The I Need Romance series are a simultaneously fascinating and frustrating look at the different dating philosophies of women in their thirties. The first two series follow the same formula – three females friends try to navigate dating in their thirties, which leads to surprising results. I Need Romance is a much different beast than the other K-dramas that I have reviewed on this blog – it was made with an adult audience in mind (specifically women in their thirties) and features frank discussions on sex and steamier love scenes (at least by South Korean standards) – the show was clearly inspired by Sex and the City. The biggest hurdle the series has to overcome is, unfortunately, the characters themselves – these are some of the most self-absorbed people you will ever meet. They are the kind of people who begin a sentence with, “I think” and “I want”, but rarely consider the feelings of person they are talking to. At least in I Need Romance 2012, the main character, Yeol-mae, acknowledges this as a character flaw and works to improve on her personality. This is an instance of where I like the actors far more than the characters they portray – Cho Yeo-jong (the star of the first series) and Jung Yu-mi (the star of the second series) both have appealing screen presences and really sell the material they have been given.
However, as I mentioned before, I am not the
demographic that this series was targeting, and it is more than likely that
women in their thirties will have a significantly different (and more
favorable) reaction to the series. In fact, if you want to read a woman’s
perspective, I recommend you check out Dramabeans reviews of the series – her reviews are incredibly thorough with a lot of interesting insights. The website has
been incredibly helpful to me when I need to refresh my memory. The first two series are not only connected by
themes but characters as well (Tae-woo, a minor character in series one, has a
more prominent role in I Need
Romance 2012, while the juvenile
leads of series one, Hyun-joo and her fiancé Deok-soo briefly appear in I Need Romance 2012. Also, the lead male character of the first
series, film director Sung-soo, is referenced multiple times throughout the
second series). I Need Romance 3, despite sharing similar themes and plot points, often feels like an
entirely different beast – it may be the only entry in the series that gives its
main protagonist, Shin Joo-yeon, a satisfying character arc. It could be argued
that the female protagonists in the first two series, In Young and Yeol-mae,
actually regress by the series end – they are in the same place they were at
the beginning of the series.
In the first two
series, the three female characters all have found successful careers – in
season one, In Young is the concierge manager at the posh hotel; Seo-yeon is
the editor of a lifestyle magazine and also models on the side; and Hyun-joo is
a lawyer. In season two, Yeol-mae is a
music director (she produces music for movies) and composer; Jae-kyung is a
shoe designer who is married to a popular news anchor; and Ji-hee (the most
likable of the six women I have listed) is the vice manager at a popular movie
theatre.
In Young and
Yeol-mae have been involved with the same man for over a decade – In Young has
dated the film director, Sung-soo, for ten years and has known him since middle
school, and Yeol-mae has had an on and off relationship with Seok-hyun for
twelve years and has known him her entire life (they are even next door
neighbors – and their houses are connected by an outdoor extension). In Young and Sung-soo’s relationship comes to
an abrupt after he cheats on her with the young actress, Yoon Kang-hee, who is
the star of his upcoming movie.
When I Need Romance 2012 begins – Yeol-mae and Seok-hyun called it
quits three years ago but have remained friends. It is revealed that their last
break up was incredibly painful – the two of them got into violent argument in
a marketplace, which resulted a trip to a jail. However, Yeol-mae is still
attracted to Seok-hyun and, more importantly, is incredibly horny. She suggests
to Yeol-mae that they do the whole “friends with benefits” things until they start
dating another person. Seok-hyun agrees, as he has no intention of being in a full-time
relationship with Yeol-mae (though, it is later revealed there is a specific
reason why he keeps pushing her way. Hint: it is your typical “noble idiocy”
that plagues so many K-dramas). At
first, things are all peachy keen – Yeol-mae’s sexual desires are being
fulfilled and Seok-hyun likes the “no strings attached” part. However, Yeol-mae
doesn’t just want to be sex partners with Seok-hyun, she wants to get back
together with him permanently, and he tells her in no uncertain terms that this
isn’t going to happen. She is,
naturally, heart broken by his rejection and spends the next few days in complete
stupor.
After In Young and
Sung-soo break up, In Young has a total break down – in fact, she begins to
harass and stalk Sung-soo – she calls him at bedtime for a week straight and
then sneaks into his apartment so she can scold him in person. She can’t
believe he is able to fall asleep with such relative ease after their breakup.
Even though Sung-soo has done her dirty, she can’t stop thinking about him;
this is entirely believable – the two of them have dated each other for over a
decade, and have known each other since middle school, he has been her security
blanket for all these years and the idea of not having him around is scary one.
She doesn’t know who she is without Sung-soo – it’s like a part of her has
died. Normally, this would be a golden opportunity for our heroine to do some
soul searching and figure out what she truly wants in life, but instead she
immediately jumps into another relationship with Bae Sung-hyun, who is the
grandson of the hotels CEO and In Young’s junior by five years (this the only
example of accurate casting in the entire series. As the actor Choi Jin-hyuk
was, indeed, five years younger than Cho Yeo-jong). This is a trope that all three series have in
common – the three female protagonists become romantically involved with a
younger man. The other trope is that the other man in their life is someone
they have known since childhood.
When Yeo-jong first
met Sung-hyun, she trained him to be a concierge. The two of them worked
together for a year, and she had no idea who his real identity was. The two of
them did exchange a kiss, but Yeo-jong viewed it as being done in the heat of
the moment. It was nice while it lasted, but it was also something to forget
about – at this point, she was still dating Sung-soo. Yeo-jong just wrote it
off as her junior harboring a high school crush on her. When Sung-hyun quit his concierge job,
Yeo-jong was disappointed but she also moved on with her life.
