Synopsis

“W” is about Oh Yeon Joo (Han Hyo Joo), a doctor and the daughter of webtoon/manhwa writer and illustrator, Oh Sung Moo (Kim Eui Sung), and Kang Cheol (Lee Jong Suk), the main character of Oh Sung Moo’s megahit webtoon, W, whose family was murdered by an unknown assailant.  In the webtoon, Kang Cheol is wrongfully prosecuted by Han Cheol Ho (Park Won Sang), who hopes to gain political notoriety from winning the case.  Kang Cheol is eventually cleared of all charges and establishes “Project W,” intent on finding the identity of his family’s murderer.  Outside of the webtoon, Oh Sung Moo decides to end W by killing off his main character, but Kang Cheol’s will to survive allows his character to become self-aware and he thwarts Oh Sung Moo’s attempts.  When this happens, the world of W begins to change and Oh Sung Moo loses absolute control over the world.  His efforts are further thwarted when Oh Yeon Joo is mysteriously pulled into the world of “W” and saves Kang Cheol’s life.  After she saves his life a second time, Kang Cheol realizes that Oh Yeon Joo is the key to his life, which establishes her as the new female lead in W.  From that point on, Oh Yeon Joo oscillates between the two worlds, realizing that Kang Cheol’s emotions are the trigger to send her back and forth.  When Oh Yeon Joo is arrested in the W world, she is forced to reveal to Kang Cheol that they are from two separate worlds and that he exists within a webtoon/manhwa.  The two worlds collide and through a series of events that send the couple back and forth, Oh Yeon Joo and Kang Cheol fall in love.  Combatting both “the real culprit” - who is intent on murdering Oh Yeon Joo as Kang Cheol’s new family (their marriage is the only way to free Oh Yeon Joo from prison) - and Han Cheol Ho - who desires to put Kang Cheol in prison - Oh Yeon Joo and Kang Cheol eventually team up with Oh Sung Moo to bring the story in the webtoon to a conclusion, allowing Kang Cheol to remain in the real world with Oh Yeon Joo.              

(An author’s note: “W” hereafter refers to the K-drama being reviewed, while W refers to the webtoon/manhwa and world within the K-drama that Oh Sung Moo writes and illustrates and that Kang Cheol calls home.  In addition, manhwa, comic, and webtoon are used interchangeably in the series.  According to bookriot.com, “manhwa is an umbrella term for Korean comics, although sometimes it’s used specifically for printed comics.” Webtoons, by contrast, are online digital comics that are read by scrolling from top to bottom.  W seems to be created first as a webtoon, and then printed as a manhwa.)

Lead Couple

Oh Yeon Joo and Kang Cheol are one of the sweetest couples in the K-drama realm.  Despite Kang Cheol’s frequent - and hilarious - references to his 19+ preferences, they are both inexperienced in relationships and bring an innocence to their relationship and unexpected marriage.  Early in the series, Kang Cheol identifies Oh Yeon Joo as the key to his life and the “one who will open the door of secrets,” setting her up as the female lead in W.  Even when he asks her to erase his memory in order to save her life, Kang Cheol cannot help but be drawn to her when they meet again (no pun intended).  Both actors are capable of conveying emotions nonverbally, whether the scene calls for drama or comedy.  Lee Jong Suk is one of my absolute favorites, and one of the reasons is his nuanced facial expressions.  Perhaps because he began his career in modeling, he knows how to use his face to express emotion well.  And this was my first K-drama with Kim Eui Sung, but her comedic timing and sweet tears were spot on. 

There are several swoon-worthy moments in “W” that melt my heart - when he asks if he can kiss her, when he asks her to draw him a wedding band, when he offers to erase her from his family registry so that she can live regardless of the outcome of W, when he tells Oh Sung Moo that she is his family, and when he tells her that he loves her - but one of my favorites is when Kang Cheol and Oh Yeon Joo decide on a sweet, everyday romance for their marriage.  Because of his inexperience, Kang Cheol asks his female staff to help him, and they provide him with a book that is full of “every sweet and simple romantic behavior that women like.”  The scene where they cuddle together on the bed as they read through the book is absolutely adorable.  The camera focuses in on their faces, their smiles, and his wedding ring, emphasizing that the couple is taking their “sham wedding” seriously.  The actors connect well in that scene and it gives Kang Cheol and Oh Yeon Joo an opportunity to draw closer as a newly married couple - emotionally, as well as physically.  You can feel their connection as he smiles at her and leans it to kiss her…until they are interrupted by a bodyguard - did anyone else want to throw something at the television?! 

