Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
The superb “D.P.” is not an easy series to watch. While not as gory as “Squid Game,” it’s more disturbing in many ways, because it deals with South Korea’s real-life mandatory military duty — which requires every able-bodied Korean man to enlist for approximately two years.
Jung Hae-In is known for acting in popular K-Dramas such as “While You Were Sleeping,” “Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food,” “Blood,” and “One Spring Night. But he’s also a documentarian who produced and starred in the reality series, “Jung Hae-In’s Travel Log.”
It’s not surprising that “One Spring Night” has the same melancholy vibe as “Something in the Rain” (aka “Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food”). Besides the same leading man, the series reunites screenwriter Kim Eun and director Ahn Pan-Seok. While the storyline is different, the main thrust remains the same: The central male character is deemed as unsuitable to be with the female character, because of an unforgivable character flaw that isn’t a flaw at all.
You probably know of Jung Hae-in from K-Dramas such as “Something in the Rain” (also known as “Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food”), “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God” and “While You Were Sleeping.” His latest series is “One Spring Night,” where he plays a single dad and pharmacist.
One of the things that I really love about Korean dramas is that many of them center around protagonists who knew each other as children — and reunite as adults. And such is the case with “While You Were Sleeping,” which follows a group of young adults who inexplicably see each other in their dreams.
“Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food” is sold as a May-December romance. That may be one reason I wasn’t eager to watch this series. While the central storyline delves into the relationship between the pretty noona and her childhood friend’s younger brother, the most compelling subplot — that wasn’t really fleshed out — was workplace sexual harassment. By the way, this isn’t a May-December romance.