Haru: An Unforgettable Day in Korea
하루/ One Day in Korea
September 24, 2010
who’s in it
Yunho (Heading to the Ground)
Lee DaHae (My Girl, Chuno)
Kim Bum (Woman Who Still Wants to Marry)
Big Bang (Seungri, TOP, G-Dragon, Taeyang, Daesung)
Park ShiHoo (Prosecutor Princess)
Han ChaeYoung (Delightful Girl Choon Hyang)
director
Park MyungChun
screenwriter
Lee JeongAh
commitment
30 minutes
network
www.haru2010.com
review
Not exactly a kdrama…but kinda, I mean, it is Korean and sort of a drama.
Haru: An Unforgettable Day in Korea is a little mini-dramatization (30 minutes) made with the sole purpose of showing the world the magical possibilities of one day in Korea. To really sell the point, four actors, a Yunho, and ze Big Bang were recruited for the gig.
They had me at Big Bang.
The story follows a writer, Lee DaHae, who is taking the train through Korea’s picturesque countryside on her way to meet up with her secret boyfriend Yunho, an actor filming action scenes on location. While in transit, she works on a screenplay that mirrors some of the issues in her real life relationship—about a couple with a secret between them: Han ChaeYoung and Park ShiHoo play the fantastic power couple in that fictional story scenario. They are normal business entrepreneurs by day but covert assassins by night (think Mr. & Mrs. Smith). While on this long commute over the rails, however, Lee DaHae gets swept off her feet by a charming stranger, photographer Kim Bum, who wants to play hooky from life for just one train stop.
Interspersed within the main story, we have random scenes from a remote village where an elementary school has permanently closed its doors. The students have sent a video letter asking kpop superstars Big Bang to come out to their school and create some lasting memories with them as their last wish before bidding their school farewell. Big Bang, the big softies that they are, trek themselves out, only to arrive a day too late. Seungri, TOP, Daesung, Taeyang, and Jiyong are discouraged, but not quitters. Feeling regretful over disappointing the young ones, they decide to rent some wicked cool ATVs and roam the small town in search of the displaced kids. The Big Bang subplot has seemingly nothing to do with nothing in regards to the main story, but who cares, we get to see Big Bang together and they are adorable with the children.
Forget the premise, forget the acting, forget everything. This is 30 minutes of amusing fun. We don’t get to see enough of Korea considering this is a tourism-bent venture, but hell, those big stars are enough to convince me to buy a ticket and haul ass over there. If there is the smallest chance of bumping into Kim Bum or his lookalike on a train, I’m there. If there is even just a pea-sized hope of catching Big Bang on ATVs while visiting some rural village in Korea, I’m there. If the food tastes half as delish as it looked in this drama, I wouldn’t care if the restaurant was owned by assassins, I’m there.
total enjoyment factor
10/10
verdict
Silly. Whimsical. Fun. A half hour of happiness.
Adorable.
lol. quite apparently, you loved it... and i did as well... nothing earth shattering but it was extremely cute-fulfilling.
ReplyDeletewas it really only 30 minutes? somehow, i felt like it was longer... maybe i got that impression because there were many stories... i think the cutest part was hands-down the bb boys stories and those kids.. and the most ridiculous laugh-out-loud WTH moments: the shooting/sword-fighting sequences with legumes... i didn't know what to make of it. haha.
i have this vague memory of a scene where the BB boys were somehow connected to someone or something in one of the other subplots but i might have imagined it.. i'm going back to rewatch it after this comment. plus the tips game is fun.
as for pk, yes a new (hot) guy shows up but only for one ep, and also a dream kiss (or not??). the next ep, we have a heart attack though, and a cliffhanger of a shocked seungjo, something you don't get to see often. and yes, things are starting to livened up (a bit) but frankly, i don't think that would be enough to change your opinion... like i said before, im quite into PK but it's an either it's for you or it's not kind of drama and based on what you wrote, i don't know... not that i want prevent you from retrying it and give it a second chance, far from it... but i don't want to deceive then disappoint either.
yep, ive seen the latest fugitive ep and i'm looking forward to what you have to say.. and ive seen daemul as well. why is it that even though they are not the same character, i can't help but see mishil though?