And a review of “W” would be amiss if “the handcuff kiss” was not mentioned.  I refer to the scene where Oh Yeon Joo reveals that she loves Kang Cheol and then disappears in the detention center.  After Kang Cheol’s suicide, Oh Yeon Joo saves him by stepping into the role of writer and illustrator.  Kang Cheol misunderstands and accuses her of keeping him alive solely as an object of entertainment, like her father.  Oh Yeon Joo, confused and hurt by the harsh words, confesses that she genuinely loves him and immediately disappears, leaving behind a shocked Kang Cheol.  Oh Yeon Joo is drawn in again almost immediately as a devastated Kang Cheol cannot stop thinking of her.  When Oh Yeon Joo questions him, he admits that he was afraid he would never see her again.  The two-part kiss that follows (while Oh Yeon Joo is in handcuffs) is executed perfectly and makes many “Best Kiss” lists in the K-drama world (including ours!). I am a wedding photographer and the smile that they share after they kiss is EXACTLY what I coach my couples to do - SWOON! 

In contrast, there are several moments that punch you in the gut - when Kang Cheol backs off a rooftop after telling Oh Yeon Joo to draw everything as a dream and to forget about him; and when he admits that he wants to hug her, but will not allow himself to do so, for fear that if he embraces her, he will not have the strength to let her go.  But the scene that REALLY tugs at my heartstrings is the scene when Oh Yeon Joo is pulled back into W after drawing everything as a dream and unexpectedly bumps into Kang Cheol.  After it is apparent that he has no memory of her or their time together, Oh Yeon Joo collapses to the ground in her grief.  “Kang Cheol, just like I drew, forgot everything” - heart.breaking.  

Friendships

“W” is free from a Second Couple, which is refreshing, especially since the two worlds make the plot a complicated one.  There are a few friendships of note, however.  One is the subtle bromance of Kang Cheol and his best friend/bodyguard/right hand, Seo Do Yoon (Lee Tae Hwan).  Do Yoon’s role is of trusted confidante, and the closest thing to family for Kang Cheol.  Another relationship we see is that between Oh Yeon Joo and fellow doctor, Kang Suk Bum (Kang Ki Young - one of my personal favorites).  Suk Bum keeps Oh Yeon Joo grounded in her life as a doctor, reminding the audience that Oh Yeon Joo has a life outside of the world of W. 

But the most important friendship in “W” is that of the noona/namdongsaeng or sister/brother-like relationship between Oh Yeon Joo and her father’s assistant, Park Soo Bong (Lee Si Un).  Soo Bong delivers much of the background and exposition about Oh Yeon Joo’s father and the world of W, and serves as Oh Yeon Joo’s anchor to her world as she travels back and forth.  It is from Soo Bong that we learn about Oh Sung Moo’s intentions to end W by killing Kang Cheol.  After Kang Cheol commits suicide, Soo Bong suggests letting W end, afraid of what might happen to Oh Yeon Joo if she is pulled into that world again.  While Oh Yeon Hoo worries about Kang Cheol, Soo Bong worries about her, saying that they should worry about the living person, not the comic book character.  When Oh Yeon Joo draws everything as a dream, erasing herself from Kang Cheol’s memory, only Soo Bong knows the pain she feels.  And it is Soo Bong who comes to collect Oh Yeon Joo at the bus stop when W “ends” with Kang Cheol’s “death,” knowing that she is devastated.  He sweetly and silently sits next to her on the sidewalk while she sobs.         

