The Sand Flower

Loved this series for a couple of reasons. One, because I learned so much about a sport I never knew existed. Ssireum....who knew? Jang Dong-yoon is a true pro who remade his physique, not to look awesome, but to look real for the sport. The matches looked so authentic to me, and I got invested in Kim Baek Du's challenges as well as the connection between the teammates. The seedy gambling world touches about every sport, and this series showed parts of that as well. Next, the culture of the village was immersive, and you could relate with the gossiping neighbors, get angry with their ridiculous nosiness and be touched by their loyalty. Third, the characters of Baek Du and Doo-sik (sounds like doo sheek) are perfect foils for each other, with a mysterious bond from childhood that neither can forget. Their relationship is the heartbeat of the series. Don't see how anyone could resist the charm of this show.

I particularly enjoyed this series. At its core is a complete performance by Jang Dong-yoon as the not so bright Ssireum wrestler whose life has been on hold since his first love left the village. His is a very likeable character indeed, putting others first with kindness and forgetting himself in the process.

You cannot but support his journey towards a brighter future.

I also enjoyed its depiction of the world of Korean Ssireum wrestling. Having watched Sanctuary, about the world of Sumo, the comparison was interesting. Ssireum may lack the semi-religious ritual of Sumo, but I found the wrestling itself more exciting.

A ssireum wrestler Kim Baek-doo played by Jang Dong-yoon is thinking about retiring as at thirty two he thinks the opportunity to be a champion has passed him by. Before he makes the decision he runs into Oh Yoo-kyung played by Lee Joo-myung who was his best friend when they were children but who disappeared from his life due to an incident which took place in the town. The plot then looks back at the earlier incident and how it impacted on the group of friends and the townspeople who are all involved with ssireum and how they all turned out. It is a well acted series from the entire cast, a gentle comedy with the funniest moments between the two leads and an easy watch.

It's hard to review this series.

The first half of the series I was somehow bored. It didn't felt like a love story, the mystery story wasn't strong either. I didn't know what to think.

Kim Baek-uk was portrayed as a naive "boy". I didn't like at all that they made him look stupid. In fact he was just a warmhearted guy growing up at the country side and was just happy either way with the simple things in life. He was so caring for others. So beautiful! They didn't need to made him look stupid.

The villagers had an important role for the setting of the series. The way they talked was marvellous.

From half of the series the mystery story became more interesting and the relationship between Baek-uk and Du-sik had more depth. Although I kept missing cute love scenes.

The wrestling theme was nice and the games were thrilling, although predictable I especially liked the last one. A shout-out to Jang Dong-yoon for the wrestling part. Must have been tough. And he even changed his physique for that role. Wow!

If you watch this series for the warmth of the ML and the atmosphere of the town, you will like this series. If you watch it for the love story - like I did -, you will be disappointed.

I don't always seek out a drama with sports as a central theme, but when it's done well they can be really enjoyable. This series does that, but also believably weaves past secrets, murder mysteries, small town beauty and not so beautiful issues, friends, and a slow burn romance. None of those subjects take over the entire experience, they are gently and expertly woven together at a pace that keeps you interested.

The cast was wonderful and it was nice to see so many familiar faces. I was a big fan of the ML's mother, and all of the child actors. The kids made me cry real tears. Both leads were great in that the FL was very good at showing the different sides of herself; while I felt the ML was outstanding with his athleticism and expressiveness. They had great chemistry in all the ways.

The only reason I didn't give it a full 10 was because occasionally the ML would be a bit much for me in his persistent ways, sometimes the dialogue would drag a bit with characters taking quite a while to spit out what they were trying to say, and the ending could have wrapped up a little tighter. But this was still one very worthy and thoroughly enjoyable watch that I highly recommend.