Mackerel Run (Korean, Drama)

A fun filled ride that tells us about friendship, love and school life. The speciality of this drama is the refreshing new angle to every relationships... Touching moments and some relationships that leave an everlasting mark in our mind. It's entertaining and touching at the same time. funny and romantic at the same time.

Also, this can be treated as a treat for all the Lee Min Ho fans. Those who likes him can get him in his most wonderful form in this drama. Lee Min Ho as Gu Jun Pyo of 'Boys Over Flowers' didn't get enough to show that wonderful innocent smile in 'Boys Over Flowers', and not at all as Jung Jin Ho of 'Personal Taste'. But that innocent smile is poured in Mackerel Run limitlessly. But ya, those who likes his seriousness than the playful innocence might not like Mackerel Run that much. But those who are absolute fans of his innocent smile and playfulness, then Cha Gong Chan of Mackerel Run is even better than Gu Jun Pyo of Boys Over Flowers.
Mackerel Run was run in 2007, so it was before 'Boys Over Flowers' (2009) and 'Personal Taste' (2010). At that time, Lee Min Ho wasn't that popular. He looks a lot younger and skinny in this. Yet is out of the world cute. So, it's always worth a watch for Lee Min Ho fans.

But in this Drama the best part is the way they have shown how the relationship between Yoon Sae Mi and Cha Gong Chan develops... That relationship that doesn't have a name till the end, that doesn't go anywhere till the end. But that stays in our mind forever.
If the story had taken the direction of Sae Mi and Gong Chan as a couple after episode 6, I would have declared this drama the best in the world. But somehow it doesn't go there... So it leaves me with little disappointment. They have shown the development of that relationship really really well... Yet Sae Mi is left with her unrequited love...
Also Gong Chan and Yoon Soe's relationship end up in a placid separation in the end with a promise that they will meet again in future.
Maybe these two reasons are the things that make Mackerel Run a not so popular drama. And as for me, the first reason is why I can't give it a perfect score. Coz I felt like it took us to cloud and pushed us down...

But if else for these, the drama is really good and entertaining and really touches our heart. And for a change we get to see a not so great male lead. All the other Korean drama has incredible or popular handsome guys and girl would be a mess or less popular. But in Mackerel Run, the hero is the joker.
Cha Gong Chan's character is really really lovable. We will like this joker at once and take him to heart. And once again, Lee Min Ho rocks as Cha Gong Chan... And the out of the world innocent childish smile is just wordlessly wonderful... (Sorry, I am an ultimate Lee Min Ho fan. Ha ha....:-) )

The story is quiet simple, yet with a difference... It involve a lot of characters and their lives incorporated in to one story in a really good way. We see the plot those which we can't see in other high school dramas. Also as I told before, this drama is quiet funny and humorous.

Technical Details : The drama is of 8 episodes and each episode is about 40-45 minutes long.

Characters :

Cha Gong Chan : A really joyful and easy going guy. His dream is to play for National Team one day and marry a really pretty girl. He was in soccer team of Myong Mun High School. But because of a mistake he does, he gets kicked out from the team. His problem is the he end up causing problems even when he doesn't intend to. And hence most people in the school hates him and consider him a nuisance. But he in real, is a really lovable playful person.
His father left him and his mother when he was a kid. And his mother runs a parlour. He is one of the rare poor students of Myung Mun High School.
He gets a crush of new transfer student Min Yoon Soe.

Min Yoon Soe: The new transfer student to Myong Mun High School. She is a real cute beauty and has a really good heart too. She came back from England coz she miss Korea. Her background is a mystery. She is given special treatment by the school director and the home room teacher. But why??
Gong Chan has a crush on her.
Unlike others who make fun of Cha Gong Chan, she doesn't. She treats Gong Chan warmly. And may even like him.
She ;likes drawing. And has a dream to do everything on her own ability. But she rarely get to do so, as her family like to give her a push forward through short cuts. She is hurt and humiliated by these.

Yoon Sae Mi: The class president of Gong Chan's class. She is a strict person, and doesn't like anything without a reason. When all the other girls are totally in to Bhek Hyun, the star football player of the school, she doesn't even bother to give him a second glance. She is cool and composed. She is best in studies and in everything else too. She is a figure everyone feel like respecting.
The rumour is that she comes from a rich household, coz she always comes to school in different cars. Rumour is also that she has expensive tutors for each subject. Also that she wears only branded things. Well, the branded things rumour just might be true, but the others might not be...
But what happens, when the strong and respectable girl Sae Mi's destiny encounters with the feel Cha Gong Chan??

