Sugar and puns for Panda and Hedgehog
They weren’t kidding when they said this rom-com would be heavy on the sweet. It’s frosting and cupcakes and pastries galore, for new Channel A drama Panda and Hedgehog, promising light romance set in the world of a pastry shop. It stars Yoon Seung-ah (The Moon That Embraces the Sun) and Donghae (It’s Okay Daddy’s Girl) as the titular panda- and hedgehog-esque personalities. Why a panda and a hedgehog, you ask? Why for PUNS of course!
It turns out the title isn’t just a metaphor for their sweet and prickly demeanors, because the heroine’s name is literally Pan Da-yang (“panda girl”) and the hero’s name is Go Seung-ji (which is goseumdochi, or “hedgehog,” shortened). Lordy. I guess it helps explain the animals, but the clever is belabored… couldn’t we have gone with something less literal?
In any case, the sweet and colorful world of Panda and Hedgehog looks as fun and frothy as it’s been describing itself to be, though I’ve been burned by other Channel A dramas that promised light and gave me pain. So there’s only one way to know for sure. But the setup seems straightforward enough: Hedgehog is a prickly pastry chef and Panda is the owner of the cake shop where he’s a new hire. I like that she’s the boss.
Choi Jin-hyuk (I Need Romance) plays the rival to Hedgehog (Panda is his first love) AND the rival to Panda in the business (he’s the big franchise cake company while she’s mom and pop). I can’t see things going well for you in the love department if you’re say, trying to drive the girl of your dreams out of business, so hopefully there’s more to it than the usual chaebol antics.
Yoo So-young (Dream High 2) works for Choi Jin-hyuk’s character, but she’s also best friends with Panda. She ends up falling for her boss, and when she discovers that he’s in love with her bestie, the claws come out. Er, that’s just disappointing. So far the descriptions follow K-Drama 101 to the letter, so here’s hoping that they pull some twists to keep things interesting.
Panda and Hedgehog premieres Saturday August 18 on Channel A.
Via Osen
