My Frustration with Kim Hye Yoon in MBC Drama Extraordinary You
This will be a polarizing post I’m sure but it’s nagging at me for why I adore watching MBC Wed-Thurs manhwa fantasy youth romance drama Extraordinary You but always finish an episode wishing it was better. It’s clear after 10 episodes that I have a problem with female lead Kim Hye Yoon. The good is that she’s a natural beauty and doesn’t look a dime-a-plastic-surgery dozen like many of the other young actresses around her. She’s also a decent actress, not extraordinary like the four Kims – Kim Hyang Gi, Kim So Hyun, Kim Yoo Jung, and Kim Sae Ron – but she’s a actress that has skills rather than a star trying to act.
The bad is HER VOICE, OMG it’s nails on chalkboard bad and honestly not her fault if she was born with it but when she’s doing voiceovers and aegyo in recent episodes I’ve had to mute her and read subtitles. She also cannot generate any romantic/sexual chemistry with her male leads, the best she gets is with Lee Jae Wook but mostly because he’s burning with repressed emotion but even then she’s like a white wall. With male lead Ro Woon it’s like watching two dolls playact romance, a kid playing with toy Barbie and toy Ken, and it’s not Ro Woon‘s side because he may not be a good actor yet but he’s got natural onscreen chemistry but cannot overcome Kim Hye Yoon’s chasteness.
Kim Hye Yoon is of course touted as the next big actress thing, winning the Baesang Best New Actress award last year for her role in Sky Castle. But if her ability is to do serious darker dramas then she hasn’t demonstrated an ability to do dramas that rely solely on onscreen chemistry to sell a fantastical or silly premise, like side characters in a manhwa trying to gain independence. She’s got the most screen time but is the weakest link for me in EY because she’s such an important character whereas many of the other supporting actors and actresses are objectively not as good at acting as she is but I find them easier to watch onscreen. Sigh, this is so frustrating for me, her voice thing cannot change but she needs to go date in real life and figure out how to generate actual tension and chemistry with her male leads.
Just try VIP from Jang Nara, Its so good!
About KHY I wont change my mind, She is a type of actress who can shine more as supporting role. So She is not bad, Its just She cant make me stay to watch her until the end. Eventho the plot is interisting.
The drama just get 2-4% in rating btw.
Some people are only meant to be supporting actors. She is definitely one of them.
And you are definitely meant to receive a lot of hate for making such an irresponsible and wholly untrue statement. I watch Extraordinary You too, in fact I adore it…and the major reason is Kim Hye Yoon.
It’s not an untrue statement or is it irresponsible, it’s called an opinion. They can say what they want. Geez calm down @sanjana98. Good for u if u like ey because of her.
Go Ara has to be #1 on worst “actress” in kdrama, yet she’s always put as a lead?
Ohmygod im lagughing so hard at this comment. It’s 2024 and hye yoon has proved she’s meant for fl or big roles. She has literally become the actress that make ppl think “i’ll watch this drama/movie cos it’s hyeyoon”. She’s so popular in korea right now (especially bcos of lovely runner) that knetz, directors, writers, idols, actors have been mentioning and praising her. She’s even the muse for a lot of kdrama writers. Her popularity in nationally and internationally is sooo crazy eight now. So to this disrespectful & arrogant commenter, jokes on you lol this is why one should learn to stop just hating & undermining ppl
@Raizza Aliviado, I’m also laughing now. I honestly didn’t know KHY until Lovely Runner. I didn’t even know she was the FL of Extraordinary You that had my beloved LJW as the 2nd ML until randomly coming across your comment now. LOL. Look at the number of comments in this tread! I had not idea she had such a controversial history on her own acting record. This is so amusing to me. Although BWS was attractive in LR and every fangirl swoon over him as if KHY was not a facto, she was the soul of LR plot. Her acting in the first few eps of LR grabbed my attention more than BWS although BWS delivered very convincing acting as being love struck. LOL.
She said on Running Man she wasn’t getting any drama offers. At that time I felt bad for her but now I completely understand why she doesn’t get any offers. Her acting is bad and directors are obviously aware of it.They don’t think a Baeksang which can be bought is a good enough reason to cast a bad actress for their dramas. She should stick to supporting roles.
Bad acting doesn’t stop people getting roles, look at some of the female idols. I don’t understand why certain people keeping getting cast in stuff but what do I know lol
I must say that she is not a leading lady or female lead material. I know every person is beautiful in their own way however her beauty is not fit for main lead comparing to Kim Yoo jung or kim so hyun. She does not have that star appeal you know what I mean. And I agree, she should stick for supporting roles.
Her beauty is not fit for main roles? I only hear this garbage rhetoric from drama fans.
I don’t think looks should be a requirement if they deserve to be a main lead or not, it should depend on their acting skills.
She won’t be getting any drama offers after this horrible performance.
@queen
Okay that’s not true, she will still get offers. She isn’t the best actress but she’s not bad bad.
That doesn’t stop people like Suzy from getting offers.
Suzy is popular. Even if her acting is bad, producers cast her because of her hype and potential CF earnings she bring.
Kim Hyeyoon is not popular and this drama proves her acting is very limited. She is better off sticking to antagonist roles.
@Eye – do you know the budget of EY as compared to VB? Suzy was casted in VB to bring in the cash, she is a wallpaper to say the least. I think KHY fits her role ok in EY and she will continue to receive offers, offers that Suzy won’t be able to handle because of her limited range. BTW, this is for everyone to think – as some of you are bashing KHY’s acting, do you think Suzy can play DO at the same level as KHY??
@canycane you talking like KHY nailed the role. Suzy wont make it same with KHY. No one will give her offers, her drama rating just 2-4%, thats a biggest flop. She got an easy ride from the popularity of sky castle, She better get back as supporting role and become scene stealer fisrt.
@Polo – I said KHY is ok in EY, I never meant “nailed it”. EY is NOT a flop, this drama has created lots of buzz internationally. I am not for or against KHY taking any roles in the future, whether it is supportive or lead. I am not even her fan. I think KHY is ok as a budding actress, she has great potential. A REAL actress should not mind what kind of role to play as long as the role is challenging and important in the story development. Cameo is also good. Better than those mediocres always being a wallpaper or a nagging or a crying machine. You are not a casting director so who are you to say “no one will give her offers”. Ridiculous!!
@Jewel The most ridiculous comment ever. The directors, staff, cast, writer and even knetz are praising her. She got a full time scholarship from Konkuk University. Ever thought maybe she wanted to focus on University first?
that’s your opinion, if she was so bad at acting she wouldn’t get any awards, but she works hard and it shows in her work so STOP HATING FOR NO REASON! @Jewel
you are really so obnoxious. she’s like a baby bird who’s ready to take off and you’re stopping her before her potential can be shown. what? go back to supporting roles? are you seriously trying to undermine her talents right now? just by ONE single drama? sure, this may be your opinion. but it surely wasn’t a great one. the casts, directors, ntzens and many more have praised her for her good portrayal of eun dan oh. yes, she is not the best actress out there. but she is able to let people bring out all sorts of emotions. she allowed us to feel the sorrow of being stuck in a world where your life is in the hands of somebody else. she did that tremendously well. it’s alright if you don’t think highly of her. but seriously, trying to drag someone down into the pit when they’ve already crawled back up is sickening. stop trying to hinder hye yoon from experiencing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Her acting is bad and she reminds me of that one classmate that I had in highschool who was popular for being a drama queen like the way dan og act is so same with her and the tone of her voice is also same… really idk sth abou her acting in EY is off. I had so many cringe moments but I watched it because I was done with all the other dramas and I was bored. The story line was fasicnating though … sorry to say but I had those moment where I thought what if kim sohyun took this role.. she is naturally cute without trying
Well, it’s 2024 and KHY made it. She even went abroad for her own fanmeeting (which is sold out btw). As for her role as Dan Oh, why would people even think that she has to show a romantic/sexual vibe. C’mon! High school is all about being young and energetic. Not that sensual personality that people wants to see. You should have watched a more mature drama instead. Lol.
Ouch! That’s harsh! I don’t find her voice aggravating, it does take on another tone when she’s doing the fast talking or the cutsey thing but it doesn’t grate on my ears like that. I guess it’s entirely subjective, but sorry to hear that it’s ruining your watching experience that much. I also don’t find her acting bad, in my opinion she’s totally serviceable but her acting is nowhere near as stellar as her acting Sky Castle but the characters are so widely different that you can’t compare them in a fair way. Sure she doesn’t have sizzling chemistry with her male leads but for a high school story I wasn’t exactly expecting that either so I’m fine with it.
I agree with you. Her voice and “chasteness” should not be a problem..afterall she is still young. We all mellow with age. Just wait and see.
I think she nailed her character. Dan Oh in shadow was supposed to be bubbly and energetic (including high pitch voice, exaggerating hand gestures and all) in contrast to the Dan Oh in stage who is cute and classy (which she was able to depict in the episode 29 with baek kyung). For her chemistry with her leads or co-stars its a 10/10 for me, their chemistry is overflowing. She was able to show a great chemistry with Haru, Baek Kyung and Do Hwa. I don’t completely agree with your review but I respect your opinion. I might be bias because I’m a fan of her.
