The Makjang Madness of Marry My Husband and Perfect Marriage Revenge 

Park Min-young, queen of K-drama romances, has done it again. After missing the mark with Forecasting Love and Weather (2022) and Love in Contract (2022), Park returned to show off her acting skills in the role of a long-suffering, good-girl heroine who comes back from the dead to avenge herself against her cheating husband and scheming best friend in Marry My Husband (2024). With co-stars Na In-woo and Song Ha-yoon, Park has landed a hit, which feels all the more impressive because the plot of Marry My Husband is practically the same as that a much-loved K-drama from last year, Perfect Marriage Revenge (2023).

Both Marry My Husband and Perfect Marriage Revenge are based on webtoons about a docile, submissive woman who has spent years trying to please her husband and his demanding family. Soon after she discovers her husband is cheating on her, the woman has a lethal accident, but instead of dying, she wakes up to find she’s got a second chance at life. In Marry My Husband, Ji-won (Park Min-young) realises she’s gone back by 10 years while in Perfect Marriage Revenge, Yi-joo (played superbly by Jung Yoo-min) finds herself a year back in time. Both women decide they want to change how their lives unfolded and find themselves getting help from a hunky Prince Charming who seems to have a knack for being at the right place, at the right time. It turns out that he too has travelled back in time. 

Stop rolling your eyes. When authors and auteurs do this sort of thing, it’s called magical realism. When K-drama does it, it’s makjang, and we’re here for it. There’s something about the cheerful normalising of completely ridiculous clichés that makes this particular sub-genre of K-dramas delightfully entertaining. That said, maybe you’re the sort who feels that their life has room for only one time-travelling revenge fantasy at a time. In which case, let us try and help you decide between Marry My Husband (on Prime Video) and Perfect Marriage Revenge (on Viki). 

Differences in Plot

The pronounced similarities between the two original webtoons means that Marry My Husband and Perfect Marriage Revenge have the same plot. Weepy to bold heroine? Check. A dishy hunk of an ally who quickly becomes the love interest? Check. A bestie/ sister who has a fling with the heroine’s husband? Check. The heroine’s mother, who pops up out of nowhere, in the second half? Check. A clown of an evil mother in-law? Check. Happily ever after? Check. 

The key difference between the two shows is that in Marry My Husband, fate is as infectious as Covid and gets passed on from character to character. Ji-won quickly realises that certain incidents are inevitable, but what she can change is who it happens to and the consequences. For instance, in her original life, Ji-won’s husband Min-hwan (Lee Yi-kyung) cheats on her with her best friend, the red-stilleto-wearing Soo-min (Song Ha-yoon) and Ji-won gets cancer. This means that even if Ji-won escapes the fate of being married to the adulterous and abusive Min-hwan, someone has to suffer the fate of being his wife in the same way that Ji-won did before the accident. The red shoes will be worn by Min-hwan’s lover and someone in Ji-won’s circle will have to get cancer. In contrast, Yi-joo is able to change how events unfold and set off a whole new juggernaut of challenges. 

There are also details and sub-plots that set the two shows apart, like what happens to the protagonist’s nemesis, whom she thought of as her best friend. Perfect Marriage Revenge also has a stepmother who would put Disney’s evil stepmoms to shame while Marry My Husband awkwardly brings in a devilish ex-fiancée Yu-ra who becomes the drama’s unconvincing arch villain towards the end. While the character of Yu-ra (BoA) is far from convincing, Marry My Husband generally does a better job of building sub-plots and minor characters. All this serves to pad the K-drama and helps it make good of the 16-episode length. Perfect Marriage Revenge is tighter with 12 episodes.

