Someday
썸데이
(Nov – Dec 2006)
who’s in it
Bae DooNa (Take Care of My Cat – film, The Host – film)
Lee JinWook (Powerful Opponents, Air City)
Kim MinJoon (Friend Our Legend, Damo)
Oh YoonAh (Kingdom of the Winds, God of Study)
what’s it about
A shy manga artist and an errand-boy-for-hire, both with their own tragic pasts, meet under the strange circumstance of trying to solve the mystery of someone else’s sad love story.
commitment
16 Episodes
network
OCN
wildcard factor
This was a quiet, sensitive drama that doesn’t try for humor, but only aimed to tell a story about people. It was really about loneliness and trying to find a way to survive in the type of black hole that can live within us all. I thought this kind of character study was lovely and refreshing, but others may just interpret this kind of sobriety in a kdrama to be boring. No slapstick and no flashy action sequences, just plain ol’ storytelling.
after the first episode
What else has Lee JinWook been in? He’s pretty great.
snoozer moments
Hmmm…I’m still thinking…
soju-guzzling
A little of it. There was a bit of darkness in this one. Not cancer-type darkness, just a drizzle of constant gloom, like winter in Seattle.
what didn’t work
What little faults it did have were outweighed by all else it did so well.
what did
It was a little artsy and the high production values were obvious. It felt more like a long, independent movie than a romantic dramedy soap opera.
what made me want to gouge my eyes out
n/a
what kept me going
The characters. Both Bae DooNa and Lee JinWook played damaged characters that connected with one another. Both actors were able to convey that awkward and hesitant process of opening up for the first time and learning to love someone else in a way that was both funny but poignant.
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Other factors:
predictability No
engrish No
originality Yes
eye-candy Yes
hair and fashion It was fine.
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is it worth trying to find?
Yes, if you are able to get your hands on it.
total enjoyment factor
10/10
why this review is completely biased
I love Bae DooNa, but more than that, I love sweet stories about sad but good people who deserve happiness and get it.
could a non-kdrama fan like this
Yes. I think Someday could even be accessible to western audiences that have zero to very little exposure to kdramas or the Korean culture because it wasn’t designed with the usual kdrama clichés or exaggerated behaviors that those unfamiliar with the Korean way of life may find difficult to relate to or understand. Someday was about the need to connect to other people, and really, who doesn’t know what that feels like?
verdict
Higher level of production values than most kdramas, it was a very impressive end product. This is what one would call a sleeper hit. And I use the term “hit” loosely. I don’t think many have seen it and that’s tragic because as soon as I saw it, it instantly became one of my favorites. Bae DoonNa is as always stellar but she was especially wonderful with Lee JinWook.
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