Many people say that first love stories are always hard to lose and have their own place in everyone's heart even though time passes. Maybe some people feel that way, and maybe some others don't relate. That's not an absolute true and general statement.
After a long time not watching Korean dramas, I was finally intrigued to find Korean dramas again. Incidentally, there is one series with short episodes that I want to watch because the theme is about the reunion of the main characters' first love story.
SERENDIPITY'S EMBRACE
ORIENTATION
This clichéd tale of teenage love begins when Lee Hong-Joo (Kim So-Hyun) volunteers to deliver her friend Kim Hye-Ji's (Kim Da-Som) love letter to the school's smartest and handsomest student, Kang Hoo-Yeong (Chae Jong-Hyeop).
Lee Hong-Joo's outgoing personality makes him not mind chasing after Hoo-Yeong for his best friend. For him, Hye-Ji's happiness is also his happiness too. When Hong-Joo is busy fighting for her best friend's love, Kang Hoo-Yeong secretly prefers Hong-Joo as his first love. However, Hong-Joo has already chosen someone else as her first love, Bang Jun-ho (Yoon Ji-On).
So, if we make a chain of first love, it goes like this: Bang Jun-Ho is Lee Hog-Joo's first love, then Lee Hong-Joo is Kang Hoo-Yeong's first love, while Kang Ho-Yeong is Kim Hye-Ji's first love.
So how does this quadrilateral story end?
CHARACTERISTIC
- Lee Hong-Joo (Kim So-Hyun)
Played sweetly by Kim So-hyun, Lee Hong-Joo is an outgoing character, a reader of roomance fiction books and aspires to be an animatoor director just because she has no choice of what she wants to be.
Lee Hong-Joo is definitely a clumsy person when it comes to separation. She has a lot of trauma from being left behind by those closest to her, including being left behind for three years by her first love, Bang Jun-Ho. As someone who graduated from high school and became a director in an animation company, we can tell that Hong-Joo is persistent and diligent in her field. She is also a loyal friend.
However, for Kim So-Hyun, for some reason, I feel that So-Hyun continues to stay in the safe zone by taking on so-so roles. Even though his career is stable, sometimes I'm a little bored with So-Hyun's expressions that tend to be the same in every drama he stars in. Kim So-Hyun should explore characters for her next project.
- Kang Hoo-Yeong (Chae Jong-Yeop)
Kang Hoo-Yeong is a character who tends to be the tempalte of teenage love; handsome, smart, quiet, and famous. Even so, Hoo-Yeong doesn't have a mean or dour demeanour. He just has a flat expression and tends to be quiet. Hoo-Yeong grew up to be quiet, because his life was mostly driven by his mother until adulthood.
As a man who suppressed his first love story, Hoo-Yeong is a consistent person. Until ten years apart, the first person Hoo-Yeong looked for when he returned to Korea was Hong-Joo. He continued to find out and fight for his first love until he succeeded.
For Chae Joong-Yeop. Since it's my first time watching a drama starring him, I feel that Jong-Yeop has the potential to become an even brighter actor. He should have another chance to be the male lead.
- Kim Hye-Ji (Kim Da-Som)
Being a mediocre and the daughter of the vice principal, Kim Hye-Ji grew up as a shy high school girl. Despite her shy beginnings, Hye-Ji's character gradually develops, as she is portrayed as a beautiful English teacher who is admired by her students. As Lee Hong-Joo's friend, she is also very loyal and kind, when knowing her friend's love story is very complicated, Kim Hye-Ji willingly becomes a shoulder for Hong-Joo.
Firmly, Hye-Ji also claimed to be a guardian for her best friend who was abandoned by her parents. Hye-Ji and Hong-Joo are a sweet pair of friends who always support each other.
- Bang Jun-Ho (Yun Ji-On)
As a famous writer and Lee Hong-Joo's first love. As a young man who just started writing in the beginning, Jun-Ho is quite selfish considering he left Hong-Joo for three years without saying goodbye. He also didn't confirm the relationship status between Hong-Joo and himself.
However, in my opinion, what Jun-Ho did was not entirely wrong. He was just afraid of losing Hong-Joo.
INTERPRETATION
Although this is categorised as a light watch with eight episodes. But, this series is good enough to fill empty time, especially for teen romance fans. The portion in this storyline is also just right. I like the idea of only eight episodes.
You can watch it on Viu Original. Moral messages from Serendipity's Embrace include: loyalty of friendship, persistence and effort that does not betray us, excessive control from parents to children is not necessary.
SUMMARY
Suitable for ages 13+. I don't really recommend this series to people who are used to watching heavy themes. But, if you like light-hearted shows, you should try to start watching this for your free time. That's all for my review. Cheers!