Shining Inheritance

Shining Inheritance Review
Shining Inheritance, also known as Brilliant Legacy, is a modern-day Korean Cinderella story. Go Eun Sung is the daughter of a man with a failing company. She has a step-mother, a step-sister, and an autistic brother named Eun Woo. To provide for the family, Go Eun Sung's father fakes his death and goes into hiding so his wife can take the insurance money. Unknown to him, the step-mother decides to take the money for herself and her daughter, making Go Eun Sung and Eun Woo leave their house with only a few dollars.

Being a strong-willed girl, Go Eun Sung takes random jobs and lives with friends in order to survive with her autistic brother. However, one day her brother wanders off. The same day, Eun Sung again sees a boy named Sun Woo Hwan. She had accidentally taken his bag at the airport, but was never able to switch bags back. The haughty, rich, and temperamental Woo Hwan accidentally breaks her cellphone in a rage because he believes Eun Sung had stolen his bag. Due to this, Eun Sung believes that because her cellphone had broken, Eun woo was not able to call her that night for help.

Woo Hwan and Eun Sung's fates cross again when Eun Sung befriends an old lady on the street. The lady injured herself accidentally on the street and Eun Sung took her to the hospital. She paid the old lady's hospital bills and let the old lady live with her. When the old lady gets her memory back, it is revealed that she is the CEO of a large restaurant chain. Due to Eun Sung's kindness and the lack of ambition in her own grandchildren, the old lady decides to make Eun Sung the heir to the family company.

When Eun Sung goes to her house, she realizes that she has just taken the inheritance from none other than Sun Woo Hwan, the boy that broke her cellphone and the one that she hates the most.

This drama was spectacular. There hasn't been a drama so far that has made me want to watch every single episode without fast forwarding or skipping episodes. For a drama that's twenty-eight episodes, this is definitely an incredible feat. I think one of the main reasons this drama appealed to me was because the drama was multi-faceted, but each aspect of the drama was engaging in its own way. For example, there's a love square between Seung Mi, Sun Woo Hwan, Park Jun Se, and Go Eun Sung. There's also a developing love between the butler and Sun Woo Hwan's mom. Go Eun Sung's brother, Eun Woo, is also missing so there's a story arc for trying to find him. Eun Sung's mother is also the epitome of evil so there's plenty of malicious activity from her. All in all, each of these aspects just makes this series amazing.

I believe this might be Lee Seung Gi's first starring role? I could be wrong but he was great in this series. He plays the haughty Sun Woo Hwan, the main love interest to Han Hyo Joo's Go Eun Sung. At the beginning he was easy to hate. This guy really played the jerk well. There was almost nothing likeable about him. For him to transform from this guy to the kind-hearted man at the end of the drama would be infeasible in real life, but the transformation was incredibly believable in this drama. By the end I was definitely rooting for Hwan and Eun Sung.

Han Hyo Joo proves that she is one of the best actresses of this new generation. I would say she is definitely the new Song Hye Kyo. Not only does she look as beautiful as THE Song Hye Kyo, her acting is flawless and genuine. I've always found it amazing how great some Korean actresses are at capturing the raw emotions of love and sadness, and Han Hyo Joo is no exception. Need I have to mention again that she is absolutely GORGEOUS? That's always a deciding factor for me when I want to find a drama to watch.

Another significant role is the character of the evil stepmother, played by Kim Mi Sook. Boy does she play this role like a pro. She is evil beyond evil. Seriously, she makes Satan look like an innocent baby. Throughout the whole series there would be times that I would be absolutely amazed at how inhuman this character is. I attribute a lot of this to the writers. They created an awesome villain, but good job to Kim Mi Sook for playing this character. What happens to this character and her stepdaughter by the end make this series even more satisfying.

This drama was absolutely amazing, and you'll be doing yourself a disservice if you don't watch it. Han Hyo Joo has become one of my favorite actresses, and Lee Seung Ki proves that singers can also be actors. Shining Inheritance is an absolutely perfectly executed drama.

Written by Lance


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Shining Inheritance Cast
Han Hyo Joo as Go Eun Sung
Lee Seung Ki as Sun Woo Hwan
Bae Soo Bin as Park Jun Se
Moon Chae Won as Yoo Seung Mi
Kim Mi Sook as Baek Sung Hee
Min Young Won as Lee Hye Ri (Eun Sung's friend)
Yun Joon Suk as Go Eun Woo