Devilish Joy (or Devilish Charm) is a strange but beautiful love story between a genius doctor (Choi Jin Hyuk) who suffers from “Cinderella Memory Disorder” (a disorder in which the person forgets everything the next day), he got this disease due to a car accident he got into while trying to help a woman who was an actress (Song Ha-Yoon) but somehow lost her popularity.
Drama ‘Devilish Joy’ is a sweet love story where we wait for the sweet couple moments, first kiss, and little its and bits of life to be resolved. Also it is one of those kind of Korean dramas which have an evil stepmother, rich boy, poor girl, past traumas, etc.., but all come with a unique twist. The main lead cannot remember anything the next day, that happened with him the previous day. And that is what makes this drama different.
So the story Devilish Joy comes out to be that of a Rom-Com genre.
Now let’s have a look at the characters.
Gong Ma Sung played by Choi Jin Hyuk is a rich doctor in his own hospital, yet a very humble and decent man. He is intelligent too. He is suffering from “Cinderella Memory Disorder” which he got after a car accident. Still he can’t be called miserable as he is very careful about his illness. He maintains his journal daily in which he writes all his activities of the day and then revise them the next morning. He falls in love with a girl named Joo Gi-Bbeum whom he shockingly remembers.
Joo Gi Bbeum played by Song Ha-Yoon is a washed up actress who lost her popularity due to being involved in a murder case. She now supports herself financially by running a small boutique. Her character is very charming. She holds a lot of positivity. Although she is broke, she always make sure to smile and keep others around her happy. Overall Joo Gi Bbeum’s character was bright, down to earth and that of an average girl trying to make through the hardships of life.
These are Lee Haa-im and Sung Ki Joon (played by Lee Joo Yeon and Hoya respectively). Lee Haa-im is a popular actress and Sung Ki Joon is the brother of Gong Ma Sung and is having his own Entertainment agency, but is a flop actor.
Sung Ki Joon has a huge crush on Joo Gi Bbuem and he wants to make her the top actress again. Hoya did a great job in his role, he was able to maintain a good chemistry with every character in the dram that being Lee Ha-im, Gong Ma Sung and Joo Gi Bbuem. Lee Ha-Im is a top actress who is filled with attitude. She don’t talk much to people. She also brought a lot of trouble for Joo Gi Bbuem in the starting. However her character gradually changed into a good one when she falls in love with Sung Ki Joon. Both of the characters added a lot of fun to the drama and they looked so cute together.
Now about the antagonists in the story. Gong Jin-yang (Jeon Soo-kyung) is Gong Ma Sung’s aunt. She sees Gong Ma Sung as a burden and a threat to her company. Although she is a powerful women but her character is really mean and a megalomaniac. She hurt Gong Ma Sung who considered her like a mother, just for the sake of power. The other one is Kim Beom-soo played by Jung Soo-gyo. He is the former manager of Joo Gi Bbeum and the current one of Lee Ha Im. He was the one who framed Joo Gi Bbeum in a murder case to save himself.
Now let’s talk about the drama!
The drama was a sweet entertainment and some of the parts in the drama were also very intriguing. The chemistry between the main leads was so good that you can feel it right in the first episode. The starting of the drama was the beginning of their relationship when they first met in China. Everything was fine then. Gong Ma Sung was completely healthy and Joo Gi Bbeum was the heart of Asia. Their first meet was truly unbelievable, they fell in love with each other by just spending a day together. (You know that soulful kind of love).
But things change as the evil characters intervenes and both of their lives are changed, what’s even worse is that Gong Ma Sung got “Cinderella Memory Disorder” and Joo Gi Bbeum is washed up and struggling hard to make a living. So when they met after some years Gong Ma Sung didn’t even remember Joo Gi Bbeum.
But as you know, love always find its way, here it was no exception. Luckily Gong Ma Sung who can’t remember anything or anyone the next day, remembers her. He then approaches Joo Gi-Bbeum considering her as the sign of love. But Joo Gi-Bbeum unaware of his illness was reluctant to take him back. But still they ended up together and the drama got filled with many cute and romantic moments. The twist being in the story was Gong ma Sung’s illness kept getting worst.
Though there was a lot of height difference between the leads, you cannot deny the fact that they looked perfect.
Despite their difficulties in life, their love deepened throughout the drama. They both helped each other whenever needed. (The way men help their women in korean dramas is always loved by me.) But Seeing how Gong Ma Sung almost dedicated his life to Joo Gi Bbeum despite the fact that he probably won’t remember her in the future, made my heart flutter.
I liked Joo Gi Buem’s character. Despite having no stand in the industry, she dared to come back and worked hard to become an actress again. She didn’t even take the help of her rich boyfriend Gong ma Sung and wanted to do it all by herself. Her positivity throughout the story is really the charm in Devilish Charm. Song ha Yoon’s sweetness was perfect for the role of Joo Gi-Bum.
Gong Ma Sung character was so pitiful. The fact that he cannot remember anything the next day makes him paranoid at times. He can hardly trust people around him. And really he is going to make you cry a lot in the drama. His illness is no joke, at times I felt pity for Gong Ma Sung. His illness is the real devil in Devilish Joy. Choi Jin Hyuk has made justice to his role and one can see the hard work he did.
So the drama lives up to its name. With ‘Devilish’ being the Gong Ma Sung’s illness and the ‘Charm’ being that of Joo Gi Bbeum’s. (Joo Gi Bbeum is the only joy in Gong Ma-Sung’s devilish life.) Dramas like Devilish joy could be “The Innocent man” and “Legend of the blue sea” in which the main leads forgets the person they loved.
I believe all the characters perfectly paired up together and the drama is also well written. Devilish Joy comes out to be a sweet love story with a twist, which is good if you are looking for something light to watch. The drama will keep you interested throughout and you would not regret watching this one. Just don’t miss out this one if you are a fan of romantic dramas. To sum up I enjoyed watching Devilish Joy.
My Ratings : 7.5 / 10