Bhek Hyun : Rich, Popular and Myoung Mun High School's star soccer player, but above all Yoon Soe's ex-boyfriend. A bit arrogant and coldly speaking guy, but is sincere and honest.
Hyun was the only one who asked Cha Gong Chan to not quit soccer when he was being kicked out from soccer team. But since Gong Chan and Hyun's relationship is not so great, Gong Chan just rejects Hyun's words.
Hyun, and Yoon Soe dated during middle school. But Hyun had broken up with her. But now that Yoon Soe is back, Hyun wants to give a second try to his lost love.
He had always loved Yoon Soe and regretted loosing her. So he wants to gain her back. But maybe he is too late now??


Go Bong Tae : Gong Chan's best friend and advisor in many areas. He is the one who first tells Gong Chan about love and low it feel when you like a girl. He is always there to support Gong Chan in his course to pursue Yoon Soe. He is also a poor kid at the rich kids' school. He works in a rib shop.He seems to have a crush of Shim Chung Ah.

Shim Chung Ah : Another poor kid at the rich kids' school. She is always doing one or another part time job to earn money and coz of all the hard work always getting nose bleeds. She is sort of a cute lovable person, but he has not many friends. But later she becomes friends with Gong Chan and Bong Tae.
She has a slight crush on Gong Chan, but ends up being with Bong Tae...

Jang Dong Gun : The fat gang leader of the school. He has declared himself as of a dangerous guy, and a gang leader. And his two followers always believe this and follow him around. His ultimate wish is to defeat Cha Gong Chan. He tries to do so every time. Either he fails or get caught up in something else. He refuse to accept that maybe Gong Chan is better in fight and courage than him.
He has a crush in Yoon Sae Mi who is way out of his league.

Ma Do Shik (Teacher Ma) : The home room teacher of Cha Gong Chan's class. He is like the director Lee's sidekick. He wants to gain better positions, so he always serves Director Lee in good bad or evil things. And  since Director Lee wants Gong Chan out of school, he brings up things to make Gong Chan's life hell. Also he favours Yoon Soe, because of her family backgrounds.

Director Lee : Myung Mun High School's director. She is a really twisted lady. Her motto is to get rid of the weeds so as to preserve the good name of her school. And according to her Gong Chan is a weed that is spoiling her school.She is trying her best to get rid of him from her school in rather unfair cruel ways.


Story Line :

Playful and humorous Cha Gong Chan has committed a mistake during the Soccer finals of the school, and made the school team lose. The school director, Director Lee, the home room teacher, the soccer coach, the soccer team, and the entire school is pissed off with him for this. While Director Lee wants him to leave school, Gong Chan decides to retire from the soccer team as they treat him bad.
Baek Hyun, the other star player in the soccer team ask Gong Chan to reconsider the decision, but Gong chan doesn't listen to him.

Min Yoon Soe, a young rich girl comes back to Korea from England.
As Gong Chan is sitting on the shore or Han river, talking to a dead Mackerel fish, he meets Min Yoon Soe. As Yoon Soe's scarf is taken by wind, Gong Chan tries to recover it for her and end up falling in to the riever. He never meets her after that, but she stays in his mind.

At school he gets even worse treatment as all of the people there hates him. Director Lee and Teacher Ma is trying to get him to resign from school. Jang Do Gun and friends are trying to beat him up and soccer team is also trying to humiliate him every time they get. Gong Chan begins to consider quitting school coz he is bad at studies anyway.
That is when his best friend Bong Tae tells him that school is not just for studying and that it;s for making friends and dating too. He tells him about how love is, and when you see a girl if your heat feels electrified then you are in love.
After that Gong Chan meets Yoon Soe at the soccer field of the school, where she end up giving him  head butt for calling her a chick. On this Gong Chan totally fall for her, and tell Bong Tae that his heart is feeling electrified. But since Yoon Soe leaves after that, he still doesn't know about her whereabouts or her name.



After that Gong Chan is attacked by the soccer team and Jang Dong Gun and friends, so he takes a decision to quit from school. But as soon as he places the latter for voluntary withdrawal in teacher desk and takes bag to leave, Teacher Ma enters with a new transfer student girl. The girl is Min Yoon Soe, and Gong Chan is both surprised and happy. He decides to stay on school and tears up the voluntary withdrawal letter.But then Teacher Ma throws a new arrow at him saying that he has too many absence from school, and if he has one more absence then according to rule he will be automatically expelled.
So now Cha Gong Chan can't be absent from the school even one day...

