Kdrama Review: My Love From The Star (Who loved a star)

‘My Love From The Star’ or ‘You Who Came From The Star’. I looked into this drama primarily because of the hype around it.

The ‘other world mystery’ on the story contributed to my decision to watch it. When I first started with the series, I was not really into the old/backstory scenes. I wanted to know about the love story of the current time. And it isn’t a hidden fact that I take time to develop my interest in first few episodes, this wasn’t a exception. It took me a little more because in the initial episodes a lot of backstory was in the development.

The story is about an alien who is much like a human who has been stuck on earth since 400 years, because he doesn’t age he has to change his identity every few years. Now that he has a chance to go back to his planet enters a girl, an actress that gives him some hard time by landing him in troublesome situations but also a reason to not go. The plot is certainly different and is one of the reasons of popularity the drama has. Because of many elements that were patiently brought out, the drama keeps you curious until the end.

Characters from left to right: Lee Jae-Kyung, Lee Hee-Kyung, Cheon Song-Yi, Do Min-Joon, Yoo Se-mi, Cheon Yoon-Jae

Talking about the characters, Do Min-Joon (Kim Soo Hyun) was kind of poker face but I realised why he needed to be so. He was able to deliver relief in a scene even with his sincerity. Cheon Song -Yi (Jun Ji Hyun) is strong, she almost comes off as arrogant initially but slowly you realise how vulnerabilities surround her and how far her life is from being perfect. I didn’t realise before why Jun Ji Hyun is a hallayu star but her acting like crazy and expressing what she feels secretly to herself all in the apartment made me laugh off and at the same time presented her great acting skills. This kind of craziness in a female lead I did not observe in any kdramas I have watched so far.

Her acting seemed natural and effortless. I found the pairing quite unlikely in the first go. Maybe it was their personalities or the supposed age gap between characters, something was putting me off. But this obviously changed later on. Slowly I started rooting for them. But at the same time I was feeling really bad for Lee Hee-Kyung (Park Hae-Jin), he didn’t deserve what he went through. He sincerely loved Cheon Song-Yi and his brother but never was his love truly reciprocated. Mr. Jang’s friendship and this fatherly figure he was to Min Joon was really touching considering Min Joon didn’t have a family of his own.

Some of the characters weren’t really required according to me because I felt they were not doing a lot to the story. (For instance: The mother of the Lee Hee-Kyung.)

Initially they were a lot flaws I found like when he has superpowers why can’t he erase people’s memory when he has revealed himself, if he is a different species/alien why is he bleeding, where did he get his clothes from, how does he know korean? How was he born? Some of these were answered to me one by one, like that fact that he did not have a family, the people on his planet are similar to the people here (in terms of body, looks etc), he cannot erase people’s memory among other things. I was surprised and happy that some of my curiosity was answered and some wasn’t. (I realised then it is just a show and I analyse elements of drama like a scientific thesis). I really liked the concept of fillers they provided at the end of every episode. It rested the suspense and at the same time kept me curious till the end as to what filler will they provide. Some of the fillers I could predict and some I was surprised by.

Slowly I realised, Min Joon is more human then we think. He feels jealous, insecure (tiny bit), and he cries! Dammit!

This drama was different from others in the sense that I saw the guy cry more than the girl which is progressive and I wanted to cry with him and I did in the end.

When I read the synopsis for the last episode I was like hell! (Spoiler alert!) They will not have a good ending but when I saw I was a bit relieved that it was not exactly a sad ending and it gave a beautiful message.

The Ost was good. ‘My Destiny’ and ‘Welcome to the earth’ are my favorite from the album.

All in all, it was a good drama to watch, which I wanted to finish quickly because I was curious but didn’t also want it to end quickly.

Why watch it?

• To not miss out on a drama that is on every kdrama fanatic’s list (there’s a reason)
• To witness a fantastic effort by Jun Ji Hyun and her comic self
• If you like an emotional love story along with some mystery and alien theme then this is for you
• To explore the offbeat but good chemistry between Kim Soo Hyun and Jun Ji Hyun

Find out more about the drama here