Lee Bo-young (Birth of the Rich) has signed on to her next drama, an MBC weekend production titled The Woman Who Doesn’t Lose. But maybe a better way to refer to it would be She Never Loses, since we’re full up on drama titles about men and women who can’t, want, or still want to do things. (Mostly marrying.)
She Never Loses is a success story of a late-20s divorced woman overcoming obstacles, in another example of the Candy narrative (sigh, another one). (I’ve had some confused questions about Candy, so the basic explanation is this: Candy is the heroine of a famous manhwa from the ’70s, whose M.O. was to be knocked down by life but bounce back cheerily. An orphan from a poor background, she was romanced by a couple dreamy heroes, making her a very popular example of a modern Cinderella. The story’s become such a pop-culture fixture that the “Candy type” has become a shorthand in dramas for poor, plucky heroines. You know. Her. In every drama ever.)
Lee Bo-young’s version of Candy is, of course, a bright and upbeat personality who is named, appropriately, Kang Jae-mi. (Jae-mi also happens to be the word for fun or interesting. Coincidence? I think not.)
The creative team behind the production are PD Joo Sung-woo (Goldfish, Chun-ja’s Happy Events) and writer Park Hyun-joo (My Precious You, Golden Bride). Given the tone of those series, I presume this drama will fall into the category of familiar weekend fare — lighthearted, family-friendly, with smaller stories as Jae-mi goes about her daily struggles.
She Never Loses will complete its casting by May, and plans to begin shooting in June. It’ll air following Do You Hear My Heart?
Via Osen
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I just started to wonder myself when we will see a fresh heroine (I’m not talking about the actresses ) and
good luck with the new drama 
when we will see LBY in a mainstream role
maybe gong hyo jin will be one… i hopee
I desperately hope that too … somehow Kae In Personal Taste was smthelse but not what I wanted from a heroine (her evolution through the drama was none to 0 )
GuMiHo was a bit something else but I was too focused on Foxy Hunter so Gong Hyo Jin will not have a new char but a recycled one from day to day Korean Ent Life she will be mean and evil at start but with time she will be proven way more worthy than anyone else in the drama – it is a recipe(from bad to worse to angel on Earth) and always works with me – look at COuple Fantasy – Anna Jo/Joanna – but I already saw Goldie Hawn in it and I compared them too much
Yoon Na Young of Flames of Ambition is one of my fav but I wanted a different finale for her ( a big big WIN – she was evil against a bigger evil – not even a second a dormant or plucky or whatever cliche for main female lead but somehow the usual bad kgirl – she annoyed me a few times – I want a bad woman who doesn’t annoy me )
While I loved MiShil I was bored to death by DaeMul (plucky ahjumma)
Indeed there is something new with Lee Bo Young’s char – she is divorced and wants to start all over – ohh wait – there is already a drama about it called Manny and they are doing a good job for now – Frankly 49days and Manny are my fav right now
sadly 49 days have the quintessential kdrama heroines – naive turned smart (JiHYun), secondary evil girl tricked by the guy in her life and eternal virgin love from Yi Kyung
I hoped this was just a special cause the term SPECIAL DRAMA is mentioned in every news article well I already talked about how disappointed about this choice in another site after her utterly wonderful role in harvest villa where she played a twisted character with 2 faces quite naturally and having talked to her once in person she is crazy about acting and we have to be fair here actresses want to be on screen even if it has to be candy and if you wana see her in somethin different then watch HV cause if you havent watched her in hv then you dont know her yet as an actress
we were talking about kdramas in general no harm to LBY – indeed in a cable drama we can see different types of heroines – sadly not all of them are translated and withs2 ain’t supposed to translate every drama ever
and HV wasn’t on my taste – I watched a few eps and gave up – too dark for me – I can dig some dark stuff like it was Sign ( seemingly way more fluffier than HV even though came from the same team) Open City,Wu ji (it has Jang Dong Won in it), Public Enemy and almost all Kang Dong Won’s movies are creepy and dark and I watched them however HV was too much for me
on the other hand to have projects one must have popularity throughout all the career, so to have popularity Candy Candy is in every kactress TODO list
on the other hand at 32+ kudos to her that she is a rising star (even Lee Jiah as the latest data she debuted at 30 -at the same age I try so hard to change my career and I can’t do too much about it and I wonder how many women divorced or not – speaking of the character – would take a fight with the world and the society to put together what’s left from it and better to overcome the hardships this is why Candy is an icon even after 34 years after the manga was written)
Javabeans, you should add “Candy” to your glossary. You already have your definition written.
Thanks for the explanation, btw.
I loved her in More Than Blue with Kwon Sang Woo, she was very impressive ^^
But I pass on this week end drama, too makjang for me…
It seems to me that every trendy drama either has a Darcy (cold, snob guy) or a Candy. Or both.
