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I Hear Your Voice: Episode 1

Dammit. Show, why do you have to be cute? I don’t have time for youuuuuuuu! SBS’s new fantasy romance I Hear Your Voice premiered this week, and I swore to myself that I wasn’t going to like another show (because who has the time?) but I regretfully report that it’s cute, and breezy, and worse yet—earnest and heartfelt. It’s not surprising, coming from the writer of Dream High, which was equally simple, but full of heart. I can’t promise recaps, but I’m not sure I can stay away either. Augh, dilemmas.

The show premiered in last place to modest 7.7% ratings, against Wednesday-Thursday shows When A Man Loves (11.1%), and Mandate of Heaven (8.5%).

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Deli Spice – “Chow Chow” [ Download ]

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EPISODE 1: “I Hear Your Voice”

We open in an average high school, with kids running around before class. A few of the mean kids get excited over an elaborate prank, involving glue on a broom handle and a well-placed puddle just waiting for the perfect pratfall.

As they hurry to set it up, PARK SU-HA (Lee Jong-seok) saunters up the stairs toward the classroom. Is he the intended target?

The kids all rush to pose casually, as Su-ha arrives in the doorway. But it’s the girl who’s standing in front of him that the other kids are targeting for their prank, and they ask her to clean up the mess.

But Su-ha senses something off about it, and zeroes in on them. One by one he reads their inner thoughts, and gives a little smirk. He tells the girl he’ll clean it up, and goes straight for the broom.

The really cute thing is, he falls for the prank in her stead, and pretends that he doesn’t know exactly what’s going on. I already love him.

It annoys the mean kids though, because he’s messing with their carefully laid mean-kid plans, so their leader picks a fight. But Su-ha dodges him deftly, even laughing a little and playing coy.

He waits for his opportunity, and then listens for the other kid to think of his next move in his head, and then beats him to it. Handy, that superpower. Su-ha finds the boy in the bathroom soon after, yelling into his phone that Park Su-ha is NOT the new jjang, no way.

He messes with the kid a little, knowing that he’s curious about how Su-ha won that fight. He pushes him against the wall and leans in: “If I see a person’s eyes, I can read that person’s mind—what he’s thinking, where he plans to attack, where he’s going to dodge.”

The kid’s eyes grow wide: “REALLY?” Su-ha laughs, “No, I was kidding. You believed that?” He lies that he just got lucky. But when the other boy swears at him in his thoughts, Su-ha’s eyes change. Something tells me he can be dangerous when he wants to be.

He walks outside and a close-up of the locket dangling from his phone takes us to a flashback, of little Su-ha with Dad in the car, that same locket hanging from the rearview mirror.

Dad asks what coupons they have this week, and Su-ha says they can eat pizza, and also go to the aquarium with discounted tickets. They’re clearly scrimping and saving on a daily basis, but they’re happy and close.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Truck of Doom comes crashing into their car, right into the driver’s side door. Dad and Su-ha wake up bleeding and trapped in the rumpled car, and Su-ha says that his head hurts. Dad urges him to stay awake no matter what.

The truck driver gets out to check on them, and Dad cries for his help to save his son. But Su-ha looks into the man’s eyes and can hear him think: “That bastard is still breathing. I needed to kill him with one blow.” Whoa.

Little Su-ha turns to Dad and urges him to run away, but the man returns and jumps onto the hood of their car. He smashes their windshield off with a metal pipe… and then bludgeons Dad to death. Holy violence, Batman. In front of his child?

But he’s not finished, and he opens the passenger door, ready to take a swing at Su-ha. We fade to black, and then present-day Su-ha narrates: “From that day on, there are two kinds of sounds that exist in my world. One is the sounds others can hear, and the other is the sounds that only I can hear.”

As kids walk past him, he hears their inner thoughts one by one, and finishes his narration: “My world is a little noisier than others.” And then he sticks his headphones over his ears to drown out the noise.

The girl who was pulling the prank earlier comes by to ask if he likes the girl they were trying to haze, and he says no—he likes someone else. She asks expectantly who, and it doesn’t even require a superpower to see that she hopes it’s her.

He says it’s his first love, and she’s really pretty, and nice, and all-around perfect. Cut to: JANG HYE-SUNG (Lee Bo-young), walking to work. A stray basketball gets her shoes muddy, and when the boys nearby ask for it back (calling her ajumma, which was your first mistake, kids), she chucks it backwards down the hill to spite them. Ha.

She’s a lawyer who treats her job like she’s standing in an assembly line and putting caps on bottles—she recites her client’s defense like she’s reading out of a law text, and never once looks up from her page. Even the judges lip sync to her rehearsed speech that she just reuses case after case, complete with pauses for fill-in-your-name-here.

