Air Dates: September 28 - November 17, 2019

Episodes: 16

Where to Watch: Viki

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Starring: Ji Chang Wook and Won Jin A

I read an awful lot of bad press about Melting Me Softly before I started it, so maybe that caused me to lower my expectations.  I didn't agree with all the haters, but I do see how some people felt like the writing missed it's mark a bit. Melting Me Softly is a romantic comedy with a touch of sci-fi and some suspense on the side, to keep things interesting.  The story is  about a man and woman who agree to take part in a medical experiment in 1999.  The experiment involved being frozen for 24 hours, but due to an accident they end up waking up 20 years later.

They wake up to find a world that is very different from the one they left, in terms of friends, family, society, and technology.  There are also lingering side effects from the experiment.  Most importantly, they have to maintain a body temperature of 31.5 degrees Celsius.  At first, this is merely inconvenient, but it soon becomes apparent that their bodies cannot sustain the effects long-term and a cure has to be found.

To make matters more complicated, as they spend time together learning to adjust to this new life, they begin to develop feelings for each other.  But in Korean Tv's answer to Five Feet Apart, they realize that too much interaction between them can be fatal for them both, because it raises their body temperature.

All sci-fi aside, this is a story about a man and women who just want a chance to live their lives like everyone else, and have to fight to find a way to make that happen.

The male lead is Ji Chang-Wook (Suspicious Partner, Healer).  Let's just let that sink in!  It is so good to have him back on the screen after finishing his military service.  He plays Ma Dong-Chan, a television  Producer/Director.  His goal in life is to make the world a better place through his programs.  He agrees to do the frozen experiment because he believes a good producer should do the things no one else will do.  When he wakes up, so much has changed.  His family lost their fortune and had to open a restaurant.  His father was dead.  His sister is a drunk divorcee.  And his older brother (Played by the same actor as his father before the experiment) has a child and has given up his dreams to be a concert pianist.  On top of all that, his girlfriend is now 20 years older than him and does not make his heart flutter.  And his irritating assistant has become the production chief at the television station.

He also feels like he should protect the other participant, Go Mi-Ran, since he talked her into doing the experiment in the first place.  As he watches over her and takes care of her, he begins to fall in love.  This only intensifes his need to  find a way to return their body temperatures to normal, so they can be together.

Dong-Chan is a spontaneous risk-taker, but he is also a thoughful, overly responsible person.  The way he takes care of his family and the people he loves makes him a very likeable character.  He is confident, but he doesn't come off as arrogant.

The other experiment participant is Go Mi-Ran.  Won Jin-Ah (Life, Just Between Lovers) is a refreshing change from the fragile leading lady.  She does the experiment hoping to be a part of the cure for her autistic brother in the future.  When she wakes, up her biggest regret is the time she missed with her family, especially her younger brother.  Her two best friends were told that she moved to America suddenly, with no explanation.  They have moved on with their adult lives and Mi-Ran has a hard time identifying with them the way she used to.

Mi-Ran is only twenty four when she gets frozen, so she is still very young.  She hasn't graduated from college or been in love.  She often feels cheated out of the experiences that everyone else had while she was sleeping.  Dong-Chan gives her a job as an intern at the television station and she throws herself into it, getting her first taste at the opportunity to build a career.  It doesn't take long working with her charming producer for her to fall for him.

We see Mi-Ran as an enthusiastic free-spirit.  She approaches each new experience with a positive outlook and the feeling that she is trying to make up for lost time.

The girlfriend who spends twenty years waiting for Dong-Chan to come back to her is Na Ha-Young.  Yoon Se-Ah (SKY Castle, Love of Eve) plays this complex character.  She is still in love with Dong-Chan, even though he has been very clear that he doesn't feel the same.  This makes her pitiable.  But she also agreed to keep the information about the experiment a secret in exchange for a promotion, which makes me feel less sympathetic. 

As I said earlier, there are a lot of great secondary characters.  My favorite was Mi-Ran's brother, Nam-Tae.  Yoon Na-Moo (Love Alarm, Beautiful World) performs this heartwarming role to perfection.  Nam-Tae lovingly accepts everyone with open arms.  His relationship with the professor and Dong-Chan was especially sweet. 

Seo Hyun-Chul almost has a double role at Professor Hwang Gap-Soo.  He is the refined and confident researcher when he has his memory.  But he also spends a large portion of the middle of the show as the simple, innocent man who doesn't remember anything about who he is or what his research is about. 

A lot happens to bring this one to a conclusion.  First, Professor Hwang Gap-Soo finally regains his memory and finishes the antidote to safely unfreeze Dong-Chan and Mi-Ran.  Dong-Chan insists on testing the drug first to make sure it's safe before giving it to Mi-Ran.  The process takes a full week and has some rough spots, but when the week is finished, Dong-Chan is back to normal.  Unfortunatly, Mi-Ran is busy and puts off getting the antidote for a week.  Before she can receive it, she is stabbed by the man who has been chasing them to keep the experiment a secret.  (To be honest, I had forgotten there was a guy chasing them, but he's back)  Mi-Ran's injuries are life-threatening without surgery, but surgery is impossible since she is still frozen inside.  Her body can't wait the week it would take for the antidote to take effect, so they have no choice but to put her back into the frozen chamber until they can discover a quicker cure.  In the meantime, all her family and Dong-Chan can do is wait.

One of my favorite parts about the ending is the way Dong-Chan moves in with Mi-Ran's family to take care of them while they wait for her.  He assumes the role of their son and it's very cute to watch their relationship develop.  He keeps a daily diary so that when Mi-Ran wakes up, he can share everything that she missed.  He misses her every day but plugs along.

Fast forward, three years.  What an agonizing wait that must have been.  They are finally ready with a fast-acting antidote.  But the cure is not immediately successful.  Mi-Ran stays sleeping and at one point they think she might still die.  But, on Christmas day, she suddenly wakes up.  Dong-Chan is away on shoot at Jeju Island.  He rushes home and they have a sweet, if not a bit anti-climatic, reunion in the snow.

The happy ending, like the reunion are a little toned down.  Mi-Ran has lost 10 years and isn't really ready to jump into marriage, but after reading the diaries that Dong-Chan kept, she realizes that she doesn't want to live without him either.  They decided to travel together while she does further training for her job, and he hosts a youtube channel, at the recommendation of his neice.

And that's a wrap.

I enjoyed watching Melting Me Softly as a fun love story with some interesting twists and turns. There is plenty of over-the-top humor to keep things light. It is written by the same person who wrote Strong Girl Bong-Soon, and the similarities are evident in the humor, so if you enjoyed that one, I definitely recommend giving this one a try too.

The cast did a great job. The forbidden attraction element between the leads gives them a fun push-and-pull chemistry that feels like it takes everything they have to keep their distance. And there is a fairly big pool of interesting, supporting characters to add some flavor to the plot. But it is true that the script and story had some disjointed moments, where different storylines float in and out randomly, and seemed to lack some continuity. I think for a lot of the haters, it is important to remember that sci-fi always requires a bit of creative license. It's not a story that is meant to be heavily analyzed or realistic. For the few criticisms that I have, I think this one is a worthwhile watch. I give it 3 out of 5 ramen.

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