A 'makjang' drama is a strange thing. Often long and slow-paced, a makjang needs something to keep interesting. That's obviously where birth secrets, revenge plots and ridiculously complicated relationships come in. But sometimes you'll find a makjang drama with a soft centre, fully-fleshed characters who you love because they love each other, and that's what will keep you hooked. Today I'm reviewing Can You Hear My Heart.
Explaining the plot for Shining Inheritance was hard, so I don't know how I'll handle this one.
Mentally disabled man Bong Young-gyu falls in love with deaf hairdresser Mi-suk, and when they marry their families become one. This means Mi-suk's daughter, nameless at this point, gains a step father who she loves immensely. When her mother dies and her step-brother runs away, her father gives her the name Bong Woo-ri and they promise to be together forever, like Mi-suk wanted.
Little do they know the full story behind her death. It was caused by ruthless and greedy businessmen Choi Jin-chul, who kills his weak father-in-law to gain power. His wife's son Cha Dong-joo (who also happens to be Woo-ri's closest and only friend) witnesses this from the window, and tfrom the shock of it he falls and permanently loses his hearing. After this incident, Dong-joo's mother learns the truth about her husband - namely, that he has a son of his own. Whisking Dong-joo away to recover where no-one can find out his secret - along with Bong Ma-ru, Woo-ri's brother I mentioned earlier since he's actually Choi Jin-chul's son - she concocts a revenge plan which she puts into action sixteen years later. Some drama is about to go down.
Little do they know the full story behind her death. It was caused by ruthless and greedy businessmen Choi Jin-chul, who kills his weak father-in-law to gain power. His wife's son Cha Dong-joo (who also happens to be Woo-ri's closest and only friend) witnesses this from the window, and tfrom the shock of it he falls and permanently loses his hearing. After this incident, Dong-joo's mother learns the truth about her husband - namely, that he has a son of his own. Whisking Dong-joo away to recover where no-one can find out his secret - along with Bong Ma-ru, Woo-ri's brother I mentioned earlier since he's actually Choi Jin-chul's son - she concocts a revenge plan which she puts into action sixteen years later. Some drama is about to go down.
If you didn't guess from my attempt at explaining Can You Hear My Heart, the relationships between the characters are ridiculously complicated and convoluted. I didn't even mention everyone. It's confusing as hell, so note that this show isn't for the casual watcher.
That aside, it was a nice change to watch a drama that dealt with accepting disabilities. It reminded me of what I liked so much about Orange Days and Page Turner. Even if you can't hear, that doesn't make you lacking as a person. You have to accept yourself before others can accept you.
Speaking of that, the characters in this show were well written (for the most part, but I'll get to that). Dong-joo was absolutely wonderful, this is my first time seeing Kim Jae-won is something and I'm so happy it was in a drama I loved. I've found that Hwang Jung-eum always bright and perky characters, but I liked her more here than in any other place. Namgoong Min was a little bland but I still thought he did a good job (in 2015 he started to take on villain roles, you wouldn't be able to call him bland now). I'm a little annoyed, though, since Go Joon-hee was put in the cast posters as if she was a main character, and then she was sidelined until the last five episodes. They completely underutilised her.
The character development in Can You Hear My Heart was a bit of a problem. It was so slow for some characters that ultimately the team didn't have enough time to wrap up arcs in convincing ways. In the last two episodes, the villains were suddenly repenting, and I wasn't sure why or how we'd got there. I could elaborate more on this, but the potential for far bigger spoilers is there so I'll leave it.
Ignoring that, though, there was so much the show did well. I thought the romance between Woo-ri and Dong-joo was adorable, but that's just one of the heartwarming relationships this show put forward. It was addictive beyond belief because you loved the family of characters the show put forward and wanted to see them together. You want to see Ma-ru reunite with his Dad, and you want to see the world discover that Dong-joo is deaf. It was the relationships I loved so much about this show, and every character living in Woo-ri's house was so lovable because they loved each other so much.
That aside, it was a nice change to watch a drama that dealt with accepting disabilities. It reminded me of what I liked so much about Orange Days and Page Turner. Even if you can't hear, that doesn't make you lacking as a person. You have to accept yourself before others can accept you.
Speaking of that, the characters in this show were well written (for the most part, but I'll get to that). Dong-joo was absolutely wonderful, this is my first time seeing Kim Jae-won is something and I'm so happy it was in a drama I loved. I've found that Hwang Jung-eum always bright and perky characters, but I liked her more here than in any other place. Namgoong Min was a little bland but I still thought he did a good job (in 2015 he started to take on villain roles, you wouldn't be able to call him bland now). I'm a little annoyed, though, since Go Joon-hee was put in the cast posters as if she was a main character, and then she was sidelined until the last five episodes. They completely underutilised her.
The character development in Can You Hear My Heart was a bit of a problem. It was so slow for some characters that ultimately the team didn't have enough time to wrap up arcs in convincing ways. In the last two episodes, the villains were suddenly repenting, and I wasn't sure why or how we'd got there. I could elaborate more on this, but the potential for far bigger spoilers is there so I'll leave it.Ignoring that, though, there was so much the show did well. I thought the romance between Woo-ri and Dong-joo was adorable, but that's just one of the heartwarming relationships this show put forward. It was addictive beyond belief because you loved the family of characters the show put forward and wanted to see them together. You want to see Ma-ru reunite with his Dad, and you want to see the world discover that Dong-joo is deaf. It was the relationships I loved so much about this show, and every character living in Woo-ri's house was so lovable because they loved each other so much.
That's why I couldn't care less about the revenge plot. The villains weren't interesting and they weren't scary. If you cut all those scenes out, Can You Hear My Heart would just be the emotionally uplifting show that it is without the unnecessary twist. Heck, I would watch this drama if it was just one camera hidden in the living room of their house. Can You Hear My Heart did so much right, and therefore I can conclude that it's a sadly underrated drama with as much heart as it promises in the title. 
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