*sigh* I loved watching cutiepie Kim Bum as a the young Robert Kincaid.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your review.
lol. just saw ur comment about Suju (i didnt specifically mentioned them cause i didn't want to sound too biased but i guess my inner thought got found out anyways.) Thank you, that put a smile on my face. XD yeah, i'm a fan like that.
ReplyDeleteoh, ive watched 19 a while ago and I liked it. i didn't love it though but i liked and enjoyed it. plus, it's not everyday you get to see those BB boys star in something, let alone as mains.
glad you like gloria too... i like it a lot, especially how they portray the characters and their development. it's quite interesting.
hehe. congrats on a YT account... and thanks for the links. i think i'll rewatch it now... i remember lee na young being hilarious in it.
i meant KIM na young. aisshh. got influenced by runaway i guess.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, not a good thing. It is not a new YT acct, a really old one, in fact, pre-dates this blog, but it has been flagged with possible suspension. I have removed all the old vid files from public listing, as YT is cracking down.
ReplyDeleteOh also, I KNOW, Gloria is what I call a sleeper gem. It just gets better and better as the characters develop...under the radar kdrama, but quality!
ReplyDeletelol about YT... I kinda figured it out after i saw the view counts. XD. ur vids are quite popular.
ReplyDeleteand yeah,YT is deleting all the good vids. sigh. i missed xman and love letter and all those old shows. and i can't even find the bts where khj was kissing han chae young (dont ask me y i was searching for it...-_-")
I had a good laugh watching the ep again... and i had quite a strange feeling watching f4.. they have gone quite a long way from bof days.. well, except for kim joon.
as for gloria... i am quite fascinated with the characters. although suj ji suk's character, kang suk (?) is a bit flat at first but finally is picking up with the romance kicking in. bae doo na's acting is awesome. so is grandma!
and um... i have no idea what you mean by "sleeper gem" i understand "gem" + "sleeper" but not both. sorry. blame my low comprehensive ability.
and this is just me indulgin myself... HURRAY!! Heechul is no1 trend on twitter for 6 hrs straight and counting!! *jump, jump, jump*
sorry, out-of-topic. i tend to b immature...
just dropping by to say:
ReplyDelete1. congrats on a new BB banner.. looks like you liked the movie 19 (and for once, i immediatly noticed the banner change. probably because it was green)
2. i had a horrible weekend. i haven't slept for 2 days trending Kim hee chul on twitter.. XD. i know. it's immature.
3. the real reason i came here... I wanted to spazz about GD's (and Taeyang's), but mainly GD's, new Smurf CF... as you know, im more of a suju fan but OMG.. that was the CUTEST thing EVER.
ok.. dont mind me.. my comment was probably very random and incoherent. im probably too tired to think straight right now. -_-"
ive watched SKKS and Dr champ live and am off to go watch gloria and giant. (yay.. busy busy..) and i feel drunk (but i'm not, just tired).
Gloria: by "sleeper gem" I meant it is one of those dramas that is doing adequately well in ratings but there isn't a lot of fan furor over it, but a lovely drama, a show about slow character development.
ReplyDeleteI hope your hard work trending Kim HeeChul made him #1.
=) And of course I also loved the new Smurf cfs w/BB. Adorable. And naturally I agree, GD especially! Heh. And I decided to just have my banners rotate in all the BB glory.
hehe... gloria has stolen your heart huh? not surprising... ive caught up with the show a while ago so i'm watching it real time now.. ^^ who would have thought it was such a gem... and thank you for ur explanation.
ReplyDeleteas for stolen hearts, moon jae shin has stolen mine today... completely. i was always inclinated towards MJS to start with but i hesitated to firmly state that he was my fav, mainly because of yongha but i think it's official. and glad he's temporarily (?) back to being a banner...
kim hee chul trending for almost 4 days now! yay! it's almost worth it... seing everyone asking around who is kim hee chul?