Her two best friends, Seo-yeon and Hyun-joo,
have their own problems. Soo-yeon is not interested in long term relationships,
she treats men like accessories - she will date a man for three months, dump
him, and then move onto the next thing. She witnesses the pain that her two
best friends have gone through in their long-term relationships and doesn’t
want any of that. Her promiscuous behavior does, on occasion, create problems –
she ends up having an affair with a married man, whose wife is pregnant, only to
the find that the man’s wife is suing her for adultery.
It feels like the series is going to do
something interesting with this character -outside of the courthouse, the
pregnant wife assaults Soo-yeon but begins to go into labor. Soo-yeon, still
feeling bad about the affair, drives the woman to the hospital and acts as her
guardian (she claims they are sisters). After the woman gives birth, Soo-yeon
becomes attached to the baby boy – she looks after the baby while the mother is
resting. It is the only time in the
series that Soo-yeon behaves in a truly selfless manner – she has found
something greater than herself. She is heart broken when she is separated from
the child – while the mother is grateful to Soo-yeon for looking after her, she
still doesn’t anything to do with Soo-yeon. I initially believed that this
brief narrative detour was set up for Soo-yeon becoming a mother in the final
episode – it is written as a life changing moment for her. However, this minor
subplot is nothing but filler – by the next episode is back to her old
ways. She is even more callous in her
behavior – she starts seeing two men, Joon-yi (a photographer) and Alex (In
Young’s co-worker and friend) at the same time.
In Young proves to be a rather terrible friend to Alex – she verbally
objects to Soo-yeon dating him and is appalled when she finds out that Soo-yeon
is cheating on him, but she doesn’t bother to give him a head’s up. Alex is one of the two honest characters in
the entire show – he is a straightforward person and is devoid of any agendas.
He tries to understand Soo-yeon, but he can’t continue their relationship.
Soo-yeon just coldly shrugs him off and regrets her actions after he has left
Korea. It is a credit to the actress,
Choi Yeo-jin, that Soo-yeon comes off as sympathetic as opposed to being a cold-hearted
temptress.
The third leg in
the trifecta is Kang Hyun-joo – she is 33 years-old, an attorney and still a
virgin. At the beginning of the series, she is engaged to Tae-woo, who doesn’t
have any interest in sleeping with his future bride. Hyun-joo initially
believes that Tae-woo is saving himself for marriage, but it turns out that the
reason Tae-woo doesn’t make a move is because he doesn’t find her sexually
desirable. On the day of their wedding, he leaves her at the altar. This
devastates Hyun-joo, but she is determined to lose her virginity, and the man
she chooses is Kim Deok-soo. The first time she met Deok-soo he was working for
a small company called “Disposable Men” – they are hired to do specific tasks
(clean, maintenance, etc.) and then be on their merry way. Hyun-joo’s first interaction with Deok-soo is
disastrous – she spills coffee all over his pants. While she finds Deok-soo attractive, she is a
disappointed that he is lacking in “book smarts.” She brings up novels she has
read, but he has no idea what she is talking about. When Tae-woo stands her up at the altar, she
calls Deok-soo and asks him to stand in for her former fiancé’s place. He agrees to go through with the marriage
ceremony – Hyun-joo doesn’t register the marriage, so it technically (on a
state level) doesn’t count. While she views Deok-soo as her intellectual
inferior, he is the perfect one-night stand – all she has to do is seduce him.
Deok-soo is the second genuinely honest
character in the entire series – he has no hidden agenda and is very
straightforward with Hyun-joo. He is at
the age where he wants to settle down, get married, and have a family, and sees
Hyun-joo as a potential mate. He also owns a paddle ball club, which Hyun-joo
finds embarrassing. The other thing Hyun-joo finds frustrating about Deok-soo
is how content he is with his life – he is perfectly fine with owning a paddle
ball club and being a pillar to the community. He is not interested in monetary
gain – he just wants to make people happy. After Hyun-joo has successfully
popped her cherry to Deok-soo, she tries to distance herself from him – to the
point that she pays him to leave her alone. Her interprets that as her paying
him for sex, loses his temper, and gives her a slap across the face. This will,
undoubtedly, make western audiences uneasy – though, if the roles were
reverses, there would be a lot of “Yes, Queen” cheers from the audience. Also,
she deserved it! She is dismissive of Deok-soo’s feelings, uses him for her own
agenda, discards him, and then is surprised that he is hurt. Deok-soo is a very
lowkey character – he is not the kind of guy who has violent outbursts, but
man, Hyun-joo really does a number one the poor guy.
Hyun-joo’s mother tries
to set her up on blind dates with prominent males – one of them is a lawyer
and, like Hyun-joo, is extremely well read. It seems that she has found a suitable
mate but, in true K-drama fashion, he is a total lech and forces himself on
Hyun-joo. Deok-soo just happens to be in
the area and chases the slimeball away. I always find this type of writing
contrived – Hyun-joo hooks up with a man who is too good to be true and, of
course, he is a scum bucket. It would
have been interesting if he was a genuine good dude, who Hyun-joo doesn’t have
any interest in (despite their compatibility). The show Familiar Wife does this
type of storyline to perfection.