Mom (Kim Hae-sook) calls to ask if she’s going to interview for the public defender position, and basically bullies her into it because the money is stable with a government salary, and Mom’s been helping her out for way too long. Hye-sung is thrifty and in debt, but treats the interview like a chore.

The day of the interview, CHA KWAN-WOO (Yoon Sang-hyun) eagerly arrives at the courthouse. Everything about him says Big Eager Dork, from the hair to the socks to the way he carries himself. It’s great.

He goes into the interview waiting room, but he and Hye-sung are the only two people there. She plays games on her phone like she couldn’t care less, while he tries to make conversation, offering his notes on foolproof ways to pass interviews, all highlighted and underlined.

He wonders why there are so few people here for this awesome job, while Hye-sung thinks it’s obvious why people wouldn’t want it. He just chatters away, saying that he used to be a cop, but being a public defender was his dream.

Of course they find out belatedly that they were in the wrong wing of the courthouse, so they race to the right room, where they find hundreds of people waiting. Hye-sung shoves Kwan-woo up against the wall and sticks her hand out, suddenly very interested in his interview notes.

She jots down some answers for the “Why do you want to be a public defender?” question, but one after another, the other interviewees spout the same canned responses. So on her turn she decides to go with the honest tactic… and says she’s here for the money. Doh.

The interviewer says that kind of thing only works in dramas, and shoos her out. One thing does catch his interest though, and he asks why she was expelled from her high school. She asks with a glint in her eye if he’ll pass her if she tells the story, and he says he will if it’s a good one.

So that’s how we get a flashback to ten years ago, when young Hye-sung (played by Kim So-hyun) and Mom lived with a rich family where Mom was the housekeeper, and the boss’s daughter was a classmate of hers.

One day she catches the bratty girl, Do-yeon, cheating on a test, but chooses not to rat her out. Do-yeon gets a big party for scoring first place, and the girls all light fireworks in the backyard. At the party, a classmate fiddles with a faulty firework casing, and Do-yeon gets a firework straight in the eye, just as Hye-sung arrives to join the girls.

There’s a chance she’ll end up blind in one eye, and her parents demand to know who was responsible. The guilty girl blames Hye-sung just to throw someone else under the bus, and all the girls join in to gang up against her.

Hye-sung swears up and down it wasn’t her, and cries to Mom that no one will believe her. Mom is the only one who will listen, and tells her boss that Hye-sung never cries for anything, except when she’s wronged.

But Do-yeon’s father (who’s a judge, by the way) tells Hye-sung that he’ll think of her future and if she apologizes sincerely for her wrongs, he’ll let it all go. But if she doesn’t, he’ll make it so that she can’t go to the same school anymore, and Mom will lose her job.

Hye-sung starts to speak, but can’t bring herself to admit doing something she didn’t do, and so she gets forced to leave her school, and comes home to find their stuff in a moving truck.

The security ajusshi hands Mom an envelope of money from the judge, and Hye-sung pleads with Mom not to take it, if she truly believes her. Mom hesitates but chooses to take the money, and Hye-sung screams that she has no pride.

She refuses to get in the truck, so Mom says she can walk and leaves her standing there. She’s still in the exact same spot by nightfall, and the judge comes out to check on her. Hye-sung asks how much money he put in that envelope, wondering what the price of his guilty conscience was.

He counters that if her mother truly believed her, she wouldn’t have taken that money, and asks how he’s supposed to trust her word when her own mother won’t. But just then, Mom arrives and lights the envelope of money on fire, and throws it onto a heap of books—written by the judge, called Tears Saved By the Law.

She tells him off to his face, that her daughter did nothing wrong, and Hye-sung looks over at Mom with tears of gratitude in her eyes. It’s only when they’re out of view that Mom’s legs give away how nervous she was, and she checks the crib notes on her hand, upset that she forgot to say the most important part of her speech. Cute.

Sometime later, Hye-sung shows up in front of Do-yeon’s house with a firework in her hand, and she sets it off menacingly. Do-yeon ducks out of the way, and Hye-sung asks if she saw her do the same thing at the party, why she didn’t duck out of the way that time too. Smart girl.

She demands Do-yeon tell their parents that she lied, which she refuses to do. Just then, a loud crash startles them. Oh, Su-ha’s crash? Nice, I like how we’re interweaving the backstories.

They run to see what it was, and sure enough, they come upon the scene of Su-ha’s accident… just as the killer beats Dad to a bloody pulp. They’re frozen in fear, and they watch in horror as the killer moves over to the kid’s side of the car.

