An Unlucky Man Becomes Lucky: Thoughts on My Unfortunate Boyfriend

My Unfortunate Boyfriend (2015)

Directed By Nam Ki-hoon

Initially, I wasn’t going to do reviews or thought posts on East Asian dramas because there is a lot to talk about, and also they are time-consuming compared to watching anime. Yet, I decided to break that rule, and start posting on the various dramas I watched (and trust me, I have watched a lot). This weekend, I binge watched a drama called, My Unfortunate Boyfriend. I came across this drama after watching a Buzzfeed video with The Try Guys because they mentioned it. I watched all sixteen episodes in like two days.

My Unfortunate Boyfriend is about a young working professional, Yoo Ji-na, who lands an internship at a corporate company for advertising. She is willing to lie in order to get what she wants. Yoon Tae-woon is a gardener and florist and lives his life earnestly, but he tends to create bad luck for people. Yoo Ji-na and Yoon Tae-woon’s lives collide in a series of troublesome “coincidences.”

First of all, I like the actor, No Min-woo, who plays Yoon Tae-woon. I have seen him in My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox, where he played a cool, and smooth half human and half supernatural being. So it was nice to see him on the other side of the spectrum, playing a goofy, clumsy, and light-hearted guy. In my opinion, he played Yoon Tae-woon perfectly.

Usually, in an Asian drama, the main character goes through a transformation, which is usually indicated by a new hairstyle. However, in order to show maturity, Yoon Tae-woon stops wearing his jean jumpsuit, and starts wearing suits and ties. His bushy hairstyle remains the same though. I interpret this transformation as, “Although on the outside, I changed. My personality still remains the same and I am true to myself as indicated by the unchanging hairstyle.” Hair may seem like an outward appearance factor, but I think it is part of a person’s inner persona because no matter how many times you change a hairstyle, it grows back to how it usually is. Hence, a person’s personality remains the same no matter what life throws at him or her.

One thing I enjoyed about this drama is that I didn’t have any hatred towards any character. Each character has good and bad qualities within themselves, but these qualities balance each other out without one overshadowing the other. Rather than showing overly dramatic characters, where the audience can easily pick a side, viewers are able to see relatable characters that make mistakes, but are able to learn from these failures and be forgiven. This drama seems to go against melodrama aspects by creating characters that are easy to relate to with a slice of life comedy aspect to them.

Furthermore, I enjoyed how the storyline gave everyone a decent ending/conclusion. There wasn’t anyone that had the audience wondering what happened to him or her.

Overall, I enjoyed this light-hearted romantic comedy. However, if you are more interested in melodrama, this may not be the show for you.

5/5