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[HanCinema's News] The Unique Premise of "Extraordinary You" Dovetails With Kim Hye-yoon's Career

In the decade since "Boys over Flowers" bright and cheerful stories of high school life have become increasingly scarce, as projects like "A Moment at Eighteen" and "Class of Lies" have instead tried to capture the malaise of high school students in the present day. "Extraordinary You" has been a surprise hit in this regard, bringing romantic comedy back to its setting while being a fantasy about its lead character, Kim Hye-yoon, being stuck as an extra in a high school romantic comedy.

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As a meta-text "Extraordinary You" has much in common with its own premise. In terms of ratings, "Extraordinary You" has been greatly overpowered by "When the Camellias Bloom", a drama with a much more well-known cast and straightford concept. It's mainly in terms of social media metrics that "Extraordinary You" has been observed to be unusually popular, especially with younger audiences.

But "Extraordinary You" is perhaps even more appropriate metatextually in terms of its lead actress, Kim Hye-yoon. Though she has had a number of small roles over the years, generally in terms of being an extra with a speaking role, it was only with a breakout minor role in "SKY Castle" earlier this year that Kim Hye-yoon became a breakout star. Even a critically acclaimed role in the film "Another Child" earned her comparatively little kudos.

Having just hit her twenty-third birthday, Kim Hye-yoon still has plenty of time to become a star in her own right. What makes "Extraordinary You" so ironic is that Kim Hye-yoon is in a perfect position to understand the frustrations of its lead character, who knows, or at least considers herself to not be that important, In this counter-intuitive way, Kim Hye-yoon has been able to attract a serious fan following.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Extraordinary You" is directed by Kim Sang-hyeob, written by in Ji-hye, Song Ha-young, and features Kim Hye-yoon, Rowoon, Lee Jae-wook, Lee Naeun, Jung Gun-joo, Kim Young-dae. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2019/10/02~Now airing, Wed, Thu 20:55 on .

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