Thoughts on Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang, or…And They Called it Puppy Propriety

In Unexpected You, there’s a scene where I-Sook is swinging on a swing in a playground and Jae-Yong sees her and wonders aloud “Who does she think she is? Choon-Hyang?” I didn’t get the reference, of course, not being Korean and all, so I turned to the internet for answers. I found out that Choon-Hyang was an old Korean folk tale, in which a woman named Choon-Hyang is discovered by a man who falls in love with her when he sees her swinging on a swing. In the process of discovering that information I also found out about this drama, which is supposed to be a modern adaptation of the old folk tale. Since it was stuck in my brain and I needed a new drama to watch, I figured I’d just watch it and satiate my curiosity.

I’ll say right up front that my expectations for this drama weren’t very high. I’d never heard of it anywhere besides my own internet surfing, so it doesn’t seem to carry any popular reputation. If you’re expecting a bad review though, you may be surprised.

Plot

Sung Choon-Hyang is a popular girl at her high school in Namwon, a small town out in the country. Lee Mong-Ryong is the troublemaking son of a police chief in Seoul who gets transferred to Namwon. When the two first encounter each other, they have a disagreement that leads Choon-Hyang to destroy Mong-Ryong’s cell phone. Choon-Hyang gets the phone fixed, but the teenagers remain at odds with each other.

Mong-Ryong becomes friends with Ji-Hyeok, a guy who’s been Choon-Hyang’s friend since childhood, and who’s also in love with Choon-Hyang’s best friend, Dan-Hee. One night, when Choon-Hyang is sick and her mother is out of town, Dan-Hee goes over to Choon-Hyang’s house to take care of her. Ji-Hyeok, wanting to spend time with his friends, also goes over to Choon-Hyang’s and brings Mong-Ryong with him. While Dan-Hee and Ji-Hyeok are playing games, Mong-Ryong accidentally drinks a bottle of homemade wine, thinking it to be regular juice. He passes out drunk outside the house, and when Dan-Hee and Ji-Hyeok get ready to leave, they don’t see him and assume he left on his own. In the middle of the night Mong-Ryong wakes up and staggers back inside the house, where he falls back asleep next to Choon-Hyang. In the morning, everyone (including Choon-Hyang and Mong-Ryong) is shocked at what they find.

Nothing happened between them, of course, but that doesn’t stop rumors from spreading about the situation. Eventually the parents decide that Choon-Hyang and Mong-Ryong should be married, in order to maintain an image of propriety. Not only that, but Mong-Ryong’s father thinks Choon-Hyang will be a steadying influence on his son, and Choon-Hyang’s mother thinks marrying will be a good way for her daughter to escape the poverty she grew up in. The two become friendly with each other after living together, but they remain separated romantically.

Mong-Ryong has an older female friend named Chae-Rin. She always saw him as a younger brother, but he always loved her. Chae-Rin originally rejects Mong-Ryong’s feelings for her when he confesses them, but after her boyfriend dumps her, she starts to see Mong-Ryong as a man she could love. When Chae-Rin comes to Namwon to work with a film crew, she becomes an impediment to the married couple’s romantic development. Similarly, Choon-Hyang catches the eye of Byeon Hak-Do, president of a large entertainment company. Byeon repeatedly tries to woo Choon-Hyang, but she never makes any commitment to him, due to her being married. The more rejection he faces, the more obsessive Byeon becomes.

Choon-Hyang and Mong-Ryong go through several trials throughout their relationship, uncertain at times whether they love each other or are simply duty-bound to each other, but they can never seem to remain apart for too long.

Writing and Acting

Since this story is supposed to be a modern-day adaptation of an old Korean tale, some aspects of it seemed a little awkward to me. I thought it was a tad strange for Mr. Byeon to fall in love with a girl while she was in high school, although he didn’t make any overt attempts at a relationship until after she graduated.

The ending was once again well-done. After the first four dramas I watched all ended a bit awkwardly, I began to assume that it was just how these Korean dramas rolled, but I’ve seen plenty of good ones since then.