Thinking quickly, Hye-sung takes out her cell phone to take a picture. And as the man lifts the pipe to strike Su-ha, her camera announces, “Smile!” before the shutter goes off. Eep! She just inadvertently saved his life. Except of course, now her life is in danger.

She locks eyes with Su-ha for a split second, and then takes off running. The girls hide, and the killer comes after them, warning them that the man in the car had to die because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

He says that if they insist on doing the same, he’ll have to kill them too, and their families, and everyone they talk to about what they saw. The arrival of police cars saves them from being discovered, and Su-ha is recovered by medics, still alive.

A few days later, both girls show up at the scene of the crime, debating what to do. They’re competitive and antagonistic about everything, so even this turns into argument fodder for them, and they each challenge the other to step up as a witness, if she isn’t afraid and not a liar.

Hye-sung struggles with the decision, and asks Mom why she believed in her before. Mom says it’s because she was right, and because she knows right from wrong, just like her father did.

So she bravely heads to the courthouse on the day of the trial, where the killer stands before Do-yeon’s father who’s the presiding judge, and little Su-ha is in the room. She and Do-yeon arrive at the same time, and brace themselves outside the courtroom.

They each stand at opposite doors, prepared to enter, when the killer’s warning rings in their ears. They both hesitate, and then urge each other to go in on the count of three. They each raise a hand to a doorknob, and count: “One… Two… Three…”

One knob turns, and the other doesn’t.

Back in the present, the interviewers are on the edge of their seats: “Who went in??” Hye-sung says she’ll stop the story there, and only says that she regrets the choice she made until this day. “I never want to make that kind of choice again, and that’s why I’m here today.”

As Su-ha heads out of school, he catches a glimpse of Hye-sung walking by across the street. He runs to catch up to her, but loses her in the crowd. At taekwondo practice, he sits to write something down in his journal, and it takes him back to the time after the accident, when he couldn’t speak from the trauma.

He had to write things down on a note pad, and that’s how he told the detectives that his father was murdered. In the courtroom the day of the trial, the killer testifies that the child must have mistaken his attempt to save them, and the defense argues that there are no witnesses and only the word of an eight-year old with a head injury.

The killer thinks to himself that all these idiots in the room are on his side, and Su-ha writes down verbatim what he’s thinking. It gets read aloud in the courtroom, and it freaks the hell out of the murderer, though everyone else thinks it’s just crazy talk.

Su-ha writes that he can hear other people’s thoughts, but that makes it worse, naturally, and the defense lawyer smiles knowing her case is won. Little Su-ha wails because no one will listen, and no one will step forward as a witness.

Just then, the door slams open, and Hye-sung steps inside. Yay, she did go in! She’s shaking in fear, and it doubles when she realizes that Do-yeon didn’t join her. She sees the killer leering right at her and loses her nerve, but Su-ha senses her fear and holds her hand. Aw.

She tells the truth about what she saw, and when the defense argues that they can’t just take her word for it, she produces the photo taken on her cell phone. The killer goes berserk and rushes her on the witness stand, choking her and screaming at the top of his lungs that he won’t rest until he kills her.

She’s thoroughly spooked and can barely stand, but she tells the judge that if she doesn’t testify today she won’t have the nerve to do it again. So she takes the oath and testifies.

In the present, Su-ha writes in his journal: “Today I saw another person who looked like you. Where are you now?”

Back in the past, Su-ha finds Hye-sung crying outside the courthouse, and he picks up a rock to write, “Thank you,” into the sidewalk. She snaps at him not to thank her because she’s already regretting her choice, and tells him not to follow her.

He keeps running after her, and she trips and falls as she’s running away. A few things spill out of her bag, including the journal Present-day Su-ha is writing in now.

She cries at him not to follow her, wailing, “This is all because of you!” Little Su-ha hears her thoughts loud and clear, regretting her choice to come here, and scared to death that the killer will come after her someday.

Little Su-ha wraps his arms around her and hugs her as she cries, and struggles to eke out his first words since the accident: “I’ll… protect… you.” Awwwwwww. You’re SO TINY. That was so sweet.

He continues to write in his journal: “I haven’t forgotten you. When I see you again, I will protect you. I will protect you.” And then he goes back to practicing taekwondo. To protect her? Omg. Why so cute?

As the pages of his journal flip past in the breeze, we see that it’s filled with entries just like that one, of all the times he’s thought about her and seen someone who looks like her.

And then we watch him chase down random women all over town, always thinking it’ll be her, always wrong.

