The Heirs (Korean Drama)
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Well this one was the most popular Drama of 2013. And even before it started airing the buzz of the shooting was really too much, and everyone was expecting this one with much anticipation and eagerness.
But did 'The Heirs' live up to the expectations???
I know that there are a lot of people who like 'The Heirs', and I know that it was not without a reason that 'The Heirs' was the most popular drama of 2013. It was because a lot of people watched it and liked it. But to say honestly, for me, Heirs was a bit 'so-so' type. It had a lot of good sides, but a lot of fun killers, and bad sides as well.
The main problem of Heirs was the bad costume. Bad hair styles, and some how a bit not so interesting OST.
Ok, I am seriously a big fan of Lee Min Ho. I am. But I hated him in Heirs. He just looks too bad in Heirs that it tampers my image about him. (Sorry, Lee Min Ho and Lee Min Ho fans. But I did liked him in all other dramas ranging from Mackerel Run till Faith. But not in Heirs. Sorry...).
But the costume of Heirs, especially costumes of Lee Min Ho, is so bad that it makes us take off our concentration from the story.
It was ok till episode 4 or 5. But once Gim Tan (Lee Min Ho), arrives in Korea, it felt that he left his brain in LA it self. What the hell is he wearing??Are these supposed to look good, or is the costume designer trying to make fun of the audience and the actor????
More about Lee Min Ho's Heirs's gross clothes on these links...
1.
http://www.dramafever.com/news/8-of-the-worst-outfits-lee-min-ho-wears-in-heirs/
2.
http://dr-myri-blog.blogspot.in/2013/11/the-heirs-fashion-crimes-and-beyond.html
Although there are a lot of horrible clothings, I think episode 5 was the worst. There each outfit he wears was simply gross. It makes us so much distracted from the story.
There is this scene in the end of episode 5, where Gim Tan says to Cha Eun Sang, "Did I perhaps...miss you?"
That is supposed to be a really romantic scene. That once sentence and the whole atmosphere is supposed to touch the viewer's heart.
But as for me I was too busy getting distracted by Gim Tan's flowery sweater that looked like he borrowed from an old lady, and his florescent green pants. Excuse me??? Is that how someone dress? I mean, come on. Have some sense.And if the costume was not enough, the song 'Love is the Moment' start playing in the background to ruin the romance in the scene.
Ok, I am not saying that the song is bad.
The song 'Love is the Moment' is good, when it is heard separately. When we listen to it in as an mp3 song, in your mobile phone, or mp3 player, or in a music system, the song 'Love is the Moment' is a good song. But the song just doesn't match with the feeling of the scene in the drama. Every time Gim Tan and Cha Eun Sang talk to each other, this song begins to play ruining the atmosphere or romance...
It's not like there is anything wrong with the story. The story was ok, not so bad. But the costume that becomes a distraction, and the song that ruins the feel of the romantic scenes just doesn't let us immerse in to the romance between Gim Tan and Cha Eun Sang.
Plus I think that hair style doesn't Suit Lee Min Ho at all. He looks a bit idiotic with that hair style. Maybe they purposefully gave that hair style to try to make him look younger, and also to match with the older brother Gim Won's hair style. Well, that hairstyle suited Gim Won. He looked handsome with it. But Gim Tan with that hair style, and freakishly bad clothes, just looked like a clown. Anyway, sorry... I am being too harsh. I know.. But even I like Lee Min Ho. Maybe that's why I am too angry that our handsome Lee Min Ho was portrayed so badly in Heirs. Because I am a fan of him, I care about it if he looks dumb.
Another problem of Heirs that it has too many characters and the relationships are too complex. Too many triangle and quadruple relationships. Plus there are more than necessary list of characters. In first two episodes it confuse the viewers. Though towards the end, we will get familiar about who is who and who is what of whom and all... So towards the end you won't mind that much characters and will even like them. But at the beginning it is confusing.
