Image Source: Google
I’m a hardcore fans of psychology and my interest in psychology genre on movie or drama is something that I can’t help – maybe due to I’m not a typical of normal person either. What encourage me watch this Korean drama beside the main story line who portrays the live of a man who diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder was the popularity of this drama. Many viewer appreciated this drama as a must-watch list and I though it won’t be too painful if I tried this one – even though it’s classified as romance genre which not my favorite.
The drama which I’ll to share entitled “Kill Me Heal Me”. With the theme that covering about Multiple Personality Disorder which also known as Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D), this drama manages to be one of the most popular Korean drama in 2015, even this MBC’s drama has managed to get five nominations at the 51st Baeksang Arts Award. With a total of 20 episodes, this drama combines elements of romance, comedy,medical, and mysteries in a fascinating spectacle.
About "Kill Me Heal Me"
"Kill Me Heal Me" tells the story of Cha Do Hyun (Ji Sung) who is the grandson of the owner of well-known companies, Seungjin Group. Do Hyun seems normal and fine from the outside, however in truth he suffered from a mental disorder known as D.I.D (Dissociative Identity Disorder). His illness quite severe since he has 7 personalities including his true self.
Do Hyun lived in the United States to hide his illness however he is forced to return to South Korea to become the deputy director of his cousin, Cha Ki Joon (Oh Min Seok). In order to keep conceal his illness, Do Hyun was quietly searching for a private psychiatrist with the assistance of his private secretary, Ahn (Choi Woon Young).
They found Dr. Seok (Go Chang Suk), a great psychiatrist who has managed to hold a variety of psychology cases. Unfortunately Dr. Seok refused the offer and instead he advised his students, Dr. Oh Jin Ri (Hwang Jung Eum) to become Do Hyun personal psychiatrist. This is because he believes Ri Jin was able to connect and control all seven personalities of Do Hyun. The proof is when Ri Jin met with the most difficult personality of Do Hyun in the nightclub and she managed to conquer him and make that personality calm.
Shin Sae Gi - Do Hyun's alter ego who always use violence can control by Oh Ri Jin
Image Source: Google - Edited by me
Ri Jin herself was a girl who tends quick-tempered and clumsy but always strive to heal their patients and become the best psychiatrist. Ri Jin has a twin brother named Oh Ri On (Park Seo-Joon), which from the outside act like unemployment while in fact Ri On is a famous novelist under the pseudonym "Omega".
Initially Ri Jin refused to become Do Hyun’s private psychiatrist because she was always involved in danger every time she was dealing with another personality of Do Hyun. However after a discussion with Dr. Seok and listened to the life story of Do Hyun who always rectify the mess situation that caused by the others six personalities, eventually leading to the sincere intention of Ri Jin to cure Do Hyun’s illness.
Is Ri Jin able to become good therapist for Do Hyun when they began to be attracted to each other? Whether she will succeed to unite all six personalities of Do Hyun, when one of them refused to fused back as Do Hyun because he also fell in love with Ri Jin, even challenged Do Hyun to compete to be the personality who is the sole owner of Do Hyun’s body?
The Characters
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Cha Do Hyun played by Ji Sung He is a good-looking man with a friendly personality. However, he is often exploited by others and he never fight back because he was worried about his other personalities would come out and create a mess. Do Hyun has a dark past but he could not remember anything and believed that his childhood trauma is what makes him suffer the D.I.D. |
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| Oh Ri Jin played by Hwang Jung-Eum She may look elegant at first, in fact she is a clumsy girl. She always suspected as “Omega”, the mysterious author of the famous novel when she's just a psychiatrist. She always had an awful dream but don’t know what the meaning behind those dream and always be afraid of fire and the basement however she can’t recall the reason. |
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| ❸ | Oh Ri On played by Park Seo-Joon Ri Jin’s twin brother who is the cause Ri Jin often mistaken as Omega while he is the real “Omega”. From the outside Ri On portrays silly and friendly person. However, otherwise conceal himself as the author of famous novel, Ri On secretly investigate Seungjin Group especially Do Hyun. |
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| Cha Ki Joon played by Oh Min-Seok The director of Seungjin Group who also Do Hyun’s cousin. He is ambitious for anything in particular to own Seungjin Group entirety and dismantle Do Hyun’s secret. Ki Joon has a fiancé but he was always cold and only care to her at certain moments. |
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| ❺ | Han Chae Yeon played by Kim Yoo-Ri She is a childhood friend and Do Hyun’s first-love but now she is Ki Joon’s fiancée. She was engaged to Ki Joon due to company and business matters. She was cynical to any woman who close with Do Hyun especially Ri Jin. |
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Rather than "Kill Me" ask "Heal Me"
In addition to the idea of an interesting story, the key to the success of this drama was the acting of Ji-Sung who played Cha Do Hyun. He truly marvelous! Not only plays seven different characters in one drama, he also managed to visualize the character of each personality possessed by Cha Do Hyun. Where all seven personalities are entirely opposite to each other ranging from feature, accent, body language, and their eyesight, even two of the personality were girl. Let me introduce you to the other personality of Cha Do Hyun:
1. Sin Sae Gi
Se Gi has a mischievous personality, wild, bold and always fight without mercy. Se Gi is a personality that often appear among the others, especially when he was in pain or distress. Se Gi is the only personality who recall the past of Do Hyun and loved Oh Ri Jin since their meeting at a nightclub.
