Sae-eun is a former model who has since crossed over into fashion design, and is enjoying some success as an up-and-coming designer.
Jae-min previously had a relationship with Jang Sae-eun ( Han Eun-jung), which she broke off. Therefore, he suggests that Jun-hee hand over his stock holdings to him, since Jun-hee doesn’t want to work for the company anyway. He does want to take over the company, and because he knows he can be ousted at any moment by Mean Grandma, he needs to secure his place. Jae-min says he has always considered Jun-hee his blood brother (a comment that makes Jun-hee scoff in derision) and seems like a decent (if coldly logical) guy, but he’s not above manipulation. Stepmom, on the other hand, resolves to ensure that Jae-min inherits the company. She is determined to hand over the company to Jun-hee instead. Big Bro Jae-min is responsible, thoughtful, and serious, but alas, Mean Granny has no great affection for Jae-min or his mother, as they are not blood relations.
Their father had run the company, but when he recently fell on his deathbed, Jun-hee returned to Korea after years living abroad. Jun-hee is an apathetic rich boy with no interest in taking over the family corporation - he dreams of being a chef, actually - which suits his older stepbrother, Lee Jae-min ( Song Chang-eui), who works for the company as a senior executive. Meanwhile, Sopia Apparel is a large fashion brand currently run by the Mean Grandmother of Dae-san’s lookalike, Lee Jun-hee (also Kwon Sang-woo). The more they interact, though, she realizes it’s churlish to be so defensive when he’s just trying to help. Seeing Yu-jin struggling, Dae-san intercedes on her behalf, but she’s a prideful girl and pushes him aside the first few times. However, she runs into all sorts of difficulties - she’s never run a business before, clients take advantage of her lack of experience and don’t pay her, debt collectors threaten to shut down the store. Now Yu-jin must give up plans to return to school as she works to save the business and provide for her family. She returns to Korea to take over her father’s affairs, and her troubles are compounded when her mother is stricken ill from the shock of her father’s death. (He doesn’t immediately tell her that he owes her money, however.) When that man suddenly dies, Dae-san is drawn to the man’s daughter, Seo Yu-jin ( Yoon-ah), who had been studying fashion abroad at a top fashion design school. He had a very good relationship with the kindly man who ran a neighboring shop, who insisted on loaning him money to set up his shop. He operates a tiny clothing stall at Dongdaemun Market, which is named “Doryeonnim” (“young master”), and makes his living selling clothing which he designs by studying designer pieces and copying them. Oh Dae-san ( Kwon Sang-woo) is a lovable scamp and an orphan he’s outgoing, flirtatious when need be, and resourceful. However, the drama’s producers and director somehow manage to suck that energy out of a possibly hilarious premise by ignoring its kitsch potential, and instead strikes a heavier tone - it actually tries to be serious and intense at some moments - which just kills the mood.
#WATCH CINDERELLA MAN PUT HOW TO#
I was hoping it would be one of those cheeky shows that knew how to have fun with itself. I don’t think the story itself is the problem, because although there are clichés galore, the drama could have used them to create some wacky fun. The initial tone of Cinderella Man feels something like East of Eden meets Parent Trap. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Īudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Just know that the drama ain’t anywhere near as upbeat as this fun song by Biuret, whose second album released a couple months ago. It just… wasn’t very exciting.īiuret – “Dreams Come True.” Hm, maybe this song is too energetic for this post… Oh well. Personally, I didn’t think Cinderella Man was actually bad. Articles discussing the show’s first week point out the shaky quality, which range from complaints of Kwon Sang-woo‘s muddy diction (“It requires subtitling!”) and exaggerated accent, as well as Yoon-ah‘s acting and insufficient range of expression.
However, after seeing the first two episodes, I can see why the show received such a lukewarm response.
I’ll always take the stance that ratings aren’t strictly indicative of a show’s quality, so I don’t think the numbers automatically say the show sucks. (It was up against Cain & Abel and I Hate You But Let’s Try Again, which both pulled in numbers in the 15%-19% range.) On Wednesday, Cinderella Man premiered to a disappointing 9.3% rating, which dropped further to 6.7% on its second day. 72 ApJanuFirst impressions: MBC’s Cinderella Man by javabeans