If Marry Him If You Dare (Mirae’s Choice) doesn’t right the sinking narrative ship, this drama might turn out to be the biggest disappointment of the year. I love three out of the four leads, the screenwriter helmed my favorite K-drama last year, and the directing hasn’t done anything before I thought wasn’t visually pleasing. Rounding the corner at the midway point, MHIYD is a steady study in muddling everything up instead of making the journey clearer. I don’t understand what drives the heroine Mi Rae whether in her present or future form. Yoon Eun Hye feels adrift in this performance, not good or bad, though I’m going to say her unattractive hair and attire isn’t the problem at at. It’s that her character feels illusory, like she is what others see of her. Oppa sees her as aimless and bumbling, Shin sees her as intriguing, Se Joo projects his fantasy woman onto her, and Yoo Kyung sees her as a rival that she can’t even properly rival. Coupled that with future Mi Rae who is more villain than catalyst, the drama fairly sinks under the weight of a combined female lead without much to recommend her. It’s telling that Yoo Kyung is shining even more when placed next to Mi Rae, and sadly Shin sinks into an untenable position because of her.
Se Joo probably has it the best, his character getting more interesting as the drama goes on, and finally in episode 8 I thought Jung Yong Hwa showed signs of life and spark. He was already doing mildly better here than in his other two dramas, but it wasn’t enough to be engaging of a character. He’s good looking but there is an equally good looking and infinitely better actor male lead in Lee Dong Gun in this drama, so to actually out-spark the male lead Jung Yong Hwa needed to pull out all the stops. He hasn’t and likely won’t, but at least Se Joo made me sit up and take notice in episode 8 when he confronted Shin and later when he and Yoo Kyung butted heads during the filming. I’m starting to understand his rather precipitous interest in Mi Rae and continued pursuit of her. She was interesting initially as a representation of the freedom he doesn’t have, and now she’s a prized goal for him to win. There is nothing wrong with either his motivations, but at least now he has one that I can relate to. Sadly he’s really missing out on the better girl for him in Yoo Kyung when he has eyes only for Mi Rae. I was hoping Mi Rae and Shin’s issues would start getting resolved after their haunted house jaunt, but judging from the latest stills it doesn’t look like it if she’s crying with Se Joo around. Oh wells, until the OTP gets it act together, I’m currently getting off any ship and standing by the shore.
LOL @ ” I’m currently getting off
any ship and standing by the
shore.”
I’m still onboard. Its amazing what a difference 2 episodes can make. It was your drama crack a week ago.
I will drown with the Se Joo/Mirae ship. I swear. Shin hasn’t been appealing at all~ In my eyes, he’s been a downright jerk, especially when he lets his anger get the best of him. Let’s hope there’s either some major character development or Se Joo wins.
Choosing the chaebol because he’s a ‘nice guy’ and because her future self told her to even when she has no romantic feelings towards him sounds like the perfect recipe for another trip back to the past.
Writer simply destroyed LDG character making him a jerk after he spashed water on Mirae. Also, Mirae seems to be so poorly written…i simply CANT connect with them…how is it that Future Miraes memories of what was supposed to happend are more adorable and cute than their present..when those memories appear i finally can feel the main OTP but them present appears and i can’t stand them. Se Joo and Yookyung are far more interesting than main OTP, and i can’t believe that…this only has happened to me with BOF and AGD. Sometimes i wonder what could have been if Han Chae Ah character was the main lead.
There would be no story. All of this exists because Mirae “needs” to go back in time. It would be weird for that to happen and Yoo-kyung be the lead.
But really, I wish Mirae’s personality switched with Yoo-kyung’s, or something. YK is far more interesting.
I’m okay with Shin; his temper is supposed to be his major flaw, and the show has shown enough of his good sides to balance it out (especially in the train fire episode). Besides, Seju and Yookyung are my OTP…. :p
Anyway, thanks for pointing out to me why Mirae is getting less interesting to me as the show goes on > I can’t connect with her; her character was fine when she decided to ignore F/Mirae and be independent, but hateful F/Mirae is dragging down the show each episode, and now starting to drag down Mirae’s character by association as well, lol.
Reaaally? I can’t think of all that many kdrama lead that hasn’t been a jerk half the drama. The character is really far from ruined unless you get so stuck in your bias couple you don’t want to enjoy anything else (and that seems to be half the Mira’e Choice audience).
Memories are adorable and cute, but the end is terrible. They moved too quickly in the past. Now you get the bad stuff out of the way and then the adorable and cute.
I’m on the other hand is fine with Mirae character development. She is just a normal humble girl has not even had a success life and now working on it late. But she has grabbed the chance when she heard an ahjuma said if you dont make it when you are 40 as writer you will not make it. She did stood up and took the chance. I dont see the rush of making the character becoming a star to shine so every single guys can fall for her. The normal girl with innocent attitude with no materialistic mind is loved isn’t it ideal, isn’t that we wish can happen in real life? Yoo Kuyng is only getting more interested in See Joo after she found that he is a chaebol and so she stood up for her love for it…it called a loveable charecter? May be we all like straight up character but what has been the motive?Is she liking him more because he is a chaebol and also after she knew him better she starts to see the great side in him?I disagree with you guys totally and I only agree with See Joo being a great character in a way that despite being a chaebol but he is willing to work his way bottom up and ideally want to find the girl that not love him because of his wealth but because of who he is..with his flaw’s of seeing the world in a biz way, everything need a bottom line, a result.
