The drama ‘The History of Jijil’, which had been adrift for a long time due to the school violence controversy involving Song Ha-yoon, has finally been released after 3 years. Bang Min-ah, who plays the first love of the main character (Jo Byung-gyu), is garnering attention for not only filling the void left by Song Ha-yoon, but also playing a leading role in leading the drama‘s success.

‘The History of Jijil’, which released episodes 1 and 2 on OTT (online video service) Wave and Watcha on the 26th of last month, is a growth comedy based on a webtoon of the same name that depicts the growth of four 20-year-old youths through love and separation. The original webtoon’s story was written by writer Kim Poong, and filming was scheduled to be completed in 2022 with high expectations. However, the drama‘s broadcasting has been postponed indefinitely due to controversy over school violence surrounding Song Ha-yoon, who played the female lead.

The drama, which has finally been unveiled after a long wait, aroused curiosity by removing all of Song Ha-yoon’s screen time from the trailer released before it went on air and instead featuring Bang Min-ah as the lead actress with a considerable amount of screen time and impact. Accordingly, there were predictions that Bang Min-ah would take on the ‘female lead role’ instead of Song Ha-yoon, whose screen time was significantly reduced through later editing.

In episodes 1 and 2, which were unveiled amidst the curiosity of viewers, Bang Min-ah appeared as the female lead as expected, leaving a strong impact. As Kwon Seol-ha, a freshman in the Department of Korean Literature at Hongik University and the ‘campus goddess’, she completely captured the hearts of not only the main character Min-ki (Jo Byung-gyu) but also the viewers with her sensitivity that loves art and music and her honest yet free-spirited personality.

In particular, with her clean and clear skin tone and naturally flowing long hair that come to mind when thinking of first love, she showed off her signature innocent appearance while fully capturing the 2000s sensibility that served as the drama‘s backdrop, establishing herself as a new ‘first love icon’.

Online, there are even reactions saying that the expansion of Bang Min-ah’s role due to Song Ha-yoon‘s absence has actually been a ‘wind’ for the drama. In fact, ‘History of Jjijil’ has washed away the sadness that had been drifting for a long time by rising to the top of real-time viewing rankings on Wave and Watcha since its release.

The production team revealed that Song Ha-yoon will appear starting from episodes 3 and 4, but some predict that it will be difficult for her to surpass the strong impact and presence that Bang Min-ah showed in episodes 1 and 2 due to the aftereffects of her personal controversies that have not been completely resolved.

Meanwhile, Bang Min-ah showed off her improved acting skills by presenting completely different characters in the music romance ‘Long Time No See’ and the horror film ‘Expedition Villa’ last year. She also communicated with the audience by leading a lively stage through the musical ‘Tick Tick Boom’.


Reporter Seungmi Lee smlee@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.