Han Jun Hee is a 36 year old woman who is transported back to the year 1998, into the body of Kwon Min Ju, a high school student who looks just like her.  But Jun Hee is even more surprised when she sees a classmate who looks just like her boyfriend, who died a year ago.  And while Min Ju may look just like her, Jun Hee soon finds out that their lives and personalities are very different.  And if she can solve the mystery of who would want Min Ju dead, she may be able to save this girl from her own personal tragedy before returning to her own life in the present.

Jeon Yeo Been as Han Jun Hee / Kwon Min Ju

One year ago, Han Jun Hee’s boyfriend died in plane crash, on his way to visit her in New York.  Though she does a good job of acting fine of the outside, inside she has never gotten over the loss.  One day, an anonymous package arrives for her.  Inside is an old cassette player with a tape and headphones.  When Jun Hee listens to the tape. she is transported back to the year 1998, into the body of a high schooler who looks just like her.  And she isn’t alone, when she meets a classmates who looks just like her dead boyfriend.  But she soon finds out that Min Ju, the student whose body she now lives in, will be murdered in about a month if she can’t stop the killer.  Now all of her time and energy is put into finding out what actually happened that night and who would want Min Ju dead.  

Han Jun Hee is enthusiastic and outgoing.  It doesn’t take long in Min Ju’s body, to turn the shy loner into a spunky girl that her classmates are drawn to.  But when she finds out that Min Ju will die soon, she is more worried about saving her life than making her a popular girl in school.  Unlike Ah Hyo Seop, who was challenged by two characters that weren’t much different, Han Jun Hee and Kwon Min Ju were very different, and Jeon Yeo Been was able to take advantages of those differences in her performance.  She did a nice role of creating two characters that each had their own personalities and were easy to tell apart.  

Park Hyuk Kwon as Bae Chi Won 

Bae Chi Won is Min Ju’s uncle.  He runs a record store where Min Ju works, and Si Heon and In Kyu also spend a lot of their time.  He is the only adult who knows the truth about who Jun Hee really is and what will happen to Min Ju if they can’t save her. Before returning to the present, Jun Hee once reveals to Chi Won that he should study to be a barista because he will own a coffee shop in the future. Later, when Si Heon goes into the future to find Jun Hee, he seeks out Chi Won at his coffee shop and asks for his help.   

 ♥ Time Loop Elements

This drama had such an interesting take on what we have come to expect from time travel dramas.  First of all, it uses a loop effect, rather than two set points in time.  Also, I loved how we didn’t just see someone go back to their past self, but a totally new character.  And the locked room that held Min Ju and Jun Hee was an interesting spin, although it seemed weird that we didn’t see any of the other characters locked in a similar situation.  I would be curious if Yeon Jun’s room would have looked similar or been totally different, based on his or Si Heon’s personalities.  All in all, the concept was fresh and creative.  

 ♥ Sacrifice

One of the overarching themes of this drama is sacrifice.  I love that it is subtle and not overstated.  But each of our 3 leads, at some point, sacrifice their own needs and wants for the safety and happiness of those they care about.  Si Heon tries to deny his feelings for Jun Hee because of In Kyu.  And later he gets on the plane, knowing it will crash, because he knows it’s the only way he will meet Jun Hee.  In Kyu goes to jail to make Min Ju’s death memorable, because it was her dying wish.  He also pretended to believe Jun Hee’s “crazy story”, so Si Heon wouldn’t feel so guilty about liking her.  And Jun Hee gives us the ultimate sacrifice when she destroys the cassette player and breaks the bridge between the 2 time frames.  For our leads, sacrifice equals love, and I think it is beautiful.

Jun Hee’s Age Difference

For me, one of the glaring inconsistencies in this drama is that Jun Hee is actually a 36 year old woman from the present.  I feel like she should have experienced more awkward social moments hanging out with a bunch of teenagers from 1998.  And that age difference also made the romance a bit strange.  Granted, she saw Si Heon more as the older Yeon Jun, but still he was an inexperienced high school student and she was a mature, self-supporting adult.  It seems like that should have played a part in the story itself.

Too Complex

There is no denying that this drama gets very complicated.  The time loop will definitely challenge your mental processes and leave you feeling pretty overwhelmed at times.  For the most part, Jun Hee and Min Ju’s roles are clearly defined and easy to keep straight.  It’s really Si Heon’s story that becomes so confusing.  Trying  to designate which parts were Yeon Jun and which were actually Si Heon could make your mind melt into a puddle of incomprehensive goo.  And delving in too deep just seems to accentuate questions and plot holes.  I think those who enjoy this drama need to be able to turn off their brains and just flow with the story, without analyzing it too much.  

There is a lot that goes into the ending of “A Time Called You”.  But when all is said and done, we get the open-ended, fresh start happy ending that is so common for time travel dramas.  Jun Hee figures out who the killer is, and chases Chan Yeong back through time to save Min Ju.  And Min Ju doesn’t make it easy, since she feels like being murdered is the only thing that will make her popular.  But June Hee steps in at the last minute, and together she and In Kyu save Min Ju from killing herself.  Jun Hee realizes that the only way to put everything back to its proper place is for her to destroy the tape player and sever the tie between her in the present and Min Ju in 1998.  But she spends one final day with Si Heon.  As the sun sets, the couple stand together, and as In Kyu destroys the tape and player, they disintegrate into ash.  But in the last moments, Si Heon promises to find her somehow.  Jun Hee wakes up back in the present, as all the memories of she and Yeon Jun disapper.  Back in 1998, we see In Kyu still pining after Min Ju, as Si Heon begs him to just ask her out.  I think this couple will find each other finally, although I wish we could have seen a bit of it.  As they pass the record store and hear “Gather My Tears” Si Heon says he feels like he is forgetting something.  Fast forward to 2011, Si Heon has become a CEO of a comic book company. On his way home, he is on the bus when “Gather My Tears” comes on and he hears a girl start to sing along. He looks at her and it is Jun Hee.  When she gets off at the next stop, Si Heon suddenly jumps off and chases her.  As the two look at each other we see the memory of Si Heon promising to find her.  It’s unclear whether seeing each other has sparked their actual memories or if they have met again as strangers.  But one thing is clear.  Destiny knows no barriers and this couple will still get their happy ending.