Mr. Heart – Mr. 하트 (2020) Episodes 1 – 3 [Review]

This week the new Korean web drama – Mr. Heart premiered on the streaming service VIKI. This is the second project from W-Story, the production team that gave us the amazing BL series – Where Your Eyes Linger a few months ago. After giving us a story of longing and devotion between a young master & bodyguard, W-Story returns with a story about two athletes in a university, “Mr. Heart.” Starring Lee Je Sin as Sang Ha and MAN BLK’s Cheon Seung Ho as Jin won is set up in the same universe as Where Your Eyes Linger, in a track team of the University Sports Department.

—Edited by TheFNGee

Characters

Sang Ha

Lee Se Jin will be taking on the role of sprinter Sang Ha, who maintains a smile despite his difficult environment. Lee Se Jin has already worked as a lead in popular Korean dramas like Yellow, Luv Pub, Phantom, The Secret Agent. He was very much appreciated for his nervous role of Park Dong-woo, the bassist of Yellow Band in the Korean web drama “Yellow.” 

Jin Won

Cheon Seung Ho stars as Jin Won, the rising marathon star who is apathetic about everything besides marathons. Cheon Seung Ho is the vocalist and rapper of the K-pop boy group, The Man Blk. This role is the first time he’s playing a main lead. He also played a Support Role in “Where Your Eyes Linger” fans as one of Pil Hyun friends.

Storyline

Despite the fact that things just never seem to go his way, Sang Ha (Lee Se Jin) always manages to find a reason to smile. A member of the school track team, Sang Ha loves to run, but distance has never really been his thing. Jin Won (Cheon Seung Ho), on the other hand, is exactly the opposite. A record-breaking marathon runner in high school, Jin Won is well on his way to becoming a marathon superstar. Jin Won cares about one thing and one thing only: running his next race.

For a web drama that is only 10 min per episode, the hardest part is setting up the characters and their stories in a way that hooks the viewers in the shortest span possible. From the get-go, we see Jin Won being nervous before a major marathon race, solely for the reason that he has not performed well in any race since that famous record he set way back during High school. He is restless, doubtful, and seems almost lost in his own thoughts as we see flashes of his father’s disapproval, his coach’s expectations, and his confession that he feels so lonely on the run that he feels he has lost his passion for the sport.

When he is seeking a ray of light to show him the path, enter Sang Ha, a junior in the track team who is paired with Jin Won as a pacemaker to help Jin won maintain a consistent running pace and improve his timing eventually. Sang Ha is a confident and cheerful loner who is determined to stick to Jin Won even if the other guy rejects his partnership and help in the beginning.

Sang Ha not just helps Jin Won perform better in the race the following morning, he also becomes the reason that Jin Won can sleep the night peacefully before. There are other clues revealed in the first two episodes and a flashback of their time in High School, which reveals that Sang Ha has liked Jin Won for a long time and has been helping him in his own ways since. Perhaps Jin Won also noticed him during the time in high school, an old connection that has been revived again now in university.

You can’t stop smiling, looking at Sang Ha in every single scene, and his persistence in liking Jin Won is quite endearing even if it feels a little stupid at times. He indulges Jin Won but does not let him feel superior in any way. His love declaration might look abrupt, but it was because no one ever asked him the right question before, so he became too impulsive. But, I will mention that he went a little overboard in the end.

And now for the scene that made me scream loudest was the guest cameo by Jang Eui Soo (Kang Gook from Where Your Eyes Linger) because I had completely forgotten about him. My fangirl mode came out instantly, watching him look so fine in his new look for this drama. Another scene that deserves the screams and whistles is watching Jin Won escape Sang Ha’s cupid arrows and puppy love eyes. Oh man, he spells cuteness in capital letters every time he smiles.

 Setting up all this in a really unique and cute way in the shortest time available in a way that feels very fresh in terms of other school / university BL series. W-Story nailed it again the second time, even if not as intense as WYEL (sadly, the comparisons will happen). The lighting, the acting, the editing, the pacing of the plot is perfect. I could tick all the right boxes in my head when I re-watched it for this review and really can not flaw much of anything at this point. Every single scene is set up so beautifully, and the smallest actions by the characters add elements of realism to this drama to make it so amazing. The series OST is by the group Man BLK, who also did the OST for “Where Your Eyes Linger.” The music is peppy, motivating and gives a feeling of joy when you hear it in the drama or even later.

The only complaint I had from the series is that I have to wait another week to watch the next three episodes. All the heart fluttering moments aside, I believe that we have finally gotten another sports-based BL drama that widens the coverage of careers covered in the BL world genre.  For the next episodes, as much as I am looking forward to seeing the love story progress, I also want to see Jin Won fighting his demons and want Sang Ha to find his true calling and place on the track team while being the sunshine he is to Jin Won’s heart and life.

Mr. Heart can now be streamed on the web entertainment site VIKI and on WeTV platforms as well.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars [See our Review Guide]