Title: 미스 리플리 | Miss. Ripley Who I Loved | Ripley | Miss Ripley
Genre: Melodrama, Romance
Episodes: 16
Broadcast Network: MBC
Broadcast Period: 2011-May-30 to 2011-Jul-19

Synopsis:

The story revolves around Jang Mi Ri, a beautiful woman filled with ambition who will lie and almost do anything to escape and rise above from her very dark and hard past. She was abandoned by her mother at a young age and her father died soon after. She was sent in an orphanage and became quite rebellious in accepting she’s an orphan, as she believes her mother will return for her. Inadvertently, she got adopted instead of Na Hee-Joo, her childhood friend in the orphanage. She was brought in Japan and ends up being abused and worked her way to survive with minimal or no higher level of education. As she grew up, she was forced to work in a bar club to pay for her adopted father’s gambling debts. In an effort to change her life and reach her dreams, she escaped from her pimp, Hirayama and went back to Seoul, South Korea. Doing everything she can to find a job, she have to use and lie to the people who came to truly care about her. Two good and successful men, ends up being in love with her, Jang Myung Hoon, a former doctor and became a Hotel Manager due to his previous marriage and later on became the President of the Hotel; and, Song Yoo Hyun, the young heir of Mondo Corporation, a Conglomerate. Jang Mi Ri in her journey through her life will not stop at nothing until she finally gets what she wants.

Characters:

• Lee Da Hae as Jang Mi Ri
• Park Yoo Chun as Yutaka | Song Yoo Hyun
• Kim Seung Woo as Jang Myung Hoon
• Kang Hye Jung as Na Hee Joo
• Park Ha Young as Young Mi Ri
• Jung Da Bin as Teen Mi Ri
• Yang Ohn Yoo as Child Song Yoo Hyun
• Hwang Ji Hyun as Lee Gwi Yeon
• Choi Myung Gil as Lee Hwa
• Lee Sang Yeob as Ha Chul Jin
• Song Jae Ho as President Lee
• Jang Yong as Song In Soo
• Kim Na Woon as Kang Shi Young
• Kim Chang Wan as Director Choi
• Baek Bong Ki as Deputy Manager Kim
• Lee Soo Mi (이수미) as Jo Eun Bom
• Kim Jung Tae as Hirayama
• Min Joon Hyun as Manager Han
• Park Ji Yeon as Yuu in a Cameo Role in Episode 3
• X-5 as themselves in a Cameo Role in Episode 3
• Yang Mi Kyung as Yoo Hyun’s mother
• Uhm Ki Joon as Prosecutor in a Guest Star Role
• Maeng Sang Hoon

My Review:

I’ve seen this drama in the year it was aired 2011. During those years most of the K-Dramas are about revenge and truly melodramatic topics. However, it is also in these years that K-Drama are doing much shorter number of episodes which I truly appreciate because I can’t anymore sit and watch 25 plus episodes which were common in the earlier years when K-Drama is just starting to be popular in Asia and noticed by the rest of the world. As far as melodrama goes, this K-Drama is good to watch. Actually, it is quite unique in a sense that the heroine is also the villain. I had mixed feelings about Jang Mi Ri. I don’t know whether I would like to smack her on her face or pity her. What’s good about the character is that you can understand where she’s coming from. It doesn’t excuses the things she did but you can at least understand. It made it difficult for me to judge her because I wouldn’t know if I would have done the same things she did given the exact same situation. There’s also a certain truth when it comes to the two men who did fall in love with her. For some reason good guys do fall in love with bad women and vice-versa. I guess, that’s human nature. We find it challenging and exhilarating when there’s a sense of danger and excitement. This K-Drama’s strongest strength are the actors in it. They are all quite good in delivering their roles, thus, even if there are some flaws in the drama itself, you hardly get to notice them because the actors have given their best in portraying their roles. I’m actually much impress with Kim Seung Woo as Jang Myung Hoon. He has delivered his character to a T. He was able to express his emotions with very subtle delivery that it affected me more than the crying and shouting on some of the scenes. You will feel for him. There’s one question in my mind, though, when it comes to almost all K-melodramas that is how can a man or a woman develop that kind of depth of love for another when there’s hardly scenes or reason that can justify it. Maybe that’s why it always start during their childhood years. And, maybe, their definition and belief about love is something you feel without any logic in it. It is possible that my definition of love conflicts with the reel kind. I always believe that whatever we feel when we romantically meet someone is initially an attraction. Some are too deep that one can confuse it with love. I can understand if that is the case when you are young but when the character is of a certain age and has been married before like Jang Myung Hoon, it is quite difficult to justify the emotion. So, it is probably his loneliness that propels him to sacrifice even the very principles he believes in for Jang Mi Ri. Moreover, he probably understood as he came from a poor family himself. But, still there’s something lacking in building that side of the story. Anyway, all in all, this K-Drama doesn’t have stark flaws that you would like to tear your hair down. It could have been better especially in avoiding a lot of repetitive explanations by the characters regarding the situation, but, nonetheless it wasn’t that bad. As far as melodrama goes it is quite interesting to watch and for 16 episodes not much time for you to feel you wasted your time watching it.

Would I recommend this K-Drama? Sure, if you have nothing important to do.

My Rating to this Drama
( See My Rating System: ) 3/5 Stars

OST:
01. Your Empty Seat (너를 위한 빈자리) – Park Yoo Chun
02. Glass (유리) – Hwa Yo Bi
03. Like a Habit of the Mouth (입버릇처럼) – Miru (미루)
04. If It’s Not You (그대가 아니면) – Yang Young Joon (양영준)
05. If It’s Not You (그대가 아니면) (Spanish Version) – Yang Young Joon (양영준)