A grieving woman magically travels through time to 1998, where she meets a man with an uncanny resemblance to her late love.

**A Time Called You** is a South Korean time travel mystery romance drama series starring Ahn Yeo-seop, Jeon Yeo-been and Kang Hoon based on the Taiwanese television series Someday or One Day. It follows the time travel journey of Han Jun-hee, a grieving 36-year-old woman who couldn’t move on from the death of her long-time boyfriend, Koo Yeon-jun. She mysteriously receives a cassette player that transports her back in time to 1998 where she wakes up as Kwon Min-ju, an 18-year-old high school student who looks exactly like her but whose life is completely different from hers. In 1998, Jun-hee meets Jung In-gyu, a classmate who has a secret crush on Min-ju, and Nam Si-hyeon, In-gyu’s bestfriend who looks eerily like Jun-hee’s late love. While inhabiting Min-ju’s body, Jun-hee navigates a love triangle with In-gyu and Si-hyeon, while racing to prevent Min-ju’s fated murder.

A Time Called You is a Korean adaptation of the Taiwanese series, Someday or One Day. I haven’t watched the original, but I’ve read really good reviews about it with many saying that the original is better. Though I don’t have a reference for comparison, I’d say that the Korean version still did a good job as I was really invested to watch it until the end, which is rare for me nowadays.

AN UNDERRATED K-DRAMA

A Time Called You is a surprisingly good k-drama. Surprising as I haven’t seen it highly talked about unlike other series. I don’t know if I just wasn’t active online when this k-drama got released, but I don’t remember seeing any hype about it on social media. Even in the lead actors’ Instagram pages, there were only a few posts about it. It seemed like it wasn’t promoted that much. It’s probably because of the genre, as people are more inclined to watch rom coms but still, seeing an elaborate story and performance not get its well-deserved recognition is surprising.

STRENGTHS:

AN ELABORATE STORY

As I watched the first few episodes, I got so intrigued by the mystery that by the third episode, I was already looking for spoilers. Even though I already knew the answers to the majority of my questions, I was still amazed with how the timelines are interconnected and how the plot twists unfolded. I could tell that the story was well thought of without overdoing it, which is the opposite of what I felt towards Lee Min Ho’s “The King: Eternal Monarch”.

EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES

Ahn Yeo-seop

I only noticed A Time Called You on Netflix recently while watching “Bonne Appetit, Your Majesty” given that it’s also about time travel. I also got interested to watch because of Ahn Hyo-seop’s impressive voice acting in KPop Demon Hunters. I actually didn’t like him previously. I tried to watch Business Proposal before but couldn’t get past the first episode (sorry! P.S. I just finished watching it as of this writing). Now I understand why, Ahn Hyo-seop did so much better here than in Business Proposal. His acting and chemistry with Jeon Yeo-been looked more natural. I think this type of roles suits him better. I’ve seen some negative reviews about his dual portrayal of Nam Si-heon and Koo Yeon-jun though. But for me it made sense that his characterization of both characters looked similar since even as Yeon-joon, he was still Nam Si-heon inhabiting Yeon-jun’s body. There were only very few scenes with him as the real Yeon-jun and even though minimal, I could still tell that they were different characters. What’s more worth taking note of, in my opinion, is his transitions from a young, charismatic highschooler to a devoted boyfriend and finally to a mature and mysterious man.

Jeon Yeo-been

I already liked Jeon Yeo-been in Vincenzo but A Time Called You brought out even more of her acting skills. Aside from the good plot, Yeo-been’s ability to shift from an awkward and extremely shy Min-ju to an outspoken and bubbly Jun-hee is one of the factors that carried the show for me. I can feel her anxiety and awkwardness as Min-ju through the screen and her depression in the last episode really felt stressful to watch. She has proven yet again that she is not only a good actress, but a versatile one as well.

WEAKNESSES:

PACING HICCUPS

Although A Time Called You is a good k-drama with a brilliant plot, it did have its weak points and falls short to be called a masterpiece. Though the mystery is interesting, its pacing hiccups with sudden leaps between timelines disrupt the momentum. In the beginning, though Jeon Yeo-been’s acting is really good, I couldn’t really feel Jun Hee’s grief towards the loss of her boyfriend as there was still little buildup on their love story at this point. I would have lost interest and stopped watching, but the enigmatic story and characters got me curious and invested.

Ahn Yeo Seop and Jeon Yeon Been's time travel drama romance

CHARACTER DIFFERENTIATION

Though I didn’t have issues with Ahn Yeo-seop’s dual role, I agree that a more distinct differentiation such as mannerisms or facial expressions could have helped distinguish Si-heon from the real Yeon-jun. Actually, I was only able to tell the difference because of the setting and because he was with Rowoon’s character, Tae ha.

Ahn Yeo Seop and Rowoon Romance in A Time Called You — Yeon-jun and Tae ha’s brief romance

FINALE’S OPEN-ENDED THREADS

The shows ending left certain character arcs, like Min-ju’s future and In-gyu’s path, somewhat unresolved. It was shown that they were able to change the past and Min-ju and In-gyu got to live but I am also curious about what their future looked like. It’s the same with Jun-hee and the other characters as well. We only see Si-heon owning a webtoon company and him meeting a long-haired Jun-hee in the altered future.

Ahn Yeo Seop and Jeon Yeo-been pair up in time travel mystery romance A Time Called You — A Time Called You end scene

CONCLUSION

A Time Called You is a beautifully crafted romance that uses time loops to navigate profound concepts such as fate and interwoven connections between people across space and time. It is an emotional drama that explores themes such as loss, regret, trauma and even depression. Its nostalgic 1990’s aesthetics blend seamlessly with present-day atmosphere which makes it easier for the audience to distinguish characters and timelines. I liked that it differentiates from usual time-travel stories by employing the concept of doppelgangers and fate against freewill to add to its mystery. It may not be perfect, and some things could have been done better, but is worth watching? Definitely.

*

SOME LINGERING QUESTIONS

Even though they were able to change the past and “erase” events in the future, the finale episode made me wonder if everything that happened in the story actually still happened. As they were able to stop Min-ju’s murder, the past reverts back to Min-ju’s first accident in the beginning of the story. Min-ju no longer wakes up as Jun-hee, but she remembers a “dream” about the latter. In the ending scene where Nam Si-heon meets Han Jun-hee in the altered future, they feel a “connection”. While it is not clear if they remembered their past promise, from how I understand it, it is implied that they are continuing their lives but now with a better future.