Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol is a romantic comedy that follows the romance between a wealthy pianist (Go Ara) who loses everything after her father dies and a mysterious part-time worker (Lee Jae Wook).
Go Ara plays Goo Ra Ra. She is bright, full of life, and a bit naive. After her father suddenly passes away, she is left on her own as she tries to survive. She maintains a cheerful attitude despite her hardships, and she begins to connect with a man who steps in to help her.
Lee Jae Wook is Sun Woo Joon. He is a mysterious man with many part-time jobs that is a bit closed off and withdrawn. He gets caught up with Ra Ra and finds himself wanting to help her and to have her around.
We then have our second lead Cha Eun Seok (Kim Joo Heon). He’s a nice doctor who takes an interest in Ra Ra and also tries to help her out when he can. He has to compete with Joon for her affections though.
Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol comes from the writer of one of my favorite dramas, Shopping King Louie, and there are definitely some similarities in terms of the basic plot. Rather than the guy having to survive on his own, this time the girl is the wealthy one forced to survive with no money with the help of a kind man who takes her in.
She has a lovable personality too which helps those around her to like her and want to help her despite her high standards. Then throw in a bunch of fun supporting characters and a darker mystery on the side, and well, they sound almost like the same drama!
This one definitely does not execute everything near as well as Shopping King Louie though. Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol is a pretty straight-forward romantic comedy with a large helping of fluff that progressively gets more serious it goes.
The first half is pretty easy to watch with its bright characters and humorous story. While I do think everyone did well and the characters were fine, for me, Go Ara really carried this drama. She was delightful and so full of life. She lights up any scene she is in. Ra Ra can be a bit clueless at times, but she means well and is so kind. Her fun personality makes her enjoyable to watch.
The rest of the characters are also pretty good, and the interactions between them all are a strong point in the drama. This is the kind of show that relies on its characters and the humor rather than the strength of the plot.
The base plot of Ra Ra surviving on her own with the help of Joon is cute. It takes its time as it explores some of Ra Ra’s challenges as well as her budding romantic relationship with Joon. This duo wasn’t exactly riveting for me, but they did have plenty of sweet moments.
Then we have the second half of the drama. This is where the more serious side becomes more prominent as we deal with who Joon is, why he is so mysterious, and another more serious subplot. Surprisingly, a lot of this is actually resolved pretty quickly about midway through the drama.
And that’s where the problem comes in. Not much really happens after that. Ra Ra and Joon face some challenges, but as a whole, the plot really wanders around between various characters and small happenings. A lot of the charm from the first half of the drama was lost at this point. There is still plenty of humor, but the angst definitely goes up too.
I didn’t so much mind that, but I more so had issues with the overall execution of the angsty side of the drama. And in a rare happening for me, I do actually think this drama has a trash ending that I believe many people will really dislike.
SPOILERS BELOW:
Our couple is separated after Joon’s big secret about him still being a student comes out, and they pretty much stay separated. We lose out on that sweet relationship, and then the angsty part of their story just hobbled along feeling kind of pointless.
Now, I knew going into this drama that people didn’t love the direction it went in or the ending. After not much happening, we get thrown an old school trope in the final stretch of Joon having Leukemia.
While that’s not a favorite trope of mine, that didn’t really bother me. The problem was the extra-long separation of the couple followed by him not telling her he was sick and going off on his own to receive treatment.
Then we get a trash ending where everyone is told Joon died, and they have to mourn for him. Five long years pass as they all try to move on with their lives. Then miraculously after five years, let me repeat, FIVE YEARS, Joon shows back up out of nowhere saying he didn’t want Ra Ra to see him ill all this time.
So, apparently making her and everyone else suffer over his death for the past five years was the best alternative. What?!?! And he just giggles at her for being sad and crying over him.
Yeah, this is an ending that you really have to check your brain at the door for if you want to try and enjoy the happy ending of him being alive and our couple finally getting to be together. That was a trash ending if I ever saw one though!
END OF SPOILERS
So overall, Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol was decent enough. It’s pretty basic as a romantic-comedy that gets more angsty as it goes. It didn’t always feel like a lot was happening, but the story did progress and the characters were appealing to make it a good enough watch.
My Rating: 6/10
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