Yumi's Cells Seasons 1 & 2 - Full Review
Welcome to Yumi's Cells Seasons 1 & 2 - Full Review. A young woman lives her day to day life looking for love and fulfillment, but under the surface an intricate network of cells drive her toward their goals and aspirations. If you haven't watched this drama yet, I recommend checking out my unspoiled review here.
Yumi's Cells
♥ Aired: September 17 - October 30, 2021
June 10 - July 22, 2022
♥# of Episodes: 24
♥Where to Watch: Viki
♥Genre: Romantic Comedy
♥Starring: Kim Go Eun, Ahn Bo Hyun and Park Jin Young
The Story
Yumi is an aspiring writer who works at Daehan Noodles. After suffering from a painful breakup, she has given up on love. But inside of Yumi's body reside a whole town of cells that represent each of her feelings and interests. And their dream of seeing Yumi fall in love and get married will override all of her best intentions. But the road to love is complicated and unpredictable, and Yumi will find herself having to make some very difficult decisions about who she loves and what she wants in life.
The Leads
Kim Go Eun as Kim Yu Mi
After suffering a broken heart, Yu Mi settles into the accounting department at Daehan Noodles and decides to focus on her career. But a blind date wakes up her sleeping love cell and leads to a new relationship with Ku Woong, the game programmer. Things seem to be going well for the happy couple until Woong's career begins to fall apart and his Pride Cell refuses to admit his struggles to Yu Mi. This eventually leads to their breakup and the end of Season 1. But a supportive co-worker is waiting in the wings to take Woong's spot. Yu Babi sees Yu Mi's writing talent and recruits her for the marketing department. Babi quickly suggests that they begin dating and Yu Mi agrees. His support helps Yu Mi transfer to a department that will utilize her skills and later to quit her job to pursue writing full time. But as her career becomes her priority, things with Babi become strained. Now she will have to decide if she still wants to save their relationship.
Yu Mi is idealistic and hard-working. Until she begins her writing career, her prime cell is Love. It is the emotion that drives her. But when she rediscovers her passion for writing, love is forced to take a backseat. And this brings about a maturity to her character that builds her confidence and helps her succeed. Kim Go Eun embraced this role with her usual enthusiasm and I thought she was perfect for the character. Her interactions with both male leads was natural and charming, and she managed to convey a very different relationship with each of them, which gave the series a unique touch.
Ahn Bo Hyun as Ku Woong
Ku Woong is a video game programmer who has started his own struggling company. His friend, Chae Woo Ki, works with Yu Mi at Daehan Noodles, and sets the two up on a blind date. While Yumi isn't too sure about the awkward nerd, Woong immediately falls for her. And eventually he charms his way into her heart in the guise of a cute frog. But as Woong's company struggles financially, he becomes more and more distant with Yu Mi because he doesn't want her to see his failure. There is also tension in their relationship because one of Woong's business partners has feelings for him and is constantly trying to drive a wedge between the couple. In the end, both of these elements lead to their break up. When Yu Mi finally sees Woong again later, he has become a successful CEO of a new company. He still has feelings for her, but Yu Mi is never interested in getting back together.
Park Jin Young as Yoo Babi
Yoo Babi works in the Marketing Department at Daehan Noodles. When he first runs into Yu Mi, who lives in his neighborhood, he has a girlfriend and Yu Mi is dating Woong. They strike up a friendship, although it is obvious from the beginning that Babi is interested in Yu Mi romantically. After stalking her on social media, he encourages her to transfer into the Marketing Department, where she can use her writing skills for the company. After he and his girlfriend break up, Babi seeks Yu Mi out more often, but still keeps his distance until he realizes that she and Woong have broken up. Once she is free, Babi makes a speedy confession and they begin dating. While Babi is emotionally honest in a way Woong never was, that is also his downfall. When his emotions cause him to momentarily be swayed by a co-worker, Yu Mi breaks up with him. They do get back together briefly, but they are never able to go back to the way their relationship was before.
Supporting Characters
Ahn Soy as Love Cell
Love is Yu Mi's primary cell and often the star of the show. After each of Yu Mi's breakups, Love disappears for a while, but she always returns, full of hope and ready to help Yu Mi find true love. Maybe because Yu Mi has been alone for awhile, Love likes Woong almost immediately and encourages their relationship. Because of this, it takes her longer to warm up to Babi, but peer pressure from the other cells and Babi's warm personality eventually win her over. After Yu Mi and Babi's break up, Love loses her primary status to Writer, but Love makes a triumphant return at the end of the drama to promise there is more love in Yu Mi's future.
