Before reviewing this series, it is important to note that makeup is an interesting, yet rarely tackled topic tackled within Korean dramas. Although over the past few years, we have seen shows like ‘beautiology 101’ (2016) and recent contenders such as ‘True Beauty’ (2020-21) , ‘Record Of Youth’ ( 2020) and ‘ Sunbae , Don’t Put On That Lipstick’ (2021) tackling or mentioning this topicality within their storylines , it is often commonly used as a subtle setup placed in favour of the romantic undertones or a romantic pairing within and drama .

‘ Touch’ is no exception to “catching on” to this recent symbiotic trend of makeup and romance in one series. The show focuses upon a former - idol called Soo Yun ( Kim Bo Ra) who suddenly decides to become a makeup artist under the tutorage of makeup connoisseur Jung Hyuk ( Joo Sang Wook). The premise was oddly not a terrible setup in the grand scheme of romance dramas; not original within its concept, but surprisingly not provoking the series into uncharted territory of being “ unwatchable” at first either. It would seem the intrinsic flaw of the show boiled down to three major inconsistencies ; characterisation, pacing and ultimately the portrayal of Soo Yun and Jung Hyuk’s relationship throughout the show.

Addressing the first point of character-writing, it’s interesting to analyse exactly where the series went wrong overall within presenting this supposedly “ dynamic” relationship between the two leads of the series .

Soo Yun plays upon the typical “ underdog” trope by being talented and hardworking within her previous goals to become an idol, but ultimately letdown by a rigged and unfair system. Whilst it was an interesting notion to point out a critique in the otherwise “ fluffy and cutesy” drama towards the elements of injustice in the K-Pop industry, it didn’t really deliver a finer impact for viewers upon Soo Yun as an individual. In fact, Soo Yun was often a difficult character for viewers to truly feel emotional attachment towards as we are exposed to so little about her actual reasons or intrinsic motives at all within the drama, and even why she chose to become an idol in the first place. Consequently, the same problems aspire within Soo Yun’s choice to become a makeup artist. This is undeniably quite a specialist field which requires even for novices, years of talent, training and experience to land a small job in this industry , not least in a renowned company . With presumably little background in this field prior to the events of the series or aspirations shown beforehand towards makeup ( up until meeting the male lead as an idol), it is hard to truly define what drove Soo Yun into making this career choice and suddenly becoming her “ dream” without any previous passion towards makeup notably in the first place.

If this wasn’t problematic enough, Soo Yun has few true defining qualities which make her prominently stick out as a character. Aside from her questionable career paths lacking drive and motives, she was simply too staid within her decisions and actions at times to notably motivate the plot or relate to as an individual. This is not to suggest that a female character should be constantly boisterous, short-tempered and outgoing in order to be “ well-written” ( as this can be just as worse for falling into other cliches) , however, a well-written character often has something prominent or memorable about a certain personality trait, flaw or expression which instantly attracts or make them to appealing to an audience.

A good and notable example towards Soo Yun’s lacking depth and character writing as an individual is prominent within her reactions and behaviour around her abusive, former boyfriend. Most characters in a series dealing with this traumatic issue would probably struggle to open up in a relationship again or at least react emotionally towards often being cornered by someone who made your life miserable. Instead Soo Yun is incredibly passive towards the notion for a major proportion of the series, only “ reacting” to her experiences when it was necessary for the plot and later in an attempt quickly wrap up this storyline, “ forgiving” her former boyfriend. This was a hard notion to understand both within exactly how Soo Yun was trialed by these events as well as holding onto moral dignity as well. Although actress Kim Bo Ra was decent enough within her performance, it intrinsically felt devoid of expression and depth due to her poorly-written character.

Moving on to our next main protagonist , is Jung Hyuk, the main male lead of the series. Ambitious, eccentric and a perfectionist when it comes to makeup and natural beauty, he is pointed out to be an incredibly talented makeup artist by the characters of the series. Although San was terrible within his role, his character was in poor taste to say the least.

Initially Jung Hyuk appeared as a character who had the potential to learn and grow from his previous mistakes and aloof behaviour over the course of the series. Before moving onto a deeper criticism towards made Jung Hyuk a poorly-written and manipulative male lead, the one thing which the plot did do pretty well with Hyuk was showing viewers his motivation behind becoming a makeup artist unlike Soo Yun. On the other hand, one thing which prominently was not risen in this show was the issue over masculinity for a man in this field . Whilst there are notably younger male artists in this line of work in the series, considering the presumed age of Hyuk and having been in the industry for awhile, it would seem evident that over the years Hyuk has often faced discrimination or challenges towards his masculinity over appearing too “ effeminate” within his love and passion for makeup. This has long been a prominent, sociocultural issue in South Korea over images of masculinity as well as the divide over makeup becoming a “ social norm” against both genders, something which could have easily been mentioned or raise in the harsh and competitive world of the makeup industry presented in the series.

Yet the most evident problem with Jung Hyuk can be found through his notably controlling and harsh behaviour over the course of the series. This is something notably present within Hyuk’s psyche both within the workplace and his inferior treatment of the female lead for his own gain in the beginning of the series, as well as his horrible treatment of women in past relationships. Although most dramas would often attempt to show merely how the relationship between Jung Hyuk’s ex, Ji Yoon broke off over rows, what was disconcerting about “ Touch”’s dealing of the issue was introducing a serious issue of domestic abuse. In itself, the concept can be an interesting problem or critique of social issues in a series to explore, however, what was difficult to justify about its portrayal in the drama must have been the attempt to “ gloss it over” without pointing out that it is a serious and problematic issue.

If this isn’t problematic enough it gets worse when we assess the relationship between the two characters in the drama. It wasn’t primarily to do with the age difference between the characters, as often this aspect can often deepen relationships by learning to understand one another through generational differences. Instead, it was notably hard that the series did not truly build upon this relationship at all with an odd transition from “ master and apprentice” to “ lovers” without really transgressing over that threshold beforehand in the show. As individuals, it was hard to truly root for Jung Hyuk when he was principally portrayed as a greedy megalomaniac in both work place and his “ relationship” with Soo Yun, whilst Yun notably as a victim of a similar relationship in the past, seemed to insecurely and worryingly fall for the same trap in an almost “ subservient” manner than actual affection .

In the background of the problematic pairing exited Kang Do Jin (Lee Tae Hwan), an idol and a friend of Soo Yun who naturally entangles himself into becoming a cliche component of this love triangle. Arguably, Do Jin was the one fairly likeable character of the series who actually against his seeming vanity had a good- heart by helping out the female lead in numerous ways. Yet due to the poor pacing of the series, there was little time to truly focus or deepen Do Jin as an actual individual.

Overall, “ Touch” is a series which desperately tries to use the typical and cliche setups of romance in the workplace, but soon find its unravelling by poorly-written characters, an uncomfortable romantic pairing, questionable messages towards prominent issues of abuse against women and plot inconsistencies as well. Although it had a certain edge of “ fluff” within its setup and ending , the direction of the storyline felt aimless and lacking in a greater sense of storyline and development