Wild Chives & Soybean Soup

Title:	Wild Chives & Soybean Soup: 12 Year Reunion
Alternate Title(s):	N/A
Genre(s):	Melodrama, Romantic Comedy
Episodes	26
Network:	JTBC
Year Produced:	2014
Available to Watch On:	DramaFever, Hulu, dramafans.org

Summary: Wild Chives & Soybean Soup is a k-drama that has several intertwined stories that all revolve around three families: Yoo, Jang, and Joo. The primary story begins in 2002 with high school students Yoo Joon Soo (Lee Won Geun/Nam Gung Min) and Jang Gook (Yoon So Hee/Lee So Yeon), who fall in love and conceive a child after a night of drinking and celebrating a World Cup win. The families quickly object to their relationship and they are ultimately torn apart. Jang Gook, unable to cope, flees to the US to heal her broken heart. The show then fast forwards 12 years and the couple is reunited by a strange twist of fate. Other key narratives involve friendship, parent-child relationships, one-sided love, marriage, and divorce.

RATING:

♥♥♥

Sad. I wish it had more episodes.

Recommendation: It is a little difficult to review this k-drama because it was just starting to hit its stride when the series was canceled. Consequently, the ending is rushed and somewhat disappointing with many of the major plots being resolved inadequately or not at all. I think it is worth a watch but with an understanding that you'll be left with more questions than answers. While I personally feel that family themed dramas don't translate well into 50 episode arcs, I thought this one might be moderately successful. I was obviously wrong as the viewers didn't tune in for it. Still, the teen and adult cast are all strong actors and I wish them the best on their next projects.