Dear Hyeri (2024)

Wish this one had a Better Ending

This was one of those shows that started phenomenally and end up frizzled and disappointing!

Despite its exemplary casting, abysmal storytelling led this show astray. I never thought I had see the day when a “Shin Hye Sun” show would turn boring, but it did. While the special focus on mental ailments was praiseworthy, the constant back and forth between the two male protagonists was jarring. Shin Hye Sun does his best to portray two different identities, that are as different as the day and night. As Joo Eun Ho, she plays the role of a burned out announcer struggling to make ends meet; as Joo Hye Ri, she has a sunny disposition while working as an ordinary parking lot assistant. There were a lot of times when I questioned this inconsistency; no matter how insignificant she was, how can an announcer from a popular broadcasting channel be so unrecognizable? How was she able to juggle two different jobs in different timezones without getting exhausted?

Read the complete article here-

https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2024/10/31/dear-hyeri-series-review/#more-1286

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where to begin

Lots of spoilers ahead ... proceed with caution.

I was so incredibly disappointed by this series. The stars I did give it were for Kang Hoon's acting, despite the character of Ju Yeon being selfish and frustrating. Also, a bit of the stars go to Jo Hye Joo's character Hye Yon, who was funny and unflinchingly honest ... which leads to her being reprimanded after she (grown woman) had a drink with a man (another adult) in her hotel room. She had to write an apology and got demoted. He? Nada. Nor did he stand up for her.

In a time when mental health is getting the attention it deserves, let's get it right. DID doesn't work that way. At all. DID is something that happens to a child who has experienced horrific, sustained abuse and trauma. It doesn't happen when a woman gets tossed aside by a cruel, manipulative asshole, who says he won't marry her and walks off. Does it suck? Absolutely. But I think we can give women a bit more credit in handling a break-up, no matter how brutal. F*ck that guy!

After that ... it's just a mess. What actually did happen to Hye Ri? Did she wander into the field and die? Get lost? Live in that random cabin, and assumably went somewhere to get the things she needed to survive? How old was she? Nine? Thirteen and at a pool party? Maybe I missed something. Somethings? Doesn't anyone tell Eun Ho that what happened was not her fault, poor kid? Where were the search and rescue teams? Helicopters? Normally, I love Shin Hye Sun. But what was going on with the character of Hye Ri? Why was she so infantilized, looking up through her bangs with her mouth slack, huh-huh-huh laughter, while covering her mouth. Going from complete shyness and naivité (crying and unable to even speak to her crush Ju Yeon) to a quirky, happy woman who can solve decades of animosity between Ju Yeon and his mother, by telling her it's good to be alive. What? The Hye Ri personality doesn't resemble the real Hye Ri in flashbacks at all.

One of the hardest things to watch (the acting lopsidedly in Kang Hoon's corner), was when Eun Ho decides that she and Ju Yeon should have a "good breakup," despite the obvious fact that he was in a shit load of pain, his heart breaking while she smiled, even laughed at one point, and insisted that they shake hands. Then cue over-protective pos boyfriend (whom she's taken back). He shows up, adds to the blow by also shaking Ju Yeon's hand, links arms with Eun Ho, and the two skip off laughing and flirting ... directly in front of Ju Yeon who is shattered. Kang Hoon has a flawless grasp on subtle emotions in his acting. So even though I didn't know what he saw in her, and he was a jerk for demanding that Hye Ri come back for his own sake, I could really feel his heartache in losing her.

And then ... Eun Ho is totally fine with the idea that Hye Ri might come back ... she'd be happy to see her. With actual DID, that would mean that she is facing something that has triggered her trauma to such a degree that her brain takes over and brings Hye Ri back to help handle it. Yeah, not a "happy" thing at all.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama '' To My Hyeri '' is a psychological melodrama with a romantic story at its core.

The drama starts out pretty strong, with the leading lady killing it with her double personality performance.

The mystery was also intriguing and the melodrama fitted the story nicely.

And yet, everything went downhill halfway through. The drama changed course and emphasized more on the love story and less on its main character, which didn't fit the tone of the drama and made it generic.

Also, the pace was messy and the story felt random.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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HYUNOH, the walking RED FLAG

I liked Shin Hae Sun and Kang Hoon in this, but Lee Jin Wook? Couldn’t stand him.
The more I watched, the more I hated his character.

1) He had the same expression no matter the scene. Even in what should have been emotional moments, there was just… nothing. ZERO!
2) Hyunoh is toxic. By the last few episodes, it’s obvious he KNOWS how attached Eunho is to him and how “important” he is to her, and he abused that.

The doctor Eunho’s been seeing? Completely useless. She didn’t do a thing and honestly looked so unconvincing the whole time. And then there’s Jeon Jae Yong—what was even the point of his character? Totally absurd and added nothing to the plot.

There were also some really odd camera angles that were just distracting. Like when someone was talking, instead of showing their face, we were shown the back of their head..?? What kind of information and emotions should I get from the back of their head?

Overall, the storyline fell flat and was just boring. Safe to say, I wouldn’t recommend this one.

