Starline Reviews

18 vs. 29 is a Korean drama starring Park Sun Young (Yoo Hye Chan) and Ryu Soo Young (Kang Sang Young aka Kang Bong Man). This drama aired from the beginning of March 2005 to the end of April 2005 with 16 episodes. This drama also featured Choi Siwon (Younger Kang Bong Man), a member of the boy band, Super Junior.

Main Cast:

Park Sun Young as Yoo Hye-chan
Ryu Soo Young as Kang Sang-young
Park Eun Hye as Shin Ji-young
Lee Joong Moon as Kim Noon

Synopsis: This drama takes the audience back to the 1990s. The main character of the drama, Yoo Hye Chan, 29, reverts mentally to an 18-year-old girl after having a car accident. As she recovers her memory and the relationship with her husband, Kang Sang Young, she goes through many hilarious and heart-moving moments.

Hye Chan, who was a beauty queen in high school, marries her former classmate Kang Bong Man. In 2005, she turns 29. But after a fierce fight with her husband, she heads to court to file for divorce, unable to control her rage anymore. On her way to court, her car clashes with a truck, and as a result she develops amnesia. She only remembers herself as a senior high schooler, when she was sassy and outgoing, and popular with her peers. As her memory reverts to her adolescent years, she suddenly becomes crazy about the dance group “Seo Taeji and Kids,” which was popular with teenagers back in the ’90s. While looking strong on the surface, deep inside she is soft-hearted and feeble. She likes Jane Campion’s movie “Piano” a lot. Although Kang Bong Man, nicknamed “Ice Prince,” is the ideal of every girl in Hye Chan’s school, she regards him as shallow. The guy she really likes is her senior, Jeong Shiwoo.

But in reality, Hye Chan’s husband is Kang Bong Man, whom she despised so much in high school. He changes his name to Kang Sang Young when he becomes an actor. In the latter part of the drama, Hye Chan recovers her memory and pursues her dream of becoming a film director. When Hye Chan loses her memory, Sang Young becomes preoccupied with mending their shattered relationship. He collects all the messages they had exchanged in the past to help her remember who he is. The replays of Hye Chan’s memories, which are presented in diverse ways, add to the drama’s tantalizing plot.

(credit: KBS Global Marketing)

Review: Well this is a very different drama in the Korean drama scene, but very old and tired in the American soap opera view of it. Amnesia, new love, etc…it’s been done over and over. But I think what made this interesting to me is how Hye Chan recalled things and reacted to her new life. I also liked the comedy factor because usually when someone has amnesia…it is very sappy and sad. But I like the new outlook on things.

Ryu Soo Young…I appreciate him as an actor especially when I think of when he did a movie called Summertime, where he was a stalker/peeping Tom type character that was watching this woman from his apartment and eventually breaks into the apartment to have sex with her. ANYWAY…I appreciate him to be able to play that part then jump in and play funnier, more light-hearted roles. I respect Jae Hee for the same reason, with his role in 3-Iron. Just great…

A very light-hearted drama this one is and that’s why I enjoyed it. I also liked seeing Choi Si Won from Super Junior in it too!!! Hey was pretty good too, the camera loves him. I love the part when the younger version of Hye Chan was supposed to go to the movies with Shi Woo and he ditches her. Then younger versoin of Kang Bong Man comes to save the day and meets her there….so cute!!! You’ll have to watch it….it made my heart leap into my throat!!!

All in all, this was a great drama too watch. It was easy-going and each time the episode ended, I wanted to see more. So, be warned you will be sitting on your computer for hours watching this once you start!!! At least, that’s what happened to me…So here are the links and enjoy watching! Just so you know, my YouTube playlist has the first two episodes as public, but the rest are private videos.

YouTube-http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C929D99660C3610D
MySoju-http://www.mysoju.com/18-vs-29/
aznV.TV-http://aznv.tv/?p=d148