Shin Hye Sun’s latest Korean drama Dear Hyeri tells the story of Joo Eun Ho (Shin Hye Sun), a news reporter who suffers from dissociative identity disorder or multiple personality disorder after a traumatic incident that happened to her sister.
After breaking up with her boyfriend of eight years, Hyun Oh (Lee Jin Uk), Eun Ho has the disorder again. From morning to evening, he is Eun Ho, but when the sun goes down, he is Hye Ri, an innocent 28-year-old woman working in a parking lot.
Raising unusual mental disorders in rom-com Korean dramas, here are four interesting things about Dear Hyeri launched from Soompi.
Shin Hye Sun’s Phenomenal Acting
One of the biggest challenges actors face in playing multiple personality characters is portraying multiple personalities that make them seem different.
Although both of Shin Hye Sun’s characters, Joo Eun Ho and Joo Hye Ri, have recognizable outfits and hairstyles to help the audience tell them apart, it is her acting that truly brings these characters to life.
Not only does she deliver each character’s dialog with a unique tone, but her entire body language changes as her personality changes, making both characters feel real and distinct.
A Plot that Doesn’t Go Overboard
Excessive discussion of information or plot is often a mistake in early episodes, where the production team chooses to explain characters and their history verbatim rather than showing them naturally.
Some viewers were worried that Dear Hyeri might over-explain Joo Eun Ho and Joo Hye Ri’s backgrounds, making the episode feel sluggish.
Fortunately, the Korean drama managed to avoid this trap. Instead of over-explaining Eun Ho’s illness, the production team chose to bring the audience directly into the plot of the story which made the characters feel more real.
Two Love Stories in the Same Person
Love triangles may be a cliché, but two love stories that happen simultaneously in one person with two personalities are very rare.
First, there is Eun Ho who is in an eight-year relationship with Jung Hyun Oh. After Jung Hyun Oh rejected his marriage proposal, they broke up and left Eun Ho heartbroken.
However, since they worked at the same company, they had to see each other every day and Hyun Oh secretly often gave her projects to help advance her career.
The Presence of Logic
A lot of works often glorify multiple personality disorder, turning the disorder into something fantastic.
However, it can be seen that it seems that what Eun Ho is experiencing is based on logic and reality. Usually, multiple personality disorder occurs due to extreme childhood trauma, such as what Eun Ho experienced.
Another realistic aspect is how Eun Ho experiences fatigue despite maintaining a regular sleep schedule, looking like a common symptom of multiple personality disorder.
Those are four interesting things from the Korean drama Dear Hyeri, don’t forget to watch the rest of the episodes on Vidio.
