"Live Your Own Life" Kdrama Review: Because Uee Stars There, I'm "In"

Once I knew that Uee would star in "Live Your Own Life," I decided to add it to my watchlist. I indeed like Uee for her acting and hard work and she seems a good person :). 

• Expected episodes: 50

What is "Live Your Own Life" about?

Lee Hyo-Sim (Uee) is a fitness trainer who has been supporting her family since her father left them when she was a child. She always puts her mother and two siblings before herself, but now she wants to live her own life. Her family also realizes that they need to stand on their own feet and not depend on Hyo-Sim.

Her life changes when she meets Kang Tae-Ho (Ha-Joon), a smart and handsome director of a large company. He works in the planning department and has a confident personality. 

Main cast

• Lee Hyo-sim (played by Uee), a trainer at TS Fitness and the third child in her family. 
• Kang Tae-ho (played by Ha Jun), a director at Taesan Group. 
• Kang Tae-min (played by Go Joo-won) is the heir of Taesan Group and Kang Tae-ho’s brother.

Review

Full of tropes

This drama has all the classic tropes of a long weekend drama: a wicked chaebol family, a kidnapping, a missing father, a rich girl who runs away, loan sharks, a poor girl in a troubled family, a rich chaebol who has trauma and dead parents, and a love triangle between two cousins who are already enemies. I know it sounds like a lot of negativity, but it’s a drama after all. It also shows how people fight against the evil and the bad situations.

Family conflict

The first episode already shows how difficult it will be for both families to get along. The older brother is the breadwinner of his family, but his wife dominates their life. The other siblings are also in trouble. The male lead’s family will be less complicated, but they will clash with the female lead’s family at some point. I’m still curious to see how this drama will unfold. I don’t have high expectations after watching The Real Has Come!, but I think this drama will be better.

I stopped watching The Real Has Come! after some episodes that I did love. I didn’t see any chemistry between the main couple. They were boring and the second couple had more spark than them. I was surprised when they confessed their feelings because I didn’t feel it. I checked later to see if it got better but no, it didn’t. So I gave up and then just watched the final episode to see how the story wrapped up.

Will "Live Your Own Life" be different?

I wonder if this drama will be different from the typical family drama with 50 episodes. Will the parents let the “kids” make their own decisions about their love life, career, or education? Or will they interfere and nag about everything? 

Most family dramas have the same plot: the main couple and the side couples fall in love (usually after hating each other first) and then face the opposition of the “elders.” There are also some unreasonable villains and the main characters (especially the female lead) have to suffer and struggle for countless episodes until they finally get married.

Food choices in a fitness drama

If only the production team would consult a nutritionist about the food they show in the drama. It doesn’t make sense for the trainers to eat cup noodles when they are supposed to be promoting a gym and a healthy lifestyle.