His coworkers, his family, strangers on the street… everyone thinks he’s strange. In some shows, characters act flagrantly bizarre and everyone around them just plays it off as if that is somehow the acceptably weird behavior of the rich. He’s so freakin’ weird! And everyone thinks so. (what did I say about the high pony tail?) He’s not a playboy rich heir but an active figure in the family business, going to work each day and steering the direction of his company. People don’t really like him but they begrudgingly respect him. He is a showboat and tends to steal the microphone, both proverbially and literally. He has this startling loud laugh that he uses when he’s nervous, or when he’s trying to get attention, or when he’s basically needing a few extra seconds to come up with a response. Jang Hyuk plays the over-thirty, never married, heir to a family dynasty. I still hold firmly to my belief that all handsome Korean actors should all be forced to grow out their hair long enough for a high ponytail in at least one drama. Seriously, what kind of shampoo are these dudes using, cause I’m super jealous of how amazing their hair is. Remember him? The washed up pop star? He was hysterical in The Secret Garden and Jang Hyuk is hysterical in this show. In this series, he sports the exact same haircut that the second male lead had in The Secret Garden. Let’s just start with Jang Hyuk… “THE TEETH” as I call him.

So there are no references or comparisons in this review to the other version.

At the moment, I’m too enamored by the sound of the Korean language to deviate from my particular fandom. I know this was a Taiwanese drama first, but I haven’t gotten into T-Dramas… or Chinese dramas or even Japanese dramas… though I may eventually. If you do, you will be richly rewarded with screwball comedy and a refreshingly different (and simple) romance. It actually made me feel uncomfortable – both times I watched it.

It serves its purpose for introducing the character, his abs, his bizarre personality, and the product that made his family fortune, but it’s just… awkward. Let us all collectively wipe the shampoo commercial from our memories. Try to make it through the opening scene of this drama… which is incredibly awkward and the reason I turned off this show the first time I tried to watch it several years ago. The weirdo in Fated to Love You is the male lead, played by Jang Hyuk. In other words, there’s one weirdo and one normal person trying to figure out how to navigate life with weirdo in tow. It has the same zany humor, in many respects, as The Greatest Love and The Master’s Sun (though not quite as great as either). It’s stupidly, adorably romantic and really, really funny. This is a romantic comedy that stays pure to its genre.

Fated to love you korean