Volume Two

Glass Slipper is a Korean television drama (K-drama) produced by the South Korean television network SBS in 2002. The series is made up of forty episodes, which have been released on DVD in two separate volumes. Volume one contains the first twenty-one episodes and volume two the final nineteen episodes. The show is highly romanticized and melodramatic. For a K-drama, Glass Slipper gets two thumbs up. From start to finish, it is an intense show with one great soapy development after the other. This review covers the second volume.

In Glass Slipper's second volume, the drama is turned up a notch with some fantastic developments. At the fore is the love triangle between Tae-hee, Sun-woo, and Jae-hyuk. It pinnacles and takes a drastic turn for the worse. It is a very somber development. Jae-hyuk's hand is forced by Pil-joong and later Tae-hee. He has to give up Sun-woo, which devastates him and Sun-woo. The relationship is especially dicey as Chul-woong is off to the side, madly in love with Sun-woo. Despite her love for another man, he does everything to win her. It is a very sad development amongst the four leading characters.

At this point, Tae-hee starts to turn into a darker person. Her actions become aligned to Sun-hee's. She treats Sun-woo with hatred. Her actions are partly attributed to stress. She is lunged into position of CEO, although temporary, and the company is about to go bankrupt. The company's final chance is Jaeha Communications and the mobile wireless internet service. She has to drive the company to success and sort out the romantic catastrophe with Jae-hyuk and Sun-woo.

Another big development deals with Sun-hee's real identity coming to light. She goes to unnerving lengths to keep it a secret. First, she finds out that Pil-joong and Kwi-joong (Chul-woong's father and Pil-joong's trusted aide) have found out Sun-woo is the real granddaughter. She races against the clock to stop them, but an unfortunate car accident happens that keeps Sun-hee's secret safe. Fortunately for all of the good people in the show, Jae-hyuk suspects something is amiss. He learns the truth and reveals Sun-hee is a fraud. He also identifies Sun-woo as Tae-hee's real sister.

As Tae-hee learns about her sister's real identity, everyone finds out that she is dying. Like the father she can't remember, she has leukemia and has only a few months to live. During this stage, she tries to make Chul-woong and everyone else around her happy. It is another very somber and sad development, as the subtext of her dying and trying to please everyone around her is very emotional.

Everything that happens builds around the primary love triangle with Tae-hee, Sun-woo, and Jae-hyuk. The development between the characters is pretty sad. The main characters have to find some balance in their lives, as the new information about Tae-hee and Sun-woo being sisters makes it impossible for Jae-hyuk to be with either girl. Chul-woong is always caught in the middle and despite giving all his love, he never gets it back.

Beyond the primary storylines, there are a few minor developments. One of the nicer minor plotlines involves three of the supporting characters. Yon-woong is Chul-woong's younger sister. In volume one, she embarked in a love triangle with Seo-joon (Tae-hee's cousin) and Su-tak (Chul-woong's closest friend). Su-tak has eyes for Yon-woong, but she develops feelings for Seo-joon after he pursues her heavily. Of course, the stuck up aunt has another opinion. She wants Seo-joon to marry another girl. This relationship is a nice development with a happier context than the main plotline.

Overall, Glass Slipper's second volume continues the exciting and entertaining story. The new developments with the cast and the complex love triangles produce even more drama with some of the characters being more devious than ever. The latter developments are also more emotional than before and it all ends with a somber, yet gratifying ending.

The DVD

Video:
This release is given in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The picture quality is excellent, providing a clear and clean picture with minor color distortions and compression artifacts. Both dark and bright colors are represented very well.

Audio:
The audio is given in Korean 2.0 stereo sound. The track is dialogue driven and has limited use of the surround/stereo capability. The music sounds good; it is dynamic and vibrant. For non-spoken language options, there are English subtitles.

Extras:
For extras, Glass Slipper, Volume 2 comes with a long running behind-the-scenes featurette (2:18:17). The featurette runs under two and a half hours and has candid footage of the cast, crew, and filming of specific scenes. The featurette is primarily of montage of behind-the-scenes footage with background music. The footage is also pretty rough and is presented in reduced resolution. In other words, there are sizeable black bars surrounding the footage. In short, it is not the most entertaining extra and will probably lose your interest fast.

Final Thoughts:
Glass Slipper is a K-drama about two sisters who are separated as children. One suffers amnesia and fifteen years later, they are reunited. Of course, they do not know they are sisters. They compete at work and chase after the same guy. All the while, other people are involved. The result is nonstop melodrama. It is an exciting and entertaining experience, with humor, drama, sadness, mystery, and action. It is an absolute must for K-drama fans! Just one episode, and you will be hooked.