I agree with you completely
I agree. I thought her voice was ok, I dont see anything wrong with it at all. Her acting is pretty cute as well.
Oh no I had high hopes wanting to watch EY for LJW but if this actress voices grates ah yeah I’ll put this on the One to watch list sometime in the near future and focus on Tales if Nokdu instead. Read nothing but good things about that drama especially the ML. Oh VIP with Jang Nara I’ll block out an hour to start that once I’m done with VB and Pegasus.
You’re not going to watch a drama you were looking forward to because some people said her voice is annoying? OKAY 🙂
I agree with you ms. Koala. I couldn’t watch after the 3rd chapter mainly because of the main female lead. She does act nor look like a teenager; she’s more like a 30 year old adjumma. I went to a chinese historical drama… now is good. I think the chinese are doing a great job these days with their historical dramas…even if it is very long 60 chapters of great is better than 16 chapters of meh!!!!
Dan oh is a really meaty role, and if one of the others Kim’s were to tackle this role, I would had been more happy.
It’s not because Kim Hye Yoon is why Dan Oh is such a fascinating character but because it was written so and a finer actress would had made her shine even more so. She cant balance comedy and drama without me thinking that she is not acting. She’s trying but certain scenes that wants the audience to care and sympathize with her journey, I’m not drawn in.
A Spunky character shouldn’t translate to over the top, whiny, high pitch acting unless the entire drama is planning to be a super silly parody from beginning to end.
Her interpretation of spunky is so off I can’t stand to watch her. I prefer the webtoon character to the drama version. KHY can’t do either. She is not a good actress but she also lacks charisma.
I’m sorry but this is entirely subjective… It’s your perspective and I understand that, but I personally think she is doing a finer job than other child actress turned to be romantic leads in k dramas did.
I literally cry over her chemistry with Rowoon, I totally feel it and most of the audience does too. So… In general, she must have be playing her part.
This is the rare exception where I don’t ship the main female actress with any of the male leads in real life.
If one of the ships happen to date in real life, I’ll think it’s cute but I wouldn’t support them with a parade, fireworks, streamers, and the works Hahaha
I never entertain the idea of someone else playing this role until koala suggested it. It’s a fun show and Khy does not take the fun away from it, however, maybe in the hands that of a different actress, it would be probably be much better. Her cute, aegyo acting could be toned down a little bit.
I have more issues with the way certain characters are being handled in the show rather than the actors serviceable performances.
I have to disagree with you on this Koala (everyone have the right to their own opinion). I find that KHY shines in this drama and it also show her versatility in her acting skills.
When she is happy and cute, i smile with her and she she is crying, my heartbreaks.
DO is never an easy character to act but she is able to display the 2 different characters very clearly (stage and shadow).
In one of the BTS, KHY did mentioned that she have to do research on how to be aegyo and it could be a need fr the script.
Dont just quickly dismissed her as an actress because I see a lot of potential in her.
I fall in love with KHY from EY and look forward to more of her future projects.
(I follow yr website for years but this is the only drama that motivates me to write comments)
This….and she is one drama old…the other four Kim’s have had their fare share of good and bad roles to get to the point and still continue to occassionally misfire with dramas after like tens of years in the industry. Kim Yoo Jung’s last drama that clean with something drama, Kim So Hyun’s radio drama etc. and People seem to forget that easily. On stage and in shadow…she plays two very different personalities well so I don’t agree with the criticism. She is doing her role justice and thankfully she is well received in her home ground.
I don’t know much about KHY because infact, i did record and watch in first few minutes.. But I can’t watch the rest of it.
For both KIMs although people seem to forget about their recent dramas, but there is no single point that saying they are lacking in portraying their character which is why, mostly Knetz blaming the plot, weak role or the script itself..
While here, based on the comments, she got the meatier role among all but yet can’t express it well as per scripted..
So, I believe in next few years, she can improve tremendously since she’s now under the same agency that train both Kims before…
I diasgree…Yoo Jung and So hyun were both underwhelming in the projects I have mentioned….So Hyun is great in Sageuks but her modern roles tend to be either entirely hit aka Love Alarm, Page Turner or terribly miss aka Radio Romance, Lets Fight Ghost. If you judge Hye Yoon based on here only that would be innaccurate because Nate, Naver are praising her to the skies while twitter, soompi is pretty much loving her….If I were you would judge based on my own opinion after watching.
Let’s Fight Ghost was not a miss. It was extremely popular and till this continues to be one of the most popular dramas in its genre. 90% of Kim So Hyun’s dramas are popular.
Never meant by ratings…people were harsh on her back then for her acting which was a bit all over the place but certainly not that bad…she has since proved her critics wrong. I think especially with Love Alarm and Nokdu you can see her growth.
Kim Hyangi is also just one drama old. That is not an excuse for bad acting. She is also a child actress like the other 4 and should be much better than this. Don’t criticise other actresses just because your bias is not good enough. The other 4 have a solid track record and under whelming characters are not their fault. This is not a case of underwhelming character but underwhelming acting. Everything about her acting is annoying and quite bad.
@Gem I don’t why you felt the need to drag KSH into this but did you just say KSH was criticised for LFG? Haha! Are you crazy? People were praising her for her excellent acting and for making Taecyeon finally act like a good actor. Nobody not one person criticized her acting. Even the director was floored by how good her acting was.
Kim Hyangi is from films, she is excellent but has long list of films…who has done one drama…I remember korean comments well from Oh My Ghost timeline…@lily relax…nobody is being dragged…comparison’s started due to Original post
@Gem First of all it’s Let’s Fight Ghost. Secondly I do too and they were only praising KSH. People were crazy about the chemistry between them despite the age gap. You picked the wrong KSH drama to try and critic her. LFG is one of herost popular and best works in terms of both ratings and acting. Its iconic till this day.
@lily hey if you find it Iconic…cool…I don’t care either way…to each their own….but I stand by what I’ve said
I don’t have to find it iconic. It is iconic that’s why it’s getting remakes. Your opinion is false and biased.
I agree with @gem where let’s be positive, Kim hye Yoon is still young and can improve in the future but I have to disagree with the let’s fight ghost fact. It was a hit with knetizens, the big criticism at the time was before it aired, most people were upset at the age differences and thought the pairing wouldn’t work out but was proved wrong later on.
To this date, the majority can agree that Kim so Hyun underwhelming role is in ruler but even most knetizens blames the writer for underutilizing her and literally it became cheese in the trap part 2, where she was barely in the show for certain episodes even though she was billed main female lead. Also clean with passion, the knetizens also enjoyed yoo Jung performance but it was the poor writing that lead to the downfall of the show.
@Gem – have you watched LFG at all? Even for one episode? You won’t say the same if you have. Let’s bet!
@lily be chill, dear ? Gem mentioned KSH bec ockoala started it in the post. She did not drag anyone in her comments
@khyfan
I agree everyone let’s just be thankful we have a good show to watch in extraordinary you and let’s all just drink boba and relax ^^
I also don’t think @gem is trying to drag anyone either. It’s the thing about writing online instead of talking in person. It’s easy for misunderstanding.
We are all friend here : )
@lily I actually don’t expect you to agree with me but calling my opinion biased for stating facts is a bias in itself. And I did watch the show…It was good, never got the flak…I enjoyed it.
Thank you for this comment, StefC!
I think your comment here is all wrong. I have watched EY in Netflix and I must say it really caught me offguard. the narration and the acting was good i finished the series in one sitting. Get your comments all together. Bashers
@StefC omg, we’re the same! Ive followed this site for years, watched both kdramas and international tv shows for years, and this is the only time I’m actually commenting and defending an actress. I SEE A LOT OF POTENTIAL IN HER and i just hope than when she reads this post, she’ll use it as a learning experience and not be overly sad by it. I’m a fan of the 4 kims too and is also amazed by their abilities. But sometimes, I find that they offer the same interpretation to their characters, same nuance and I dont blame them for that. They grew up in the industry, working with the same old actors, producers, etc.
Kim Hye Yoon on the other hand, is fresh and has a different take on her character in Sky and here in EY. (To be continued)
Stef C and KHY Fan are the same person. Good at greeeing with yourself.
@KHY fan, its nice to know that I am not alone :).
From the BTS videos, she has good working attitude.
I like her in runningman episode, she tries to do her best (but it came out being funny instead).
I have to admit that KHY will most probably have to work much harder as she doesnt have the Korean beauty stardard (to me, she is a natural beauty) neither is she from from Idol group.
I hope that she will get more opportunities in the future.
Lastly @Ali, no we are not the same person.
@stefc
Although I think she could do better in this show, I agree she has potential to improve ^^ For example a lot of people didn’t like IU acting in the beginning but now they love her to bits with her wonderful improvement in my mister and hotel Luna. I love her now too.
I also watch the running man clip, one of the hosts is so mean with his discouraging comments.
That description by Ms. Koala about the female lead’s voice made me laugh. Harsh but I have no say since I just watched about 10 minutes of the first episode before deciding it’s not for me. Although it would have been nice if the role was given to Kim Hyang Gi. I finished Moments of eighteen because of her.
