Air Dates:  August 9 – September 28, 2019

Episodes: 16

Where to Watch: Viki

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Starring: Chun Woo Hee and Ahn Jae Hong

This drama surprised me. I hadn’t heard much about it going in, so my expectations weren’t very high. But I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Melo is My Nature is a romantic drama about three thirty year old women who have been friends since college. They are roommates who all work in some form of the entertainment industry. Through these women we experience success, love, and loss, with an overarching theme that being thirty is just a weird age. At thirty, we are too old to be considered a young person and not experienced enough in life to be wise and mature.
The script is smart and character driven. The dialogue itself is more important than any of the events. The characters are realistically flawed, and therefore relatable as a whole. The storylines are modern and down to earth and the relationships are complex. It’s not meant to be light and fluffy but it also isn’t over exaggerated drama. I liked the subtlety of the stories and the way their relationships impacted their lives.

Chun Woo-Hee (Argon, Prominent Woman) plays the lead, Lim Jin-Joo, an outspoken script writer.  Jin-Joo has been working as an assistant for a famous screen writer, but decided to enter a writing contest with the local network.  Though she doesn’t actually win the contest, a successful director gets her script and decides to film it.  Of course, she and the director butt heads in the beginning, but slowly become closer and fall in love.  Jin-Joo’s past experiences in love have made her jaded yet realistic, which gives her script a unique tone.  We watch her grow as she moves into the role of lead writer and also leading lady in her own love story.

Ahn Jae-Hong (Fight for My Way, Reply 1988) is  Son Beom-Soo, the gifted director who becomes obsessed with Jin-Joo’s script and eventually the writer herself.  First off, let me say Ahn Jae-Hong is so fun in this role and the constant mentioning of Reply 1988 as the perfect drama are hilarious.  He is cluelessly arrogant and somehow still naive.  He comes from a wealthy family and has been lucky in directing very successful tv shows.  He puts a lot of effort into getting the support and resources to make Jin-Joo’s script into a drama.

As a couple, these two are surprisingly straightforward, unike most of the other characters.  They are both attracted to each other at a pretty equal rate and they agree on the ground rules of how to balance dating and work.  Jin-Joo has an ex-boyfriend who has a small presence, but it is pretty obvious that he doesn’t stand a chance against Beom-Soo.  They are cute without being sappy and I liked their scenes together.

Han Ji-Eun (Twelve Nights, beautiology101) plays Hwang Han-Joo, the college beauty who ended up pregnant after a one-night stand. After a brief marriage, she divorced and is raising her son as a single mom, with the help of her roommates. She works for a drama production company, as their marketing team leader. Between work and being a mom, Han-Joo doesn’t really have time for a personal life. She is romantically inexperienced and innocent, in spite of having been married, and really wants to be in a relationship again. I felt like we didn’t get to see the same depth from her character as the other two.

Chun Jae-Hoon, played by Gong Myung (Feel Good to Die, Revolutionary Love) shows up as Han-Joo’s assistant. He is an eager worker, and he and Han-Joo have an instant attraction to each other. But Jae-Hoon also has a girlfriend that he lives with. Although he has tried to break up with her, they continue coming back to their dysfunctional relationship.

Jeon Yeo-Been (Live, Save Me) plays the third roommate. Lee Eun-Jung is a documentary director. She is thoughtful and reserved. Her first documentary was a surprise success that left her wealthy, but the death of her first love put a shadow on that success. After trying to kill herself, she now imagines he is with her instead of coping with the loss. Eun-Jung’s friends move in with her to keep an eye on her and make sure she stays safe. They have agreed not to mention her hallucinations until she is ready to deal with it. Her story is genuine and heartbreaking. She portrayed a vulnerability that was beautiful to watch, and it was wonderful to see her finally begin to heal.  I found her story most appealing of the three women.

Sang-Soo, played by Son Seok-Koo (Designated Survivor: 60 Days, Matrimonial Chaos) is a fellow director who Eun-Jung meets while filming a documentary about a famous actress. He is a vicious director who screams and loses his temper on set, but when Eun-Jung runs into him at a local orphanage, she finds there is another side to him. He is kind and humble, and he dedicates his money and free time to help the children. With his help, and the support of her friends and a therapist, she begins to move past her pain and face life again.

Lee Joo-Bin (The Tale of Nokdu, Love is Jungle) is Lee So-Min, an actress who they all knew in college. She had a successful film career, but as she has gotten older, the offers have become few and far between. Eun-Jung’s newest documentary follows her life and career. There is a very cute love story between her and her manager, played by Kim Myung-Joon, who has been her protector since high school. Through the documentary we see that her arrogant attitude is made to cover her insecurities.

Eun-Jung’s gay younger brother also lives with the girls. He is a musician, and the only one of them to be in an actual relationship. He often offers romantic advice from a male perspective and provides a male presence for Han-Joo’s son. He is a sweet, likable character and I enjoyed the addition of him in the apartment scenes.

While I didn’t love the ending for all the characters, I do have to give credit for the creative way they handled the last episode. Jin-Joo presents each person as a character from her script, and writes the ending for each story. Of course, Jin-Joo isn’t big on happy ever afters, so Beom-Soo is there to try to convince her to go for more traditional endings. The result is a bit more open-ended than the usual kdrama, but not bad.

I was a bit sad to see Han-Joo ended up dating some guy that she met while clubbing instead of Jae-Hoon. I thought they were kind of cute together, but instead we see Jae-Hoon go back to the original girlfriend he had worked so hard to get away from. Han-Joo convinces him that he has been unfair in his expectations and he seems ready to try a fresh start.  Han-Joo gets an apartment from her ex-husband, so she and her son can finally move out on their own

Eun-Jung’s second documentary, starring So-Min, is also a success. Eun-Jung has a final goodbye with her first love and decides to do some traveling and then meet Sang-Soo in Africa for some charity work. It is not the expected kdrama ending, but it’s a miraculous step on her path to recovery. I think it was the perfect wrap up to her storyline, and I think the next chapter in her life will bring some hard-earned happiness.

Jin-Joo and Beom-Soo don’t really write their own ending. But we do find out that even though Jin-Joo’s script was not as well-received as they had hoped, Beom-Soo continues to support her work and believe in her. My bet is that this couple will stay together for the long haul.

The usual happy endings are reserved for the secondary characters. After the popularity of Eun-Jung’s documentary, So-Min’s career seems to have gotten a boost and she announced her engagement to her adorable manager. Hyo-Bong is also ready to make the big move out of the apartment. He has moved in with his boyfriend and seems pleased with the direction life is taking him.

Were you satisfied with this finale? Would you like to see a season 2? What are your thoughts on this drama?

I would definitely say this one isn’t for everyone, but I would also say it has been severely underrated. It’s made for people who enjoy analyzing deep conversations and aren’t put off by a slower moving plot without a lot of action. From friendship to careers to love, it’s all understated. I personally love relatable characters in sincere relationships, so it worked well for me. If character driven dialogue is your thing, this one is a gem. I give it 3 ramen out of 5
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