Splash Splash Love

I thought it would be nice to try something short next and Splash Splash Love looked cute. I'd seen the clip where the main character Dan-Bi (played by Kim Seul-Gi) arrives unexpectedly into the far distant past (1400s Korea, then known as Joseon) after falling into a puddle. And it was only two episodes--so, basically, movie length. A quickie.

I was not expecting to be charmed by this one but I completely was. Maybe it's because I didn't expect much from it beyond cute...which it definitely was...and that I didn't really know anything about it. But it had a lovely heart, good character arcs, and the puzzle pieces fit together far better than I had imagined from the beginning. It was tight, plotting worked, and the actors were all charming. Plus it turns out it was Paul Ahn's first role (Ahn Hyo Seop), the guy who played Chan in Thirty but Seventeen. I loved him in that.

Anyway, the story...Dan-bi is a 19 year old high school senior (someday I need to look up exactly what the age/school deal is in South Korea because I thought she was probably 17 for most of it until the said she was 19). On the day she's supposed to take the SAT (which sounds like it must be similar to the SATs in the US except maybe it's only offered once a year rather than multiple times as this was her "last chance"?), she winds up running away due to the stress. She's not that great at math and is feeling like a failure and just generally collapses under the pressure. She winds up falling/jumping into a puddle/some type of time portal and finds herself in the Joseon era (1400s).

After trying to explain that she's just a high schooler, which apparently sounds the same as "eunuch" in Korean, she winds up pretending to be a man and is tasked with being the King's advisor. That makes no sense when I type it out but it makes more sense in the show. :-P The King is played by Yoon Doo Joon aka Doojoon and historically he's supposed to be Sejong the Great. Who I, of course, had to look up and Sejong was a freaking amazing king. He invented hangul, supported science, was great for the common man...so much good. Dude was awesome. Based on his timeline, I'd have to guess that the movie would have to be sometime after 1422, making Sejong about 25.

So...various hijinks ensue as Dan-bi tries her best to survive in the past with her 20th century knowledge. The King comes to love her, probably in part because she's not afraid to look him in the eye and speaks her mind (probably even when she shouldn't). And she comes to love him too -- what's not to love in Doojoon's portrayal? He's honourable, kind, and good. As was the real guy he's based on. Though in real life, Sejong of course had many concubines, etc. and fathered a bunch of kids. That's one of those things that always puts a damper for me on the romanceable aspect in things like these time-travel romances and in otome, and I'm kinda glad that after Dan-bi gets back to the future there's a nod to that.

There's drama related to the King's advisor having grand aspirations (and his daughter being the Queen, who the King barely talks to). And a sweet little twist that Dan-bi thinks Paul Ahn's character is the famous historical inventor Jang Yeong-sil who was born as a peasant but came to prominence after Sejong recognised his talents and promoted him...but learns at the end that he's actually Park Yeon, an accomplished musician in that time. Turns out that SHE is Jang Yeong-sil...the name given to her by the King. Totally doesn't really work historically (the real inventor guy wound up being expelled from the royal palace even though the King didn't want him to be...though I suppose you could argue it. But "he" also wasn't a "she" or an eunuch...but, hey, I suppose you could make a case if you really wanted to go there as there's not much recorded of his family history either before or after his time with the Great Sejong...what am I saying? Hmmmm, maybe that the story is so charming that you'd like it to be true, if there was such a thing as time travel).

Anyway, it's a bit of a fated thing and Dan-bi does finally go back home (she misses her mom and doesn't want to run away anymore) and meets the lookalike (presumed reincarnation) of Sejong there in the guy who helped her on the bus on the day of the test and has her umbrella that she'd left behind. Nice symbolism there and full circle.

So, it was a joy and really lovely. Will definitely watch it again, maybe with the little dude because I think he'd like it too. I'd put it in my top 5. 100%.

Saw a news article rumour on Soompi that fans were demanding a season 2. No idea what that would be, story-wise, but I'd be there for that even though the show was perfect as it was.