Oh My Geum Bi (2016)

Imma start this review on a positive note because I’m tired of all the crying. Where are all my melodrama fans at? Gather up, Oh My Geum Bi is easily one of the best melodramas of 2016 and one of the most beautiful, heart-breaking and heart-warming dramas I’ve ever watched. And there I was bitchin about how 2016 lacked proper melos; thank you Geum bi, thank you!

Story
Oh My Geum Bi tells a beautiful story of affection, devotion, forgiveness, becoming a better person, letting go and growing up. It’s a very simple story about a little girl who suffers from a terminal illness and has a very bad history with abandonment while she’s thrown at the hands of a clueless swindler who doesn’t know what to do with her. The story is quite predictable but the key point here is the simplicity and the chemistry among the actors that makes this drama grow into something unexpectedly special.

But, what made Geum Bi so particular? It just felt so real.

We are all born perfect and beautiful, without a trace of hatred, meanness, deviousness avarice or anything similar; and yet slowly we become that and so much more, why? We are born perfect and instead of keeping that, we are belittling it to the point we are nothing like that masterpiece we once were.

People are defined by their experiences. We’ve all been through some kind of trauma while growing up, either at home (most usually) or at school, or even later, that made us think lowly of ourselves, hate ourselves, hurt ourselves, have social issues and be afraid of people, want to hurt them back ect. Something scarred us, ruined the purity and instead of covering that scar, help it heal, we build on it. We build our lives on all the shit that happened to us, and deep inside we stay in that moment forever and we start hurting each other thinking this is the only way to survive. What does it take for the harming to stop? It takes another perfect human being, a kid, to remind us what we actually were and what we lost.

Geum Bi gave me hope that there is a way for everyone to regain the lost happiness, the lost innocence, the lost positivity and purity. This is why Geum Bi was special because it showed that we are all perfect, but we’ve just… forgotten about it.

I consider this drama a very heavy and depressing melodrama. I wouldn’t recommend marathoning if you’re a softie like me. Getting attached to the characters came way faster than expected, every character has a sad story, a trauma of some sorts if you may, that directed their life completely. Geum bi helps them work through these issues and see their selves in a whole new positive light. It’s amazing to want to change for a special person, isn’t it?

Best part of the drama is the character development. Geum Bi founds herself in the midst of crazy situations and scary self-obsessed people. And yet, being her flawless perfect self as a kid she finds a way to pass that light to them, inspire and motivate them to become better, and they thrive; inspirational and beautiful in every way.

Another amazing part of the drama was the family bond. The fact that blood is only the loosest way to define family and that people who love you will stick with your through thick and thin no matter what. They are out there; it’s time we found them!

The drama is full with heart-warming and extremely meaningful moments, outdoors among grown-ups, in the house as a family and at the school between kids. It shocked me how kids even with their silly beefs and complaints they would stick to each other when it’s needed, they are considerate and helpful expecting no compensation while grown-ups would only scheme and plot against each other no matter what. Why? The drama puts everything in perspective. It is incredible and worth noting to mention how Geum Bi changes literally everyone around her with the way she acts. And this was enough for me to overlook some convenient or inconsistent writing here and there.

During the later episodes we get to see how difficult it is to live with a person with special needs and the drama overall sends a strong and meaningful message against discrimination of the inclusive.

There is some subtle comedic relief thrown in there to relieve the tension, but don’t expect much.
Lastly, another thing I enjoyed was the genuine effort to make the backstories intense. There were some plot twists, some of them expected some not, but what I want to point out is the good writing here. There wasn’t a dull moment while everything had a meaning.

Geum Bi taught me the meaning of true deep unconditional love, what it looks like and what it can do. True love doesn’t need to be romantic to change you, to reinvent and enlighten you. I sincerely hope we all get to find our Geum Bi in this life.

Acting
Heo Jung Eum won best young actress award in KBS drama awards 2016. She deserved it and that is all I’m gonna say here. Brilliant, flawless and immaculate isn’t enough to describe it. Hope we can see more of her in the future

Oh Ji Ho is a good actor, and I think he was chosen for this role because of the impeccable chemistry he had with Heo Jung Eum. It was really magical. Father-daughter feels were so real. He was good at his comedic scenes and quite emotional when he needed to be. Overall a spectacular performance.

Park Ji Hee is firstly very beautiful and secondly she has this “broken mother” aura to her therefore being a perfect fit for this role. Second time I’m seeing her in a drama and I didn’t regret a moment of it. Emotional, dramatic, motherly and loving she had it all.

Oh Yoon Ah was exceptionally good at her role as well, as well as my personal favourite Lee Ji Hoon.
Kid actor Park Min Soo left a strong impression as well.

Overall the full cast was amazing and memorable.

Recommend/Rewatch
I’d wholeheartedly recommend this to every melodrama fan. People who are into depressing stuff that feature terminal illnesses ect, you’ll love this. Family drama lovers, viewers who enjoy incredible character developments I call out to you. This is not a drama to be missed. However it can be pretty depressing, so bear that in mind. I will definitely rewatch this in the future because it was beautiful, but so heartbreaking, it’s gonna take a while.

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Oh My Geum Bi hits all the right spots in the story and the countless conflicts faced, albeit leaving some issues unresolved and the sudden change of heart of the characters, it's still forgivable because of the cast's utterly amazing performance especially of Heo Jeong Eun where she's undeniably the light of the show and the last resort of almost all the characters related to her and its beautiful to witness these characters' transformation at the end of the show.

The show too has its flaws especially of how lazy some sub plots has been resolved so easily or just in a snap, the moments where there is Chi Soo and Joo Yeong is actually one of the best moments of the show, their presence in Geum Bi's life is an escape to her illness for a while and it's touching because at second half of the show that's the part where all things will go wrong and do nothing but sympathize to Kang Hee and Hwi Cheol.

Great drama, will definitely watch again maybe in years to come, I shed too much tears in a single show, TOO MUCH just TOO MUCH

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