 
COMMENTS

I really liked that the first episode felt like an introduction, and especially one based on clear characterization. We learn very quickly what kind of people our main characters are, and exactly what circumstances inform who they become as adults. The backstory owes a great deal to the Kim Hae-sook/Kim So-hyun mother/daughter pair, because they’re just talented and endearing, which makes it easy to care about a story we might otherwise gloss over. I don’t know that a flashback that long would’ve held my attention with other actors, truthfully.

Thankfully the flashbacks were actually woven in with purpose, and I especially enjoyed the build towards the courtroom scene—it had narrative tension, a heroic moment for our heroine, and a great moment of connection for our two main characters. I remember Dream High being this way, where the ideas weren’t complex and characters were very straightforward, but the moments were played for emotional impact in a great way. The shows aren’t similar in any way, but I strangely like them for similar reasons—cuteness and warm fuzzies that come from an earnest place.

I wasn’t sure how Su-ha’s noona romance was going to fly, but now that we see how they’re connected, it doesn’t feel so strange. Also because it doesn’t feel overtly romantic, but just sweet, and stemming from an adorable I-want-to-protect-my-noona instinct. So far he’s not that different from Go Nam-soon, who—let’s face it—wasn’t that different from Jong-seok, but I loved both those characters, so that kid plus superpower is just gravy. Hopefully there’s also a good story on the way. But so far I like the setup, and the fact that our heroine is smart and principled, but may have lost her way as a jaded lawyer. Her becoming a public defender (and being around Dorky the Idealistic Doofus) lays the perfect foundation for her to return to that principled young girl who came to Su-ha’s rescue.

I can’t make any promises to recap this barring a rift in the space-time continuum, but I want to (or that might be the caffeine-high talking, I’m not sure). Basically, if the fourth dimension allows it, I might be back for more. We’ll see.

 
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So cute!!! It's a good start so far, I'll definitely be tuning in! Thanks for the recap!

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I am super excited after this first episode. I love JANG HYE-SUNG indifference to her job, it's so hilarious how she has a line for every possible situation. This is gonna be a fun watch, Yay! Haven't been really excited about a drama in a while. Looking forward to this.

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Great, after reading this I am now going to have to tune in. Thanks!!

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YAAY! I'm so glad it's good! :D <3 I was worried it'd turn out to be dissapointing.

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Thanks for the recap. Not reading yet because I plan on watching it, but yay, I'm glad you thought it was good. Earnest and heartfelt but breezy is my personal kryptonite, so that's some very encouraging news.

And looking at my week of Lee Soon-shin, Cyrano, Monstar, and (hopefully) this drama... My slump just might be officially over. *crosses fingers*

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re: Cyrano, LSS and now Monstar - YES! Nothing in kdramaland has really got my wholehearted love since February, I am quite ready for the string of 2013 disappointments to end once and for all.

And Monstar is good, I never thought I'd like a high school drama so much at the ripe old age of 28. Too bad there's only one episode a week!

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What show was it you loved in Feb?

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Flower Boy Next Door, which ended that month.

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I'm 26 and so weak for a good high school drama, it isn't even funny. Something about that angsty earnestness gets me right in the heart, so the one ep a week a thing is killing me.

Aside from LSS, I've been out of the kdrama game basically since School 2013 and King of Dramas ended. Now I'm picking up things left and right, and it's fantastic.

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@Ash - I may have spoken prematurely, because I LOVED School 2013 and Shut Up Flower Boy Band in the relatively recent past. Dream High was not my cup of tea thanks to the often-terrible acting, but those other two shows were close to flawless.

Monstar isn't quite on the same firecracker level, but I do enjoy its low-key vibe and the acting and writing are great so far (especially from Ha Yeon-soo, who I believe is making her debut?).

(also I just checked out the credits, and the writer is the one behind possibly my fave kdrama of all time aka Arang - I look forward to more!)

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Sigh, i just realized i was in a slump not too long ago too but now i noticed there are many that i've been enjoying that just recently aired ie. monstar, cyrano, shark, looks like im adding this to the list. (and that's not all im watching)
It's already hard enough keeping up with all these shows, i can just imagine JB and GF trying to keep up with all these shows all the while recapping!! This is why DB writers are goddesses.
JB, GF, you guys could make a list of shows you're currently following and maybe put that at the bottom somewhere! That'd be neat to see which ones you're watching.

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what's your take on Shark? Is it worth the time?

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I think it really depends on the person's preferences and patience. Personally, i love thriller and revenge shows. Which is why i don't mind adding it to my long list of currently watching k-dramas. I don't know if it's worth watching, however, if you've got a busy life. For me, schools out, summers here, bring on the k-dramas!
Plus. we're only at episode four for shark and JUST getting started on the revenge plan so the show is slowly starting to pick up steam. I'd give it a few more episodes before judging whether it's really worth your time.
I think Shark is one of those shows you can sort of admire from afar. Will it get you emotionally invested? As of now, not really. But here's the thing. Shark feels assured because it's in the hands of a team who knows what they're doing. There's alot of fluff and comedy going around these days in k-dramaland. I always like to throw in a darker show so my appetite for a broad mix of genres is fully satisfied.

