Marry Him If You Dare (2013)

Despite the interesting premise, MHIYD managed to commit one deadly mistake or two.

MHIYD chose to present itself as a romantic comedy. In other words, it promises its viewers funny moments while its protagonists develop a sweet or maybe light-hearted romance. Of course, any regular k-drama watcher knows that even a romantic comedy gives its couple harsh obstacles which can become tiresome at some points, but they eventually overcome them and everyone would be happy in the end. MHIYD's biggest flaw was that it actively made 'the obstacle' the center of the story and managed to ultimately rob the show out of its comedy and romance altogether. So, instead of watching two couples fighting obstacles to find love, we had to suffer as they fought love to NEVER be together. Consequently, there was only distress through most of the last third of the drama. Forget opposing parents and meddling second leads, crazy future ahjummas are the worst!

And after all the trouble, we were told that all of this meddling was much ado about nothing. I won't spoil it for you but here's a close metaphor. Imagine that someone crashes a wedding just before the "I declare you husband and wife" part arguing that the couple can not be wed because they're in fact blood-related siblings and if they get married, a horrible disease would plague the nation and everyone would die. Fifteen episodes later, said-wedding crasher discovered that it was the wrong couple, to begin with, and all the created mess was a big mistake. Oops!

The finale could have worked out if the drama wasn't fixated over the romance and chose to focus on the characters' personalities and lives challenges.

The saddest part is that MHIYD had a strong cast and refreshing characters. I would have loved to see more of Kim Shin and my favorite So Yoo Kyung. The pairings had chemistry and charm. Watching all of those interesting characters becoming dull and running through empty circles when they could have easily shined (if crazy ahjumma just let them be on their own) was such a pity, even a shame! Such a waste of potential.

The acting was good. The music was fine I guess.

Obviously, the rewatch value is low.

One more major flaw: I still can't believe that the production cast K-drama's Kissing Queen as their female lead and we still got no kisses! (I'm sorry I had to get it off my chest!).

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I was going to give this drama an 8... but then the last episode happened *cringe* and it went down to a 7.

The biggest problem with this drama was the story. It started out really promising. I loved the time travel concept and all the characters had interesting stories and motivations. Then somewhere in the middle it became a huge mess. Suddenly there were complicated time travel rules that contradicted themselves. The characters started to contradict themselves as well, and lose a lot of their motivations and, in some cases, likability. Everything became a big mess, but I held out hope for a nice, neat, happy ending, only to be extremely disappointed.

It's such a pity. I really loved most of the characters, mostly thanks to the actors and not the writing. Mi Rae was a very strong lead. She didn't fall into the usual annoying female lead cliches. Kim Shin ended up being really likable despite his first impressions. His smile killed me (in all the best ways). Yoo Kyung was a surprisingly likable female second lead, and I loved so many of the secondary characters, like Mi Rae's brother, Writer Bae, and the rest of the production team.

And then there were characters who couldn't be saved despite their charming actors. I'm looking at you, Se Joo! He started out so well. I was cheering for him like I usually do second leads. But then when the plot started getting messy, so did his character. The motivations became unclear and the charm disappeared. The other mess of a character was Future Mi Rae. After awhile I found her really annoying and lost all sympathy for her.

The music was okay, but if got pretty repetitive and wasn't always used at appropriate times. Overall, this show was a big disappointment. The only reason I finished it and gave it as high of a rating as I did was because I ended up caring about a lot of the characters. I really wanted to know what happened to them each week. If only they'd gotten a decent ending...

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I like the premise of this drama. To think that every choice a person makes will determine a different future is fun to think about. One of the points that the writer was trying to make is that you should try to make choices that won't lead to regret. I find the idea of time travel and parallel universes to be intriguing. Also, the thought that we all walk down our own paths and have to be happy inside ourselves before we can be happy with someone else is a theme in this drama. I think that is what makes good character development. I like the ending also...what is Mirae's choice??? It could be anything in any lifetime...good, bad, and ugly. I really like that idea. This drama had a couple of draw backs. First, it isn't a romantic comedy. I don't know why it is in that genre. Second, it is S-L-O-W. The same story could have been told in much fewer episodes.

