Before Satoh Takeru, there was Oguri Shun.

I first saw Mr. Oguri in “Rich Man, Poor Woman” (2012).

He plays this eccentric, brash, socially-awkward, computer genius with prosopagnosia, who built a successful start-up and became the darling of the new tech industry. He meets this equally bright college grad (I believe she was a recent grad) who’s also an oddball like him but in a subservient way, and who’s having a hard time finding a job despite her qualification. He hires her for some reason that I can’t remember now. Perhaps because he can identify her face in the crowd. Or perhaps because he can remember her name. Whatever it is, he gravitates toward her.

Remember that poem from the “Goblin” called the “Physics of Love”? Well, it applies to them, too.

The Physics of Love
by Kim In-Yook

Mass is not proportional to volume.

That girl as small as a violet,
that girl who floats like a petal
pulls me toward her with a force
greater than the Earth’s mass.

In an instant,
like Newton’s apple,
I dropped with a thump
and rolled to her
without stopping.

Thump.
Thump.
My dizzy heart kept swinging
between Heaven and Earth—
it was my first love.

Translation by David Bowles, 9/23/2021

Source: Davidbowles.us

Poetry aside, one of lasting images I have of this drama — oddly enough — is feet. (Lol! I swear I don’t have a foot feetish…err…fetish!)

Let me explain. The dorama scene begins with the male lead lying on the floor, kinda disheveled, with his bare feet exposed. This scene is contrasted with the female lead, in her neat but nondescript black suit and scuffed-up black shoes, trudging from one job expo to another.

The visual parallelism is obvious to the naked eye.

Rich man: barefeet = can do anything he wants; can defy social conventions if he wants; can enter any door he wants.

Poor woman: beat-up black shoes = limited options; must follow social rules; must wear standard uniform of minions to get a foot in the door.

I would like to watch this show again to see if it aged well.

But unfortunately, Viki only has the @#$@# Korean adaptation, and not the original series, and Dramacool, the veritable repository of kdramas, cdramas and doramas, is offline now. (Ugh! I knew this would happen when dramacool shut down.)

If anybody here knows where I can watch this classic again, just tell me.

Moving on…

I’m excited to find out that Oguri Shun is appearing in a remake of the French movie, “Les Emotifs anonymes,” with Han Hyo Joo (“Happiness”).

Visually, they match. Aurally, they should be fine, too. During her appearance in the variety show “Unexpected Business,” Ms. Han proved that she could converse fairly well in English and Japanese so this series won’t be as awkward as Chae Jong Hyeop’s “Eye Love You.”

Episodes: 8
Start Date: October 16
Airs on Thursdays
Where to Watch it: Netflix

If this trailer’s anything to go by, this series will send our hearts thumping.

I’m looking forward to this dorama and I hope you’ll join me in October.