still prefer light drama.
About acting,no doubt, the female lead acting so good & her style so cool and I was so happy when knowing the male lead was Yunho TVXQ. That was the first time Yunho's partner in drama was adorable & not an annoying girl. About his acting, I never expect much from Yunho in acting. HE IS NOT KING OF DRAMA, HE IS THE KING OF STAGE PERFORMANCE (Although after watch him at his solo MV THANK YOU, I really want him try action drama. He'll nail it !!! ). Other casts acting sooo good. I have no reason to dislike this drama. It so entertaining.
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The first half of the drama doesn't promises to give you an exciting plot or an acting by the leads on whom you can lean on for the second half. You might actually end up giving up on this drama too ( like I did lol) but that is the point from where the real plot and acting begins. I would had probably given up on it too if only my friend (Carol) wouldn't have provoke me to start it again.
The first half of the drama entices it's viewers for element like its bold picturization, supernatural power possesed by the lead and multiple personality disorder diaease. So it might seems like their is no plot and that the multiple personality disorder was just a way to fool audience. But the second half is where the real plot and story begins with one scene linking to other like a chain reaction.
It's the second part of the drama where the murder mystery and the visions of the lead related to it starts to connect each other slowly and steadily. The writers will sway you in believing that you know the story but will change it completely in the very next episode. The villain of the drama is convincing and scary, it will make you believe that he is mentally ill or retarded. So my honest view is to watch it till the end by skipping some scenes in the mid if u find them boring (because that's how I did)
It has a cute or I should say much cuter ending than what I expected. So in the end i wouldn't say it was the best but I can guarantee it wouldn't be your worst either!!
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However, there's still something good:
1) the cast
2) the fact this k-drama belongs to a new "era", where characters can finally have real physical interactions according to their age, which still surprises me. It's quite refreshing.
To sum up: it's ok as a filler drama, maybe not too much if you're looking for something that will catch your interest more.
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