I have similar criticism of the resolution to In Young’s romance with Sung-hyun. The writers desperately want to get In Young back together with Sung-soo (despite his two-timing) and they paint themselves in the corner by making Sung-hyun the ideal mate for In Young (despite him being five years her junior). The writers throw two monkey wrenches into their relationship. The first one being that Sung-hyun is in pre-arranged marriage with the daughter of a potential investor. Now, this is something that Sung-hyun could have explained to In Young (“My parents want me to marry this woman, but I am trying to break it up. Just bear with me for a little while”), instead she is blindsided by this revelation. His fiancée shows up at the hotel and unleashes her wrath on the employees. Before his fiancée shows up, Sung-hyun says to In Young, “Trust me” and “pretend you don’t see or hear anything for the next week.” What the hell is that supposed to mean? How does he expect her to react when she sees his fiancée in person? There are two things that annoy me in dramas – noble idiocy and a character’s inability to explain a problem that is easily resolved. Both of these tropes appear in all three I Need Romance series. However, this only proves to be a minor speed bump in their relationship – Sung-hyun successfully breaks off the engagement and then proposes to In Young (who is initially ecstatic – even though they have only been dating for a few weeks).
The second monkey wrench thrown into their
romance proves to be fatal – Sung-hyun introduces In Young to his wealthy the
parents and they agree to the marriage, but with that stipulation that
Sung-hyun moves to United States, changes her name, and waits for Sung-hyun to join
her (which would take about a year) after the scandal has died down. It’s no
surprise that In Young can’t agree to this stipulation and she breaks up with
Sung-hyun. This is a plot point that I just couldn’t buy – In Young’s and
Sung-hyun’s relationship has survived all sorts of challenges, but when this
inconvenience gets in their way, In Young immediately wants to end it all.
There also the fact that Sung-hyun offers zero push back on his parents – he
knows that demands are ridiculous but goes along with them, regardless. I don’t
believe it! These two characters, as written in the previous episodes, would
have just said, “Fuck the parents. Let’s get married without their blessing,”
but, because the plot demands it, Sung-hyun turns into a quivering pile of
jelly and really makes no effort to win back Sung-hyun. He resigns himself to
the fact that their relationship is over.
After having they
have successfully disposed of Sung-hyun, this gives the writers the freedom to
reunite In Young with Sung-soo (the two-timing dipshit). Where do I begin with this? It is interesting reading the comments section
of I Need Romance recaps, because the fan reaction to In Young
going back to Sung-soo is overwhelmingly negative. Who can blame them? Sung-soo is an extremely unlikable character
– the writers try to give him a character arc where he sees the error of his
ways, owns up to his mistakes, and tries to atone for his adultery, but it is to
no avail. Even if Sung-soo is a changed
man, In Young is always going to have a lingering doubt about him. He is a film
director who works with all sorts of young, attractive actress – the minute In
Young sees a picture of Sung-soo with one of these starlets, she is going to
assume the worst – that is one of the few constants of her character. It’s a
tragic ending masquerading as a happy one. It is also incredible how quickly In
Young gets over her breakup with Sung-hyun – the two of them were practically
engaged and just weeks after the fact, she gets back together with Sung-soo. Though, her relationship with Sung-hyun also
escalated quickly – they only have been dating for, at best, a few months and
she is already willing to marry the guy (despite knowing very little about
him).
It is rare that I bring up the technical
aspects of K-dramas – they are usually efficiently done that you don’t pay
attention to the detail, but the editing in I Need Romance is
extremely jarring at time – there will often a scene dialogue scene between two
characters with the traditional shot/reverse shot set up, but then it cut to
awkward two shot of the characters (shot from either a low angle or angle) and
the color temperature doesn’t match – the scene will go from muted to colors to
being overly saturated with color. An odd stylistic choice that all three series
make is that a scene will often cut to a still shot of the character during a
critical moment – it is incredible annoying (though, I Need Romance 3 dials it down significantly) and interrupts the flow of the scene. The
first time this happened; I thought that the picture on television had frozen
up.
I Need Romance 2012 often feels less like a follow up and more
of a remake of the first series. It once again follows the lives of three
female friends (Joo Yeol-mae, Woo Ji-hee, and Seon Jae-kyung) as they try to
find love in their thirties. Yeol-mae gets caught up in a love triangle between
Yeon Seok-hyun (a man who she has known here entire life and a screenwriter)
and Shin Ji-hoon (a man two years her junior and the owner of a coffee
shop). Yeol-mae is a music producer (and
composer) and lives next door to Seok-hyun (their mothers were best friends and
after their fathers died, built the house two of them currently live in). Even
though they live in separate houses, their two homes are connected with an extension,
and they share the same living room. Yeol-mae
and Seok-hyun dated on and off for twelve years, and after their last painful
break up, they decided to remain just friends. The two of them have co-existed peacefully for
three years, but Yeol-mae finds that she is still sexually around by Seok-hyun
and suggests they go the whole “friends with benefits” route until they find a
new partner. At first, it feels like a
win-win scenario – they both can satisfy their carnal desires without being
bogged down by the pressure of being in a full-time. After all, their previous
attempts at being a couple ended in disaster, because Seok-hyun often acted
cold towards Yeol-mae (especially when writing) and Yeol-mae has a very short
temper and would often berate Seok-hyun for not opening up to her. The two of
them were always a trainwreck waiting to happen, so “friends with benefits”
seems like a more ideal solution for them.
