The way this show was edited also bothered me. It had way too much filler for me. At least 15 minutes of each episode has flashback filler of scenes we've already watched, and the same ones over and over again and this is just for the present scenes. Then there's the flashbacks of their youth that give you a scene then next episode replays that scene and adds an additional 3-4 minutes of extend the scene to give more information. I didn't really like this style. I thought the youth scenes could have been intertwined into the present more seemlessly.
Acting: There is nothing bad I can say about the acting. The actors are topnotch and even the new comers are great. This show introduced me to lil Kim Min Jae who I was not aware of until now. Realized that he could actually dance and his acting is good for a rookie. It's no wonder he got picked up for a new drama. All the side characters/students/old friends were really good and played their parts well. I enjoyed watching them even if I didn't really like the way the story was written and directed.
Music: The music wasn't too catchy for me. This is coming from someone who downloads OST for dramas and got into k-pop this way. One of my most disappointing scenes was her dance, which could have been handled so much better even if they need to get a body double, when they cut BTS Dope into a ballad. I was like: I'm just getting my groove on and expecting her to bust out and put the moves on and they slo-mo the hip-hop? WTF? lol....
Rewatch: Watching it once you get the story gist, no need to replay. If I'd rewatch anything it would be for cute scenes from the beginning episodes. Past that, there was so many flashback repeats I rewatch the drama already while watching it the first time.
Overall: It's entertaining. I'd watch it without expecting a loveline. Like even if the drama tries to throw that aspect at you, don't bite. Watch like a Slice Of Life show and enjoying getting to know the main character and her life. Don't expect too much from her, just watch her learn, and grow... and that's why I mentioned Misaeng... If you've watched that drama, this is a lesser version of someone learning and growing. The acting in itself is worth a watch even if the plot is bi-polar.
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I'll start off by saying that I enjoyed this show. I was a little skeptical going into it because I've had my fair share of terrible rom-coms, but decided to give it a chance (for Sang Yoon...what). I was glad that I went into it, because it hooked me really early on. I would be alert for whenever the new episode would be released online so that I could hurry and see the newest plot developments. This is, altogether, a very good show that held itself together in a lot of spots where rom-coms generally lose points for me.
The story itself has been seen once or twice before, although I'm not sure that the other shows handle it quite as well as this one did. There are many problems with Mom going to school, especially under the objections of her husband and son. She hits heaps of problems before even setting foot on campus, let alone afterward. The show does a good job depicting her struggles, not only with school, but with herself and her relationships. This is definitely a strong point to the drama, especially for those of you who enjoy the typical rom-com but wish for something just a little deeper.
In general, the cast chosen did very well. Both the main and supporting actors come across as very real people and they carry their personalities consistently. (And let's be honest, you need a little Lee Sang Yoon to boost everything a bit.) The acting falls short with Min Jae and Na Eun, who, frankly, are the weakest links of the entire show and are the least believable in both character development and chemistry. Luckily, they're fairly minor in the scope of everything else and don't ruin the show for me.
I did enjoy the music and found myself humming along at some points. Like with most other shows, the soundtrack was mixed between cutesy and emotional, and it was pretty typical as far as drama OST goes. Nonetheless, the music went along well with whatever the scene called for.
Rewatch value is quite high. Being that this is a rom-com, it's fairly light-hearted. The pace keeps you interested really well throughout but there's nothing so heavy that would keep you from rewatching it.
Altogether, this was a pleasure to watch. It's a fairly simple show, but not boring in the least and I think it could be fair game to try out for most anyone, especially if you're looking for a cute yet more mature romance.
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Rewatched, and flaws were suddenly glaring!
First time I watched this I really enjoyed it. Attracted by the premise of a mature woman finding herself and her feet, while renewing older relationships, and moving through divorcing her cold and unloving narcissistic husband I thought rewatching this might be like visiting an old friend.This time, there were too many weaknesses for me to ignore them. FL is rather pathetic, supposedly is 37, but due to her few, rigid facial expressions usually looks nearer 50 to me. Very stiff and instead of "feeling" emotions and trusting the camera, too much mugging and telegraphing crude emotions. Most of her reactions are quite immature - and any hint of "romance" or physical attraction and she's as shocked as an outright virgin - but this woman has a nearly-adult son, so why is she startled when a man catches her to prevent her falling? She does show us a woman changing and becoming more confident and assertive, but at any point where she needs to show us a complicated, ambivalent, or confused emotion, she fails, and presents the same rather grumpy face. I think this is the main reason why she looks so much older to me - in shots where her face is relaxed (sleeping for example) she looks much more normal, and more like the age of the character. This problem made the character less believable to me, and fake.
ML is similarly ridiculously immature - behaves like a teenager who fancies a girl so is rude to her to get her attention.. Flip flops between cold, rude and humiliating and warm and supportive. And he's the "better" option.
"Ex"-husband who has been badgering her to divorce him for 2 years, is a blustering manipulative liar, who will say anything to get what he wants, and consistently gas-lights everyone. He is very narcissistic but appears to mellow later in the plot. Narcissists don't do that. This role is the best acted of the three - even though the character is sooo annoying. Choi Won Yung managed a fine balance which made this character more real.