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Thanks! There are indeed a lot of "fluff" and very light cutie dramas which has yet to "hook" me in. I am at a look out for the new dramas that have just aired - hoping that i would get something that would be different and i would invest my time.

I loved "the devil" and if i am not wrong the writer(s) and/or PD (??) are behind this drama as well. Given your synopsis will check out the first episode.

I saw the first episode of Heartless City - and i like the vibe and it is the crime and mystery genre which i like.

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@delicatecloud

Shark recently blended in a bit of crime into their story, which i appreciate. The hero, who is on his revenge mission, has been dropping clues to our characters. and we've also got many "mysteries" to solve,all of whom seem interconnected. The first few episodes loaded up on the melo too much for my taste, but i can safely say that the game has just begun.
Hope you enjoy!

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Last OT I was complaining about having nothing to watch, and now I have a drama for every day of the week. I don't even know how recappers deal with it. There aren't enough hours in the day.

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Have you tried Heartless City? After watching that one, all the other dramas seem too slow for me. Monstar is still awesome though:)

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i watched the first episode and i liked the vibe and the fast pace of the action and the story line. Crime and mystery is more my kind of drama.

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I liked the description and was planning on trying it out considering I heard other rave reviews about it. One thing that is holding me back is the Nam Gyuri. Bless her heart, but her facial expression is always the same. Doll-like, emotionless.

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I was afraid that her acting would ruin the show, but so far it hasn't bothered me, I think she's improving

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Can't reply to ruiisassezhot's comment but yes, I agree with her/him in that Nam Gyuri seems to be improving and so far, I didn't mind her acting. I really like the first few episodes of Heartless City - I would definitely recommend it.

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Tagging back onto my earlier comment after watching the ep, and yeah, that was a solid start.

I agree with girlfriday: with less talented actors, I would've been impatient for the show to get on with it already and hand over the main cast. But for a long flashback, it was pretty gripping and it did a good job of setting the stage. If we have to spend most of an episode in the past, it should be worth our while, and I think that it was.

Overall, the show looks like it'll have a warm heart with just enough sly humor to give it bite. I hope it holds up because I could get hooked on this.

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Thanks for the recap! These always make me smile. I'm hoping the drama will keep up the good!

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For those who haven't watched this or hesitates to watch it, I'm being sincere and honest that you should give this drama a try. The first episode was very nice. I agree with dramabeans that this drama is just too cute and sweet. I'm dying to watch the second episode wih subtitle now. I wonder why it seems like underrated.

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I think it will pick up steam. It premiered against dramas that were already doing well. But no one can deny the cute, and the story is both interesting and humorous.

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I don't think this drama will have a chance against the ratings juggernaut that is Go Hyun Jung, unfortunately.

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the drama is sweet and cute. but at the same time it's so thrilling and scary. i can't wait for the next ep

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It's only the first episode and needs to pick up steam, as lisa said.
Now that we've had an official intro on DB i'm pretty sure alot more people will start tuning in earlier.

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Yes!
It was a good first episode. Solid foundations.
LJS as a bodyguard... Should have happened sooner. Also, it's those slender guys who are the most dangerous. ;) Will be handy when the Big Bad will come back to get her head.
Now, let's hope that the noona love won't be done clumsily. *Running off to see the second episode.*

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This is a very very good start. I'm surprised at how much I really enjoy and love this first episode. A heroine who isn't all sweet and smile is definitely my favorite kind of girl.

I'm praying with you that the noona love won't be done clumsily and would be just as pretty, cute, and full of heart as what they've shown us.

Sigh. I'm rooting for them already.

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I liked the use of the song Chow Chow. Quite fitting for the show. :D

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Saving your recap for later, want to watch the episode first... If this is good, I'll probably drop Cyrano, which hasn't really managed to hook me (it's cute, but it's not doing anything in particular for me).

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Agree with you on Cyrano - it is cute but has not hooked me either.

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Same here. It's the emotional investment which is not present in CA. I watch this drama for the immediate gratification but in the long run, IHYV will impact me more.

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The fact that CA has less emotional investment is the main reason why I like it haha It gives me something light and breezy to balance out the dramatics in all the other dramas (staring at you YTBLSS).

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Watched it... definitely much more hook than with Cyrano! And that's a single episode in...

