Drama Review: Splash Splash Love

Looking for a short drama to binge watch? Dive into a pool of time-travelling romance with Splash Splash Love!

MBC’s Splash Splash Love is a two-episode drama special, starring BEAST’s Yoon Doojoon and talented actress Kim Seul Gi.

The drama is a classic time-travelling number, where the heroine is magically blasted into the Joseon era.

Kim Seul Gi plays the role of Dan Bi, a high school student while Doojoon acts as the young King of Joseon, Lee Do.

Running Time: Two episodes, 70 minutes.

Summary:

High school student Dan Bi heads to school on exam day. The day began like any normal day, as Dan Bi hugged her mother goodbye and hopped onto the bus. Skies grew darker and raindrops started to fall. Dan Bi was prepared for the wet weather by bringing a yellow umbrella along. Her yellow umbrella caught the attention of a regular city man, Lee Do, who just got on after her. Her stop arrives and she hurriedly leaves the bus, only to leave her umbrella behind which was picked up by Lee Do. Dan Bi stumbled across a huge puddle that gave a different reflection when she poked her foot in. She suddenly pulled the trigger to jump in and she abruptly gets drowned. Once she wakes up, she rises in a water well in the middle of an execution in the Joseon era.

As Dan Bi, lands her two feet in what looks like a sageuk drama set, the villagers in the palace completely alienates her. However, Dan Bi becomes the King’s mathematics tutor and from then on, the pair gradually bickered their way to form an innocent romance

Review:

Characters
Dan Bi is an ordinary, exam-bound student suffering from major stress. She has a tough exterior but like any strong character, she’s got insecurities. As a teenager, she is at that point where she doesn’t know what to do with her life. The only thing she’s sure of – she needs to be filial and look after her sick mother. Her escape to Joseon brought out the wit and fun in her. She got to play, let herself go and fall in love. Ultimately, she had to make a decision to stay in the past or return to her exam room. Her growing maturity shone through in the end, as she faced reality and got her priorities right.

Lee Do’s sweet yet arrogant persona brought many love struck moments and non-stop laughter. The Joseon Lee Do is rather childish for a King. Everyone bows down to him but he was surprisingly flexible when he interacted with Dan Bi. The mighty King hid the girl from danger, allowed her to talk back at him, flick his forehead and totally dominate him in all ways possible. But the best part of this character would be the willingness and hilarious reactions he had whenever Dan Bi showed him a sneak peek into ‘futuristic’ things.
However, the present Lee Doo is a total gentleman that still shared the caring traits of the Joseon version. He’s just more refined and hunky in the few scenes that he pops up in.

Plot
The plot of the story featured romance, slight angst and family themes. The story flowed well like a nicely documented timeline. It was quite predictable as it followed the typical time traveling plot: girl jumps back in time, meets a guy, the two bicker the brains out of each other but eventually falling in love and bam, it’s hard decision time. Despite the predictability, it did not draw anything away from the drama because the exquisite execution and fantastic chemistry from the main leads. The romance element was as good as it gets because the bond that the leads showed was amazing. Plus, the kisses weren’t the stereotypical frozen lip clashing that is usually adopted but steamy and lengthy make-outs.

Cinematography
Like most K-dramas, the camera work was absolutely divine. The lighting usually matched the tone of the scene. For example, on a rainy day where Dan Bi seemed a little gloomy, the techies used a dark grey shade to compliment her emotions. This element worked really well at the start and end of the drama. Also, the footage shot in the palace was almost a mirror image of Moon Embraces The Sun and every other MBC sageuk. The camerawork captured the familiar royal and ancient feel of a period drama.

Conclusion
Overall, Splash Splash Love is a cute drama that makes the simplest things look enchanting. The acting is great as the characters did much more than read their lines. It was lovely to see Seul Gi and Doojoon sincerely engage themselves into characters. They gave out a touching and meaningful performance and deserve a heap of credit for their efforts in a mere drama special. However, Splash Splash Love could have been better in terms of showing the relationship between Dan Bi and her mother. Also, despite the story being centered on the heroine, it would have been good to offer more background about the mysterious, present day Lee Doo. Splash Splash Love would be recommended for drama viewers who crave for a fluffy and entertaining drama that brings a smile to the face.