Plus, they have tried to cast big names as much as possible. That was so not needed. There was no need to cast CNBLUE member, Kang Min Hyuk in this drama. Though I love Kang Min Hyuk (I am a CNBLUE fan) and I do want to see him more in acting. But the role of Yoon Chan Young was not that important to take someone like Kang Min Hyuk for that. It just felt that they are purposefully trying to take all the big stars, to make just a good star vale to the drama. And I know that that is why this drama was a hit, because the star vale of the drama was really really high. All the popular and top people were in it.
Else, I really don't think a 'so-so' story would have been this much successful and become the most popular drama of the year without this all so implacable star cast.
So, I think Kang Min Hyuk, and Krystal Jung were a bit too much of an exaggeration for the characters of Yoon Chan Young and Lee Bo Na.
Plus Krystal keeps flaunting her fluency and accurate accent in English. I felt that a bit irritating when she talks in English when it is not really needed.
Where as a fluent English is needed for Gim Tan who had supposedly stayed in Los Angeles for three or four years. And yet when Lee Min Ho/Gim Tan says about his fiancée to his friend Jay , "Either she is about to get on the plane, in the plane, or already in America", he lacks accent and his efforts to say this English dialogue correctly is shown through. I wished if Lee Min Ho had practised a bit more, and got this dialogue correct. I mean, it's just one sentence. How difficult it can be to get that one sentence correct?
I just mean that it would have made it more perfect. Tan is supposed to be in America for a while. So, he shouldn't say a sentence with that much difficulty showing through.
And that is when Krystal keeps talking in English when it is not really necessary for Lee Bo Na to do so.
But it's not like Heirs doesn't have any good sides. It has. One of the biggest plus point of Heirs is Park Shin Hye. She is wonderful as ever... Still really cute and so awesome actress. I felt that because she acts so well that she out-shadows the co-actors.
Lee Min Ho is a fairly good actor. But the scene when Gim Tan is proposing to Cha Eun Sang in front of the cafe she works part time for, and Eun Sang is crying about her being poor and having to suffer from being close to Gim Tan, and Tan is asking her for to like him... I was just looking at Park Shin Hye, and thinking, she looks like she is living as Eun Sang and her tears are real. Each expression, and her anger and annoyance, and pain yet love for Tan was clearly showing in Park Shin Hye's face. (How can someone act so well. Wow!!). And at the same time, I began to feel compared to her Lee Min Ho's acting was not enough. (And I will still remind everyone once again that I am a Lee Min Ho fan.)
Heirs do become good as it passes episode eight and is kind of touching along the end episodes. Towards the time of episode 16 or 17 we do get trapped in the romance between Tan and Eun Sang, and feel a bit of love for those characters. The bad clothes still exist, but in a mild and tolerable way, so it doesn't distract us much.
Another good thing about Heirs is that here the main leads become more like friends as they start dating. That is good. Else in other dramas, even in 'Boys Over Flowers', the main leads never come to a first name basis. (Geum Jan Di still calls Gu Jun Pyo as 'Gu Jun Pyo', till the end, and seldom goes to a much friendly term 'Jun Pyoyaa'.) In Heirs, Eun Sang calls Gim Tan, as Tanaa a few times, refers to him as 'Tan' only and talks in really friendly way. Also, I liked that in the end Eun Sang returns to Tan on her own, admitting that she wants to be with him and tells that 'I have come with an excuse to attend the exams... I will find another excuse after that'. That was really sweet and honest. And a bit different from usual drama line.
Though the usual story line existed though. Eun Sang still left about at the end and then comes back. This particular thing happens in almost every drama.!!! Why???! Is this like a protocol the drama scripts have to follow of something. (Examples of other dramas where heroine and hero gets separated for a while, and then meet after some time : Boys Over Flowers, You're Beautiful, Delightful Girl Choon Hyang, My Girl, Full House, Heartstrings, Faith, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho). Almost 50% of Top Popular Romantic Dramas had this particular plot.
So that separation coming in Heirs too made me feel like it was a bit of too much. Kind of have got bored out of this plot.
