Presentation
Korean Title: 어쩌다 발견한 하루
Aired in: 2019 (16 episodes)
Channel: MBC
Grade: 9.5/10
Actors: Kim Hye Yoon, Lee Jae Wook and Rowoon
For more…
Kim Hye Yoon:
– Sky Castle
Rowoon:
– Sunbae, Don’t Wear That Lipstick
– Where Stars Land
Lee Jae Wook:
– Search WWW
– Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol
– When the Weather is Fine
– Move to Heaven
Another school drama at Yonsei University:
– True Beauty (with Kim Hye Yoon’s cameo as well)
Analysis
Synopsis
Eun Dan Oh is a high school girl. She comes from a wealthy family and is supposed to get married to her childhood friend Baek Kyung. However, he is not interested in her and rejects her. The only reason why he is sometimes nice to her is because Dan Oh has a heart condition. One day, Dan Oh realizes that she is having many blackouts and can’t remember her full days. Later on, she finds out that she is in fact a supporting character from a manhwa (manga) and her entire world is a universe created by a mysterious writer. Alarmed by the news, Dan Oh wants to be able to write her own destiny, especially because she falls in love with another character: Ha Ru.
My Opinion (No Spoilers)
This drama was very refreshing and original! I loved it, particularly the twists that were present in each episode, renewing the intrigue and the mystery of the plot. It is an adaptation from a webtoon by Moo Ryoo and I have to say the storyline really got me from A to Z.
My only regret may be that some scenes in the drama were sometimes a bit redundant and I had the impression that the story was not moving on. Still, the originality of the story, the direction and the bright personality of the characters made me want to watch more and see if in the end they manage to get what they want.
If you are looking for a good combination between manhwa (manga) world and fantasy, set in a school universe with romance and mystery, I highly recommend you watch it!
Analysis (Spoilers Alert)
Stereotypes and cliches: The entire story is based on the work of a webtoon artist, who is creating little by little the plot and the characters’ actions. Since it is a fantasy world, there are a lot of cliches and stereotypes personalities that are visible in this drama. Eun Dan Oh (Kim Hye Yoon) is the bright and sick fiancée, Ha Ru (Ro Soon) is the silent and good-looking schoolmate, Baek Kyung (Lee Jae Wook) is the mean boyfriend who always lashes out on his fiancée, Dan Oh, because he has personal problems, Yeo Joo Da (Lee Na Eun) is the poor and bullied girl at school, who is being protected afterwards by the popular and rich leader of the school Oh Nam Joo (Kim Young Dae). Finally, Lee Do Hwa (Jung Gun Joo) is the melancholic musician, in love with his best friend’s girlfriend.
The description of the characters clearly made me think about a remake of Hana Yori Dango, adapted under the name Boys over Flowers in Korea. All the details from that iconic drama have been reproduced in this sort of caricatural universe. The leader, the musician, the rich guy-poor girl love story, the F4 reference… So the characters have only one major trait in their personality and are very constant and bland, I would say. That’s because, they are stereotypes, emphasizing only one main emotion (kindness, melancholy, anger,…). So, because Hana Yori Dango (I suggest you watch it right now, if you haven’t! It’s a classic in Dramaland!) is so famous, obviously, I was very pleased to rediscover that universe, with different faces. Plus, the fact that the characters were in reality not aware of the fact that they were not masters of their choices and actions, helped me empathize with them a bit more, especially with Baek Kyung who is always angry and mean.
Original and innovative storyline: The real evolution with that drama is not in fact the main storyline with these stereotypes characters. The originality of the drama comes from the fact that we are not focusing on the supposedly main high school students, but on those that are supporting leads or extras, like Eun Dan Oh and Ha Ru. This twist gave a refreshing taste of the genre and added fantasy in the story. Especially at the end of the first episode, we discover like Dan Oh, that she is not the main lead but an extra. The rest of the drama is based on this pattern, leaving us with a cliffhanger or an unseen twist at the end of almost each episode.
I loved the fact that we were analyzing and highlighting the life of those behind the scenes and not those in the spotlight.
Moreover, as characters become aware of themselves, they are also able to feel more emotions and become more human; showing the complexity of human feelings and the difficulty to deal with them.
Mix of genres: The drama is a fantasy and school drama. However, there are several timelines that overlap at some point, giving us a glimpse at other genres such as historical for example. I loved the fact that the fantasy was present through typical manhwa details (flowers appearing on screen) but it also transported us in different universes. This mix of genres was, in my opinion, very useful in order to keep that originality coming throughout the episodes.
Predestined life, what would you do? Apart from being a (a)typical school romance, Extra-ordinary You manages to make us question our choices, if we were in characters’ shoes. Indeed, Eun Dan Oh is already aware of how her future will be. Yet, she does everything in her power to fight the writer’s plot and change her life. She is in love with Ha Ru and pursues him, even though the writer has chosen another path for her.
The writer is like a puppet master in the drama, he knows everything and changes everything whenever he wants to. He is like God, ruling over his own universe. If we translate that into the reality we live in, we can ask ourselves as human beings: what would we actually do, if we knew that we had no choice whatsoever and that we couldn’t change our destiny? Would we fight like Dan Oh and Ha Ru? Would we abide by the rules already written in stone? On a larger scale, is it actually possible to change our destiny, if there is one? All of these philosophical questions are in fact very difficult, if not impossible, to answer. In the drama though, Dan Oh and Ha Ru prove us that it is possible to alter your path, even though you have to make some compromises. They show us that love and destiny will reunite people who are meant to be together no matter the universe or the role they have to play.
Also, I think some people might be a bit frustrated at the end, that because they actually have no answer regarding the identity of the writer and why characters are becoming self-conscious. What I think, is that drama prefers emphasizing on the journey rather than the destination. What I mean is that what is more important is the fight characters lead to become master of themselves and if they manage and not the identity of the puppet master. If we think about it, it is actually pretty accurate in real life. We should be trying to make the best of our lives, with what we are given and try to find out our happiness or/and pursue our desires, loves, ambitions… instead of wondering why we were put in that body, why we were given this family, if there is someone or something up there that looks over us, judges and controls our lives.
The drama actually conveys a strong message in my opinion: live your life to its fullest, don’t let destiny or anything decide for you just because it may exist.
The title: The title in English is quite well translated because it takes into account the fact that Dan Oh and Ha Ru are extras, hence the Extra-Ordinary. Moreover, it also refers to the fantasy world in which characters evolve. Now in Korean, Ha Ru means one day and is also the name of the character. There is a double explanation there, since Dan Oh is reset every day, just like Ha Ru by the way. The rest means “by chance” in the title. So we can understand it in two ways: Haru By Chance, meaning that she found him by chance someday, fell in love and fought for him; or One Day By Chance, meaning that she doesn’t know what tomorrow will be made of for her and Ha Ru.
Once again, the title gives away a sort of “Carpe Diem” message, telling us to live our lives day-by-day, to enjoy what we like and not worry about destiny.
Moreover, I find it quite ironic that the title refers to chance (that is volatile, unexpected) in opposition to destiny (rigid, already written) that seems to rule the drama. In fact, the drama is a depiction of real life, that is affected sometimes by luck and sometimes by destiny.
P.S.: And you, what do you think about destiny? Does it exist or not?
P.S.2: Rowoon is absolutely marvelous in that drama and gosh I loved the OSTs!
Once Upon a Drama 