The acting generally wasn’t Oscar-worthy, but since a lot of this drama was very cartoonishly stylized, I don’t think it was intended to be. In the scenes where full seriousness was called for, the actors usually managed to do their jobs effectively.

Music

There was a surprising amount of Western music in this one. Besides the soundtrack songs (songs that were specifically made as themes for this drama), there was very little Korean-language music. Here are the non-soundtrack songs I could identify.

George Michael – Faith
김추자 – 월남에서 돌아온 김상사 (It actually sounded like a remake, not the original, but that’s what Shazam gave me. Maybe 김추자 did a remake album or something.)
Blink – Kiss Me
동물원 – 널 사랑하겠어 (just like in Protect the Boss, the characters sang this song)
임상아 – 뮤지컬
Killing Me Softly (sung by an aspiring entertainer at an audition)
Bob Marley – One Love
Des’Ree – I’m Kissing You
Eartha Kitt – Santa Baby
“엉덩이” (This was some techno dance song that played in a club. Judging by the title, it was telling people to shake their butts.)
The Free Design – California Dreaming
Average White Band – Pick Up the Pieces
McFly – Five Colours in Her Hair
*NSync – Pop
Chingy feat. Nate Dogg & I-20 – I Like That
Nancy Sinatra – Sugar Town
Janet Jackson – I Want You
N*E*R*D – Wonderful Place
Frank Sinatra – My Way
The Wurzels – I Am a Cider Drinker (an instrumental version, but I recognized the melody)
Sam Brown – Stop
B.J. Thomas – Hooked on a Feeling
진혜림 – Lover’s Concerto
C21 – All that I Want
Doris Day – Que Sera Sera
Roy Orbison – Pretty Woman (set to a montage of a woman trying on clothes, again)
The Nolans – Sexy Music
Jean – Over Me
The Shadows – Dance On
The Shadows – F.B.I.
Gerry & the Pacemakers – How Do You Do It?
B.T. Express – Do It (Til You’re Satisfied)
The Knack – My Sharona
Ashlee Simpson – Pieces of Me

The theme song was a bit punk-rocky. It was kind of cool.

There was a trot song that sounded familiar sung by Choon-Hyang’s mother in a cabaret, but many trot songs sound similar. I’m not sure what it was.

I was disappointed that they didn’t work in “Wake Up Little Susie” somehow, given the plot.

English

Here are the English words and phrases I caught that I don’t offhand recall hearing in previous dramas or happen to know are usually used in Korea.

“Out of sight, out of mind,” spectacular, digital camera, tough guy, go stop, alibi, Viking, apostrophe, belly dance, ink, business, scale, ski, design, accessory, romantic comedy, study, copy, jogging, pendant, steak, morning coffee, lobby, shuttle bus, camera test, mascara, love story, box, mystery, “excuse me,” talent.

Hey, I Know That Person

I’ve decided it’s time for a new category in these recaps. Since I always make note of actors and actresses I’ve seen in previous dramas, why not include them all in one section? There were four in this one, and another possibility I’m not sure of.

I was aware before I watched it, but one of the “three dads” from Three Dads, One Mom played Mong-Ryong. I think I liked him better here than I did in TDOM.

The actress who played Dan-Hee was a friend of the title character in Hwang Jin-Yi. Because this drama was based on an old folk tale, each episode ended with a short comedic segment that took place in ancient Korea and featured the main actors in their historical roles. When Dan-Hee appeared in one, she looked the same as I was used to seeing her.

The mayor from Beethoven Virus played a high school teacher here.

Choon-Hyang’s mother was in Protect the Boss as the mother of Na-Yoon, and her acting is just as hammy here as it was there. According to her credits, she was also in Lovers in Paris as the wife that Tae-Young was hired to impress. That was a fairly small role, so I don’t remember her from it, which must be why I didn’t note that in my recap of Protect the Boss. I actually didn’t recognize her here at first, because she wasn’t as heavily made-up for this role.

