Contrary to her past acting roles, the Nation’s First Love Bae Suzy exhibits her acting prowess as the scheming “Anna“.
Ever since Coupang Play unveiled the teasers and trailers for the new series Anna, fans had been anticipating Bae Suzy’s return to the small screens. Known for her stunning visuals and charismatic appeal, actress Bae Suzy delivers another side of her that viewers will both come to despise and love.
Nathan Llantos watched Anna on Coupang Play
First Look | Mid-Series | Series Review
Opening Week Ratings:
Anna Opening Week Highlights
Lee Yoo Mi (Bae Suzy) is born in the province of Hongchun, to a less fortunate family. Her father works as a tailor with her mute mother in their rundown shop. She was a young, playful, intelligent girl who caught the eyes of a foreign military man and his wife, Catherine. Taking a keen interest in Yoo Mi, Catherine began teaching her some fundamentals, such as playing the piano, speaking English, and even playing poker.
Interestingly, she advised her to never allow anyone to read her thoughts. A piece of advice that Catherine follows as she pretends to be from a noble family to gain the respect of the local townsfolk. Despite their short time together, it was apparent that Catherine made a lasting impression on young Yoo Mi.
At school age, Yoo Mi began taking ballet lessons; however, this has proved to be costly. Her father’s tailor shop simply could not keep up with the bills of paying for her lessons. Nevertheless, a friend of Yoo Mi tries to convince her to continue. She praises how well Yoo Mi performs. Unfortunately, there have been rumors spreading about how Yoo Mi was from a poor family with a slow-witted mother.
Hearing this, Yoo Mi immediately begged his father to help her continue taking ballet. In the end, Yumi continued taking ballet and even won a local competition, beating her peers that’s been spreading rumors about her.
Highschool Troubles
By the year 1999, Yoo Mi is already in high school preparing for her exam to get into Seoul University. According to her homeroom adviser, Yoo Mi performs excellently in class and almost always receives satisfactory grades. Although she was determined to get a degree in Arts, her adviser discouraged her from doing so. Moreover, Yoo Mi was in a romantic relationship with her music teacher during this time.
It did not take long before the school administrator caught onto them. Before she could tell her side, the music teacher insisted that it was Yoo Mi that came onto him and tempted him. As a result, Yoo Mi had to leave her school and her hometown, all while her music teacher managed to retain his job.
Starting her new life in Seoul only four months before the entrance exams, Yoo Mi was finally accepted to a school. But, in the condition that she does not interact with any of the other students. During this time, Yumi evidently had difficulties adjusting, enough for her grades to fluctuate until finally, she got a call from Seoul University.
They informed her that she is not qualified to enroll. On the same day, her father called, informing her that her mother had been diagnosed with dementia. Meanwhile, when asked on the news about whether she got into university, Yoo Mi ultimately decides to lie. She tells his father that she got accepted. Still determined to enter the university, she enrolled in a college preparatory class.
First Friend & More Lies
One morning, in the tenant’s house, Yoo Mi meets Ji-won (Park Ye-young), a fellow student at Seoul University and a senior in the editorial department of the university magazine. Ji-won invites Yoo Mi to visit and meet the other members of the department. Desperate to make friends, Yumi shared that she had been studying abroad all this time and was currently majoring in aesthetics at the university.
After a while, Yumi was accepted as a member of the editorial department. She was invited to a Seoul university student gathering where she met Kang Jae-ho (Heo Hyeong-Gyu) whom she dated for a while. During one of their dinners, he invited her to study with her as an exchange student in New York.
Seeing this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Yoo Mi begged his father for the money. She lied that the opportunity was offered to her by the university. Unbeknownst to her that during this time his father was already diagnosed with cancer. On the day they were supposed to leave for New York, Jae-ho’s mother called.
She informed his son that there were no records of Yoo Mi as a student at Seoul University. Upon finding this revelation, Yoo Mi was left at the airport and forced to go home, all the while her parents thought that she was already in America.
Lies Beget Miseries
Subsequently, Yoo Mi again received news that she had failed her preparatory class. On the same day, her mother called her, wailing at the news that her father had passed away due to cancer. Her father did not tell her, afraid that it would hinder her plans to study in America. After the funeral, Yoo Mi apologized to her deceased father.
She decided to try to truly live her life. Starting by looking after the tailor shop and taking care of her mother. Hence, she worked multiple jobs as a waitress, liaison, and even convenience store clerk. One day she saw an ad for a wealthy art designer. Yoo Mi got accepted as a terminal employee. She was in charge of not only manning the gallery counter but also cleaning and being the personal assistant of Lee Hyun-Joo (Jung Eun-Chae).
At first, Yoo Mi seemed to be doing well and working diligently. She did her best to keep up with the work for her and her mother. This pleases her boss thus; Hyun-Joo gave her a luxury watch as a present for her hard work. However, later on, she realized that the people around her looked down on her and even ridiculed her.
The stress got to Yoo Mi, which led her to run away from her job. She took out all the cash she could and ran away with some luxury items which she later attempted to sell. This included the luxury watch gifted to her, which turned out to be a counterfeit, which explained why it was handed down to her.
