“Twinkling Watermelon” K-Drama Review (2023)

Iā€™m happy to hear that the dramatic story of "Twinkling Watermelon" has piqued your curiosity. You might want to watch this TV show for the following reasons:

Twinkling Watermelon K-Drama 2023 Review

“Twinkling Watermelon” is a South Korean TV show that is still going on. It is directed by Son Jong-hyun and stars Ryeoun, Choi Hyun-wook, Seol In-ah, and Shin Eun-soo. 

On tvN, it first aired on September 25, 2023, and it still airs every Monday and Tuesday at 20:50 (KST). It can also be viewed online via streaming services like Viu and Viki in some countries.

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DramaTwinkling Watermelon (English title) / Sparkling Watermelon (literal title)
Hangulė°˜ģ§ģ“ėŠ” ģ›Œķ„°ė©œė” 
DirectorSon Jung-Hyun
WriterJin Soo-Wan
NetworktvN
No. of Episodes16
Release DateSeptember 25 – November 14, 2023
RuntimeMonday & Tuesday 20:50
LanguageKorean
CountrySouth Korea

Twinkling Watermelon: Story

As the youngest son of a deaf family, Ha Eun-gyeol (Ryeoun) is the “voice that connects their family to the world” according to his father. He loves music and is in high school. 

Eun-gyeol has to grow up quickly because he has to help his family get through life and learn how to protect them from other people’s hurtful words.

Because he has to deal with a lot of stress, young Eun-gyeol learns to relax by making friends with an old man who owns a run-down music store. It is there that he finds his love for music. 

A terrible fire starts in his house one day while he is out looking for his music teacher. Even though the whole family makes it through, the fire makes Eun-gyeol feel terrible, and he hides his love of music until he is in his teens.

At the same time, we go back in time to 1995 and meet high school student Ha Yi-chan (Choi Hyun-wook), Choi Se-gyeong (Seol In-ah), his crush and a great violinist, and Yoon Cheong-ah, a shy student of visual arts. To get Se-gyeong to like her, Yi-chan plans to put together a band to play at a school festival coming up.

In 2023, Eun-gyeol does very well in school and wants to go to medical school. However, he is later recruited by a university band and chooses to follow his dream of becoming a musician. 

Because of a series of bad luck, his father ends up walking into one of his shows at a club. He is angry when he finds out. An angry fight breaks out between them, and Eun-gyeol storms off, selling his guitar at the first music shop he sees.

When Eun-gyeol walks out of the store, he is shocked to find himself in 1995. On the way to find a bassist for his band, he runs into Yi-chan. And when he looks down at Yi-chan’s name tag, he sees that Yi-chan is his father as a teenager and can hear and speak, despite what he thought. Eun-gyeol quickly realizes that his father was carefree and fun-loving as a child, which is the exact opposite of the man he turns out to be.

Eun-gyeol finally ends up in the past, where he is shocked to find out that his father is crushing on someone other than his mother and spending all of his time doing something silly like starting a band to win her love. 

He still joins Yi-chan’s band while trying to get back to the present, but he becomes more and more interested in his dad’s high school life. At this point, things start to make more sense, but Twinkling Watermelon takes way too long to get its characters where they need to be.

Even though the story has a confusing beginning, Twinkling Watermelon stays grounded thanks to the characters’ complicated interactions. The actor Choi Hyun-wook really shines as the silly Yi-chan. It’s easy to care about the character and want to know what happened to him from 1995 to 2023. 

After four episodes, it’s clear that the show’s main attraction is its group of likeable characters, even though the big dramatic arcs haven’t shown up yet.

Even though the plot is too complicated, Twinkling Watermelon has the ability to be a heartfelt and interesting K-drama. The show does a good job of showing how exciting and fleeting youth can be, even in its early episodes when it’s having trouble finding its feet. 

As the story picks up speed, it will be interesting to see if Twinkling Watermelon can fix these problems. For now, though, the story is entertaining and moving enough.

Twinkling Watermelon: Cast

Main Character:

1) Ryeoun as Ha Eun-gyeol (Instagram)

Ryeoun

Actor Ryeoun (born Go Yoon Hwan) is a South Korean celebrity. He was born in South Korea on August 26, 1998, in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do. He finished his studies at Seokyeong University, where he majored in acting during his time there. 