Rich = Good, Poor = Bad

Writers of K-dramas have a love-hate relationship with wealth. Villains are almost always elite and super rich, but the same applies for the male lead. In Marry My Husband, the writing takes an awkward turn in the latter half of the show when Min-hwan (the adulterous husband who is also Ji-won’s colleague) makes some entirely valid observations about how wealth gives people unfair advantages. There’s no doubt that Min-hwan becomes something of a pawn in a game between two super-rich heirs and his ultimate downfall is the consequence of the show’s hero, Ji-hyuk (Na In-woo) using his considerable chaebol powers to corner Min-hwan into submission. Yet he’s also the quintessential bad guy — lazy, adulterous, violent, self-pitying — and his greed is central to his villainy. In fact, most of the negative characters in Marry My Husband are poor people and their poverty is shown in an unflattering light. As a result when Min-hwan dishes out valid social critique, it doesn’t seem legitimate because the person making these observations is the antagonist who covets wealth and status.  

Pro and Con: Park Min-young

There are few actors who can anchor a show with as much grace and charm as Park Min-young, and Marry My Husband is proof of this (in case you need more convincing, look up shows like What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim? (2018) and Her Private Life (2019). She salvages the former single-handedly from the dumpster fire of regrettable clichés, with her performance and the chemistry she shares with Park Seo-joon). Unfortunately, the show doesn’t utilise her comedic talents or even her the chance to flash that mischievous smile much, but Park is still a powerhouse on screen. 

If only she didn’t also look so painfully, skeletally thin. There are reports that Park lost weight to look convincing as a cancer patient — when the show opens, Ji-won is on her deathbed — and to that end, she’s very successful. However, even once Ji-won has regained her strength, Park looks petite to the point of seeming breakable. Every time anyone tugs at her arm or shoves her, her Ji-won looks dangerously breakable. Although Jung Yoo-min gets a much better character to play — Perfect Marriage Revenge has a protagonist who is a fantastic combination of vicious and vulnerable. She also gets to be playful in parts — Park’s performance as Ji-won is the reason to stay with Marry My Husband. However, she’s also difficult to watch on screen just because of how thin she looks. And don’t even get us started on the fake eating.    

In Praise of Sung Hoon

No shade on Na In-woo, but Perfect Marriage Revenge has the better Prince Charming. Sung Hoon is an absolute dreamboat as Do-guk, the hero who is chafing against the constraints placed on him by propriety. Do-guk is everything you want from a supportive partner. He supports Yi-joo and backs her up when she embarks upon her plan to get revenge. He cooks for her, gives her gifts, and also gives her the space she needs. It’s the complete package of wish fulfilment. Thanks to him, not only do we get a kiss in the second episode itself, but we also get a romantic scene that rivals that scorcher from Hyena (2020). In both cases, the writers have the hero murmur, “Use me as you will” (and yes, they do mean this in a carnal sense) — thus leaving the heroine and the audience in a puddle.  

Hello Third-Lead Oppa

Both Perfect Marriage Revenge and Marry My Husband have a minor but key character who is a square-jawed, immaculately-suited secretary with mysterious motivations. He doesn’t have enough screen time to be a second lead, but he gives all the good men in the show a run for their money. In Perfect Marriage Revenge, it’s the evil stepmother’s secretary, Jae-won (Byun Jun-seo), while in Marry My Husband, it’s Suk-joon (Ha Do-kwon) who does everything from spying to providing legal aid. Suk-joon is the quintessential strong, silent type, and his slow burn of a relationship with Joo-ran rivals the main couple’s romance. 

There’s no scientific way of telling which of these dramas will hit the sweet spot for an individual viewer — fittingly for two dramas with the same plot, both Perfect Marriage Revenge and Marry My Husband have the same rating on MyDramaList — so ultimately it comes down to subjective preferences. Both are shrieky, unapologetic makjang, with entirely unrealistic twists that are used to package feelings far more relatable and grounded feelings of inadequacy and the exhaustion that comes from battling prejudice. Both Ji-won and and Yi-joo are women who manage to rise above the weepiness that is the lot of a makjang heroine. Arguably, Yi-joo is a better written role, but Ji-won has the charisma of Park Min-young bringing her to life. Also, even though Park Min-young and Na In-woo neatly fit the stereotype of the tall hero with the petite heroine, the chemistry between Sung Hoon and Jung Yoo-min gives Perfect Marriage Revenge an edge. So yes, we’re picking Perfect Marriage Revenge as our makjang comfort watch.