''Extraordinary You'' () is a 2019

South Korean television series Korean drama (), also known as K-drama or Koreanovela, refers to Korean-language television shows made in South Korea. These shows began to be produced around the early 1960s, but were mostly consumed domestically until the rise of the Korean Wa ...

starring

Kim Hye-yoon Kim Hye-yoon (; born November 10, 1996) is a South Korean actress. She gained recognition for her role as Kang Ye-seo in JTBC's Korean drama, television series ''Sky Castle'' (2018–2019), before landing her first leading roles in both televisi ...

Rowoon Kim Seok-woo (; born August 7, 1996), better known by his stage name Rowoon, is a South Korean actor and singer. He is a former member of the South Korean boy band SF9. He is best known for his acting roles in Korean drama, television series '' ...

Lee Jae-wook Lee Jae-wook (; born May 10, 1998) is a South Korean actor and model. He made his television debut in ''Memories of the Alhambra'' (2018–2019) and film debut in ''The Battle of Jangsari'' (2019). Followed by roles in the office romance '' Sear ...

Lee Na-eun Lee Na-eun (; born May 5, 1999), also known mononymously as Naeun, is a South Korean actress and former singer. She is a former member of the South Korean girl group April (girl group), April, formed by DSP Media in 2015. She is best known for h ...

Jung Gun-joo Jung Gun-joo (; born May 26, 1995) is a South Korean actor. He has starred in several web dramas before venturing into TV broadcasts. Career In 2017, Jung Gun-joo signed an exclusive contract with JYP Entertainment and made an appearance in ...

Kim Young-dae Kim Young-dae (; born March 2, 1996) is a South Korean actor. He first gained recognition for the MBC high school drama ''Extraordinary You'' (2019). More recently, he appeared in the SBS television series ''The Penthouse: War In Life'' (202 ...

, and

Lee Tae-ri Lee Tae-ri (; born June 28, 1993), birth name Lee Min-ho, is a South Korean actor. He is well-known for his role as young Yang Myung in ''Moon Embracing the Sun'' (2012), Song Man-bo in ''Rooftop Prince'' (2012), Jung Joo-hwan in '' The Beauty ...

. It is based on the

webtoon Webtoons () are a type of episodic digital comics that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allo ...

''July Found by Chance'' which was first published in January 2018 on

Daum Webtoon Kakao Webtoon () is a webtoon platform operated by Kakao. History The service originally launched in 2003 by Daum, a popular web portal in Korea, as Daum Webtoon making it the first official webtoon platform in the world. It would operate unde ...

. The series aired on

MBC TV MBC TV (Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Television) is a South Korean free-to-air television channel launched on 8 August 1969 and owned by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. History The Seoul Private Broadcasting Corporation was establish ...

's Wednesdays and Thursdays 21:00 ( KST) time slot from October 2 to November 21, 2019.

Synopsis

The series follows high school girl Eun Dan-oh (

) who is a student at a prestigious academy. One day, by chance, she discovers that the world she lives in is a

fantasy world A fantasy world or fictional world is a world created for fictional media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds feature magical abilities. Some worlds may be a parallel world connected to Earth via magical portals or items ...

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

. She and everyone else are merely

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to Theoph ...

in a comic book entitled ''Secret,'' all under the authority of their omnipotent and omniscient Writer. Dan-oh is only an extra character and, worse, the Writer gave her a lame set-up: she is engaged to her long-time crush who despises her, and she has a heart disease and is expected to die soon. Not satisfied with this fate, Dan-oh decides to forge her own destiny by changing the story's plot and finding her own true love. Her hopes of freeing herself from the Writer's control becomes stronger than before when she unexpectedly meets nameless Student Number 13 (

). But as the events around Dan-oh and Number 13, whom she named as Haru, gradually start to have parallels with the Writer's previous work ''Neungsohwa,'' changing her destiny could have a price to pay.

Cast

Main

as Eun Dan-oh (''Secret'' and ''Neungsohwa'') : A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; an extra character in ''Secret'' and the female

main character A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

of ''Neungsohwa''. Dan-oh is the beautiful and only daughter of a wealthy family who still has a heart disease despite having been operated on multiple times. After sensing weird things happening to her, Dan-oh finds out that she and everyone else around her live in a fantasy world inside a

teen fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

entitled ''Secret'', of which she is only an extra

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to Theoph ...