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This drama is a 10/10 for me

Soo many negative reviews but tbh I would say this is the best story soo far this year with best chemistry. In my opinion no one has a chemistry like jinuk&hyesun. Its like they never acted but lived in the characters.

Well this drama is not everyone's cup of tea. This is not a regular chaebol and Cinderella story. Soo many watched the drama without even reading the plot and genre. The plot is between two people Eunho(who has a DID because of loss of her sister) and Hyunoh, who hides a broken heart because of childhood trauma and old women. The actual story is between them and it is clearly mentioned in the genre. So I wonder how audience could expect Eunho to end up with SL(who is not even sincere in love). This makes no sense. Juyeon is soft hearted but no, he is not good to be a lover. He first fell in love with hyeri, and when hyeri disappears he says he would prefer Eunho too which is a complete non sense. I was numb here. He lost here as a lover. And within no time he fell in love with hye yoon immediately(Even though I was happy that he moved on...these immidiate actions are not qualified to be a lover).

If we talk about Hyunoh, the only blunder he committed is not sharing his pain and sorrows. Why everyone is after only Eunho's pain but not Hyunoh's?? In my aspect Hyunoh is the most suffered one. He is a best man a woman could get as a lover. He might have broke up with her but never left her side. Whenever Eunho was hurt, it hurted him as well. May be this is what true love is. There is no fault with Hyunoh, but there is a fault with audience here. He sacrificed his dreams, he did every possible thing to make her strong and independent so that she could not face that humiliation in the office. He was right, a person who loves has a right to set the things even if it meant to hurt for once. He might have said that she was embarrasing him but there is a strong reason for that too. That was the only way to make her strong. He atleast not insulted her infront of the colleagues like moon ji on did. He let her go because he thought she would suffer like him. If you notice he never lived his life for himself but for others. How can people not see how much he suffered?? There is no love without pain and suffer. In the end the writer wanted to prove that "going back to your loved ones can heal each other" and thats the plot. DID is a disorder and its not a severe illness. It comes and goes. So i guess thats a perfect ending. In the end I would say, Hyunoh and Eunho are indeed made for each other. To watch this drama one should have a deep understanding skills instead of misunderstanding skills. This is the reason people ruined the beautiful drama. Even if 1% is supporting Hyunoh and 99% are with ju yeon and want her end up alone, I would honestly blame those 99% of people that their perspective is extremely wrong.

And talking about the acting Jinuk and Hyesun literally slayed their roles. Watching Jinuk in romance genre is really a feast to my eyes since he always portrayed action or bada$$ characters. I am always in for this actor.
I really loved Dear hyeri. I would recommend this to watch atleast for the chemistry between main leads.

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Good girls get ill because of bad boys

Eun Ho is joyful girl but I think she never show this side to her sister. Her sister felt alone. She never excepts her sister and then regretted. Also she felt their grandmother has never felling for them. Grandmother has to take care of them, but grandmother loved them. She just care Hyeon Oh…
Hyeon Oh, selfish, narcissistic and stupid Hyeon Oh. He acts like he is miserable man in the world. But actually he has a lovely family, money and girlfriend who loves him in the world. He never says his family background to Eun Ho. 8 years relationship 8 and they never talk about their family background. How can this happen? Do you think it is a real relationship?
I didn’t watch episode 12’s but I think Eun Ho left and Hye Ri return. Hye Ri should return. She should be happy with Ju Yeon. They deserve it. I prefer to eun Ho and Hyeom Oh’s toxic relationship then Hye Ri and Ju Yeon’s sweet love.
Eun Ho and Hyeon Oh’s love is toxic.

And in the end they added a useless character to make something painful. Why we have to watch car crush? It’s ridiculous. It’s totally different story. Didn’t we watch healing drama. I didn’t feel any healing now. Scenario la very complicated. They show us grandma’s life, Eun Ho’s life, Hyeon Oh’s story, Ju Yeon’s life… others life. Somuch stories. For example a girl came out and said wants to marry with Hyeon Oh. And then disappeared. Any story about her. Just screen time.
My favorite character is Sin Jung,Announcer department leader. He is very funny.
And they can’t even imagination what happened real Hye Di. They build a story about her and then leave her. In the beginning they shoed the picture two sisters, after episode 9 we never see the picture again.
They wasted Shin Hye Sun effort. I had a big expectation about this drama-_-

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TOXIC RELATIONSHIP PROMOTION

RELATIONSHIP ABUSE PROMOTION ✓
TOXIC RELATIONSHIP PROMOTION ✓
EVIL WON OVER GOOD ✓
ML CAN DO ANYTHING. ✓
FL is fake and spineless. ✓
FL has not self-esteem or self respect for herself. ✓
Woman should be treated like Garbage promoted. ✓
WOMAN LOve ABUSIVE MAN PROMOTED. ✓
WOMAN LOVE BEING HUMILIATED. ✓
SICK CONTROLLING STALKING JERK ARE ATTRACTIVE PROMOTED. ✓

If you read Description it already told whole story,
from the ep 1 they are showing a SML, love triangle while they have already given answer to that nothing is gone happen with that love triangle
two ex just mess things up for two other people by failing to decline them properly and start using them ( Advantages)
what is point of creating a love triangle when they even told in there description that ML and FL going to end together
just to make viewers feel PITY for SML ( and by the way SML is and will be going to be super super GOOD guy )
so everyone can have a second lead syndrome even after reading description.
ACTING LEVEL 9/10 always SHIN HYE SUN is best
Joo Eun Ho is an unknown announcer with 14 years of experience. She struggles to get the chance to have her name recognized by the public. She also has another personality, Joo Hye Ri, due to a deep wound in her heart. Her alter-ego, Joo Hye Ri, is super positive and works as a parking attendant.

