KDrama Review | The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018)

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes is also known as Hundred Million Stars from the Sky (하늘에서 내리는 1억 개의 별) and is a remake of 2002 Japanese series of the same title.

The Story

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes is about two orphans who grew up with no recollection of their childhood. When they met as adults, they started to untangle their past, relive the pain, and feel again the trauma that comes with the truth.

The Characters

Kim Moo Young (Seo In Guk, 서인국) is an orphan who works in a beer microbrewery and has an ability to memorize things to a tee. There is a certain “bad” aura around him and is later accused of murder. During the investigation, he met the detective’s sister that he fell in love with.

Yoo Jin Kook (Park Sung Woong, 박성웅) is a veteran detective who starts to find his job daunting. He is planning to quit when a suicide case takes place and he feels a sense of a foul play in it. He participates in the investigation and finds that it is indeed a murder case. He eyes Moo Young as the killer; it turns out that Moo Young is also involved in a case he handled years ago that still haunts him to this day.

Yoo Jin Kang (Jung So Min, 정소민) is Yoo Jin Kook’s sister. When she meets Moo Young, she doesn’t fall to his words and mind games like other girls do. But as she learns more about him, she starts to feel for the guy – deeply. Little did she know that Moo Young is one of the missing pieces of her past.

My Thoughts In General

💭 TRAGIC!! Probably one of the most angsty plot there is. I didn’t watch the Japanese version of this, but based on what I have read, this Korean version took another angle for the ending which I appreciate. The Japanese one’s ending is really disturbing and even more painful for me. 😭

💭 The series started with the suicide-murder case and it makes the whole plot even more exciting and thrilling. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes makes sure that the viewers will also solve the case while watching.

💭 It’s all sick and twisted. There are lots of things going on in this story, too many angles to watch out for. It can feel a little slow-paced despite that but it is truly heartbreaking.

💭 Since this is also a story about orphans. There is this scene about pity that have been in my mind for quite a while now.

💭 This drama is very empathic to me. It showed what not giving up on people can do to them. Like if we believe them, trust them… they can eventually believe in themselves too. It is heartwarming to see someone change for the better, not solely because of you but also because they choose to.

💭 Too many emotions. I felt rage, pity, sadness, disbelief. I am at a loss for words here because if I talk more about it, I might spoil the whole plot. This is how delicate it is, so please just watch it. 10/10

Trailer

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[Featured Image: Courtesy of TVN]