As I said before, there’s another one I’m unsure of. In Lovers in Paris there was a company lawyer whose face stuck with me somewhat, despite his only making a few brief appearances. In this one I saw a guy whose face made me think of that lawyer, though it was only a small role here too. The credits I can find don’t list the actor either time. Was it the same guy? I might have to rewatch both dramas to be sure, and I’m not going to do that right now.

Other Observations

I thought Ji-Heon’s father in Protect the Boss was the most hot-tempered character I’d ever seen, but Mong-Ryong’s father here makes him look mellow. He flies into a violent rage anytime his son is even suspected of doing anything he doesn’t like, though he softens a bit over the course of the series.

There’s a scene where Mong-Ryong is supposed to be playing the piano, but he clearly isn’t pressing the keys. Couldn’t they have at least made it look real?

As you might know, plastic surgery is very common in Korea, particularly among entertainers. I couldn’t help but think of that fact at those moments when Choon-Hyang was at an angle where her features looked almost Caucasian.

I think Ji-Hyeok was my favorite character. He seemed like a good guy who wanted to do whatever he could to help his friends, and he really cared about people. His romance with Dan-Hee interested me too, because for the first half of the series he was the good guy who couldn’t get the girl. Not that I can relate to that or anything…

It drove me nuts that when Mong-Ryong was in college they frequently showed him skipping his classes. Considering how hard he worked to get in, I felt like he was going to flunk out. Of course, he buckles down and does a good job eventually, but early on it’s not so clear he’s going to make it.

Choon-Hyang’s mother was pretty dumb. It was hard to believe her daughter turned out so well considering who raised her. She just disappears in the middle of the drama too. The last we hear of her is that she swindled a woman out of her money, but there never seems to be any reunion between mother and daughter. Wouldn’t you think Choon-Hyang would care about finding her, since that was the only parent she had growing up?

Final Thoughts

As I said earlier, I didn’t expect a whole lot from this drama. In fact, I was fully prepared for it to be crappy. I’m happy to report though, that it exceeded my expectations. While I’m not going to rank it as one of my favorites, I certainly found it enjoyable. Some of the drawn-out love rectangle stuff occasionally bored me, but it didn’t make me want to shoot myself like Protect the Boss did. Unlike that drama, I actually felt some sense of connection to the characters, and as another bonus, this one was much funnier.

I know I liked it better than Hwang Jin-Yi, and I know I laughed harder at Three Dads, One Mom, so the question is how I liked it as compared to Lovers in Paris. It’s a tough call, since I watched Lovers in Paris two years ago now, and this one is obviously fresher in my memory. I don’t want to fall into the trap of overrating things simply because they’re more recent.

So let’s see. Which one was funnier? Lovers in Paris had its humorous moments, but it was less comedically-oriented than this one was, so I’d say Choon-Hyang wins.

Which one touched my emotions more? Well, I don’t recall tearing up for either of them, but I remember having a big smile on my face at the ending of Choon-Hyang. The ending of Lovers in Paris was confusing, and while nice, I didn’t really feel gripped by it. I’ll give the edge to Choon-Hyang again.

Which one had better writing? I’d say Choon-Hyang again, since the story flowed better and made it to the end without feeling like it had been thrown off course at some point.

Which one had better music? Well, I might give a slight edge to Lovers in Paris, thanks to the great song “Romantic Love.”

Which one had a prettier female lead? I’m going with Lovers in Paris again.

Which one had better production values? Probably Choon-Hyang.

You know what? I think I’m going to rank Choon-Hyang above Lovers in Paris.

So here’s my list now:

      1.       Beethoven Virus (5)

      2.       City Hunter (7)

      3.       49 Days (9)

      4.       Unexpected You (4)

      5.       Three Dads, One Mom (2)

      6.       Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang (10)

      7.       Lovers in Paris (1)

      8.       Hwang Jin-Yi (6)

      9.       Spring Day (3)

      10.   Protect the Boss (8)

If we divided this list into tiers, I’d say 1-3 are ones I’d recommend to anybody, 4-8 are ones I’d recommend depending on what the person likes, and 9 and 10 are ones I’d recommend skipping. Just my opinion, of course. You can take it or leave it.