Thanks to K-Dramas: I’m Officially Under the Influence of Hallyu
Yes, I’m biased towards Something in the Rain.
I’m officially under the influence of Hallyu now. Hallyu or the Korean wave refers to the phenomenal growth of Korean culture across the globe. For me, it started with K-pop groups BTS and BLACKPINK and now, K-dramas like Crash Landing on You and Something in the rain. I loved Crash Landing on You, it made me feel dreamy but Something in the Rain simply warmed my heart.
Crash Landing on You
Crash Landing on You is about a successful South Korean entrepreneur, Yoon Se-ri (played by Son Ye-jin), who crash lands in North Korea due to a paragliding accident. There she meets an Officer from the North Korean Army, Captain Ri Jeong Hyeok (played by Hyun Bin), who tries to help her get back to her country.
This series is definitely a winner if you’re new to Hallyu. It is packed with an emotional storyline, complex characters, tons of conflict and a few funny kicks as well. As the story develops, Captian Ri and Se-ri fall for each other which gives the audience their story of star-crossed lovers. I will not lie, I loved it mostly because of Captain Ri (sighs). I loved that he paid attention to the small details when it came to Se-ri. Like me, if you’re a sucker for romance and drama, Crash Landing on You is a must-watch for you.
Something in the Rain
The next K-drama I watched was Something in the Rain. It’s about Yoon Jin-a (played by Son Ye-jin), a woman in her mid-30s who falls in love with Jun-hui (played by Jung Hae-in), her best friend’s younger brother. It plays on the classic storyline of a younger man dating an older woman. Moreover, Yoon Jin-a and her best friend, Gyeong-Seon, are so close that Jun-hui is supposed to be almost a family member.
Before watching Something in the Rain, I was crazy for Crash Landing on You. I still love it but maybe I love Something in the Rain more. From the plot itself, you can tell Crash Landing on You was meant to be fictional. On the contrary, Something in the Rain encompasses the emotions you feel in reality on the off chance of finding true love.
Something in the Rain is a story of two people who fell in love with each other’s heart. Both of them took each other at face value, they didn’t care how old they were, how many relationships they’d been in earlier or where they came from. The show is real yet extremely dramatic. It mirrors the bliss and hardships of falling in love in real life. It gives you a montage of sweet romance one moment and hits you with conspiratorial office politics and societal norms the next.
The storytelling is emotional and is sure to move you to tears at least once. There’s a contrast between the plot which resembles real life and the cinematography which makes it seem almost like a dream sequence. The show also has a great list of soundtracks to support its storytelling. The two main soundtracks, Bruce Willis’s version of Save the Last Dance for me (first recorded in 1960 by The Drifters )and Stand by Your Man by Tammy Wynette seamlessly blend into the story.
I loved that we had callback moments too in this drama, such as holding hands in a crowded elevator in the second half of the show to reference the first time they held hands to convey their feelings to each other while they were having dinner with their friends. Another great callback was when Jin-a was going to her office and Jun-hui cycles past her and then comes around to tease her, it’s the same way they met each other in the first episode.
Every story that I have an encounter with, there are parts that always stay strong in my memory and keep coming back. In Something in the Rain, when Jin-a finally talks about her relationship with Gyeong-seon (Jun-hui’s sister & Jin-a’s best friend), Gyeong-seon asks Jin-a one thing: “How could you let things come this far?”
To which Jin-a replies, “Honestly, I couldn’t afford to think about how you would feel. That’s how things came this far. I only thought about Jun-hui. I did not take anyone else into consideration. That’s how we ended up like this.”
I came to this show for the actress Son Ye-jin but I stayed for Jung Hae-in’s character Jun-hui. Jun-hui is younger to Jin-a and portrays a youthful energy. Ladies, he’s sure to take your breath away. He’s protective of Jin-a and wants to give her the world. The fact that he doesn’t give up on Jin-a made my heart melt. Somewhere in the story, Jin-a mentions that if one should love, then one should love like Jun-hui. It takes a really big heart to give your all to someone. I couldn’t agree more, Jin-a.
