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yaykisspurrkfan

yaykisspurrkfan

The Light in Your Eyes korean drama review
Completed
The Light in Your Eyes
11 people found this review helpful
by yaykisspurrkfan
May 8, 2019
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
Nam Joo-hyuk is a favorite actor of mine (one of many hahaha) whose career I have been avidly watching. When I saw he decided to star in this very serious melodrama I was intrigued. Netzins have accused him of poor acting which I disagree with. Koreans are also very fascinated with twisty time travel which Radiant explores!

I'm not really a fan of actress Han Ji-min so I was quite worried to watch Radiant. I needn't have because we spend a lot more time on screen with her elderly counterpart Kim Hye-ja who is a wonderful elderly actress (not to be confused with their character with the same name!) Yes, there is a bit of a supernatural twist involved. Of course, Hye-ja's family and friends are greatly effected by this change in her. And we explore this effect alongside her estranged relationship with Lee Joon-ha who she is forced to emotionally abandon even though they fall in love.

Radiant is a very odd story. We assume from the first couple episodes that it will be a supernatural romantic comedy... and it surely has all of those elements, but it is more of a melodrama than anything. The twists start coming hot and heavy in the last handful of episodes and it totally changes how you view that beginning. Yes, there is a roller coaster of emotions that we go through with Hye-ja and Joon-ha, and the end is rather poignant rather than strictly happy, but the journey makes Radiant worth the watch.

Kim Hye-ja and Lee Joon-ha sell me. I was totally on board with this couple. They connected on a visceral level in those first episodes that I really related to and wanted to see play out to the end. Alas a family tragedy totally derails their love affair and we watch Radiant with bated breathe wondering at the promise in that beginning. It's quite heart breaking and Hye-ja works hard to stay close to Joon-ha even as his life spirals out of control. All is not as it seems.

I thought it was quite fascinating how her family and friends play into Hye-ja's story with Joon-ha. Even though we don't learn much until the end, I was fascinated by Hye-ja's parents relationship. There was history there we don't learn about but can feel the effect of. And Hye-ja's own relationship with her father was quite pregnant with emotion boiling under the surface. It was the later episodes though that put all of these moments in perspective. Like I said all is not as it seems but the reality is just as authentic once we know the truth.

Radiant is a true melodrama that wrings your heart out! Romance lovers and non-romance lovers will enjoy this as its authenticity to real life touches your heart despite the supernatural elements that allow us to explore Hye-ja's life. The twists and turns make the journey worth the watch as the truths inherit in Radiant give you a vehicle to ponder your own life.
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