This drama was so cracky for me up until like ep 6-7. I didn’t really particularly notice anything about the actress that put me off, but it’s in the later episodes where the drama has been dragging a bit and I’m not as enthused about it as before. Her crying scenes are awful. feels so forced. I need to go back and watch the previous episodes, but I don’t think anything about the actress bothered me. It’s only recently. But yea, it’s lost it’s steam for me. I’ll still watch and finish it…hopefully they’ll end well. I wish they would answer more about their world
Her crying scenes lack complete emotional depth. I can’t connect with the character at all when she starts crying. Her voice is the other thing that actually hurts my ears.
I think its a choice because she switches her vocal tone between stage and shadow. I have also seen her cameo as North Korean wife in Goblin and in Tunnel so its definitely a consciously made decision to use that tone. Judging by how all the off screen actors look like they have heart in their eyes for her behind the scenes during those aeygo scene….maybe they do find it cute…I like her regular voice more…the one that she uses as stage Dan Oh, in her Sageuk portions but it does not aggrevate me. I love Rowoon and her scenes…them on screen and their interactions are giving me some fluttery butterflies in stomach feels. Its not sexual chemistry because they are not aiming for that and keeping it chaste. I don’t mind it either way. She is one drams old as a proper lead…girl can build her profile up slowly.
I’m quite enjoying the drama find it very odd you’re essentially attacking the female lead while giving the male leads a pass while saying they have room to grow.
Luckily social media engagement is high for this drama so it is getting support online in Korea and internationally.
Why is my reply here? No clue
This is the reason Why Suzy can dominated the young generation. Its not because she is too good, Its because 90 lines actresses these days is too average, too weak. This is the reason why 80 lines actresses like ShK, JJH, HJM, GHJ, SYJ, PMY, can still dominating K-drama land.
Suzy is dominating cfs. But dramaland? Her drama ratings are always underwhelming even with huge budget.
And PMY is definitely not dominating anything as she can’t bring in ratings without a popular male lead.
Hey @Polo just saying that Suzy is not the best out of the 90’s by a country mile in the acting department that’s debatable and subjective but scores big in CF most definitely so please don’t drop her name here otherwise a massive us vs them is gonna erupt into going no where land. She’s doing well and holding her own in VB ah so let’s leave her out of this thread please. Yes I do agree PMY needs a male lead to lean on for sure no argument there. Can’t wait to see her lead a OCN drama on her own though. She’s shown her versatility in previous roles just over her type cast in rom coms she needs a break. Soo Young from SNSD has been cast in a OCN drama ‘Say what you saw’ with Jang Hyuk. Whilst I’m happy with her career trajectory and I do follow her I believe some other K actresses would have been better placed instead. So happy but unhappy if you know what I mean.
Instead of Suzy I would say it’s IU that dominates. After My Country and Queendom I’m sure Seolhyun will to.
@Jack I haven’t read anything or rather seen articles on My Country so unsure how Seolhyun is doing. I know she’s taken a hammering previously being criticised though in the acting stakes so her and Suzy are most likely equal. Her appearance on Queendom with AOA was a definite plus.
Seolhyun yes! She is brilliant in My Country! I had to drop this drama because of KHY even though Rowoon is my SF9 bias!
@yuri i stopped watching my country not only just bcuz of the storyline but also bcuz of seolhyun. Her flat expression, duh. Both male leads are already so good but her… well, at least, she gets better in my country compare to her previous dramas
“90 lines actresses are too weak” is a strong but very wrong statement. IU, KTR, KGE, SSK can all act and have dominated K-dramaland with very high ratings. There is no reason to compare with the 80 lines because the characters that each can play is different.
Exactly 80s and 90s line actresses dont even get the same offers. Why do people keep comparing them?
Just to throw more good names into my hat – NJH, LSY – my list gets longer just from thinking all the great watches I have this year. I dropped Suzy’s drama at ep 2. Right now, KSH’s Tale of Nokdu is dominating in reviews, not Suzy.
I’m polarized about NJH. She has the annoying voice and over acting as well. She is better at sageuk but I hated all her modern dramas.
@kiko Honestly they can get the same offers. Didnt they want JJH for HDL? But IU take it in the end. PBG turn down Hwayungi and they casted LSG. Don’t forget Where the star land : HB-PBG-LJH. Plus I think SHK character in Dots supposed to be younger than SHK real age. She is the same age with KJW’s Character, right?
im sorry, but i beg to disagreee. i love Nam ji hyun. to each his own
im okay with her voice and i find her acting really good. i just hope that the discussion would focus on Kim hye soon since this article is about her.
i dont have problem with NJH voice. Her voice is perfectly fine with me. i also find her acting very good.
i loved her in SKL, what happens to my family and 100 days my prince.
and besides, this post is about KHY, so the discussion should be about her. Peace everyone
Thanks for making me laugh with the Suzy comment @polo
Maybe in an alternative reality and that’s a big maybe.
I love NJH in all her dramas. she was good in SKL.ans SP. very good in HDH.
Her voice is definitely grating. People who haven’t seen Sky Castle will assume it’s only this drama because of the character. But no she was the same in Sky Castle. Her voice was extremely annoying. It might be a choice on her part but both times it hurt my ears so it’s a bad choice for her to use that voice. Eventually it’ll become a habit. The drama itself has lot much of its charm and the only interesting character left is Baek Kyung.
Her voice is like that when She become guest in Running man. Thats her real voice.
But she can choose not to act cute. Her voice sounds even more annoying
Woww i see some biased comments here. What’s with the she looks like 30 year old ahjumma comment. I agree that lately her increased aegyo tone being used a lot and yes it can ruin watching experience especially to non koreans who are not used or that fond of korea’s aegyo culture. But still i don’t think she’s that bad in terms of acting. Like i said in other post she made the drama interesting in the first few episodes. It may be due to the interesting and well written role but still without capable actress an interesting role will not work. And i agree with some poster here it’s a high school drama so i’m content enough with the cute interactions. I’m okay without the sparkling overflowing sexual tension. I may be biased too but hey i gotta defend my girl.
I agree, I think that 30 year old ahjumma comment is also overkill. It’s mean. People should just focus on the acting and not looks department.
She’s is definitely beautiful, first thing I noticed in the drama is how blind the 3 guys are not to even notice her. Her voice is a little annoying but not to the point that I want to mute her.
I struggled on whether I liked her interpretation of the character as I highly found her actions and reactions to be VERY annoying (I understand that a majority of the issues is how she is written).
After reading the WEBTOON I decided that I prefer LHY’s version more. The webtoon version is veeeery depressing
I completely agree. Her acting nor visuals appeal to me. She is average on both. Her voice is especially the worst thing about her. It reminds me so much of Hwang Jung Eum. That is never a good thing. The OTT is awful and her sad scenes are poorly acted. Nothing about her acting is appealing.
Am I the only one baffled by this opinion piece? I’m trying to understand why, out of all the things you could have written, this was the direction you decided to take with this article.
You don’t think too highly of either one of the main leads yet you spent one sentence mentioning the male lead (whilst giving him the benefit of the doubt due to his lack of experience) and the rest of the article slating the female lead (for, ironically, not having experience). Those who don’t know better would think that you were just in the mood to bash a female lead who has two handsome men chasing after her rather than offering genuine critique of Kim Hye Yoon’s performance.
I’m of the opinion that most of the four Kims are phenomenal child actresses who have fallen flat in their adult roles. This is probably because the women themselves are still trying to find their way as they transition through their careers. Because we know what they are capable of, we tend to be more forgiving. I think that it’s unfair how you are choosing to compare an actress that was only introduced last year to actresses that have had years to convince you that they have what it takes.
To be fair, EY would have been hard to pull off for any actress. How do you show the duality of a character who has more layers to her than some leads in 50 episode melodramas and keep the overall tone of the show upbeat? I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to be THE dying character in a story but to also not be allowed more than 5 minutes every four episodes to process that because the flower boys (I say this with love) need to show off their manly angst.
It’s Koalas blog. She write whatever she wants. Deal with it. The Four Kim’s outshine anyone and everyone.
Ohh don’t touch on the 4 Kims those girls are legendary in their own right. They might have had their hits and misses but KHY is no where in their league to be even compared against them. I’m on the fence for EY because I want to check it out but thank you for the FYI though I’ll have an open mind when watching it.
The 4 Kim’s are a permanent fixture in Korean entertainment. Others like KHY will come and go but 4 Kim will last forever. Everyone wants to be them, act like the, act with them. Their power can’t be compared.
