One Percent of Anything
Country: Korea
Genre: Drama
Release Year: 2004
Type: Series
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One Percent of Anything Review
This series is also sometimes written as 1% of Anything and Something About 1%.
A middle schoolteacher named Kim Da-Hyung helps an old man named Lee Ku-cho on the subway. Unbeknownst to her, Lee Ku-Cho is actually the affluent chairman of Sage Enterprise, and he planning to retire and give the shares of his company away. Although he wants to leave his money to his grandson, Lee Jae-In, he also wants to make his grandson more subservient since Jae In has been very rebellious for some time. Since he realizes that Kim Da-Hyung is truly a warm-hearted woman and wants to hook up his grandson with a woman, Lee Ku-Cho writes in his will that whoever marries Kim Da-Hyung will inherit his fortune. Grandson Jae In is outraged when he hears this, but he eventually decides to attempt to woo Kim Da-Hyung because his cousin and worst enemy, Tae-ya, is also after the family fortune. Since Kim Da-Hyung doesn't realize the old man that she helped on the subway is Lee Ku-Cho, she initially believes Jae In to be con artist, but learns that he is indeed the Lee Jae-In who is a relative of Sage Enterprise. From the beginning, Kim Da-Hyung can't stand Jae In's rude temperament, but soon Lee Jae-In's temperament begins to change, and they begin to fall for each other.
After watching the first episode you'll know why this series is called One Percent of Anything. It's really a one percent chance that the main character can get the girl, and there's also a one percent chance that you'll actually like this drama (okay, I'm exaggerating, but seriously, this drama sucked). The initial episodes were unbearable, partly because the male lead sucked, and partly because the episodes were just excruciatingly boring. Although it got slightly better as the drama progressed, it wasn't enough for me to say that this drama was enjoyable.
What stood out to me is that this series bears a striking resemblance to another Korean drama named Full House. Both of them feature a guy who's initially a jerk, and both of them include a "contract engagement." However, I cannot say that this drama was a copy because both of the dramas came out in the same year (2004). Then again, all Korean dramas are pretty similar so perhaps I'm just overanalyzing.
This series is twenty-six episodes long, yet I felt that the story could have been better told in less than fifteen episodes. The main reason this series is so long isn't because it's so captivating that the audience is just dying for more, but because there are so many sub-plots and extraneous scenes that just make this series drag on for eternity. Truth be told, this series might have been good if they just put more emphasis on the main characters and less emphasis on all the stupid sub-plots. The premise was interesting as well, but the character development, especially of the male lead, was way too slow for my liking.
Kang Dong Wan's character, Lee Jae-In, is a horribly developed character. He is a complete jerk at the beginning, and this might be enough to piss off some people who are thinking about watching this series. Although most male characters in Korean dramas are usually jerky or somewhat arrogant at the beginning of a series, Lee Jae-In was quite extreme, and this character's personality was one of the main reasons I didn't find this series very enjoyable. It's true that this series wanted to emphasize that the main relationship has a one percent chance to succeed, which is why the main character is such an ass, but Lee Jae-In was just a tad bit over exaggerated. Perhaps this series would have been more enjoyable if it was entitled 20% of Anything. Jae-In's attitude does get better as the series progresses, but this transformation was too slow for my liking. In comparison to Lee Young-Jae from Full House, Jae-In has a worse personality and develops much slower. If the series were slightly shorter, this painful transition might have been more bearable to endure.
Kim Jung Hwa's character is one of the few good roles in this series. Jung Hwa can act, and she's very good at portraying an innocent teacher. Personally, I think she might be more suited for a sexier role, but she played her part in this film very nicely. In one of the earlier episodes where she is trying to act sexy, I was wowed by how beautiful she was in the red dress. She also has some of the more humorous lines and actions in this series, and it's easy to say she is one of the saving graces of the series.
Another major problem is that the other sub-characters who are vying for the female's love are uninteresting and not even remotely a threat to Lee Jae-In ( despite the fact that Jae-In shouldn't be that hard to top). The co-worker of Kim Jung Hwa, Teacher Kang, is portrayed as a desperate and ugly little man that could creep out any girl. Tae-ya, another competitor for the Lee family's money, isn't really even a factor since he has his eyes set on Eun-Jing, another sub-character. So what this drama possesses is a weak love triangle that quickly loses steam in the midst of this drama. Stronger and more interesting supporting characters probably could have saved this series, but then again, the storyline of the supporting characters are extremely boring.
What's more to bash about this series? Well, the music pretty much sucked. This series is a prime example what a low-budget film feels like, and the horrible soundtrack just emphasizes this even more. Since nice music is pretty much essential for drama series, it's disappointing to realize that you will be listening to horrible music every time there's supposed to be a commercial break.
The series has some redeeming qualities, but overall I would recommend anyone to avoid this drama. The middle doesn't drag as much as the beginning, but it's still quite slow and uninteresting. The main characters are somewhat interesting, but the supporting cast is atrocious! This series definitely isn't worth your time, and I might only be able to recommend this for big fans of Kang Dong Wan or Kim Jung-Hwa.
Written by Andrew
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Kim Jung Hwa as Kim Da-hyun
