Durian’s Affair ~ Merciful Buddha Answered Our Prayers

“Durian’s Affair” is a Korean drama series, released in 2023, with 16 episodes, and categorized as a Time Travel, Romance, Historical, and Fantasy or Supernatural.

♦ Would You Like to See How Your Prayers were Answered?

In “Durian’s Affair”, the main characters are two noble ladies from Joseon who were faithful Buddhists and believed in reincarnation. The two men in their lives whom they loved dearly were both murdered. They were powerless to bring the murderer to justice. They believed that prayer had divine power, so they prayed.

Did they pray for justice?  No.  What was their prayer? The women prayed to Buddha that the two men they loved would be reborn and in their rebirth they would live much better lives than they had lived in Joseon.

Never in a million years did either noble lady believe that hundreds of years later, they would physically see with their own eyes, that their prayers had been answered. They just prayed, believed, and hoped their prayer would be answered. To see “proof” probably wasn’t a part of the prayer. But guess what?

There must be something about lunar eclipses and time travel. The year is 2023. There is a birthday party for the matriarch of the Dan family and on that night there is a lunar eclipse. On a night during a time period in Joseon, a lunar eclipse is also occurring. On that night, two women in Joseon are grieving the loss of someone they love.

Eon is the son of Du Ri-An, and the husband of Kim So-Jeo and he has died a suspicious death. Several years before that Dol Seo, a man Du Ri-An loved had also died a suspicious death. The death of her husband was too much for Kim So-Jeo to bear. She wanted to die to go and be with him.

On the night of the lunar eclipse, Kim So-Jeo ran out of the house into the woods. Du Ri-An saw her daughter-in-law and immediately reacted by chasing after her. Kim So-Jeo made it to a cliff and jumped off into the water. Du Ri-An jumped in after her. When the two women came up out of the water, they were in a body of water on the property owned by Dan Chi-Gam.

Dan Chi-Gam’s wife took them into their home and let them rest in the guest room. Both women had fainted and the wife did not want any problems with the police. She figured once they woke up she could get more details and help them in some way. She was not sure but she thought they might have escaped from a mental institution.

Du Ri-An and Kim So-Jeo regained their consciousness at different intervals. When Du Ri-An woke up and saw Dan Chi-Gam, she called him Dol Seo and fainted again!

When Kim So-Jeo woke up she saw Dan Deung-Myung, the nephew of Dan Chi-Gam. She did not call his name. Instead, she exclaimed “Honey!” and then hugged him. She was so sure Budhha had answered her prayer and she was not in the afterlife with Eon. Dan Deung-Myung was surprised, to say the least. He tried to calm her down and introduce himself to let her know that he was not the man she thought he was.

When the two women were left alone to sort things out, it was Kim So-Jeo who realized they were in the future. They both realized that the men they prayed for had been reincarnated and were living a good life. Although, they weren’t sure why the men did not remember them.

No matter if the men did not remember them. Du Ra-In gladly accepted the merciful Buddha’s blessing. She convinced Kim So-Jeo to conceal the fact that they had time-traveled and get a job working for the family. That way they could stay close to Dan Chi-Gam (i.e. Dol Seo) and Dan Deung-Myung (i.e. Eon).

After all, they did not pray that Buddha reincarnate them as well and that they live their reborn lives with these men. It should be enough for both of them to see that the men they loved were now being treated well and living a happy life.

♦ Buddha’s Blessing or an Unexpected Curse?

Dol Seo and Eon were the ones Du Ra-In and Kim So-Jeo had prayed for. But Madam Kim and her sickly son whom Du Ra-In had married were also reincarnated. What a shock!

The two people they would have been happy to never ever see again, they were seeing them AGAIN! In this life, Madam Kim was Dol Seo’s mother, Eon’s grandmother, and the mother of Du Ra-In’s husband who had died.

• That meant her sickly husband from Joseon was now Dol Seo’s brother. He was no longer sickly but worse. He was a womanizer, and Du Ra-In had already caught his eye.  YUK!

If Du Ra-In and Kim So-Jeo wanted to stay close to the reincarnated Dol Seo and Eon, they would have to accept the “other new relationships”. But … ??? … was this Buddha’s blessing or an unexpected curse? Surely Dan Chi-Gam (Dol Seo) and Dan Deung-Myung (Eon) won’t suffer misfortune AGAIN!!

Main Characters:

• Du Ri-An (played by Park Joo-Mi)
• Kim So-Jeo (played by Lee Da-Yeon)
• Dol Seo / Dan Chi-Gam (played by Kim Min-Jun, “Damo”, “Hwarang”)
• Eon / Dan Deung-Myung (played by Yoo Jung-Hoo)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 7.5 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.3 out of 10 stars
• Dramabeans: 8.3 out of 10 stars
• Viki viewers rated this series 8.4 out of 10 stars

My personal rating is 9 out of 10 stars.

My high rating is mainly because of the performances of the two (2) leading ladies who time-traveled from Joseon to modern-day South Korea. They never broke character and they were so convincing; very genuine and authentic. They really acted like two humble noble ladies from Joseon. Their manner of speech, their polite manners, their hair, etc.

This K-drama was added to my watch list because the title made me curious: “Durian’s Affair”. The main female leads were two noble ladies. Du Ri-An was the name of the older noble lady from the Joseon Era. (Duri’an is a Korean word that refers to durian, a fruit native to Indonesia and Malaysia.)

The lives of both noble ladies were messed up because of Madam Kim, Du Ri-an’s heartless and cold-blooded mother-in-law. The scriptwriters did an excellent job with the historical and modern-day flashbacks, connecting the dots between the two different timelines.

This series moves slowly so you must be patient and wait for the storyline to unfold. But your patience will be rewarded. One word to describe “Durian’s Affair”? FASCINATING!

FUN READS:

• Eclipses of History: Part 1 | EclipseWise
• Analysis of the lunar eclipse records from the Goryeosa | ResearchGate.net
• Astronomical Phenomenon Records from Sukjong’s Chunbang-Ilgi | NASA/ADS
• 10 mouth-watering recipes with Durian | Kuali

LINKS OF INTEREST:

• Weekend Fantasy Makjang Drama Durian’s Affair Breaks 6% Ratings on TV Chosun and Settles into a Curiously Addictive Watch | A Koala’s Playground
• K-drama Durian’s Affair: tawdry Korean high-society high jinks with a shoddy supernatural twist | South China Morning Post
• What’s The Buzz Around Latest K-Drama Durian’s Affair, 5 Things You Need To Know | HerZindagi
• What’s The Buzz About? Why You Should Watch Durian’s Affair | Kocowa+ Blog

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

K Drama World. “Durian’s Affair (2023)|Official Trailer #DuriansAffair #Kdrama #Trailer.” YouTube Video. YouTube, July 22, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAXm3N4ChWo.

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