Noon-eui yeo-wang

For Hyun Bin fans eager to see an early series with him, this heavy going melodrama delivers more than an eyeful of him. He plays a math genius turned boxer. The main problem with the story is that the ridiculous premise of him giving up everything because his silly friend committed suicide after losing a math competition and it is some how his fault. Please the friend didn't even place 3rd so how was it his responsibility. Another major fault is the young girl he falls for. The casting is ridiculous. Hyun Bin looked too grown up then to play a 17 year old. And they cast this tiny girl who looked like she was 8 or 9. Icky! Anyway when she grows up the pretty actress Sung Yu Ri takes over and she plays a haughty princess type who is just too annoying to be endearing. So they overcome their obstacles after many long episodes. It's fun as his genius comes to light but some of the math he spews sounds like garbage. One good thing is the secondary leads aren't irritating in fact the doctor guy is quite nice. The end is obvious from the beginning terminal illness cliche. But it's so irritating the way she didn't want to tell him she was sick. Anyway at least her passing was swift. Completely unmoving story. Didn't shed a tear for a tear jerker. Shows that even if you have the best cast if the story sucks it's just hopeless. Thank goodness Hyun Bin got CLOY because his earlier works like this and Secret Garden quite painful.