However, against her better judgment, Yeol-mae realizes that she still loves Seok-hyun and wants
to get back together with him. Seok-hyun adamantly shoots this idea down (his
reasoning proves to be lame, but more on that later) and his refusal stuns
Yeol-mae. It doesn’t destroy their friendship, but it does make things awkward
between the two of them. This also is
where I need to point out that both of the actors (Jung Yu-mi and Lee Jin-wook)
are excellent and do wonders with the material that is given to them. It is easy to relate to Yeol-mae’s increasing
frustration with Seok-hyun and his unwillingness to confide in her. It’s not
surprising that she finds him to be a cold person, because he constantly just
brushes off her concerns. The last time they broke up was over marriage –
Yeol-mae wanted to get married while Seok-hyun shot down the idea. This is the trope of many K-dramas – the stoic
male lead who is hesitant to reveal his true feelings for the lead female.
These are plots that could usually be resolved if the male character just
uttered three words “I Love You,” but usually spends most of the series either
second guessing himself or coming up with nonsensical reasons why he can’t be
with the lead woman. The better K-dramas
tend to avoid this trope, or if it is incorporated into the storyline, it is
done so in a believable manner. Unfortunately, I Need Romance 2012 is not
one of the better K-dramas and Seok-hyun’s behavior becomes increasingly
infuriating as the show progresses – to the point that I started to lose
interest in the main storyline – this is an instance where I like the side
characters more than the leads.
After Seok-hyun’s
rejection, it is not surprising that Yeol-mae ends up in the arms of another
man – in this case, it is Shin Ji-hoon. The two of them bond over vinyls
(Ji-hoon owns a vinyl that Yeol-mae has been looking for) and coffee (he taught
a coffee making class and Yeol-mae was one of his students). It also turns out
that Ji-hoon attended a music class that was taught by Yeol-mae and has
harbored a crush on her ever since. The
two of them hit it off and pretty soon Yeol-mae is spending the night at
Ji-hoon’s house. At first, Seok-hyun tries to be supportive of their relationship
– he even invites Ji-hoon over for a cookout, but eventually his more jealous
nature begins to take over. Both
Seok-hyun and Yeol-mae have a habit of taking each other for granted, they just
assume the other one will always be there regardless of their relationship
status. When it looks like Seok-hyun might permanently lose Yeol-mae to
Ji-hoon, he freaks out. Even though
Ji-hoon and Yeol-mae have just started, he is already talking about marriage
and wants her to meet his parents to get their approval. Seok-hyun finally
confesses his feelings for Yeol-mae, but she doesn’t believe him. He believes that the window on their
relationship has been closed forever and does the correct thing, by putting his
house up for sale. At this point, after
making a public spectacle of himself, he realizes that he will be content with
Yeol-mae being with Ji-hoon, as long as she is happy.
The question you
ask: If Seok-hyun loves Yeol-mae then why did he initially reject her proposal
that they get back together? The answer:
(oh boy) It turns out that his father and sister died of a disease that is
hereditary and there is a 50/50 chance that he might develop it, as well. It
turns out he loves Yeol-mae so much to allow her to suffer as he slowly
disintegrates in front of her eyes. He
is making the noble sacrifice. Where do
I even begin with this? The thing that
irks me about the noble sacrifice in K-dramas is that deprives the lead female
of making her own decision. In
Yeol-mae’s case, she has an unconditional love for Seok-hyun, but he just
assumes she wants a more convenient relationship. If he gets sick, that could
make things inconvenient for her, and he doesn’t know if she could endure it.
UGH! He should tell her the facts and then allow her to make up her own mind.
It doesn’t occur to him how devastating it would be for Yeol-mae to learn,
after the fact, that her boyfriend died of a disease and that was the reason he
broke it off with her. The main thought that will be going through her head
will be, “If only I could have been there for him in his final days.” Also, he
breaks it off with Yeol-mae over a hypothetical – “I might get this fatal
disease.” That’s akin to not going to
work, because you might get into a car accident. What’s even odd is that this
disease subplot is totally unnecessary, because the writers already provided
Seok-hyun a legitimate reason for not wanting to get back together with
Yeol-mae. The two of them have been an
on and off for over a decade, and their last break up was especially a painful
one (that ended with them in the police station – they were in a marketplace
and began to throw produce at one another. Their fight escalated so quickly
that Seok-hyun even smashed a few of the vending carts). After that last break up, it makes sense that
Seok-hyun would be hesitant in wanting to get back together with Yeol-mae. They
often bring out the worst in one another.
I also found it
impossible to get involved with the Yeol-mae/Ji-hoon romance, because I knew it
was ill fated. It was akin to the
Shi-won/Tae-woong romance in Reply
1997, where the writers laughably
tried to sell us on the idea that those two might end up together – just like Shi-won
and Yoon-je were destined to be together, the same applies to Yeol-mae and
Seok-hyun. The two characters have known each other since childhood, have dated
and broken up multiple times, and always returned to each other in the end.
Ji-hoon is a likable guy, but he is nothing more than a rebound romance for
Yeol-mae. When Yeol-mae learns about the death of Seok-hyun’s sister and his
fear of inheriting that lethal disease from his father, she immediately goes
back to him. Seok-hyun, to his credit, tries to do the noble thing by telling
her to go back to Ji-hoon. His noble stupidity is annoying, but it is also
understandable in this case. He realizes
how his irrational behavior has hurt Yeol-mae and believes the best thing he
can do is remove him from her life.