Superior Male

A common trope in K-dramas is a “superior” male lead falling in love with an “inferior” female lead.  In these dramas, while the male lead is unbelievably amazing, the female lead is often from a lower-class family (or at least, one that is less-privileged than his), struggles in her education/career, and is described as physically unattractive.  In “W,” Kang Cheol is the CEO of J&Global and is described as a “super millionaire.”  He is also an Olympic gold medalist.  Skilled, handsome, wealthy, and a national star, he is referred to as the “playboy of the century,” adored by women and men, alike.  By contrast, Oh Yeon Joo is abused by her senior at the hospital where she is a resident, and lacks confidence in her abilities as a doctor, even referring to herself as a “doctor with no talent” before saving Kang Cheol’s life (the first time).  In addition, Kang Cheol mocks Oh Yeon Joo’s visuals numerous times throughout the drama, saying she is “not a beauty.”     

Unrequited Love

Another common trope of K-dramas is when a friend from childhood has an unrequited love for the male lead.  This friend causes trouble through their jealous actions, often masked as concern for the person they “love.”  In “W,” that character is Yoon So Hee (Jeong Eu Gene), Kang Chul’s secretary and friend from their school days.  So Hee believes that Oh Yeon Joo’s presence is a threat to Kang Cheol and turns her over to the police when Kang Cheol is away.  Accused of taking part in the attacks on Kang Cheol, Oh Yeon Joo is unjustly detained.  When Kang Cheol finds out what So Hee has done, he is outraged, reminding her that he went through the same situation when his family was killed and he was erroneously fingered as the culprit.  “No one looks at the context and they only look at what can be seen outwardly,” he rages.  He started “Project W” to assist people like him “who were sacrificed by logic.”  The social commentary on public perception and its damaging effects reads loud and clear. 

Two antagonists

Multiple antagonists are common in K-dramas, and in “W” there are two.  The first antagonist is “the real culprit” behind Kang Cheol’s family’s murder.  This character is complicated, beginning “W” as a ghost-like character written by Oh Sung Moo to commit the “perfect crime” and provide the catalyst for Kang Cheol to become a “hero.”  When Oh Sung Moo decides to kill Kang Cheol, it is through the medium of “the real culprit.”  Like Kang Cheol, this character has an awakening and begins to function independent of Oh Sung Moo’s wishes, entering the real world in pursuit of Oh Yeon Joo when she becomes Kang Cheol’s wife/new family.  When “the real culprit” is given an identity by Oh Sung Moo as Han Sang Hoon, the intent is to allow Kang Cheol to finally capture him and end the series.  Han Sang Hoon then teams up with “W’s” second antagonist, Assemblyman Han Cheol Ho, to destroy Kang Cheol, though they double-cross one another.  (Side note: I wonder why they did not give “the real culprit” Assemblyman Han Cheol Ho’s identity, killing two birds with one stone in a much cleaner storyline?) 

When we first see Assemblyman Han Cheol Ho, he is the prosecutor for Kang Cheol’s murder trial.  Han Cheol Ho hopes to hang his political aspirations on Kang Cheol’s conviction, but Kang Cheol is eventually acquitted.  With the creation of Project W, Kang Cheol has become the “Citizens’ Hero,” solving cases and catching criminals that the police could not.  Han Cheol Ho becomes a presidential hopeful, but as Kang Cheol’s popularity increases, Han’s decreases, as public sentiment views his prosecution of Kang Cheol as a wrongful manhunt.  When Han Sang Hoon contacts him, Han Cheol Ho sees it as an opportunity to finally eliminate Kang Cheol and secure his bid for the presidency. 

Perseverance

Perseverance is a strong theme in both the webtoon and the K-drama.  Both open with 17-year-old Kang Cheol persevering in an Olympic competition to win gold.  Then, when Kang Cheol’s family is murdered and he is convicted of the crime, he is forced to spend a year in prison before he is acquitted on appeal.  He then has to struggle through another year of harsh public criticism upon his release.  And when Oh Sung Moo attempts to end Kang Cheol’s life with suicide, Kang Cheol’s “come-from-behind-victory” mentality kicks in and he resists.  He decides to live so that he can discover the identity of his family’s murderer, thereby giving his life purpose.  This is also the moment when the webtoon begins to function on its own, preventing Oh Sung Moo from killing Kang Cheol with each subsequent attempt. 

