In Your Radiant Season (2026) 찬란한 너의 계절에
Directed by Jung Sang-hee and Kim Young-jae, starring Lee Sung-kyoung as Song Ha-ran, Chae Jong-hyeop as Sunwoo Chan, Lee Mi-sook as Kim Na-na / Kim Na-bong, Han Ji-hyun as Song Ha-young, Oh Ye-ju as Song Ha-dam, Kwon Hyuk as Yeon Tae-seok, Kim Tae-young as Cha Yu-gyeom, and Kang Seok-woo as Park Man-jae.
Watched 17 - 21 May 2026 — 12 episodes (KISSKH)
*Watched this healing drama in a couple of days. It was sitting on my watchlist but I never prioritised it until I read a review saying that the three additional romances are more interesting than the main romance. Having seen photos of the male lead Chae Jong-Hyeop in his role as Sunwoo Chan, his looks didn't appeal to me, and this made me put off watching the show. How shallow! I have seen Chae Jong-Hyeop in Love All Play where I did like his looks but here his haircut often looks ugly, at times his wardrobe is really bad, and his face appears to be a bit gaunt.
*Yet I was in for a heartfelt drama, and a story dealing with three sisters and their romances sounded alluring.
*Another incentive was the female lead. I really like Lee Sung-kyoung! She was terrific in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo, and I also loved her in the more serious Call It Love. Here she plays Song Ha-ran, the eldest of the three Song sisters and head designer at Nana Atelier, Korea's top fashion house. She locked herself in a winter state, still grieving the loss of her parents and boyfriend. Then she meets Sunwoo Chan, a character designer at a top animation studio. Behind his cheerful personality, he carries deep scars from a mysterious accident in the past which damaged his hearing and memory. Slowly the drama unravels what happened 7 years ago.
*I did like Song Ha-ran and her looks and fashion. In episode 2, I got teary-eyed with the scene where Ha-ran is soaking her sisters' and grandma's shoes in the bathtub so they can't leave the house. Her fear of losing people is very moving.
*Somehow I never fully embraced the main couple's romance. Though their story and shared past was compelling and I wanted to know what had happened, I didn't like Sunwoo Chan as much as I would have like to, and it was hard for me to connect with him.
*I love the romances of the other two sisters much more than the main couple's. My fave romance is the one of Song Ha-young, the middle sister and designer at Nana Atelier (a quirky and likeable character), and Yeon Tae-seok, COO of Nana Atelier and loyal "right-hand man" to Kim Na-na. His hop over the police barricade! You gotta love a man like that. Not enough attention is being paid to their romance, though, and their happy ending is rushed. Too bad nothing much happened since Tae-seok confessed his feelings to Ha-young. And sadly, no kiss.
*I also love the 3rd couple, the youngest sister Ha-dam, a high schooler, and her boyfriend Cha Yu-gyeom, a top national high school baseball pitcher. I love their youth, and they are the cutest together, so lovable. I like Ha-dam on her own as well, and it was heartbreaking when she expressed her grief of having no memories of her parents. I was glad her boyfriend's parents were such sweethearts. I thought the 3rd couple was the best match of the couples, chemistry-wise. Their story had the best wrap-up and was the most believable.
*I love the storyline of Yu-gyeom and the sisters' grandma Kim Na-na (head of Nana Atelier, probably modelled after Anna Wintour), him being the first one to know about her dementia. I was glad Ha-dam was not mad at Yu-gyeom for not telling her about her grandma's dementia. She expressed her gratitude instead for taking care of Na-na. Incidentally, the actor Kim Tae-young, who plays Cha Yu-gyeom, looks like Cha Eun-woo.
*I love the Song sisters together and their bond. It was one of the highlights of this show for me. Having lost my parents myself, their grief over their parents' deaths was so relatable. And when they find out about grandma's dementia and discover the cabinet with the wedding dresses their grandmother had made for them, my eyes couldn't stay dry.
*In the end, grandma didn't have dementia which was a bit of an anti-climax. But I was happy she found love with Park Man-jae, the barista and owner of a café, with whom she shared a past.
*It was predictable that Ha-ran found out about Sunwoo Chan's involvement with her deceased boyfriend before Chan could explain everything to her. And when he does try to explain and follows her around, he looks like a stalker. Ha-ran was very clear in not wanting to have anything to do with him. So to me, Ha-ran's sudden change of heart after Chan's disappearance and finally having watched his explanation on the restored tablet, feels rushed and not totally credible. Some online reviewers say that Ha-ran's (deceased) boyfriend's betrayal was convenient, so Chan could gain more sympathy, but I thought it fitted well in the plot.
*The wedding scene was very welcome. All four couples were beaming with smiles and looked happy.
*About the English spoken by the Korean actors: it sounded pretty bad. Yet Firas A. Naji (as Ben, Chan's American animation studio colleague) is an American actor whose Korean sounded flawless. I read online Firas A. Naji is mainly based in South Korea and is able to speak multiple languages (English, Korean, Arabic, and Spanish).
*Nice OST!
*Oh ... I forgot to mention Genius, the dog! And his talking buttons! So cute!
(Collage made by me, of screenshots taken by me.)