I Need Romance 2012 also features another one of my least
favorite K-drama tropes – the time jump. Seok-hyun decides to move out of his
house and puts it up for sale and decides to spend his last day with Yeol-mae
by going on a drive with her. He then tells Yeol-mae she should go back to
Ji-hoon and that he will be moving out so she can move on with her life. She doesn’t
respond well to either of these things and storms off in a rage and decides
she is going to walk home. This leads to another absurd moment in the series –
Yeol-mae walks cross country, by herself, for a week. She discards her phone so
no one can get a hold of her, but it never occurs to Seok-hyun or Ji-hoon to
notify the police about her disappearance. When she returns home, Seok-hyun has
moved out (but he still hasn’t sold his house). Flash forward to one year later –
Seok-hyun has completely fallen off the map (though his house still hasn’t sold)
and Yeol-mae is still single (which is probably a good idea). She feels guilty about breaking up with
Ji-hoon, but she is convinced that Seok-hyun is her destiny. Also, one should
never feel too bad about breaking off a relationship, especially if your heart
wasn’t in it to begin with. Ji-hoon, to
his credit, doesn’t bear her any ill will and moves on with his life. Seok-hyun
lives in a cabin that is located in the middle of nowhere and, somehow,
Yeol-mae finds him. The two of them reconcile and officially are, once again, a
couple – he even proposes to her this time around. It needs to be restated,
both Jung Yu-mi and Lee Jin-wook are terrific actors (he is especially good in the time travel
thriller, Nine) and have a great chemistry together, but the
Seok-hyun/ Yeol-mae relationship gets very tiresome. Hell, though I like Lee
Jin-wook’s performance – there was actually point where felt that Yeol-mae
might be better off with Ji-hoon (despite the non-existent chemistry). It is
difficult watching two characters treat each other so poorly. Ji-hoon is a laid-back
guy and, to be honest, is too good for Yeol-mae. I initially believed Ji-hoon
would hook up with Seok-hyun’s cute co-writer, Kang Na-hyun.
The character of
Kang Na-hyun is a peculiar one – Seok-hyun is adapting a screenplay that was
written by her, and she is less than thrilled by the changes he has made to her
script (at the studio’s behest). The two of them have a heated argument that
ends with Seok-hyun kicking her out of his house. However, after he has had
time to cool down, he approaches Na-hyun and asks her to help him with the
screenplay. She ends up moving into Seok-hyun’s house, much to the annoyance of
Yeol-mae. Even though Na-hyun is interested in Seok-hyun, he doesn’t return her
feelings and only views her as a business partner. Though, the main reason he
doesn’t make a move on her is because of their age difference (which isn’t all
that extreme – she is 25 and he is 33). Plus,
he still is in love with Yeol-mae, even though he won’t admit it. It is odd that it never occurs to him to date
Na-hyun after Yeol-mae begins dating Ji-hoon.
But again – Na-hyun is really too good for Seok-hyun. She should have
ended up Ji-hoon.
The storylines
involving Yeol-mae’s two female friends are more compelling. Seon Jae-kyung is
a shoe designer, who is married to a popular news anchor, Lee Jang-woo. However,
their marriage is one of convenience – Jae-hyung uses him to hook her up with
potential investors. Neither of them is faithful to each other – Jang-woo hooks
up with various woman, while Jae-hyung is having an affair with Han Jung-min,
her business partner and first love (who she broke up with so she could marry
Jang-woo). Jae-hyung’s plan is to
divorce Jang-woo and reveal all of his infidelities to the press, but he beats
her to the punch. He announces his divorce from Jae-hyung and sic's his journalist buddies on Jae-hyung, effectively turning her into public enemy number
one. He effectively plays the role of
the wronged husband – he publicly cries about their breakup but wishes his ex
the best of luck. The public can’t believe Jae-hyung would cheat on such a
decent huma being and they brand her a harlot. This leads to huge boycott of her
shoe business and all of her employees end up quitting, so they won’t be
dragged through the mud with her – only Jung-min remains by her side. Eventually,
the controversy dies down and Jae-hyung can get back to her life and restart
her business. Jang-woo’s credibility
takes a huge hit when he is busted for illegal gambling. This storyline isn’t
anything spectacular, but it didn’t annoy me as much as the main
storyline. Again, the performances are
excellent.
The relationship I
found myself rooting for the most was one between Ji-hee and Tae-woo. One of
the more pleasant surprises of I
Need Romance 2012 is that it gives
a redemption arc to Tae-woo – the man who wronged Hyun-joo in the first
series. When the series begins, Ji-hee
is dating a doctor but is less than satisfied with her sex life – he just
doesn’t turn her on in the bedroom. She tries to bring this up him in the
nicest way possible but can never find the right opportunity to talk to him
about it. However, before she can bring it up, he beats her to the punch and
publicly complains about how she is a dead fish in the sack. Their conversation
is overheard by Tae-woo, who just happens to be sitting on the bench next to
him. He is listening to headphones, but he hears everything. He is visibly
appalled by the things the doctor is saying to Ji-hee. He even takes the time to offer Ji-hee some
words of encouragement – he is convinced they will never see each other again,
so he figures, “why the hell not?”
However, the two of
them keep bumping into one another – to the point that Ji-hee suspects that
Tae-woo might be stalking her (it is completely unintentional). The movie
theatre that Ji-hee works at is getting a new manager and it turns out to be
none other than Tae-woo. At first,
things are incredibly awkward between the two of them – it makes Ji-hee
uncomfortable that he knows a lot about her private life. It is also revealed
that Ji-hee used to date Deok-soo (who is currently engaged to Tae-woo’s ex-fiancée,
Hyun-joo). They even run into Hyun-joo and Deok-soo at a restaurant.
