I mean, I’m not sure I would ever go back to high school myself, but if it’s in the name of lurve, I guess Jaejoong (Spy) doesn’t find it as daunting to become a teenager again. We’ve got a whole bunch of promo material for upcoming time-slip comedy Manhole, which is a week away from its premiere, including a new poster, some stills, and a preview for the first episode of the wacky youth rom-com.
The poster is a pretty straightforward depiction of what we can expect from the show: Jaejoong will travel back in time through the titular manhole in order to stop UEE (Night Light), his crush of 28 years (dude…), from getting married to another guy. Oh, and the wedding is scheduled to take place one week away. They make up half of the “ddol-vengers 4,” a way of saying Crazy 4 Avengers, so named for their weirdness (“ddol” = crazy). The other half is made up of Baro (Angry Mom) and Jung Hye-sung (Chief Kim).
Baro looks like he shows a soft side to UEE, carrying her bag for her when they’re in high school, but is perpetually looking for ways to one-up Jaejoong. Not that he ever succeeds, to our amusement. Jung Hye-sung’s character, on the other hand, is described as the leader of the “ddol-vengers,” with a direct, sharp way of speaking. I’m looking forward to her character the most, ‘cause she sounds like a blunt space cadet, a little bit out there but also insightful and refreshing at the same time.
The teaser pretty much shows what we know of the plot so far: Jaejoong crashes UEE’s wedding and shouts out his objection to her union, in what must be a nightmare since his very loud interruptions disturb absolutely no one. He gets admonished offscreen, “You couldn’t get her even if you took 280 years, let alone 28.” Ouch. UEE in uniform tells him to get a grip, and when he yells at the manhole that he wants to go back, he gets a line of worried looks from his friends. No wonder she thinks he’s lost it, when he grabs her shoulders with his crazy eyes and asks whether she’s from the present or the future.
Haha, is Jaejoong becoming a gangster one of the unintended butterfly effects of his time-traveling? If it is, that is one subplot I hope they keep around for a while. He must have told his friends about his time-slips, because Baro immediately calls him a crazy person and Jung Hye-sung repeats his words incredulously. I kinda love the casual hair-pulling going on while Baro just sits there on the side, nonchalantly parroting, “Crazy guy.” Jaejoong ends the trailer telling himself, “I can do it! I have one week left!”
This is one drama where the romance is probably going to take a backseat for me; I’m really here for the comedy and the friendships between the four adorable weirdos, and if my favorite Manhole teaser is anything to go by, we can expect a lot of the funny.
Manhole will premiere next week in KBS’s Wednesday-Thursday slot, on August 9. Ddol-vengers unite!
