Friday 3 April 2015

8th Completed Drama: Hyde, Jekyll, Me

Hyde, Jekyll, Me
Synonyms: Hyde, Jekyll, I
Episodes: 20
Country: South Korea
Aired: Jan. 21, 2015 - Mar. 26, 2015
Network: SBS
Duration: 1 hr. 10 mins.
Genres: Comedy, Manga, Romance
Viewers Rating: 7.3/10
My Rating: 7.0/10

Synopsis: Goo Seo Jin is a third-generation chaebol who runs the theme park Wonder Land. He seemingly has everything - looks, brains, and fortune. But a traumatic incident in his childhood resulted in Seo Jin having a split personality - one is a cold, ruthless man, while the other is the polar opposite, someone kind and gentle. Because of this, he vows never to date or marry. So Jin wants to get rid of the circus show at Wonder Land due to low ticket sales and high overhead costs, but he butts heads with circus master Jang Ha Na. Ha Na insists on saving the failing circus and dreams of revamping it back to its former glory. She soon finds herself falling for both of Seo Jin's personalities.

Cast: Hyun Bin - Goo Seo Jin/Robin
Han Ji Min - Jang Ha Na
Sung Joon - Yoon Tae Joo

Review
Contains a lot of spoilers!
Story: 8.5/10
The plot of the story is good to an extent, but there were a lot of mishaps that I wish didn't happen. Firstly, as this was in competition with Kill Me, Heal Me, it has an extremely similar story line, so some of the things in the story got old really quick. However, Hyun Bin's acting made up for a lot of that because he is, in my opinion, he is the king of Korean acting. One thing that really excited me nearer the end of the drama was the introduction of the third personality - Terry. I wanted to see more of Terry throughout the second half of the drama, but he only appeared for about 2-3 minutes, and that was seriously disappointing. I wanted to see badass Hyun Bin. However, when Robin disappeared in the last episode, that was really emotional for me. This sounds weird, but I didn't get upset when he was saying his final goodbyes to those who were important to him, but I did just before Dr. Kang made him disappear forever. Because Robin was going through several flashbacks of all of his happiest moments with Ha Na, like their wedding, when they first met again after 5 years, them falling down together on ice the second time they met, and Robin giving Ha Na a bit of a scare but still making it end happily. It was so heartbreaking, I almost wished that Seo Jin never had to recover from D.I.D so that Robin could live. But no.
I'm also happy with how Robin's abilities passed on to Seo Jin when he passed on. Like when his elder cousin asked him to draw something from Robin's drawings (Seo Jin is an awful artist), and he easily managed to do it. And he even managed to drive safely and perfectly even though Seo Jin never learnt to drive, while Robin did.
This was one of the main flaws for me from the show, and again, it was in the last episode. Right at the end of the drama, Seo Jin once again confessed his love for Ha Na. That I was fine with, I practically smirked my face off when he did confess, plus I was fangirling quite a bit when he kissed her forehead, eye and then lips. It was so cute. What displeased me was when Ha Na kissed him back. Ha Na was obviously still in love with Robin, and that was clear as day from anybodies perspective. So, having her kiss Seo Jin back was illogical and didn't make sense. Of course I knew they would end up together like the time-skip showed, but Ha Na shouldn't have kissed Seo Jin back before.

Characters: 9.0/10
As I have mentioned before, I loved Hyun Bin's characters of Seo Jin and Robin (I can't count Terry since we barely saw any of him). He pulled them off flawlessly, and I've seen that his acting hasn't changed at all (in a good fashion) from 5 years ago when he shot Secret Garden. Seo Jin was a bit of an ass at first, but he was still a lovable character, and he showed a true sense of what it's like to be a snotty, rich millionaire. Robin was sweet, adorable and great boyfriend material. He always compliments Ha Na, asks how she is, goes on dates with her, holds hands, all the coupley stuff (including them smooches ;)). He even drew Ha Na as a gift to her. I love him loads, and it was so sad to see him leave. Tae Joo was a trustworthy psychiatrist at first (until he became known as the antagonist) and was dependable and lovely to know. When we found out who he really was, he was quite annoying, but his acting was superb, so I really did like his character. It's a shame we never saw him during the last couple of episodes. And as for Ha Na, you'll see in a later section what I think of her...