Jung Hyeon O is Joo Eun Ho's ex-boyfriend; they dated for a long time but broke up. He became a star announcer as soon as he joined the broadcasting station and is the most-liked announcer by the public, but Jung Hyeon O also carries a hidden wound in his mind that he has never shown to anyone. Somehow, Joo Eun Ho and Jung Hyeon O reunite and help cure each other's wounds.

Episode 2

its not a serious mistake but CRIME,
and she thought he would be nice to her when she just wanted to confuse him with no sincerity at all ?

but i want that SML to get dumped really dirty, he act like his mom did not breastfeed him this morning,
did his co worker killed his Older brother ?

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The title of this drama is misleading

Instead of Dear Hyeri it should have been Dear Eunho or Dear Hyun Oh😭

The drama started so strooong but somehow managed to drag the plot with just 12 episodes!

This drama could have been one of the greatest healing genre out there but suffered greatly from bad screenwriting.

Its quite sad seeing the ratings here go from an 8.5 to a 7.3 however understandable.

There were too many plots going on and I could say it was all over the place. Despite its title, the kdrama showed more of Hyun Oh's story than Hyeri's or even Eunho's at all. Moreso, I found it hard to follow the story with many (unnecessary) side plots from including of from side characters.

I personally think this would've done well as a rom-com. The drama doesn't build up its plot well which caused me confusions constantly.

The ending satisfied me just fine though. I also enjoyed Jinwook and Hyesun's chemistry. I just wish their love story could've been conveyed well..so i guess thats some few good stuff about this drama.

If you're gonna watch this I suggest to watch it with something light. It gets depressing along the way.

Overall, its a 7.0! Just because I appreciate the thought ??? that this kdrama could have been 😞

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Should have called this drama 'Dear H.' and let audience guess. What a waste of 4 years!!!

In this show there is a scene where Eun Ho asks Hyun Oh what 8 years mean to someone. It's the time taken to have a child and send it to school or so she said. Then what does 4 years mean? What does 12 years mean?

If you follow through the entire drama you can easily see that the primary issue that was presented and resolved in the last 3 episodes could have been resolved in under 2 years had the ML attempted to be the adult he was supposed to be (I am estimating him to be around 32 at the time of break up). And after 4 years of repeat trauma and agony everything got resolved in just --one--freaking ---month? What? I would love the writer to clarify whether her DID was triggered by guilt and trauma due to missing sibling or the extreme loneliness she suffered through or the breakup itself (where supposedly she invested all her emotional dependence on an emotionally unavailable man). If it is break up then they didn't have to put all that trauma on her for 4 years. It's absurd and contradicts so much with her healing process shown in the drama. I am not a psychology expert but isn't DID our brain's response to extreme trauma that it has to split into different identities to cope with it? Could that trauma be just resolved in a month? What new realization did Eun Ho receive after staying in the cabin in the woods by one month? That being with the one you love is happiness? I would have her rather go to Himalayas and attain enlightenment at this point.

Among Chinese webnovels there is a character called 'MIL author' or 'stepmother author' specifically referring to authors who put their FLs through extreme angst while pampering their favorite, toxic but all good qualities attributable to , MLs. And I think the author of this show can be called one.
The comment section in MDL already has plenty of comments elaborating why Hyuon Oh isn't the right choice for Eun Ho's healing and I am not adding further to that. Yes we had the producers already pointing to that Eun Oh and Hyun Oh are endgame but the way they achieved that is extremely dissatisfactory. It was all about Hyun Oh to the point that even Eun Ho who is (supposedly) recovering from something severe as DID had to play therapist to him. This is why I emphasize that they should call this show 'Dear H' and let audience decide to fill it with Hye Ri or Hyun Oh.

Why did I spent 12 hours watching all the episodes? Because of the excellent cinematography and Shin Hye Sun's acting. She had to carry this show on her shoulders to make up for other poorly written randomly placed characters and act out two episodes of extreme mental breakdown to get to the end. I hope the PDs give her a fully sponsored relaxing vacation to recover. The sad part is some of the screenplay in later episodes was so poor that even her acting skills couldn't makeup for the void. We are already exposed to the both MLs' excellent acting skills in other shows but the poorly written characters with no room for development derailed any performance they could deliver in this show.

If you enjoy angst melodrama shows then you can choose to watch this show. The first 4 episodes are truly masterpieces of their own. Had this show released pre 2015 (or early 2000s) this would have been a hit drama but unfortunately we as audience has grown beyond that era of romanticizing emotional dependence as true love.

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