The Equator Man (2012)

I’ve been looking forward to watching this because the story really intrigued me. And now that I’ve finished it, I felt like a large boulder was lifted from my back. It was such a struggle for me to be able to finish this one. There were lots of dragging parts that I just wanted to skip, but it’s my golden rule to never skip any part of a drama no matter how badly I want to. The drama started out good until the second time leap happened. Thankfully, the drama redeemed itself during the last four episodes or else I would not have given this drama even a score of 7.

I really like this kind of stories: about revenge, betrayals, and such. So I was really surprised to find myself disappointed along the way. The revenge didn’t feel much like revenge at all until the last few episodes. The romance was cute during the first time leap. But during the second one, it felt like everything would have worked out just fine even without the presence of Ji Won. Her character became useless. I cursed Soo Mi to death, but I’ll have to admit that her character has way more substance than Jiwon’s. But the character who really helped me endure all of this was none other than Jang Il. Yup, it’s Jang Il and not Sun Woo. Whereas I’ve always anticipated watching the bad guys go down, I really felt sympathy towards Jang Il. This character left me this feeling which is kind of difficult to explain. Perhaps you’ll know this feeling once you finish watching this drama.

The acting was great. It was nice to see different sides of the characters. The bad ones were able to send tears to my eyes, and the good ones were able to make me curse at them. I never thought Uhm Tae Woong was this good. I’ve seen him in the past, and I think I might have underestimated him then. But the actor I’d like to praise more is Lee Joon Hyuk. I’m really impressed at how he was able to flawlessly portray such complicated character. I’d love to see more of his projects when he comes back from the army. Maybe another prosecutor role, no? But he does look good as a prosecutor. Overall, the casting was okay aside from the fact that I was bothered by the age difference between Joon Hyuk and Tae Woong. They were supposed to look like same-aged, but the age difference really showed in the drama. Oh and the kids were amazing too! I’m really looking forward to Lee Hyun Woo’s projects. At his age, I’m really fascinated at how good an actor he is.

Music. Okay I had a lot of issues with this one. I didn’t like the music. It was so plain and so boring. Also, the music kind of magically fades away during the key points in the drama. I don’t know about others, but I really want hearing thrilling music during climactic points in the drama so I was really disappointed.

There’ll be only two reasons why I would decide to rewatch this. Lee Hyun Woo and Lee Joon Hyuk. Their acting was superb (and they’re the good-looking ones, in my opinion).

The story was good, but I didn’t like how they executed some parts of the story which ended up being dragging. Nevertheless, this drama is worth the watch if you can endure watching some boring parts in exchange of witnessing a beautiful once-in-a-lifetime friendship cruelly tested by painful circumstances.

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The Equator Man is not for the soft hearted. This drama goes hard from beginning to end. Even the good guys aren’t that good. I personally love it!!! This drama has murder, attempted murder, pain, anguish, and revenge…all the makings of a deeply disturbed drama. The story basically revolves around a woman that we barely even get a glimpse of. Her love for an evil man that misunderstands her begins a chain of events that rock the world of all those that come in contact with him. There is even a beautiful romance in the midst of all this sinister chaos.
There are some transition problems between the teenagers into adults…it makes the time spacing a little confusing. The story isn’t one I have seen before. It has some of the fundamentals as other Korean dramas, but they are used in a different way.

Im Woong Jae and Lee Hyun Woo do an excellent job of playing the teen male leads. Their parts are crucial to the drama. If they had not portrayed the feelings of the characters in such a way that draws a person into events, then this drama would not be as good as it is.

Uhm Tae Woong plays the adult Kim Sun Woo while Lee Joon Hyuk plays the adult Jang Il . Tae Woong portrayal of a blind man is a little off, but I still think he did well in depicting a man that has had a tuff life and has been hurt many times and turns to revenge as a method to sooth his madness.

Joon Hyuk plays a man that has done something unthinkable and has slowly gone crazy because of it. On the outside he looks perfect. He struggles to keep that image and to even try to believe it himself, because inside he knows the truth. Although some people may disagree with me, I believe his character has gone through as much pain as Sun Woo. He just handles it differently.

Lee Bo Young plays Ji-Won, who is the love interest of both male leads. She is also Sun Woo’s voice of reason. She does a lovely job of playing a character that is essentially good, but understanding of Sun Woo’s need for revenge.

Im Jung Eun plays Soo Mi. This character is horrible. I think she is even worse than Jang Il . She may not have committed a crime, but her actions are of a person without a conscience. She is certifiably crazy.

The actors that play the supporting characters do a good job too.

The music goes really well with this drama.

I probably won't watch it again, but I enjoyed it the first time.

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