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8.5/10
Unlike standard amnesia tropes, The Legend of the Blue Sea uses memory as its primary antagonist. Sim Cheong retains the memories of her past life—the drowning, the betrayal, the heartbreak—while Joon-jae initially remembers nothing. The drama asks a profound question: Is it better to remember a painful love or to live blissfully ignorant? Jun Ji-hyun’s portrayal of a character carrying 400 years of grief inside a naive, childlike exterior is the emotional anchor of the show.
What follows is a fish-out-of-water (literally) comedy as Sim Cheong follows Joon-jae back to Seoul. The central twist is the Joseon-era prologue: 400 years prior, the mermaid (then named Se-hwa) loved a nobleman named Kim Dam-ryeong, played by Lee Min-ho in a dual role. Their love ended in tragedy due to human greed and the fated impossibility of their union. In the present, Joon-jae and Sim Cheong are the reincarnations of these star-crossed lovers, bound by a curse that erases the mermaid’s memory every time she steps on land. Beneath the glossy cinematography and designer wardrobes lies a surprisingly poignant meditation on memory, identity, and unconditional love.
A must-watch for fans of fantasy romance and Jun Ji-hyun’s unparalleled comedic genius. Watch it for the chemistry, stay for the Joseon-era tragedy.
In the age of dark, gritty thrillers and realistic romances, The Legend of the Blue Sea feels like a throwback to the classic K-drama era of 2013-2016—optimistic, visually lush, and unapologetically sentimental. It is a show that asks you to believe in the impossible: that a con man can be a hero, that a fish can teach you about humanity, and that love, once written in the stars, can survive even the deepest ocean of time.
Lee Min-ho’s Heo Joon-jae is a departure from his typical chaebol (rich heir) roles. He is a street-smart grifter, using hypnotism and sleight of hand to survive. His arc is not about becoming rich, but about learning to trust. The drama cleverly uses his skills—stage magic—as a metaphor for emotional deception. He builds walls of illusion around himself until Sim Cheong’s literal-minded honesty shatters them. The Jun Ji-hyun Effect: A Masterclass in Physical Comedy While Lee Min-ho provides the brooding charisma, The Legend of the Blue Sea belongs to Jun Ji-hyun. In the first half of the series, she has almost no dialogue (mermaids cannot speak Korean initially), forcing her to act entirely through facial expressions, grunts, and physical slapstick.
