What’s there to complain about a silly fluffy series filled with beautiful men and women? Well, a plot would have been nice. If we just wanted to look at pretty people, there’s always Instagram and a bunch of other social media apps.
Directed by Kim Eun Hye and written by Yoon Na Ra, romantic comedy “Jun & Jun” follows former K-pop idol Lee Jun, who starts his office life as an intern with a company and finds out that the general manager is his childhood friend Choi Jun. Hence the title “Jun & Jun”, since an office romance brews between the two titular protagonists portrayed by Yang Jun Mo and Ki Hyun Woo. Over the course of eight episodes, Lee Jun tries to learn the ropes at his new job, deal with new colleagues and also figure out who he’d like to go out with, as three suitors pursue him.
The cinematography is pretty simple, the creators use a muted color palette through the runtime, which is quite appropriate for the office romance theme. However the dialogue writing and character interactions were quite convoluted, with most people preferring to talk in circles about what they want. After an interesting first two episodes, there’s too many unnecessary office scenes that don’t do much to push the story forward. Too add to the chaos, “Jun & Jun” gives the main protagonists three suitors to choose from, and none of their sub-plots are properly sketched out. And thanks to the title and posters, there’s zero suspense, excitement or anticipation over who gets to win this game of love.
Yang Jun Mo is quite adorable as the bunny-like former boy band member Lee Jun; however, his character is portrayed as dumb and naive. If the story were set in a high school, it would’ve probably been cute and comedic for Jun to be so clueless about things. For example, there’s a model who is clearly pursuing Jun and even directly asks him out on a date, but Jun just smiles it off. Either he is dumb, or he pretends to not understand what’s happening. If it’s the latter scenario, then Jun is clearly not as sweet as he is made out to be; it’s mean to deliberately shrug off a friend’s advances instead of clearing up the air.
Ki Hyun Woo as the buff and handsome manager Choi Jun, who’s had a crush on Lee Jun for the longest time, looks great with Yang Jun Mo. But, unlike the series’ title, Jun & Jun don’t have as many moments as you’d expect, and the story is overtaken by multiple subplots and random office scenes. In fact, it made more sense for Lee Jun to date two of his other suitors. First is the reliable and helpful senior Song Hyun Jae (Jo Chan Hyun), who is always cheering Lee Jun on, and then there’s the flirty, straightforward idol Chim On, played suavely by Park Hyeong Seop.
While the series drags on for seven episodes, it’s only the last episode where the content of “Jun & Jun” is in sync with the romantic comedy genre. The climactic chapter is funny, cute, and, as the popular phrase goes, it has both sugar and spice. Even though Jun & Jun’s romance has an awkward progression, with the two barely communicating with each other, actors Yang Jun Mo and Ki Hyun Woo turn out to have zesty chemistry in the end. A sharper script with more focus on the leads within six episodes would’ve made it a lot more entertaining. Overall, it’s a decent one-time watch.
Rating: 5 on 10.
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