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Cyrano has more of a low-key vibe to it that i appreciate. All of their Flower boy shows have sort of had that same vibe. Not exactly cracktastic but enough to keep me tuned in each week. I'm looking forward to the cute and the missions, and the endearing couples.

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thanks guys <3 <3

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It's here already?!!!!!!!!! Must go watch, if you guys say it's good - we knew next to nothing about the tone or feel, but cute and sweet is GOOD in my book if well done.

And I'm ready for more LJS on my screen, even if he brings on more 'pet him like a puppy' urges than anything more dongsaeng-killer-like, ha.

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How a choice of writer can make things fit. CUTE!

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So excited to see your recaps girlfriday!! Thank you. I checked out the first episode last night (since I am not following any of the currently airing dramas) to see if this would catch my interest! I love it as it is a very human drama and already have many small moments of heroism from our lead female (during her youth) and I wonder what happened to make her such a jaded lawyer? Loved the scene where the rest of the lawyers and judges mouthed her "template" defense of her clients!! She already been wrongfully accused and has seen the cowardice of the daughter of the judge and knows that life is unfair. But she came forward to convict the murderer eventhough she is scared stiff. What an interesting character and what happened since then? I am dying to know.
Loved the writing so far and the acting is great. Can't wait to see the interaction between her and Cha Kwan-Woo, who is sooooo dorky but lovable.
Hope you will continue to recap this drama GF.

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Oh dear i have forgotten the most important - Lee Jong-Seok is such a pleasure to watch and hoping that his character will be more than just hearing other's inner thoughts!! I have been following him since Secret Garden.... love his character so far.... keeping my fingers crossed that it will be GOOD....

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IMO LJS is young, looks very young, but he is sooo intense....why is his acting so believable? I dunno...chemistry so palpable? No idea. But that's him. I have watched everything he's in and he connects emotionally with the characters and audience very early on that I don't have time to say..' I need to warm up to this character'....and for that, I salute him!

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now you have got me interested gf but i am time-strapped. will probably have to sacrifice yet another hour of sleep

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oh please break the space-time continuum... we would really love to read your recaps on this wonderful drama. :)

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aghhhh so good! I really hope DB continues to recap this! I watched this last night before going to bed and actually thought to myself, "I bet this is going to be recapped on DB tomorrow!"--and I was right! An earnest, refreshing drama with clear characterization, I knew this is right up your/our alley. :D Please STRONGLY consider continuing to recap this! I love reading your recaps after watching it myself! I love love love that Su-ha's noona feelings are based more than on a feeling generated in the moment and/or he's jaded from girls his own age...there's something deeper to it. * sigh * Love it!

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Damn it...now that I have read the recap, it seems like a decent show....show y r u doing this to me??? What have I done to deserve this....where am I going to find time to watch u?!?!?!?!

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I was most excited for the mind reading and could imagine how that could be an amazing weapon in the less than 1% cases. (And the look on the guilty partys face. FUN!)
Then I watched the first episode. And man. I'ts so much more than that. Only saw the episode a few hours ago and already I feel like I'm being tortured waiting for the next. Lol

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WOW! it's a nice suprise..

Thank U GF for introduction's recaps ^^

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This show is so cute. I like it. I think recaps would be awesome, but only if you feel like it. I probably won't continue with this any other way.

Thanks for the recap, GF!

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I just saw ep 1! Wow! and another WOW!
Thank you for doing a recap of the first one. I hope... really really hope it goes on :)

I have fallen in love with another drama... i should not have started... hehehe

wondering if I'll watch ep 2 raw coz i don't want to miss the 'facts' and stuff. but then I can watch it again when the subs are in. omo omo! might as well go and watch it raw...

DANGJANG! :p

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I'm curious as to why Soo Ha couldn't have been a college student instead of a HIGH SCHOOLER. Ugh. That just screams open ending.

But still, great start.

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So looooooooove this drama on it's first episode and I'm hoping I'm gonna love it till the end. Dropped two dramas Weds-Thurs dramas that I used to watch. And recapped reading the other drama that's currently on. And this drama feeds my kdrama cravings for those days. Thanks for the recap and I hope the drama gods grant you the time to recap this.

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thanks a lot :)

after writing this comment....I'm going for watching the first episode...yay :D

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I'm currently working as a translator for this project (Eng to Spanish, as I'm still trying to learn Korean) but I'm in love with the idea. I was scares of how they were going to portray the love between the noona and a kid but it works out because it's a love born out of a sense of responsibility. Can't wait for there to be more of this... Hope you do get to recap it or at least comment on it once in a while, I can understand that your busy, but a comment of the series as a whole like you did with Ojakkyo Brothers might work.

