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Hyde, Jekyll, Me is a kdrama centred on a character with DID that came out at the same time as the much better received Kill Me, Heal Me. Because they share similarities in concept and came out around the same time, these two dramas are held up to one another automatically, so I think it's important to recognize how and why KMHM had such good reception when HJM couldn't pull in ratings. Other reviewers have mentioned the similar time slots, so I won't get into that. Instead, let's focus on HJM's shortcomings.
The story is about Goo Seo Jin, a rich chaebol heir who was kidnapped as a child alongside his friend--check off another similarity to KMHM. The trauma from that event and his inability to do anything about it eventually birthed Robin, his heroic, kind-hearted alter ego. But the story doesn't start with Robin's birth and instead, we're shown Seo Jin's position later in life, his bad personality and selfishness as he meets ringmaster Jang Ha Na and the two clash. One big drawback to the series is the very start of it. It took me two attempts to get through the first episode, and another two to make it past the first four. The beginning is clunky with weird pacing, an even weirder setup, and not a lot to suck you into the story. The first introduction to Robin as a character is cringy. He feels less like a person and more like a comic book superhero someone came up with in middle school. Both he and the main personality feel like caricatures, and it's painful to watch. Getting into this drama is hard, there are no two ways around that. But does that mean it's not worth watching? Well... I have a story for that.
I started watching HJM coming off of a few really great dramas. I absolutely fell in love with those dramas back-to-back and once they were over, I couldn't bring myself to get invested in any of the other good-looking shows out there. Ah, I thought, the dreaded burnout. That's when I looked back at my 'dropped' list and saw the name Hyde, Jekyll, Me. I went into it wanting a trashy, badly-written drama that I could laugh at. I only paid half attention, especially to the earliest episodes, and it worked out exactly as I expected it to. The plot was cliche, a bit stupid, with some moments that didn't make a lot of sense and a bit of dragging towards the middle that I was used to seeing at the halfway. Every now and then, I would put the drama back on hold again and would switch to series that I was invested in until the burnout came and I would inevitably need my 'trash drama' once more.
But something strange happened amidst all that. The writing wasn't good by any means, even when the acting was decent, and my wife and I would mock and laugh at some of the things that they were doing, but then it came time for the final episodes. The main conflict was over, the antagonist was gone, and there were still a few episodes to go. All that was left to settle was the conflict of the dual personalities, something that, remembering KMHM, I expected to take maybe half an episode. But it didn't. And as I watched the characters go through their days and saw the inevitable end creeping up on them, I realized that I actually cared about the characters for some strange reason. The characters I thought of as caricatures grew on me when I wasn't looking and suddenly they mattered to me. And sure, what happened from there on was predictable, but I was still invested.
Just like how production values don't make a show, you don't always need a solid story to love something. Sometimes all you need is time and a little bit of passion. HKM is nothing of a masterpiece, but that doesn't mean it did everything poorly. Instead of focusing on the outward appearance of DID like KMHM did, it put time into the internal effects that the illness had on both Seo Jin and Robin, and the ripple effect it had on the people they surrounded themselves with. Even while its handling of the issue was silly, with hypnosis sprinkled in for added effect, and even with Robin being a better person than Seo Jin and more likeable to boot, it remembered that the root of everything was mental illness. It took the time to make Robin a person instead of a stereotype the way that KMHM treated its alters, and it respected its characters enough to give them a proper end.
The production is a bit of a mess, the writing is sloppy and premise is weird, but it's a drama with heart. Don't take it seriously, and you may be pleasantly surprised.