@gingercrunch Kim Go Eun is legendary, Kim Hyang Gi same….Kim Tae Ri yes….Kim So Hyun, Yoo Jung, Sae Ron…good actors with strong childhood work background with famous roles yes, legendary not yet…does that mean I am hating on them….no…their transition to adult roles have been shaky….as for Hye Yoon…she is a rookie with one full role in her credit and lots of extra roles some of which for example the one in Goblin and Tunnel were excellent…her aeygo is on par Park Bo Young or Kim Go Eun’s aeygo to me…which I find unnecessary and not pleasant on your ear…but its not their real voice….blame it on South Korea’s love for high pitched, baby voiced aeygo…their real voice is pleasant, I wish the directors let them use it instead. Koala is entitled to her opinion but I don’t agree with her. Kim Hye Yoon is doing well with all the dualities in her roles…thankfully majority of domestic audience agree to this sentiment…she is a Baksaeng winner for a reason.
@Ari My point is that KHY should not be spoken in the same breath as the 4 Kims. She won a Baeksang and all of a sudden she’s elevated to become the 5th Kim? Not now maybe never but definitely working on it to get there sometime in the distant future. The 4 Kims whether you want to believe it or not are an institution in their own right. They deserve the recognition. Please don’t discredit their achievements based on your opinion that they are not legendary and have had a ‘shakey’ transition to adult roles. Those girls are famous and celebrated for a reason. Both KYJ and KSH were dubbed the nations/Korea ‘little sister’ for a reason. Until KHY is extended the same honour and affection then there is no comparison not by a country mile.
@GingerCrunch I think if referring to them as ‘Korea’s little sister’ is the best you can think of to defend their status as legends given they are precisely trying to grow out of that image speaks volume in itself. I don’t think anybody is trying to compare Hye Yoon to your 4 Legendary Kim’s. But the extend of vitriol against her here is unjustified in light of her accomplishments in the span of a year at that
@Ari That title that the 2 Kims were given as a homage to their outstanding talent. Disagree all you want it’s written down for the world to see. Doesn’t matter at what age kudos given is kudos earned. Now if you’re directing your post solely at me for the vitriol that I’VE expressed then obviously you haven’t read the other 99% commentary that so far worse. Show me where my comments are vitriolic? KHY has a long way to go in the industry and judging from the posts here good luck to her too. Seriously please re read over the posts that really criticise her and feel free to comment there to your hearts content.
KHY is a child actress as well. Look up her filmography. She isn’t new. She is just bad at acting. She hasn’t had a break out role till date because her acting is average.
EY would be hard to pull off for any actress? What rubbish. It’s the most typical female lead character in drama land. Anyone could pull it off and much better. Even someone extremely mediocre like Jin Seyeon could have done a better job. Give to an idol like Joy and even she would have done better. None the actresses I mentioned are good but they would have at least not been annoying which is exactly what Hyeyoon has turned Dan Oh into.
Kim hye yoon also started as a child actress as well, and she’s older than them by 3-4 years. She even appeared with Kim so Hyun in I can hear your voice.
To be fair I don’t think she’s that bad of an actress but she certainly isn’t as great as an actress as many people praised her to be when the show first came out. I watched the first episode and I thought she was good but nowhere as brilliant as people who hyped her up to be. The show could had done worst and cast some female idol. Thank goodness they didn’t.
She was an extra there…with 5 mins role…that is reaching my firiend.
5 minutes or not, that’s not the only role she did when she was a minor.
Best reply in this post. And again i find people tend to give baseless incostructive critics towards KHY especially those under this particular comment. Btw about the annoying voice, i’m not dragging any actress here because seriously i LOVE all these actresses i’m gonna mention but Kim Seul Gi and Nam Ji Hyun both have that high pitch tone that can be annoying too. And Park Bo Young use this cutesy act with high cutesy tone in her some of her drama, the one that i noted most is Oh My Ghostess. Were they criticized as hard as KHY for having that voice? From what i see no
Ah park bo young, I too had a hard time tolerating her esp in strong woman (I forgot the entire title). Her acting and lack of nuance is earth shatteringly bad. KHY acting is way more tolerable than park bo young.
I’m haven’t seen Kim seul gi or Nam ji Hyun works but if they also uses high pitch voice acting in all their dramas, I’ll be sure to avoid them too Lol
@Laura – don’t avoid NJH, watch 100 Days My Prince, one cannot fake the voice in saguek. Some people are just born with high pitch tone. Funny that KHY voice does not bother me any bit. I am still enjoying EY. I am more bothered with the bugs bunny enunication that someone has who cannot act.
@candycane hmmm I may give it a try, I heard it got draggy and kind of boring in the second half of the show.
laura, i second miss candycane. please do not avoid NJH’s drama. Give her dramas a chance. For me, she was really good in 100 days my prince.
Peace ???.
NJH fan ???
Its classic koala. I notice that she is a lot harsher to actresses than actors since long time ago. Its irritating for me at some point,and because of that I rarely check her blog anymore. I happen to check this comment section today because I genuinely want to watch this drama but I really want to see other’s opinion first before I start watching.nevertheless, I think commenters here basically worship koala to the point of defending every single opinion of hers,so maybe the opinion of the drama is not really reliable here.
Before someone curse me or something,yes, I am aware that this is her blog and its her opinion.I just responded to this particular comment so yeah..
@Hoon_Nim Sorry nope there are a lot of us that call Mz Koala out if we disagree with her. She doesn’t get an easy pass go and there are many a times the debate has been ongoing and the criticism against her is rife. So it’s not true that the majority of us are falling overselves to praise her quite the contrary. I’ve thanked her for writing several articles and for introducing me to several K actresses yep that’s it really.
No, I don’t worship koala. I’ve been an avid drama watcher for the past 15 years. I don’t Hate the actress and never said anything about her looks. I in fact loved the drama the first half of the drama, it’s only when the drama turned angsty in the last half where her crying scenes and overall acting has been a bit grating for me. Its my personal opinion and I was thinking this before Koala posted anything!
Worship is not the right word. Ms Koala is not God nor an idol. It is Respect which I have for the owner of this blog. Isn’t it common for women to nitpick on other women than men? Whether at school or at work, we tend to criticize more about another girl’s appearance or behaviour than boy’s. Maybe you can start a blog to talk about actors only and see how many worshippers you can gather. I never question the intent of why she writes a post except to gain clicks which this post is a big success. Good bloggers stimulate discussion and she is one of those.
Maybe I chose the wrong word,worship is too much. But you really cannot denied that lots of people just defend her in whatever she posts,even if its a very negative one. If you are not, then its okay!no need to get riled up. Following your comment @candycane, that is exactly my point. I just don’t like woman that nitpicking on other woman,while men get a free pass because they are men. It irk me more because it happens in real life too often as well. I get that she try to gained click,its a blog after all,but generate discussion?more like hate comments for me..
Nails on chalkboard is an apt description of her voice. The annoying thing is I have to mute almost all her scenes and she has too many. I prefer Jooda’s and Saemi’s voice to hers. Even their acting is better despite the fact they rarely have any screen time.
I don’t care with all your negative but you cannot just hudge people like that.Mirror yourselves first.
I don’t care with all your negative but you cannot just judge people like that.Mirror yourselves first.
People aren’t judging her personally. But criticism of acting is allowed and fair game as long as it isn’t hateful where they judge her character because of it.
Actually it is much harder to act cutesy comedy than dramatic, angsty roles.
KHY can act well enough for her age, but the fact that she is irritatingly cutesy is more dependant on director and directing
I honestly don’t think any of the ‘replacement’ actresses suggested above would have done any better. Most of them fails at cutesy too.
I don’t know if it’s dependent on the director or not because that’s beyond anyone’s reach unless the director comes out and publicity states that it is his decision but all the kims have done well at “cutesy” acting but that’s just my opinion and you’re allowed your opinion.
A very disappointingly biased and personalized opinion coming from koalas playground.Im not familiar with kim hyang gi but i saw some of her works,whereas ive been a fan of the other 3 kims mentioned and KIM HYE YOON acting skills is leveling up like those 3. I love kim soo hyun that i almost her stalker but in fairness to Hye Yoon..her facial emotions are more profound than Soo Hyun. KHY acting skills is in between yoo jung and so hyun. She’s the life blood of “extraordinary you”but what?critisizing her voice and chemistry with male leads? I have to ask…do you have eyes that can’t see or you willingly close your brains stubbornly?People tend to critisize works of other people to hide insecurities and some justifies hypocrisy for being opinionated. Just saying!!!(i also had freedom of speech ryt?) I currently watch Leverage and Kim Sae Rons acting surpasses yoo jung and soo hyun. Kim yoo jung’s reality show in italy recently even surpasses soo hyun’s in US in terms of strength and foreign interactions.These girls tend to get out their cutely images and explore new challenges and roles compared to Hye Yoon that just starting to get major roles..so Please cut Kim Hye Yoon some slack she’s working HARD and hopefully like the 4 Kims succeed in her career to stardom.
Ummmm is koala also a rising young starlet? Is she an actress? Why would she need to feel secure by criticizing someone’s acting? If that was the case, she would criticize everyone’s acting. As you said you have freedom of speech, so does koala. So climb on a rocket, go to the moon, and calm down.
