My Love from the Star


My Love from the Star is a South Korean romantic fantasy television series, which aired on SBS from December 18, 2013 to February 27, 2014. The series, which ran for 21 episodes, is directed by Jang Tae-yoo, written by Park Ji-eun, produced by Moon Bo-mi and Choi Moon-suk and features an ensemble cast starring Jun Ji-hyun, Kim Soo-hyun, Park Hae-jin and Yoo In-na. The story is about an extraterrestrial alien who landed on Earth in the Joseon Dynasty and, 400 years later, falls in love with a top actress in the modern era. This is the second collaboration between Kim and Jun, who previously worked together in the heist film The Thieves. It is also Jun's small screen comeback after 14 years.
The series was given generally positive reviews during its release in South Korea and received several accolades across Asia. Jun won the Daesang, the highest award for Korean television, at the Baeksang Arts Awards and the SBS Drama Awards, as did Kim at the Korea Drama Awards.

Synopsis

Do Min-joon is an alien that landed on Earth in the year 1609, during the Joseon Dynasty. As he saves a young girl named Yi-hwa from falling off a cliff, he misses his trip back to his planet and is stranded on Earth for the next four centuries. He possesses a near-perfect human appearance, enhanced physical abilities involving his vision, hearing and speed, and a cynical, jaded view regarding human beings. As he never ages, Min-joon is forced to take on a new identity every ten years, having been a doctor, astronomer, and banker, and now presently working as a college professor.
Cheon Song-yi is a famous Hallyu actress, having attained stardom since middle school, however her haughty demeanor has earned derision in the entertainment industry and social media. Furthermore her spendthrift mother has mismanaged her finances, while younger brother Cheon Yoon-jae is estranged by her success. Lee Hee-kyung has been Song-yi's friend since middle school and remains in love with her while being continually rejected. In turn, Yoo Se-mi, who is frequently cast as a supporting actress alongside her childhood best friend Song-yi, has had a crush on Hee-kyung since middle school despite her love being unrequited. As a result Se-mi and her mother secretly harbor a deep jealousy towards Song-yi, feeling that one's career is at the expense of the other.
With only three months left before Min-joon's long-awaited departure back to his planet of origin, Song-yi suddenly becomes his next-door neighbor. Slowly, Min-joon finds himself entangled in Song-yi's crazy and unpredictable situations, saving her multiple times. He finds out that she at a young age resembles Yi-haw whom he fell in love with 400 years ago in the Joseon era. Min-joon and Song-yi eventually fall in love; he tries but fails to keep himself away from Song-yi as he needs to leave Earth without any attachments, while Song-yi initially is not understanding of his impending departure but ultimately accepts letting him go to assure his survival.
After rumored to have caused the suicide of her arch-rival, actress Han Yoo-ra, Song-yi's career goes into a downturn while she is dropped by her talent agency and sponsors. Earlier at a celebrity wedding Song-yi had witnessed Yoo-ra in a secret relationship with Lee Jae-kyung, the elder brother of Hee-hyung. Consequently Jae-kyung tries to silence Song-yi until Min-joon broker a deal to spare her in return for burying the evidence. But Jae-kyung turns out to be much more dangerous than Min-joon suspected, learning to exploit Min-joon's weaknesses, and even injuring Se-mi's older brother, a prosecutor investigating Yoo-ra's suicide. Min-joon, despite being discrete with using his special powers eventually get the attention of police, while also losing control of his powers as his departure date nears. While jealous of Min-joon for winning Song-yi's heart, Hee-kyung nonetheless works together with him to protect her from Jae-kyung.

Cast

Main

"My Destiny", the theme song of the drama performed by Lyn, received positive reviews in South Korea and peaked at number 2 on the Gaon Music Chart.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Production

The show is written by Park Ji-eun, directed by Jang Tae-yoo, and produced by Moon Bo-mi and Choi Moon-suk under the banner of HB Entertainment. As the protagonist of the series possesses superpowers, like the ability to teleport and stop time, special effects had to be employed. The crew used 60 small, special cameras for bullet time effect creation. The GoPro camera was installed in 180 degrees and "stopped" characters were filmed from various angles. The final scene is a montage of various smaller details and then enhanced digitally. This was the first time that HD cameras were used to produce a television series in South Korea.
Among the filming locations were two newly built luxury buildings, Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park and Boutique Monaco. The Korea Tourism Organization later held a 3D exhibit at the DDP Art Hall from 10 June to 15 August 2014 which featured one of the house sets used, with the display rooms titled "Start," "Fate," "Shaking" and "Longing" in line with the plot of the drama.

