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This review may contain spoilers
Luck in 10 digits
The most useless yet important thing I take away from this mini-sรฉries is the fact that phone numbers are sacred. Not in the ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ kind of way, but in the ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ kind of way. I guard my phone number like treasure, no way I'm changing it for anything!
Hello, Is This Luck?' follows Na, a medical student and extern who faces nothing but bad luck. She's always getting overlooked at the hospital despite her skills, she's tossed about all the time by the universe which seems intent on hurting or irritating her, and her love life is an absolute mess. That's when her friend tells her that his life changed after a phone number change, so she decides enough is enough, and changes her number - in a bid to improve her love life. That's when things shift, and she finds herself caught in a love triangle between her original crush and a new love interest.
The premise is actually super cool, definitely got to be one of the two most innovative ways to merge technology and beliefs. There are also a myriad of ways they could've gone about the story, and for once, I'm not really angry with the way they chose to do it.
The actual problem with this series is Na.
The series would have been way more likeable if Na was written to be a better character. She's kind of selfish and rude, and does nothing but blame her circumstances and situations, without actually taking a look at herself and how her actions affect those around her. At the beginning, you think you understand why Na is so frustrated - she's so often overlooked at a job she's worked her entire life for, only to be reduced to the role of a pushover in the eyes of her peers, a rude intern to the nurses and doctors, and a person who fetches coffee to her superiors. Her personal life is also terrible because she has only two friends, and the cute guy she has a crush on can't remember a single thing about her, not even her name.
It's frustrating for sure.
But the walls begin to crack down the more you watch, and you realise that from the very beginning, she's not been the greatest person. And it's so ironic, because the very first thing Na says is that ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด.
And her actions definitely determined her life, but I guess her philosophy does not apply to her? Because everything that happens to her is not because of what she does, it's because of rotten luck.
I really just had the hardest time liking Na, especially considering that the other leads were much better people. Well.. other lead. Because Nine (Na's original crush) is not a very well developed character. He's cute.. and that's it. I didn't understand why Na, or anyone, liked him romantically but I guess there must have been some charm that we didn't get to see.
The lead we are introduced to finally was my favourite character. Leemhai is smart, sweet and sassy, and amongst characters who are not at all developed or very badly written, she is an exemplar of how they could have been. She's not some perfect epitome of humanity either, she did many things I did not like, but it was much easier to root for her than anyone else. Leemhai was initially introduced as a competitor of sorts, but to relate to her as a love interest, her character needed good writing, which I thought was done better than the rest.
But overall? Good concept and story, not great characters. Yes, it was probably played up for the comedy, but it is possible to write relatable characters and still have them be funny. It's especially jarring when your lead is the least likeable person in there. Watching the finale, it was easy to guess where the story was headed, in retrospect it was definitely headed that way all along - towards the journey of self discovery. It was always about Na finding and growing into herself and they kind of did it. Very unsatisfactorily. I'm all for becoming a better person but why don't we get to see it?!
I know this seems like a lot of negatives, but it was not all bad. There were some genuinely funny moments, it was really nice to see Leng on screen again and the chemistry was actual fire. My girl Janhae is finally getting her recognition, her acting was incredible here. And Jingjing has been a pleasant surprise in any production she is a part of.
So in conclusion
1. Don't expect too much comedy
2. Don't expect too much romance
3. Don't change your phone number
Hello, Is This Luck?' follows Na, a medical student and extern who faces nothing but bad luck. She's always getting overlooked at the hospital despite her skills, she's tossed about all the time by the universe which seems intent on hurting or irritating her, and her love life is an absolute mess. That's when her friend tells her that his life changed after a phone number change, so she decides enough is enough, and changes her number - in a bid to improve her love life. That's when things shift, and she finds herself caught in a love triangle between her original crush and a new love interest.
The premise is actually super cool, definitely got to be one of the two most innovative ways to merge technology and beliefs. There are also a myriad of ways they could've gone about the story, and for once, I'm not really angry with the way they chose to do it.
The actual problem with this series is Na.
The series would have been way more likeable if Na was written to be a better character. She's kind of selfish and rude, and does nothing but blame her circumstances and situations, without actually taking a look at herself and how her actions affect those around her. At the beginning, you think you understand why Na is so frustrated - she's so often overlooked at a job she's worked her entire life for, only to be reduced to the role of a pushover in the eyes of her peers, a rude intern to the nurses and doctors, and a person who fetches coffee to her superiors. Her personal life is also terrible because she has only two friends, and the cute guy she has a crush on can't remember a single thing about her, not even her name.
It's frustrating for sure.
But the walls begin to crack down the more you watch, and you realise that from the very beginning, she's not been the greatest person. And it's so ironic, because the very first thing Na says is that ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด.
And her actions definitely determined her life, but I guess her philosophy does not apply to her? Because everything that happens to her is not because of what she does, it's because of rotten luck.
I really just had the hardest time liking Na, especially considering that the other leads were much better people. Well.. other lead. Because Nine (Na's original crush) is not a very well developed character. He's cute.. and that's it. I didn't understand why Na, or anyone, liked him romantically but I guess there must have been some charm that we didn't get to see.
The lead we are introduced to finally was my favourite character. Leemhai is smart, sweet and sassy, and amongst characters who are not at all developed or very badly written, she is an exemplar of how they could have been. She's not some perfect epitome of humanity either, she did many things I did not like, but it was much easier to root for her than anyone else. Leemhai was initially introduced as a competitor of sorts, but to relate to her as a love interest, her character needed good writing, which I thought was done better than the rest.
But overall? Good concept and story, not great characters. Yes, it was probably played up for the comedy, but it is possible to write relatable characters and still have them be funny. It's especially jarring when your lead is the least likeable person in there. Watching the finale, it was easy to guess where the story was headed, in retrospect it was definitely headed that way all along - towards the journey of self discovery. It was always about Na finding and growing into herself and they kind of did it. Very unsatisfactorily. I'm all for becoming a better person but why don't we get to see it?!
I know this seems like a lot of negatives, but it was not all bad. There were some genuinely funny moments, it was really nice to see Leng on screen again and the chemistry was actual fire. My girl Janhae is finally getting her recognition, her acting was incredible here. And Jingjing has been a pleasant surprise in any production she is a part of.
So in conclusion
1. Don't expect too much comedy
2. Don't expect too much romance
3. Don't change your phone number
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