Boo. After seeing the title and watching Lee Bo Young in Harvest Villa, I thought her role would be a super ambitious and competitive woman, but no, she’s another Candy type.
I feel that my watching (or overindulging) of Korean Variety Shows is the reason why I know about any of these things including Pororo and Candy. So, I would say my time was well spent. XD
I like Lee Bo Young. I’m happy to see her back in a new drama.
What I thought was refreshing about Gil Ra-Im in Secret Garden was that she wasn’t bubbly–she was pretty hardcore sometimes. (She also come across as little dumb occasionally, which seems to be another trope in Kdramas)
I agree with the need for a fresh heroine. There seems to be the Candy, the Darcy (As noted below by J) and usually the girl in many of these dramas are somehow lacking in intelligence (I’m thinking BOF, Playful Kiss, You’re Beautiful, Personal Taste). They get by with their sheer force of personality.
Outside of Sungkyunkwan Scandal and Prosecutor Princess (she wasn’t dumb just inhuman), what are some dramas where the girls are just plain smart?
Delightful Girl Choon Hyang
Dae Janggeum
Queen Seon Duk – both queenie and MiShil were geniuses and the show was in my face: who outsmarts who
What’s up Fox? Go Hyun Joong Looks like she loves smart chars -there she is a journalist at a Playboy type magazine
Hardtack Teacher & Star Candy -Gong Hyo jin was gorgeous and smart in it – even in Daemul ahjumma was a lil bubble at the start but a hell of a President
1% of anything – she was anything but dumb – again a teacher
Soulmate -all the girls had a problem they weren’t “stupid enough” for a guy – just one of them was a lil bubble
Eugene’s char in Baker King had so many demons and means so when she unleashed them :no mercy for Momster in law :d and …hubby
Partner- she is a lawyer but it was more a nomantic relationship
thanks for the list! I knew about Jewel in the Palace but I always forget about it (kdrama fan fail?) I will definitely check these out.
Also, apologies for the double post.
What I thought was refreshing about Gil Ra-Im in Secret Garden was that she wasn’t bubbly–she was pretty hardcore sometimes. (She also come across as little dumb occasionally, which seems to be another trope in Kdramas)
I agree with the need for a fresh heroine. There seems to be the Candy, the Darcy (As noted above by J) and usually the girl in many of these dramas are somehow lacking in intelligence (I’m thinking BOF, Playful Kiss, You’re Beautiful, Personal Taste, most of the trendy ones I suppose). They get by with their sheer force of personality.
Outside of Sungkyunkwan Scandal and Prosecutor Princess (she wasn’t dumb just inhuman), what are some dramas where the girls are just plain smart?
The freshest heroine I have ever encountered upon was Haruhi from the manga Ouran High School Host Club. Since basing dramas on Japanese manga seem to be pretty popular, I hope they do a live action version of Ouran too. I mean…an interesting, non-damsel heroine surrounded by…hawt/cute host club members… I’m ready to watch that. xP
Hi javabeans
Since you got some questions about Candy, I thought I would tell you about a (VERY comprehensive) post ockoala did that you can tell those people about (or do a special feature? It was a pretty job read^^). It cleared up so much of why Kdramas like to recycle so many cliches. ockoala did such a good job at explaining the manga that I now know why Candy is so seemingly VERY popular in Korea. The link is….
http://koalasplayground.com/2010/06/19/how-candy-candy-taught-me-about-dramas-2/
Delightful Girl Choon Hyang
Dae Janggeum
Queen Seon Duk – both queenie and MiShil were geniuses and the show was in my face: who outsmarts who
What’s up Fox? Go Hyun Joong Looks like she loves smart chars -there she is a journalist at a Playboy type magazine
Hardtack Teacher & Star Candy -Gong Hyo jin was gorgeous and smart in it – even in Daemul ahjumma was a lil bubble at the start but a hell of a President
1% of anything – she was anything but dumb – again a teacher
Soulmate -all the girls had a problem they weren’t “stupid enough” for a guy – just one of them was a lil bubble
Eugene’s char in Baker King had so many demons and means so when she unleashed them :no mercy for Momster in law :d and …hubby
Partner- she is a lawyer but it was more a nomantic relationship
somehow I bet u regret the lack of EDIT button
so darling where is the criticism to my list? I bet u want to tell me a few words about it :*
Who is gonna be the actor? @.@ Hope it is one of my favorite actors.
Lee Bo Young, she is very pretty!
JAE HEE that’s all I can think of! How I miss Mong Ryong!
I ♥ Lee Bo Young. I’m happy when she come back with a new drama. I will watching all her film. She is the best actress in my heart ♥