One of my all-time favorite dramas is The Snow Queen 눈의 여왕, entering as the tenth drama on my watched list. The drama's two main leads are well-known in the Korean entertainment industry. The main male lead is Hyun Bin who is most famous for his role in My Name is Kim Sam Soon and later, Secret Garden. The main female lead is no other than Sung Yu Ri. Yu Ri was a singer from the girl group Fin.K.L. Among the members of Fin.K.L., my bias was Yu Ri. She's amazingly pretty and that propelled me to take a look at this drama. However, it was actually partially the reason I was interested in this drama. The other reason was the unique plot.
The Snow Queen's story revolves around a high school student, Han Taewoong (Hyun Bin). Taewoong is a mathematical genius at one of the most prestigious math and science high school. He meets Jeonggyu who is jealous of Taewoong's intelligence and friendly personality. They resolve their differences and become best friends. Taewoong also meets a young girl who has a crush on him after he saves her from being bullied by other girls. Although they don't exchange names, she gives him a pager to contact her, promising to meet again. The drama sets itself early when Taewoong wins the International Math Olympiad. Jeonggyu is unable to bring himself to congratulate Taewoong. The pressure of failing to meet his strict father's expectations takes a toll on Jeonggyu. His father once said that "People only remember the first place winner." Jeonggyu takes his own life and Taewoong can't help but feel partially responsible. Taewoong can't accept that the last thing he said to Jeonggyu was during an argument, that Taewoong didn't need a friend like you who cannot even be happy for his friend's success. Eight years have gone by since Jeonggyu's death. Taewoong has dropped out of school and left home. Taewoong, who now goes by the name of Deukgu, is a boxer at a local gym. He eventually meets Kim Bora (Sung Yu Ri), the little girl he met eight years ago. Bora is a cold-hearted person who eventually warms up to Taewoong as she helps him let go of his painful memories.
Without a question, The Snow Queen's story is significantly different from all the previous dramas I've watched. For one thing, Taewoong plays the nice guy role, while Bora has a more fierce and snappy personality. Other dramas tend to have the roles reversed, where the girl is typically poor, but nice and the guy is rich and conceited. This change is very refreshing, especially since this is already the tenth drama I've watched. One of the issues I had with this drama was with the first episode and how young Taewoong and young Bora were portrayed. Hyun Bin pulled off a high school student look very well. However, another actress was used for young Bora, Go Joo Yeon. I felt that she was not fit to play the role of Bora. Although she was an excellent child actress, she looked a little too young. Bora is supposedly three years younger than Taewoong. However, young Bora looked like she was 12. Of course, one could argue the case that Asian girls look young in general, but as a viewer I was initially confused and a little uncomfortable. Fortunately, the time period changed quickly and the issue was no longer a concern. I especially enjoyed how boxing was a big theme in the drama, which continued to make the drama unique. You can't help but root for that math genius who's pretty charismatic with a pair of boxing gloves and is inside the ring. Similarly, you can't help but pity Taewoong is just tormented from Jeonggyu's death despite that it wasn't Taewoong's fault.
The Snow Queen has two songs that I really like: "Cheot Nunae 첫눈애" and "Gananhan Namja 가난한남자". The first song translates to "First Snow" and it's very appropriate for the wintery feel of the drama. The song is a slow ballad that of course, was used for the emotional scenes. The second song is more of a pop ballad and still a good song. The drama is called The Snow Queen, so it's only fitting that the drama was filmed in the winter and that the songs used feel suitable for the winter.
I can't say that I'm too satisfied with the ending of The Snow Queen. From the director's point of view, I could understand the reasoning for the outcome. I was a little disappointed that the drama started off unique but ended with stereotypical drama twists. I really liked this drama for it's unique story and characters. The acting ability of both Hyun Bin and Sung Yu Ri are absolutely phenomenal. Their onscreen chemistry won them the 2006 KBS Drama Awards Best Couple Award. Compared to most of the dramas I've watched, I felt that The Snow Queen was the most relatable. I felt very comfortable when Taewoong was discussing mathematics although I wasn't the mathematical genius that his character was. I really liked this drama for it's unique story and characters. Without a doubt, The Snow Queen is one of my all-time favorite dramas and highly recommend to watch it.