. As a character in ''Secret'', she is engaged to Kyung, her crush for almost a decade, and could possibly die soon due to her health condition. : Dan-oh was also a main character in one of the Writer's previous works, the period romance comic book ''Neungsohwa'', which is set in the Goryeo era. In ''Neungsohwa'', she is Lady Eun Dan-oh, a noble maiden betrothed to Prince Baek Kyung. *

as Number 13 / Ha-ru (''Secret'' and ''Neungsohwa'') : A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; an extra character in ''Secret'' and one of the male main characters of ''Neungsohwa''. Ha-ru is a handsome student that Dan-oh starts noticing and liking after he saves her multiple times, helping Dan-oh in changing her fate. He is a nameless extra in ''Secret'' that even other characters are not aware of his existence. Being the 13th student in the class roster, Dan-oh calls him ''Number 13'' at first. Later on, Dan-oh names him ''Ha-ru'' which, seemingly like a coincidence, was also his name in his former role in ''Neungsohwa''. He has been aware that he is a character in a comic book. : Ha-ru was a main character in ''Neungsohwa'' as a warrior and Prince Baek Kyung's personal guard. *

as Baek Kyung (''Secret'' and ''Neungsohwa'') : A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; a supporting character in ''Secret'' and one of the male main characters of ''Neungsohwa''. Kyung is a rude and arrogant student who has an abusive father and a greedy stepmother. He is a member of the ''A3'', a trio of the most handsome and powerful boys in their school. He is engaged to Dan-oh, whom he dislikes due to circumstances around their arranged marriage. After observing Dan-oh, Ha-ru, and Do-hwa's strange behavior, he starts becoming aware that he is a character in a comic book, and slowly realises that he actually likes Dan-oh, as driven by his jealousy towards her close relationship with Ha-ru. : He was also a main character in ''Neungsohwa'' as Prince Baek Kyung, the brother of King Geum Jin-mi and Lady Eun's fiancé. *

as Yeo Joo-da (''Secret'') : A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; the female main character of ''Secret''. Joo-da is a beautiful student who comes from a poor family but is optimistic despite being

bullied Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

and has a kind heart. She senses strange things around her and eventually realizes that she is the protagonist in a comic book but keeps it a secret. *

as Lee Do-hwa (''Secret'') : A student of Class 2-8 in Seuli High School and the second male main character of ''Secret''. A member of the A3, Do-hwa is a friendly student, appeared to be cold and cool, who is skilled in music and hides his loneliness and sadness behind his bright smile. He secretly harbors feelings for Joo-da and is in a love triangle with A3 leader Nam-joo. Like Dan-oh, he senses strange things happening to him and later learns from Dan-oh about his existence as a character in a comic book. *

as Oh Nam-joo (''Secret'') : A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School and the male main character of ''Secret''. Nam-joo is a second-generation

chaebol A chaebol ( , ; , ) is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group. Several dozen large South Kore ...

, and the leader of A3. He also has feelings for Joo-da and is entangled in a love triangle with A3 member Do-hwa. *

as Jinmichae (''Secret'') / Geum Jin-mi (''Neungsohwa'') : A

cafeteria A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a scho ...

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

in Seuli High School; an extra character in ''Secret'' and supporting character in ''Neungsohwa''. Handsome yet mysterious, Jinmichae is nicknamed ''Dried Squid Fairy'' by adoring female students. He seems to know more about the world of comics than anyone else. : He was a supporting character in ''Neungsohwa'' where he started to become aware of his existence as a comic book character while playing the role of King Geum Jin-mi.

