Yay, yet another promising prime time K-drama to anticipate and one that isn’t premised on the male lead suffering from some affliction or another, be it dissociative identity disorder or a raging case of vampirism. MBC is chuckling all the way to the bank thanks to pulling a rabbit out of a hat with the success of Kill Me Heal Me. With ten more episodes left of KMHM, the network isn’t getting a late start like that drama and has already confirmed the line-up for the following show called Angry Mom. The title does sound more like a weekend drama but the awesome-sounding synopsis has me completely onboard already.
Angry Mom sounds like a Korean Gilmore Girls with a schoolyard twist – Kim Hee Sun headlines as a former high school cool girl delinquent turned teen mom who has a daughter that grows up into teenage Kim Yoo Jung. Years later the mom-daughter duo are more like best friends and Mom gets all angry and takes matters into her own hands when she hears that her precious smart daughter is being bullied in school. Since Mom never finished high school, she goes undercover back to high school to protect her daughter and hijinks inevitably ensue. Rounding out the leads is Ji Hyun Woo playing an earnest high school teacher, hopefully sporting black hair and ready to wash the stink off his last drama Trot Lovers.
The entire cast of Angry Mom makes me happy, especially since I went from hate to like with Kim Hee Sun after her weekend drama performance in Wonderful Days. In addition to Kim Hee Sun, Ji Hyun Woo, and Kim Yoo Jung, the supporting cast includes Oh Yoon Ah (so wasted in You’re All Surrounded), Baro, Lizzy, double the paternal elders in Park Geun Hyung and Park Young Gyu, comedic Kim Hee Won, Lim Hyung Joon, and Park Hee Jin. Directing is the PD who did Hotel King, Will You Love and Give it Away, and East of Eden. A tiny bit of worry is newbie screenwriter Park Jeong Soo doesn’t have any earlier works to his name, but the script did win an open screenwriting competition at MBC so that alleviates some concern.
I am looking forward to this one, with reservations. I really want the romance to happen when he KNOWS she’s not a student. THe alternative is ethically very icky for me.
Also, Ji Hyun Woo’s not the only one for whom I’m wishing better things. Kim Yoo Jung’s last was an odd mishmash itself, and built around a concept I found similarly icky, effectively a loveline with a 15-year old.
I keep replying this to Angry Mom threads, but here goes:
I’m hoping she’s going to re-enroll in high school as her true age. It’s always been mentioned that she was a delinquent student and had a daughter at a young age. I just assumed she never finished HS so now she’s enrolling in her child’s school under the excuse that she wants to finish studying. When truth is, she wants to watch over her daughter.
Hoping for unni/jjang/sunbae moments when she starts ruling the playground. ^_____^
Oups you and Ori said the same things below. 🙂
Let’s hope our hopes are right!
LOL, no, this isn’t going to be Winter Sonata 2.0. 37 year old Kim Hee Sun will not be pulling a 36 year old Bae Yong Joon pretending to be a legit high school student. All reports indicate she’s going back as an adult to finish high school so everyone knows her true age.
Oh thank goodness! Then I’m 100% behind this!
Yey! You’re the first person to confirm this, koala! Thanks~
I’m now properly excited! For some reason, I keep imagining JHW as a timid, geeky math teacher who gets dragged into Angry Mom’s crazy schemes of catching the bullies and protecting her daughter. 😀
Reports indicate that she’s undercover so no one, other than daughter dearest, knows that she is the mom. But she’s not going back pretending to be a high school student, supposedly she’s just seen as a really old transfer student who joins the school ostensibly to finally earn her diploma, but in reality she’s there to whup some bullying ass. So Teach will have to treat mom like a student but knows she’s at years of age and an adult, even if he doesn’t know that she’s the mom.
Think Happy Gilmore, but it may turn out more Never Been Kissed.
I agree about the loveline issues @Stuart mentions above and to add another worry, I hope the focus will remain on its premise, the bullying and the mother’s struggle with everything.
