“Koreanovelas” (Filipino term for
TV drama series from South Korea) are never my thing. Yes, there were times when some Koreanovelas
would have some details or aspects that were able to stir my curiosity enough
to make me catch some episodes. But none
really were capable of completely clinching my interest, turning any slight
amount of fancy I had into total fandom.
The closest one to do so was
probably Lovers in Paris, most likely
because it was the first Koreanovela that reached our shores (if I remember it
correctly), gave me my first idea of Korean pop culture (“Aja!” is an
expression I first learned here, and it’s an expression I like since then),
thus, had the advantage of novelty; eventually, the plot succumbed to hackneyed
soap opera tropes (which our typical Filipino drama series suffer from),
obliterating any extent of liking I had on the show.
With what I’ve laid out above,
one may understand why I consider I Hear
Your Voice (also alternatively titled as I Can Hear Your Voice) as the greatest Koreanovela ever. Because after Lovers in Paris, thousands of Koreanovelas have popped up through
the years, and it’s only this time with I
Hear Your Voice that I got to love a Koreanovela series and get to be
completely invested on it. Being
compelled to write about it is already a very telling hint of how much this
series made an impression on me. For me,
it’s the greatest product that has ever come out of the Republic of Korea since
kimbap and the Black Eagle (not really from Korea. But it’s the first thing that I ever liked
about Korea. See Red Alert 2 for the reference).
I Hear Your Voice tells the story of Park Soo-ha and Jang
Hye-sung. When Soo-ha was just nine
years-old, he and his father were assaulted by Min Joon-gook, a man that had a
grudge with his father. The trauma
mysteriously gave Soo-ha the ability to hear other’s thoughts once he gets a glance
of their eyes. Joon-gook killed his
father, and he was about to kill Soo-ha too when 15-year old Hye-sung timely
arrived on the scene to disrupt him.
During the trial, the death of
Soo-ha’s father was about to be dismissed as a mere traffic accident, which
would had resulted to the acquittal of Min Joon-gook, when Hye-sung arrived to
testify against him. This ensured Joon-gook’s
indictment and imprisonment, and he threatened to kill Hye-sung once he gets
out of jail.
Hye-sung’s bold decision to come
and testify had a strong impact on Soo-ha.
He developed an infatuation on her and vowed to protect her from Joon-gook.
Ten years later, Soo-ha, a high
school senior, remained love-struck and had learned martial arts to carry on
his promise of protecting her; while Hye-sung became a lawyer and had been
recently hired to be a public defender.
After reading in a neswspaper of Hye-sung’s employment, Soo-ha was able
to track down his first love. The two got
to meet again after a decade, and Soo-ha would find himself aiding Hye-sung in
her cases with his mind-reading power.
Meanwhile, coincidentally, Min
Joon-gook, still vengeful and bitter, was released from jail…
Such is the set-up in which this awesome tale started off from. (Watch the series to see how the
rest of the story goes.)
The show’s initial run was from
June to August 2013. But it was only
this year that it was viewed in Filipino television when a local network dubbed
and aired it during weeknights (as I write it, it’s still ongoing). I got caught of it while browsing channels
one night (probably while I was watching replays of games from the 2014 FIBA World Cup). I was charmed, watched a
few episodes, got hooked and intrigued enough to search and buy a DVD of the
complete series, watched its entirety, loved the series from start to finish,
and then proceeded to re-watch most of the episodes.
What’s so special about I Hear Your Voice? First, the refreshing and exceptional romance
between Soo-ha and Hye-sung was a thrill.
Initially, I admit that I was first drawn to it because of having
personally fallen in love with an older girl (*cough*), I found the romance
relatable. But it didn’t just end
there. As I was drawn more to the story,
I found the romance to be actually fascinating by itself. It wasn’t shallow, uninspired, and
gratuitous. It was slowly but pleasingly
well-developed; it felt justified and earned.
It was appealing, distinctive, and wholesome. Hence, I was able to find those scenes
designed for romantic purposes a delight to watch.
Heck, this show even made me
swoon! That’s what is most surprising of
all. It’s something unlikely of me. I’m never a fan of romances, though I do get
fascinated by unique, genuinely enjoyable romantic chemistry and tension
between two wonderful characters.
There’s even no need for an actual romance to happen between them, as
long as the tense attraction between them are there. Some examples of such are the “speculative
romance” of Jughead and Betty, Batman and Wonder Woman’s quasi-romance in the
Justice League animated series, the uneasy attraction between Frank Hardy and
Nancy Drew (whenever the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew team up), Sherlock Holmes’
“the Woman” esteem for Irene Adler, and back when Peter Parker (a.k.a.
Spider-Man) and Carol Danvers (then still Ms. Marvel) started dating in the
comics. (That’s an idea. I probably need to list my most favorite
fictional couples.)
But cases of fictional couples
making me be actually thrilled by their romance are rare. Disney’s Aladdin and Jasmine were the
earliest, I think, and the “Eye of the Beholder” episode from the animated
series was arguably its highest point.
The most memorable instance was in Cinderella
Monogatari, the anime reinvention of the iconic fairy tale, but that
was a long, long time ago (There might be other recent ones, but nothing comes
to mind as I write this.) And now
there’s Park Soo-ha and Jang Hye-sung.
