Extraordinary You


Extraordinary You is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Kim Hye-yoon, Rowoon, Lee Jae-wook, Lee Na-eun, Jung Gun-joo, Kim Young-dae, and Lee Tae-ri. It is based on the webtoon July Found by Chance which was first published in January 2018 on Daum Webtoon. The series aired on MBC TV's Wednesdays and Thursdays 21:00 time slot from October 2 to November 21, 2019.

Synopsis

The series follows high school girl Eun Dan-oh who is a student at a prestigious academy. One day, by chance, she discovers that the world she lives in is a fantasy world of comics. She and everyone else are merely characters in a comic book entitled Secret, all under the authority of their omnipotent and omniscient Writer. Dan-oh is only an extra character and, worse, the Writer gave her a lame set-up: she is engaged to her long-time crush who despises her, and she has a heart disease and is expected to die soon.
Not satisfied with this fate, Dan-oh decides to forge her own destiny by changing the story's plot and finding her own true love. Her hopes of freeing herself from the Writer's control becomes stronger than before when she unexpectedly meets nameless Student Number 13. But as the events around Dan-oh and Number 13, whom she named as Haru, gradually start to have parallels with the Writer's previous work Neungsohwa, changing her destiny could have a price to pay.

Cast

Main

  • Kim Hye-yoon as Eun Dan-oh
  • Rowoon as Number 13 / Ha-ru
  • Lee Jae-wook as Baek Kyung
  • Lee Na-eun as Yeo Joo-da
  • Jung Gun-joo as Lee Do-hwa
  • Kim Young-dae as Oh Nam-joo
  • Lee Tae-ri as Jinmichae / Geum Jin-mi

    Supporting

Seuli High School

Note: The following characters are part of the world of the comic book Secret unless indicated otherwise.
  • Kim Ji-in as Shin Sae-mi
  • Kim Hyun-mok as Ahn Soo-chul
  • as Kim Il-jin
  • Jung Mi-mi as Park Yi-jin
  • Jung Ye-jin as Lee Sam-jin
  • Han Chae-kyung as Kim Ae-il
  • Song Ji-woo as Park Ae-ri
  • Kang Min-ji as Lee Ae-sam
  • Jung Dae-ro as Kim Yang-il
  • Lee Wo-je as Park Yang-yi
  • Yoon Jong-bin as Lee Yang-sam
  • Jo Deok-hee as Kim Ban-jang
  • Oh Jong-min as Kim Bo-tong
  • Kim Joon-sung as Park Mo-bum
  • Shin Yong-ho as Shin Ba-ram
  • Han Myung-hwan as Kang Chul-nam
  • Jung Ji-hyun as Han Soo-da
  • Lee Eun-hye as Kong Joo-hae
  • Heo Soo-bin as Wang Bit-na
  • Pyo Hyun-jin as Namgoong Dan-bal
  • Kim Tae-jung as Chae Yook-in
  • Kim Jung-hak as homeroom teacher
  • Kim Jae-hwa as art teacher
  • Lee Ye-hyun as Kim Soo-hyang
  • Bae Hyun-sung as Baek Joon-hyun

    Others

  • Um Hyo-sup as Eun Moo-young
  • Choi Jin-ho as Baek Dae-sung
  • Yoon Jong-hoon as Dr. Lee Jo-hwa
  • Yu Ji-soo as Ra Hye-young
  • Yu Ha-bok as Oh Jae-beol
  • Ji Soo-won as Cha Ji-hyun

    Episodes

Production

Development

The series is based on the webtoon July Found by Chance, written by MooRyuyee. It was serialized on the portal site of Daum webtoon from January 18, 2018, to September 19, 2019.
It is directed by who directed previous hit television series such as Dong Yi, Mama, Glamorous Temptation, and The King in Love.
It was tentatively titled as July Found by Chance, the same title as the webtoon which it was based on.

Casting

On March 27, 2019, it was reported that Kim Hye-yoon was in talks to star in the series. On May 9, it was announced that Rowoon had been cast for the male lead role. On June 10, Kim and Rowoon confirmed their roles, alongside Lee Jae-wook. In the following days, additional cast members including, Lee Na-eun, Jung Gun-joo, Kim Young-dae, Lee Tae-ri, and Kim Ji-in also confirmed their participation.
It was later revealed that the casting process alone spanned three months. Initially, Kim Hye-yoon was cast as a candidate for the role of Yeo Joo-da. However, after a meeting with the director, he increasingly saw her as a perfect fit for Eun Dan-oh. Rowoon had originally planned to audition for the role of Baek Kyung. Yet, after in-depth discussions with the director, he was ultimately chosen for the role of Haru instead. Similarly, Lee Jae-wook, who had initially auditioned for the role of Haru, ultimately took on the role of Baek Kyung after the director felt he would better synchronize with that character.

Release

The series was initially set for first broadcast in September 25, 2019, but it was postponed to October 2, 2019 to the preemption of the previous show during the Chuseok holiday.
From March 16, 2022, MBC TV arranged a rerun of Extraordinary You in anticipation of the premiere of Rowoon's new drama Tomorrow. This rerun spanned for four weeks. Additionally, on June 6, 2024, MBC also scheduled a two-day rerun on the MBC On channel, specifically on the 8th and 9th, in response to Kim Hye-yoon's sudden surge in popularity due to her role in Lovely Runner.

Original soundtrack

''Extraordinary You: Original Soundtrack''

The drama's soundtrack is compiled in a three-part album released by labels VLENDING and MusicBuddy on 20 November 2019. CD 1 contains the drama's theme songs and their instrumental versions, CDs 2 and 3 contain the drama's musical score.

Singles

The following is the track list of singles from Extraordinary You: Original Soundtrack.
;Part 1
;Part 2
;Part 3
;Part 4
;Part 5
;Part 6
;Part 7
;Part 8

Reception

Despite the considerably modest viewership ratings, Extraordinary You received positive reviews among younger Korean audiences. The television series also won the 'Drama of the Year' award at MBC Drama Awards through viewers' voting.
Regarding this, Ha Jae-geun, a popular culture critic, said, "The younger generation has recently been flocking to online platforms such as YouTube instead of TV, and the main TV consumers have shifted to the middle-aged and older generations." He continued, "I think that as a broadcasting company, we have achieved meaningful results in successfully forming a consensus by communicating with the younger generation."

Awards and nominations