2014 K-Drama "Bride of the Century"

Hello everyone,

I was kind of bored and decided to pick up a new drama known as Bride of the Century (2014) last week on a whim (without even checking the status of whether or not it's completed). I have to say that this drama is one that curries to my favor for a Korean drama. I'm not a huge fan of romantic comedies but for me, this drama had enough melodrama to keep my eyes glued to the screen. (I'm a huge sap for the tearful heartwrenching scenes as well as the sweet ones). Before I dive in deeper, I'll just say where I go to stream dramas which is dramafever. It's relatively high quality and is hosted by Hulu so yes there are ads but usually about 30-60 seconds for each ad "segment" so it's not that bad.

The main reason I picked up this drama though is because it parallels one of my favorite manhwas, Can't Lose You by Wann. If you know the story of Can't Lose You, I previously published a post that runs over the story but I'll give a relatively "short" recap. To generalize it, it's about two girls who are identical/doppelgangers (with a reason that is later revealed in the story). One of the girls is this rich cold hearted (bitchy) queen of high society Korea and wants to gain the favor of an equally cold hearted bastard bachelor of high society Korea. However the other girl is a warm and feisty girl "commoner" struggling to live on her own while still attending high school. Fate brings the two girls together and when the queen finds out that her life is at risk, she hires the commoner as her body double. The cold bastard happens to fall in love (hard) with the commoner and as usual, the cold bastard has a heart but fate has plans for all the players in the world of Can't Lose You. That is the gist of Wann's Can't Lose You and the drama seriously reminded me of it. It has the whole supernatural thing in play as well. There are differences in which I thought made the drama not as great as this manhwa by Wann BUT I am a huge sap for melodrama and tearful heartwrenching scenes. With a foundation similar to Can't Lose You, one can just tell that there will be a good amount of that but the good thing is that it wasn't so much that it would ruin the drama. Plus, there is plenty of sweetness. 

Next I wanted to generally sweep over the acting. I don't know if I am considered ignorant in evaluating "acting" but the acting in this drama is just spot on brilliant. First off, the lead actress Yang Jin-Sung portrays two characters Jung Yi Kyung and Na Doo Rim (since they're identical), which is quite impressive. I can't say much about her acting though since I haven't seen her in other roles but being able to play two roles in the drama who are completely different people is no small simple feat. The female lead Na Doo Rim is the sweetest and feisty girl-the devotion of this character wins over the hearts of all viewers. Second, the cold hearted "bachelor" Choi Kung Ju is portrayed by Lee Hong-Ki. He's kind of typical pretentious guy but I thought Lee Hong-Ki was great in this role. When I started this drama, I recognized him from somewhere but I couldn't hit the nail on the head until I looked him up and realized he was from Your Beautiful. This role in Bride of the Century is such a sharp contrast to the role in Your Beautiful and it certain has more depth and dimension that his lack of dimension yet sweet loving character in Your Beautiful did not have. He's certainly stepped into this role quite well and the character development of Choi Kung Ju is quite lovely. I'm really riding on these two as a couple Na Doo Rim and Choi Kang-Ju. They're development as a couple is great too-clearly demonstrated by the initial awkward to loving and heartfelt kisses. 

Alright, that's all I'm saying about this drama. I hope I didn't butcher it but I just wanted to share it. It's not that melodramatic or anything (I feel as though I've exaggerated that too much) but if you're a little hesitant, please check out Wann's Can't Lose You. It's a manhwa that should not be missed. In some ways the manhwa is better but the drama shines in other aspects more than the manhwa too. Don't miss out and check out both! Oh and currently there are only 14 episodes with english subs for the Bride of the Century. It's supposed to be only 16 episodes-the remaining two will be released within the next few weeks on dramafever.

Best,
tohukyo

PS sorry for the lack of food for thought posts. I went though my old drafts and dug up one that I started working on again. I don't know when it will be published since this quarter is so busy.