Reception

The series influenced Korean fashion, with clothes, accessories and make-up products worn by Jun Ji-hyun seeing an "unprecedented" surge in orders. It also placed first as "Korea's most favorite program" in a poll conducted by Gallup Korea in February 2014, with 11.5 percent of the votes. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo, a children's novel, was propelled to the top of the bestseller lists in major Korean bookstores after the male protagonist repeatedly quotes from it throughout the series.
In addition to high viewership ratings in South Korea, the series also proved to be successful in China, where it became the most expensive Korean drama sold at per episode until it was surpassed by Descendants of the Sun in 2016. It also became one of the most viewed streaming shows on Chinese platform iQiyi, where it was streamed more than 14.5 billion times from December 2013 to February 2014. The series struck up a craze for chimaek, a popular Korean snack of chicken and beer, which is the favorite snack of the female protagonist. Despite declining chicken consumption in China due to fear of H7N9 bird flu, fried chicken restaurants in cities saw an increase in orders after the show ran. Meanwhile, Korean instant noodle maker Nongshim said sales in January and February 2014―while the drama aired―rose to a record high in its more than 15-year history of business in China; this, too, was attributed to a scene in the drama where the couple enjoyed a bowl of noodles on a trip.

Critical reception

The show was given many positive reviews by critics. In an op-ed piece published by the China Daily, writer Xiao Lixin attributed its success to "great innovations in South Korean TV productions in terms of themes and narrative patterns," praising the plot as "logical and fast-paced" interspersed with "whimsy and romantic punch lines," and that "high-speed photography and computer-generated effects" helped "create a lifelike visual impact." Yu Zheng, another writer, found My Love from the Star worthy of being studied, and thought the plot was "simple but has tension. A good combination of outdoor and indoor scenes." Variety show director Pang Bo remarked that the makers of the series paid attention to technical details even in the shortest scenes involving special effects. Chinese celebrities such as Zhao Wei and Gao Yuanyuan also followed and actively posted about the series on Sina Weibo, boosting its popularity. The Washington Post reported in March 2014 that the Korean drama was discussed at China's National People's Congress, particularly in a committee of political advisory body Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, where it reportedly topped the agenda among delegates from the culture and entertainment industry.

Ratings

In this table, represent the lowest ratings and represent the highest ratings.
It aired on GMA Network from April 21 to June 30, 2014, on weeknights at 5:45 PM PST for 51 episodes. Each episode runs 45 minutes including commercial breaks. A 150-minute special with the subtitle The Kilig Throwback recapped the episodes of each preceding week, and aired every Sunday from May 18 to June 29, 2014, at 10:45 AM, then later moved to 11:15 AM PST. The entire series was dubbed in Filipino. It was the highest rated Korean drama in the Philippines for 2014.

Awards and nominations

My Love from the Star cast and crew have been nominated for many accolades including Baeksang Arts Awards and the SBS Drama Awards, Korea Drama Awards, International Drama Festival and Shanghai Television Festival. Kim Soo-hyun has won the Best Global Actor in Huading Awards.

Adaptations

In 2014, an American remake was under development at American Broadcasting Company, to be written by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, and produced by HB Entertainment and EnterMedia Contents in association with Sony Pictures Television. Executive producers will be Craft and Fain, creator of the original series Park Ji-eun, CEO of HB Entertainment Moon Bo-mi, and Sebastian Lee and David Kim from EnterMedia Contents.
A Philippine remake was broadcast and produced by GMA Network. One of the top leading ladies in the Philippines, Jennylyn Mercado was tapped to portray Jun Ji-hyun's character, Steffi Cheon. On 9 December 2016, Filipino-Spanish model and first time actor Gil Cuerva was confirmed to be the leading man, replacing Alden Richards of AlDub, who was initially announced to star as the male lead but later turned down the role for another project. The series was under the direction of Bb. Joyce Bernal and was released on 29 May 2017. It was a success in the Philippines, achieving high ratings, and dubbed as "One of the most loved Korean drama in the Philippines".
A Thai remake by Channel 3, starring Nadech Kugimiya and Peeranee Kongthai was aired between 17 September to 11 November 2019, with low ratings.
Due to its popularity in mainland China, the series was re-edited into a two-hour feature-length film by Chinese production company Meng Jiang Wei, and was released in theaters in summer 2014.

Controversy

In a statement posted on her blog on 20 December 2013, author Kang Kyung-ok alleged that the series' concept was plagiarized from her 2008 comic book Seol-hee, claiming that the background, setup, jobs, and relationships between characters were similar. The spokesperson from production company HB Entertainment denied the plagiarism charge, calling it "nonsensical" since the male protagonist in Kang's story is human, not an alien, and that screenwriter Park Ji-eun "had never read or heard of" Seol-hee. A representative from SBS told news outlets that the network would investigate the matter. On 20 May 2014, Kang filed her lawsuit in court against Park Ji-eun and HB Entertainment, asking for in damages. HB Entertainment responded that it was prepared to "strongly confront" the lawsuit with their own evidence and witnesses, calling the charges of plagiarism "synonymous to a death sentence" to creators which must be "eradicated." Kang dropped her lawsuit on 3 July 2014 after an out-of-court settlement.
Indonesian television network RCTI aired a TV series in 2014 titled ‘Kau Yang Berasal Dari Bintang’, first thought to be an authorized remake of My Love from the Star, but was then found to be a plagiarized version, with the Indonesian series having exactly the same set up and storyline as the Korean drama. In an interview with Korean media outlet TV Report, a representative from SBS Contents Hub said, "The drama was created without the obtainment of legal publication rights. You could view it as plagiarism. While we were in the process of discussing the sale of legal publication rights with another Indonesian enterprise, this drama came out. We are in the midst of finding what course of action to take."