Have you ever thought about what it would be like to date a Pikachu? Not in a weird way (cue Chris Hansen walking in to ask “you see how this looks right?”), but if you happened to be dating someone that has electricity coursing through their body and naturally shocked everyone that came into contact with them. Well that’s the setup for Take Charge of My Heart, Netflix’s latest Korean drama based on the Naver webtoon Charge Me by Hae Boon, along with a cast of characters that are set to capture hearts and attention.
In Take Charge of My Heart, Chae Soo-bin (When the Phone Rings, Love in the Moonlight) plays Na Bo-bae, a screenwriter in the last three months of her contract to write a new script and has faced a lifelong difficulty in pursuing romance due to her physical condition then has likened her to Pikachu. Her work is often critiqued for lackluster or strangely written romantic moments, but who can blame her based on her lack of personal experience. The series is directed by Park Soo-won (Birthcare Center, Big Forest) and written by Song Yu-chae, who is also an early writer, which begs the question of how much of herself or her experiences has been written into Na Bo-bae and this series.
To save Na Bo-bae from her lack of romantic experience is Baek Ho-rang played by Kim Young-kwang (Trigger, Somebody, The Secret Life of My Secretary). Ho-rang is the executive director of TS Resort, part of his family’s conglomerate TS Group, chaired by his cold but intense but grandmother Kong Man-soel played by Kim Mi-kyung. Ho-rang has a heart condition that requires treatment but after the surgery doesn’t go as planned at the start of the series, he is told he would need to wait another 3 months before going under again. However, the current device inside of him needs constant charging which makes him the rubber glove to Bo-bae’s portable charger.
And of course, you can’t have a chaebol (large, often family-controlled, South Korean business conglomerate) without internal tension. While Ho-rang oversees TS Resort, his aunt’s family is in charge of TS Hotel and that side of the family doesn’t make it a secret how they feel about him. His cousin is Choi Do-yoon, an arrogant, sleazy jerk played by Jung Jae-kwang (It’s Okay to Not Be Okay) who continues to bring dishonor to the family with scandalous headline after scandalous headline.
Rounding out the cast of characters are the “rival love interests.” First is Ji Eun-ho, a boyish, young actor who has known Bo-bae from his first role which she wrote. He is played by Cha Woo-min (Love Untangled) who brings a puppy-like sweet yearning to his scenes with Chae Soo-bin. And then there’s Han Seol-hee played by Shin Do-hyun (Hospital Playlist, The Recruit) who is the head of Hanlim Advertising and also in talks of marrying Ho-rang in an arrangement set up by dear grandmother.
And all four of them are recurring faces in each other’s lives as Ho-rang seeks to make Eun-ho the brand ambassador and face of TS Resort, who would rather be known for his acting and not as a pretty face, and Seol-hee is also trying to play a part in making this happen.
If it isn’t yet obvious, then it needs to be said that I’ve enjoyed getting to know these characters as I continue to watch Take Charge of My Heart to see exactly how things play out for all of them in this charming series that doesn’t hesitate to bring comedy along with romance. All ten episodes are out now on Netflix.
Editor’s Note: This review feature of Take Charge of My Heart is based on watching the first four episodes of the series prior to its release on Netflix.
