[K-Drama Review] Ma Boy

I hope every drama out there would be as short but as compact as Ma Boy. Well, I want that for myself so I could avoid sleepless nights and have some spare time to watch other dramas out there. Ma Boy proved that a drama doesn't need to be long to tell a compelling story. If the plot is solid enough and the struggle is played out nicely, a drama can be done in half the episodes spent for a regular K-drama. Heck, it can even be done in three episodes.

Ma Boy is a teenybopper three-episode drama by Tooniverse. It’s the story of a cheerful new girl Jang Geu Rim at Daehan Art School and her entanglement with the lives of a mysterious nation’s sister (who is more than meets the eye), a famous idol star and uber loyal fan girls and fan boys.

Wait, what? I watched a teenybopper drama? What am I, fifteen?

LOL. Well, who doesn't love a teenybopper drama once in a while if it’s done with the cuteness of shōjo manga and done with heart?

Honestly, I didn't go for this drama because of the teenybopper setting but because of Kim So Hyun.

The girl who can act way beyond her age. I've watched her act as a villain like it’s nobody’s business in The Moon That Embraces the Sun and in Rooftop Prince. She’s so good at both roles that I've been a fan of her ever since. Knowing that she got the main role this time and she’ll be playing a vibrant energetic character, I’m in. 100% and more!

The other reason that I scoured the internet for subbed videos of this drama (It was not available until a week or so after the airing in Korea) is the interesting plot.

A boy who agreed to cross-dress and use it as a stepping stone to enter the idol industry. That same boy got sidetracked and in the long run lost sight of the dream. Eventually he became too uptight that he forgot the main reason why he did it in the first place.

Then came the new girl who pointed out what’s been lacking all along and encouraged him to enjoy the moment and perform in the dance audition with a happy mind set. The freshness of puppy love was sprinkled along the way.

All of that was played in three episodes. Sure, three episodes are too short to get invested in the characters. But it is, in my opinion, enough for a drama like Ma Boy. Enough to accept the silliness of the story but not too long to the point of absurdity. I can see this turning into a full-fledged TTBY-crazy kind of drama if it had sixteen episodes.

It is better to just have three episodes where everything made sense. Hyun Woo is the boy who had this big dream of becoming an idol star. He worked hard for that dream but things didn't turned out the way he want it. In a way, real life is like that. People tend to get stuck in a situation he/she didn't want to be in. Sometimes it took forever to get out of it and sometimes it only takes one poke from a friend or a total stranger to get our bearings and head to the right direction.

Yes! That's Ma Boy... err Ma Girl??!

I've watched Ma Boy in late August but didn't get the chance to write about it so I watched it again last weekend to get screen caps and have a fresh view of the drama. It is that short you can watch it full any time. So for those who wanted a quick ride to K-dramaland without giving up your self-imposed rule of watching only good quality dramas, Ma Boy is your fix!

Before you go somewhere else, here’s an MV of our main lead's real-life idol group Touch featuring Kim So Hyun. Watch out for her new drama I Miss You as she played the teenage counterpart of Yoon Eun Hye. Opposite to Yeo Jin Gu as young Park Yoochun. It'll be awesome!

cute!