Three Brothers (2009)

Three Brothers will have to be one of the best family dramas I've seen. This drama definitely won't bore you or make you feel like pressing the fast forward button. There is enough drama, romance, humor, and interesting plots to keep you entertained for all 70 episodes. This review is going to be long since I would like to introduce the 6 main characters and their background info.

Main Cast (The Brothers)
Kim Geongang (played by Ahn Nae Sang: He's the eldest brother and quite frankly hates the fact that he was born as the eldest. From what I've learned and read about South Korea, there is a lot of pressure put upon sons who are the eldest to take care of the parents and live with them for all their life. At an early age he rebelled against his parents and eloped to escape the responsibilities of an elder son. His marriage ends up in a divorce however and he's forced to go back home to live with his parents and brothers. The first lot of episodes have him suffering with hemorrhoids which brings a lot of laugh out loud moments.
His relationship with Cheongnan starts off as harmless fun and flings until their eventual marriage (something he protested against furiously). Tension rises when he finds out about her son (he doesn't want kids) and it hurts him greatly. You will admire Geongang when he makes it his mission to be a good husband/father. Plus, you'll love the scenes between him and Cheongnan's criminal ex-boyfriend.

Kim Hyeonchal (played by Oh Dae Gyu): He's the middle brother and you could say that he suffers the "Middle Child Syndrome". Hyeonchal was pretty much forced to take on the role of the eldest. He suffers with a lot of stress as a businessman. Who wouldn't be when you have to run 3 businesses and loan sharks making your life miserable and constantly reminding you of the debts you have to pay back? Not only that, but then you come home to hear your mother complain about your wife (whom she treats like a slave) and treats you as the black sheep of the family.
Hyeonchal is someone that you probably won't like from the beginning but I can honestly say that you will end up respecting him as a husband, father, and man when he sticks up for his wife as he finally reaches his breaking point.

Kim Isang (played by Lee Jun Hyuk): He's the youngest brother. Isang passes the Korean Bar exam and instead of becoming a lawyer, as his mother hoped, he decides to follow in the footsteps of his father and becomes a police officer. He's the mediator of the family and does what he deems necessary to ease tension among his loved ones. Due to the fact that he passed the Bar exam, Isang is instantly made a Captain and is in charge of his own team which all bring a decent level of comedic bromance moments.
Isang falls head over heals in love with Eoyoung (who is 3 years his senior) and acts like a goof just to see her smile. During their relationship, the two suffer the usual issues of young couples... career choices, family disputes, differences of opinion and how the relationship should be structured. The two butt heads many times when it comes to the subject of children. Isang believes having a child is the true way of showing a couples love where as Eoyoung believes that you need to plan ahead of time and that having children is expensive. This issue becomes the main problem in their relationship during the last half of the drama and maybe you'll take ones side over the other. Maybe you'll see both sides.

The Wives
Eom Cheongnan (played by Do Ji Won): Cheognan is a single mother with a little boy (his father is a criminal that appears later on in the drama). She spent most of her childhood and teenage years in an orphanage. Cheognan is has no choice but to leave her sick son with her best friend and live in the city of Seoul to make enough money for them to live. Though Cheongnan tries to be positive and is a bit cooky, its more of disguise to hide how she truly feels about life.
She loves her son and would do anything for him. Cheongnan sees the opportunity to seize Geongang believing that she will live a better life with him and that her son will have a real father.
Cheognan does bring a lot of humor to the drama but you will also feel touched by her own struggles.

Do Umi (played by Kim Hee Jung): Umi is the wife of Hyeonchal and your heart will break for her many times over during the course of the drama. The amount of verbal and laborious abuse she suffers under the tyranny of her mother-in-law will upset you plenty. She is basically treated as a slave by her mother-in-law who makes it her mission to put down Umi any chance she gets. Life just gets more stressful for her when she has to cook, clean, and do everybody's laundry as well as take care of her two young sons. Her husband doesn't help her situation when he comes home and refuses to listen to any of her plights. Not only that, but then she ends up torturing herself with the idea that her best friend has love feelings for her husband.
I can honestly say that you will cheer for Umi when she finally rebels against her mother-in-law's tyranny and does her life how she sees fit. Sometimes I would even forget that the drama is about the three brothers and believe that its Umi's story to be told.

Ju Eoyoung (played by Oh Ji Eun): She's the eldest daughter of a single father and works as a jewelry designer. Eoyoung had to assume the role of both an elder sister and mother to her little sister due to her father being in prison for a time.
Her boyfriend, Wang Jaesu, of 5 years decides to dump her after becoming a public prosecutor (even though Eoyoung was the one supporting his ungrateful self). This is where Isang steps into her life. Her relationship with Isang begins rocky as she tries to get over Jaesu who plays with her mind and heart through sleezeball antics. Luckily this song and dance lasts only for the first 14 episodes to which we're able to see the next issue in the relationship between Isang and Eoyoung... their fathers. One a cop and the other a former gangster with a history of chasing each other back and forth until one has been framed and other ending up in prison. Overall, I'd say you will enjoy their relationship as it does have many cute, funny, and romantic moments. You'll also enjoy the subplot of the fathers and their history.

All of the supporting characters are fun to watch and will either touch you with their own stories, make you laugh, or downright annoy/anger you.

I love the music. The main theme is especially awesome.

What I loved about the drama... everything to be honest. All of the relationships, the story, and subplots.

What I disliked about the drama... the mother and you'll see why if you decide to watch this great drama.

See the drama and judge it for yourself. I loved it and was entertained from the beginning to the end. Hopefully you all will feel the same! Hope you all enjoyed this review and I apologize for the length.

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This may sound bizarre, but I can't say this was an outstanding drama, but I enjoyed it immensely. I appreciated that every character fit their role; it was as if they were hand-picked and match perfectly and throughout the drama, they remained true to that character. What actually drew me to this drama were the family conflicts. It just reminds of an old saying, "Sometimes family can be your worst enemy". "Three Brothers" took that concept and ran with it. The sibling rivalry between the adult brothers is precipitated by their own mother, as was the daughter-in-laws. Stubborn, oblivious, and conniving spouses only added to the drama. I loved this drama because I could relate to craziness that involved this family, and connecting, families. "Three Brothers" is a must see and an eye opener for domestic relations.

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