소울메이트 / Soulmate Season 1

2006 Korean drama that stars Shin Dong wook











as Shin Dong wook - a playa with a bad attitude toward things like fate, destiny, and love.

Dude's got a really SEXY voice to go with his really SEXY face, bod, & hairstyle.

He's spent much of his budding, adult life flitting from one relationship to another without fear of commitment or responsibility because women tend to fall at his feet, which means it isn't his fault.

For a living, he works music into movies and dramas while also spending as much time hanging out at the local gym with his two hyungs -

Jung Hwan in pink and Otani Ryohei on the right

Jung Hwan is Jung Hwan, the playboy wannabe who works as a trainer at the gym, and their mutual pal, Ryo hei,(a Japanese guy who speaks perfect Korean), who had no, particular job other than looking good and being seduced by the wrong woman.


Otani Ryohei as his hot-ass self

I know Soulmate was all about Sin Dong wook, his headband, and the un-Asian attitude he had about relationships, but from the very start, I was blown away by Ryo hei, and despite his well-versed Korean, and not knowing who he was at first, I still got the odd impression he wasn't what he portrayed.

There was just, something about him that made me take notice, yet I couldn't, quite tell right away, other than I knew he couldn't be 100% Korean.

I don't recall if his ethnicity was mentioned in Soulmate, but I do recall the hyungs referring to him as 'the Prince' from another country - and I had to agree wholeheartedly.

Okay, so that's the gist of this thing, and I was anxious to watch, too, when suddenly these three, annoying chicks come on the scene and - excuse me - but, I had to bow out gracefully.

For, like, two years!

But, then something (maybe Ryohei's charismatic charms) drew me back and made me give this another go ~

Glad that happened, because regardless of the polar opposites the big-shots behind the scenes chose to have star beside three, hunk-da-fied dudes became a moot point for me, and this time I watched beginning to end.

SO HAPPY I DID THIS!

I'm stupid, and sometimes I forget things like mute buttons, or just walking away until the annoying crap stops and good stuff returns to the screen ... things like that.

The chick Dong wook eventually fell for wasn't all, that bad, but she did have her annoying habits, as did her completely unworthy, totally irritating, younger co-worker, who 'stole' Dong wook's affection during 3/4 of this show.

SHE not only talked stupid, she made stupid expressions, she had stupid notions about love & marriage, and she behaved as stupid as she looked & sounded, too.

(An aside ~ recently, I watched an episode of Happy Together 3 because it had Oh Ji ho and Jang Hyuk as guest stars. Anyway, it also starred the guy from Our School E.T., Kim Soo ro, who said something to the effect that the KPop gals in his new movie are cute when they pose for pictures they take of themselves and puff up their cheeks - like, WHY? Are you high???
~ anyway, this is what I mean when I say I hate when Asian girls pull this kind of dopey shit and label it as 'cute' because it's not - it's just gay and immature.)

On top of the two, aggravating co-worker chicks, they both worked under the MOST annoying woman to come out of Korea in awhile - and despite the fact they made reference to and poked fun at her '80's style and mentality, I still didn't care for her one bit, and it was her VOICE that grated on my nerves more than anything else (helium sucking, nasaly whine at a high pitch that pierces ones ears in the same way scraping fingernails down a chalkboard makes you cringe in pain).

When you are over age twenty-one and still act like you are thirteen, it's no longer considered cute or even fun ... just stupid.

So, that's what I didn't like about Soulmate, and it was why I tuned out when it first came on the scene, but after having a change of heart, I gave it another chance and LOVED IT TO DEATH!

I think the whole thing was meant to convey the fact that there is such a thing as 'fate', and that regardless of ones feelings on the matter, you can't 'escape' your fate; especially when it comes to L.O.V.E.

All, three guys meet girls, and they all have their doubts about love, if they even know what love is, and if the chick in their face at that moment is the one for them.

In the end, everything somehow manages to fall into place in a manner of speaking, but the unresolved issue leading everyone to believe there will be a sequel (season 2, that is) came as a bit of a disappointment for me because, well, there IS no Season 2.

It's been a few years since then, and it is labeled as 'Season 1', so ... is there any talk of making a 'Season 2' that will show us what happens in Japan?

I haven't heard anything, either.

Besides the gorgeous men, this thing was also riddled with a ton of great music - but thanks to YouTube's gay infringement policy, a majority of the clips I tried to upload ended up being rejected because of the background music, which I wanted y'all to hear!

Argh.

These, two clips managed to make the cut, though, so here they are ...

This first is a funny scene and something that almost ALWAYS occurs in a Korean drama: the flash/flash/spin/spin/spin/flash/spin/flash/spin effect that makes me feel like puking before it's over.

I'm ... getting ... dizzy


And then a really nice tune during a lull moment in the show ...

sigh! the music and hot stuff!


sorry so blurry, but this is yeppeun to me


this word kept popping up throughout the show, and its used in the wrong context, so natch', it bugged me