Loving You (2002, KBS miniseries)

Cliches, that's what Korean dramas are famously known for. Consider this scenario: Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, parents' objections, revenge, evil third party, and another good-hearted fourth party who always helps our protagonist whenever they are in need of assistance. This is exactly what Loving You has to offer.

Park Yong-ha, fresh off his previous high profile drama Winter Sonata, takes on the lead role of Lee Hyuk, an aspiring director with a hot and short temper. Eugene from popular girl band S.E.S, is Jin Da-rae, a good-spirited girl who lives by the sea.

After a fatal accident in the sea, Lee Hyuk lost his best friend due to his insistence on shooting a scene despite the dangers that entailed. Ever since, he halted his directorial pursuits and worked at a subsidiary of his father's company. Although Lee Hyuk also fell into the ocean, he was saved by Da-rae. At the same time the accident occurred, Da-rae's father also passed away due to an accident.

As the story goes on, Lee Hyuk and his brother Lee Min, both fall in love with Da-rae's high-spirited personality. Also in the picture is the evil girl Cho Su-kyong, who decides to fight for Lee Hyuk's affection, after learning that he is the elder son of a rich entrepreneur.

Loving You is an okay story, neither interesting nor boring. The cast did a good job. Park Yong-ha took on the role of Lee Hyuk relatively well. In fact, it seems like there was very little variation from his previous role in Winter Sonata. Eugene, in her drama debut, could be said to have portrayed the role of Da-rae quite well, perhaps because the role seems to be especially written for her.

The supporting cast did a good job as well. Lee Yuri, taking on the evil third party role, portrayed the bad girl nicely -- in fact, I thought that she was better than Eugene. Young, charismatic and talented, she definitely has the X-factor needed to become the next big thing. Lee Dong-wook in comparison, perhaps due to his poorly-written role, had very little chance to show his potential in this drama.

Last but not least, viewers can finally heave a sigh of relief when it comes to an end. A storyline which is debatably either good or bad, it is a relief that the story is only 10 episodes long.