I wasn't exactly a fan of the Endless Love series considering how the first one ended in an expected tragedy -- all the while Song Hye Kyo had such a beautiful performance it was praiseworthy. Now I thought about the whole Song Hye Kyo vs. Han Hyo Joo comparison -- I'd like to talk about both series where one was too teary eyed and the spring series actually had a perfect balance of tears. The contrast was one had a sad ending and the other hand a happy ending.I could remember the shallow reason why I watched Autumn in My Heart even if well, I know it wasn't going to end well. It was because of the attractive lead. The buildup concerning her leukemia plot was as well-implemented as the weak heart in Lavender. I know the main lead will die anyway yet I still want to watch it for how Eun Suh tries to cope up with the fact that she's dying. But that also led me to fear watching more K-Drama because of one single tragic death.
Then I eventually picked up Spring Waltz which was the fourth of the four season Endless Love drama. The beginning just felt a bit redundant -- childhood friends where a crush ends up developing into true love. What was weird was that both the main protagonists have two identities -- seriously? Lee Soo Hoo was also known as Young Jae Ha and Seo Eun-Young was also known as Park Eun-Young. I find that whole "HUH?" which actually could be more confusing than just one protagonist having an original birth name and changed their names for some reason. Well, Eun Young got adopted so her legal surname changed. But what happened to well... Soo Hoo that he also got known as Jae Ha? Well he was also adopted. At least, it's not the convoluted plot device where one assumes the identity of another person like Soichi's real name is Tatsuya and the real Soichi is still somewhere.
At first, I didn't really take too much of my shallow appreciation for Spring Waltz at the same level of Autumn in My Heart. Yet, it was Spring Waltz's lighter and softer tone that was more appealing. One story is where the man and woman never get together and fate is so cruel. Spring Waltz manages to have fate defied even if there's a rather complex love polygon -- Song Yi Na likes Jae Ha and Philip Rosenthal (a half-Korean guy played by a half-Korean, half-American actor named Daniel Henney, that's Agent Zero from X-Men Origins) likes Eun-Young. It's not like Autumn in My Heart didn't have a complex love polygon either.
Perhaps what I liked about Spring Waltz over Autumn in My Heart was this one -- one show just had to curb to fate and the other managed to defy fate one way or another (but at a cost). One leading lady died and the other got to be with her man to pursue a life-long relationship. The other just ended in a tragic love story where the lady asks the man to move on -- yet he's too sad he can't move on!
Then again, both series have their own charm. One's a beautifully written tragedy and the other is a beautifully written happy ending. It just reminds me of how Chojin Sentai Jetman is my favorite series even if Ryu lost Rie forever while Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger has Asuka recovering Mahoro from her persona as Jannu.
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