Origin and release year: South Korea (2023 – Like Flowers in Sand)
Korean title: 모래에도 꽃이 핀다
Starring: Jang Dong Yoon, Lee Ju Myoung, Lee Joo Seung, Kim Bo Ra, Yoon Jong Seok, Lee Jae Joon, Jung Yeo Jun, Ahn Chang Hwan, Jang Hee Jung, Choi Moo Sung, Jang Young Nam, Woo Hyun, Seo Jung Yeon, Lee Yoo Joon, Lee Woo Je, Kim Min Seok, Kim Tae Jung, Lee Seung Kyu, Heo Dong Won
Director: Kim Jin Woo
Screenwriter: Won Yoo Jung
Synopsis: A delightful, lively human romantic comedy about the reunion of old wrestling prodigy Kim Baek Doo and old alley leader Oh Doo Sik, who are living in a tough present life. (IMDb)
This is another small town drama about people in a seaside village who know anything and everything about each other. Everyone is in each other’s business and that’s basically the premise of the drama.
Firstly, we need to give a shoutout to Jang Dong Yoon in his role as Baek Doo. He was giving serious best boy energy and it was the most wholesome thing that made us all fall for him. Also his mini dad bod (not quite a dad bod but kind of close to one considering his other roles) was really endearing somehow for this writer.
Usually in a drama like this, the village members could almost be seen as ensemble cast members, but that’s not the case this time. They are kind of in the background and each character’s job is solely to drive the main narrative forward. This was a bit of a shame because in dramas like Our Blues or Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, we at least get a little bit more invested in the support characters because they’re a bit more detailed and have their own sub-plots going on. It would’ve been nice to be able to get to know the people of the village a bit better aside from the main narrative. Maybe that would’ve made the drama more interesting.
In regards to the sports element, wrestling is a sport that a lot of people (at least those who would be into K-dramas) don’t have interest in (even in the Western world) so aside from the initial intrigue about the rules of Korean wrestling (씨름 in Korean), this drama is a little bit hard to sink your teeth into if you’re not into the sport. You might only find yourself interested in Baek Doo’s storyline and zoning out for the rest of the sports bits. However, they don’t overtake the narrative – just a big part of it at first.
Again, a drama that did the sports-drama balance well would be Twenty-Five Twenty-One (another Lee Ju Myoung drama that we highly recommend) where we had enough of the sport (fencing) to be invested in it without getting bored by the technicality and limitedness the training scenes add to the story.
One of the best parts of the whole drama was the chemistry between Baek Doo and Yoo Kyung (played by Lee Ju Myoung). It was the kind of subtle but impactful first love that we love to see in K-dramas. Both characters were authentically themselves around each other and there were no forced romantic moments. Just being together was enough to tell us how much they care about each other. This really contributed to the sweet healing nature of the drama.
This drama isn’t anything to write home about but it’s a decent watch if you’re looking for something chill and healing to watch during a K-drama drought.
What did you think of Like Flowers in Sand? Let us know in the comments!