Title: Dal Ja's Spring
Year: 2007
Starring: Chae Rim and Lee Min Ki
Premise: A 33-year old working woman, never had the time or opportunity to find love, but all of a sudden finds herself with more options to choose from than ever before.
Why I Chose This Show: Honestly? I came for Min Ki, because his role in Shut Up! Flower Boy Band was way too short and since he hasn't been in many television shows, I picked this one because it seemed the most interesting. As I started to watch I saw some familiar faces. Chae Rim is actually the female lead from Oh! My Lady, also starring a younger guy (Choi Si Won) as her love interest, and the second male lead of that show is also the same in this one, Lee Hyun Woo as Uhm Ki Joong. I thought of it as a cute history and jumped right into the drama.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
I have to admit that it took me a little while to finish this drama, it was in no way boring but the episodes were long, 60+ minutes each and then other, newer, shows would catch my fancy and DS would take a back seat. However, even though that's true, I did enjoy this drama alot. I kinda felt like Dal Ja was my emotional doppelganger. She was very in-her-head about romance, always imagining romantic encounters and dramatic scenes. Luckily the fantasy skits were scattered throughout the entire show. There were quite a few things that I liked about this show and few that I didn't.
Things That I Did Like:
1. I seriously applaud the fact that neither Dal Ja or the audience was confused about her feelings for Kang Tae Bong very long, and that once she knew, she was pretty up front with the spare, Uhm Ki Joong.
2.The second female lead, Hwi Soon Joo, played by Lee Hye Young, isn't just there to be evil to Dal Ja. The love triangle that starts the show between Soon Joo, Sae Doo and Dal Ja, doesn't last long and naturally flows into a comfortable friendship between them all. I think the only other shows I've seen something like this happen in is MARS (2004 Taiwanese drama starring Vic Zhou and Barbie Hsu) and Protect the Boss (2011 Korean drama starring Ji Sung and Choi Kang Hee).
3. This drama didn't do much of a roller- coaster ride. There weren't extreme highs or extreme lows, it was cute and fun to watch and a nice break from some of the emotional gut punches I've seen recently. Instead of trying to make 'drama' out of nothing, I think the writers just did a good job expanding the scope of the story by adding to the relationships of people around Dal Ja and Tae Bong.
4. Although there was some parental opposition (because she's older, and he is just a part time worker), where there were some arguments and tears, neither side went overboard. Like trying to pay Dal Ja off, or lying to keep them apart, or the most ridiculous: locking them away. Then in the same way, the solution that Tae Bong and Dal Ja come up with to win their parents' approval, was better and more creative than the over done kneeling and crying (although those scenes usually get me all weepy), it was refreshing to see.
5. The Affection between Dal Ja and Tae Bong was cute and they looked really good together.
6. The drawings and episode titles was a cute touch to the show as well, and added to the feeling that this was a production made with thought and care.
Things That I Did Not Like:
1. The fact that Uhm Ki Joong and his weirdo ex-wife, were pointless for most of the show, except to leave Dal Ja out to dry with all the rumors. To the end of the show, people still think that she had an affair with him, when it was all made up by the ex-wife. There is just something so irresponsible about a man that will get you into a situation and only watch from the background as you try to navigate you're way out. Was he too embarrassed to just say one sentence to keep her from being suspended?
I could have lived without either of them in the show.
2. If you Wiki Lee Min Ki, you can see that this was not his first drama, but his expressions were at times a bit frozen. I think actors like that belong in emotionally intense productions because they say a lot without words, but for this it just looks as though his facial dictionary is limited. I think he could have done a much better job acting in this drama.
3. The fact that in the last episode it took Dal Ja and Tae Bong so long to meet up. It was a bit frustrating.
All-in-all I thought the drama was pretty good, but I also feel like if I look back on this drama in a year, I won't remember a lot about it. I think I'll only give this drama a 7 hearts rating.