Khy acting is in between Kim yoo Jung and Kim so Hyun? I disagree but that’s your opinion. And I don’t get the point of comparing Kim yoo Jung and Kim so Hyun traveling adventures. Like what’s the point of comparing foreign interactions? Are they trying to be foreign ambassadors or diplomats? If we were to compare, Kim so Hyun is better at English than Kim yoo Jung. It’s just a freaking traveling show, just a fun thing for their fans to have a glimpse of them outside of their acting. Not everything needs to be compared lol
“A very disappointing and biased and personalized opinion coming from koala…”
Is not every person comment biased and personalized, including your comment? Lol
It’s dangerous when you compare KHY with KYJ and KSH. Just saying it’s like pitting an idol actress against the likes of Go Hyun Jung and Lee Young Ae. That’s a no go zone. KHY had a hit with Sky castle so she’s on her way; EY she’s polarised opinion with those who are keen as with her as an actress and then those who are just indifferent. That’s the name of the game in the entertainment industry; you’re either liked or disliked. KP blog just so has a gamut of opinions but it’s up to the individual to find the time to decide on their own how they feel about a certain actress. I thank Mz Koala for introducing me to starlets such as Kim Yoo Jung, Yoon Eun Hye, Jun Ji Hyun, Ha Ji Won actresses that I would never write home about all because of the not too complimentary commentary here.
The context of the blog is a review and disappointment of the blogger regarding Kim Hye Yoon’s”voice” and “not good”chemistry with co-stars which i highly disagreed and posted a comment of the blogger as a double standard(i hope u know what is a double standard) before you grip ur pitch fork at my comment.
Anyways i jz randomly mention yoo jung and So Hyun (for the petty ones who comment on the spelling,the funny thing is my wrong spelling of “criticize” hadnt been perceived). I didnt mean to compare the 2 coz i like them both. I dont want to elucidate further to prevent misunderstanding. What I clearly wanted to tell is give Kim Hye Yoon some slack as she is starting to get major roles and improve her acting,and not judge her base only in what you know on the surface. That’s all.
What the hell is your problem? KSH is more popular internationally and domestically can easily be gauged by her IG fandom size and local fan cafe size. KHY is not even in the same realm as her especially not in acting. It’s like comparing and idol to Bae Doona or Lee Young Ae. KSH is a well established actress who is critically acclaimed and has a massive fan base to back her up. Views on YT mean nothing since agencies can pay for those. Kpop will teach you that. KSH agency does not believe in media play which is why they haven’t hyped up the success of Love Alarm and Take of Nokdu. If you don’t like her acting that is your and only your singular opinion but don’t pretend to make objective standpoints. KSH is the biggest actress of her generation at the moment. She works hard and has consistently shown improvement and nuance in all her works. Just because people here are criticising KHY does not give you the right to criticise KSH just to pacify your ego.
Coming back after several hours and wow koala succesfully increases the traffic for her site through this. Haha.
I’m hesitant in writing this but since double standard is mentioned i’ll just go with it. This is only my opinion anyway. I’ve been following koala and kdrama for almost 13 years, and from my observation koala is a fan of Park Shin Hye. And in my opinion PSH has both cute nasal voice (which is as possibly annoying as the high pitch voice) and bad chemistry with some of her co stars. But i don’t see same harsh criticism pointed to PSH so far. And before anyone mentions it again yes i know this is her blog and she’s free to post anything she wants.
Oops reply in the wrong comment. Sorry good people, my previous comment is for @Laura.
On this blog park shin hye also got flak from people for being bland in most of roles with the exception of dr. Crush. She was great and badass there. Her kissing techniques are the worst and look uncomfortable.
She was severely wasted and boring in memories of A.
I think koala likes psh as a model or style queen but acting-wise, I don’t think she has been complimentary with her acting ability if she had not often.
Who surpasses who in what? Utter bullshit coming from hyeyoon fans who can’t accept the fact that her acting mediocre. Give her a chance? She’s been acting her whole life and still sucks so why should I give her a chance? Lee jaewook who just debuted this year is 100x better actor than her. Her acting style is inferior to even nam jihyun in shopping king. Over hyping her won’t stop people from seeing facts.
It hurts me when you can’t even type Sohyun’s name with single ‘o’ properly when you claimed you are her stalker.. Not one, but 3 times mistakes ?
“Only a veeeerrryy petty person stirs up trivial things”
I’m not sure what koala is doing for you to accuse her of having double standards but I agree that there’s great probability that khy acting ability will increase over time.
I honestly think it’s more a problem with the writing and directing. I find her acting fantastic especially in the first few episodes when she swung from wildly different emotions, from heartfelt crying scenes in the stage then into comedic cringing-at-herself scenes in the shadow. But recently, she has lost most of her spunk and has been relegated to making lovey-dovey eyes at Rowoon and speaking in aegyo. It doesn’t help that I find their scenes cringe-worthily saccharine, which would have been fine if this were a pure high school rom-com drama. Danoh in the webtoon also became obsessed with spending her time only with Haru, but at least she still had a sense of urgency and was not just reacting to things going around her. To be honest, I even look forward more to her scenes with Baek Kyung now (despite the drama writers removing all the poignancy of that relationship in the webtoon and making it toxic instead) because Kim Hyeyoon tones down the aegyo (in their shadow scenes at least) and gets to act subdued, which she’s great at. Lee Jaewook’s intensity matches well with her in those scenes.
I agree about her beauty though! There’s something old-fashioned about her look, in a good way. I can see her being at home in older dramas or movies. I haven’t watched her in any other drama, so please correct me if her aegyo voice is natural or a directorial choice.
I don’t know if you read webtoons, koala, but I highly suggest you read the webtoon version, July Found By Chance. I would really appreciate your thoughts about that because I find it much superior than the drama.
What a well thought-out and written post.
Her aegyo voice is natural. If you watch this video where it showcase clips from all the shows and movies she’s in, so you can see that it isn’t a directorial choice.
Just type in “ career of Kim hye-yoon” on YouTube and the video should appear. You can see Dan Oh in her in many of the clips including sky castle.
You have been writing false after false information here, may I ask why? Her BTS, her interviews, her running man appearance, her roles as extras in other dramas all indicate her natural voice is starkly different. She has been in industry since 2013, yes but her roles were 5 minutes, a few frame worth….truly an extra. No full role or supporting role before Sky Castle. Say that you dislike her strongly which is okay and move on. This spreading lies is distasteful.
I don’t agree so much! She’s the soul of this drama without her, the story will be so flat.
She can handle the cuteness, the sadness, the monologues, etc. Try to act only one of her scene without looking awkward. The way she can act from the Stage to the Shadow it’s so great, one second she’s crying the next one she’s pissed off or laughing.
You don’t like her ok, but say she’s a bad actress is really wrong!
The girl can scare grown-up men way more imposing than her juste because her character she acted in Sky Castle was so charismatic. In real life, she’s very cute.
I think Lee Jae Wook’s fan are doing more harm than good. You can love an actor without belittling the others.
She’s not the soul of the drama, her character is.
We are not actors of course we will look awkward but that’s not a good excuse to defend someone’s acting ability. We might as well never criticize anyone’s acting or singing or anything because we can’t personally do better…..? I don’t think that a good criteria.
If people don’t like her acting, then they can call her a bad actress if they want, and if you were to look up the YouTube videos that compiled most of her performances, you can see her acting the same way for almost every character she plays. I personally think her acting is just okay but people have the right to have their own opinion and think she isn’t a good actress. Naturally you as a fan will feel hurt by it, but it’s better to build a thick skin and shake it off and move on cause life is too short to take things personally.
Liking lee Jae Wook has nothing to do with liking or disliking Kim hye yoon.
The only sane comment on this whole blog. I’m so baffled by people comparing her to 4Kims. They’re actual child actors who have taken up huge roles when they were super young.
“She is not pretty enough, she didn’t get huge roles because of her bad acting, her voice is annoying, too much aegyo”
Yes, she doesn’t meet the Korean beauty standard but as an outsider I think she looks pretty decent.
KHY passed out from Uni with a full-time scholarship and as a valedictorian. You can see where her priorities were.
And you guys really lost me at “Buying Baeksang award” XD
These people are seriously just nitpicking on her. Even though she’s not my favorite actress, she is not as bad as you guys are saying. Knetz who are the most critical, are praising for her acting.
You are hating on KHY and outright bashing for, well… nothing. You’re insane if you think this is a genuine critique and not plain hate.
“Di” spilled, like for realllll yall btches irritating likeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Using terms like ‘extraordinary’, ‘iconic’, ‘critically acclaimed’, I would have expected we are talking about actresses with a couple of Oscars awards.
Still, thanks for these highly entertaining comments.
No one is right or wrong.
Everyone are entitiled to their own opinion and have to bear the consequences of their action/thoughts.
At the end of the day, I am just amazed at the comments that this post garnered.
Be it good or bad, you cant deny that it has the highest activities in Koalaplayground for the past 2 weeks.
Peace ?
True haha
When I was watching Sky Castle I knew her voice was irritating and I knew it wasn’t because of the role. It will be interesting to see if she continues to get leads for adult roles as I currently foresee her only getting certain types of roles.