As Ji-hee gets to
know Tae-woo better, she realizes that they two of them have a lot in common
and that he is a man that she can depend on. Tae-woo’s problem is that he is
not the most romantic of men – he very lowkey asks Ji-hee to marry him and it
annoys her – she wants to be swept off her and he just casually brings it up
while they are eating at a restaurant. There is also a sense that Tae-woo
doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past – he still feels guilty over
the way he treated Hyun-joo and doesn’t want to disappoint Ji-hee. Mercifully,
he avoids falling into the noble stupidity trap – he just wants to make sure
Ji-hee is on the same page as him before he commits to her. The two of them are
easily the most likable of three main couples – neither of them has an agenda
they wish to pursue, they just want a straightforward relationship. Despite their minor arguments, they also
accept each other’s idiosyncrasies. Tae-woo
is not the most obvious of suitors, but he is a perfect match for Ji-hee.
I
Need Romance 2012 has its issues,
but it is step above the first series. The showrunners clearly learned their
lesson from the first series and fixed a lot of the mistakes that hurt the
first series. As annoying as the main characters can be in the second series,
they didn’t piss me off as much as the main characters in the first
series. I genuinely was pissed when In
Young got back together with Sung-soo, while Yeol-mae getting back together
with Seok-hyun doesn’t bother me as much. The show does a good job of
establishing that the two of them are destined to be together – it just takes
them forever to realize it.
I Need Romance 3 is the best series out of the three – it has
terrific leads in Kim So-yeon and Sung Joon, and much more satisfying character
arc for its female lead. In real life, Kim So-yeon is ten years older than her
leading man, Sung Joon, but there is no denying the two of them have incredible
chemistry together. The series also
acknowledges this age disparity – in the context of the show, Shin Joo-yeon is
six years older than her would be suitor, Joo Wan. Just like in the first two
series, Joo-yeon and Joo Wan share a long history with each other – Joo-wan was
actually raised by Joo-yeon and her mother until the age of nine. His mother
was preoccupied with her business and hired Joo-yeon and her mother to look
after her son. At the age of nine, Joo-wan and his mother moved to the States,
and he was separated from his childhood crush. It is also interesting how
Joo-won and Jo-yeon remember this time of their lives – to Joo-wan, it was the
best time of his life. He has fond memories of Joo-yeon and the time they spent
together. To Joo-yeon, she is reminded of a difficult time in her life – she
lived in poverty with her mom and, despite being a child, she was often tasked
with looking after Joo-wan. It has worn her out both mentally and physically.
Seventeen years later, Joo-wan is back in his
career – he is now a popular DJ and composer, and goes by the stage name, Allen
Joo. Joo-yeon’s mother offered to let
Joo-wan stay at the family house during his stay in South Korea, but Joo-yeon
vehemently opposes this. When Joo-wan calls her on the phone, she tells him she
doesn’t want him crowding her space and to look for another place to stay. She tells Joo-wan that she has a boyfriend
and the sound of their lovemaking would make Joo-wan uncomfortable.
Joo-yeon is the fashion marketing director at
a home shopping channel – she is in charge of the new brands department. The
best way to define Joo-yeon is that she surrounds herself with colleague but there
is not a single person she can call “friend” – her team at work often talk
behind her back and she, in turn, doesn’t feel comfortable when they talk about
their personal lives. She is a cold and
distant person and avoids getting close to people. When her boyfriend breaks up
with her (after she is expecting a proposal), she just shrugs it off and moves
on with her life. She has had her heart broken so many that she has become desensitized
to the breakup process. In first two
series of I Need Romance, the female lead had two best friends she
could lean on, but in I Need
Romance 3, Joo-yeon is on her own.
When Joo-yeon was in college, her best friend, Oh Se-ryung, stole her boyfriend
away from her. Oh Se-ryung has grown up to be a famous stylist and, more
importantly, is the ex-girlfriend of Joo-yeon’s boss/mentor, Kang Tae-yoon. She
is also close friends with Joo-wan (talk about a small world). Joo-yeon and Joo-wan are reunited at a club,
where he is DJing under his stage name, so Joo-yeon has no idea that Allen Joo
is actually the boy she used to babysit. Joo-yeon gets into a verbal spat with
Oh Se-ryung, and when Joo-wan finds out that this cold woman is Joo-yeon, he
can’t believe how much she has changed. The Joo-yeon he remembers was a warm and
giving person, while this woman standing in front of him is a cold-hearted
bitch. He is determined to change her back into her former self (even though,
what he perceived as her former self was an illusion).
The two of them become romantically involved
until Joo-yeon finds out Allen Joo’s real identity – he is the bratty kids she
used to look after. She believes he was trying to make a fool out of her, but
he insists his feelings for her were genuine.
Joo-wan eventually moves into Joo-yeon’s house (he lives in the attic)
and, at first, the two of them are at odds with one another. Even though, Joo-yeon was initially attracted
to the grown-up Joo-wan, once she finds out his identity, she no longer views
him as a man but as the child that gave her a difficult time. She constantly
uses their six-year age difference against Joo-wan. To Joo-wan’s credit, he
doesn’t pressure Joo-yeon into dating him – at first, he is okay with being her
friend. What Joo-yeon finds so jarring
about Joo-wan is his honesty – she comes from a world of brown nosers and
backstabbers that when she encounters a genuine person she doesn’t know how to
react – there has got to be a catch.
