If you’re feeling kdrama burn-out from back-to-back viewing of “Doctor X” and “100 Days of Deception,” here’s a quirky light-hearted drama, “Oh! My Guard.”

I think it’s much better than the other fluffy dramas out at the moment, namely:

• “Francesca Next Door”
• “Once-of-a-Kind Romance”

Sorry, Kim Hyun Jin! He’s the male lead in these two romcoms but the conflict in both plots isn’t compelling enough for me to stick around to find out how the lead characters end up together. I’m not invested in their development and outcome.

• “Sunshine Through the Rain”

This is a 24-episode cdrama which I think is better binged-watched than watched daily. That way I can fast forward through the boring scenes. I also can’t relate to the female character. I get that the actress is supposed to act cold and stoic, but there’s something about her blank, unexpressive and woebegone face that grates on me.

Here are the details on “Oh! My Guard.” Alternative title: “It’s You, Out of the Blue.”

Cast: Jung Yong Hwa (“Sell Your Haunted House” and leader of CNBLUE), Hong SeungHee (don’t know her), Lee YiKyung (“Marry My Husband” bad guy).
Many of the supporting cast are familiar to us, too. To name a few: Jo JaeYun (the bad guy in “Alchemy of Soul”), Lee JinHee (the anesthesiologist in “Doctor X”) and Kim InKwon (the Gugukdam bicyclist who died in “100 Days of Deception).

Episodes: 16!! Wow, I’m shocked, 16! 6 episodes are already out.
Start Date: Last October 24
Airs on Saturdays and Sundays
Where to Watch it: Viu (uh oh), TVING
Network: Lifetime

Because of the novelty of the plot, it’s hard to identify who’s who in the story unless you have the background story…so I’m giving you spoilers.

The male lead, Um Tae Bong (TB), is a top actor famous for a) playing the suave, sexy hero in romantic dramas, and b) having a “no-kiss” clause in his contract. Thus far, he and his CEO have succeeded in hiding the reason for his no-kiss clause from the public. He suffers from an allergic reaction when he kisses.

The female lead, Oh HaeRa, is a chaebol heiress who’s a) obsessed with a 2023 kdrama with TB playing a chaebol who falls for his female bodyguard named Cha Hong Do (HD), and b) afflicted with a social disease called “anthropophobia.” Supposedly, HaeRa has a phobia for people and became reclusive when she was in 2nd grade. Note: her phobia will be manifested as some sort of motion sickness.

Important: the opening scene is actually a figment of HaeRa’s imagination. Since she never leaves her room, she experiences the outside world through internet shopping (where she buys TB’s fan merch), television (she watches current news), her tutor (I think he’s her father figure), and this one kdrama “The Crown Prince’s Bodyguard” starring TB as I mentioned.

She’s watched the kdrama so many times that she’s memorized the lines of the female lead, the bodyguard Hong Do. That’s why in the opening scene, the face of the TB’s leading lady morphs into HaeRa’s face. She’s imagining herself in the female lead’s role.

Now these fan delusions and shipping obsessions are all well and good if TB and HaeRa’s paths don’t cross.

But TB is given a “magical” ring that can bring back to life a dead person if her lover puts the ring on her finger and proposes. And HaeRa gets into a vehicle accident and is reborn thinking that she’s the bodyguard of the “Crown Prince.” She scares off TB with her aggressive and out-of-the-blue protection because he thinks she’s a stalker.

And that’s how the mayhem and misadventures enter this romcom. Their meet-cutes are fresh and original. TB is a divo (i.e., high-maintenance and bad-tempered) with a heart of gold. And while HaeRa as HD is funny, she’s also pitiful especially when she doesn’t understand why her actual physical abilities don’t match envisioned physical strengths.

Hopefully, there’s a cautionary tale to be gleaned from this romcom. People use kdramas to escape an emotional ordeal, but when they become too immersed in them that they lose distinction between reality and imagination, they need help – professional help – to process their emotions and recover.