[K-DRAMA] Oh My Venus (2015)

warning: may contain spoilers

When a famous celebrity trainer helps a determined 33 year old woman lose weight..

Plot:

Kim Young Ho or John Kim is a famous celebrity trainer in the US. He suffered an illness during childhood and he thinks that exercise is the only way to survive. Meanwhile, Kang Joo Eun is called the “Venus of Daegu” during her high school years for her beauty. She achieved her dream to become a lawyer, and because of the stress at work, she continuously ate and gained weight. Adding to this was his long time boyfriend who wants to break up with her. She is no longer the Venus of Daegu anymore. One day, Joo Eun came back from US for her business trip. Young Ho coincidentally rode the same airplane with her and she passed out on the flight. It turned out that she ate too much diet pills before taking the flight. Young Ho is the only medical personnel on the same flight, so he assisted her. Fate happened when Joo Eun and Young Ho meet again. Joo Eun learned hat he is a famous celebrity trainer and begs him to help her lose weight. Will she successfully be able to lose weight? And what awaits Young Ho as he came back from Korea after several years?

Opinions:

Oh My Venus caught my attention with the weight loss plot. I’m not overweight, but I’m on the chubby side. Fat female leads are so rare, so I was looking for a drama that would inspire and motivate me to lose weight. The drama had a lot of potential actually, but then they included the chaebol plot again. I’m so tired with these kinds of plot already. The weight loss was only during the start after all. The writer thought of a unique plot, but it was only until episode 6 that she was fat.. then the weight loss story was thrown to the side. I wished that Joo Eun really showed effort into losing weight. I mean, losing weight is easy to say but hard to do. I’ve been trying to lose 5 pounds, but I find it difficult already. What more when the female lead needs to lose 50 pounds. Seeing how she got so slim that fast made it so unrealistic. I wished that losing weight was the main point of the drama instead of Young Ho’s family put into spotlight. It was a good subplot, but it shouldn’t be the focus of the story. I wished they could’ve shown us the step by step process in losing weight.

Characters:

So Ji Sub as Kim Young Ho/ John Kim — So Ji Sub is a well known actor, but I’m sad that he chose a disappointing drama. His portrayal of Kim Young Ho was forgetful and nothing special about him. It’s amazing though how he looks the same over the years. He looks even better now that he’s slimmer. I only watched this and Master’s Sun out of all his dramas, but I wish he can try more outgoing roles. His roles seemed to be passive types.

Shin Min Ah as Kang Joo Eun — Even with fake fats and all that to make her look ugly, she still looks okay to me? I also think she’s naturally beautiful and don’t forget her dimples! With all the plastic faces right now, I think she has the traditional look of a Korean but still pretty. I think Shin Min Ah is one of the those underrated actresses. I hope she picks a better drama next time and be more popular in Korea and overseas.

Henry Lau as Kim Ji Woong — I’m happy that he got a lot of attention for this role and he received praises for it. I liked how the character was cheerful and the mood maker of the show. Without him, I think the show would be so boring and gloomy. His role reminded me of Si Won’s role in She Was Pretty. Si Won was also the cheerful and crazy person in that drama. Henry was not close to being crazy as him, but I’m happy to see him every time he’s onscreen. I think the character is also close to his real personality, and he blurts out a lot of English words too, so I think he’s just half acting and half playing around. lol I couldn’t imagine Henry doing a serious and dramatic role, but I’m hoping one day he can expand his acting works and show us how talented he is.

Jung Gyu Woon as Im Woo Shik — Woo Shik was really a bastard for two timing. He suddenly lost interest in Joo Eun and then moved to her best friend Soo Jin. He wasn’t contented and was meddling with Joo Eun and Young Ho. I think his character served as a motivation for both of the women to lose weight. Jung Gyu Woon did well in portraying the character.

Yoo In Young as Oh Soo Jin — I couldn’t say this is her trademark work, but she was consistent with her roles. Yoo In Young always portray the mean girl and I just couldn’t imagine her portray a kind girl. Oh Soo Jin was fat during her teenage years, but she decided to lose weight. She slimmed down and she was successful with her work and love life. Yoo In Young’s portrayal was enjoyable, but I hope she tries different kinds of roles too.

Sung Hoon as Jang Joon Sung — Such an eye candy with great body. I thought that I’ve seen him somewhere, but can’t really remember so I googled him and found out that he’s the white haired cool guy in Faith. lol I also found out that he’s actually casted as a male lead for a few times already without any acting experience. I think that his love line with his stalker, Jang Yi Jin, was annoying at first, but she kept on appearing that I got used to it already. With the girl’s determination and perseverance, she got the guy. I wonder if it can happen in real life. lol I also found Joon Sung’s side story with his mother touching.  I really find him a great addition to the cast.

Ending:

The last few episodes were literally fillers. I guess for this kind of plot, 12 episodes would do. How cool was the grandmother in accepting Joo Eun just like that? Coming from a conservative family, I just couldn’t imagine his grandmother to be so cool?! lol I mean this isn’t a typical thing for K-dramas. And it was so boring how they resorted to “car accident” to resolve all the family problems and forgive one another. There’s nothing memorable with the ending, but I liked the fact that Joo Eun maintained her weight despite everything that’s happening, she stayed slim and healthy until the end.

Final Thoughts:

Watched this drama a few months ago, and sadly couldn’t remember anything special from the drama anymore. I liked the chemistry between the leads though. The actors were the only ones worth watching. Oh My Venus was literally a snooze fest, I didn’t know how they dragged it to 16 episodes. The weight loss concept was fun, but they should’ve just maintained it until the end. Watching this right after She Was Pretty also made the show more boring. With almost the same concept of having a female lead who’s “ugly”, I’ll choose She Was Pretty over this. It’s a drama with little content and it’s definitely not my style. It’s worth skipping and if you don’t have anything to watch anymore, that’s the time that you can watch this.

Rating: 4/10