The Rise of Anna
Yoo Mi spent the rest of her days living with her mother, taking care of her on account of her dementia. Later on, she remembered her friend Ji-won. While they were catching up, Yoo Mi told her friend that she had finished her degree abroad. This was her attempt to explain her sudden disappearance from Seoul.
Subsequently, Ji-won offered her a place to work for the meantime as a literature adviser for an academy. With the seeming start of her new life, Yoo Mi legally changed her name to Lee Anna. The same name as Lee Hyun-Joo on her American passport. Not only that but, she forged her qualifications to be accepted at her new job.
Later on, she was invited by Professor Yoon, an art director at the academy she works for. She is now going to be an affiliate of a college and a lecturer for the Life Long Learning Organization. By 2013, Yoo Mi was now teaching classic literature at a university. Despite faking her credential, she worked diligently in preparing and studying for her lectures.
An Unsolicited Marriage
Additionally, during one of her lunches, Mr. Kim, a professor at the organization, asks Yoo Mi/Anna about her plans to get married. He then reveals that he has the perfect suitor in mind. Yoo Mi/ Anna was then introduced to Cho Ji Hoon, the CEO of a promising venture company. Soon enough, in 2015, they decided to marry.
Anna, however, had to employ the use of two strangers to play the part of her parents for the wedding. The following year, she was still teaching at the university. On the other hand, her husband entered the world of politics.
This deeply troubled her as this may become a problem in keeping her personal life private. Most especially all of her lies. Unfortunately, on her way to the company building, Yoo Mi bumps into Lee Hyun-Joo. They saw each other in the elevator and Hyun-joo immediately recognizes her.
Anna Opening Week Musings
There are lots of loopholes. A ton of it that is concerning as episodes 1 and 2 unfold the series’ trajectory. For instance, it was a bit overwhelming to watch because of how everything was enclosed in the first episode alone. But that is forgivable since what is happening in the life of the main character is easy to understand even if the pacing is fast.
Moreover, despite being a thriller drama, a lot of events in Yoo Mi’s life is superficial enough to be convincing. In particular, where does she get the confidence to lie again and forge her credentials? She literally just stole money and valuable goods from her last job—which is owned by a renowned wealthy family, who for some miraculous reason did not put a bounty on her head.
A Penny For Some Thoughts
Viewers can let it slide that during her supposed college years, she was caught by her ex-boyfriend’s mother faking her life story. That was not enough hence she lied again but on a bigger scale this time. Despite its beings a few years ago, the risk of her being caught by Hyun-joo’s family is high.
She never left Korea and she even dared to apply using fake credentials to a prestigious Academy. It is very concerning how she was able to legally change her name that easily. One could also wonder how did Ji-won believe all the lies she said way back in Senior High? Ji-won literally saw Yoo Mi’s parents when they visited their dorm before.
She also caught Yoo Mi lying about her college application acceptance. This happened before she introduced Yoo Mi to their editorial club. What is more, given that they both lived in a cheap dormitory near school, and Yoo Mi at that time did not have much luxurious belongings or clothing, it is hard to imagine how was Ji-won ever convinced that Yoo Mi was rich.
Additional Two Cents
Besides that, it is understandable that Hyun-joo’s family possibly let it slide because they are far rich to even care about what Yoo Mi stole. However, it is absurd how she managed to lie to the whole faculty and administration of the prestigious academy. It could be that her counterfeit documents passed as legit ones in the eyes of the interviewer.
But, why in the world are a prestigious academy’s policies relaxed enough to not do a background check or double-check on their applicant’s papers? On top of that, gossip had been circulating about Yoo Mi’s parents being rich. Are all the professors in the academy slow-witted enough to just depend on the rumors and not look up Yoo Mi on the internet or their wide connection in the community?
So many questions that the next episodes should hopefully explain. In the first episode alone, there are a bunch of gaps in the plot premise that need to be addressed. However, in the second episode, the storyline just kept on progressing. It even stretched to 2015 when Yoo Mi—now called Anna, got married to a CEO of a company.
Redeeming Factors
The plot is indeed off to an ambitious start. Bae Suzy is befitting for the role and she really does evoke naivety and cunningness in her character. Despite the concerning loopholes, viewers would be enticed to keep watching. This is because the series has just begun and is promising to have a thrilling trajectory in the long run.
As well as it piques the interest of viewers to witness what will happen to Yoo Mi/Anna. Moreover, it will be great to see how Jung Eun Chae, who portrays the character Lee Hyun-jo / Lee Anna, would confront Yoo Mi in the upcoming episodes.
Witness where Bae Suzy’s web of lies will take her character in the new thriller-drama “Anna”. Episodes are available weekly exclusively on Coupang Play.
While waiting for the episodes, get to know more about the series and Bae Suzy:
INTERVIEW: Bae Suzy Divulges How She Transformed Into Her Comeback Drama “Anna”
Press Conference: Bae Suzy Ardently Gives Her First Greeting as “Anna”
Photos: Coupang Play
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