♥♥♥♥/♥
TITLE: My Only Love Song [마이 온리 러브송]
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: June 9th, 2017
WIKI: http://asianwiki.com/My_Only_Love_ Song
SEASONS/EPISODES: 1 season, 20 half-hour episodes.
US AVAILABILITY (as of 2018-11-11): A Netflix Original
A Korean legend has it that once there was a princess named Pyeong Gang, the daughter of King Pyeong Won, who was so honorable that she refused to marry any other than the village idiot her father had joked about marrying her off to, lest he be made a liar. Said village idiot, On Dal, was supposedly a poor simple minded peasant, ugly and hunchbacked, but he had a good heart. With the help of princess Pyeong Gang, "On Dal the Fool" rose up to become an honored general, who died bravely in a battle against the army of Silla.
Basic summary:
My Only Love Song is a comedic adaptation of the legend of On Dal the Fool- a very very loose adaptation with fantasy elements. I guess it would have to be chock full of artistic liberties, since the original legend doesn't really give much detail to work with.
In this version, a film company is filming a historical drama about Princess Pyeong-gang. The star is Song Su-jeong, a self-obsessed actress with a foul temper and an even fouler mouth. One day during filming, Su-jeong is introduced to the actress who will be playing her love rival in the drama. Not having been told previously that she would even HAVE a rival, and being blindsided by it since there was no mentioned rival in the legend the drama is based on, she flips her lid and storms off in a huff. She winds up driving off in the bus her manager uses to transport costumes and props, and gets lost in some fog before coming to a stop in the distant past. Here, she thinks the people she's meeting are actors in the drama so she plays along, claiming to be Princess Pyeong-gang. These folks don't believe her, and she's locked in jail for the night with none other than a handsome young con man named On Dal, who is obsessed with money. The next day they are taken to be judged and sentenced. On Dal is set free because he has some dirt on pretty much everyone, and Su-jeong is to be executed. The local powers that be are finally convinced that Su-jeong is Princess Pyeong-gang just in the nick of time, and Su-jeong is put up somewhere nice and given whatever she wants. She takes full advantage, acting like an entitled spoiled brat, until she finds out the king is on his way to collect his supposed daughter. Oops. Making a run for it, Su-jeong is intercepted by On-dal, who is no fool and thus knows this chick is no princess. Now he has dirt on her too, and as is his way, he plans to use it to his full advantage.
In this version, a film company is filming a historical drama about Princess Pyeong-gang. The star is Song Su-jeong, a self-obsessed actress with a foul temper and an even fouler mouth. One day during filming, Su-jeong is introduced to the actress who will be playing her love rival in the drama. Not having been told previously that she would even HAVE a rival, and being blindsided by it since there was no mentioned rival in the legend the drama is based on, she flips her lid and storms off in a huff. She winds up driving off in the bus her manager uses to transport costumes and props, and gets lost in some fog before coming to a stop in the distant past. Here, she thinks the people she's meeting are actors in the drama so she plays along, claiming to be Princess Pyeong-gang. These folks don't believe her, and she's locked in jail for the night with none other than a handsome young con man named On Dal, who is obsessed with money. The next day they are taken to be judged and sentenced. On Dal is set free because he has some dirt on pretty much everyone, and Su-jeong is to be executed. The local powers that be are finally convinced that Su-jeong is Princess Pyeong-gang just in the nick of time, and Su-jeong is put up somewhere nice and given whatever she wants. She takes full advantage, acting like an entitled spoiled brat, until she finds out the king is on his way to collect his supposed daughter. Oops. Making a run for it, Su-jeong is intercepted by On-dal, who is no fool and thus knows this chick is no princess. Now he has dirt on her too, and as is his way, he plans to use it to his full advantage.
Cast/ Characters/ Acting:
Gong Seung Yeon (also starred in Are You Human Too?) as Song Su Jeong. Goodness this character is a handful. Gong Seung Yeon does a good job of playing this fiesty character!
Lee Jong Hyun (of CNBLUE, also starred in Evergreen and co-starred in Orange Marmalade) as On Dal. Lee Jong Hyun is absolutely captivating as On Dal. You go into this with only the bare bones legend for a basis of what to expect and then there's this version of On Dal who is anything but what you expected. He's actually a really good actor.
Ahn Bo Hyun as Moo Myung (Princess Pyeong-gang's bodyguard). Ahn Bo Hyun had to play a character whose face had to appear at shallow glance not to give too much away, but upon deeper look convey everything. The character Moo Myung is mute, but eternally devoted to and in love with the princess Pyeong-gang. He's also a lethal warrior. Mr. Ahn did a fabulous job playing this interesting character. I hear he's co-starring in currently-airing drama Her Private Life as of my update 4/20/2019.
Lee Jae Jin (of FTIsland) as Byun Sam Yong (Su Jeong's manager).
