GLASS SLIPPER: VOLUME II - DVD review

"Glass Slipper: Volume II" continues the saga of two sisters who were separated as children and then reunited as adults, only to find themselves rivals in work and love. This is Korean romantic drama at its best.

Tae-hee and Yoon-hee are orphaned sisters who are raised apart in drastically different living circumstances. It all began after their widower father passed away and Tae-hee lost the younger Yoon-hee in a crowded market. No matter where she searched, she could not find her. Tae-hee was eventually adopted by her wealthy grandfather, and spent the next 15 years looking for her sister.

Meanwhile, Yoon-hee was injured in that marketplace in an accident, and picked up by a cunning, greedy, abusive family. She suffered from amnesia, and did not know that she had a sister looking for her. Even though her adoptive family was dirt poor and absolutely horrible, Yoon-hee (now calling herself Sun-woo) grew up to be a kind, trusting, and hard-working girl.

Fifteen years have passed since that fateful day in the marketplace, and a lot has happened. Sun-woo had been struggling as an overworked drudge in her family's restaurant, but through much effort, she has received a degree after going to college at night. She has also found employment at a nice company. This is an amazing feat, as she has had to withstand constant abuse from her family and her "evil stepsister" Sung-hee.

Sun-woo's beauty and gentleness have gained her two admirers. The first is a street punk named Chul-woong, a guy who is almost frighteningly devoted to her. Chul-woong cares for Sun-woo very much, and even helps her find a place to stay when her family situation becomes too awful to bear. Unfortunately, in these episodes, his devotion leads him into dangerous territory when he gets involved in an organized crime ring to earn money. Even though his romantic future with Sun-woo is uncertain, he makes reckless decisions for her. I became a bit frustrated with Chul-woong's determined effort to disregard the things Sun-woo tells him and act on his own.

The other romantic interest for Sun-woo is Jae-hyuk, a handsome, seemingly perfect, guy who is touched by Sun-woo's pure character. However, even though Sun-woo seems to like him very much, and he obviously likes her, Jae-hyuk is not as perfect as he seems. He has some unpleasant secrets in his past and shares a bond with Sun-woo's sister, Tae-hee. A love triangle forms.

Tae-hee, for her part, is happy after she finds her long lost sister. All those years of searching are over, and finally her family is together again. Tae-hee has become a successful businesswoman and is poised to take over her grandfather's company. Now she will have her beloved sister by her side. But wait, that is not Sun-woo next to her! An imposter is playing a horrible trick on Tae-hee's family, and it will take a tragedy to reveal the truth of the deception.

Along with the melodramatic twists and turns of the main plot, there is a subplot involving two side characters that is also very entertaining. Street punk Chul-woong has a beautiful but very tough sister, Yeon-woong, who does not take abuse from anyone. She is a tomboy, and can be very stubborn and prideful. She has her own romantic angst when she meets Seo-joon, Tae-hee and Sun-woo's cousin. Even though he is part of Tae-hee's wealthy, arrogant family, he is the only one who is not like the others. Yes, he grew up wealthy, and is very much a playboy, but he is not cold and arrogant like his grandfather and mother. When this laid-back, spoiled guy meets the beautiful tough girl, sparks fly between them. Their humorous love story provides some much needed relief to the serious romantic angst of Sun-woo's love triangle.

"Glass Slipper" Volume 1 contains episodes 1-21, and this set finishes off the series with episodes 22-40. Yes, this series has 40 episodes total. That is long for a Korean drama — most tend to hover between 16-20 episodes — but with all the cliffhangers and romantic entanglements and deceptions, the episodes fly by. 40 hours in 2 box sets is a big investment, but this series is worth it.

As I said about the first box set, in spite of all the clichés and the obvious plotting, I was still somehow invested in the characters and could not resist watching disk after disk to see what would happen next. I had to know who would end together with who, and if tragedy (such a staple in Korean dramas) would strike to ruin everything.

If you like soap operas, or have a high tolerance for unbelievable coincidences, obvious plotting, and exaggerated characters, check "Glass Slipper" out. Seriously, this show is great. The first box set was just a taste of the crazy stuff that goes down in part 2.


Video:
"Glass Slipper" is presented in a full screen 4:3 aspect ratio. It looks great.

Audio:
This set has a nice Korean Dolby Digital 2.1 track. This series is almost entirely dialog-driven, with very little in the way of fighting, except for the occasional gangster fistfight. It does not really require a dramatic full-stage audio treatment. I found the Korean stereo track to be more than adequate. There are English and Chinese subtitle tracks.


Extras:
This box contains over two hours of behind the scenes footage that is split into many parts. It includes segments about the fashions of Min-sun, the actress who plays Sung-hee, a Taiwan press photo event where the main cast signs autographs and poses for press photographs, the filming of several scenes that take place in the rain, a look at a script-reading meeting, hair and makeup sessions, and the filming of scenes at almost all of the drama's locations. The choice of background music for these segments is a bit odd — everything from Stevie Wonder to Britney Spears to Utada Hikaru. This footage contains a lot of spoilers for the drama, so it should not be watched until you have finished the series.

--Miscellaneous--
This DVD set comes in a nicely designed box that is identical to the part 1 box except for the color of the lettering. The cover art is minimal yet eye-catching, and the packaging is very sturdy. The box is sealed with a small magnet. Opening it reveals three multi-disk keep cases. The first two cases contain 3 DVDs each, with three episodes per DVD. The last case holds one disk with the last three episodes in the set. The box is lined with a nice velvety-fuzzy paper. YA Entertainment produces some great box sets.


Film Value:
Box set 1 was engrossing, and this one only drew me in further. The crazy plot twists, scheming bad guys, hopeless love triangles, and shameless melodramatic attempts to play on the audience's sympathy had me glued to my couch. This drama is absolutely unrealistic and exaggerated, but I could not look away.