A Love So Beautiful (2020)

A pleasant but ultimately unsatisfying adaptation

This Kdrama version of a well-known Cdrama is a retelling for tweens that softens the male lead's character while over-infantalizing the female lead. In this remake we have a series that could easily be rebroadcast on Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel. Whether or not you like it might depend on which male lead you prefer -- the Kdrama's or the Cdrama's -- or whether you can tolerate the Kdrama female lead's lack of maturity as she gets older and enters into adult life.

While from the beginning the Kdrama version of 'A Love So Beautiful' has a male lead, Heon, who is quite likeable, his counterpart in the Cdrama starts off as very hard to love, and who must face and acknowledge his own deepest flaws if he has any chance of prevailing in the end. The Cdrama scene where this acknowledgement finally happens is one of the most powerful in the entire series, and is all the more moving because we know how far the male lead, Jiang Chen, has had to come in order to get there.

Because the Kdrama's Heon starts off so nice, there is little distance for his character to travel as he faces his own shortcomings -- shortcomings which, of course, are minor in comparison. Unlike the Cdrama's Jiang Chen, Heon is not troubled by abandonment issues that have caused him to develop an almost impervious layer of emotional armor. Instead, Heon comes off more like a guy who's just a little too shy and needs to come out of his shell.

I know many viewers will prefer this non-threatening kind of male lead, and who am I to say they're wrong. However, in making Heon so comfortable from the start there is much less of a reason for him to strive to better himself. Nor does he help us to understand the reason for his unwavering dependence to Sol Yi. Heon is a character who, after all, we're meant to believe can't live without Sol Yi. Unfortunately, because Heon's eventual redemption in the Kdrama is less necessary than in the Cdrama, it's also less impactful, and deprives the Kdrama of an essential emotional turning point. We never really learn who Heon is or why Sol Yi's love has meant so much to him.

As for Sol Yi, there are two issues: (1) she is perky and over-animated to the point of constantly maxing-out my Cringe-o-Meter, and (2) from the get-go the actress who is cast in the role looks too mature to play a high-schooler. This impression is made even worse by the way the director has Sol Yi constantly exploding with child-like exuberance, squealing with delight at little provocation.

If this is the woman that Heon can't live without, I wish the series would make more of an effort to show us why. As it is, his approach to Sol Yi has a brotherly vibe that it never quite shakes off. In fact, toward the end when he kisses her on the lips it feels uncomfortably close to watching someone kiss his own sister.

Kim Yo Han, who plays Heon, is a K-Pop idol. He does a serviceable job in his acting debut and is cute enough to inspire the fantasies of viewers who wish they could have their own Heon in their lives. Enjoyment of fictional media -- be it books, movies, or drama series -- usually involves some degree of identification with the characters, so with such a handsome and cuddly leading male I can understand why in some corners the Kdrama version of 'A Love So Beautiful' would have a lot of appeal.

The other actors cast in the major roles fit the toned-down nature of the series very well, and are worthy counterparts to the characters in the Cdrama version.

The Korean remake of 'A Love So Beautiful' is worth a look if you want something fluffy to fill your time between other, better-scripted and better-directed dramas. While I have to admit that I was disappointed by it, I can see where it will provide some pleasant companionship for viewers who are more romantically inclined.

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Botched remake

Unfortunately, this remake failed to deliver the sweet cute chemistry and heart that the original C version did.
I loved the C version and was so excited that they were going to remake it in Korea, but I think they really miscast this. And the director did a poor job of giving the story some heart instead of the typical cringeworthy deliveries.

The main problem was the FL. She was trying too hard to appear young. If you ask your parents to give you an impression of a 3 year old, I bet it would be the same as the FL's acting. No idea why they casted her as there are a lot of other actresses who have natural aeygo that could have played this role. And then there's the problem with the ML. He looked too young and did not make me believe he was the smart studious type. And together, frankly it was clear that she was the nuna and he was the dongsaeng which makes it hard to believe in their characters. They pretty much had zero, if not almost uncomfortable chemistry for most of the drama. It wasn't until the very end that it got a little better and I think a large part of that is because the FL dropped the whole toddler act. To be fair, I do see potential in both of them...I just think they need to take baby steps instead of leaping to fill shoes that are too big.

I also thought the 2nd ML did not have any charm. I didn't find him very likeable where in the Cdrama, I would go back and forth between the male leads. Even if I didn't compare to the original, I would not have liked this drama. It's way too cringeworthy. I had to skip a lot of the scenes that made me want to vomit. It's interesting though because the script is almost the same and I did not feel that way at all with the Cdrama which I've watched a few times. Amazing what miscasting and bad direction can do.

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