Another thing I liked about Heirs is, Choi Young Do. I always have liked the actor Kim Woo Bin. Have seen him in To the beautiful you, but didn't like him then. But I really liked him in 'School 2013', and 'A Gentleman's Dignity'. And really loved him in 'the Heirs'.
And in the end like every second heroes in other drama's we do feel sorry for him...
But I liked the fact that he doesn't stay friends with Eun Sang, and he gets the change to properly express his feelings, and get properly rejected by Eun Sang. Some other second-heroes didn't even get that chance, and the ones who got stayed as friends with the heroine. Here Young Do just goes away from her Charismatically, and coolly. That just makes us feel less sympathy for him. He is not that pitiful like other second heroes.
So Choi Young Do is really one of the best things about Heirs.
Also, the relationship of two brothers, Tan and Won is really a nice thing to see. To see the transformation from Won's resentment towards Tan, to gradual adjustments with him, and to final reconciliation and friendship with the younger brother is a really touching course of path that all the viewers might have liked.
Another relationship that is interesting is the relationship between Tan's mom and Eun Sang's mom. That how the mute house maid, controls the life of the madam of the house, and how they end up as friends in the end... It's really cute when Tan's Mom cries 'ajjumma', and hugs Eun-sang's mom when then meet after the separation.
The thing about the outline of a human drawn on the school grounds, and how the mystery of who drew that is found out by Eun-Sang in the end, and the story of that human outline is really touching...
That is the part I liked the best in this drama. That part gives 'The Heirs' a new level and gives a meaning to the drama.
And it is because the ending is quiet good that I think we can try to overlook the lack of depth and ability to capture our heart, in the initial and middle portions of the drama.
(But even in the end it had a horrible outfit. In Episode 19. When Gim Tan and Eun Sang meats Won and then go to meet Eun Sang's mom, in those scenes... I can't hold myself from saying this..."Who the hell wears a knee length wool cardigan, over a leather jacket?" What the hell was that???)))
Characters:
Lee Min Ho as Gim Tan : The second son of Jaeguk group. As he as the son of a mistress, he was hated by his brother always. So he went to US, or more like was exiled to US, and is there for four years. When he see Eun Sang is a pitiful situation, he feel sympathy for her and helps her and soon falls in love with her.
Park Shin Hye as Cha Eun Sang : The daugher of a mute house maid. Her mom works in Jaeguk group's house, but she have never met any one from the family, let alone Gim Tan who is in US. Eun Sang is angry about the fact that she has to work hard to earn a living and she has a lot of pride. So she try to go to search for her sister who is supposed to be living really well in US. And there she meet Tan.
Kim Woo Bin as Choi Young Do : Young Do is the only son of Zeus Hotel group. He was Gim Tan's best friend at a time, but they both have become enemies now. Young Do likes to bully poor student and possess a lot of cool attitude and is the type who will trip a girl in order to hold her hand.
Kim Ji Won as Yoo Rachel : Gim Tan's fiancée. A rich spoilt girl, and the only daughter of the RS group of companies. Her mother who recently divorced her father, is going to remarry Choi Young Do's father. Yoo Rachel is angry about this marriage. She is also angry about Gim Tan and Cha Eun Sang's relationship. She even tries her best to keep them away from each other.
Kang Min Hyuk as Yoon Chan Young : Cha Eun Sang's childhood friend, and a really intelligent, polite and loving sort of young boy. And he is more known as Lee Bo Na's boy friend.
Krystal Jung as Lee Bo Na : Yoon Chan Young's girlfriend, and Gim Tan's ex-girlfriend. She really likes Chan Young now and is angry about Chan Young and Eun Sang's friendship. But since she is really a good hearted person under all the arrogance and frustration, she never does anything to harm Eun Sang.
Choi Jin Hyuk as Gim Won : Gim Tan's elder bother (hyung). He actually doesn't really hate his brother. Deep inside he loves him. But he strongly believes that Gim Tan's existence is a threat to his position in Jaeguk group and hence always teats Tan with coldness and resentment.
