One Sunny Day

One Sunny Day is an easygoing, ten episode webdrama about finding love when and where you least expect it.  We get to follow two people as they discover the wonderful stranger right next to them.

There are three signs in the show that do some great foreshadowing.  One reads…

“It’s completely empty, so it will be filled.”
While Producer Kim Ji-Ho is nursing a broken heart, he is sent to beautiful Jeju Island to scout out possible locations for a concert his company is in charge of.  Under trying circumstances he meets a charming woman who works as a translator/editor for a publishing company.  While both are in a difficult situation, they’re still able to find a way to help each other.  Will a couple days on a lovely island foster mutual respect and admiration that will eventually lead to something more?
“The happy memories will not fade away”, says another sign.

Unfortunately, we never find out the woman’s name.  She makes reference to it sounding like a boy’s name but that’s it.  Never mentioning it has to have been done on purpose but in all my thinking I can’t come up with why the writer chose to keep that from us, and Ji-Ho.  It also makes it difficult for me to write about her since I have no name in which to refer to her.  So, I’ve decided to call her “JHJF” – Ji-Ho’s Jeju friend.

Kim Ji-Ho is a reserved, nice guy who fell for, and had a relationship with, a woman he knew was engaged.  He was sincerely hurt when she said goodbye and went on with her private life as planned.  Even though he was aware, all along, of the possibility of that happening, he was still emotionally unprepared to deal with that becoming his reality and now has to find a way to go on with his life, without the woman he loves in it.

The outgoing girl Ji-Ho meets while on his business trip isn’t just a pretty face, she also has a darling personality – friendly, kind, helpful, fun… a real catch.  She’s empathetic of Ji-Ho’s sadness, since she had also experienced a break-up with her “jerk” boyfriend, and is able to offer him some encouraging words and emotional support.   Will Ji-Ho see all her wonderful qualities or will that adorable woman go unnoticed because of the fresh pain in his heart?

There is a sweet elderly lady Ji-Ho and the pretty translator stay with while they are on the island.  Aside from just adding another personality to the mix she serves a purpose in that Ji-Ho and “JHJF” get to see how the other person treats the older generation, which is something quite important in Korea’s culture.  Ji-Ho watches as “JHJF” makes a wrap and actually feeds the “grandma” during dinner, and “JHJF” is right there while Ji-Ho buys roses for the old woman.  That gives a little more insight into their kind nature.

So Ji-Sub plays Kim Ji-Ho.  He is a multi-talented man who began his entertainment career modeling jeans.  Since his acting debut in 1996 Ji-Sub has made many Kdramas and feature films  winning tons of awards for his roles in them.  He also likes hip-hop and has made several music videos that can be found on YouTube.  You should check out the one he does with actress Park Shin-Hye and actor Yoo Seung-Ho.

Kim Ji-Won is the beautiful, outgoing gal Ji-Ho meets during his business trip to Jeju Island.  I saw her in her role as the insecure, social-climbing Rachel Yoo in the Kdrama The Heirs.  Though she obviously played that character well, winning the New Star Award at the 2013 SBS Drama Awards, I liked her much, much more in this.  Her “sweet” One Sunny Day face is much more natural than her “egotistical” one in The Heirs.

The title of this webdrama, One Sunny Day, bothers me because the characters timeline on Jeju lasts more than one day and it’s not sunny… it rains a good chunk of the time our leading man and woman are there.  Watch it and see if you can come up with a better name.  I thought of, Let’s Call It Fate.

Ggot Jam Project is responsible for the small handful of songs found on the soundtrack.  I enjoyed the music so much I went online to find out a little more about the performers.  I located some of their music but had no luck in discovering anything about who they are.  (If any of you have any information about them, including why “got” is spelled with two “G”s, please email me and let me know.)  The female singer’s voice is lovely, sweet, and soft – kind of like listening to a marshmallow.  Nice, easy listening background music plays now and then but not frequently enough.  I thought there was too much silence.

Film makers just can’t go wrong when they film on Jeju Island.  The scenery is lovely throughout the whole show.  We get to see views of the ocean and a forest full of extremely tall trees.  My favorite shot is when Ji-Ho and “JHJF” go looking for each other in a field of humongously tall, puffy-white weeds.  I’m sure my allergies would be going crazy and I’d be sneezing my face off if I was wandering around in that bit of nature, but it looks charmingly romantic on screen.

The two and a half hours it takes to watch One Sunny Day is certainly not wasted.  I simply glided through it all in one sitting before I went to sleep one night.  It’s a simple show with simple characters that’s definitely worth putting on your “I should watch this someday” list.

The last sign is a great way to end my review…
“The miracle of love, Just need some courage with craziness.”

 

Score: 6.5

The Good:
Simple plot
Good acting
No bad guys
Nice scenery
Not a huge time commitment

The Bad:
Didn’t give us the main female character’s name
Not enough background music