39 and single. Like a ticking bomb. Something's gonna blow. The most excitement she's had since The Vancouver Olympics (a decade ago) is the flasher that accosted her eyes in ep1. Ha-ri likes men... but Ha-ri LOVES babies. And kids. And more babies. She's made arrangements to freeze her eggs until she finds the right dad. But she's almost 40. She's now hardly producing enough eggs to get pregnant! Her situation is near desperate. And you know what they say about desperate times... And how could she fall for a guy who doesn't want kids? He flat-out refuses. 'It will never happen,' he insists. So he avoids Ha-ri. He avoids her like she carries contagions. Hey, ovaries and eggs aren't contagions! They're what keeps humanity afloat.
OMB is a 2015 release that is rated 85 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 65-minute episodes. Jang Na Ra (Go Back Couple) is Jang Ha-ri. She's adorable. Go Jun (The Fiery Priest) is Han Lee Sang. He's into trying things he hasn't done before. But he doesn't want kids. He never has. Not for a moment. Park Byung Eun plays Yoon Jae Young. He's one of the best things in Because This Is My First Life-7.7 and is also in the popular Your Honor. In OMB his character drags the show down, but it isn't the fault of the actor. Jung Gun Joo (Extraordinary You, The Secret Romantic Guesthouse) is the fresh-faced Choi Kang Eu-Tteum. Director Nam Ki Hoon brought us one of my favs - Tunnel-8.1, and screenwriter,Yang Hyuk Moon also penned Mirror of the Witch.
"Who in this world doesn't have problems? No one is disqualified from loving." Ha-ri decides she wants a baby but she's no good at relationships, so she's never getting married. When this show was made, a single woman wasn't /permitted/ to get a sperm donation in Korea. Ha-ri is later arrested when she meets with a private sperm donor! Compared to our open and free society, that sounds insane. "You and I have been full of ourselves all our lives, so our own lives came first, and we put our own feelings first. I still don't know what love is, but being selfish in love, as you and I were, can't be it." We are used to getting everything we want, and Ha-ri wants a baby. It's impossible for parents to make decisions that will not affect the kids, and all kids crave a mom and a dad. It seems to be a deeply embedded human desire. There's plenty of amazing and successful single moms out there who have enriched our society through their hard work, but this stuff is HARD, not easy. Stats don't lie, and the stats for single mothering make it look like a problematic option as the poverty, crime, and illiteracy rates skyrocket compared to those of 2-parent families. There's nothing about being a single parent that sounds appealing to me, personally. Parenting is all-consuming hard work, often the thankless kind. It's hard to raise children WITH a dedicated and involved partner. We're so used to getting everything we want in our culture that we've forgotten to pause and think about the impact to others. This isn't to advocate any way of life but to encourage a 360° look at the issue. That's all. Ha-ri begins to take a 360° look around at potential bio-dads. Choi Kang Eu Tteum, her young assistant, Han Lee Sang, our ML & the failed blind date, and her childhood BFF, Yoon Jae Young are all potential candidates.
The Romance is mostly average. The focus is on their issues with having children while love takes a back seat to kids (just like life). Unfortunately, the show suffers from a too common syndrome: Too many episodes, too little content. Around the 2/3 mark OMB slows down significantly and drags. The drama is still good enough, and the situation is compelling. Her childhood friend becomes a little irritating. It gets worse as we crawl towards the final episodes.
There's not enough helium to fully inflate the balloons... What to name it? I think I'll call this syndrome, where there isn't enough content for the number of episodes, DIS-content... MAL-content, maybe? And it creates discontent in the viewer. There are so many shows that would completely transform with a good edit. MSS - mandatory separation syndrome: They use that trope, too: After a couple commits, MSS demands they separate for a time. It's usually awful, and it fails to enhance OMB.