The more
interesting aspects of I Need
Romance 3 is the gender role
reversal – normally, in K-dramas it is the female protagonist who has a
positive influence on the jaded male lead – he begins the drama cold and
distant, but by the end, thanks to the heroine’s undying love, he is a changed
man. Here, it is the opposite – Joo-yeon starts off as a cold-hearted bitch who
transforms into a more open, and caring, individual, and this achieved due to
Joo-wans unwavering love and support. At
first, the changes he makes to her life are minor – when he moves into
Joo-yeon’s house, Joo-wan begins cooking for her. We can tell, just by her
reaction, that it has been a long time since Joo-yeon has enjoyed a home cooked
meal – her diet consists mostly of take out and eating out. The only item she
keeps in her refrigerator is pouches of Red Ginseng – it is usually what she
has for breakfast. Joo-wan also gives her house a thorough cleaning – to the
point where she doesn’t recognize it. He also has a gentle way of pointing out
her flaws – he doesn’t scold her but just tells the areas she needs to improve
on in her life.
When Joo-yeon’s
co-worker, Lee Min-jung, gets pregnant, she needs someone to air out her
grievances and concerns, but Joo-yeon completely shuts her down. In Joo-yeon’s defense, Min-jung was doing
this in the workplace and she doesn’t have time to deal with her co-workers
personal. Plus, she finds the exchange awkward and doesn’t know what to say.
When she tells Joo-wan about this, he chides her a little bit and then tells
her that Min-jung wasn’t looking for advice, she just needed someone to talk
to. The next time Joo-yeon and Min-jung are working together, when Min-jung
starts talking about the difficulties she is facing, Joo-yeon begins to ask her
questions, and this results in the two of them forming a sisterly bond.
It is also Joo-wan who points out that Joo-yeon has feelings for her boss, Kang Tae-yoon. She notices that whenever she is around Tae-yoon that her heart seems to beat at a faster pace, but she doesn’t know why it is. She has become so jaded with life that she doesn’t know her true feelings about people. Joo-wan has to spell it out for her – at first, she is in denial but eventually realizes that this is true. In theory, Tae-yoon is the perfect mate for her – he is her senior, they work in the same industry, he is competent at his job, and he is a handsome man. The two of them start dating and Joo-yeon can’t help being disappointed – while it is true that Tae-yoon is a professional when it’s come to his job, he is at a loss when it comes to romance and often has a hard time separating his personal life from his professional life. He is also jealous of the fact that Joo-wan lives with Joo-yeong (actually, this is understandable) and insists that Joo-yeong kick out Joo-wan. This is something she is reluctant to do, because she has become fond of Joo-wan.
She also begins
to develop romantic feelings towards Joo-wan but is in total denial over this
fact – he is six-years her junior, after all.
Joo-wan initially supportive of Joo-yeon and Tae-yoon’s relationship,
but even he can’t overcome the jealousy bug. It also doesn’t help that Joo-yeon
keeps sending him mixed signals – she keeps insisting they are nothing more
than friends and tells Joo-wan to keep his distance, but she is also all touchy
feely with Joo-wan. Eventually he makes an ultimatum to Joo-yeon – it is either
Tae-yoon or him. Joo-yeon doesn’t give him a straightforward answer but scolds
him for being rude to Tae-yoon. Joo-wan
interprets this as her choosing Tae-yoon and he moves out of her house. It is
only after Joo-wan moves out that Joo-yeon fully realizes her true feelings
toward him. To quote the hair metal band, Cinderella, “Don’t know what you got
‘til it’s gone.” While Joo-wan does love
Joo-yeon, he will not accept until she can say those three words, “I love
you.”
Oh Se-ryung is an
interesting character in her own right – in most shows, she would be set up as
the irredeemable villainess, who would try to seduce the lead male away from
the heroine. In I Need Romance 3, Se-ryung is actually a decent woman who
make one critical mistake in her life.
She doesn’t bear Joo-yeon any ill-well, though she doesn’t show any
remorse for stealing Joo-yeon’s boyfriend in college. She has grown up to be a successful
influencer and the station wants to hire Oh Se-ryung to promote their latest
clothing lines -this means that two rivals will be working next to one
another. Joo-yeon, to her credit, can
separate her personal life from her business life and agrees that hiring
Joo-yeon is a good business move. Oh
Se-ryung does bring in the viewers and sales go up because of her endorsement,
much to Joo-yeon’s annoyance. Oh
Se-ryung is Tae-yoon’ s ex-girlfriend and even though they broke up over a year
ago, she still has feelings for him. She is naturally livid when she finds out
that Tae-yoon and Joo-yeon are dating. Joo-wan tries to play the role of
peacemaker between the two of them, but Se-ryung’s jealously gets the better of
her – she tries to sabotage Joo-yeon’s team by breaking her contract and
signing a contract with another network. When the deal falls through, she
desperately needs her job back at Joo-yeon’s network but also refuses to swallow
her pride. Joo-yeon also needs Se-ryung to promote her brands but won’t be the
one to extend the olive branch. It’s a scenario where the two of them need each
other, but neither one wants to be the first to yield. Min-jung recognizes how
ridiculous the entire situation is and gets on her knees and asks Se-ryung to
come back. After the ice has been broken, Se-ryung and Joo-yeon talk it out and
bury the hatchet. The two of them
realize they function significantly better as a team than as enemies. Se-ryung
still holds onto the hope that she might get back together with Tae-yoon but
she doesn’t allow it to dictate her existence.
If it happens, great. If not, oh well!
Min-jung is having
a fling with Ahn Min-seok, who is also younger than her. The two of them hook up at hotels and to keep
it a secret, when she meets him, she uses the name of her male co-worker, Lee
Woo-young. Things go awry when Min-seok moves into the apartment next door to
her and she does her best to avoid him. This proves to be impossible, and he
not only finds out their neighbors, but her real name as well. To further
complicate things, she becomes pregnant, and he is the father. Min-seok goes through an interesting arc – he
offers to provide Min-jung with financial support but wants nothing to do with
raising the child. He believes that he is not ready to be a father. However, he
is genuinely concerned about Min-jung, most notably her diet. He is appalled by
the amount of junk food she consumes and puts her on a healthier diet. He then
buys parenting books for Min-jung, but he is the one who ends up reading them.