Both men have a bad habit of grabbing her wrist and dragging her off to Talk, and demanding she answer questions she has clearly told them are none of their business. And it's always Urgent when they want to talk - not so much when she has something to say.
Other characters, while attractive, are little more than cyphers. place-holders or plot devices. This is a shame, because this time around the relationships with minor characters and the way in which their early distrust of the FL changes as the get to know her - including her son - are actually the best feature of this drama. Those are increasingly less important to the drama though, and the last ... half (?) dragged as a result. Sad.
I re-watched this with an optimistic heart, but sadly, it did not deliver. This time I could see the regular Kdrama plot devices, plot twists, tired conventions, cliches and tropes to such an extent that I found little originality in the story. Instead of a character-driven consideration of late blossoming personality and autonomy, this was simply a wander down familiar paths with the same micro-aggressions masquerading as feelings that we see too often. It is not as well written as I had thought (re-watching is always a test of this) and the pacing was not consistent throughout. Plot was driven not y the people but by the artificial arc of events planned out.
Many, like me initially, seemed to like this story.
Very disappointed this time around.
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This is a family of contracts. They're crazy. The lengths they go to to figure out what each family member is thinking is hilarious.
No Ra
No Ra starts out so docile.
“You said you couldn't talk to me....And living with me was difficult, meaningless, and woeful for you. Then, if I become someone you can talk to, it should be fine. Am I wrong?”
I like that she's a good cook.
“Did she only cook all her life? Why does it taste so good?”
I like how the drama showed how Woo Chul felt suffocated by No Ra. And it's obvious their personalities don't really gel. Also, it was funny how she throws her husband's words back at him so innocently. The passive aggressiveness is epic.
No Ra is a bit of an odd duckling. Too calm and too polite and takes everything too seriously, I love it.
Hyun Suk - “Why do you keep saying sorry? It's not like you.”
No Ra - “Because you're being scary!”
I really liked how she just gave zero f*cks when it came to her husband and her son trying to bully her.
At first I struggled with the college kids treating her that way, but then I cam to understand it a bit more. The premise makes more sense in a Korean culture because the young folks have that literal language barrier that they won't feel comfortable speaking informally to an older woman. It took me a couple of episodes to realise that. But the legalistic culture also made the respect that developed between characters so worth it. I found so many little things cute how she calls the young men her senior.
Na Soon Nam
I loved this kid's relationship with No Ra. “Out of the producer I work part-time for, and my eternal Noona...who do you think I'd listen to?”
Romance
It's different to have the woman not so keen on the guy for quite a lot of the drama. Hyun Suk is a bit of second lead syndrome kind of guy, I loved him.
Min Soo
This kid doesn't like his mum. But I loved how outraged he was when he found out what had happened to her. That was when I first started liking him. He's not such a great actor though. But of course he and his mother are adorable.
“Where did you go, son? You should go clubbing. It's really fun.”
Hyun Suk
Most of the time I hate those plots of, “Oh, he's mean to her because he likes her” but Hyun Suk kind of pulls it off. He's so ridiculous.
“Why am I so immature?”
The way he looks at No Ra is gold.
I loved how the drama showed his interest without telling us.
You can see how he is still affected by her but can't figure it out. It's well done.
He's also got the best and greatest sad eyes. The way they drop down at the corners when he's hurt is so heart breaking. He has very expressive eyes. Lee Sang Yoon just has some of the best facial expressions.
One of the characters says in wonder about Cha Hyun Suk's feelings for No Ra, “He has that much affection for her?” Yes, yes he does.
Hyun Suk manipulates the situation nicely.
He has a female best friend. This is different.
Some Words of Wisdom from No Ra
“But I don't want to depend on Hyun Suk, or have him protect him. I'll never find myself that way.”
“Living my life by other people's standards...I won't live like that anymore. That's meaningless.”
Random Notes
Also weird how the Koreans like to click their fingers and say “O-kay.”
The funny thing about dramas is when a character is imagining another character doing something the actor portrays it so differently to how they actually portray their character. It's like seeing that person through the other actor's eyes. It's like character inception.
Random quote: “Seriously, who is that woman? How amazing is she that she started a multi-year divorce project?”
What is it with Korean dramas thinking that their actors speaking in English makes them cool?
Random quote: “I'm okay with becoming an adult real slow. I'd like to be 20 forever.”
Their silly bathhouses are always so hilarious.
Soundtrack
Pretty good! I actually liked quite a few tracks. Some of them are quite cheeky and others are beautifully French, nostalgic, sentimental and wistful.
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I really didn't like how the writers didn't allow the 2 MCs to get together cleanly after all the drama with the divorce and affair was cleaned up. It was messy and sloppy in how they finally got together in the last episodes. They were just going back and forth for the last 4 episodes that just dragged and dragged.
