Where Stars Land (2018)

"Where Stars Land" is exactly the kind of romance I was in the mood for. I initially avoided it because of so many negative comments, but I'm so glad I decided blindly to give this drama a chance inspite of that. I have been disappointed, and honestly bored, by quite a few romance dramas recently, but with this drama I was pleasantly surprised instead. It's set in an airport, a familiar KDrama setting, but the focus is on the customer service staff in particular. I think it's best to watch this drama not knowing or expecting anything, so I will be careful not to reveal too much, but it turned out to be more than just the opposites attract romcom I expected it to be, and actually had a pretty original story that kept me interested until the very end (flaws and all).

It stars Lee Je Hoon as Lee Soo Yeon who's straight laced and by the book character is matched with Chae Soo Bin as the stubbornly impetuous Han Yeo Reum. All of the complaints I read about the drama were about Han Yeo Reum, and how much people hated her, but I didn't have a problem with her character at all. I think her character is frustratingly ambitious on purpose in order to disturb Soo Yeon's futile attempt at having a quiet and routine worklife. Of course their conflicts lead to some great chemistry and I loved the way the story between them developed. I was a fan Lee Je Hoon in "Signal", but this is my first time seeing him as a romantic lead. I also loved Chae Soo Bin in "I Am Not a Robot", so it was great to see her in another romance, and she did not disappoint me. Together they had cute and comedic moments as well as heartbreaking dramatic moments, and even when parts of the story were weak, their character development was strong.

As for the supporting cast there were characters that were favorites, some who were underutilized, and some who were boring as hell. My favorites in the supporting cast were definitely Kim Kyung Nam as Oh Dae Ki and Lee Soo Kyung as Na Yeong Joo of the security team, who's chemistry was entertaining enough to deserve their own spinoff show. I thought Lee Dong Gun was great, although almost typecast in his role, but because his storyline was compartitively weak I felt like his talent was a little bit wasted. I also wanted to know much more about Mr. Jang who I feel like never got enough screentime for being such a huge part of the story. Then there was Kim Jee Soo as Yang Seo Koon, who seemed like a character I would like in the beginning, but she turned out to be so boring that I'm still not quite sure about anything involving her character. Also, because so much of this drama revolves around work, there's a pretty good ensemble cast feel among the airport staff, which helps make the random airport stories seem less disjointed.

For me, the weakest parts of the drama was the internal airport drama between management, which was too vague to care about, and took up too much time. There are also parts of Soo Yeon's backstory that I wish were better explained, but I still think the parts they did focus on were well done as far as drivng the story and his motivation. With the short episode format there was always enough in each episode to keep me curious and make me want to keep watching. By the end, the story felt like it was definitely rushed, but all the parts of the story that I cared about were resolved (although I'm still not sure if the very end was an artistic choice or an emergency decision).

Would I rewatch this? Yes. I think the chemistry between the main couple is what carries this show, more than the general story, so I would probably still enjoy it with a second viewing.

Overall, "Where Stars Land " isn't going to make it to my favorites list, but it's much better than some of the mediocre dramas I forced myself to finish this year. I recommend giving it a chance, especially if you are a romance fan. You may find out that under it's unassuming appearance is a drama with a spark of something extroadinary.

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First of all, I will be honest that almost dropped this show watching the first two episodes, because I thought it would be one of the trending "relationship-between-human-and-robot" stories. However, I returned to this show after I was unexpectedly spoiled by YouTube and realized my guesses were wrong.
This show focused on human relationships rather than real-life problems that happen in airports. Typical plots in airport dramas such as airplane accidents and troublesome passengers were covered, but briefly. Other than the relationship between the top two, the security couple, the manager couple, the lonely friend, some stressful bosses were covered.

The con reasons I gave 7/10 overall for this drama are the following:
- There was nothing deep or surprising. Basically, some ruined relationships in the past were fixed with some gangsters involved. They could have been fixed easily by simply communicating.
- Too many unique characters, and some were irrelevant to the story. Scenes like witnessing a husband cheating, workplace rumors, and relationship with some dark forces... these incoherent incidents messed up the main plot.
- Ending sucked. All those emotional struggles surrounding his disability became unnecessary in the end, because no one cared about it including him in the end right?

Like it said during the show, everyone is unique and have different views and opinions, despite working at a place where they serve customers who only care about themselves, because it's an airport. You can think of each other as "someone passing by in your life", and you will eventually forget about the encounter. I really liked this message.

It was really heartwarming to watch, with the help of some great OSTs. They really matched the theme of this show. However, it all ends up to this feeling, as if I rid on a ferris wheel instead of a roller coaster. Everyone carried stresses in the middle, but they all got along in the end.

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