Because This is my First Life (2017)
Quick Take: Because This is my First Life (2017), starring Lee Min-ki and Jung So-min. 9.2/10. Sixteen 70-minute episodes
Synopsis: Three friends from a seaside village move to Seoul to follow their dreams, but at age 30 things are not working out for any of them. Yoon Ji-ho has spent years as an assistant scriptwriter on daytime dramas, without advancement or recognition. Yang Ho-rang’s only goal is to be a good wife and mother, but her boyfriend of seven years is struggling financially and unsure about marriage. The third friend, Woo Su-ji, was determined to become a “boss.” Although she has advanced to mid-level management, her male co-workers sexually harass her constantly. She tolerates the disrespect for fear of losing her position, but it hurts.
Ji-ho is the main character. She agrees to a marriage of convenience with her landlord because she needs a place to stay and he needs a tenant to help pay off the mortgage, but he’s picky about tenants. Plus his father is threatening to divorce his mother if he doesn’t marry. Ji-ho and Se-hee sign a contract stipulating that they will marry and then divorce after two years.
Review: Admittedly, the marriage of convenience plot is a familiar one in the romance genre — Harlequin romance books, Lifetime movies, etc. What makes this one work is the perfect casting of the six leads.
Ji-ho’s two friends’ tribulations and relationships are ongoing subplots, along with in-law issues, money issues, and communication issues. Understandably, there’s a lot of drinking. First Life has more sex in it than most K-dramas I’ve seen so far, though what passes for a sexual encounter is two fully-clothed people diving under a quilt. It’s rather sweet, really.
Setting aside expectations and assumptions to create a relationship is the central theme of the story.
Recommended.
Rewatchable - 4, Compelling - 3, Plot/ Story/Writing - 10, Acting/Casting - 10, Production - 10, Bonus - 5. Bonus for development of relationship between the main characters, and depiction of Korean life.
Notes:
Lee Min-ki
has been acting in film and television since 2004. See him also in The Beauty Inside (2018) and My Liberation Notes (2022).
He also sings. Of course.
Kim Min-suk
has been acting in film and television since 2012. He had a supporting role in Descendants of the Sun (2016) as the street kid in Episode 1 who joins the military. In Lovestruck in the City (2020) he plays a similar role to the one in Because This is my First Life — the cute boyfriend.
Kim Min-kyu
played Ji-ho’s coworker at the the cafe where she worked part-time. So cute! He has been active in Korean TV since 2013, but without garnering much notice in terms of award nominations. He has a major role in two 2019 shows, Perfume and Queen: Love and War. See him also in Backstreet Rookie (2021) and as second lead in Business Proposal (2022).