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Honestly, didn't expect much as I was disappointed that Yoon Sang Hyun is playing a lawyer once again. However, curiosity drove me to watching it and boy, was I pleasantly surprised. The story is rather grabbing, it's much more interesting and complex than the trailers seem. Looking forward to seeing how the story develops.

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How am I going to have time to work with my week so full of dramas?!? Gu Family Book takes up Monday and Tuesdays, I can already tell this drama is going to take up Wednesdays and Thursdays, Friday has Monstar and a JDorama, and Sunday is Running Man day.

My summer is full of work and in the fall I'm off to college... KDramas are going to run me into the ground, the sad part is its all willingly.

Still I can't wait for more episodes!

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*add caffeine-drip to shopping list*

I have a new moto... Sleep is for the weak! I have no idea how I am going to add this to my full schedule other then not sleeping for the next three months at least. KDrama addiction...*sigh*

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i didn't expect much from this drama. i thought maybe it'll be like school 2013 to extent or some other simple dramas.
BUT!!!! WOW !st ep was epic!!! i couldn't even dare flinch my eyes (of course i did flinch many times :P) i hope this drama will have good ending because it has some scary story in it.
I'm happy that i got a new exciting drama to watch since some recent dramas are not matching with my drama taste for real.

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I watched this yesterday without subs and man was I in love! It's a great, fun show that has a riveting plot and good actors! I can't wait for episode 2!

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i reeeally liked this first episode. it was done well. i love lee jongseok. heart.

recap, please? ha. either way, it's okay because i'll be watching this one.

can i request series reviews or podcasts of 'soonshin' and 'i hear your voice' if you guys quit recapping them? ha. they're the two shows, with 'monstar', that i'll actually be watching and are worth talking about.

happy watching. ^^

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Another vote for podcast!
Would love to hear what you guys think about currently airing shows.

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this is so GOOD, i watched it this afternoon, and seriously episode 1 was perfect

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Another promising drama. You just can't help your heart flutter when Jeongsuk is that cool. :D

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I really enjoyed this first episode, more than anything I've watched in a long time. Then again, Yoon Sang-hyun was not in it much so we will see. I have a you a amuse me/you really annoy me viewing relationship with him.

My maternal instinct kicks in with Lee Jong-seok. I want to feed him and buy him non saggy ass trousers. I also have a converse relationship with watching him. He has IT, and IT smolders, and I like IT, but at the same time when there are close ups, the cosmetic sculpture of his face is too in my face, way startling.

I liked the female character alot, but can someone explain the propensity for lead females with awkward hairstyles in k dramas? It's obviously intentional. I am trying to understand the thought process.

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My maternal instinct kicks in with Lee Jong-seok.

YES! Only I'd call it the noona instinct (noona as in literally older sister, not the other kind) - he triggers urges to buy him a good meal and nag him about not getting in trouble at school, which is the exact same thing I do with my younger cousins who are his character's age.

As for the hair, I think Hye-sung's hair is pretty ok here? The way she wears it when it's loose looks fairly 'done' and about right for a professional, thank goodness for no awkward bowl cuts a la Nine.

And yes, awkward female lead haircuts may be a shortcut to indicate dorkiness/lack of caring about one's appearance, but the parade of identikit haircuts indicating that....no thank you.

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I am thinking that the awkward hairstyles are to indicate: lack of vanity/good girl/girl next door/a "maternal" girl/hardworking girl/poor girl/give viewers a reason not to hate her or something to make her not perfect. But you know, come on already, just stop it.

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Yay recap! I think I'll give this two or three more episodes before I make a decision. It was a good first episode...the familiar mother/daughter pair helped me get through it. I feel like it's hard for me to watch any drama that doesn't have familiar actors - it helps to feel more emotionally invested when you already have "left over" feelings attached to actors.

I'm excited to see a little comedy in this - a jaded lawyer, a dorky lawyer, and a boy who can read minds?! It's got promise.

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I desperately need recaps....they help me keep things straight. This new drama seems quite sweet, and a way to entertain myself during the summer.

*fingers crossed so that the drama will be so addicting that GF NEEDS to do recaps*

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I hear your voice recap! Weeeee! What a happy surprise from GF.
June surely is a great month with Monstar, Shark, and now this. Its make me hoping someone already inventing space time machine to be used by GF so I can be a happy clam in Dramabeans world.

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I like Yoon Sang Hyun but I don't know if I can stomach another LBY drama after My Daughter Soo Young... I fast forwarded almost all her scenes in that drama.

