So I Married My Anti-Fan stars Choi Tae-joon as mega pop-star Hoo Joon and Choi Soo-young as Lee Geun-young, a down to earth journalist. Geun-young is dubbed as Joon’s anti-fan after a run in between the two of them. To repair his image, Joon agrees to star in a new show, So I Married My Anti-Fan. His partner in the show is none other than his very own anti-fan, Geun-young. A subplot weaves through the show featuring Choi Jae-joon (or JJ), played by My Holo Love, Hwang Chan-sung, and Han Ji-ahn as Oh In-hyung in a troubled relationship with each other. Both have a past with Joon.
- Series Title: So I Married My Anti-Fan (Korean: 그래서 나는 안티팬과 결혼했다)
- Starring: Choi Tae-joon, Choi Soo-young, Hwang Chan-sung, Han Ji-an and Kim Min-kyu
- Written by: Kim Eun-jung and Nam Ji-yeon
- Directed by: Kang Cheol-woo
- Network: Naver TV
- Where to watch in the US: Hulu
- Premier Date: April 30, 2021 (filmed in 2017)
- # of episodes: 16
- KafeNook Rating: 4.1 sips
So I Married My Anti-Fan Review – – !!Spoilers Ahead!!
I broke my own rule with So I Married My Anti-Fan. I told myself I would only watch Kdramas with an IMDB rating of 7.5 or higher (there are a lot to watch after all!). The IMDB rating for So I Married My Anti-Fan is 7.3 as of this writing. I am a sucker for this type of romance, however. The kind where a highly successful (rich, famous, fill in the blank) person goes toe to toe, and falls in love with, a down to earth, nice (ie regular) person.
I found alot to like about this Kdrama. The scenes of mega-star Joon practicing dance moves, plugging away at the piano, sitting in a recording studio, and holding a concert, had me convinced that the actor, Choi Tae-joon, belongs to a kpop group. I was surprised to learn this is not case and most of what he has recorded is from this show. He has a nice voice.
It took about three episodes for the series to really get going. Once it did, I loved every scene between Joon and his anti-fan Guen-young. I found myself wanting to fast forward through other scenes (mostly those between JJ and In Hyung) to get back to the banter and sweetness between this couple. The series provides plenty of long looks, hugs and kisses that filled my happy meter.
The initial idea of Guen-young as a journalist helps propel the premise in the beginning. However, once the filming for the fictional series starts, Guen-young’s behavior is not much like a journalist. When there are questions about Joon and those surrounding, instead of her character trying to find answers, those answers mostly (and often conveniently) fall into her lap. Fortunately, later episodes reveal her good nature. Joon goes from seeing her as his anti-fan to realizing he has feelings for her. The series attempts to return to Guen-young’s journalist storyline, but even the writers recognized that they had built a character who is not a journalist at heart. In the end, Guen-young’s switch to becoming a writer feels more natural for her.
Supporting Storylines
The mystery surrounding Joon, JJ and In-hyung’s past, before Joon became a big star, weaves throughout the episodes. Flashbacks show their earlier friendship as the three of them try to make it in the Kpop business. But being friends in the past is not enough to make up for the bad things JJ and In-hyung say and do to each other or to Joon. For my part, I wanted to know why Joon kept meeting with JJ despite JJ’s bad behavior. The relationship between JJ and In-hyung is confusing at times and often difficult to watch. Most of the time I wanted to hate JJ (with good reason), but I suspected a turnaround was coming.
Unanswered Questions
News headlines about Joon are used effectively through most of the series until the last episode. In that episode, Guen-young gives an interview to show Joon’s good character. She even goes as far as locating hat guy to have him tell how Joon helped him out. But no new headlines concerning the interview are shown. Did her interview help his reputation? Did writing a Hoo Joon Manual help Joon or only help Guen-young get published through her new employer?
After Joon pays off Shooting Star’s debts, he goes away to deal honorably with those he had contracts with and to try to repair his reputation. Showing how Joon and Guen-young’s actions to repair Joon’s reputation through headlines would have made the last episode so much better and tied it in with earlier episodes. Thankfully, the series ends well with a nice marriage proposal – and a kiss!
Best Tear-jerker Moments
There are a number of incidents that drive Joon to tears, but the one that really got to me comes as he talks on the phone with his mother. With my own children, I’ve seen them hold their emotions in until they are with one of their parents. At that point, they let go – all their emotions and feelings pouring out in a stream. Choi Tae-joon perfectly captures this type of emotional breakdown in this scene and I felt my heart breaking for him.
Random Things I Liked
All the slow-motion running. Joon and Guen-young looked really cute holding hands as they run together.
So I Married My Anti-Fan Soundtrack
Like most Kdramas I’ve watched so far, I went around singing at least one song from So I Married My Anti-Fan in my head for several days. In this case Bittersweet – I Wonder What is Love sung by Choi Tae-joon. Pop Star (played at Joon’s first concert in episode one) is also a fun song along with It’s You by Moon Kim (bonus – it’s sung in English).