Negatives

While “W” ranks in my Top 5 for K-dramas, I do have a couple of criticisms.  The first is the overly complicated storyline.  Some of that is an unfortunate side effect of bouncing back and forth between two worlds, but I think some of it is the overly complicated writing, particularly towards the end of the series.  I am left with several unanswered questions.  According to the story, Oh Sung Moo is an unsuccessful cartoonist and terrible family man who creates in Kang Cheol everything that he is not - strong and loved.  When his wife and child leave, he curiously decides to end his wildly popular webtoon because it is the one thing in life he can control.  Though it may be a reflection of his toxic behavior, it seems like ridiculous logic.  Why would one eliminate the one positive thing in their life?  I suspect his jealousy of the handsome and successful Kang Cheol is to blame, but Kang Cheol’s/W’s success is Oh Sung Moo’s success.  Oh Sung Moo justifies attempting to kill Kang Cheol because he claims Kang Cheol had become “a monster,” able to manipulate the happenings in his world, and thereby a threat.  But if Oh Sung Moo had continued writing W to a successful conclusion, would Kang Cheol have even had an awakening?  And even if he did, would he have left his happy world in an attempt to destroy the cartoonist, his giver of life?  Seems doubtful.    

In addition, it is not clear how or why people from the real world are pulled into the world of W.  It is after Oh Yeong Joo reads the words “I’d rather eat then be eaten” on the back of a scary-looking piece of artwork in her father’s notes (whose origin and meaning are never explained) that the webtoon comes alive, allowing Kang Cheol to reach out from his world and pull her in.  We can speculate that her father, the only other person to be drawn into W, may have read those words out loud, as well, allowing him to be pulled in.  But it is unclear why Soo Bong or the other assistants - who had access to both the artwork and the tablet - are never pulled into W. 

Also, why did Kang Cheol serve two more years in prison after W ended?  The narrator says that he did it in order to “finish the W world in an orderly fashion,” but the webtoon had already ended with the death of the antagonists.  What was the point in suffering for another 2 years?  I’m guessing it is because time did not suspend at the end of W, unlike when Kang Cheol committed suicide (a seeming contradiction), but if he was capable of escaping to the real world, why didn’t he?  Unnecessary suffering seems to be a common characteristic of K-dramas and it baffles my American mind.  

And finally, once Kang Cheol serves his time and appears in the real world, how is he able to leave W?  He is no longer a main character, so in theory, no longer capable of travelling back and forth at will.  It defies logic when Oh Sung Moo disappears in the webtoon, but Kang Cheol is able to leave W for the real world.  Despite the fact that he served a dual role as the real culprit, Oh Sung Moo was a real person and belonged in the real world.  By contrast, Kang Cheol was a comic character and belonged within the fictional world of W.  The only explanation given is that a happy ending for Kang Cheol means a sad ending for the culprit, therefore, one must die - but both antagonists - the Assemblyman and “the real culprit” - do die.  So why must Oh Seun Moo die/disappear?  I understand why Oh Seung Moo’s character chooses the path he does - unable to live with the memories and actions he committed as Han Sang Hoon - but it is unclear why and how Oh Seung Moo is incapable of leaving W, while Kang Cheol is and does.     

Final verdict: MUST WATCH

Although this K-drama has a few negatives, “W” definitely still makes my Top 5 K-drama list for its sweet Lead Couple and cool dual-world concept.  I am a sucker for happy endings and, ultimately, in spite of some complicated back and forth, Kang Cheol is able to get his happy ending.  Thanks to the assistance of Oh Sung Moo, he successfully wraps up his storyline in W, freeing him from his “predestined future as a character,” and allowing him to return to share in a sweet, everyday romance with Oh Yeon Joo.  And with news that the CW is in the process of adapting “W” for American television, I definitely recommend watching the original before turning in!  It’s exciting that American networks are recognizing the good television that is being made in South Korea, thanks to the spread of hallyu.  As a fan of the original, I am really nervous about an adaptation, but the longer length of American television series should allow the opportunity to fix the storyline issues.  

So there it is, our review of “W.”  What did you think?!  Thank you for joining us on this journey.  Have a favorite K-drama you think we should review, comment down below!!  We look forward to seeing you back again next week!

Up next, “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God - Part 2”