They handle the anxieties of parenthood and the sandwich generation with skill. Throwaway comments about nursing home and childcare center abuse are heartbreaking, but they mostly utilize warmth and humor. The end of ep2 is a beautiful scene with Ha-ri and her friend's baby girl, Do-Ha, having a moment. Before long, we hear: "Making sacrifices for the one you love is a bunch of bull$h!+. You simply lack confidence." That's harsh, but unnecessary sacrifice comes from feelings of inferiority. We tend to overcompensate when we feel inferior. Just relax, it's not up to you to fix the world. Put that energy into working on yourself and making yourself better. That will actually make the world a better place.
OMB has some laughs. 'It's your third baby! SHE'S A PATRIOT!' Ha-ri is wearing a pregnancy suit and two women at the store misunderstand what is going on. Before she has a chance to explain, she's being whisked to the hospital by a kind stranger. (That isn't a stranger, though. It's our ML, the dude her friend tried to fix her up with years ago and they didn't hit it off. Ouch). Her BFF is hilarious (Lee Mi-Do My Father is Strange, Mother-8.8, My Dearest Part). She stops 🤚🏽. Why is it so QUIET? Something is very, very wrong. Slowly she turns, raises her head, and sees that the twins made a YUGE mess. There's a funny bit with a gift certificate for a bed and breakfast. It travels more miles than any of the people passing it around. "You're turning 40. You should do something bad. You're unnecessarily proper." (CHINCHA! Mom is pretty cool). "Don't complain later," Ha-ri counters. Suddenly strange men - strangely competitive strange men - show up at Ha-ri's mother's senior aerobics class. They both want to be her son i/l.
"They say if you're into animals or figurines, you'll never get married." This to eligible bachelor #1, Han Lee Sang, who collects Moai 🗿 from Easter Island. His place is cluttered with them.
{Educational timeout: To paraphrase Wiki - 'Carved by the Rapa Nui of Easter Island, Moai / mo 'ai ("MOH-eye") are monolithic human figures from 1250 - 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but many have been displayed on stone platforms around the island. Almost all moai have overly large heads, accounting for 3/8 of the whole statue. With no legs, the moai are chiefly the living faces of deified ancestors. The tallest moai erected (Paro) is almost 10 metres (33 ft) high and weighs around 82 tons. One unfinished sculpture, if completed, would be approximately 21 m (69 ft) tall, with a weight of about 145-165 tons. Statues are still being discovered as of 2023.'}
Nevertheless, Ha-ri is still drawn to this man.
The director is magnificent at drawing the viewer to this FL. Not only is she simply darling, but I was sincerely hurting for her. Since I grew up around alot of women who adored babies and just loved being pregnant (I didn't fit in), I actually have an aversion to Ha-ri 's mindset. So, this director is skillful, as I still felt for her. Research has revealed that newborns emit a scent that is like crack for women. These baby-loving-moms are addicts! (It has no effect on me, my issues lie elsewhere). It just goes to show that people often don't fully understand themselves and their motivations. It's a good idea to actively turn the left-brain on to analyze what we are working on. "Life isn't a taxi. It doesn't go wherever you want..." Ha-ri eventually does see what she wants from all angles and our ML, Han Lee Sang, turns his affections from cold 🗿 chisled stone to warm flesh and blood 👨👩👧.
In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:
Crazy Love l-7.8,
A Witch's Love 7.8,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Romance is a bonus book-7.9,
Our Blues-8.7,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
Because This Is My First Life-7.7,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Familiar Wife-8.5,
Hospital Playlist 9,
Nevertheless-7.6,
Call It Love-8.4,
My Mister 9.5
Romance junkies only -
My Secret Romance 7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek 7,
Heirs 7.3,
That Winter, The Wind Blows 7,
Something in the Rain 9,
C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love 7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine,
You are my destiny 6.8 cute, sweet & 1/2 padding,
A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5,
Find Yourself 8.9
Consider a Chinese 🎎/🔮 romcom: The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8, Love Between Fairy and Devil 8.9, Love and Redemption 10 or Japanese romcoms: Maid Sama 10, Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo 7.8, Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions 8.4, or Toradora 8.5.
