Esther Yu's Love Game in Eastern Fantasy domestically beats Zhao Lu Si's The Story of Pearl Girl
I am not a fan of the title. When I stumbled upon it, it felt cliché but when I read the description, it intrigued me – a 39 years old single woman whose life encircles around babies while her ultimate dream is to become a mother, wants to skip a key-stage which is marriage. This very idea right here is bold. Especially when the drama is based in a country where being a single parent is frown upon, moreover if you are a single mother.
(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ The Main Cast ♥
The drama covers Jang Ha Ri, our protagonist’s struggle around marriage. The poor thing has been trying to get hitched for a decade but never had a single chance. How can life be so unfair! It almost felt like her ex-boyfriend hexed her for doom when he left her stranded in an unpleasant end of a romantic relationship.
If you see Ha Ri’s character, it’s hard to believe that someone like her could be single and never have a chance with guys. She is intelligent, hard-working, kind, and does have a sex appeal. So why didn’t luck favour her? In the present, we could still see her struggling to get a match as she goes to a couple of blind dates 
but nothing works. Her singledom turns out to be a label of mockery slapped on her forehead.
Both in her personal and professional life she constantly gets judged and advised how she should get married. Now, I am unsure how many people reading this article could relate to this, but it’s extremely annoying! Especially in our Jang Ha Ri’s case as we all could see she tried her best to fish the best in the sea but unfortunately, she was sailing in the dead sea.
Amidst balancing a chaotic life, Ha Ri comes to know that she has limited time to bear a child and a slim chance at that. Since motherhood was her ultimate goal, this news broke her into pieces. On one hand, she had no luck in marriage. On the other hand, her egg bank was getting empty day by day. It came as a shock to her but rather being depressed Ha Ri, tried to take matters into her own hands.
She wanted to skip marriage and become a mother instead. Now, to me, who belongs to a different culture than that of South Korea, this idea doesn’t feel that of a challenge. However, I carelessly overlooked a lot many aspects which don’t even touch the culture part yet – Jang Ha Ri lives alone and is a workaholic if she miraculously gets impregnated she will have no one but herself to raise a child, there is no saying that the birth father may want to take the child’s custody later. There was an aspect of the country's law that was depicted – you will need to have been married to even consider IVF and it’s illegal for a single woman to ask for it. Unfortunately, our protagonist commits a crime in pursuit of a baby which later turned out to be a matter of her reputation.
I was frustrated over the matter when Jang Ha Ri had to go through humiliation because she wanted to become a single mother. She received tons of backlash not only from everyday online trolls but also from all the mothers she worked in the past. I realized something, people nowadays are very angry but they are unable to direct their anger in the right direction. The rap by BTS- Ddaeng played in my head at this point. But then again, I am just an outsider who never lived there and I don’t know what horrors do the people of South Korea have to go through in every day for them being so fussed over a single woman wanting to be a mother. My opinion was flawed and I felt apologetic.
Then she tried to look for a solution around her...
There were
other aspects which were shown in the series which touched my heart. The story of Han Yi Sang, a single man, an ace photographer who has mysterious vibes and tons of appeal. He seemed to be uninterested in being in a relationship and enjoy his singularity, he even turned down Jang Ha Ri at one point and they had bad blood since.
However, behind that tall handsome man, was a man who was broken from a failed relationship and refused to love anyone again because he was protecting himself. It’s such a sad aspect of life – heartbreaks… They are pretty common but that doesn’t make them less hurtful. Especially nowadays where people date as if they are in a contract.
If a party breaches it, the relationship ends. When you know about this man’s life, you will feel sympathetic. We all have some Yi Sang in us after all, we all don’t want to get hurt in love.
The next guy, Yoon Jae Young, a divorced paediatrician with a baby girl and also Jang Ha Ri’s wombmate. Unfortunately, he was thrown into the friend zone even before he was born. There is no b
oundary between Ha Ri and Jae Young except the tag of “Friendship”. The portrayal of friendship in South Korean dramas and manhwas is incredible, the love between friends is thicker than blood. Even if you ditch your friend at some point, you know you can return to them and will be welcomed no matter what.
It’s evident that Jae Young is interested in Ha Ri but because they have a history of being friends, it’s really difficult for him to overcome that without losing Ha Ri. I can see the love in his eyes for her and that he wants her to be the mother of his child. I am speculating at some point he will open up to her as a man and not as a friend. Fingers crossed!
