Love For a Thousand More: Trash or Treasure?

FINALLY. Proof that good web-dramas exist! Okay, I'm coming clean - when I made that list on web-drama (the first, not the second - the second actually had some good stuff on it), I thought all of those shows were sub-par, and normally they wouldn't be the kind of thing I recommend. Because, sadly, despite the potential of web-drama to showcase unique ideas in a digestible and accessible format, this potential is rarely tapped into. That means the best ones are usually mediocre rom-coms. In some senses, Love For a Thousand More is a stereotypical web-drama, and in other senses it's so much better than every other one I've watched.

Pyeon Mi-jo is a woman turned immortal almost a thousand years ago, and in present day has turned her back on love after many failed relationships (although, ironically, she puts that experience to use in her job as a love counselor). However, she is about to find fated love with a passionate singer.

Since it's produced by YG Entertainment and stars two members of the boy group Winner, Love For a Thousand More is clearly just a promotional tool. Web-dramas are used like that all the time - plot or characters don't matter, they are perfect lazy means to give idols some recognition. If you don't believe me, see, well, the list I made. And yet, there's something different about this!

  I see fantasy premises used often, but not often used well. Love For a Thousand More rolls with it's premise. I'm not talking about the comedic flashbacks or serendipitous back story - the moments in which we were given a window into the loneliness that penetrates Mi-jo right to her soul; those moments were the ones in which I really found this drama enjoyable. Never Die, a web drama with a similar premise, never managed that.

  The little plot inaccuracies and open threads aren't so important - they created a space for pathos. At the very least, the show goes to lengths to explain how Mi-jo managed to live her life until now, even if it didn't quite have the time to show much of it.

  Moreover, Hwang Seung-eon is so charming here as the sassy thousand-year-old woman. I didn't expect anything of her, I've never seen her so charming before. Yet, the depth of her wisdom buried under layers of grouch and cynicism was so perfectly portrayed. Not only was she written and portrayed well, but little things like costume design contributed to this fully-fleshed character - the fact that she only ever wore hanbok-reminiscent clothes was a clever little touch. In the sense of building a relatable and lovable main character, I find this little web-drama did so much better than juggernauts like Hwayugi and While You Were Sleeping. Hwang Seung-eon carried the show.

  Then again, I suppose you could argue that wouldn't have been difficult. The supporting cast isn't anything to scream about. Minus Jang Ki-yong, who is aces here, there isn't a lot to scream about in the supporting cast. I was pleasantly surprised with Kang Seung-yoon's acting skills, and thank God he could act because the love story would have felt flat as a pancake if he couldn't (belatedly, I realised that he had a supporting role in Prison Playbook, and immediately sat up to pay him more attention). But Kim Jin-woo and Kim Hee-jung weren't all that spectacular, the latter especially. That said, I can respect the writer for resisting the temptation to turn her character into a classic rotten second lead at the last minute. They were all nice and consistent.

  Also, the production values are surprisingly high for a show like this. Every shot is crisp and clean, and the opening card is downright gorgeous, which is what drew me in and convinced me to keep watching in the first place.

I'm not trying to defend the parts of this little drama that are so clearly shallow (love games and strategies don't ten to be my thing) or ignorant (yes, Korea, men can get breast cancer, go watch Jealousy Incarnate if you're skeptical). But I say this drama is treasure. There's always something to cherish in a drama that sticks to all the tropes and still manages to feel sweet and heartfelt.

(It's on Youtube fully subbed for anyone interested.)