Something About 1% Review: Every Hopeless Romantic’s Dream Drama
Once in a while comes a sugary sweet love story that makes you giddy and gives you major feels. I love dramas that have love, agony, separation, and then a much dramatic reunion. Moreover, I also enjoy watching dramas based on contract marriages or dating where two people, who dislike each other are forced to be together because what ensues is pure unadulterated love, pyaar, romance. ‘Something About 1%’ has all the mentioned elements, which is why I enjoyed it tremendously. Also, the show makers treated the audiences to several sweet and passionate moments every few episodes and ensured that the viewers got what they expected i.e. lots and lots of couple chemistry and love.
Something About 1% / 1% Of Anything (2016)
Something About 1% is a re-make of the 2003 Korean drama ‘1% Of Anything’. This 16 episode long drama is about a contract engagement by which chaebol (Korean word for rich businessman) Lee Jae In (Ha Seok Jin) has to marry Kim Da Hyun (Jeon So Min) if he wants to inherit his grandfather’s business.
Jae In’s grandfather, Lee Kyo Chul one day collapses in the woods. Kind and helpful schoolteacher Kin Da Hyun rescues him taking him to be a helpless pauper. Not only does she take him to the hospital, but she also pays for his medical bills and gives him some money for his safe return home. Her selfless gesture moves him and he decides to get his workaholic grandson Jae In to marry her. He feels that a woman like her can bring a positive change in his haughty grandson. Grandfather then modifies his will wherein he adds a condition that only the man marrying Da Hyun will be able to inherit his business. He also adds that if Jae In is unable to win over Da Hyun then his cousin Tae Ha can try wooing her and can take over his business by marrying her. A sense of competition sets in and Jae In decides to try wooing Da Hyun before his cousin. Jae In and Da Hyun do not like each other initially and decide to have a contract dating setup with the condition that they will not fall for each other during their dating period. But destiny has planned something else for them as they both fall madly in love with each other.
Let’s weigh this sweet and short drama on our show beam balance and see what makes it an adorable drama.
Good Weights
Story: As mentioned before, this drama has all the romantic drama clichés like two people hating each other and then falling in love, a poor girl marrying a rich man, a helpful girl changing the stone-hearted person into a better man and so on. It is a highly predictable drama that delivers everything you ordered for.
Couple Chemistry: When the story of a drama is predictable it is the actors who bear the burden of keeping the audiences engaged and Seok Jin and So Min do that well. The two actors share great chemistry and come across as a much lovable couple. Their lover’s tiff, possessiveness for each other, jealousy, and moments of love and passion look amazing on screen. They bring DaDa and Jae In to life with such ease that they start looking perfect for each other.
Bad Weights
Lose Ends: Each episode is barely 40 minutes long, which makes it too short to explain a lot of stuff in the show. A few things I thought would be dealt with in the last episode, were left unaddressed. For example, Da Hyun is shown obsessing over her student Ji Soo to the extent that she agrees to date Jae In only if he helped Ji Soo with his career. But there is hardly any content justifying her reason for supporting Ji Soo. Also, Ji Soo randomly appears and disappears in the show without any explanation. I get it that the show’s main focus was DaDa and Jae In’s relationship but they cannot just casually add characters and knock them off when they are of no use.
Aww and Wow Moments
Episode 3: I am totally against the idea of a man kissing a woman without her consent. But the little peck in this episode seemed juvenile and harmless. It looked like a little boy tricking a girl he has a crush on. DaDa’s reaction to it served him right. But overall, I liked to see the playful side of the authoritarian boss.
Episode 6: The makeover scene. This scene is a ‘must have’ for every romance drama. DaDa comes wearing a low-cut dress (looking sexy), surprising Jae In who stares at her wide-eyed wondering what happened to the girl he took to be simple and demure. I have seen something similar in innumerable dramas and somehow I still enjoy watching it.
Episode 7: Jae In falling asleep on her shoulder. Jae In has had too much on his plate and is weary with all the tension at work. The way he dozes off on DaDa’s makes him look so vulnerable much against the indomitable image that he has at work. This unguarded side of his surfaces only when he is with DaDa, which shows how comfortable he is with her.
Episode 8: DaDa’s drunken love confession. You have to see it to understand why this scene is here.
Episode 13: There are many lovely moments in this episode but that one smoldering hot kiss takes the cake. fans myself
The show beam balance holds more of good weights, which are the main highlights of the drama. It may not be an ideal or hatke (unique) love story but I liked what I saw and enjoyed the drama so for me it is a perfect romance drama.
I give the show 4 out of 5 rating. Something About 1% is a non-complicated simple love story of two people who meet only because of their intersecting lines of destiny. If you are a hardcore romantic and enjoy watching some romance clichés then do go for this one.
Also Read:
You must be logged in to post a comment.