Heirs 상속자들 - 왕관을 쓰려는 자, 그 무게를 견뎌라 - Review

 

Title: Heirs 상속자들 - 왕관을 쓰려는 자, 그 무게를 견뎌라

Genre: Romantic Comedy, School, Friendship, Youth

Release: 2013

Starring (Main Cast): 

Lee Min Ho as Kim Tan

Park Shin Hye as Cha Eun Sang

Kim Woo Bin as Choi Young Do

Director: Kang Shin Hyo, Boo Sung Chul

Writer: Kim Eun Sook

Rakuten Viki Rating: 9.4/10

IMDb Rating: 7.5/10

Audience Rating: 4.8/5

MyDramaList Rating: 7.5/10

Rakuten Viki Synopsis: Click Here

Watch with free on Rakuten Viki: Heirs 

Episodes: 20 (abt. 1 hour each)

Content Rating: PG-13

Violence: Hitting, yelling, bullying

Sexual Content: kissing, hugging, verbal references (mild)

Language: Mild

Ending: Happy, satisfying

Trailer

My Synopsis

Life as an heir to a fortune isn't always as glamourous as it seems. It is a life too much controlled by the public eye, and the interest of the family business. Kim Tan (Lee Min Ho), the second son of the man who owns Empire Group, was sent off to the U.S. to avoid the irritations of his older brother who feared he would try to take the company inheritance. Having lived there alone for years, he finally decides on his own that he was returning home... much to the distain of his older brother. Upon returning home he reconnects with a girl he had fallen in love with in the U.S. But there are two problems... one, he is already engaged to the daughter of a wealthy business man. Two, the girl he loves happens to be the daughter of his family's housemaid. Can he find a way to bridge their social gap before they are both destroyed by the expectations of their status'?

My Review: 7/10

This drama follows the daily lives of quite a few of the children of wealthy business owners. The main ones being Kim Tan (son of a conglomerate business owner - Lee Min Ho) and Choi Young Do (son of a luxury resort owner - Kim Woo Bin) and their love triangle with Kim Tan's housemaid's daughter, Cha Eun Sang (Park Shin Hye).

Other cast members noted as "Main Cast" on Rakuten Viki:

Kim Ji Won as Yoo Rachel (Kim Tan's betrothed)

Krystal Jung as Lee Bo Na

Park Hyung Sik as Jo Myung Soo

Kang Min Hyuk as Yoo Chan Yeong

Kang Na Neul as Lee Hyo Shin

Choi Jin Hyuk as Kim Won (Kim Tan's hyung)

Jun Soo Jin as Kang Ye Seol

I have given this a lower rating than the average, and I know that this goes against how a lot of people feel about this drama. So, don't hate me. But, looking back on this, I even think that I could have possibly gone lower with my rating. I will explain over the course of this review, why I struggled with this drama. First, I will discuss characters, than I will discuss my issues with the plot.

So, let's meet the members of our love triangle...

Kim Tan was played by the hugely popular actor Lee Min Ho. His presence in this drama is probably the main reason why this drama scores so high. His character is the discarded son of the head of Empire Group and his father's mistress. To help ensure his inheritance and win him a good marriage the whole family lies that he is actually the son of his father's wife. Even the wife (who really is only a wife in title) has kept this lie up for the whole of Kim Tan's life. He spends the entire drama in pursuit of Cha Eun Sang and the affections of his older brother, Kim Won (Choi Jin Hyuk), who for some reason hates him and has this unfounded paranoia that he will try to take the company from him. 

What I like: Lee Min Ho is a decent actor, handsome and is good with his expressions of pain and love, anger, etc. I thought he did fine with the role, but maybe wasn't stretched over far. What I don't like: He looks too old for being a junior in high school. In fact, I thought first, when he was in the U.S., that he was in college. The way the school's campus was didn't help with that misunderstanding. I think they should have made this a college drama. As for his written character, he was stalker-ish. Badly. He was constantly stressing the main lead who just wanted to keep her place in the world and be at peace. His insistence on their relationship hurt her constantly and it actually made me feel uncomfortable. He even became threatening about it at times. It was unhealthy.

Park Shin Hye played the main lead, Cha Eun Sang. She was the daughter of the mute housemaid (Park Nee Ham - Kim Mi Kyung) that looked after Kim Tan's family. She had originally met Kim Tan in the U.S. when she went to find her sister. During that time, she was unaware of his social status, and I think there was a belief that they would not meet again. So, even though there was some connection, she leaves the U.S. with the understanding that that was it. However, little did she know that she would be living in his family's house, in the maids room. It was hard on her pride, and very straining once she learns the truth.

I had a hard time judging Park Shin Hye as an actress since I didn't feel she was really stretched in this role. She can definitely pull of the pained look, which was really her most prominent expression throughout the drama. She can definitely cry convincingly, too. 

As for the love plot... Cha Eun Sang was the constant object of attention from both the main male characters. Her position looked torturous. Because of them both she suffered non-stop. Especially due to Kim Tan's affections. She almost always looked unhappy, and she cried an awful lot. I honestly had a very hard time with this relationship because it was so painful to watch. I see this drama on a lot of "most romantic" drama lists, and I just don't understand. Her face bore almost a constant look of pain and she suffered the negative affects of being liked by someone far above her social status almost constantly. It was frustrating. And, to be honest, I almost suspect that the actress wasn't too fond of her actor partner. I say this because even during the "romantic" kisses she looked as if she was doing it at gun point. Am I the only one that could see this? 