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Thanks for the recap, GF! I hope this continues to get recapped on DB, but no pressure. ;P

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Forth dimension FTW! perhaps you could free up some time to recap this by (do not hit me) dropping the recap on YTBLSS. (Love YTBLSS be we can squee about it in OT on Fridays)

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Do-yeon's dad uses the exact same derp face as the one he used in Nine... Quite distracting

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Thanks for the recap, GF! Can't you just borrow the Hot Tub Time Machine? I mean, who could pass up a soothing hot tub session while recapping and time traveling?!

Loved ep1 of this - well-defined characters all around. And what a pleasure it was to see Kim Hae-sook (Mom) in this. I don't think I've ever been disappointed in her acting - she's one actress who can portray haughty chaebol-types as well as being brave enough to look like 20 miles of bad road, should the role call for it. I've always thought she was one of Korea's best actors.
:)

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I can not wait to check this show out! I know what you mean about having too many shows to watch right now too. Just so you know, I live for the recaps from you guys on Dramabeans! I hate watching any shows you guys don't recap. I am a recent convert to K-dramas and thanks to you and javabeans I get so much more out of my viewing because you explain or mention a lot of things I would never have known otherwise.

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I'm the same! Reading the recaps here is part of my drama-watching routine. I very rarely watch a show that's not recapped here lol

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Omg I'm sobbing right now ! Who could a first apisode do this to me ! This is so epic ! I can't even discribe it I loge the story the actors (specially child actors) Omg please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please keep recapping it ! If u want drop something ! Oh no don't I watch ALL ! Love u thanks !

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This has become one of my favorites. I love everything about it. This and Gu Family are now my crack dramas. Thanks so much for the recap.

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Hi Carole! Good to "see" you here! I finally found a drama that i can "sink my teeth into" !! Love the first episode and enjoying this very much. Here's hoping that DB and GF will continue subbing this drama.

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Powerful first episode. I love that the beginning tragedy not only links up the characters but is handled in such a way that it really means something. Mostly they have the tragedy explain how the lead became an orphan, but this tragedy and succeeding trial gives us the lead's meaning in life as well as sucks us into his world. We all want him to succeed, to fulfill his oath, to have her sacrifice have meaning. I'm wondering if we'll see the female lead's frenemy again in a future episode also all grown up. She, also has a lot to answer for.

I can see this show going a number of ways, but what really pleases me the most is that I'm truly interested in where the writer will take it. The previews for episode 2 seem to link the 3 main characters into some sort of every day job/mission which could be the foil as the truth and (the guy in jail who vows to kill her) finally unveil themselves.

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I wasn't going to watch episode 1 but ended up doing so after the recap. Main reason? The flashback. It seemed so interesting.

Kim So-hyun is a talented actress no doubt and the flashback has everything it needed - the suspense, the sadness, the heroine's conflict, the consequence. They had an interesting take on being a witness - even though it was the right thing to do (for us), the action had such dire consequences that the heroine couldn't feel happy or proud of what she did because she just put her life in jeopardy for a child she didn't know. When she was crying after the trial, I was too. There was so much emotion in the last part of the flashback - her screaming at him not to follow her, him giving her a hug and telling her he'll protect him, her giving a smile amidst the tears and the worry. It was wonderful.

I don't know if I'll continue this show - I was a lot more invested in the flashback than the main story. But I'll give episode 2 a try. Just a question though, who's slated to be the main lead? Listener boy (LJS) or lawyer guy? (also, I kinda wish the female lead was someone else, I don't really like LBY...)

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Also! This is the second time Kim So-hyun is playing the child version of Lee Bo Young. The first time was in The Birth of the Rich. (side note: I was wondering where I saw Kim So-hyun before (as the main actress, not the child version) and it was in Ma Boy! I liked her there too...I think I'm going to following her work from now on. But it's ridiculous how she's acted in so many dramas when she's only 14! Makes me feel quite underachieved.)

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(the flashback has everything it needed – the suspense, the sadness, the heroine’s conflict, the consequence [+ a lot more I didn't write])

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I appreciate that i didn't feel like the childhood portion was there for the sake of being there. It was mainly in the form of flashbacks, and *gasp* was actually crucial to the story. It also helps that it's portrayed by a daughter/mother duo that is so adorable. Well-acted too.
I just looked up I hear your voice and noticed the genre is a blend of romance, fantasy, comedy, crime, and mystery.
How does that work? Episode 1 proved that somehow, it just does.
Based on descriptions, seems like the trio leads(is there a second-lead in this one?) will team up and solve cases. Im wondering who the heroine will end up. Sure, it looks a noona romance between her and park su-ha but you never know.
'Cause, remember Big? I can just hear the collected groans for the reminder of a show that shall not be named.

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