‘Flowering Heart’ in Real Life
What the hell is this even …
Tag: Flowering Heart
Review: ‘Flowering Heart,’ Season 1
Make up! Change!
Flowering Heart, directed by Lee Woo-Jin. Written by Lee Woo-Jin, Kim Hyoung-Kyo, et al. Starring Nancy Kim, Jacqueline Youn, and Dami Lee. ICONIX Entertainment (). 26 episodes of 11 minutes (approx. ). Not rated.
What we have before us is a magical girl title from South Korea. Being a magical-girl franchise from outside Japan, this arguably falls into the same category as such other non-Japanese titles as Winx Club, LoliRock, or Star vs. the Forces of Evil. But, of course, you’ve likely seen plenty of South Korean animation already, as both America and Japan outsource a lot of animation to that country.
As of the time of writing, this series has two seasons, but as far as I have been able to determine, only the first is available in English. I originally found it on Amazon Prime, which hosts the English dub, but you can also watch for free on the show’s official YouTube channel.
Now here’s the confusing part: There is a dub of the whole season available, as well as a Korean version. But there are also at least a few episodes that have been left in the original Korean but subtitled in English. However, they haven’t been set aside in their own playlist, and their descriptions are entirely in Korean. Here’s the first episode with subtitles. After that … good luck. I’ve been struggling to figure out where the rest of the subs are; at least the second episode is there, and some later ones too, so possibly the whole subtitled series is buried in there someplace.
And Now for Something Completely Different: ‘Flowering Heart!’
I have some important things to discuss, but I spent this evening writing Jake and the Dynamo and listening to Rammstein instead, so I regret nothing.
But I am also at present making my way through the Korean magical girl series Flowering Heart, a simple and sweet show for kids that makes for a good palate cleanser after Magical Girl Site.
I’m watching Flowering Heart on Amazon Prime, but the entire show is also available on the official YouTube channel, so you can join me in watching it if you like.
There is both a Korean version and an English version available, but, alas, there appears to be no Korean version with English subtitles, so I’m watching the dub.
The story features a trio of fifth-grade girls who form an after-school club to help people with their problems. They get a magical boost from a flying, talking hamster who grants them magic rings that can turn them into adults. They have to do good deeds to gather “hopeful energy” to replenish the Heart Tree in the Flowering Kingdom, but nefarious forces are working to gather “hopeless energy” to make the tree wither.
It is reminiscent of LoliRock, probably because Flowering Heart and LoliRock both take their influence primarily from Minky Momo, though Flowering Heart appeared in 2016, so it may take influence from LoliRock as well. For reasons I can’t quite explain, however, I found LoliRock to be a slog, whereas Flowering Heart is quite pleasant.
I’ll deliver a full review when I finish the first season. For now, I’ll simply recommend it as entertaining yet undemanding—though keep in mind that it is very much a show aimed at little girls.