Classic KDrama 101: 49 Days
In our series of kdramas you might have missed, here's an interesting one for your list: "49 Days."
The drama poses an interesting question. If you had only 49 days to prove that you were loved, that would be easy, right? But it's not as easy as the happy-go-lucky character Shin Ji Hyun imagines in "49 Days." And it's a matter of life or death.
"49 Days" is the story of two women who have mistaken impressions about their lives. Yet it's only when their lives intersect that things can be set right.
Shin Ji Hyun, played by singer and actress Nam Gyu Ri, lives a charmed life and is happy to be alive. She is sure that her friends and fiancée love her. Yi Kyung, played by Lee Yo Won is on a downward spiral. Following her boyfriend's death, she lives in a fog of depression and sees no reason for living. Her existence consists of working nights at a convenience store and sleeping.
When Yi Kyung attempts to kill herself, a bystander saves her but in the resulting traffic chaos, Shin Ji Hyun crashes into a truck and goes into a coma. She awakens as a sort of ghost. The only person who can see her is a motorcyclist, played by Jung Il Woo, so she follows him. The reason he can see her is that he is The Scheduler, the person who guides souls to their final destination. Since it was not her time to die, he explains that she has 49 days in which to reverse her situation. She must find three people who will shed pure tears of love for her before she can live again. And she can accomplish this mission in the body of Yi Kyung but only when Yi Kyung is sleeping.
At first, the mission seems easy enough but it's not. Her fiancée Kang Min Ho, played by Bae Soo Bin, did not really love her. Her friends are more jealous than devoted. It soon becomes obvious that her life only seemed perfect. And there's a lot more to Yi Kyung that a person might not gather from observing her present state.
To accomplish her mission Ji Hyun gets a job at the restaurant owned by her high school friend, Han Kang, played by Jo Hyun Jae. She also repeatedly calls on the Scheduler, who initially has little sympathy for her situation. The Scheduler has no memories of his life on earth but when he becomes sympathetic to her problems, he breaks a few rules to help her.
49 Days is an interesting story with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing right up to the very end. Jung Il Woo is charming as the scheduler and Lee Yo Won, who starred in "Queen Seonduk" gives a moving performance as a woman who discovers she does have a reason to live.