Just my 2 cents, the characters are fiction and I see the reason of the development and I love the flaw in each character to make us feel it is more real than the old traddional Korean movie that everything is so perfect and so the love triangle is they just love the other because of rich love poor or dying of cancer.
I;m also fine with the running back and forth and confusion of a girl who dont know which guy to pick because of the hot n cold.Isn’t it all we have been there done that. The only thing that I dislike is what is the real motive of future Mirae coming back for?Why someone has to die..and why she regret of the decision to get married with Shin. We all thought Shin is the perfect guy eventho he curse alot but he has his idealism and he put responsibilities and others people before him.
My 2 cents
I do like your 2 cents and your explanation. For whatever reason I have been going back and forth shipping between Sejoo and Shin, depending of the episode. Thanks Sunranghn…I look forward to your future comments.
I’m actually shipping SeeJoo and Mirae because of:
-the rich need a more balance way to look at things, even later on he will run the company, he needs someone with the heart and mind to balance his biz mind off for the better company. The ideal is to do with the heart but still the biz is still a biz..as long as they can balance it
-In the ideal world,the materialistic needs the innocent and naive for better outcome and 2 materalistic combines is not good for anyone at all. Seejoo will definately tried to find someone not loving him beacuse of his money and it is totally hard cause even if they pretend not too..they still treat you different once they know your back ground.
-Be cause of his persistance to pursuit an ideal happiness.kakak
But as I see it, it’s Yoo Kyung who is teaching SeJoo about having different and much more humanistic ways of approaching a problem, that the most obvious answer for a better bottom line isn’t always the best- she was great with the family who got their house renovated and she didn’t have to be a jerk and tell them to dress in rags like Se Joo and the rest of the team were about to do. Mirae would have been too weak willed and would have probably succumbed to the other’s choices since she has no experience to speak of and therefore much less confidence than Yoo Kyung. Yoo Kyung is not afraid to tell Se Joo that she’s disappointed in his choices to think of everything as business and less on the human aspect of TV. So I think that this time around perhaps she will be better for him than before because she can show him what the real world is about.
I totally don’t get where the writer is going. If sejoo n yookyung r meant to be together, why isn’t their romance developing at all?!?!?!?! Cause shin n mirae had sparks fly from the get-go! Also what is fmr’s motive….that shit needs to be revealed asap unless m gonna drop this show. She pisses me off so much and I don’t even have a reason to see things from her point of view. And why sejoo….ugh this show gives me headaches.
Because Seju’s mind is still stuck on his shiny toy he must win, and probably will be until the last 15 minutes of the last episode when he’ll realize YK was the one he’s been getting to know and falling in love with the whole time. Though I see their development as romantic, but one sided and there are some sparks. A lot more than MR/SJ anyway.
Why are you so hard on JYH? I think he is doing a terrific job in this drama.
Will come back to watch this drama when it finishes airing and I know for a fact she ends up with Se Joo
But it’s cruel if she ends up with Se Joo because he was supposed to be with Yoo Kyung.
I am fine with Future Mirae meddling in her past to change her destiny or whatever but taking the man of another’s woman ? What’s wrong with her ? I wouldn’t say anything if he was supposed to be single but Future Mirae changed their destinies and made them not meeting together the way they were supposed to. It’s not right.
One of the reasons i can’t stand Future Mirae is that she doesn’t even feel bad that she messed Se Joo’s and Yookyung future to get a better future for herself. When Yookyung was sad and drunk because she is in love with SeJoo, i could tell she didn’t even felt bad that she’s the cause of her suffering!!! How can she be soooo selfish!!! that scene broke my heart more than Sejoo’s failed confesion. Sejoo and Yookyung are the only ones affected why Future Mirae selfish acts.
already dropped Mi Rae’s Choice….it was enjoyable but the urge to watch the next episode just disappeared…and I like fantasy genre with rules…
yonghwa has an expressive eyes and being a good singer he can control his voice easily, better for an actor~ ~ ~
Beautiful eyes the guy has..next to so ji sub maybe .
Triangle love story is already finished. Why still prolong it? Hurry up and start sejoo and yookyung
Right?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!
IKR!! I’m loving Se Joo/Yoo Kyung couple, they are so interesting and I think Young Hwa and Han Chae Ah have so much chemistry. My poor YEH is overshadow by the amazing written Yoo Kyung and charismatic HCA. I love so much Yoo Kyung character, it’s what I want to see in a female lead. It’s like Sam Soon, she know what she wants and even though her crush loves someone else, she won’t back up. I know they are going to end together. Se Joo love for Mi Rae is only a fantasy of his ideal girl. If Mi Rae marries him it won’t be for love but pure interest, since the beginning she knew he was the heirs to the company. Yoo Kyung fell for Se Joo even when she thought he was a VJ.
I think because Shin has always been a jerk, despite Mi Rae love for him she wanted a better man. She loved him so much that she didn’t saw the jerk he truly was. I mean I’m quite sure he loves her but won’t change unless she changes. Mi Rae isn’t great either.
About who died because of Shin, I’m between Oppa (she seemed so happy to see him again and acts all cute when he’s around) or Shin himself (Cause it seems he was so obsessed with his passion that he forgot about everything even him.)
Anyways I hope there’s plenty of Se Joo & Yoo Kyung scenes in future eps.
Omo! oMO!!! @koala, YEH spotted with a new do while filming with LDG and Choi Myung Gil!!! Looks like a make-over is in the works for uri Na Mi Rae!!!!!!!!!