Kim Woo Bin played Choi Young Do, the son of a luxury resort owner. You get to know him early on as the school bully. He takes great pleasure in making the kids who are "new money" or "welfare" suffer. He also ends up developing a liking for Cha Eun Sang despite the fact that she falls within his two categories for bullying. And, in fact, he does bully her. Because he likes her, of course.

Despite this, I couldn't help but feel that he had more chemistry with Eun Sang than Kim Tan did. He was also the past best friend of Kim Tan, who had become his enemy over a past circumstance which makes their competition over the girl even more stressful. However, the actor did a great job with his role. Some great acting and he had a wide range of emotions to display. I really did like him, maybe even more than Kim Tan over time. He is the one that has to let the girl go, after all. And, I think he ends up being a little more of a friend to her.

I don't really want to go over all the main characters so I though I would mention my favorites. These characters below were probably my favorite ones in the whole show and helped make this a little more pleasant to watch.

My favorite couple: Yoon Chan Yeong and Lee Bo Na

This couple, played by Kang Min Hyuk and Krystal Jung, were adorable together. Lee Bo Na could sometimes come off as a little jealous and uncaring but she still always did the right thing and you always saw her heart in the end. She became good friends with Eun Sang, who was already friends with her boyfriend. The two of them were very non-judgmental towards those of a lower status, and I just genuinely liked them. They were the healthy relationship in this drama. They took care of each other, and it was cute.

My favorite single character: Jo Myung Soo

I think it would be hard for anyone to dislike Myung Soo (Park Hyung Sik). He was the comedic character and was a bright spot in a drama that often became depressing. He was almost always happy and though he was close friends with Choi Young Do, he didn't have a side that he was on. He liked everyone and everyone liked him. He also wasn't afraid to say when he thought someone was wrong, even if it was to his close friend Young Do. It was crazy to know, while watching, that this was the same guy who played King Jinheung in Hwarang. Another reason why this guy is one of my favorite actors. So very versatile! 

As for the plot... the main one really was the love plot with the secondary plot being the one that revolves around Kim Tan's family and the family fortune. Again, I wasn't a huge fan of the love plot being that Kim Tan really forced his affections on a girl that didn't seem to want them. Maybe she liked him, but her desire for a normal life was stronger and he couldn't let her be. It caused her so much suffering that I couldn't help but feel he was selfish to have put her through all that. The secondary plot was between him and his brother. I still don't understand why the brother was so afraid of Kim Tan taking the company, and why he hated him and treated him so poorly. Kim Tan tries multiple times to be loving and affectionate with his brother only to be stiff-armed. Even when there is some connection it really still feels distant. After 20 episodes of this struggle against their social status' to find a relationship it does finally end well. But, whew. It was a lot of stress getting here. 

Would I recommend it? Um, Yes... I guess. Only because it has rated so high and I feel the majority of people really liked it. It also won a lot of awards. It wasn't horrible for me, just wasn't my favorite kind of love story. It was too stressful. Lol.

OST

As a bonus, both Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye sang as part of the drama's OST. You can enjoy listening to them here! :

"Love Hurts"

"Story"

Awards Won

Lee Min Ho - 2013 - Best Asian Actor (Baidu Fei Dian Awards); Top Excellence Award, Top 10 Stars, Netizen Popularity Award, Best Dressed (21st SBS Drama Awards).

Park Shin Hye - 2013 - Popular Foreign Actress (18th Anhui TV Drama Awards); Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special, Top 10 Stars, Netizen Popularity Award (21st SBS Drama Awards); 2014 - Most Popular (TV) Actress (50th Baeksang Arts Awards); Outstanding Leading Actress (2nd Asia Rainbow TV Awards); Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries (3rd APAN Star Awards).

Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye - 2013 - Best Couple Award (21st SBS Drama Awards)

Kim Woo Bin - 2013 - Popular Foreign Actor (18th Anhui TV Drama Awards); Top 10 Stars, Netizen Popularity Award (21st SBS Drama Awards).

Kim Sung Ryung - 2013 - Special Acting Award, Actress in a Drama Special (21st SBS Drama Awards)

Choi Jin Hyuk - 2013 - New Star Award (21st SBS Drama Awards)

Kang Min Hyuk - 2013 - New Star Award (21st SBS Drama Awards)

Kim Ji Won - 2013 - New Star Award (21st SBS Drama Awards)

Kang Shin Hyo - 2014 - Outstanding Director (2nd Asia Rainbow TV Awards)

Kim Eun Sook - 2014 - Outstanding Scriptwriter (2nd Asia Rainbow TV Awards)

Moment - Lee Changmin - 2014 - Outstanding Theme Song (2nd Asia Rainbow TV Awards)

The Heirs - 2014 - Best Modern Drama (2nd Asia Rainbow TV Awards); Outstanding Korean Drama (9th Seoul International Drama Awards) 

안녕! - 줄스