I tried watching this because of comments and LJW is in it. But I couldnt cont cause of lead actress. I wonder ıf she can really carry lead roles for now? I thought it was only me :/ she tries hard and I can see that but its like im seeing actress more than her role/character kind of feeling. So stiff and just tries her best with acting but thats it. She cant make me feel the character she portrays T_T
Yup, the only one she has even a slight chemistry with is baekkyung, too bad those 2 don’t really have anything romantic going on.
& she can’t make me feel the character either, I mean most of the time she’s just annoying. & why does she have to act like a child?
Are you part of this blogs minions or a troll perhaps?Do u understand the “title” of the blog?and the reply you gave?well u must READ it again. Let me elucidate and enlighten you.Koala or the blogger “blogs” or give her own review and own thinking of Kim Hye Yoon’s acting and her drama. “I” post to disagree and comment that the bloggers understanding is so double standard(i hope you understand what a double standard is b4 u reply). Anywayz i jz randomly said about yoo jung and soo hyun’s travel show and i dont think yoo jung is more worse in english language than u think and i hv no intentions of comparison,as I said im a fan of the 3 kims mentioned. AGAIN try to watch it in youtube for ur references(their travel shows).
Lols, will you stop befriending someone just bcuz of her voice???? Like you’ll stop watching, mainly bcuz of her voice? Not story or acting??
I haven’t read the webtoon and i disnt plan to.. but for me, she’s pretty good. I’ve watched 7 kdramas right now, and guess what, her character is so fresh comparing to most of the female lead character in 6 other dramas. Well, actually i’ve watched all the current airing dramas this season, but stopped watching some bcuz of the flat acting, boring storyline and no chemistry between leads. But EY is so extra. The female lead is so extra. I think she’s the one why most of viewers watching this. Okay, at first for the boys but then, their characters are just the same as many many many other characters in moat of kdramas.
She’s still learning to act more natural, but she’s better than some lead actresses in the current airing dramas.
Hi there…i also tried to read the webtoon out of curiosity. And Dan oh in webtoon is not like dan oh in the drama w/c is full of energy. Kim Hye Yoon nailed it. The drama is more lively in a comedic way that’s why the writer of the webtoon says theres a huge differences and maybe extraordinary you may have a twist in the ending coz the webtoon is currently ongoing. Also I agree that Hye Yoon is the reason why most people watched it…lol
@Yui Can you please name the actresses in current airing dramas that KHY is ‘better’ then to give more context please?
Oh wow. Can’t believe the comment section is that long. TBH I didn’t expect there was so much criticism over her voice or her acting. I enthusiastically enjoyed this show in the first few episodes. I didn’t find KHY’s voice particularly irritating or annoying until I read this post lol. She is naturally cute and pretty. She’s fresh face and her acting is not bad at all. Sometimes I think it’s how her character was written and the recent episodes show how clingy her character can be. On a positive note, I don’t care about the criticism, I watch this for KHY and RW. This drama is seriously addicting, OSTs are good and the visuals are outstanding. I don’t usually watch fantasy dramas but this one is a hit. Can’t wait to see what happens next.
Yep! I love their OSTs.
I can’t agree with you. I like her voice, it suits her. Nothing overly sweet and high. And for her acting I have nothing to complain either. At least to me she sold her role very well since I can get into her character. And it is only an idol drama after all. They don’t need to be A-Class as long it warms my heart.
My only disapointment is LJW. His character surely is the most intruging and interesting and he can’t show the feelings properly. He is turning to the dark side because of love and all I see is a sulking teenager. Maybe is it because I know he CAN do better.
The drama messed up his character. They should have brought to life the webtoon baek and not updated him just to bring out unnecessary angst.
It isn’t the character I have problems, quite the opposite. It is the actor who doesn’t portrait his role well. Both other two Main Actors can portrait the differences between Stage and Shadow well for me. He can not. I don’t see a difference at all in his acting, it is only by the story I know if it is Stage or Shadow. Don’t know why since he surely can act way better. Maybe it is the directors fault as well. I’m a bit at loss since he surely got the role for the reason that he isn’t a rookie.
omg i agree,, ljw was just kinda…bland in the drama. idk if its because of how his character is written but ugh idk, people say he was good in SEARCH WWWW tho so…
What an “interesting” comparison, thinking of the purpose of bringing 4 Kims to compare of the newly fresh actress? Does it do any justice?
There are not many actresses are gifted talent. They have to learn from trials and errors and get polished, be good and be able to articulate their character well. To be honest, some of successful, high end profile actresses nowadays are still very one dimension.
Not account to the fact that sometime the acting, is also under director’s intention.
Am I the only one who is enjoying KHY’s acting? Sure she isn’t your conventional leading actress but I liked the spunky interpretation she’s injecting into her characters. I also don’t get the voice issue author has with the actress but guess that’s personal preference.
You guys say the leadings guys are acting leaps and bounds above her. I have to disagree. I’m intrigued to keep watching because of KHY’s chemistry with the leading guys and not the leading male actors. If anything, I have more issues with acting on the guys’ end than her. KHY is definitely not at par with the the 4 Kims but seriously who really are in that category? It’s unfair to compare her to more established leading actresses. The girl needs to learn more but there’s nothing wrong with that. You have to start from somewhere.
If she was a newbie, then perhaps it would be more understanding but she started acting since at least 2013. So it’s fair for people to compare, for better or for worse.
But definitely, all you can go is up, and she’s improved for sure.
Personally I think she outshines all her costars in her role here. As for her voice…I haven’t noticed it as much because it suits her character in the drama. And I like her fresh faced natural look. It’s her breakout role. And for me it’s well deserved. Whilst the ratings In Korea may not be great, the story and plot has been refreshing. Plus it’s gained a big cult following in China. So I would say it’s a big win for everyone.
I’m going to join the direction of the wind and agree that her acting needs works(her voice acting reminds of the Alvin and the chipmunk flicks) but that’s not the deal breaker, the biggest elephant in the room is the complete nuke of certain characters and the relationships. You can argue to view drama and webtoon as separate entity but I would dare say that’s a weak defense esp when the source material is Wonderful and not utilized to the drama’s benefit. The best change the drama writers made is in the titular character by making her “spunky” and “lighthearted” but that’s one of the few changes that they got right. They wreck the oomph and sugarcoated the deep and rich characterizations written in the webtoon.
The show is becoming more and more like a regular high school hot blooded youth drama which would had been okay if that’s what they were aiming for in the beginning.
I’m having trouble with EY but not because of KHY’s acting. It’s how they turned her character from spunky heroine to a typical teary drip. I kind of agree about KHY’s voice, but otherwise I like her acting and actually find her better than the males.
For a drama which is averaging 3-4%, it certainly has a lot of fans who loves and supports it. How interesting that the ratings nowadays are just getting lower and lower.
If people dislike KHY’s acting, that’s ok. But a lot of false information is being spread around here. Firstly, KHY is NOT a child actress. She made her debut at the age of 17 whereas the Kims debuted before hitting their teens, as young as the age of 4. She isn’t as experienced as any of them because she did bit roles and not full-fledged roles like the Kims. The reason for this is not lack of talent. She was attending university as a full-time scholarship student and consciously chose small roles so acting wouldn’t affect her academic progress. SKY Castle was the first drama in which her character had a complete arc. The talk about her agency buying a Beaksang for her is rubbish because her win was met with enthusiastic approval by knetz. Knetz and critics appreciated her acting in SKY Castle throughout, and noted that she held her own confidently in the presence of veterans like Yum Jung Ah and Kim Seo Hyung. Knetz are also appreciating her acting in Extraordinary You. And comparing her to the 3 Kims is not like comparing Go Hyun Jung and Lee Young Ae to idol actresses, the more appropriate comparison would be Moon Chae Won or Han Hyo Joo, where you know that one is legendary but the other isn’t too shabby either. Anyway I don’t know why she’s compared to the Kims, she’s much older than them, the actresses of her age group are Chae Soo Bin, Nam Ji Hyun and Moon Ga Young.
Thanks for clearing that up Lynn. She’s super talented and smart. I am looking forward to her future projects. She’s a breath of fresh air.
@Pilgrim thank YOU.
@Lynn That was me that the made the comparison between LAY and GHJ and idol actresses and it’s unfortunate that the majority of the posts here are not down with KHY acting/voice/expression however I’m more inclined now to watch EY to see what all the fuss is about.
@Lynn thank you for appreciating my clarification. Indeed she is an intelligent and promising young talent, and is quite hardworking as well.
@Ginger Crunch. Thank you for your polite reply. I think you should watch a couple of episodes of Sky Castle, EY and her cameo in Goblin and form your own opinion on her acting. Her next is upcoming movie ‘Midnight’ with Jin Ki Joo and Wi Ha Joon where she will play a schoolgirl who encounters a serial killer. I believe this supporting role may reveal a different, more subtle acting style from her.
Oops I meant @Pilgrim in the 1st paragraph
My top of mind reaction to this post was a huge disappointment. I had to stop whatever I was doing just to read the post and make my initial comments. As expected, it became such a perfect venue for critics to put their harsh comments against KHY — about her looks, even putting a sad prediction to her acting career. Guys it’s so toxic! I thought with the recent events in korea e.g. suicide , critics will tread more carefully. But apparently not.
