:: Sixtwentyseven ::

I guess I've gained a bit of momentum in watching dramas since I'm coming up with this review pretty quickly but workload + long holiday weekend sure does the trick since I've finished through this drama in 3 days. Big first attracted me due to the OST with a solid ballads from Huh Gak, Davichi, Noel, B2ST and Suzy from miss A. I'll tell you more of my thoughts on the OST later but first I'll give my views on the drama.

Big is a fantasy story whereby 2 persons swapped souls with each other after an accident. Seo Yoon Jae(Gong Woo) is a doctor who met Gil Da Ran (Lee Min Jung) through an accident at their friend's wedding. They gotten together after the accident and was on the way to marriage. However, doubts began to show in Da Ran after Yun Jae seemed hesitant. Kang Kyun Joon (Shin Won Ho) is a transfer student in the school Da Ran is teaching and they met through an incident that Da Ran has accidentally taken his umbrella while alighting the bus. On the day Da Ran wanted to confirm Yoon Jae's feeling towards her, Kyun Joon drove her to the suburbs to clear her head. On his way back however, he met with an accident which includes Yoon Jae and by miracle, their souls swapped bodies.

My view of Big is somewhat mixed after watching the whole drama. In the beginning, I thought Big started with promise. But as the drama go by, I did have this feeling that the scriptwriter was beginning to lose the direction it wanted to take. I guessed by feeling was summarized by the last episode which does not closes the story but instead sought to confuse the viewer further. As much as I want to voice out my opinion of the ending, I guess it's best to leave it offline so that I do not leave any spoilers in this post.

Another incident which irk me a bit was the lapse in the scenes in the drama. For example in episode 2, where Ma Ri (Suzy) was carrying her luggage and speaking to Da Ran first and later to Yoon Jae, she walked away without her luggage after they have finished speaking. Another is in the last episode where both teachers Ae Kyung and Na Hyo Sang were announcing their marriage and hints of pregnancy, the next scene showed the incident one year later with Ae Kyung still heavily pregnant. Err hello?

As mentioned in the beginning, the OST of Big is of top quality with songs from Huh Gak, Davichi, Noel, B2ST and Suzy from miss A. However, i was disappointed with the usage of the songs in the drama save for the a couple. In my last review, Queen In Hyun's Man technically speaking has 3 main songs that the drama uses the songs very well to invoke the emotions of the viewer. However, comparing with Big, I do think Big has come out short in this area. Davichi's Because of you is used frequently in the drama and appropriately as well, same goes for Huh Gak's One Person. However, I do find B2ST's Hateful Person as the ending theme as a odd choice given the fact that the drama does not always end on a "cheerful" mode and the song by B2ST is generally upbeat. The song "If it's Love" by Noel is an excellent song by itself but surprisingly is used sparsely in the drama. Maybe having just a few solid songs in the drama will do the trick but when you have 5 quality tracks in your OST, maybe the sound director lost its direction as well.

Nonetheless, I need to comment on the quality of the soundtrack. Huh Gak really nailed this track "One Person" that the track was the song I start on my playlist for more than a few days. I think this song touches the heart really deeply and you can feel the emotions of the song.



The other song in the OST that impressed me a lot is Suzy's "I still love you". The song impressed me not with the rhythm nor the lyrics, but the vocal range that tested Suzy. Her previous OST tracks did not exactly impress me but I do think this is her track to date. But if you want to compare about emotions, then I do feel Suzy is somewhat lacking a bit in here.



Speaking about emotions, Davichi is clearly not lacking in this area. Besides Huh Gak's "One Person", this is the only song that I feel they used it to effect in the drama. In the latter of the drama, they released the male version of the song with Gong Yoo as the singer. They used the song as well for one particular episode, but I didn't feel the effect as much as Davichi's version.



Noel's "If it's love" is one song I do feel they used it too sparingly in the drama. No doubt Davichi's and Huh Gak's songs are more appropriate in the drama, "If it's love" is still suitable in some of the scenes.



Lastly, the song that I feel did not really fit into any part of the drama. "Hateful person" is a nice, cheery feeling track but hey, I think I've seen more tears than laughter in this drama. Oh well, it's still used as the ending track for most episodes.



Overall, if you'd ask me should I watch the drama, I'd still say yes. Or at least listen to this OST, because it's really filled with excellent tracks. And oh, should I mention, I absolutely love Lee Min Jung in this drama, for some reason. Maybe like what she said in the latter episodes, she must be crazy.