Amazon Prime K-drama My Man Is Cupid: Jang Dong-yoon, Nana make an attractive pair in light, fluffy fantasy romantic comedy

Lead cast: Nana, Jang Dong-yoon, Park Ki-woong

Going out into the world and finding the one who’s right for you is no picnic, even for Oh Baek-nyeon, the gorgeous veterinary surgeon played by Nana ( Mask Girl) in the Amazon Prime original K-drama My Man Is Cupid.

Baek-nyeon may have no trouble attracting men – her looks are striking enough to ensure her veterinary practice is forever booked solid with smitten male pet owners – but she has always struggled to hang on to them.

This is because, from a young age, each of her brushes with romance have ended in disaster – for her male suitors.

They trip and fall, choke on engagement rings; one is even struck by lightning. Having long got the message, Baek-nyeon has given up on dating.

But she does have one glimmer of hope, which was sparked when she visited a mysterious shaman several years earlier. He explains to her that she is being punished for a sin in the distant past and that if she earnestly prays atop Seoul’s Inwangsan mountain for 1,000 days, her curse will be lifted and her love will appear before her.

10 of the best new Korean drama series to watch in December 2023

As proof of his soothsaying, the shaman tells Baek-nyeon a pair of numbers, which turn out to be the number plates of the cars involved in a crash she witnesses later that day.

By the time we catch up with her at the beginning of the show she is already on day 993.

But before we get to her, the show introduces us to its title character, Chang Sang-hyeok (Jang Dong-yoon, Daily Dose of Sunshine), a modern-day Cupid who perches atop a roof with a rifle and fires at a man and a woman who have just stepped out of a restaurant after a date.

Jang Dong-yoon as Cupid Sang-hyeok in a still from “My Man Is Cupid”.

His gun does not fire bullets, however; it strikes them with the affection and courage that the shy man and woman need before they miss their golden romantic opportunity.

Strictly speaking, Sang-hyeok is not Cupid. Rather, he is one of several spirits living under the same roof who all have Cupid-like powers, but seemingly no abilities to clean up after themselves. Among them is a particularly sloppy spirit, played by Parasite actor Park Myung-hoon, and one who keeps turning into a dog.

Five hundred years ago, Sang-hyeok and his roommates were involved in an accident and each of them had their wings burned; these they are now close to restoring.

Nana (left) and Jang Dong-yoon as Baek-nyeon and Sang-hyeok in a still from “My Man Is Cupid”.

The length of time is notable, since the name Oh Baek-nyeon means 500 years in Korean.

Sang-hyeok happens to frequent the same mountain as Baek-nyeon and they eventually bump into each other. After she notices him on the mountain, they have an amusing meet-cute in a pancake and rice wine joint at the foot of the hill.

Taking a page straight out of the My Sassy Girl playbook, Sang-hyeok enters the restaurant seeking the proprietor of the vehicle that has blocked his car, and a very drunk Baek-nyeon hobbles over to him, calls him “honey” and collapses to the floor.

Jang Dong-yoon as Sang-hyeok in a still from “My Man Is Cupid”.

With everyone assuming he really is her boyfriend, he feels obliged to take care of her. He almost brings her to a motel, but in the end she wakes up in the morning, rather bewildered to find herself on a police precinct bench.

Meanwhile, a killer is on the loose and people around Sang-hyeok and Baek-nyeon begin to be targeted. The handsome Detective Seo Jae-hee (Park Ki-woong, Pandora: Beneath the Paradise) heads the investigation and soon finds himself face to face with Baek-nyeon, opening the door to a likely love triangle.

After dabbling in international licences for Korean dramas such as Island and Anna, My Man Is Cupid is Amazon Prime’s first original Korean drama series.

Jang Dong-yoon (left) and Nana as Sang-hyeok and Baek-nyeon in a still from “My Man Is Cupid”.

Although not as ambitious as some of the other K-dramas out there, it signals the global streaming platform’s serious ambitions for the market. In similar vein Disney+, the platform responsible for event series Moving, launched its original Korean drama series programming a year and a half ago with the modestly budgeted Rookie Cops.

My Man Is Cupid is bright, light and lays on the humour pretty thick. While not the handsomest production on air at the moment, it is a comfortable and undemanding watch and just the kind of easy and diverting fare to tune into after a long and arduous day.

It does not hurt that Nana, Jang and Park form the corners of a particularly attractive love triangle.

My Man Is Cupid is streaming on Amazon Prime.

Source link