The last guy, Choi Kang Eu Tteum (boy that’s a long name!) a sweet doting colleague. He's got the Knight in Shining Armour kind of vibe. He is sweet, considerate but he can't control his mouth and goes spilling beans around. He has a help
ing nature, but he is a weirdo. If I would have been his colleague, I would have kicked his butt a long time ago. This man needs a mouth guard – but that shows his innocence too. It would be interesting to see how the relationship between Ha Ri and Kang Eu Tteum develops. 
I personally like older woman and younger man couple (guilty pleasure) and if I threw in a spoiler, he is the number one candidate for becoming Ha Ri’s sperm donor. In one of the episodes, there was a conversation between them where I learnt a new side of the story – the importance of keeping the secrecy of donating sperm.
When Ha Ri approached him vaguely, he showed concern towards his parents’ thoughts on it. After all, when you are at the dusk of your life, being grandparents bring immense joy and it also provokes thought on how the older generation perceives sperm donation.
(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ The Support Cast ♥
I also liked how the story of supporting characters has been shown, such as Lee Ok Ran, Jang Ha Ri’s mother who is still staying strong despite being betrayed in marriage and raising a child single-handedly. She was furious on learning Ha Ri’s wish to become a single mother. The thought that I had no choice but to suffer and you are choosing to suffer had put me into tears. She was protective of her daughter.
Shin Jung Hwa, editor of The Baby and Jang Ha Ri’s boss, she is someone you will never try to mess with. A strong career woman who will eat you alive and not even burp had you been a sting in her eye yet, being a mother and a career woman is no less of a challenge for her. She is someone Ha Ri should learn from actually. She low key supports Ha Ri in her pursuit as it challenges the radical norms of the society. I like how she toggles between work and home going through so many hardships. She is an epitome of all those mothers who work, I feel compassionate and respect towards her character.
Park Yeon Ho, reporter, and Ha Ri’s subordinate, is pretty interesting as she managed to convince a guy for not having a baby and got hitched. I know a couple in real life who have a similar arrangement. It does feel weird to me because of the culture I was raised in, but it does challenge the thought of the “ideal” or 
“complete” family. If you’re contented with your relationship and don’t feel the need to have a baby in your lives, you don’t have to have one. This is bold in itself considering the society still demands babies from a married couple and not being able to provide one raises few eyebrows. I want to know what happens later with her in the series, I want to see what she has to go through for not wanted to be a mother.
Kim Eun Young, Ha Ri’s best friend and a housewife with twin boys who are sent from hell. She is a typical example rubbed on our face of the fact how an emerging woman in her career if decides to leave everything for man, turning herself into a housewife becomes bound to many things. I don’t see her any less but I know many would. Being a housewife and mother of twins is a ridiculous amount of work on its own. I see my mother in her because she had gone through a similar incident. She was an emerging player in cricket but was hitched to a guy in her 20’s with pressure than had to deal with two kids becoming a housewife. She is an angry woman and now I know why. Strangling your dreams and burying it to fulfil someone else’s dream requires lots of sacrifices. We don’t appreciate our mothers who are housewives enough. I was both thankful and sorry for my mother. I know I wasn’t always kind and considerate towards her and that I can’t return even an inch of what she would have given up for me and the family. If you have a mother who is a housewife, please ask her about her dreams if you haven’t already, be kind to her and help her whenever you could.
(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ My Two Cents ♥
Oh My Baby, is about Jang Ha Ri on the surface but teaches us a lot about parenthood. It’s a beautiful amalgamation of love, care, kindness, and joy of having a wonderful life. The most touching part of the entire series is the time when Jang Ha Ri realized that her mother had always been with her in her thick and thins and now that it was her turn, she has to take the role of a parent for her mother and take care of her.
We kids are also parents of our father and mother. When they turn old, can’t look after themselves, we must not forget what they have done for us and take care of them in a similar manner as we would to our children.
The OST of the series is both inspiring and lovely when I listened to them, I smiled. If you would like to listen to them, here are the YouTube links:
I hope you like my article. I know it’s too long but it’s my first time writing one. I apologize if my thoughts came out as biased or even prejudiced, I am not a perfect person but I wanted to relay my thoughts on the series. I recommend Oh My Baby, it’s a wonderful series.
Editors: BrightestStar (1st editor)
