Comic-Book Romance
After yesterday’s quirky, dramatic episode, Extraordinary You returns for another fun, well-written slice of kdrama. Between learning more about the rules of this world and seeing Dan-O come to grips with being a supporting character, Extraordinary You does well to play on its unique premise whilst making sure the fun-loving humour and lighthearted tone never waivers. We pick up where we left off from before with Dan-O finding out she isn’t the heroine of our tale. In fact, to make matters worse she’s actually just an extra in this romantic story. As slick anime cut-outs pave way for the real-life high school drama, Ju Da and Nam Joo get talking, with him making her sort out his laundry. With the sunshine following her around, Dan-O tries to manipulate fate, to no avail. As she trips up on a paint pot during art class, her action causes both Ju Da and Nam Joo to look longingly at each other before Dan O is drawn – just like the portrait we saw at the end of the last episode. After the painting session, Dan-O speaks to the Dried Squid Fairy about the rules of this comic book. As she soon finds out, anything outside the scene is called a “Shadow”; an area that’s almost like limbo. It also means no scene can be changed as it will be presented however the writer sees fit. The next day, armed with this new information, Dan O decides to try and change things but fails, ending up humiliated as all the attention turns to strawberry milk instead of her. Outside, Dan-O is approached by Kyung and as she hears the page turn, she’s forced to give in to his demands, despite internally screaming out not to. After talking to Kyung, Dan-O begins procrastinating about her role in the comic book. From afar, she watches as the story unfolds. With the stack of books in her hand, Dan-O finds a mysterious stranger picking up the two books she dropped and putting them on top of the others. Surprised, she watches as his scarred hand passes over her face and as she turns, he walks off into the distance. Back in school, Dan-O-speaks to Sae-Min about Ju Da before wondering if she’s simply an audience member as she watches her and Nam Joo share the spotlight and talk on the stairs. After a dramatic incident sees Dan-O tumbling over, she wakes up in a hospital bed where she hears a page turn and learns Kyung was the one who carried her over. However, he and Do Hwa care more about Ju Da’s scratch on her leg than Dan-O’s sacrifice, causing her to sigh loudly. Determined to change her fate, Dan-O begins searching for the mystery man who broke her fall. After hilariously bumping backs around campus in order to find him, Dan-O jumps forward in time where she contemplates helping Ju Da out of a difficult spot. Eventually deciding to come to her aid, Dan-O attempts to try and save her are met with futility. Instead, she gives her her jacket and wonders again just who will come to her aid and save her. As she continues wondering, a thought crosses her mind, prompting her to rush back to the library again. As the episode closes out, Dan-O finds who the mystery man is and as she chases after him, she opens the umbrella and sees who he is for the first time. With a cliffhanger ending and plenty of questions left hanging over this one as the drama bows out, Extraordinary You does well to keep everything ticking over whilst introducing new ideas into the fold. Dan-O certainly does well as the empathetic, incredulous protagonist and despite some of the character changes to the webtoon, I actually think Extraordinary You does enough to stand on its own two feet. Between today and yesterday’s episodes, this is one fun-loving, lighthearted drama. It’s not perfect, and at times it is a little silly for its own good, but Extraordinary You does well to keep things interesting, with some good special effects and meta ideas around comic books. It’s certainly one of my guilty pleasures this year and I’m looking forward to seeing how this one develops over time.
