HIGH SCHOOL: LOVE ON EPISODE 1

An angel decides to save a teen's life and ends up mortal in this comedy-drama.

The angel, who adopts the name Lee Seul Bi thanks to an amalgam of magazines that she spots, has the thankless task of guiding the spirits of the recently deceased. When she turns mortal (presumably by saving the student), she acts very much like someone unfamiliar with humanity or even with a corporeal form: She doesn't have a name or address. She doesn't know about eating. She speaks to everyone in banmal (informal speech). She doesn't know what it is to be ill. She expresses wonder when being rained on. And she experiences dejection for the first time. She also enjoys K-dramas :D

The boy she saves is Shin Woo Hyun. Woo Hyun is adopted by this angel-turned-mortal and she follows him everywhere. Woo Hyun is the popular kid, hard-working at home and at school, and the girls fall all over him, especially when cell footage is revealed of him performing CPR to save a stranger's life. Several girls bring him breakfast, which he offers to the rest of the class. He lives with his grandmother and works in her noodle restaurant.


Divine teleportation

Jin Young is the female student who apparently is obsessed with Woo Hyun. She follows him around instead of concentrating on her studies. Her mother is a typical drama mama: angry, haughty, believes no one is good enough for her daughter, especially not Woo Hyun what with the restaurant and all. She even files a lawsuit against Woo Hyun for bullying and forcing her daughter to try to kill herself.

The last major player in this episode is Sung Yeol, a surly teen unhappy with his father's new wife. He ignores Woo Hyun after they almost crash into each other. He orders food out rather than eat the dinner she cooks. He calls her a homewrecker and claims she has no place teaching him manners. The main thing he does to redeem himself is to actually leave Seul Bi an umbrella and walk off in the rain.


Saving Jin Young

The players in these events are swept up in this way: Our tale begins innocuously enough two years from now when Woo Hyun, now attending a university, chases after a girl that he apparently once knew, her face hidden. We hear his thoughts just before the scene ends: "During the time in my life when you were my every moment, we loved. And in this moment now, I hope that it's you."

We then return to see the events unfold in the here and now. Woo Hyun almost has a scooter accident involving Sung Yeol, who simply ignores Woo Hyun's crash and blithely walks across the street. The angel stops time and moves Sung Yeol back slightly onto the sidewalk so that he avoids being hit. Later, when a man collapses on the street, Woo Hyun attempts to save him. When he slams into the angel (and he shouldn't be able to), she can feel it as their hearts pass each other, and that's when strange things begin to happen.

At school, after Jin Young's mother begins her tirade, the girl runs up to the roof and teeters at the edge, contemplating suicide. Woo Hyun tries to bring her down safely. And that's when a storm brews up, and Seul Bi's book, which is supposed to tell you who is next to die, goes crazy, alternating between images of Woo Hyun and Jin Young. The angel drops the book and teleports down to the top of a car below to save the book. She opens it again and all of a sudden, Woo Hyun tears Jin Young from her ledge and topples off the building himself. Seul Bi saves him by suspending his fall, then they both fall unconscious and end up in the hospital. Her book vanishes.


Woo Hyun's miracle rescue.

After this she finds out she is mortal and out of a sense of charity, Woo Hyun brings her home after a visit to the police is inconclusive about her identity. His grandmother insists that she stay with them until everything is resolved, and hilarity ensues as Seul Bi grapples with being human.

How Sung Yeol exactly factors in is unknown, as he is sort of a peripheral character in this episode. He is present at certain events, but not as much of an active participant, caught up in his less-than-stellar home life.

As actors go, INFINITE's Sung Yeol and Woo Hyun aren't bad, but what they do in this episode doesn't really stretch their acting abilities, either. Kim Sae Ron is absolutely adorable as the fish out of water here. I don't know if it's her age or not (she's 14), but she brings a child-like innocence to the role that really works here.


Sung Yeol banging the skins.

This drama borrows a little bit from many other dramas, but mixes them all to make a fresh series. It owes some things to 'My Girlfriend is a Gumiho' and 'The Sun of my Master,' as well as western titles like 'I Dream of Jeannie' and 'Bewitched.' The angel is really sort of a burden to Woo Hyun; he is 'I Dream of Jeannie's Major Nelson. 

I like the beginning part. That sets this up for a romance to develop, but it sounds like she leaves him, like she left and was unable to be mortal again. We can't see, feel, or interact with angels, but we can with other mortals. I'm hoping that the opening sequence is not the end -- that would conflict with the comedic tone, I think.

This show is well done and hilarious.  They even leave us with a great cliffhanger at the end. If I could fix one problem, I would have something done about the schedule. It airs Fridays, one episode a week. It's not a dealbreaker for me, but I've gotten quite used to the two episode a week format. I think other fans have, too, and that may affect the ratings. Have you guys seen it? I think it deserves a lot of love.

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