Kdrama Review: I Hear Your Voice (AKA Mind-Reading BFs are SO Handy)

Wow, it’s been a few months! Holiday season, finishing the term and moving to a new city put my drama-watching on hold for a while. But I’m back to blogging now! And I just finished an excellent drama!

Two of the actors from my favorite drama ever, “Secret Garden,” returned to my screen (and my heart) in “I Hear Your Voice”: Oska (Yoon Sang Hyun) and that musician kid who had a crush on Oska (Lee Jong Suk). This time they play the two male leads (both straight) and deliver some amaaaaazing acting.


In “I Hear Your Voice” (also called “I Can Hear Your Voice”), female lead Jang Hye Sung is a bored lawyer intent to become a Public Defender for the money. Also in the running for the position is hard working, idealistic Lawyer Cha (that is, Oska!). Meanwhile, senior in high school Park Soo Ha has the uncanny ability to hear others’ thoughts, which he’s been able to do ever since he was injured in the car “accident” that killed his father. Jang Hye Sung happened to witness that incident all those years ago, and Park Soo Ha is intent to find her again. So “I Hear Your Voice” is part murder mystery, part lawyer/courtroom drama and part romantic comedy, which kept things interesting.

I really liked how there were a lot of different aspects to this show yet they all flowed together. The courtroom scenes were suspenseful, the romance wasn’t completely stereotypical, and the bad guy kept me guessing. Park Soo Ha's mind-reading ability made the trials (and the romance) even more intriguing. The drama is 18 episodes long instead of 16, so the climax isn’t rushed and there aren’t any loose ends. Beautiful.

Neither male lead was a wealthy, arrogant jerk in "I Hear Your Voice," breaking stereotype records. Both Oska and Park Soo Ha were great guys, and I kept changing my mind about who I wanted Lawyer Jang to end up with. And, I’ll say it again, their acting was stellar. Points that could’ve easily felt cheesy or clichéd didn’t. Though I was initially annoyed by the amnesia part (why do Koreans always get amnesia???), Park Soo Ha convinced me he really had lost his memories. Oska’s Lawyer Cha superseded the stereotypical perfect-but-boring second male lead role and actually had a personality and proved useful to the plot.

Lawyer Jang is a strong female lead, though at times I found her selfishness or lack of motivation annoying, she was never sobbing and indecisive. How refreshing! Her childhood rival, whom she later meets in the courtroom world, was also occasionally annoying – cat fights ensued whenever they were on screen together. (Girls, it’s been ten years! C’mon!) But their relationship eventually developed into something more compelling, and Lawyer Jang eventually learned something about justice and mercy.

I want to say more about the twists and turns of the trials, the lawyers, the murders, the mysteries - but I don't want to give too much away. Go watch this one!

The mid-drama climax and the final climax both had the same message (though the situations were completely different), so even though it took me a while to finish “I Hear Your Voice” there was no way I couldn’t hear the point of the show: even if someone hurts you deeply, don’t live in hate but pity the perpetrator. Oh, and a mind-reading guy who loves you always buys the best gifts. Good stuff!

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