Bride of the Century – Can a Good Luck Charm Break a Curse?
“Bride of the Century” is an old but gold 2014 Korean drama series, with 16 episodes, categorized as Romance, Comedy, Fantasy, and Supernatural; streaming on Viki.
SUMMARY: The house is haunted but nobody can move out because it was in the mother’s will. But there’s a ghost with a mean streak. She curses the first wife of the first born son. The first wife always dies. But what if the bride-to-be wore a good luck charm. Would that matter?
♦ The First Wife of the Firstborn Son Dies. It’s a Curse!
In “Bride of the Century”, the first wife of the firstborn son always dies. The Choi family has been under a curse for a hundred years. It’s been 30 years, and Choi Kang-Joo‘s father still grieves for his first love, who died tragically. Was it a curse? Or was her death a murder made to look like an accident? Think about it. If two women wanted to be the wife of a chaebol heir, but one who did not have his heart, knew about the curse, why fight over the man? Wouldn’t it make sense for her to step back and let the marriage take place?
If the curse is real, then the first wife will die. If the curse is NOT real, then maybe the first wife can “conveniently” have an accident, die, and superstitious people will believe it was the curse. The chaebol heir becomes a widower. All the other woman has to do is become the second wife. The second wife may never win his heart. But she’ll be a daughter-in-law and wife to the heir of the largest conglomerate in South Korea, and she won’t have to worry about the curse!
Choi Kang-Joo has stepped into his father’s shoes, i.e., a marriage has been arranged for him. His bride-to-be is Jang Yi-Kyung. He is not in love with her, and even though Jang Yi-Kyung knows that their marriage is a business proposal, she thinks she should try to win his heart. But it only took one meeting with him for her to know that she was not willing to spend the rest of her life as his family’s “puppet”. So! She disappears!
Jang Yi-Kyung’s family owns a construction company, and they are experiencing financial difficulties. Her marriage was arranged because the future husband’s family agreed to help save the business. Both Choi Kang-Joo and Jang Yi-Kyung know that their marriage is a business agreement. But does Jang Yi-Kyung know about the curse? Her mother knows! She helped her daughter disappear.
Two incidents took place BEFORE Jang Yi-Kyung’s disappearance.
INCIDENT #1: Na Doo-Rim is a diver, and she had just come up out of the water with her catch. She’s going to take the seafood back to the restaurant where she and her grandmother work. Na Doo-Rim was getting ready to leave when she saw a woman jump into the water. The woman was trying to commit suicide. There was nobody else around so Na Doo-Rim jumped in the water and saved her. The strange woman gave her a bracelet. She told Na Doo-Rim it was a good luck charm and it would bring her love. But she must wear it at all times. Of course, Na Doo-Rim didn’t believe the woman, but she accepted the bracelet and went on her way.
INCIDENT #2: Na Doo-Rim not only works at the restaurant, but she also does the food delivery. She was delivering lunch to the construction company owned by Jang Yi-Kyung’s family. Jang Yi-Kyung’s brother, Jang Yi-Hyun, works there as a foreman. He and his mother run the business together. He is also aware that his sister’s marriage to Choi Kang-Joo is a business agreement. Jang Yi-Hyun was standing outside, talking on the phone, and did not notice the bricks that were about to fall on his head from above. Fortunately, Na Doo-Rim did see the terrible accident that was about to happen, and she pushed him out of the way. Not only is Jang Yi-Hyun surprised that the young woman had saved him from a terrible injury and possibly death, but he is also surprised that the young woman LOOKED EXACTLY LIKE HIS SISTER.
Jang Yi-Hyun doesn’t know that his mother arranged for Jang Yi-Kyung to disappear because she knows about the curse. His mother is doing an excellent job of acting and pretending she has no idea where his sister is. Time is running out. Choi Kang-Joo’s parents have arranged the engagement party. His bride-to-be needs to be there. Remembering that Na Doo-Rim looks exactly like his sister, Jang Yi-Hyun approaches her with a “business proposal”. Can she pretend to be his sister – until they find his sister? He’ll make it worth her time.
It so happened that on the day Jang Yi-Hyun approached Na Doo-Rim with his wacky proposal, she was wearing that bracelet. Is it really a lucky charm? Na Doo-Rim doesn’t know about the “first wife” curse. Does that matter? It’s not like she’s Jang Yi-Kyung, the real bride-to-be. She’s not going to be the real first wife. I mean … is a chaebol heir going to fall in love and want to marry her? Nah!
Main Characters:
Viewership and Rating:
My personal rating is the same as the Viki viewers.
(It gets 1 star for the soundtrack.)
I’ve already watched and reviewed “Bride of the Water God”, “The Virtual Bride”, and “My Beautiful Bride”, so why not keep it going? “Bride of the Century” gets an A++ for character development. The main leads and the support characters each have a story that feeds quite well into the complete storyline, and the ghost that haunts the house is “icing on the cake”. (If you watch the series, you’ll get the cake reference. LOL.) The scriptwriters did a good job!
LINKS OF INTEREST:
KDrama Review | Bride of the Century | Annyeong Kimchi Land
Review: Bride of the Century | The Fangirl Verdict
Bride of the Century 2014 Korean Drama Review | Asian Movies & Dramas
Bride of the Century | Korean Daydreamer (“If you like fairy tales you’ll like Bride of the Century.”)
TRAILERS/TEASERS:
Viki Global TV. (2020). BRIDE OF THE CENTURY – OFFICIAL TRAILER [Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=2lbdPS2WbHc.
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