Lee Dong Gun, Jung Yong Hwa, Yoon Eun Hye and Han Chae Ah did a great job with their characters. I know that some people have problems with a few of these actors, but I think they all did an excellent job.

The music is annoying.

I won't rewatch this.

I think that if you like dramas that make you think, then this is a good one for it. Especially if you like the thought of time travel and parallel universes.

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Story: Where should I begin? The story started out promising with its time travelling theme but progressively falls flat on its face and ended with an ambivalent ending that not only disappoints but defied logic. It definitely felt like the writer left the drama somewhere after episode 6 and never got back on set. Good ideas were introduced but not explored. Explanations were given but later something happens that defy the logic of the explanation given earlier. In short, a big mess! And a big waste of time! If you are after a good romance, this drama will not fulfill that for you. If you are after a good storyline with logical outcomes, this drama will not fulfill it for you either. It tried to do too many things, explored too many ideas that it ended up a flop. In its last few episodes, it has spiralled down to oblivion and placed itself in the same par as Heirs - a HUGE disappointment!

Acting/Cast: No complains in the acting department. Even Yong Hwa had polished up a bit in his acting.... just a bit.

Music: Nothing that sticks. Hence, none made it into my MP3 player.

Rewatch value: A waste of time. A waste of $$. You will not miss anything if you have not watched this.

Overall: This drama serves to remind me why I had stopped watching KDramas over a year ago. My decision is justified. Still waiting for the next best thing.

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Watch this if you dare, is more like it. Three words: Time machine, seriously? If you dare to watch, you'll know right away what I'm talking about.

I would waver back and forth on whether or not I liked this. I can admit I was definitely intrigued by the synopsis; I'm a sucker for stuff like this even though I'm often times disappointed. Dramaland is filled with nonsensical things, and this one was no exeption. The sad part is how hard they tried to make it come off as believable when it was plain-as-day nonsensical. To the point where seemingly mundane things are hilarious. Where does she store all those different clothes she wears when she has only one bag???

With the usual love triangle, you end up rooting for the main love interest to end up with of their suitors. There usually is some conflict between which one is the better choice, but this time, it was very clear cut as to which one was better. What the writers did with all that was just terrible and sloppy towards the end. Rather than fleshing it out in a way that followed how they lead up to the peak, things fell flat and listless. Afterward, it just seemed as if they were rushing to tie up loose ends.

I say, if there's an actor in here that you really like, give it a watch. No one gives a disappointing performance. But if you were going to watch this for the story, don't get your hopes up.

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I was loving Marry Him If You Dare for about the first 10 episodes. Then it lost me. Personally I have a pretty serious issue when it comes to drama leads who can't make their own decisions properly. Without spoiling anything, I feel like Mi Rae never got to make an actual choice in the who show. Things were mostly happening to her, or problems were being solved (or created) by her two leading men or her future self. I was of the opinion that this drama was supposed to be about creating your own fate, unfortunately that was not the case. I like Eun Hye in other dramas and not letting her portray a character that has some back bone seems like a waste.

I feel like there was a lot of missed opportunities here and apparently the ending of this drama was changed from the one the actors signed up for originally. This doesn't surprise me, and may be the very reason why it seemed to fall apart halfway through the drama.


I really liked the first half, and if you're looking for some fluffy kdrama fun, the show isn't bad. As long as you don't mind a weaker female lead.