He then buys a life-like baby doll (it cries, pees, and poops) that they can
use as practice. By the end of the series, he is excited at the prospect of
being a father. Min-seok decides to go
through with the pregnancy, because the doctor told her that this will be her
last chance at being a mother. She is given the character arc that Seo-yeon
should have had in the first series.
The most irritating
of the couples are Jung Hee-jae and Lee Woo-young, co-workers who work under
Joo-yeon. At the beginning of the series, Hee-jae is already in a relationship,
but she drives away her boyfriend with her cold treatment and nonstop scolding.
She is obsessed with him taking the civil service than she is in being his
girlfriend. When she catches him doing charity work, she gives him a dressing
down and tells him she is tired of living on a budget. He breaks it off with
her and, to further rub salt into the open wound, actually passed the civil
service exam but kept it a secret for her. Lee Woo-young is able to catch her on the
rebound and the two of them begin dating, in secret. Though, they are really
bad at keeping secrets and all of their co-workers figure it out early on. The
resolution to this relationship is truly annoying – Hee-jae decides she wants
to find herself and decides to travel around the world for the next year,
expecting the poor bastard, Woo-young, to wait for her. She also informs him in roundabout way – she
sends a text about her plans to Joo-wan’s radio show, and he reads it on air,
while Woo-young and Hee-jae are listening on the radio. Woo-young is, understandably, pissed off by
this! She couldn’t tell him in private but rather aired her grievances out
publicly, albeit anonymously. He eventually gives in and even buys Hee-jae a
camera and supplies for her trip. This annoys me because there were plenty of
opportunities for Hee-jae to travel around the world – namely right after she
broke up with her first boyfriend, but she waits until after she starts dating
Woo-young to have this revelation. It also is unfair to Woo-young – while she
is traveling around the world, he is expected to hold down the fort and wait
for her. If the roles were reversed, there is no way Hee-jae would have allowed
Woo-young to make the trip. Also, why
does she need a year to travel around the world? She could easily take a few
months off to see the world and come back refreshed – in fact, Joo-yeon even
suggests she take a month off instead of quitting her job. It is one of the
main gripes I have about I Need
Romance 3, especially when
comparing Joo-yeon’s relationship with Joo-wan.
The I Need Romance series is a mixed bag – the cast is uniformly excellent, but the
writing often leaves a lot to be desired. Though, as heavily flawed as the
first two seasons are, they are never boring…..frustrating, but not boring. Each
episode is roughly 45 minutes long, which is the perfect length – they are
other K-dramas that often struggle to fill their 60+ minute run time, but in
series one the show runners figured out the perfect length for each episode. I Need Romance 3 was my favorite out of the three, and that’s largely because of I
actually cared about the lead female, Shin Jo-yeon. The leading ladies in the
first two series, In Young and Yeol-mae, were a bit too self-centered for my
taste, and the fact that both of them are back to square one at the ending of
the series was a bit disappointing (though, at least Yeol-mae goes through a
period of self-reflection). However, as I stated before, I am not the
demographic that the series was targeting. If you are a fan of Sex and the City, then you will probably enjoy I Need Romance.
Credits
I Need Romance
Cast: Cho Yeo-jeong (Sun Woo In Young), Kim Jeong Hoon (Kim Sung-soo), Choi Yeo-jin (Park Seo-yeon), Choi Song-hyeon (Kang Hyun-joo), Choi Jin-hyuk (Bae Sung-hyun), Ha Yeon-joo (Yoon Kang-hee), Kim Hyeong-min (Kim Deok-soo), Lee Kwan-hoon (Seo Joon-yi), Ricky Kim (Alex), Heo Tae-hee (Ki Tae-woo), Lee Da-hee (cameo).
Director: Lee Chang-han
Writer: Jung Hyung-jung
16 episodes ~ 45 minutes
I Need Romance 2012
Cast: Jung Yu-mi (Joo Yeol-mae), Lee Jin-wook (Yoon Seok-hyun), Kim Ji-seok (Shin Ji-hoon), Kim Ji-woo (Seon Jae-kyung), Kang Ye-sol (Woo Ji-hee), Kim Ye-won (Kang Na-hyun), Heo Tae-hee (Kim Tae-woo), In Gyo-jin (Han Jung-min), Gong Jung-hwan (Lee Jang-woo).
Directors: Lee Jung-hyo, Jang Young-woo.
Writer: Jung Hyun-jung
16 episodes ~ 45 minutes
I Need Romance 3
Cast: Sung Joon (Joo Wan), Kim So-yeon (Shin Joo-yeon), Namkoong Min (Kang Tae-yoon),
Wang Ji-won (Oh Se-ryung), Park Hyo-joo (Lee Min-jung), Yoon Seung-ah (Jung Hee-jae), Park Yu-hwan (Lee Woo-young), Yoo Ha-jun (Ahn Min-seok), Jung Woo-shik (Han Ji-seung), Chae Bin (teen Joo-yeon), Jung Yeon-seok (young Joo Wan), Alex Chu (PD Lee Jung-ho, Joo-yeon’s ex-boyfriend).
Director: Jang Young-woo
Writer: Jung Hyun-jung
16 episodes ~ 45 minutes.
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