Kang Ha Neul as Lee Hyo Shin : A senior student in the school. He is intelligent and is the son of a law firm. He parents strictly want him to go to a law school, but his dreams are different. He is suppressed under his mother's strictness and hence have even tried suicide once. But Tan saved him that time. Hence he is really friends with Tan. Also, Lee Hyo Shin is quiet popular with the female students of the school, and is quiet a bit cool.
Park Jung Shin as Jo Myung Soo : Young Do's friend and an armature photographer. A quiet fun loving and easy going personality.
Im Soo Jin as Joen Hyun Joo : A girl who lived under the care of Jaeguk group. Gim Won loves her. But her feelings for him are uncertain, as she knows that maybe they will never work out. Also she is the tuition teacher of Lee Hyo Shin, who has a crush on her.
Story line :
Gim Tan is an 17 year old boy living in Los Angeles. He was kind of exiled from his home by his brother who resents him because he is an illegitimate son of a mistress.
Cha Eun Sang is the daughter of a Mute House maid, who works for that particular mistress who is Tan's mom. Eun Sang is frustrated that her sister is supposedly doing so well off in USA, when she had to work so hard to earn a living. So, when Eun Sang hears that her sister is getting married in USA and has asked money from her mother, she decided to go to the wedding and give her the money in person. Eun Sang plans never to retun and try to get a good live in USA like her sister too. But when she arrives there, she learns that her sister is not at all living well and that her boyfriend is a drunkard. Eun Sang's sister runs off with the money Eun Sang brings with her, and doesn't listen even when Eun Sang is crying.
Tan watches this from a window and feel sorry for Eun Sang.
When Eun Sang is left alone and is in some difficult situations, Tan helps her and lets her stay in his house... Eventually Tan falls for Eun Sang... He even ask her, "Do I perhaps, like you?", to which she never responds.
But Yoo Rachel, Tan's fiancée comes to USA and see Eun Sang and get a bit angry. And Eun Sang leaves with Yoon Chan Young, her friend who is in USA at that time.
After Eun Sang leaves USA, Tan miss her a lot.
Also he thinks that it's time that he return to Korea and face his brother.
By the time Eun Sang returns to Korea her house was captured by the bank and her mother had shifted to live in the Jaeguk group house. So Eun Sang is also forced to live in that house.
Gim Tan returns. And though Eun Sang and Tan doesn't come to face to face even while being in the same house, they see each other eventually... And Gim Tan says "Did I perhaps miss you?", and Eun Sang is again affected by him. But she stay away from him as he is the son of the owner of the house and she is the Maid's daughter...
When the chairman of Jaeguk group, Gim Tan's dad, finds out that Tan likes Eun Sang, and Won likes Hyun Joo, he decides to put both the girls in a difficult situation. He makes Eun Sang join Jaeguk School, where everyone else study. And put a proposal to be a teacher in Jaehguk School to Hyun Joo.
Like this Eun Sang joins Jaeguk School, with everyone else.
But Her best friend Chan Young tells her to hide her background if she wants to survive in the school, as the school is too viscous towards the economically backwards students. And Tan tells others that Eun Sang is a new money.
Eun Sang tries to survive in the school while hiding her background, and trying to get along with students who doesn't like her much, and trying to deal with Young Do who has an annoying attraction to her, also trying to run away from her feelings towards Gim Tan..
I know that a lot of people think that 'The Heirs' is similar to 'Boys Over Flowers'. They Heirs reminded them about 'Boys Over Flowers'. But except for the fact that it's the same concept of a poor girl and a rich boy romance and the problem they face, and a High School love story, and a few ugly outfits, 'The Heirs' and 'Boys Over Flowers' are way too much different. In fact the very feel is different. And 'Boys Over Flowers' is way way way better than 'The Heirs'. It was fun and entertaining and really really lovable. (And Gu Jun Pyo is still my most favourite character) :-)
So on the whole, 'The Heirs' was good in separate pieces, but not really well as a whole thing put together... There was something good in it... But there was some thing lacking in it always...
My Ratings of this Drama : 7/10 (I know that a lot of you out there will disagree with me. But, still...)