On the brighter side, it’s cool that there are a number of posts which support KHY. I extremely enjoy her acting and even my younger bro agrees that she’s good. When she acts, she goes all out and I don’t get what’s hateful about that. There’s something wrong with her voice? Hmmm she’s not the only actress who have that voice or uses that kind of aegyo. You watch taiwanese, chinese even jdoramas, most of their actresses all have that type of voice. Which makes this post such a mystery to me since I know that Koala also watches other asian dramas, her frustration to high pitched voices came as a surprise. And pls dont say that it’s her blog, she can post whatever she wants… it doesn’t work that way. Just like KHY’s acting or voice that’s open to public cristicism, the same goes for this public post.
To viewers who are simply looking for entertainment after a long stressful day, someone who doesnt mind watching immature high school characters, running around, then this show Extraordinary You is for you. It definitely is an escape after a long dreary day.
But if you want the the usual heart wrenching, soul breaking kdramas, nope, skip this one. Again, we’re talking about a drama in a high school setting.
Just minutes ago, i was watching in youtube some of EY’s fun bts moments. If these actors are having fun doing this drama for us, why can’t we too? Let’s stop this toxicity and just enjoy the show.
*KHY Fan signing off from this blog post*
I agree with you, a post like this can be disheartening to a budding actress like KHY, especially when her acting is not bad enough to warrant a separate article. I have seen the owner of this blog ignore much much much worse acting.
Hi5!
There will always be naysayers. It’s a given in the industry. She looks to have a good head on her shoulders so I trust she will be able to deal with negativity. To have gotten a scholarship to one of the top Universities in Korea means she’s got brains to go along with her talent. So she’s no airhead. I like that in an actress. Chances are it also means she has options outside of the industry if it gets a bit much for her. Despite her character in Sky Castle being antagonistic, it’s her nuanced acting that ensured I never truly “hated” her but instead understood where she was coming from. It’s not easy to do that. No wonder she won the Baeksang for her role. She deserved it.
Preach!
“To viewers who are simply looking for entertainment after a long stressful day….” agreed.
Her voice is funny and I like it.
Oh God the amount of negativity in here….
I have been watching EY and it is good but I do agree that it’s not as groundbreaking the way some fans crack it to be. While I think the argument that her looks are unfit for a leading lady is bollocks, I can’t help but agree about her voice. I’m not as aggravated by it as other viewers but there definitely have been points when I thought that she would be a lot more effective in the role if she tones down what she has going on. I don’t have any qualms about her performance. I mean, she may not be the best but she’s serviceable and she gets the job done. I also have to.say, her performance is definitely a cut above the performances of some actresses in drama series before, think Joy in Tempted. With that said, I am extremely curious as to how an actress like Go Ah Sung would’ve interpreted Dan Oh. As for the Kims, I think it’s too early to portray them as legends not just because they’re young. I do agree that they have phenomenal acting skills but in an industry that puts crushing standards of beauty and community-driven norms that can be at times oppressive, we never know what might happen. We’ve seen a portion of it on the overblown stage scandal of Kim Yoo Jung. Anyways, peace out.
How hateful can someone be I am pretty most you haters are lee jae wook fans you guys need to chill the hell down
Who are the LJW fans here? Name some please. Don’t call people “haters” when you don’t even have the guts to point fingers at a particular person @sarah. Don’t start a fanwar. I don’t see how a fan of an actor LJW can bash his coworker who is a girl. From what I can observe here, most immature fans who like to bash KHY are fans of other actresses. I think KHY is good so no need to call other “haters” unless you are a hater yourself.
@sarah
You are the one that need to chill. Don’t make thoughtless assumptions. FYI it’s called having an opinion.
A Lot of false information and comparing her with more experience child actress proves how much hatred you haters are spreading. she is not even a child actress she is inexperience and yet outshine everyone in this drama her acting is better than so called idol actresess like suzy (who some of you call best actress ever becuase she is your bias)
How about you get your facts straightened. She had more acting experiences than her two main male lead. She is the center role, so duh she has more screen time. Her acting better than the other people in ey? That’s questionable. FYI that’s your opinion so don’t accuse others of being an hater when you’re acting like one yourself by comparing her to people in ey and idol actresses. But I agree Suzy is awful.
Based on the post title I thought there was going to be some constructive criticism of KHY’s acting or whatnot, but it seems like this is just pure hate of KHY that’s masquerading as a reasonable post.
I definitely think there’s a good majority of people who think KHY’s acting is good and the drama is fun, me included. Arguing about her onscreen chemistry is subjective, but for me she nails the role well, good enough that I watch the drama mainly because of the actress.
Also, I think her Baeksang is well-deserved. Hating her simply because of her voice and saying that she needs to “go date in real life” just sounds childish.
Constructive criticism, is this a talent show or an acting course blog? The recommendation is to go to acting school? Is that constructive enough?
Although some of the negative posts are mean spirited,
Most of the negative posts honestly expressed they don’t like how she emotes physically and vocally. That’s fair criticism. If they find her voice annoying, that doesn’t mean they hate her. It’s like you find your brother annoying, you don’t hate him.
The go on date in real life, not being pretty enough comments, I agree are bad.
People who give Kim Hye Yoon credit for making the drama version of Dan Oh so special and so unique needs to watch her previous works. It’s not her being inspirational and making the role her own but it’s her doing the same thing over and over again. She can’t transcend past her cutesy acting style even in her more serious scenes.
Khy you are also spreading false info by being unable to read properly. No one said that she bought her award, they’re saying that the award can be bought, so winning the award doesn’t guarantee if they deserve it or not. Look at the recent scandal with the idol reality show, everything was faked.
2ndly. On running man she did say that she was acknowledging that she wasn’t getting offers, not because she was in university. the whole university bit where she turned down offers her because she was attending school and wanted to focus only on school is your thoughts and assumptions. She didn’t say in running man.
3rd having chemistry requires both people effort but one person solely can damage the effort, so it’s not always fair to blame both people. It’s like standing next to a robot, you can’t generate chemistry from a robot no matter how much you try. Some people have talent in producing chemistry with almost everyone but those people are rare.
Lastly, FYI it’s everyone opinion to like or not like someone’s acting. So freaking chill and don’t automatically call people hater or ljw fans or jealous or dumb because we disagree with u. Don’t act like you don’t criticize other people because some of you are dragging down other actors to push Kim Hye yoon upwards.
READ. If her agency is as powerful as you say it is, and is able to purchase an award for a rookie like her, it would have handed her a leading role immediately and without auditions.
And she said that she wasn’t getting offers AFTER SKY Castle. SKY Castle was literally the biggest role she did after almost completing university education. She didn’t look out for bigger roles BEFORE Sky Castle because her education was in full swing. So no, definitely not my thoughts or assumptions. Just your lack of comprehension.
See I’m not a fan of her although I have a soft spot for her. But I’ve seen the opposite of what you’ve described here. Fans of other actresses and Lee Jae Wook are very vocal with their dislike of her while I haven’t seen any of her fans criticise the 3 Kims or him.
ok Tan but you are spreading misinformation here
– previous “cutesy” roles
oh we CAN tell you havent watched her previous works :d A SIMPLE youtube search if ‘hyeyoon career’ will literally shw you the old roles she has taken, she has only taken one of the two ; antagonist/bully role (W & sky castle) or emotional/young role (goblin). Not a single mix of happy DanOh.
– ‘awards’
Mnet and Baeksang are completely different organizations that do different things for different porpuse. Mnet is owned by CJ Group and Baeksang is by Ilgan group, youre definiteey reaching . KHY was a huge hit during her sky castle days and even tv personalities have applaud her acting (watch her running man episode and ask us anything for context) . so, by saying THAT, you ARE spreading misinformation, putting up your own agenda and nitpicking on her, you thought u were smart huh?
– offers
it was AFTER her role in sky castle, so youre kind of…spreading mis information AGAIN lmao
– and 4th, youre a hypocrite for posting stuff like this when in the first place youre actually putting more fire, youre unconsciously (or in porpuse) trying to nitpick on her in the first place [“deserve it or not”, oh you are NOT slick ] lmao bye
I was a little bit shook when i found this post :))) cause i have never fell for a female lead like her before . Even though i like kim soo hyun too but not as same as the way i have with KHY :)) but you know even kim soo hyun has those who hate her acting too so why hyeyoon doesn’t right ? But the chemistry with the male lead your talking about i dont know but knetz even doubted that theyre having a relationship because of their chemistry…
And these comments my friends is what drives Korea’s high suicide rates. So keep up the good work of publicizing your opinions and leaving harsh comments. Hey, even opinion hurts right? Even if you wanted to shrug it off your shoulder, there is still a part of you that would feel sad if you had read such comments right? Man, just imagine what the actress would feel if she would ever read this post and the thread. I know we are entitled to say our opinions BUT just think before you click! Even if you have the right if you think it would hurt just please please don’t say it. I’m talking here as a whole and not just for KHY.
but for every job one does, there are bound to be people disliking and people liking it. The world is not black or white, there are many grey areas. I don’t expect everyone to like my projects (I am studying) or my job performance (working part-time). I just need to try harder to achieve better acknowledgements. We do not live in green houses, we are not exotic plants that need protection. In an artistic world, evaluation is usually subjective. If one cannot take constructive criticisms, he/she better not be in the entertainment business. just saying. you cannot tell others not to comment. we are not robots.
btw i like KHY performance in the first half of EY, but her repetitiveness got to me and i tuned out.