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Overall i would recommend it
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This review may contain spoilers
So much that was depressing or cold , Though Hyun Bin is very watch worthy
Hyun Bin is really watch worthy here, but he is not enough to carry this very disappointing drama. One of His characters is made to look so bad in the beginning that you have to concentrate on his attractive glare in order to get to the later parts where you actually, sort of, somewhat like him. The second persona of his character is shallow & clueless & I was not a fan of his puppy dog character . The female lead is tedious. Her character pig headedly rails against perceived injustices & she verbally attacks & counterattacks giving a piece of her mind to ad nauseum. I think she's just poorly written. It is never explained WHY she has an almost compulsion to gravitate toward a needy person. It seemed like she could have used a good amount of psychoanalysis to get to the root of why she was so fixated. I wanted to & tried to like this series, but there was so much that was depressing or cold about it. We are put through a lengthy tear jerking farewell to the male lead's happy persona. I found the last episodes to be a muddy jumble of a mess before we get to the happy ending.Was this review helpful to you?
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It was a rather fun watch back then but I do not remember anything
One ML actor acts two opposite roles ah so well!!!!I was not impressed by the FL actress... she was ... flat and boring. One dimensional. Speaks too slowly and surly.
And I do not remember anything - plot, characters, etc from this kdrama!!! unless I really really try.... So it tells me it was shallow and acting wasnt genuine
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This one was my favorite of all time before CLOY. Please ignore the bad ratings, ignore all the comparisons between this and KMHM and give your pure heart a try. Like I said it’s not just another rom com because its plot is complex. But to those who love complicated plotlines and plot twists, you won’t be disappointed. Hyun Bin is simply the best actor.
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starts weakly but more and more becomes AMAZING emotional drama, deep story and characters
from random clieche melodrama to fireworks of emotions and complex characters/relationships!Don't judge this drama from first 5-7 episodes. There are dramas with so high production quality and details (I mean when even not meaningful details are well thought and exquisite) but often lack of emotions, when you watch, it's really good but you don't feel anything. Well this drama is opposite. Maybe there are some law quality details in overall but characters, relationships are soooo emotional, soo deep and multilayered....
In the beginning episodes It had really bad production value and many primitive scenes, clieches and cring moments, but it kept me interested anyway, all the time. And then it becomes more and more good, primitive moments are less or almost not but story and characters grow, become deep and multilayered, relationships and emotions real and very emotional; Near the end this Drama was soo amazing, SOOO GREAT I would rate it (if not first 5-7 episodes) 10/10... No, 15 from 10!!! There are dialogues and subjects that make you really think about human nature, psychology, emotions... characters (especially Hyun Bin's characters) really grow and make you more and more feel for them, sympathise them...
Now when I write this, I'm surprised myself, how drama with so primitive chieche beginning become soo deep and emotional!
Hyun Bin of course is perfect as always, and FL isn't bad too, I would say she is quite good, I could feel her emotions (because of her acting and because how her character is realistically written). I saw many dislike her, but as character and also her acting is still much better then many FLs in dramaworld, she isn't annoying and is quite logical.
Events and characters actions/reasons develop, not happens out of the sky. There wasn't usual scenario of drama development, when action/interest is in the beginning, then story is puled and complication of (already predictable) story is fastened only in last 1-2 episodes.
Villain wasn't perfect/fully resonable from beginning but as the whole drama he and his character becomes more and more good, not fully dark, he is human with issues and anger, nut just one dimentional evil.
P.S. I tend to love not so nice characters, but there are few dramas when nice/kind character is soo good, soo pure and completely wonderful, no one could not love him, and Robin is one o them <3 his character, story from beginning till the end was so beautiful and emotional, real fireworks of real emotions ...
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the dialogue is clever, it's just if only they gave us more seojin-hana moments T_T
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the story was about a man who had a (Dissociative identity disorder) a critical case and his shrink couldn't heal him for years
then suddenly the writer decided to make a circus girl who knew nothing about Psychiatry or even a critical case like (Dissociative identity disorder) to manage with this serious case as if she was a shrink
and above all of that she treated him as if he was two persons not a sick one
she teased me soooooo
i felt that the story underestimated my mind really
i hated it
my opinion it 's really really overrated
i liked sung joon role so much he is a brilliant actor
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