No, I'm not watching a Cowherd-Weaver drama adaptation. I was as confused as you probably are when they show the forlorn lovers during the opening of each episode. And then randomly (and hilariously) changes the magpies into ducks:
The show I'm talking about is Ojakgyo Brothers… and I found out Ojakgyo refers to Wuque Qiao (烏鵲橋) which is of course the Magpie Bridge from the Cowherd-Weaver story. I still don't know why the family farm is called such, but at least that clears my question about the opening sequence.
Anyhow… I'm so glad I have a new drama to watch, even if it is a 50-ep family drama, something I tend to avoid because of the large cast/multiple storylines. Watching these usually requires me to fast forward through the side stories (which I do with this one as well) but I adore the OTP so I can't complain. At first I thought I was going to have to roll my eyes the same way I do when I watch High Kick's absurd character deficiencies. You know, the general selfish brat all the way from young to old, with the young being disrespectful and the old being annoyingly infantile. The whistles certainly came off in the early episodes when the story was being laid. In short, there's a beautiful but vain girl named Baek Jaeun who thinks she's the center of the world. But her world comes crumbling down when her father goes missing in an accident at seas and she finds herself homeless, with her only other family, her step-mom, also deserting her. A sliver of light shines on her when she finds a written agreement of sorts entitling her to a farm by the outskirts of town. Her father had lent that land to his friend, Mr. Hwang, for 10 years and now she can have it back.
Except for one tiny problem… the Hwangs also feel entitled to the land and they don't want to move out. So they set up an arrangement where she could stay with them for a while and they'd provide her living expenses. She agrees, but being a big spender all her life, her living expenses becomes burdensome on her host family… or should I say tenants since she's technically the owner?
And, that, friends, is where I had problem digesting Ojakgyo Brothers in the beginning. First, we have a supremely high-maintenance girl who's thoughtless of the financial requests she makes and the trouble it might give others. But she's nothing next to the thick-skinned family who refuses to move out of the land that's not their own. Okay, I get it that she came out of nowhere and handed them a pretty big blow… but if you could just see the way they screech at her o_0
But Ojakgyo Brothers does this thing really well where they would insert low-key humor moments and make you chuckle in the midst of all the absurdity that is going on. Because as soon as Grandma has made her contempt known, Jaeun countered with the most good-natured offended reply ever: "Grandma, I'm not filth! I'm the national goddess Baek Jaeun!" Haha, good to see Yoo Heyi keeping her vain charm even after all this time. And then slowly (quickly for me since I FF a lot) things start to get less ridiculous as we're clued in on why the family's so adamant on their claim of the farm. We find out that these lands used to be pretty much barren, and it was the Hwang couple that built the farm to become what it is today. The land may not be theirs, but everything on it is. Tough to just let it go like that. Jaeun also turns out to not be such a spoiled brat. She's sheltered and clueless, but she isn't mean. She's actually awesome and plenty thoughtful when it's not about money.
Hmm… then there's the OTPs. There are four brothers, so naturally we expect 4 love stories with a couple of third-wheels thrown in. I confess I only watch Taehui and Jaeun because I normally can only obsess over 1 couple at a time. They're plenty antagonistic at first, which isn't new in kdramas. But their bad feelings are actually relevant. They're not just bickering over trivial things for the sake of bickering fun. There were some serious stare-downs and bitter words thrown around. I'm just glad they were both sensible adults so that went away fairly fast ^_^' And once the animosity clears out, we're presented with a very winsome couple. Here's my favorite scene so far. Basically he's drunk, walks barefoot to her tent (long story why she's in a tent) with his shoes hanging around his neck, and when she asks, insists they aren't his… similar to how a kid would insist on the existence or nonexistence of something based on his whims.
Now I need to wait for new episodes >_<
Hamster428 