This is definitely not your typical K-Drama. The plot is extremely ambitious, incorporating romance, court drama, suspense, revenge, rivalries, and some supernatural elements. Surprisingly, all the elements come together nicely making this a very unique drama.
The first thing that stuck out to me is the fact that the main character, Jang Hye Sung, is not a very likable person, yet she's a completely relatable character. I realized early on that these characters wouldn't be so cliché, which really peaked my interest. Interesting characters in an interesting story is the perfect recipe for a really great/memorable drama. I Hear Your Voice was mostly that... yes, I said mostly. There were a few things that stopped me from agreeing with the mostly 10 rating reviews, but I believe the good in this drama heavily outweighs the bad.
The whole cast was great. Lee Jong Suk and Lee Bo Young worked well as a couple, in spite of the huge gap in age. Lee Jong Suk was totally believable as the wise beyond his years Park Soo Ha (though sometimes more emotionally flat than cool). It's pretty similar attitude-wise to his role in Secret Garden, but this time he gets to shine as the leading man, while Yoon Sang Hyun takes a back seat.
Yoon Sang Hyun's Cha Kwan Woo on the other hand is the antithesis of his role as Oska. Cha Kwan Woo is super idealistic and a bit of a doormat, and his dynamic with the sometimes bullying and pessimistic Jang Hye Sung was kind of a refreshing change from the K-Drama norm. It was like the typical K-Drama gender stereotypes were reversed (he's even the one to get the makeover lol).
The three of them made an entertaining love triangle, though the love story did start to drag after a while. I loved the initial chemistry between Park Soo Ha and Jang Hye Sung, but I will admit that towards the end I became less interested in them as a couple. The characters remained strong, and interesting in spite of this. I don't blame the characters, it's more the fault of the somewhat repetitive romance plot.
Jang Hye Sung and Seo Do Yeon's rivalry was just as engaging as the love triangle, sometimes more so. Both characters were strong willed to the extreme, which made their vulnerable moments even more heartbreaking. I really enjoyed their anti-bff storyline.
My two favorite characters however were not any of the leads. Although I loved the leads, and the whole supporting cast, there were two cast members that were the true stars in my opinion.
Jung Woong In was such an amazingly sinister villain. As Min Joon Kook he really scared the crap out of me (which is pretty hard to do), and unlike the average cartoony K-Drama villain, his character had depth which made him even creepier.
The other stand out to me was Kim Hae Sook, who played Jang Hye Sung's mother. I loved the dynamic between mother and daughter, and one scene of hers in particular left me completely devastated. After watching her in this she has officially earned a spot in my top K-Drama actresses list (also see her in Cain & Abel, and definitely in Hotel King).
I gave the story a lower score than most, because I did completely drop this drama at one point. There's a point in the story where is takes a completely different turn, which I guess is better than being predictable, but I started to completely lose interest. After a while I decided to give it a second chance, and the reason I gave this a higher rewatch score is that I watched it again from the beginning and was completely sucked back into the story. I'm glad I made that decision because the story goes in so many interesting directions.
Like most dramas, the story started to drag a little at the end, but not enough to make me stop watching a second time. The writers also deserve a lot of credit for not leaving annoying loose ends in such a complicated story. The beginning was much stronger to me, but In the end I was not disappointed.
Oh, and the music. So many of the OST songs annoyed me. The songs in general are probably not as bad as my score, but hearing them over and over again was borderline torture.
I know I mentioned Secret Garden a lot in this review, but It was cool to see Yoon Sang Hyun & Lee Jong Suk in another drama together (since SG is one of my all time favorite dramas). Both I Hear your Voice and Secret Garden are also similar in how they successfully weave the supernatural elements into the story. I think a fan of one may also like the other.
Overall this is one of those dramas that has a little something for every K-Drama fan. There's the increasingly popular older woman younger man couple craze for romance fans (shout out to all the cradle robbing Ajummas!), There are plot twists for fans of suspense, There are cry worthy moments for drama fans, There's a bit of a tragic super hero story, There are court cases for those interested in the Korean legal system, There's some epic revenge for thriller fans... I Hear Your Voice really does attempt to take on a lot of genres!
I really would recommend giving this drama a try, and if you do watch, and find yourself ready to drop it halfway, I strongly recommend hanging in there a little longer. It may not live up to all the review hype, but I think the fact that it has so many enthusiastic fans makes total sense. At the very least, it's not just more of the same, which already puts it ahead of many dramas.
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