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Looking at it this drama is not that bad guys! Sure I wouldn't recommend this to a person who just started K-dramas but it has its pros and cons.First of all, I would like to applaud the writers of this drama who decided to do something different for once. Lot of viewers desire change in the stereotypical romantic comedy formula. This is definitely a drama that is not too stereotypical in taste especially with the ending. Logically, the story and the ending actually makes sense for once. It is even realistic besides the time-traveling concept. Other than that, lot of people had the perception that the story is really slow sometimes. I would say it is around like episode 9 but it picks up its pace. However, it is not a boring drama. Time travel and alternate universes are very great plot types or at least I enjoy those concepts. Next, as for the acting, I think the actors did a great job. Yoon Eun Eye and Han Chae Ah did a great job with their characters. Han Chae Ah is impressive with her role as an independent woman while Yoon Eun Hye's character development is amazing. Kya~ This is Lee Dong Gun's comeback after a long time but I think he played his characters to its worth. Plus, Yong Hwa's acting has improved so much since You're Beautiful. I'm so glad that he wasn't in Heirs. Additionally, the music was so-so not memorable for me, sorry. It's not bad but it will not leave much of an impression. This drama isn't that re watch-able either.It is kind of like a one-time rush drama for me since I caught up to episode 14 in a short time. Overall, this drama deserves a 8 and is not that bad. I'd recommend this to Yong Hwa fans, Lee Dong Gun fans, people who don't want to cliche rich-boy-poor-girl dramas, people who just don't want to watch a romance kdrama but still want romance, or finally someone who wants something different for once.

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To be fair to this drama I think the story they were creating was actually original and I liked the idea of the lead females future self meeting her current self and telling her about her future however it seemed the drama is lacking in quite a few areas... It seems that the writers got a bit confused at what direction they were going to take with the drama, they really couldn't decide what they were going to do with the characters halfway through the drama and I think they just added unnecessary things into the story. I think it could have been a cute drama since they had such amazing actors and actresses who could basically pull off anything in the drama but they writers failed to put anything the actors could sink their teeth into and the dramas plot started to fizzle out by the end. Overall it wasn't an awful drama because the actors really did a great job even if the scripts they were given weren't that great. It's an okay drama that could have been way better if the writers decided earlier what direction they were going to take and not decide in the very last episodes.

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To be fair, if I were to judge only the first half of the drama, MIYD would probably be in my top 5 for 2013. The starting idea was so fresh and new and exciting for a Kdrama fan: a woman who goes back in time to talk herself into marrying another man. There are lots of time travel dramas out there, but none of them (at least none that I have watched) was about matchmaking and finding the perfect husband for yourself.
It started pretty well. I loved the characters, how Mi-Rae was so passionate about her work, how charismatic Kim Shin was etc. I honestly had no idea whether I wanted Mi-Rae to be with Kim Shin or Se Joo, and sadly, neither did the scriptwriters.
The plot started to get really confusing, and lost sense by the second half of the drama. I continued to watch, because I was already attached to the characters, but I am still not sure if it was worth it or not.
However, MIYD did show us a better acting from Young-Hwa, and it was a nice comeback for Lee Dong-Gun.

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I first started watching this drama as it was airing but I lost interest because the pace was slow and I was not fond of some characters. But nonetheless, I found time and carried through until the end. It got really great. I loved the concept of the story because it was somewhat unique. I also loved the dynamics between the main characters. I felt for them during many moments.
The ending!
That is all I have to say about the ending.
I would not rewatch it only because all the surprises are ruined for me and there wasn't any main scene I could rewatch a whole drama for. But overall the cast was good, music was good, and acting was good. It is just a good drama to watch if and when you can.

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BIG disappointment of 2013! The WORST part is that it could have been so good… had a great cast, an interesting plot, a renowned writer, a great chemistry between the leads…BUT the more the ratings dropped, also the plot and characters were on an complete and total derailment… The only good thing that came out of this was I got to see Lee Dong Gun on my screen again!
The sad thing is the real villain in the story is old Mi Rae. If she came for the reason she said she did, then it's not the best way to turn things around, she spends most of her time trying to ruin other people’s life. She said that she is doing it for younger Mi Rae, but seriously it doesn't look like it, she just run around scheming without much thought about who she hurts... in the other hand, the writer really dragged that nonsensical love triangle until the very last minute, as if it wasn’t obvious enough who Mirae had feelings for.
Moreover, this writer couldn’t handle time travel intelligently. She just created a mess. The ending is horrible not because it's an open ending but because the writing is really all over the place and ridiculous plot ideas are used.
For a drama that is marketed as a rom-com has neither of the two and in the final stretch of the drama I just stop caring for these characters and they so call struggles.
Two words: Train wreck.

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