“Like Flowers in Sand” ~ Everybody Can’t Be a GOAT!

“Like Flowers” in Sand” is Korean drama series released in 2023, has 12 episodes, and can be categorized as Sports, Coming-of-Age, Romance, and Comedy (Rom-Com); streaming on Netflix.

SUMMARY: Kim Baek-du has spent years of vying for a championship title. He was even considered a prodigy. But no he wants to leave the sport of ssireum, or traditional Korean wrestling. What’s the use in trying? Everybody can’t be a GOAT (Greatest of All Time) in sports.

♦ If I Don’t Win, I’m Retiring

In “Like Flowers in Sand”, it’s the 2023 Dano Ssireum Championship. At one time, Kim Baek-Du, was known as the “emperor of ssireum”. Now he’s 32 years old, and still in good shape. But when people talk about him they say that he “was” at one time a rising star. That’s kind of a bummer for people to introduce you that way to the audience. It’s almost like they’re saying that your glory days are over! Why are you even in the game?

Kim Baek-Du doesn’t drink alcohol. Everybody knows that when he does he says dumb things and then blacks out. He never remembers anything. While hanging out with friends, he unintentionally drank alcohol. He starts talking to his coach over the phone and blurts out that if he doesn’t win the championship this time, he’s going to retire. That’s a statement he said while drunk. He wishes he didn’t remember that he had said it but the next day his coach brought up the conversation and … he remembered. The coach tried to encourage him saying he was sure to win this time. But who would have known that the draw would pair him with a 24-year-old, 6-time winner?

In sports or any other activity, everybody knows that your body and mind must be in sync. However, even though at age 32, Kim Baek-Du is still physically fit to wrestle, in his mind he is seriously thinking about ending his career. It would be a sad ending if it doesn’t win the championship, but if he loses, what’s the use in continuing to try? The coach says the least he could do is go down fighting, not fumbling.

Kim Baek-Du did not win the competition, so he followed through. His statement that he would retire was not just an idle threat. While all of this is going on in Kim Baek-Du’s life, two other events are taking place in his hometown that might be woven into his life timeline.

♦ Event 1: A Strange Woman

Is that Oh Du-Sik and why did she come back?

Oh Yu-Gyeong is a strange woman who walks around with an umbrella no matter what the weather is like. She has moved to Geosan County and now lives in a home that was vacant for quite some time. One night Kim Baek-Du is on her property and she flips him. He lands on the ground, looks up at her, and calls her Oh Du-Sik. He was so happy! He and Du-sik grew up together and one day she left. He had always wondered what happened, where she went, etc. The woman tells him that he is mistaken. She is NOT Oh Du-Sik and he better leave or she will have him arrested for trespassing.

But Kim Baek-Du is almost certain that he is. He even tries to get his best friend, Cho Seok-Hui, to do a background check. Cho Seok-Hui is a policeman and tells him background checks are only done for work. He can’t snoop on a person because they’re BFFs and he has a feeling she’s a girl he grew up with. Besides, this woman can’t possibly be Oh Du-Sik because she’s pretty. Oh Du-Sik was ugly and looked like a boy! Cho Seok-Hui says he would know her up close because she beat him up so many times. Anyway! Whoever this woman is, she clearly has a reason for moving to Geosan County. Also, there’s a story about Oh Du-Sik, but people in the town don’t like to talk about it. Since an “official background check” can not be performed, Kim Baek-Du decides to find out about this mysterious woman on his own.

♦ Event 2: A Strange Death

Choi Chil-Seong is not from around here, so why did he come here to die?

A dead man identified as Choi Chil-Seong is found in the reservoir. Cho Seok-Hui visits the scene because he’s a policeman. But when he gets there he sees two guys examining the scene and asking questions. He asks them who they are and why were they at the scene. It’s a small town where he grew up, so he knows these guys are not from Geosan County. He learns that they are detectives from Seoul, looking into the death of the man whose body was found in the reservoir. Cho Seok-Hui is very suspicious about the death of a man who just showed up in their town to die. Even though the Seoul detectives took all of the CCTV footage, Cho Seok-Hui decides to find out about this mysterious death on his own.

Kim Baek-Du really did retire from ssireum. However, now what’s he going to do? The only thing he’s ever done for his entire life is wrestling.

• Is the appearance of the strange woman and the death of an outsider connected? Or are these two events unrelated and the timing of their occurrence is coincidental?

• Is that woman really not Oh Du-Sik? If she is Oh Du-Sik, why did she say she isn’t and why would she return to Geosan County? It seems that something “unspeakable” happened to Oh Du-Sik. Cho Seok-Hui tells Kim Baek-Du that Oh Du-Sik would probably never want to return to Geosan County.

Is Kim Baek-Du’s life about to take some unexpected twists and turns?

Main Characters:

• Kim Baek-Du (played by Jang Dong-Yoon, “My Man is Cupid”, “Oasis”, “The Tale of Nokdu”)
• Oh Yu-Gyeong (played by Lee Joo-Myoung, “Family: The Unbreakable Bond”)
• Min Hyeon-Uk (played by Yun Jong-Seok, “Our Blooming Youth”)
• Joo Mi-Ran (played by Kim Bo-Ra, “Black Out”)
• Kwak Jin-Su (played by Lee Jae-Joon)
• Cho Seok-Hui (played by Lee Joo-Seung)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 7.5 out of 10 stars
• MyDramaList: 8.2 out of 10 stars
• A Good Movie to Watch: 7.4 out of 10 stars

My personal rating is the same as My Drama List.

“Like Flowers in Sand” is a 2023 Korean drama that kept getting pushed down to the bottom of my watch list because it has a sports theme, and I am really not into sports. Occasionally, I’m OK with watching a movie where the main character is good at a particular sport. I’ve only ever heard of Taekwondo because it is the national sport of Korea. This series was very educational because I knew nothing about Ssireum, Korea’s traditional wrestling.

I will borrow an excerpt from a review published by “A Good Movie to Watch”. Per the review, this is what makes the Kdrama series so relatable:

• “While sports can be a lucrative profession for certain individuals, Like Flowers in Sand portrays how futile the dream could be for some players, let alone whole teams, especially for regional sports that aren’t known throughout the globe. After years in the sport, especially after gaining a reputation for being a prodigy, without the top title, it’s easy to empathize with the main character.”

I agree. It’s a bummer when you start with people telling you that you’re excellent at doing something but you never win!

NOTES: “Dano is a public holiday in North and South Korea to celebrate the end of spring as the summer season is welcomed. This day marks the start of the growing season, when farmers have finished sowing and planting and Yang energy is at its highest level.” (Quote Source: Cultural Infusion) “Ssireum is a traditional Korean sport that is similar to sumo, but without the physical hits like slaps and blows. Competitors in both sports are often large, but Korean wrestlers tend to be leaner.” (Per Wikipedia)

LINKS OF INTEREST:

‘Like Flowers in Sand’ Is Your New K-Drama Obsession | Rolling Stone Magazine

“Like Flowers In Sand” Ends On Its Highest Ratings + “Queen Of Divorce” Joins Race | Soompi

Like Flowers in Sand TV Show Review | A Good Movie to Watch

Good Ol’ Review: “Like Flowers in Sand” a Heartwarming, Exciting and Memorable Series | DryedMangoez.com

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

Sand, in. “Like Flowers in Sand | Official Trailer | Netflix.” YouTube, December 11, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIm0oEhFiBw.

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