Review of Doona! / 이두나!

When I first saw some clips from Doona!, the first thing I noticed was how impressive the cinematography was. Already, I had seen how it looked like a movie in some scenes and I was really interested if that was sustained throughout the drama, so I made plans to watch the show.

I also found it really interesting straight off the bat that Bae Suzy was playing a Korean pop idol who was struggling with the expectations of the industry and the standards imposed on women in it, as she was an idol herself that quit the industry after Miss A disbanded.

One thing I also love is that the series was only nine episodes. While I enjoy the sixteen episode format that most Korean dramas have, there are some stories that really don’t need that many episodes.

They stretch their stories thin, which makes it harder to watch because of how much plot and fluff they’re trying to cram into the story. Doona! didn’t need any more episodes than what it had, which made it refreshing in that way.

Anyways, let’s get into the review!

A college student becomes acquainted with a Korean pop idol trying to flee her set path.

The show begins with the male lead, Lee Won-jun, moving from the countryside of Korea to the city, as he’s preparing to go to college and study engineering. When he moves into the room he’s renting with a bunch of other men living there, he spots a mysterious girl smoking in the front.

Despite his friend telling him about an obsession with a Korean pop group, specifically one idol in the group, Won-jun doesn’t realize the object of his friend’s affection, Lee Doona, is standing right in front of him.

We get some flashbacks to discover how Doona ended up here, but it doesn’t end up coming together until the final episodes. We know that during a performance, she collapsed, and she left behind her life as an idol to live in this rented room and smoke.

It seems lonely, and when Won-jun realizes who she is and treats her with kindness, she kind of latches onto him. She appears where he is, and they grow closer.

At first, this is innocent, but when one of Won-jun’s old female friends comes into the picture, Doona starts to become jealous at how the two interact. It becomes increasingly obvious that there is some attraction between Won-jun and Doona, and they eventually do start making out when out one day.

One of Won-jun’s old flames, a girl who was in love with him, moves in as well after getting kicked out of her dorm room. The rest of their flatmates don’t realize something is going on until Doona and Won-jun come out of his room one night.

This is a brief summary of the first part of the drama, but the second part truly goes down a rollercoaster ride as they break up and Doona goes after chasing her dreams.

There’s a ton of angst involved with the second part, but I genuinely think that this is a Korean drama that has a happy ending. While both characters are able to achieve something they’ve worked hard for, if you look at the introductions to the episodes and where they’re at plus what the characters are wearing, you’ll realize it reveals something about the ending.

There’s also the fact the director of the series also worked on the drama Crash Landing on You. If you notice these details, you can connect the dots of the ending that are similar to that drama.

I think this was brilliantly done and not something we often see in Korean dramas—clean cut endings and ones we have to think about are great every so often! I liked figuring out this puzzle, although I noticed the changed introductions immediately and how it might feed into the ending.

Overall Thoughts

I wouldn’t consider Doona! as one of the best Korean dramas I’ve seen, but it felt mature in such a good way and refreshing. The cinematography throughout really was gorgeous, and I enjoyed how the struggles both of the main characters are going through are depicted on-screen.

The chemistry between the two leads also worked for me throughout, and I felt like that it was convincing in terms of the entire pop idol plot line. Watch this one if you haven’t already! You might be pleasantly surprised, and it’s only nine episodes.

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