Sae Gi meet Oh Ri Jin for the First Time
Image Source: Youtube
2. Ferry Park
Ferry Park will appear when Do Hyun confusion to resolve the problem. Ferry Park is a male aged 40 years and speaks using Jeolla dialect. If Ferry Park appears, then he will make a lot of bombs and blow it up in place that becomes a problem for Do Hyun. Ferry Park love fishing and get drunk.
3. Ahn Yoseob
Ahn Yo Seob is a 17 years old boy who is genius in various fields especially art. However he has one desire which is to suicide although he never succeeded. Yo Seob will appear when Do Hyun surrender and tired of his life.
Oh Ri Jin replaced Yoseob's message "KILL ME" with "HEAL ME"
Image Source : Google
4. Ahn Yona
Ahn Na Yo is Yoseob's twin sister, a17 years old teenage girl. She was very lively and jovial - maybe she is arguably the most dangerous personality exceed Shin Se Gi, due to her addiction to boy-band and Ri Jin's twin brother. Yo Na can create a big mess because of her attitude and she will appear when Do Hyun moderate to severe stress.
Her lip tint in this drama made Ji Sung as the first male actor to sell out female cosmetics ^_^
Image Source: Google
When Yona appeared and trying to Kiss Oh Ri On
Source: Youtube
5. Nana
Nana is a 7 years old girl who has a teddy bear reads "I'm Nana '. Nana's personality is arguably special because Nana can make Do Hyun remember his past.
6. Mr X
Mr. X is the personality of Do Hyun who came at the end of the episode. His appearance similar with a magician with hat, black cloak and wand. Mr. X is a mysterious personality where the final decision about Do Hyun's life is on his hand.
Another thing that boost the positive scores of this drama is the establishment of the characters. The author managed to portray all the characters in this drama in understandable way. The audience will get the explanation why the character A is a grumpy figure or the reasons behind the evil nature of the character B. Even the characters of Do Hyun’s multiple personality also has a typical of personal alter ego fragments which are often uneven or too extreme and only focus on something. The incidents that stimulate their emergence was able to make me dumbfounded because it was unexpected. For this, the author is quite detailed in describing the history of each of the characters. Two-thumbs up for the author!!
Additional things that I should mark is the way this drama mix the heavy-topic such psychology by adding element of comedy and romance in it. In my judgment by adding the element of comedy in this drama establish the heavy topics into a spectacle that can be enjoyed by more people. With a touch of comedy and romance, the drama which has a core of a complicated story may seem mild without compromising the quality of the core story itself.
Oh Ri On tried to stop his twin sister from blowing up his cover as "Omega"
Image Source: my own screen-cap from the drama
My point for this drama is 9.5 out of 10. Things that is lacking in my opinion was the cinematography effects. On several early scenes, there are some effects which I think is unnatural and exaggerated. However for story ideas, plot, storyline, and especially the acting of Ji Sung (Lead Male Actor) were undeniable exceptional.
I highly recommend this drama especially for lovers of psychology. This drama is both entertaining and touching plus it can provide an overview for common people regarding child trauma and D.I.D.
