Stream It Or Skip It: 'A Love So Beautiful' On Netflix, A Korean Remake Of A Chinese Romantic Comedy About First Love - Decider

K-dramas mostly tell love stories, but they usually insert other aspects into the mix, like family dynamics, personality differences and class differences. But every so often, a K-drama is just about goofy romance and nothing else. A Love So Beautiful, a remake of a 2017 Chinese series, boils things down to a girl liking a guy who is indifferent, and a different guy liking that same girl. Simple, right? Read on for more.

Opening Shot: In 2006, students at Yuil High School are sweeping the walk in anticipation of the first day of school. A girl takes a deep breath and walks up to her crush and says hi.

The Gist: Shin Sol-i (So Joo-yeon) has had a crush on Cha Heon (Kim Yo-han) forever; they live in the same apartment building, and she basically follows him like an eager puppy. So when she greets him on the first day of school, she admits she likes him. He blows her off, saying he’s never liked her.

An older Sol-i reflects back on this in 2020 as she looks at the entrance to the school, but we then flash back again to 2006, we hear her say in voice over “The most important thing to 17-year-old me…. is him,” meaning Heon. He seems to not have much of a reaction to anything, except kicking a bucket out of the way when Sol-i drops it in his direction. Her friend Jin-hwan (Jeong Jin-hwan), using his experience as a guide, tells her to write him a love note, which she does with enthusiasm, to the point where she neglects her studies.

At the same time, a new student, Woo Dae-seong (Yeo Hoe-hyun), joins the class. He’s a champion swimmer, and as handsome as Heon is. He right away takes a liking to Sol-i, and protects her the next day when a teacher grabs one of her love letters and starts to read it aloud. At the same time, Heon also comes to her defense, citing the fact that students’ notes are supposed to be private. They all get detention, and we find out in a flashback that Heon isn’t quite as indifferent to Sol-i as he makes himself out to be.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? This is a remake of a 2017 Chinese series of the same name (which is also on Netflix), so there’s that. But it fits in with Netflix’s other K-dramas, on the more goofy side of the scale.

Our Take: We tend to be thankful when episodes of a K-drama don’t drag on for 75 minutes or something similarly ridiculous; A Love So Beautiful keeps its episodes to a tidy half-hour or so. It could be because it’s concentration is mostly on its main three characters: Sol-i, Heon and Dae-seong. It’s definitely setting up some sort of love triangle, which is a staple of the Korean romantic dramedy, with Sol-i continuing to pine for Heon while Dae-seong is actually expressing interest. Is it a fairly obvious plot? Sure. But it’s a plot that has the chance to be a fun one.

So Joo-yeon is a sunny presence as Sol-i, undeterred in her pursuit of Heon, despite his extreme disinterest in her. We tended to wonder why he was constantly blowing her off. Was she that much of a stalkery pain in the butt? Did he not think of her that way because they grew up together? Or is he just content with being the dreamiest boy in the class? There isn’t a ton of character setup in this first episode, but in this case we’re OK with it; writers
Choi Yoo-Jung and Jang Yoo-Yeon set up the parameters of this triangle very well.

We do worry about how long it’ll take for Heon to warm up to what seems to be his longtime tormentor. There’s evidence of it in the first episode, but how long will he string her along before expressing real feelings? That will determine how frustrating this show is.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: We see a flashback to the scene where Sol-i waits for Heon outside their building with some food and a drink, but falls asleep and he finds her the next morning. Instead of just pedaling away, like we first saw him do, he actually tries to gently brush back her hair. When she talks in her sleep, though, he gets on his bike and leaves.

Sleeper Star: Seong Hye-min plays Moon Sook-hee, who comes to Sol-i and Jin-hwan’s defense when a group of seniors accost them as they try to deliver a love note. She seems like she’ll become a confidant to both of them.

Most Pilot-y Line: You may want to look up how high school in South Korea works before watching this show. Despite being 17, Sol-i and her mates are considered to be freshman, since high school there last for three years, and students go from ages 17-19. That may help allay some confusion. Oh, and also for this category: The usual complaints about dopey musical cues in K-dramas that telescope what scenes are funny. On this show, they’re also aided by goofy sound effects.

Our Call: STREAM IT. A Love So Beautiful is a light dramedy that promises to not take up a lot of your time and concentrate more on the romance aspect than anything else.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream A Love So Beautiful On Netflix

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