Have you ever had a sweet, yet foreboding feeling? I first felt that emotion when I saw Autumn In My Heart, then again while watching The Snow Queen. It’s difficult to describe but if you’ve ever experience it you know exactly what I’m talking about. Well, I recognized it once more as I watched My Love Eun-Dong. If you like romantic melodramas, this one is a must see. Such a love story! I wanted to start it again as soon as the last episode was over.
Famous actor, Ji Eun-Ho, whose birth name is Park Hyun-Soo, decides to write his autobiography in a desperate attempt to find his long-lost love, Eun-Dong. His manager finds a ghostwriter, Seo Jung-Eun, for him and Ji Eun-Ho begins to send memories of his time with Eun-Dong, via voice files, to her cell phone. Their tender love story spans two decades, most of that time being separated from one another. Ji Eun-Ho’s recollections of Eun-Dong are so touching, Seo Jung-Eun is enchanted by their love story and becomes actively engaged in trying to help Ji Eun-Ho locate his sweetheart, sincerely hoping the book will be able to help the two lovers reunite.
There’s so much more to the story but any more information on my part would ruin it for you. Trust me when I say it’s a love story that grabs you by the heart and doesn’t let go, even after the show is over.
Jo Jin-Mo is Park Hyun-Soo, who later takes the name Ji Eun-Ho when he becomes a star. One thing that stands out in my mind about this Kdrama is Jo Jin-Mo’s face. There are only a few other actors I can think of that can talk to the audience, as well as he can, just by their facial expressions. The pained looks he shows us are heartbreakingly intense. Park Hyun-Soo is a 17 year old young man who falls for a sweet girl named Eun-Dong. I couldn’t help but admire the positive character changes he makes in order to be “a better person” for her. One of the songs in the show explains it this way –
“A real man, that’s what you made of the boy I used to be.
A mature man, finally thinking about more than just me.”
Ji Eun-Dong is a 13 year old girl who can’t help but love the kind-hearted Hyun-Soo. Her parents passed away so she lives with, and happily takes care of, her aging grandmother. They get by with help from a welfare service, the house owner, and a kind priest and nun. She loves being with Hyun-Soo and secretly makes him a promise (without telling him what it is) to marry him someday.
Seo Jung-Eun, who is played by Kim Sa-Rang, is the talented ghostwriter of Ji Eun-Ho’s autobiography. She is a part-time sales woman in a small children’s clothing store, a loving mother of a darling 10 year old boy, and a dedicated wife to her paraplegic husband. She also comes up as “Pretty Writer” in Ji Eun-Jo’s phone.
Kim Tae-Hoon plays Choi Jae-Ho, once a baseball player with a great future ahead of him until he was injured in a car accident that rendered him without the use of his legs and right arm. He’s an attentive father, adored by the son who calls him Superman. He loves his wife, Jung-Eun, and feels uneasy with her being so emotionally invested in writing Eun-Ho’s book.
Some of you may be thinking, “There’s no way a 17 year old guy would fall in love with a 13 year old girl, so I’ll pass on this love story because it’s just not realistic.” Okay, I understand that. So did the writer, apparently, because she cleverly has Seo Jung-Eun talk about that very thing to her friend. The friend points out two different stories where a young man falls in love with a girl. One I had never heard of before but the other is a show I’ve seen and enjoyed – a tragic story called The Thorn Birds. Also, wasn’t Romeo 16 and Juliet 13? There’s only a 4 year difference between Hyun-Soo and Eun-Dong and because their attraction for each other begins with who they are (emotional) rather than what they look like (hormonal), I’m able to go along with their love story without any reservations at all.
I just want to quickly mention the other actors and actresses that play the main characters…
Jr., member of the boy band GOT7, plays the part of the youngest Hyun-Soo, age 17. He does a wonderful job showing us the maturing Hyun-Soo goes through because of his love for Eun-Dong. He’s been in a few other Kdramas I’ve seen and just keeps getting better and better. Check him out, along with the other GOT7 members, in the webdrama Dream Knight.
Lee Ja-In is our first introduction to Eun-Dong and she’s great at making us love that sweet, young girl. Her smile is bright and innocent and I love the way she portrays Eun-Dong’s soft-spoken personality. This is her acting debut and, in my opinion, she’s talented enough that I’ll be surprised if we don’t see her in other Kdramas very soon.
Baek Sung-Hyun plays the 27 year old Hyun-Soo. He began his acting career in 1994 and has been in a ton of other Kdramas, feature films, and a made for TV movie to be broadcast August 14, 2015. However, I’ve only seen him play the part of the young Cha Song-Joo in Stairway to Heaven. Even though I don’t think Sung-Hyun looks enough like Jr. to pass as an older Hyun-Soo, I love how he portrays the frustrated, yet, still very much in love man. He gives Sung-Hyun an innocent look that is very appealing.
Sadly, I was a bit disappointed with Yoon So-Hee. She plays the 23 year old Eun-Dong but I wasn’t convinced she is what the 13 year old Eun-Dong grew up to be. She just doesn’t act and look enough like Lee Ja-In to pass as an older version of the same person. The second Eun-Don has lighter colored eyes than the first one, at least it looked that way to me.
The soundtrack is very appealing, filled with romantic ballads that just add more intensity to an already emotion-filled Kdrama. Kim Tae-Hyun sings a lovely song, entitled My Heart is That Way, that’s even better than the one he sang for the Kdrama Angel Eyes. Wait 4 Forever is a pretty song sung in English. I always appreciate those because I don’t have to go to YouTube for a translation via subtitles. Ten points and an A+ goes to the composer and lyricist of I See You, I Hear You. That one is my favorite and sums up the drama, perfectly! This soundtrack beautifully accompanies the touching love story and makes it even more sentimental. However, it can rightly stand alone, as well.
As for scenery, they filmed in regular, everyday spots but they all seem a bit better than usual things – like a lake, but an exceptionally nice one.
Make sure you have a large block of time set aside before you begin watching My Love Eun-Dong. It’s one of those Kdramas that’s so compelling you just go from episode to episode, losing all track of time and most of your sleeping hours.
Score: 9
The Good:
Original, emotional love story
Jo Jin-Mo’s facial expressions
Hyun-Soo and Eun-Dong’s relationship
Chemistry between Jo Jin-Mo and Kim Sa-Rang
Beautiful soundtrack
Good directing
The Bad:
The actors/actresses don’t look enough alike to pass, convincingly, as the same characters at different ages
Heart and Seoul 