I’ve seen supposed women’s stories being drowned in romance alone or even worse, hijacked by the oppa-craze and having the focus shifting to him and his man-pain. This looks like a family’s story with bullying + romance and some oppa and I hope it remains that way.
One question though. Since mom never finished high school, does it mean she goes back undercover as a kid or just as an adult not related to her daughter? If the latter, the worry Stuart has would be instantly lifted, since the teacher would know she is an adult student making a return. I’d like that, personally, even at the expense of “mom as a teen” hijinks.
I think a series portraying the dire nature of bullying with a straight face (which it will hopefully do) cannot feature a pedophile teacher without looking incredibly dishonest. If it were college, I’d say go right ahead, both adults, no biggie, but as much as I love age gap or fake age gap stories, I draw the line at adult + minor ones and so should dramas, I feel.
Let’s see where this goes then. It sounds promising at least.
I don’t see any manpain coming. Ji Hyun Woo’s teacher character is described as sweet tempered and believes in the noble calling of educating the next generation.
Oh, a polite and kind young man for a tough momma? Do give. We need more nice men in Dramaland. Thanks for the info.
Thank you you so much for all the good news! Having my concerns about KHS’s character put to rest was especially a real relief. And if you’re right about JHW’s character, then that’s even better. That would give give JHW the rare distinction of having played two such nice characters. Boong Do remains one of the nicest male leads I’ve seen, if JHW’s character in this DRama has that sort of vibe, it will be a pleasure to watch.
“just as an adult not related to her daughter” Exactly what hope. I mentioned my wish for this on another site, but the consensus seemed to be that she is going to be a student. As you say, in addition to ethical issues regarding a student-teacher relationship, it risks trivialising the very serious issue it claims as its core motive. Let’s hope we are pleasantly surprised.
I am really looking forward to this because I love the badass mom idea. In K-Drama, we have loads of crazy moms, and I think it is about time that the “crazy” is used as a force for good not evil. Seriously, this would be every mother of a bullied student’s fantasy. Who wouldn’t want to go back and take on those mean girls knowing what we know now? I’m rubbing my hands in glee just at the thought.
Sorry to be off topic. But Ms Koala- I can’t access your blog the last 2 days on my phone. Now I have no idea why it’s happening. I ONLY get your old articles- like Mike He dating scandal. And when news broke about Lee Ji Ah dating.
🙂 That’s how old it is. Now I don’t think it has anything to do with my cache as all the other sites are fine.
Angry Mom- what can I say? I was on the viki team for Trot Lovers and he made me vomit blood with his character. He better be a well written teacher here.
However I am totally in this drama because of Kim Yoo Jung.
What? I check daily on my phone to just make sure it’s loading correctly and I’ve never gotten any problems. Email me if this problem doesn’t go away soon.
*butts in* is it possible problem with the carrier?
We used to have same problem when a local telco caches our website’s pages. Clearing your phone/browser won’t fix it. 🙁 It’s something the telco has to do on their end. But it only happens rarely. Like once every 2 years.
I will redo the Google app again and see if it works. I am still stuck on the Mike He post.
Which by the way- I have no idea if it’s true. LOLOL.
I just can’t read your posts on my phone that’s all. 🙂 It’s fine… I just don’t come onto my laptop that frequently. So it’s just me so I will sort it out. Maybe.
I’m in for Kim Yoo Jung. And I’m hopeful with the premise. The first few seasons of Gilmore Girls was an entertaining watch back then. By the way, Kim Yoo Jung is gorgeous on that picture above.
I so hope we get more badass mom then mom turning into a “good person” because she falls for the teacher.
This premise sounds so awesome and hilarious so pleaaaae let it be good.
I’d prefer if the main focus is the relationship between mother and daughter then any romance, that’s my biggest fear as kdramas tend to suddenly shift the focus to romance.
joining you on board Koala sis! I like Kim Hee Sun and Kim Yoo Jung! The premise got me all excited already! yey!
I’ll probably check this one out – especially since it’s a change from all the personality disorder storylines. This drama reminds me of the Jdrama “35 sai koukousei” where a 35 year woman goes back to high school (and everyone knows her real age). I really like the cast as well.