Lee Yoo Bi as Ruby
Ruby works with Yu Mi in the Accounting Department at Daehan Noodles. She is immature and irritatingly cute. At first, Yu Mi is frustrated by Ruby's competitive nature and endless flirting. But as she gets to know her, she develops a soft spot for her silly antics. Later in the series, Ruby meets and falls in love with Yu Mi's web novel illustrator, Control Z.
Mi Ram as Kang Yi Da
Kang Yi Da is Yu Mi's best friend and co-worker in the Marketing Department at Daehan Noodles. Before Yu Mi starts dating, the two of them spend a lot of time together, including traveling to Thailand. Yi Da is calm and even tempered. She supports Yu Mi through all her ups and downs. Toward the end of the drama, she meets Yu Mi's publisher and they end up getting married in the final episode.
Things I Liked
♥ Control Z
It was such a delight to see P.O in this drama. First of all, because by the time I watched this, he was already away in the military. But also because Control Z was a really fun character. He was funny and unexpected in all the right ways. And the fact that he ended up dating Ruby, of all people, was great. I loved how in the beginning he seemed kind of heartless and rude, but as you get to know his character, you learn to appreciate his simple, straightforward personality.
♥ Yumi and Babi
Kim Go Eun has great chemistry with whoever she works with, but I found her interactions with Babi's character very natural and realistic. It's not only about sizzling kisses but the casual looks and body language seemed sincere. From the brush of a hand to a close stance on the street, they looked like a real couple in every scene where they were together, rather than someone just following a script. I often find this kind of consistant chemistry missing in rom-coms, but I really felt it here.
♥ Cell Concept
I have to hand it to the webtoon writers for coming up with such an interesting concept. The cells as their own characters, with stories and personalities to go with them, were very intersting. Yes, there were points where I really just wanted to get back to the Yu Mi story, but that doesn't take away from the unique and engaging concept this drama is formed around.
Things I Didn't Like
Yu Mi
I know that this is Yu Mi's story and we are supposed to want a happy ending for her above all, but there were times I really didn't like her character very much. I found myself feeling like both Woong and Babi deserved better. Certainly her character has plenty of development throughout the series, and by the end it is easy to see that she has matured, so maybe if they did a third season I would have the opportunity to like her a bit more. But for now, I can say I found some of her actions and attitudes frustrating and selfish.
Section Chief Nam
Maybe it was just me, but it always seemed like Section Chief Nam's character was on the verge of having his own background story, but it never materialized. In the beginning, I thought he was interested in Yu Mi, but that didn't seem to be the case later. They always seemed to hint that there was something else going on with his character, like maybe a secret crush or a controlling mother who dictated all his free time. It seemed like they made us curious about his story but never revealed anything personal about him.
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Ending
Okay, so I'm not even talking about the idea that a rom-com ends without her choosing either love interest, which I find ridiculous. But why would the producers plan only 2 seasons of a webtoon that has 3 seasons, and doesn't have any real closure for Yu Mi until the final season? It makes no sense to me. Due to it's popularity, I certainly expect a third season will happen, but that doesn't take away the fact that they chose to only plan 2 seasons in the beginning.
The Ending
There isn't a whole lot to say about this ending. Yu Mi's two work friends both find love. Ruby is still dating Control Z and in a surprise twist, we see Yi Da marry Ahn Dae Young, Yu Mi's editor at Julie Literature. Yu Mi's writing career has taken off with her webnovel and sequel. While both Woong and Babi are still in love with her, Yu Mi isn't interested in dating either of them. Woong is still making efforts to see her and Yu Mi agrees to get together for a meal later, but there is obviously no romance on her side. Babi has transfered to the Singapore branch where he can lick his wounds in private and try to forget about her. And the final scene shows Yu Mi getting a text from a new supervisor at Julie Literature who she met the night before but doesn't remember. Since we see Love finally make it back to the cell's village, it seems like this new guy will be Yu Mi's next boyfriend, although that is left open to interpretation. At the time of writing, the production team has refused to commit to a third season until they can recover from the first two but they haven't ruled it out all together. I expect it will happen eventually.
Should I Watch
"Yumi's Cells" is a romantic comedy that takes a realistic look at some of the struggles and pitfalls of dating. Half of the story is told through animated cells that dictate Yumi's choices and feelings. And while this concept is unique and entertaining at first, it can get a bit silly and redundant as the series goes on. The realistically flawed characters left me disliking each of the leads at some point, which surprised me. And the inconclusive ending was a disappointment to me, since there is no concrete plan to make a third season. That being said, I would be surprised if they don't announce one soon, given the fan-based interest. I give "Yumi's Cells" a 7 out of 10 ramen.
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