[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Color Fantasy - Vivid Romance" Episodes 1-2

In-seong (played by Yoon Si-yoon) is a cheerful young man trying to make the best of a bad employment situation and get a decent job. Unfortunately the universe likes to play cruel jokes on In-seong. Soon In-seong is without a job apartment or girlfriend. This leaves In-seong with little choice except to go along with the scheme of his best friend Ji-seob (played Kang Ki-young), which is to agree to be a medical test subject for a quick and easy payout.

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The first two episodes of "Three Color Fantasy - Vivid Romance" are pretty standard superhero origin story stuff. The twist is that we already know In-seong isn't going to be a superhero, because "Three Color Fantasy - Vivid Romance" is fairly obviously set in the real world. While in-seong does eventually manage to stop a crime, it's mostly because by sheer coincidence he happened to be nearby one that was happening.

And even then In-seong's thought process was not exactly noble. Earlier on In-seong was bystander to another crime, and fantasized about pulling off a heroic rescue less out of concern for justice and more because he wanted an attractive woman to look at him with stark admiration. So-ra (played by Cho Soo-hyang) never acts anything remotely like that. In fact, the one time In-seong has an opportunity to be heroic right in front of her, he cowers down because So-ra has this effect of making a man feel ashamed for behaving like he's in a cartoonish fantasy.

In-seong can't help but wish for these things, because he's a guy. No really, "Three Color Fantasy - Vivid Romance" is really just a very simple male wish fulfillment fantasy. While violence and sex play a part in In-seong's fantasies, they're just a means to an end. In-seong wants to be a cool dude that other people will love unconditionally. In a way it's a little sad. In-seong's newfound physical abilities are just a means to an end- not a greater calling.

While the plot in "Three Color Fantasy - Vivid Romance" is fairly rote, the mundane trappings work to make In-seong an unusually relatable character. It also helps that Yoon Si-yoon is in top form as the upbeat everyman. In-seong's sense of justice is exactly proportional. He just wants to get along with everybody. The lack of any malicious feelings on In-seong's part begs the question of where exactly the drama will go where it comes to conflict. For now, the opening was at least fairly convincing.

Review by William Schwartz

"Three Color Fantasy - Vivid Romance" is directed by Park Sang-hoon-III, written by Park Eun-yeong & Park Hee-kwon and features Yoon Si-yoon, Cho Soo-hyang, Kang Ki-young, Kim Min-soo, Jang Hee-ryung, Hwang Young-hee, Ji Dae-han, Woo Do-im and Woo Hyeon.