I liked the initial premise of the story where the wife didn't get to live her life in her 20s because of her life choices and so now she started to go after what she wanted, but then after everything was resolved with her ex-husband, they undid everything in literally the last episode. The writers were like, "yeahhhh the FMC fought for all this stuff the entire drama, but she's now "realized" that those weren't the things she wanted and so she's going to be "strong" and scrap all those things and "be herself"!" *rolls eyes* And to make it more annoying --- the FMC strung along the MMC because she needed to be "on her own" and so she rejected him to just beg for him back in the very end. Everything up until that point I could have looked past. But that's the point where I was like, alright lady, you're a crappy person. No one deserves to be treated like that.
The only redeeming quality of this drama was the college friends that the FMC made. They were adorable and fun to watch.
Personally, no, I wouldn't recommend this drama. I had been looking forward to this drama for some time and am super disappointed that it didn't satisfy my desire for a mature romance.
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The drama has a beautiful plot and has enough of angst to keep you on your toes. It's not all sunshine and sometimes you need the bad moments to appreciate the good ones that come about. Though it would've been nicer if the angst was thought out a bit more? Just an opinion. It touches a bit of infidelity, both direct and indirect. It also shows how someone's first love transcends time and despite the situation they had, some first loves would not end badly and that was something I appreciate watching. There may not be a right time to meet the love one but when you make time and commit to it, it won't be in vain.The main protagonist Ha No Ra starts off being very timid but as life gets thrown in her way, she slowly finds herself again and starts learning to live for herself instead of slaving away for the sake of others. It also shows that, it was never too late to start again even when age tends to be an obstacle from achieving things. It may have deterred her from the beginning, but what is life without its challenges? It definitely built her character and made me enjoy the drama even more. The people around her were relatively supportive and it helped to add substance to how the people she knew and choices she made, in the end of the day, was what made her to be who she is in the end. It also showed that, despite sacrificing her youth and identity for people who couldn't appreciate her, as long as you are willing to take a step forward, you can learn to make a name for yourself again.
What struck me too was that, when things end, another door opens. But are will you be willing to move forward and step into the door? It got me thinking a bit, how things that end aren't always bad.
For the acting, it was superb. Choi Ji Woo and Lee Sang Yoon's chemistry was amazing. This is also my first time watching Son Naeun act and I thought she did it quite well. Her character wasn't the most outstanding but it still played a part in pushing the story forward.
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THIS. Seriously daebak!
Where does one even begin to write a review for this drama? I. CAN’T. EVEN.
This drama can very well be your story, one of your friends or the lady you sit beside in the bus. Twenty Again tells how easily a young person can make a spur of the moment bad decision that can lead to life changing consequences. However, our story doesn’t end there. Not only did the heroine admitted she made a mistake, she actually owned her mistake along the with the heartaches that came with it. The brave steps she took to divert her path from the slippery slope of self-pity and depression were very inspiring, and naturally brought out my cheerleading spirit (very quietly under the blankets at 2am). We must know of one (or two) narcissistic person in our life, and how abusive and self-defeating it is when we stay in close proximity with them even for a short time only. Imagine living with one for 24 hours a day! So it’s no surprise that our heroine took a long time to complete the entire process, yep, twenty years to be exact. I find that the pace was just right, not too slow that it bores me but not too fast that I fail to empathize with the characters either.
Acting was spot on, the female lead can use a bit more facial expression but she did not fail to bring out the pain and anger from me when needed. The male lead was a natural and an eye candy, I really hated the husband but then that shows how good the artist was in interpreting the character. My fave part was when the son realized and understood how lonely and hurting mom must be all these years. His actions and conversations after showed how much he matured. I love grandma’s unconditional love and friend Yeon Young’s loyalty. The college friends Soon Nam and Seung Hyun were both great, so smooth with their natural talents. The young leads were all so good as well.
The music was perfect, no complaints there whatsoever. This drama is currently on top of my all-time fave list until the next “it” comes along but I think it will take a really special one to knock down this one. If you are hesitating to watch this for some time , don’t be, IT will not disappoint!
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I sometimes have issues with poor translations in subtitles, (misuse of send v take is a sure way to make me grind my teeth), but this was bizarre and disappointing.
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Oh youth
Overall I have no regrets in watching this drama. I actually liked it. It's a cute nice feel-good drama.I liked how almost all the characters grew as the story went on. How there is really no "bad/mean" person just a person with a flawed personality/ thinking. Like for example, Nora's husband and his mistress. In other dramas, mistresses are often portrayed as being too proud, but here majority of the time you'll see them as a couple who's in love with each other. And what's nice also is that, it's not just the leads who had showed growth even the supporting characters did.
First love comes back while one is in a current relationship is one of my favorite tropes hahaha so I might be bias with the story line but it was nice and cute. One thing that just doesn't sit well with me here is the way the lead actress acts. I know she's great and all (I have watched her other dramas) but for me I find her acting too child-like or her acting style was old school. Nora was supposed to be naive, innocent and too sheltered but I don't think at age 38 she still acts like a teenager. Her mannerisms, her facial expressions were a bit too child like for me. But other than that, this drama was good.
This drama honestly made me miss college. I'm in my mid 20s but it made me reminisce on my youth. It made me think of what have I been doing so far in my life and if this is really the life that I want.
Now, onto the next one.
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