Live Up to Your Name | Korean Drama TV Series
Live Up to Your Name is a Korean drama series, released in 2017. Medical and time travel are very popular themes in K-dramas. The scriptwriters for this series effectively combined both themes and created a very believable unbelievable story.
Soompi.com describes it as a modern and historical mash-up. I describe it as a romance/time travel/medical/historical period drama.
Even though Live Up to Your Name is 5+ years old, as of February 2023, fans are still hoping for a Season 2. They are even willing to wait until the summer of 2024, as long as the original cast returns. Wow! That’s loyalty.
The Surgeon Meets the Quack
The two main characters who ultimately fall in love, are Heo Im (played by Kim Nam-Gil) and Choi Yeon-Kyung (played by Kim A-Joong). They are both highly skilled medical professionals and considered “the best” in their fields.
- Choi Yeon-Kyung is a female doctor in modern-day South Korea, and her specialty is heart surgery.
- Heo Im is an acupuncturist from Joseon, and his character is based on a real-life historical figure.
Episode 1: It’s the year 1592 in Joseon. Heo Im falls off of a bridge into the water. When he comes up out of the water, he finds himself in modern-day Seoul, South Korea. He is stumbling around the streets in confusion when he hears someone calling for help. A person has collapsed and is lying unconscious on the sidewalk. He’s a doctor, so he does what any honest doctor would do and tries to offer medical assistance. He was going to treat the person with acupuncture. However, a female heart doctor arrives on the scene just in time to stop him!
- Dr. Choi Yeon-Kyung thinks Heo Im is a crazy quack pretending to be a doctor of oriental medicine.
- Heo Im is shocked to learn that females can actually become doctors; and thinks she must be pretending and she’s the quack!
Their first meeting was not love at first sight.
A Time Travel Mash-Up
Calling this show a modern and historical mash-up makes sense. What makes Live Up to Your Name different from other time travel shows is that the main characters cross the time barriers several times. First, Heo Im comes to the modern-day Republic of Korea. Then Heo Im and Choi Yeon-Kyung pass through the time portal and they both end up in Joseon. Then they pass through again and end back up in Seoul. They go back and forth several times. One time Heo Im came back to Korea and Choi Yeon-Kyung got left behind in Joseon. It was terrifying!
During the course of their time-travel adventures together, a romance develops. But how can they have a lasting relationship when they are from different time periods?
- Must they choose to live separate lives because they are from different time periods?
- If they choose to be together, will they live in Joseon or in present-day Korea?
Did He Really Exist?
There is no debate about Heo Im being a real historical figure. However, in a few of the episodes, a character was introduced name Sayaka.
Some say that there is no historical proof that this man ever existed. He’s just a “legend” or a “myth”. Supposedly during the Japanese invasions of Joseon (1592 to 1598), there was a Japanese general named Sayaka who defected and served in the Joseon military. He helped defeat the Japanese forces and was given the name Kim Chung-seon.
Some argue that there is no name for such a commander in the Japanese historical records and documents.
I have 2 arguments against that logic.
- Argument 1: There is an easy explanation for why Sayaka’s name is not in the records. The Japanese got pissed, considered him a traitor, and erased all traces of him.
- Argument 2: If I were a Korean historian or storyteller, and I was going to create a mythical hero of the people, he wouldn’t be a foreigner who betrayed his country and fought for the enemy.
This man must have been real! Why make that story up? Just sayin’.
Viewer Ratings
This series is currently streaming on Netflix. Most viewers gave it 4.9 out of 5 stars. I agree with the rating and with the rest of the fans that a Season 2 would be awesome!
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