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Hi Bye, Mama! korean drama review
Completed
Hi Bye, Mama!
3 people found this review helpful
by K-lover61
Jun 24, 2021
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 3.0
Story 3.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

Overly sentimental

This was way too melodramatic and gushy for me.
Started off not bad at all, with Mama of the title and the ghosts she hangs out with, at the columbarium her ashes reside in, providing some light hearted and touching moments.
They are kept in line (with difficulty) by a no nonsense Shaman, Ms Mi Dong. There are no real vengeful inhabitants, most stay to watch over family, or because they have unfinished issues.
I found these characters and their stories the best part of the drama.
Once Cha Yu Ri inexplicably comes back to life, the story started to quickly nosedive.
It's a while since I've found a lead character as selfish and hopeless as her.
She's belligerent towards many other spirits, even though she's now in a position where she could help them.
She had been fixated on her daughter from the moment she passed and when she returns to the living, it transpires that being around her all that time came at a price.
She inserts herself into the toddler's life, with no care about her husband or his current wife, let alone the little girl. At this point, she has no idea how she came back, or whether it's permanent.
Instead of being extremely careful, she is eventually found out. On learning that she has 49 days on earth, after which she will leave again if she cannot resume her pre-death place on earth, she still carries on regardless and keeps it from everyone.
The emotional scars her death left on her widowed husband are deeper than the ocean, but she still spends most of the time concentrating on herself, whilst what I felt was using her daughter as an excuse.
The expectations she raises in her parental family, husband and best friend, cause so much more hurt and pain, it's infuriating.
Characters take ages delivering slow and overly paused dialogue, not answering questions, not saying what they should, and there is a LOT of wailing and beating of chests.
This story could have been so much more. The main character could, on being discovered, have come clean and used her time on earth well, instead of achieving very little until the last couple of episodes.
Instead of feeling sad for her, I was relieved when it was all over.
Definitely not one I would watch again, as I struggled to finish it first time around. So disappointing. If you like mushy, sentimental, melodramatic shows, however, you'll love it! (Not judging; each to their own.)
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