Yumi’s Cells 3 is about a successful writer (Kim Go Eun) who has feelings stirred up by her new PD (Kim Jae Won), and we get the point of view of the brain cells in her mind who control everything about her.
Kim Go Eun plays Kim Yumi. She’s now a successful writer, but life feels a bit dull. That begins to change though when her new PD brings new difficulties to her life.
Kim Jae Won is Sin Sun Rok who is Yumi’s new PD. He’s a calm and logical man who prefers to keep to himself. But his interactions with Yumi slowly start bringing him out of his shell.
Yumi’s Cells 3 was a decent watch. It’s a very simple show but solid enough. For me personally, I did find the plot a bit too basic. It really just centers around the developing relationship between Yumi and Sun Rok.
Now, admittedly, the base premise of this drama is the dating life of Yumi. But this one didn’t work for me as much as the previous two seasons. I feel like the previous two seasons dealt with the growing relationship between Yumi and her partner at the time, but it felt like the relationships had a lot more complexity and passion to them.
There was also more to the plot involving Yumi’s career struggles. In this season, Yumi is successful in her career, and while in a bit of a slump, it’s not a major issue.
Then there’s the relationship itself. I do think the eight episode length is more than enough for a straightforward story like this, but this is a case where I actually felt like it told its story too slow for the time allotted. SPOILER: It seemed like they didn’t really even know they liked each other until episode 6 and didn’t even begin a relationship until episode 7! This only left a couple of episodes to really explore the relationship. END OF SPOILER
And the presentation of the relationship wasn’t the most engaging. Yumi is her classic self and experiences a range of conflicted emotions. The way her brain works is both fascinating and frustrating.
Now, Sun Rok was a challenging character. He’s a self-proclaimed home body who drains his energy in social situations and needs time alone to recharge. He’s very calm and rational. He’s also quite awkward socially, and he’s very brief and to the point in his interactions while missing a lot of basic social cues. It makes him particularly challenging for Yumi to interact with since she heavily relies on social norms and struggles with the lack of communication on his part.
The first couple of episodes are particularly difficult to connect with him because we don’t have any window into what he’s actually thinking and kind of seems like a jerk. Now, that was the goal of the drama, and then we shift to getting more of his perspective which does soften him.
Then we sort of continue alternating this issue as to why is he acting this way moment and then contrast it with what he’s actually thinking. Yumi is constantly fluctuating between a confused like and dislike over his actions. I didn’t find either of them particularly appealing individually.
Then with how long it takes for them to actually couple up, it just worsened the issue. I was very disappointed and underwhelmed with the relationship as a whole, and it didn’t feel like a satisfying end to Yumi’s story. While I do understand that Sun Rok is supposed to be more a calm, stable presence compared to Yumi’s previous relationships, it just felt flat and ultimately made worse by the fact that we get very little time to actually explore their relationship as a couple.
I’ve also always had mixed opinions on the animations used to depict Yumi’s brain. The animations are beautiful and at times humorous, but I always found them a little dull compared to the main story. They are necessary to communicate what’s happening in names brain though.
This is another area where I felt like the previous two seasons had a bit more of a story involved in the town that houses Yumi’s sells. It still wasn’t particularly gripping, but I did find it more interesting than the little story that was happening this time. I do appreciate the insight they provide into the complexity of an individual’s thoughts and emotions which can be very all over the place and at times contradictory.
I would say this type of drama is not my ideal genre with its very basic and realistic dating plot, but it’s simple and cute with a heartfelt approach to the awkwardness of dating. I definitely liked the previous two seasons more, but at least it was a decent ending for Yumi’s story.
My Rating: 6/10
Check out more Korean Drama Reviews.
Leave a Reply