Something About 1% #review

1% of Anything (2016)

Genre - Melodrama, Romance
Based on -  1% of Anything by Hyun Go woon
Starring -  Ha Seok jin, Jeon So min
Episodes -  16
Released -  2016
Network  -  Oksusu
Remake  -  1% of Anything (MBC, 2003)

PLOT

Jae In, a ruthless son from a wealthy family, starts seeing an elementary school teacher, whom he has never met before, for a ten-month contract engagement in order to inherit his grandfather’s assets as written on will. 'One Percent of Anything' depicts what happens throughout the fake engagement. -- Hancinema (w/edits)

REVIEW

As  cliché (a hackneyed theme) as this was, I still enjoyed the watch and thought the lead couple were adorable together.

Ha Suk jin is Lee Jae in, the 'ruthless' heir to a hotel with the really weird (and real) name Alpencia, who is determined to make it on his own yet becomes doggedly determined to follow through on a 'love' contract with a perfect stranger in order to receive his grandfather's inheritance (much more than just the silly-named hotel).

Jun So min is Kim Da hyun, that woman.

She's self-sufficient as a 3rd Grade teacher who also does a lot of volunteer work while her parents continue to set her up on blind dates with Eastern Medicine Practitioners (like her father).

Da hyun is working with her students when she hears a cry for help and goes to investigate, finding a rumpled old man lying lifeless against a berm.

She gets him to a hospital and even pays for his treatment, and the old man gives her an apple in exchange for her kindness.

Turns out he's the chaebol king.

So, the old man writes Da hyun into his will, leaving her everything, and the only way his grandson (Jae in) can get it all back is if he agrees to date Da hyun for at least six months.

Da hyun has no idea who Jae in is or what he is telling her about his wealthy grandfather, but once Jae in starts donating money to the school and orphanage, Da hyun becomes obligated to go through with the arrangement.

I had begun by watching both the 2003 original and 2016 remake simultaneously until I realized the two are practically the same story, so I gave up on the original and continued with this remake.

The only fun part about attempting that dual watch was to note how many things have changed over the years and how little has changed as well.

On the plus side, family isn't the center of a Korean woman's universe today, so while the original showed tons of family time, the remake did not.

Neither is hung up on the idea of marriage, and even though both families are desperate to get their offspring hitched, the lead couple took their time, did things their way, and managed to build a relationship in as natural a fashion as reality-based fiction can allow.

The HEA worked itself out in just as reasonable a fashion, making for a delightful ending to an otherwise mundane-topic drama.

Cinderella, wishful thinking, poor girl meets rich boy, etc.

Still, it proved to be a fun watch and was easy to get caught up in all the drama that went with a beaten-to-death story line.