Music: 8.0/10
The music to this drama was great, and I love it. I especially love Because of You by Baek Ji Young. I practically know all of the lyrics, and it's a great listen! Make sure to listen to it as I'm leaving a link! However, I'm rating it down because the music was quite repetitive. I never really listened to the song outside of the drama, yet I know all the words, meaning it's been repeated in the drama quite a lot. Still love it though so I'm not complaining! ;)

For the Final Verdict, I'm going to start using the comments I wrote on MyDramaList. I've made a "dedication" to myself that whenever a significant event happens or the drama ends, I'll write a comment on the drama page. I've wrote two comments on Hyde, Jekyll, Me. I'll post both, but the second one is the real verdict (it is a bit repetitive of what I've already said though).

12 Days Ago: "I'm going to watch this drama all the way till the end only because of Hyun Bin. As most people have said previously, Han Ji Min has gotten extremely out of character. Instead of being a strong and leading ringmaster, she's become weepy and frankly, quite pathetic. Because of this, I'm more interested in the love story of Min Woo Jung and Lee Eu Chang, than the triangle of Jang Ha Na, Goo Seo Jin and Robin. And also, I starting to believe that the end of this drama will not be how most people thought it should. I do believe that the possibility of Robin disappearing all together could happen, but if Ha Na actually falls in love with Seo Jin as well and gets together with him, I will not be happy. Sure, having a small crush on him is fine, but if she switches from Robin to Seo Jin just like that, that's just unpleasant. Hyun Bin has been an excellent actor as he always has been, but if Han Ji Min and her character of Jang Ha Na make the ending of Hyde, Jekyll, Me fall apart, this drama doesn't deserve to be in competition with Kill Me, Heal Me."

6 Hours Ago: "This drama could have been really good, and if it had been carried out properly, I feel like it may have beaten Kill Me, Heal Me in my opinion (although Kill Me, Heal Me is an extremely hard drama to beat). Hyun Bin was amazing as always and in my books, is the king of Korean acting. Sung Joon's acting was also impressive, but I don't think his role as the antagonist was best suited to his acting. And like most people think as well, Han Ji Min's character and acting was not up to scratch. Although I haven't seen any of her previous works, I'm sure she was a really good actress in those dramas, but she did not fit at all with her character. Ha Na should be a strong character who is independent when not concerned with her love from Robin/Seo Jin, but Ji Min made her a weak and pathetic character. 
In this moment of time, I've finished eight dramas, and still watching two (Blood + You Who Came From the Stars), so I know I'm inexperienced with reviewing Korean dramas, but I'm no beginner to watching good shows. Anyway, before watching this drama, I was honestly expecting this to be in my top three dramas, but as time went on, it dropped further and further down the list, and now, it's rock bottom out of all eight. If this story had been written better and maybe another lead actress was chosen, it would've been better. 
I have said a lot of negative things about this drama, but I did enjoy quite a bit as I have rated it an 7.0/10. And don't get me wrong, I'm not hating against the drama, the writer or Han Ji Min, I just feel the drama would have been better if it was written differently, and that Han Ji Min's career would have remained high if she didn't do the drama. Sorry if I offended anyone with these comments, I just wanted to express my opinion of the drama as I have finally managed to get round to finishing Hyde, Jekyll, Me."

Final Rating: 7.0/10
Seo Jin, Ha Na + Robin
+ Great plot
+ Hyun Bin's acting
+ 'Because of You' Soundtrack
- Jang Ha Na
- Cliche story
- Similar to Kill Me, Heal Me

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