Supporting

Seuli High School

Note: The following characters are part of the world of the comic book ''Secret'' unless indicated otherwise. *

Kim Ji-in Kim Ji-in (; born 17 September 1996) is a South Korean actress. She is known for her roles in dramas ''Extraordinary You'', ''So Not Worth It ''So Not Worth It'' () is a 2021 South Korean television series starring Park Se-wan, Shin Hyeon-se ...

as Shin Sae-mi :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; Dan-oh and Soo-chul's close friend. She harbors a long-time crush for Nam-joo and bullies Joo-da for being Nam-joo's love interest despite her low status. She used to have a crush on Nam-joo but starts falling for her best friend Soo-chul. *

Kim Hyun-mok Kim Hyun-mok is a South Korean actor and model. He is known for his roles in dramas such as ''Extraordinary You'', '' Once Again'', and ''Memorials A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoratio ...

as Ahn Soo-chul :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; Dan-oh and Sae-mi's close friend. He is a web vlogger who wishes to have millions of subscribers. * as Kim Il-jin :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; one of the three girl bullies who harass Joo-da with Sae-mi. One of Nam-joo's admirers. * Jung Mi-mi as Park Yi-jin :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; one of the three girl bullies who harass Joo-da with Sae-mi. One of Nam-joo's admirers. * Jung Ye-jin as Lee Sam-jin :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; one of the three girl bullies who harass Joo-da with Sae-mi. One of Nam-joo's admirers. * Han Chae-kyung as Kim Ae-il :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; one of Kyung's admirers *

Song Ji-woo Song Ji-woo (; born December 15, 1997) is a South Korean actress. Filmography Television series Web series Awards and nominations References External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Ji-woo 1997 births Living people South Korean telev ...

as Park Ae-ri :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; one of Kyung's admirers * Kang Min-ji as Lee Ae-sam :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; one of Kyung's admirers * Jung Dae-ro as Kim Yang-il :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; one of the three boy bullies, who sometimes call themselves "Y3" when the A3 is not around. * Lee Wo-je as Park Yang-yi :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; one of the three boy bullies * as Lee Yang-sam :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; one of the three boy bullies * Jo Deok-hee as Kim Ban-jang :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; the class president. * Oh Jong-min as Kim Bo-tong :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; a guy with ordinary face and personality and average grades * Kim Joon-sung as Park Mo-bum : A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School; the class nerd and model student * Shin Yong-ho as Shin Ba-ram :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School. * Han Myung-hwan as Kang Chul-nam :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School. * Jung Ji-hyun as Han Soo-da :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School. * Lee Eun-hye as Kong Joo-hae :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School. * Heo Soo-bin as Wang Bit-na :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School. * Pyo Hyun-jin as Namgoong Dan-bal :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School. * Kim Tae-jung as Chae Yook-in :A student of Class 2-7 in Seuli High School. * Kim Jung-hak as homeroom teacher *

Kim Jae-hwa Kim Jae-hwa (born September 1, 1980) is a South Korean actress. Career Kim made her acting debut in 2009 in the film ''Harmony'' and she started to gain recognition following her role as Deng Yaping Deng Yaping (; born February 5, 1973 ...

as art teacher * Lee Ye-hyun as Kim Soo-hyang :A transfer student of Class 2-8 in Seuli High School (''Secret''); King Geum Jin-mi's love interest (''Neungsohwa'') * Bae Hyun-sung as Baek Joon-hyun : A student in Seuli High School; Kyung's self-aware half-brother who remembers the past (''Secret'') / son of Lord Baek (''Neungsohwa'')

Others

Um Hyo-sup Um Hyo-sup (born October 24, 1966) is a South Korean actor. Um mostly plays supporting role A supporting character is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storyline, but is important to the plot/protagonist, and ...

as Eun Moo-young : Dan-oh's loving and caring father (''Secret'' and ''Neungsohwa'') * Choi Jin-ho as Baek Dae-sung : Kyung's abusive and uncaring father (''Secret'') / a court official and Joon-hyun's father (''Neungsohwa'') * Yoon Jong-hoon as Dr. Lee Jo-hwa : A cardiothoracic surgeon; Do-hwa's brother and Dan-oh's physician (''Secret'') * Yu Ji-soo as Ra Hye-young : Kyung's stepmother (''Secret'') * Yu Ha-bok as Oh Jae-beol : Nam-joo's father (''Secret'') * Ji Soo-won as Cha Ji-hyun : Nam-joo's mother (''Secret'') / Queen Dowager and mother of King Geum Jin-mi (''Neungsohwa'')

Episodes

Production

Development

The series is based on the

''July Found by Chance'', written by MooRyuyee. It was serialized on the portal site of

Daum Daum may refer to: People * Ahron Daum (1951–2018), Israeli-born Modern-Orthodox rabbi, educator, and author *Andreas Daum (active from 1995), German-American historian * Auguste Daum (1853–1909), French ceramist *Christoph Daum (1953–2024), ...

from January 18, 2018, to September 19, 2019. It is directed by who directed previous hit television series such as '' Dong Yi'' (2010), ''

Mama Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent * Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Maternal uncle, in some parts of South Asia Places * Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlement in the Mam ...

