One Sunny Day series review

Heartbroken producer, Ji Ho (So Ji Sub) is on work assignment in Jeju Island when he meets an attractive woman (Kim Ji Won) who is immediately attracted to the quiet Ji Ho. Repeat encounters in pretty winter scenery draw them together.

Junggugeo Kaenada 중국어 캐나다: ★.5
Only 만: ★★

Junggugeo Kaenada 중국어 캐나다: I have heard buzz about web dramas for a while, but “One Sunny Day” was my first one. It had promise: it stars So Ji Sub, and it is merely 10 episodes long with each episode lasting, at most, 15 minutes.

Only 만: Well, the length was certainly appealing, and So Ji Sub never hurts. On the other hand, “One Sunny Day” felt distinctly like a time-filler drama: it was easy to watch, and never needed my full attention. But, let’s start with what we liked about it.

Junggugeo Kaenada: The most obvious strength of “One Sunny Day” was how attractive it was. If they were trying to sell visiting Jeju Island in the winter, they succeeded. Though the rain was frequent, the scenes where the sun was actually shining were very pretty.

Only: Thanks to the visuals on this show, I’m convinced that I would enjoy a trip to Jeju Island. Plus, staring at So Ji Sub and Kim Ji Won for two hours and 20 minutes was good, too, since they were lit so attractively.

Junggugeo Kaenada: I actually liked Kim Ji Won’s female lead, because she was agreeably normal. She wasn’t awkward nor shy nor downtrodden. She was proactive and reached out to So Ji Sub’s character in a way that was persistent, but reasonable. Though, maybe the female lead had to be a complete character, because there was only time to focus on Ji Ho’s transformation.

Only: It was a short series, so there was no time to develop a sad love story for her, too, which I think worked to the series’ benefit. I could relate to the female lead, because in a situation where she ran into a guy who looks like So Ji Sub, she was not only attracted to him, but she did something about it as well.

Junggugeo Kaenada: Unfortunately, I did not feel any chemistry between the leads. Frankly, I found So Ji Sub’s character wooden, which is surprising since I have seen So Ji Sub play stoic, and he still managed to convey charisma.

Only: Please don’t kill me, So Ji Sub fans, because I’m one of you, and it still felt like he phoned in his performance. Yes, the show is supposed to be a fluffy, long-form commercial for Line and probably Jeju Island, but it did seem like Kim Ji Won was taking the web drama seriously and So Ji Sub wasn’t.

Junggugeo Kaenada: So Ji Sub wasn’t the only one who could be accused of phoning it in. The writer was asleep on the job. Given how short each episode and the entire series were, I expected better pacing. Instead, every single moment was drawn out and the end of each episode were random cuts in the story rather than plotted cliffhangers.

Only: I was flabbergasted to find repeated use of flashbacks in a series of this length. I laughed out loud at the end (and not in a good way), when Ji Ho announced that he preferred dramas where nothing happened, and two people just got together without conflict. It seemed as if the writer was congratulating themselves.

Junggugeo Kaenada: Kim Ji Won once again made herself the more relatable character when she remarked on how boring Ji Ho’s preferred dramas were.

The funny thing is that the writer appeared to suddenly wake up during the second last episode when a misunderstanding and a wrist grab came out of nowhere. It was a total break from the leisurely, non-confrontational style up until that point.

Only: I was surprised by how forceful that wrist grab was, like a belated attempt to add heat that fell flat.

Junggugeo Kaenada: No heat nor chemistry, plus the pretty scenery and leisurely pace failed to lull me into a relaxed state. I was so bored that the entire series felt like a waste of time.

Only: Let me put it this way: it was a good drama to clean the house to.