Why wouldn’t you hop on board the bromance wagon? Especially when a drama promises to deliver just that with actors of high caliber? I say, embrace this gift that’s been given to us. Alright, so maybe I’m a little more excited about JTBC’s Man to Man than the average person but can you blame me? I think not.
Starring Park Sung Woon and Park Hae Jin, Man to Man is about an older hallyu star, Yeo Woon Gwang (Park Sung Woon) who suddenly needs a bodyguard and hires a former black ops agent, Kim Seol Woo (Park Hae Jin). It’s a yin and yang relationship, with the bumbling star caught in various scenarios and the stoic agent who has to deal with his immaturity and perky personality. The drama promises to have twists of events while developing a budding bromance.
It also stars Kim Min Jung who plays Cha Do Ha, the President of Yeo Woon Gwang’s fanclub and later becomes his manager, getting entangled in the mess that’ll ensue once hallyu star and bodyguard clash.
Of course to turn up the melodrama and intrigue, the drama includes Yeon Jung Hoon as Mo Seung Jae, a third generation chaebol who’s emotionally unstable after the death of his father, having to live a life that’s scripted and to his grandfather’s liking. He’s highly ambitious and hides his greed, even wishing for Yeo Woon Gwang’s demise because he knows his wife still has lingering feelings for him…oh awkward. I guess he was an ex-boyfriend she wished she had married.
I’m excited to see what the drama has in store because although this might seem like a generic plot, i’m hoping for the best and believe there might be something more alluring underneath all that bro-fuzziness. The agent is described as being mysterious and quite skilled, who’s traveled the world performing undercover investigations.
That being said, I’m betting my money on the longtime hallyu star being caught in something more sinister or he might just be a vital source of information for an ongoing investigation? What’s ironic is that Woon Gwang is actually known as an ‘action’ star who was once a stuntman and a total bad guy on screen while Seol Woo happens to be the real deal.
Mo Seung Jae seems to be the reason for Woon Gwang to need a bodyguard (I’m speculating here) and the most complex so far, but that also means the character might be one we’ve all seen before. Will the rich ever stop having revengeful subplots? Probably not but I hope this overly ambitious man will be more of a threat in terms of action rather than sitting in a chair brooding over his jealously and wishing the world was his, stabbing an imaginary voodoo doll.
I like the main pairing a lot since I was completely floored when I saw the teasers of Park Sung Woon being all…is idiotic an appropriate word to use? Or maybe just up to some tomfoolery? Let’s just say that I’m used to the Ahjusshi who is badass in action films. Park Hae Jin of course is a sight for sore eyes, making me want to hug my laptop whenever he’s on screen. I’m used to both of them playing more serious roles so seeing them delve right into comedy a bit is refreshing.
I also think that this may be one of the few K-dramas specifically declaring itself as being unique due to the bromance and I’m totally relishing the idea of two older men forming a friendship, since most bromances happen to be between high schoolers or college boys, basically boys in general. As the drama implies, your never too old to make new friends.
Release Date: April 21, 2017 (eng subs on Netflix)
Rate your favorite k-dramas in 2017.
){kind=link}