‘Dear Hyeri’ Faces Criticism for Weak Characterization and Pacing: ‘Slow and Boring’
The supposed-to-be highly anticipated Korean drama, 'Dear Hyeri' has been receiving backlash from viewers after having the first two episodes aired.
The drama started to air on September 23 on ENA. Even though it has a fantastic cast of Shin Hye Sun and Lee Jin Wook, a lot of the fans, especially in subreddit r/KDRAMA, are finding the drama to be fairly boring in pace and in character development.
Comment
byu/meepmochi_ from discussion
inKDRAMA
This K-drama tells the story of Joo Eun Ho - an announcer who is struggling to find her way in her chosen career path and ventures into a second personality of Joo Hye Ri to bury the trauma she once faced.
A lot of critics think that the drama portrays DID and other psychological problems as shallow and without any depth.
Comment byu/meepmochi_ from discussion inKDRAMA
Reddit user u/TeeJackie stated, "I think we have a solid drama if they execute the mental health correctly!" and they are not far from the truth.
Comment byu/meepmochi_ from discussion inKDRAMA
Other people were quick to expose what they disliked about the current version of it - u/Thnx7 comments, "Bad mental health portrayal is really a turn-off for me and DID is more often than not portrayed in a wrong or negative way."
Comment
byu/meepmochi_ from discussion
inKDRAMA
SEE: Lee Jin Wook to Possibly Join Song Hye Kyo, Jeon Yeo Bin in Movie 'Dark Nuns'
Users on Reddit pointed out that, even though Shin Hye Sun is a talented actress, both of her characters appear to be caricatures of some sort instead of people. Reddit user u/adp-11 states, ".Both of her characters are feeling more like caricatures to me so far."
Some are also heavily criticizing the main character's divided personality - u/Adobe_Clara describes her two characters as "over-the-top" and "frustrating."
Comment byu/meepmochi_ from discussion inKDRAMA
Overall, most fans think that the first episodes progress too slowly and leave out too much to be understood.
Reddit user u/emmyso1 comments on it saying, "I felt thrown right into the middle of the story with no build-up - It was so SLOW and frustrating? It's incredibly rare for me to beg for an episode to be over."
There are very few lines of dialogue to even try and get attached to any of the characters.
There is also a unanimous dislike towards the way the flowery second male lead Kang Hoon is being closed off - u/dumbfoundead observes, "I'm getting SML vibes from him... he's going to get his and my heart broken."
The upcoming episodes will hopefully establish that 'Dear Hyeri' can improve and the way that the creators respond to the overwhelming amount of backlash.
Fans are cautiously optimistic at this point and are quite aware that a lot of the narrative and character saturations will more than likely keep taking place in the future as they watch it.
User Aamir Khan said, "I'm in a bit of a similar camp - I love SHS, will give any show she's in a shot. This one... not so sure."
What can you say about the story? Share your comments below:
Kdramastars own this.
This article was written by:
Rovelyn Barba