Kim Yeon Seo as Princess Pyeong-gang. She suited the role well. Fresh-faced and sweet-looking.
Park Joo Hyung as Go Il Yong (the vain villain). This guy cracks me up and yet makes me want to kick him. He's a total Prince Humperdink.
Writing and directing:
This drama is pretty absurd. It's drastically unrealistic and at times quite cheesy. It's also funny and cute with sweet, mushy moments and good suspense. There are some strange plot holes, but nothing so big it stopped me from enjoying the show. This show is like... Chitty Chitty Bang Bang meets The Princess Bride with a little bit of Gu Family Book sprinkled in. I'll give creativity props to the writers: I've never seen a Kdrama quite like this before. The episodes are 30 minutes long- bite sized for busy people like me.
Other:
This is a Netflix Original, and as with every Netflix Original I've ever had the misfortune of seeing, it's much more liberal with the sexual innuendo and profanity than you would see in most Korean dramas. We have penises being chopped off, someone almost gets raped, people getting high on mushrooms... and this is pretty tame for a Netflix Original. As Netflix Originals go however, this one was shockingly clean. I'm of the opinion (it's my opinion and I'm allowed to have one) that Netflix ruins (perverts) everything it Originals, so the fact that I liked this one is certainly rather unusual.
Happy Ending Factor?
Despite seeming like there's literally no way in any universe, no matter how fantastical, for the main characters to end up with a happily ever after, somehow they defy all logic and sanity and end up with that happily ever after indeed. So for those of you who can't watch something unless it has a happy ending, rest assured that despite it making no sense for there to be a happy ending after everything that happens, there is. ;) Happy ending rating of 9 out of 10.
(SPOILER SECTION! SKIP to Final Summary if you don't want to know how it ends!)
Su-jeong isn't the only one trapped in a time she doesn't belong: her manager happened to be hiding in the back of the bus when Su-jeong drove off in it, and thus he was taken back in the time traveling bus along with her.
The group become fugitives when the powers that be realize Su-jeong was an imposter and On-dal had something to do with her disappearance. Meanwhile we find out On-dal has been saving money not out of greed, but to buy his enslaved mother's freedom!
Things are further complicated when they meet the real princess Pyeong-gang, who has never heard of On-dal in her life, but is actually in love with her mute bodyguard, who her father would NEVER approve of her marrying.
When the history book in the van starts re-writing itself and it seems new friends are in danger of vanishing from history entirely, the motley crew of time travelers and friends realize that their actions aren't just about them anymore- they are affecting the entire course of history.
By this point, it seems like there is absolutely no way for either the real Princess Pyeong-gang nor the real On-dal to wind up marrying the people they really love. Both the men in these couples wind up in an ambush designed to eliminate them in the interests of a war, and the bus shows Su-jeong and her manager a glimpse of them being killed before flying them back to their own time in the future. Don't worry though, it all works out somehow after all. On-dal winds up with Su-jeong and Princess Pyeong-gang with her bodyguard, proving that even death cannot stop true love, all it can do is delay it for a while. ;)
The group become fugitives when the powers that be realize Su-jeong was an imposter and On-dal had something to do with her disappearance. Meanwhile we find out On-dal has been saving money not out of greed, but to buy his enslaved mother's freedom!
Things are further complicated when they meet the real princess Pyeong-gang, who has never heard of On-dal in her life, but is actually in love with her mute bodyguard, who her father would NEVER approve of her marrying.
When the history book in the van starts re-writing itself and it seems new friends are in danger of vanishing from history entirely, the motley crew of time travelers and friends realize that their actions aren't just about them anymore- they are affecting the entire course of history.
By this point, it seems like there is absolutely no way for either the real Princess Pyeong-gang nor the real On-dal to wind up marrying the people they really love. Both the men in these couples wind up in an ambush designed to eliminate them in the interests of a war, and the bus shows Su-jeong and her manager a glimpse of them being killed before flying them back to their own time in the future. Don't worry though, it all works out somehow after all. On-dal winds up with Su-jeong and Princess Pyeong-gang with her bodyguard, proving that even death cannot stop true love, all it can do is delay it for a while. ;)
Final Summary:
If you don't mind a drama that is just plain strange, and you can overlook the excessive profanity (it's easier to glaze over it when you're merely reading it in subtitles, IMO) and the occasional unnecessary gross factor, this is actually a really cute and entertaining drama. The episodes are short, which is great if you have a lot of interruptions or don't get much down time in a chunk. If you like a story where it seems like nothing will work out but then it does anyway and you get a happily ever after despite all rational logic, this is the drama for you. And the lead male character On-dal is flat out fascinating. I found myself most interested to see what he was going to do next and how he would react to this or that plot device.
Check out My Only Love Song [마이 온리 러브송] on Netflix!
(Dramas may not be available for all countries.)
Check out the My Only Love Song OST on Spotify!
Check out the My Only Love Song OST on Spotify!
