Punch (2003)

This weekend I decided to watch the 2003 Korean Drama, Punch. I started watching it knowing that it would have faults, and wasn’t too disappointed with the series. These are just a rough collection of my immediate thoughts. If anyone would like to know whether or not it is worth watching let me know, I will give you my opinion.   

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Brief Synopsis: Yu-bin was an orphan living with her brother, until he gets injured badly in a boxing match and dies the following day. His opponent was Han Sae. He quits boxing immediately after and joins the army. During this time a wealthy man named Seo-Woo starts to take interest towards Yu-bin. He is with her during her brother’s death and pines for her after her sudden disappearance. The story picks up two years later and the three form a love triangle. Meanwhile there are many other side stories involving the people surrounding the three main characters.

Characters! (there are more, but this should be sufficient for now)

Yu-bin (Shin Min-A) – the main character. She is pretty much happy-go-lucky about everything. She decides to take up boxing as a way to live on for her brother.

Han-Sae (Joo Jin-Mo) – the second lead. He is in turmoil over “killing” Yu-bin’s brother and is determined to make it up to her while keeping his role in her brother’s death a secret.

Seo-Woo (Sung Si-Kyung) – the “other guy”. He is the CEO (I’m guessing…) of a talent agency. His initial intentions are to make Yu-bin a star, but he eventually falls in love with her.

Oh Hae-Mi (So E-Hyun) – the “other girl” and the “bitch” all packaged into one. She has been jealous of Yu-bin since high school and plans to make Yu-bin suffer for taking everything (nothing at all) away.

Mi-Ra (Lim Seong-Eon) – She is Yu-bin’s best friend. She is affectionate towards Yun Pyo, all the while going out with a boy named Han-Soo

Yun-Pyo (Ko Joo-Won) – He is pissed at his mom for having an affair and basically plays the misunderstood guy.

Ae-Ri (Jo Hye-Ryun) – she is also Yu-bin’s friend. She sells health vitamins, and takes up boxing as a stress reliever and fun pastime. She is 29 and has yet to be asked on a date.  

Seo Ji-Su (Kim Bin-Woo)– she was a bully in high school, and comes back as Yu-bin’s boxing rival. Yu-bin is determined to beat her, because she caused Yu-bin to miss her brother’s fight.

 The story started out humorous, and by the end of episode one I almost, almost shed a tear. When Jang Yu-Bin’s brother was taking a serious beating I really felt it. The character development was lovely. Things have been nice since then (I am currently on episode 7 (holy shit!)) but I am finding it harder to turn a blind eye towards the show’s flaws. Right now Yu-Bin is having troubles because some bitch, Oh Hye-mi, is being a bitch for no reason other than her dislike towards Yu-bin. No long backstory, nothing. This girl just gets jealous and temperamental easily. Aside from that, there are many coincidences (used often in many early dramas…) that are a bit farfetched. There was even one scene that for the life of me, I still don’t understand. It was near the end of episode two Jo Seo-Woo (the other man) is being introduced to his new secretary and as he turns around to do so the camera does a slow motion take on him. It made no sense at all but I let it slide until he got out of his chair, looked to see around the corner of his office, and notices Yu-bin. There was no explanation given, there were no scenes with her in it beforehand, it was just there. If anyone can explain this, please tell me.

(10/8/11)(5:35PM)

Oh, did I forget to mention that the show somehow manages to make a mouth guard a symbol of romance? Chuckle :D

(5:39PM)

So I finished the drama (within two days…sigh.) I realize now that the slow motion take on Seo-Woo was done to highlight the secretary’s initial attraction towards Seo-woo. I still don’t get how he knew Yu-bin was there…

I compiled a small list of things that I might want to discuss if I decide to recap the series:

Episode 8 at minute 23:  Bong Mi-Ra tells Yun Pyo that he is lucky to have parents because she has none, however she has a dad! Perhaps it was just a mistranslation? Maybe it meant that she has no mother. I guess I just don’t like the whole situation to begin with. Yun Pyo was being moody because his mom had had an affair and he was unwilling to forgive her. It just seemed out of place. Mi-Ra didn’t have any right to jump in and try to mend things.

Episode 11 at minute 33: Seo-woo is filming Yu-bin’s fight and turns the camera that towards Han Sae.  For those couple of seconds I mused at the possibility of a secret love. Sigh, Seo-woo certainly looks the part.

Episode 11 at minute 36: Haha. At this point there is still tension between Yu-bin and Han Sae. Seo-woo tells Han Sae to remove a poster of Yu-Bin that Han Sae kept on his gym’s wall. A couple of scenes later Ju Ae-Ri decides to hang a poster of herself in its place. It was so out of place that I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Episode13: There was a whole ordeal with Seo Ji-Su having breast cancer. It is nice to see some reasoning behind her character, but at the same time it seemed to be used more as a tool for the story rather than character development. The end of this episode was a bit “WTF” worthy. Yu-bin tells Han Sae that she will take back all her feelings that she once had for him, and to do so she kisses him? Yeah, it might have worked if they played it out with a darker mood. What if she kisses him first and then says I am done with you? Ooh sounds interesting…

Episode 14 at minute 19: It was good to finally see the humor come back. Ju Ae-Ri calls Yu-bin and Han Sae out for a date. She basically plays matchmaker, and it’s funny to see how she isn’t subtle at all. At one point she sets the two up for an “accidental” hand touch when getting popcorn. If only the show emphasized these moments for the latter half…

(10:55PM)(10/9/11)

Because I finished this drama within two days it should be a bit apparent that I liked it. Well…I really wanted to like it. After a while some of the show’s basic flaws became harder to ignore. I will admit that I started watching this drama because Shin Min Ah was in it, and it didn’t hurt that it was about boxing.  I do plan to give a better analysis later, when I find some time.