Bhek Hyun is happy to see Yoon Soe back and starts trying to win her back. But Yoon Soe, hides the fact of being close with Hyun before from her friends and tells everyone that they were just middle school classmates.
Yoon Soe and Gong Chan meet and they have a chat where Yoon Soe treats him warmly and tell him that he reminds her of Mackerel fish. When Gong Chan says that he would like to me Tuna more than Mackerel coz everyone likes Tuna than Mackerel, Yoon Soe replay to him that she likes Mackerel more than Tuna.
Their relationship seems to have possibilities.

Next day, some gangsters corners Yoon Soe, mistaking her for someone else. This gets seen by Yoon Soe's friend, and they come and inform the class. Gong Chan runs out to help Yoon Soe. But as gangsters figure out Yoon Soe is not the one they were looking for, they let her go, and gets the girl they were looking for who happens to be Yoon Sae Mi. (Apparently Sae Mi had a fight with the gangster's girlfriend at a store). Gong Chan comes walking that way ad asks, "Hey, Class President, did you see Yoon Soe?" And in the end end up saving Sae Mi.
At school, that day, a chaos break up when Hyun had made a private image in his social networking site profile to be public. The photo has him and Yoon soe in their middle school dating days. Their past relationship gets reviled and this comes as a shock for Gong Chan...
At the same time Sae Mi has slightly fallen for Gong Chan, but she is having trouble to accept her feelings for him coz it doesn't make any sense for the perfect student, strong girl, class president Sae Mi to fall for the fool Gong Chan.

As days go on, Hyun seems too sweet and loving to Yoon Soe. And his feelings for her seems sincere. He is tying to express his feelings for her with all he has.
Fate also has entangled Sae Mi's life with Gong Chan's various times as they gets drawn together in some incidents.
But still Gong Chan and Yoon Soe has feelings for each other which won't change. Then Yoon Soe's family background becomes a big mystery as she wins a contest in a non-truthful way (without Yoon Soe's permission, her family did the cheating).
When Yoon Soe finds this, she is crushed.
Among all these Sae Mi propose to Gong Chan that they should date. But he thinks of that she was only joking and doesn't take it seriously.
But soon, a post comes up in the school home page that the contest was rigged. Everyone, even Gong Chan accuse Sae Mi that she posted it intentionally cos she is jealous of Yoon Soe.
But soon truth comes out and Sae Mi is proven innocent. Gong Chan tries to say sorry to the hurt and depressed Sae Mi. She doesn't stop when he calls "class president, class president" a lot...
"Hey, Yoon Sae Mi..." he calls... Then apologize to her.
She turns and tell him, "Just now you called my name for the first time, you know that?"  And then says at that moment, she hates everything and runs off crying.
And Gong Chan thinks, "Before I called out her name, she was just a figure...- a poet once said that. Today, I called out a name of a girl who wasn't Yoon Soe. Because of that name, my heat is hurting..."

From there, the story should have gone in the direction of Sae Mi. If it had..., if it had...then the drama would have been out of the world beautiful. If it had... then it would have been magic.
Coz the way they have shown Gong Chan and Sae Mi's developing relationship is like that. Besides, Gong Chan seems more mature with Sae Mi. As if she is the one who will help him to be more as a person. They really really suit each other. As in compliment each other. Like they as in the same world.
Gong Chan and Yoon Soe always seem to belong to different worlds. Yoon Soe and Hyun seems to belong to same world. And Gong Chan and Sae Mi seems to belong to same world.
The way it is shown, Sae Mi was better with Gong Chan.
Besides, Sae Mi is a character that we will like a lot in this drama. We will like Sae Mi more than Yoon Soe... So...

Well, that is my personal opinion. I know that there will be a lot of people that disagree on this. But I will still say that the story should have gone in the direction of Sae Mi from there.

Anyway, after that, the story takes a normal route and end up in a neutral taste. Not happy not sad type.

But even then, the ride was really enjoyable. If the ending seems too okish..., then also, it was worth watch as the entire watching experience was rocking. As some say, the journey is more valuable than the destination, it's sort of same as that. Even if the destinations might make you feel a bit 'something is missing' type, the journey in itself is really really touching, thoughtful, and fun-filled. In fact, it even shows us slices of life and teaches us bits and pieces of life..
A really lovable drama...

My Ratings of this Drama (9/10)

My Top 10 Korean Dramas

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