A Red Slipper Instead of Glass: Thoughts on Cinderella and Four Knights

Cinderella and Four Knights (신데렐라와 네 명의 기사)

(Drama 2016)

I started this drama a while back when it first aired but I stopped watching it because the storyline got a bit too cheesy and “teen drama-ish” for me.

Eun Ha Won (Park So-dam) is an optimistic and intelligent young college student. She has dreams of becoming a teacher but experiences many life struggles. For instance, she lives with a stepmother and stepsister who don’t really care about her and she works multiple part-time jobs in order to move out and pay for her college tuition. One day, she gets hired as a “caretaker” for the chairman’s grandsons who are the heirs of the Kang Group’s fortune.

This series draws similar elements to the Japanese drama, Hana Yori Dango and the South Korean version, Boys Over Flowers. A poor girl befriends wealthy heirs who change her entire lifestyle and world. Now, I wouldn’t say that Cinderella and Four Knights is a complete carbon copy of Boys Over Flowers, but this series does draw on a similar storyline. It takes the Cinderella story and puts a modern-day twist to it.

One of these twists is the “fairy godmother” aspect. While watching this series, I wondered who the fairy godmother was and it just so happens that it’s the eldest grandson, Kang Hyun-min (Ahn Jae-hyun), the self-absorbed playboy. Even though he constantly teased Eun Ha Won and poorly treated his childhood friend, Park Hye Ji (Son Na-eun), he shows how much he cares for them through his subtle gestures. I realized that Kang Hyun-min is the fairy godmother after he returned the red shoes Eun Ha Won wore during his grandfather’s wedding. It was Kang Hyun-min that transformed Eun Ha Won into Cinderella. Out of all the characters, I enjoyed Kang Hyun-min the most because he’s the only one that seems to experienced great character growth. He becomes a better man as the series progresses. When his grandfather got sick, he took it upon himself to take care of the family company. I kind of wished that he was the main lead because he was more charismatic and interesting than Kang Ji Woon (Jung Il-woo). (But this could be due to my disinterest in Jung Il-woo’s dramas.)

There really isn’t much else I could say about this drama because it’s your typical reverse harem with just a fairytale twist to it. It’s a teen drama that you should only watch if you want major eye candy. Personally, I found this entire show to be cringe-worthy, in regards to the story and the characters. It’s definitely not worthy of your time unless you are that bored and have nothing else to watch.

2/5

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