Autumn in My Heart

Waktu tayang : September 18 - November 7, 2000

Waktu menonton : Junior High?
Hal paling berkesan : Song Hye Gyo and Song Seun Hoon. Gorgeous.

NB : Sorry about the low quality of the poster. I can't find better ones.

Autumn in my heart, or Endless Love as they call it in Indonesia, is actually the pioneer of the 'Hallyu wave' as they call it. It's the start of the popularity of korean drama. It's the first popular korean drama aired in Indonesia, and to many, it's the introduction to korean drama. And yet, I didn't watch it. Well, I watch it here and there, bits and pieces. But it never really attracts me. The first reason was because this is a melodrama, a tear fest. It is filled with tears, illness, separation. It's just too exhausting for me. And the second reason was the premise. I mean, pseudo incest? Really?

The story is this. Two siblings, Yoo Joon-Seo and Yoo Eun-Seo, is very close. Veeery close. They are the children of a rich professor. And then Eun-Seo got into an accident, and in the aftermath of the blood transfusion, they discover that they are not siblings after all. There's been an accidental baby switch in the hospital. Eun-Seo is actually the daughter of a very poor and very troubled family. So then they decided to switch the children back and cut all ties to one another. I mean, after raising a child for 15 years, you suddenly cut all ties to that said child and just switch them back as easy as that? Really?

Years pass, and both siblings are now grown up. They meet again through chance and become close, then fall in love. But they pretend that they are just a close sibling to everyone else. Eun-Seo even calls him brother. But certainly it's not a melodrama without conflict. The parents were against them, Joon-Seo's girlfriend threatened to commit suicide, Won Bin (I forgot his actual name in the drama) tried to get close to Eun-Seo, and then there's the illness of course. Leukimia. All in all, there's a LOT of crying in this drama. It's exhausting. And let me tell you a spoiler. They died. They both died. How great. I didn't even bother finishing this one and I just ask someone else about the ending.

I love korean drama, but I hate this type. Melodrama type. It's all tears and illness. Why do you want to watch something that is so filled with tears? I watch it here and there on TV, and I don't like what I see. The three main leads, Song Seun Hoon, Song Hye Kyo, and Won Bin, are now great stars. They made their debut here. Even Han Chae Young from Sassy Girl Chun Hyang fame, and the very talented young Moon Geun Young made her debut here too. It's no doubt that this is a memorable drama. But maybe it's for all the wrong reason. I didn't enjoy this one bit.

PS : This drama is actually part of an unrelated series of drama. Others were Winter Sonata, Summer Scent, and Spring Waltz. They all portray a different season tone. Autumn in My Heart portray Autumn with its brown scene, brown clothes, and brown everything. The four dramas all share similarities besides the tone though. All were melodrama tear fest, and I'm not a fan of them. But they're wildly popular.