'' (2014), ''

Glamorous Temptation ''Glamorous Temptation'' () is a 2015 South Korean television series starring Joo Sang-wook, Choi Kang-hee, and Cha Ye-ryun. It replaced ''Splendid Politics'' and aired on MBC on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 ( KST) for 50 episodes from Octobe ...

'' (2015), and ''

The King in Love ''The King in Love'' () is a 2017 South Korean historical drama directed by Kim Sang-hyeop with screenplay by Song Ji-na, Park Chan-kyung and No Sun-jae, based on the novel of the same name by Kim Yi-ryung. It starred Im Si-wan, Im Yoon-ah and ...

'' (2017). It was tentatively titled as ''July Found by Chance'' (), the same title as the webtoon which it was based on.

Casting

On March 27, 2019, it was reported that

was in talks to star in the series. On May 9, it was announced that

had been cast for the male lead role. On June 10, Kim and Rowoon confirmed their roles, alongside

. In the following days, additional cast members including,

, and

also confirmed their participation. It was later revealed that the casting process alone spanned three months. Initially,

was cast as a candidate for the role of Yeo Joo-da. However, after a meeting with the director, he increasingly saw her as a perfect fit for Eun Dan-oh.

had originally planned to audition for the role of Baek Kyung. Yet, after in-depth discussions with the director, he was ultimately chosen for the role of Haru instead. Similarly,

, who had initially auditioned for the role of Haru, ultimately took on the role of Baek Kyung after the director felt he would better synchronize with that character.

Release

The series was initially set for first broadcast in September 25, 2019, but it was postponed to October 2, 2019 to the preemption of the previous show during the Chuseok holiday. From March 16, 2022,

arranged a rerun of ''Extraordinary You'' in anticipation of the premiere of

's new drama '' Tomorrow.'' This rerun spanned for four weeks. Additionally, on June 6, 2024, MBC also scheduled a two-day rerun on the MBC On channel, specifically on the 8th and 9th, in response to

's sudden surge in popularity due to her role in ''

Lovely Runner ''Lovely Runner'' () is a 2024 South Korean television series starring Byeon Woo-seok and Kim Hye-yoon. It is based on a web novel titled ''Tomorrow's Best'', which was also serialized as a webtoon by illustrator Doong Doong. It aired on tvN eve ...

''.

Original soundtrack

''Extraordinary You: Original Soundtrack''

The drama's

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

is compiled in a three-part

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

released by labels VLENDING and MusicBuddy on 20 November 2019. CD 1 contains the drama's theme songs and their instrumental versions, CDs 2 and 3 contain the drama's musical score.

Singles

The following is the track list of

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

from ''Extraordinary You: Original Soundtrack.'' ;Part 1 ;Part 2 ;Part 3 ;Part 4 ;Part 5 ;Part 6 ;Part 7 ;Part 8

Reception

Despite the considerably modest viewership ratings, ''Extraordinary You'' received positive reviews among younger Korean audiences. The television series also won the 'Drama of the Year' award at ''MBC Drama Awards'' through viewers' voting. Regarding this, Ha Jae-geun, a popular culture critic, said, “The younger generation has recently been flocking to online platforms such as YouTube instead of TV, and the main TV consumers have shifted to the middle-aged and older generations.” He continued, “I think that as a broadcasting company, we have achieved meaningful results in successfully forming a consensus by communicating with the younger generation.”

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * *
''July Found by Chance''
at

{{Kakao Webtoon MBC TV television dramas Korean-language television shows 2019 South Korean television series debuts 2019 South Korean television series endings South Korean fantasy television series South Korean romance television series South Korean high school television series Television shows based on South Korean webtoons Television series by RaemongRaein South Korean television series about teenagers Television series set in Goryeo South Korean teen dramas