Second, its premise that combined
romantic comedy, court room drama, fantasy, and suspense – each aspect
important in making the story terrific – was executed and utilized
effectively. Having such a lot of
different genre elements happening around the show seem to be ripe for an untidy
narrative, but the series pulled it off fantastically. The plot remained coherent, well-paced,
poised, and impeccably balanced of humor and tension.
It’s not really perfect. I still found dumb details that I can nitpick
if I want to. But they can be
forgiven. This is a show that has a
character that can read minds after all, so a little more suspension of
disbelief regarding coincidences and lazy details for the narrative to stick
isn’t that hard for me to give. The
result is a delightful story after all. I
cut them some slack. I have no
complains.
Third, there is profundity in its
message as well. Insightful themes like
telling the truth, keeping promises, admitting faults and mistakes, not wasting
one’s life by succumbing to hate and revenge, and maturing as a person are
powerfully articulated by the story.
Fourth, and most importantly, there
were plenty of great character moments.
I’ve always been a big fan of strong fictional characters (that’s why I
write plenty of lists on them), and this series had plenty of interesting,
deep characters that developed well through the story.
*Warning: some spoilers ahead!*
The main characters, Park Soo-ha
and Jang Hye-sung, were able to learn a lot of things from each other and from
all the people they’ve encountered throughout the story. Their experiences definitely helped them become
wiser, more mature, and stronger as individuals and as a couple.
Min Joon-gook was a terrifying
but pitiful villain. Warped with hate
and obsessed with revenge, he served as a perfect anti-thesis of Soo-ha. Soo-ha would have turned out to be the same if
he didn’t have Hye-sung. So, Soo-ha
might have probably vowed to protect Hye-sung, and probably was able to carry
it out to an extent, but it was really Hye-sung who saved Soo-ha from succumbing
into an empty, hateful life.
Aside from Min Joon-gook, the
most important secondary character is the charmingly geeky and idealistic Cha
Gwan-woo. He’s a former cop who became a
lawyer (and Lawyer Jang’s colleague) and completes the “love triangle” between
Soo-ha and Hye-sung. He’s not at all
like the disruptive, unwanted “third party” kind of character that is typical of
a “love triangle” romance. He’s actually
a great, noble character from whom both Soo-ha and Hye-sung gained a lot of
wisdom from. Though understandably
infuriated of him at first (for being a rival who is deserving of Hye-sung more
than him), Soo-ha would eventually consider Lawyer Cha as a better man and the
person that helped him the most in maturing into an adult, worthy of Hye-sung’s
love.
Other notable characters in the
series are Seo Do-yeon, Hye-sung’s high school adversary whose accusations led
to the latter’s expulsion in high school, and then grew up to become a
prosecutor and Hye-sung’s rival on the court; Lawyer Shin, a veteran public
defender who is a mentor for Lawyer Cha and Lawyer Jang; Judge Kim, the judge
constantly presiding the cases and always exasperated by Lawyer Jang; Go
Sung-Bin and Kim Choong-ki, Soo-ha’s classmates and whose constant bickering is
a source of constant amusement for us watching; and Eo Choon-shim, Hye-sung’s
mother. These characters all have key
moments and worthwhile developments to follow in the show.
All of these – romance, plot,
themes, and characters – make I Hear Your
Voice a fun, exhilarating ride with a fantastic finish. I was happily satisfied by how the story
carried on and concluded. Its ending,
especially, was an extremely satisfactory and empathic wrap-up, but still left
some sadness for I would no longer know what will happen next to the
characters’ stories that I got to be so invested in.
For me, I Hear Your Voice is something like how a certain gentleman valued
Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. This gentleman went to Mark Twain and told
the author he wished he didn’t read Mark
Twain, and was willing give a hundred dollars for it to be so. His reason?
So he could have again the pleasure of reading Huckleberry Finn for the first time.
Really. I found it astonishing that I found myself
wishing I haven’t seen the series yet, so I can have the pleasure of watching
it for the first time. I Can Hear Your Voice is that awesome.
Some assorted musings:
- Wow. I wrote a long one. Again, I guess I just really, really like this show. And I am still completely baffled why I do. Maybe my taste is changing as I grow older? Hmmmm.
- Hye-sung is six years older than Soo-ha. In real life, Lee Bo-young and Lee Jong-suk, the actors who played them, actually have an age gap of ten years. Fun trivia.
- Lawyer Shin makes some of the most hilarious facial expressions ever.
- Out of its 18 episodes, my most favorite one is probably Episode 14.
- One creative thing about this show is each episode title is from a featured title or line from a song. “Echo” (the theme song) and “Why Did You Come Now?” are the show’s best songs. They’re in my current playlist. I probably liked them only because they were of the show.
- Fun chemistry was happening between Lawyer Cha and Prosecutor Seo during the last episode. Too bad there was no real hint on where it would be going.
- If Harry Potter’s epilogue is the worst ever, I Hear Your Voice has one of the best ever.
- I think this is even the first time I even used the word “swoon” in a blog post. /shaking my head.
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