I agree. I think it is normal for people to criticize their acting if they are not great. However, I find it disgusting, rude and bad for people to criticize something that people can’t change. Voice and look is something people can’t change so It is not good to criticize them.
I personally find KHY voice charming and she looks pretty enough.
If someone undergo P.S, you called them fake and if they don’t, you called her ugly. What do people want? lol
tbh i’m quite surprised to see this post and the comments. first of all, it’s not wrong to have your own opinion and post it on the internet to share with others. But you are criticizing for something that she (KHY) can’t change forever in her life (note: her voice). A little did you know “she really worked hard for EY. She put her heart and determination on it” 🙂 and for “sexual/romantic chemistry” that you mentioned.. well she’s supposed to act according to the script and the director. The writer wrote Eun Dan Oh as a “bubbly and cheerful character” and she’s working on it. The kiss or the skinships that you really want to see couldn’t be seen because they will only do if the director told them so. The genre and the characters just don’t suit your taste. that’s all.
I think KHY acting is excellent. I personally think that her acting skill is above average for her age. I find it disgusting that people criticize her voice(something that she can’t change). I really like her voice. She has the potential and definitely can be a great actress in the future. I’m really excited and wanted to see her in the next drama soon.
Agreed 100% with the voice and bad acting. She was trying too hard to act cute and funny in ey. I had to fast forward some of her scenes because of the cringiness. Totally undeserving of the best actress and rookie awards. She really needs to stop the exaggerated acting. At this stage..I dont see her a serious lead actress.
omg i actually think the same too!!! her voices are sickening like she talk in a very cute tone for every types of conversation. Ugh
I love NJH in all her dramas. she was good in SKL.ans SP. very good in HDH.
Who’s exactly the writer of this article??
Why did she/he writer like this??
For me, EY is one of the best school drama ever. Although it’s not easily understood (stage-shadow) but beçause of kim hye yoon, it became more more interesting.
Kim hye yoon played her character very well. And her chemistry with her co-stars off and on screen was really really good.
Even, i watched their BTS, something that i’ve never done before. I can’t move on.
I like kim hye yoon’s acting in sky castle and in extraordinary you. I think her voice is cute.
She strugles hard. For just nameless extras, now she proves that she deserves to be main lead. I adore her.
Exactly hays
People say that Korean fans are toxic, but most of the people in this comment section want to take that award, right? Being so harsh about her appearance and her voice (please, the girl is beautiful, and go watch the video of her appearance on Kim Bo Ra’s YT channel, her voice is normal) is not an opinion or just a criticism , it’s hate. That simple. Everyone talks like they expect her to act like Dan Oh in all of her future dramas. She was following a script and directions from the director, this is how it works. Then she will have another script and play a different character (Snowdrop), and will continue to show that she is an actress with different shades, as she did with Ye seo (Sky Castle), Dan Oh in the shadow and Dan Oh on stage .
Spread love and not hate.
Exactly haysss, why everyone hates her so bad tsktsk
Crazy how everyone criticizing hyeyoon’s appearance and ability to act, saying that she’s not fit for the role and she didn’t do well with this drama. Crzay to think but she just won The best rookie female award and especially the Top excellence actress award. Is that what you say doesn’t fit for tge role? In the first she auditioned for Juda role and yet casted by the director for the main lead it’s because saw something potential for her. Hahahhahahaha crazy people, why did u watch if don’t like.
If and only if I can report this one haysss. You just spread negativity to all her fans. Can I ask you? ARE YOU PERFECT? DO YOU HAVE MOVIE OR KDRAMA? MAYBE YOUR ACTING SUCKS HAHHAHAHAHHA because you don’t became an artist like her. It’s just prove that she’s excellent that’s why she got a lead role. HAHHAHAHAHA…
I seriously don’t understand people. Kim Hye-yoon is getting bashed because her voice is annoying??? Her acting skills are bad??? I get you have your opinions, but undermining someone for something like this is disgusting. If she’s so bad, why didn’t you audition for the female lead in EY??? Why are you all trying to confine her into one corner?? Into one spot?? A supporting character forever? An antagonist forever?? I see so much potential in her unlike most. It’s understandable to not, because people have different standards, but don’t go bringing her down because of your so-called opinions. I seriously enjoyed EY and Sky Castle; she was amazing. I also like the fact that there was a strong contrast between both characters. That shows her versatility as an actress.
Secondly, people were mentioning how annoying Eun-Dan oh was, something related to how she acted. Must every drama have that one female lead that’s strong beautiful, so-and-so, that is good at kick but?? Can beat up people just by the way she would look at you?? Does every single drama that isn’t like that have to be criticized and bashed?? Why insult people that work their hardest just to entertain you?? I seriously can’t believe some people said she didn’t deserve to be a female lead because she isn’t pretty. I think someone missed their ophthalmologist appointment?.
If you have nothing good to say, then don’t. It’s okay to criticize her acting and the drama, and you can be rude about it, but that doesn’t mean you should. If she would have a fan meeting or appear right before your very eyes, I’m sure half of you wouldn’t hesitate to ask for a picture or autograph. You won’t, sorry can’t, mention these things to her face. So at least try to behave yourselves. She is an amazing actress, and unlike your predictions IS and will continue to receive offers. She deserves a lead role like our other favorite lead actresses. She deserves to be acknowledged because she is good at what she does. She is pretty. She is wonderful. She is amazing, so stop speaking badly about her.
I know that it is a blog, but this is one of the most obnoxious opinions I’ve ever read. I don’t even know where to start..
First of all, does anyone realize that the story takes place in a comic book? Because that’s the main idea behind the drama. Whether they are on the stage, or in the shadow, the characters act deliberately cartoonish. This is how the actors create the atmosphere. In addition, they also act differently between the scenes. Shadow Dan Oh is an impulsive, talkative and confident girl who knows her self-worth, as opposed to stage Dan Oh, who endures the constant humiliation from Baek Kyung. Kim Hye Yoon has done an incredible job differentiating the multiple faces of Dan Oh. Yes, in the first episode, I also found her character annyoying, until the comic book plot twist came into play. It is not a coincidence that ALL her fellow co-star has been praising her for her portrayal. Extraordinary You is an incredible misunderstood drama. On the surface it is a teen romance show with plenty of cliches and annoying characters. If you can look behind these, you can find very deep questions about life, predestination, free will, reincarnation, and love. As a Philosophy student, I was fascinated by the show’s approach to these questions, and how they remained open-ended until the very end. That being said, one of my favourite K-drama scenes has to go to episode 6 of EY (or 3, if you count 16 episodes) in which Dan Oh tries to build a stone tower. Kim Hye Yoon desperation about her predestined fate made me cry, because she portrayed these emotions so well, so naturally.
About her voice, I have no idea what some people are talking about here. For me, she has a mature voice, and she is able to modify it very well according to her character. If you can actually speak Korean, it is easy to realize how well she can speak. She is actually one of the most natural actors of her generation from what I’ve seen so far.
And lastly, about her chemistry with her male leads..KHY has shown very great chemistry with all of the male characters, just check the comment section under any youtube video, and you will see what I’m talking about. With Rowoon they had to create something pure, but very ancient, a powerful romance which defies time and space, and even rationality. It wasn’t supposed to be a steamy romance with multiple make-outs. I believe they succeeded in every possible way. No wonder up to this day they haven’t talked about a filming environment as enthusiastically as they did with EY. This should speak a thousand words in itself.
I was so sad reading the commentar and the article. I watched extraordinary and love it because of kim Hye Yoon.
And now Kim hye yoon is very popular. She prove her worth. Love by many knetz and internationally recognized because of her impressive acting. And she’s naturally beautiful and pretty and cute. I really love her. I’m proud that I’m one of her fan. She’s really a hardworking actress. A truly versatile actress of this new generation.
I came late to defend my girl, TT__TT all the top commentors…I wish you burn your tongue from hot drinks. What?! not the “main role type” now? Baeksang award was bought? Scratchy voice? Her looks? She is hundred percent real REAL. This write up did not age well, look at Kim Hye Yoon now, she proved herself in her field everyone is talking about Lovely Runner because she carried the drama. The industry recognized her talent and the piles of awards for her shows it. I will forever stan kyh.
this whole post and all the comments putting down Kim Hye Yoon really aged like week old milk left in the sun lol the comment calling out the toxicity of people right here in these comments was spot-on.
Who’s here in 2024 knowing that Kim Hye Yoon proved that she can handle another lead role? Not to mention that she’s now getting recognition despite the fact that Lovely Runner did not have a widespread promotion when it started. I watched KHY for the first time and I have been rooting for her since then. I’m so happy of how successful she is today.
I’ll find it funny once I found out that people who commented here also watched LR.