[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Color Fantasy - Vivid Romance" Episodes 3-4

If the first two episodes were somewhat vague on the genre territory of "Three Color Fantasy - Vivid Romance", the third and fourth ones do a much clearer job of setting up that the drama is, indeed, like the title implies, a romance. Learning about events have unfolded from So-ra's perspective is the main elucidating storyline event there. In short, she acted impulsively, and her actions were not a reflection on any kind of failure on In-seong's part.

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But In-seong, of course, did not know that. This is how "Three Color Fantasy - Vivid Romance" effectively manages to keep In-seong sympathetic even while he's kind of being a jerk. It's So-ra's own fault this situation come up. Indeed, Tae-i (played by Jang Hee-ryung) is the more sympathetic character here. As In-seong's new love interest, Tae-i has only ever seen In-seong in his perfect superpowered form. She doesn't know the real In-seong, who's a bit of a dork.

Yet that's entirely where his charm lies. In-seong is a very affectionate, if sometimes goofy boyfriend, who has always been there for So-ra and probably always will be. When In-seong tries to impress Tae-i, his unambiguous success actually cheapens the experience. Tae-i is, protestations notwithstanding, a fairly easy woman to impress. Cool superpowered In-seong is an obvious intentional effort to be the perfect man. Loser In-seong was much more appealing on account of his essential sincerity.

Take the two big uses of In-seong's newfound powers in the fourth episode. The first is more technically impressive, as it was done in front of a large audience and featured a cash reward. However, anyone could have and probably would have tried to pull off that stunt if they had In-seong's powers. Now, look at how In-seong later uses his power to help So-ra. In-seong does this not so out of any expectation of tangible reward. In-seong is instead motivated entirely by his desire to be a good person.

And don't forget the lateral thinking- In-seong's ability to consider all the possible angles is not a function of his superpowers. In-seong is simply a broad-minded, kind, considerate man. Even though almost everything we've seen of In-seong and So-ra has been post break-up, it's surprising how much we can see that they've shaped each other as people. It's why they're getting back together is seeming an increasing inevitability- less because we want a happy ending, and more because of how they tie into each other's personal identities.

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.