Upcoming weekend drama Secret Garden has already been sold abroad, more than two weeks before its premiere date. Looks like the star-studded combo of Hyun Bin and Ha Ji-won was enough to get it sold on name recognition alone. I know I’ll be tuning in to the first week just based on the cast. Well, that and to see what on earth a “fantasy-action-melodrama” is. Okay, and also to see Binnie acting like a girl, once he gets body-swapped with Ha Ji-won. Because that? Has potential.

It’s only been a few weeks since filming began, but Secret Garden has already been sold to Hong Kong and the Philippines, and deals are currently in the works for Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia to broadcast as well.

The writer-PD duo (Kim Eun-sook and Shin Woo-chul) is the same team behind Lovers in Paris, Lovers in Prague, and On Air. I’m sensing a pattern for the melodramatic here, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but I was sort of hoping for some action and some body-swapping comedy. Not slapstick, but just some moments of levity would be nice. How can you have a man and a woman swapping souls without some humor, right?
How awesome would it be if the drama was set up to be a rom-com, with the same premise? That would be So. Good. I’d be first in line to watch that. As it is, I’m not sure it’s going to be what I want it to be. I can’t get a grip on where the tone of this drama is going, so I guess there’s only one thing to do… wait and see. Sigh. I suppose TWO woongtastic sci-fi rom-coms in one drama season is too much to ask for. But! I’ve been so good this year!
Secret Garden premieres November 13.
Via Hankook Ilbo