It might just be the week of remakes, with A Time Called You, which is a remake of the immensely popular Taiwanese drama named Someday or One Day, following close on the heels of another series titled 6ixtynin9, which is being remade from its 1999 version. But this one is a romance, and we know there is no one doing romance like Korean dramas. In many ways, it seems like they are the only ones who care about this genre anymore, which is why we are delighted at the choice of Ahn Hyo Seop to take on this task as one of the actors. Even Jeon Yeo Been’s return to the screen feels like it is happening after a long time. We have absolutely never forgiven the makers of Vincenzo for treating her role so irrelevantly, but now that she is heading a drama, we will get to see what she is actually like. She has a lot of energy and dedication that felt like it was too much for her Hong Cha Young, but in A Time Called You, it seems like there will be a whole other persona to her.
Story and Plot
The basic premise of this drama is that Jun Hee has been mourning the death of her boyfriend for over a year when she suddenly finds herself transported back into the body of a teenager with a boy by her side who looks like her deceased boyfriend’s younger version. It sounds complicated, and that means that there are going to be many past links to navigate, including a heavy dose of mystery.
From what we saw in the trailer, it feels like Jun Hee may do a little back and forth between the two timelines. Whatever she discovers as the connection between her dead boyfriend and the boy she knows from 1998, she will have to manipulate it to get whatever it is that she wants in the present day.
A few guesses would be that Yeon Jun (present-day Ahn Hyo Seop) and Si Heon (1998 Ahn Hyo Seop) are long-lost twins. Maybe the accident that transports Jun Hee into Min Ju’s body has something to do with what happens in the future with Yeon Jun. Maybe Min Ju and Jun Hee are connected in some way. And since there are multiple timelines here, we expect a first love, a childhood meeting, or a past-life connection angle. Now that we have said these words, we are reminded of the recent See You In My 19th Life on an unrelated note.
Either way, Korean dramas have this thing where they balance heavy emotions with equally light-hearted comedy. Therefore, we expect to see some very wacky characters in the show. Not to mention that the past timeline is from 1998, so probably a lot of past slang, references to what was popular then, and jokes about technology will be present.
The start of the trailer talks about Yeon Jun’s love for time travel movies, so maybe we will see some references to such stuff in the series. We would give anything to see Outlander get some representation instead of just the regular About Time, The Time Traveler’s Wife, or maybe The Lake House. We want some Jaime and Claire representation, and it also feels apt looking at the fact that despite having the same face, there are two separate boys, and there is a love triangle as well to answer for. However, the trailer makes it clear that the story is about Jun Hee’s chance to save Yeon Jun.
We believe that the glimpse we got of the bus accident is how Yeon Jun ended up losing his life. He and Jun Hee were sulking and sitting separately at that time, which means that they must have had a terrible fight. It would imply some serious issues in their seemingly picture-perfect romance that would probably be known to us with time. Therefore, protecting her love by changing the past would also mean altering the source of their fights or coming to terms with them in some way. After all, wasn’t it somebody from the Marvel series who said that “grief is love enduring?” It makes us think of the things that Jun Hee must be grieving for. Her love for Yeon Jun aside, she must also be feeling guilty for whatever she said to him before his last moments, which makes this time travel endeavor so important for her.
Cast and Characters
When we were going through the interviews of the screenwriters of Someday or One Day, which is the source drama for A Time Called You,”they said that at the heart of it, this is a story about the grief that is born when adolescents don’t get the time to understand themselves and their place in the world. This makes us believe that the 1998 timeline is going to constitute the bulk of the story. More than Yeon Jun, Ahn Hyo Seop will be playing Si Heon, and Jeon Yeo Been will be playing the adult stuck in a child’s body when she is not in the present day. As for Jung In Gyu, played by Kang Hoon, we don’t know what to expect. We just hope that this part of the love story is handled with care since there is an age and mentality difference between the characters.
When And Where To Watch
A Time Called You will be released on Netflix on September 8th, 2023. People are excited enough that a highly sentimental Korean drama is about to come out, but the excitement is even greater since we know that it is based on an already-hit story. That has the attention of everyone, and there will be a lot of comparisons that we can expect to see happen.
Final Thoughts
It is a given that the two dramas will have their differences from each other. But that was never a problem for us. This is a highly emotional love story, and grief is at the center of it all. Therefore, we cannot start watching it unprepared. Just be ready to cry a lot for a few hours before you start this.