The 2017 SBS serial “Temperature of Love” was Ryeoun’s first role as an actor. Since then, he’s been in a number of TV series, such as “Twinkling Watermelon” (2023), “Adult Trainee” (2021), “18 Again” (2020), and “The World of My 17” (2020). At the SBS 2022 awards, Ryeoun won the award for Best New Actor (Male).


2) Choi Hyun-wook as Ha Yi-chan (Instagram)

Choi Hyun-wook

Choi Hyun-wook is an actor from South Korea. He was born on January 30, 2002. He got his start as an actor in 2019 when he played the lead in the web thriller “Real:Time:Love.” Choi got the 2021 SBS Drama Award for Best New Actor for his work in “Taxi Driver” and “Racket Boys.” 

His roles in TV series like “Jirisan” (2021), “Twenty-Five Twenty-One” (2022), and “Weak Hero Class 1” (2022) are also notable. You can see Choi in the thriller “Twinkling Watermelon,” which will come out in 2023.


3) Seol In-ah as Choi Se-kyung (Instagram)

Seol In-ah

She was born in Bang Ye-rin on January 3, 1996, and her Korean name is Seol In-ah. She is a South Korean actor and model. As a major, she got her degree in acting from the Seoul Institute of the Arts. 

An unimportant part in the 2015 TV drama “The Producers” was Seol’s first acting job. Her supporting parts in the 2017 TV dramas “Strong Girl Bong-soon” and “School 2017” made her famous. 

Seol has also been in a number of other TV series, including “Twinkling Watermelon” (2023), “Business Proposal” (2022), “Mr. Queen” (2020ā€“2021), “Sunny Again Tomorrow” (2018), and “Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life” (2019). 

She has also been in a number of movies, such as “Emergency Declaration” (2022). That part in “Sunny Again Tomorrow” won Seol the Best New Actress Award at the 2018 KBS Drama Awards.


4) Shin Eun-soo as Yoon Cheong-ah (Instagram)

Shin Eun-soo

Shin Eun-soo is a model and actress from South Korea. On October 23, 2002, she was born. In 2016, the movie “Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned” was her first role as a lead actress. 

She has also been in TV shows like “Twinkling Watermelon” (2023), “Bad Papa” (2018) and “The Legend of the Blue Sea” (2016). “Illang: The Wolf Brigade” (2018) and “Homme Fatale” (2019) are two movies that Shin has been in. She had a small role in KBS2’s history drama “Bloody Heart” in 2022.


Supporting Characters:

Fake First Love Memory-Makers Band Members

  • Ahn Do-gyu as Oh Ma-ju
  • Yoon Jae-chan as Kang Hyeon-yul
  • Lee Ha-min as Lee Si-guk
  • Lee Su-chan as Noh Se-beom

Eun-gyeol’s family

  • Choi Won-young as Eun-gyeol’s father
  • Seo Young-hee as Eun-gyeol’s mother
  • Bong Jae-hyun as Eun-ho

Snail Boarding House

  • Go Doo-shim as Go Yang-hee
  • Lee Seok-hyung as Jung Bal-san
  • Chun Ho-jin as Grandpa Viva
  • Jung Sang-hoon as master
  • Park Ho-san as Choi Hyeon
  • Woo Je-yeon as On Ji-hwan

People Around Jinsung Instruments

  • Kim Tae-woo as Yoon Geon-hyung
  • Kim Joo-ryoung as Lim Ji-mi
  • Kwon Do-hyung as Yoon Joo-yeop
  • Lee Soo-min as Yoon Sang-ah

Why I Watch This TV Show?

Iā€™m happy to hear that the dramatic story of “Twinkling Watermelon” has piqued your curiosity. You might want to watch this TV show for the following reasons:

  • Coming of age in a fantasy world, “Twinkling Watermelon” explores the difficulties of accepting one’s own uniqueness while also dealing with the pain of loss and isolation. 
  • The drama has a high rating of 3.2% and has caught the attention of viewers both in and outside of Korea. 
  • In addition to its magical parts, the drama shows how close Eun Gyeol’s family is and how important it is to have a good home life. 
  • The show shows that expressing your thoughts can help you learn more about yourself and that the complicated parts of life can be beautiful. 
  • The actors in the play also do great jobs. Ryeoun, in particular, stands out for how mature and moving he is in showing how complicated his character is.

In conclusion, “Twinkling Watermelon” is a touching and moving drama with a unique plot, great acting, and lovely music that you should watch.

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