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Extraordinary You korean drama review
Dropped 8/32
Extraordinary You
3 people found this review helpful
by hananiarashi
Jan 5, 2020
8 of 32 episodes seen
Dropped
Overall 3.5
Story 3.5
Acting/Cast 5.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers
The premise is interesting enough, and could actually be used to offer a bit of philosophical insight about how Dan-oh is waking up from the dream of life, but the writers did not choose to go there, which is perfectly fine. However, they still proceed, in my opinion, to waste a good enough premise by failing to follow through with a strong, well-written story. The story just sort of wanders off into an aimless ramble soon after it starts. And you're made to expect greater things that don't end up getting delivered. I've noticed this pattern in most web toon-based dramas.

My main problem, however, is with the male lead. If you're fine with male protagonists that are pretty but weak, with zero personality (in this case, starts out as an actual non-entity with literally no remembered persona), then this might work for you. I personally like my men strong, especially in kdramas. But alas, with the current trend in millennial politics, those old dreamy chaebols with their Byronic charms are long gone. They have been relegated to a dark corner called "toxic masculinity" and have been wiped from the face of kdramaland. This drama is a perfect example of how this type of discourse has crept into kdramas and destroyed all the fun (at least for me or others like me). The female lead is strong (or starts out strong) and she is set up to save the pretty-and-weak male, to literally lead him by the hand into salvation (female power! Yeah!). However, things don't seem to work out well in that respect either, based on other reviews I've read.

Dear new breed of kdrama/web toon writers: You do not need to emasculate and totally lobotomize your male leads in order to emphasize strength in your female characters. Also, having or wanting a strong male lead does not necessarily equate to weakness in your female characters. Males and females have different types of strengths that are meant to complement each other. Please bring back our chaebols!

Eherm. Anyway, in an effort to upturn old notions about male dominance, the villain here is the old stereotypical bad boy with a heart of gold, which I end up rooting for anyway, despite the writers' best efforts to, well, villify him. There's a reason why formulas are formulas -- it's because they work. This one just doesn't for me. I suspect it would work for the younger breed of kdrama fans. But for the other old gals out there, kdrama veterans who love the same things I do about kdramas -- the silliness, the romance, the flawed but strong men who could sweep us off our feet, the bad boys with a heart of gold -- you might consider passing on this one.
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