I am not going to say that it's the best medical drama. But it's definitely one of them!
I solely started this drama because of Ji Sung. I can't say I dislike medical dramas but they aren't exactly my go-to genre. But like always, Ji Sung didn't let me down. I am so glad that I decided to watch this drama!It's no breaking news that Ji Sung has acting chops. Well, that seems a bit of an understatement. Every character that he plays on screen, you can't help but fall in love with. With that much charisma he is surely one of the most lovable ahjussi on TV right now.
Lee Se Young has grown so much as an actress. Maybe her character didn't sit well with everyone, but she did grew a lot throughout the series. Though that girl's hair is a mess, that I cannot deny.
The chemistry between the leads! Woah!! I loved them!
This has a slow burn romance, but it's so worth it! The drama doesn't shy away from their age gap, but it's never creepy or uncomfortable. Their relationship begins simply as a mentor mentee, but gradually develops into more, and it's so beautifully portrayed!
This series has seriously one the best second lead, hands down. That is, of course, if he does actually qualify as a second lead. I really enjoyed watching Dr. Lee on-screen! Of course, one of the things I loved about him was the fact that any chance he got to leave the two leads alone, he did it. He is such a far cry from.other clueless second leads. Also his minor love line with Mi Rae was cute.
Aside from focusing on one big idea on which the series was based upon- euthanasia, it also focused on day to day dealings of the doctors. How they suffered with their patients, how they learned from their mistakes, how they worked together as a team. There might be a few medical moral dilemmas involved, yet again, euthanasia aside. But try to remember that its a work of fiction. You can't expect them to provide accuracy on everything.
Euthanasia is quite a sensitive topic. It's hard to pick right or wrong with it. That debate has been going on for quite some time, an I believe it will go on for longer. Everyone has their opinion on the subject, and it's hard to say which one is right. If it is even possible to say so. For the most part, I think they did a wonderful job with it. In the start, you get to hear both their sides. You get to see why one is against that and why one is for that.
What I wasn't satisfied with though, was the fact that later on in the show, the writer decided to include personal reasons behind their stances on euthanasia. While it did not completely negate the whole debate about the topic, it still lessened the effect, at least for me.
Maybe I am unjustified in feeling so, but I feel like Lee Kyu Thing's talent were a bit...Well, wasted to be honest. He deserves a better character. I feel like his character wasn't really that fleshed out. It makes me sad, because even though he did a really good job here, his character was just so underwhelming.
One more things that I was unsatisfied with was that the "ending" felt a bit, anticlimactic, shall I say? After building the tension up gradually with each episode, it wasn't really satisfying to watch how it eventually unfolded. It's like the writer realised the moral dilemma with the situation, and decided to bring in a third party to put all the blame upon.
Every drama has something's it does great, and something it does not. Doctor John is no exception to that. But what it does manage to create, is something that is heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. It manages to create a charming, captivating and engaging storyline, series and characters, which I loved following straight from episode one, right to the finale.
So give this a go, chances are, this series would pull you right in!
Happy Watching!!
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This review may contain spoilers
I really liked this drama and of course I am a biggest fan of ji sung.After watching his so many dramas I was waiting for this one and gone through all episodes without fail.According to me this drama is about love between two doctors and sadly one of them suffering from a incurable disease
I don't want to reveal those information about it. And I learned something from this drama while watching
# love is"understanding someone" not trusting
#don 't hide your true feelings at any point because it will only hurt other one
# there is no need for a proposal in relationship
# heart can understand anything
#love is support,care and like
About this dramas leads are mature, lovable and strong too.All are good at acting. Their cast really really appreciate
And the osts too really nice.
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But there's always a "but". And here are mine.
When watching K-dramas, I have some basic rules (that are, of course, adaptable to the circumstances the series lay on me). Sometimes they are all broken right off the bat, sometimes I'm surprised with a writer's ability to not resort to cliches. It's always an adventure, and I love it.
Why I'm saying this? Cause, as I said, Doctor John started out strong. I was really pleased. I hadn't been that happy about a Korean drama story-line for I don't even know how long - which seemed to make sense, since it is based off a book, and these generally tend to be less conflict-for-ratings-driven and more thought out all the way through.
So there we were. Plot was making sense. Characters were being humanly imperfect, but still, coherent. There was our comic reliefs, which is always appreciated especially when dramas want to talk about serious (and controversial) topics, case in point, euthanasia - and those comedic moments didn't seem out of place. We were seeing our characters grow, bond, solve conflicts... and then the second to last episode happened, and I felt like something was about to go bad.
I ended up watching rules of mine being broken, and, as I said, it's an adventure, an emotional one, at that. Suddenly the series made an U-turn and I was like, ok, some experiences and life choices can do that to people. Then our lovely Si-young patched things up (and HOW GOOD it is to have a female lead character actually DO things, not just be thrown around). And then there was another U-turn and I realized how angry I had gotten.
It was like I was seeing in slow motion the impending downfall of a great plot. It seems like the writer got lazy and resorted to some ridiculousness, AND NOT ONLY THAT, but also forgot about some plot points here and there, so 32 half-hour long episodes weren't enough - and Doctor John didn't have the greatest ratings so we would never be gifted a couple more installments to actually close everything up. I don't know if the script writer is to blame, or if the book makes these same questionable choices; all I know is that some things I hoped wouldn't happen... kinda did. And I can't help but to feel bothered about it.
What I'm trying to say is: I'm writing this review 10 minutes after finishing the series. I'm pissed. This drama was climbing FAST towards the top of my favourites list, and I love Ji Sung, so I was VERY excited for his new drama, and we were doing so well... But Doctor John ended up being just "very good". Not "outstanding", not "amazing", but a very good drama. I still love it to pieces, hell, it is WHOLE LOT better than most K-dramas. I mean, "very good" isn't a bad thing at all (>>>very good<<< ya know) - but I'm thinking of what it could've been.
Now that I'm not gonna be surprised with a punch in my face, I would totally binge-watch it again (after my anger subsides). But if you're like me and some plot lines turn you off considerably, then just be warned it can happen to you, too.
All things considered, though, disappointment can hurt, but it can only totally ruin something if the starting point wasn't that good to begin with. Doctor John sets the bar high, and because of that, it is still a must-watch. Now I'm going to scream at my pillow again, and soon I'll be able to love this drama with all my might again.
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What I loved most about Ji Sung's performance is that Dr. Cha is often very poker-faced and hard to read, and when he was emotional it was usually very subtle where just a simple look from him, or tap of his finger, could break my heart, or get me excited. He is matched with Lee Se Young as Dr. Kang Shi Yeong, who is pretty young in comparison, so I wasn't sure if they would match well or have any chemistry. I was definitely wrong about that and she was often great at matching his subtle intensity and definitely held her own in all of their scenes together. This is less of a cute romantic pairing and more about watching two people inspire each other to be better. I really enjoyed how they worked together and complimented each other.
As for the rest of the cast, there are supporting characters that I loved and others that were a little annoying. I absolutely loved the team of doctors in the Pain unit, especially Hwang Hee as Dr. Lee Yoo Joon (aka the poor man's Gong Yoo). It felt as if I was actually watching a team bond and come together. On the flip side, I was much less interested in characters like Nurse Chae and prosecutor Son Suk Ki. I thought their story was interesting and resolved well, and I did empathize with them initially, but eventually, their actions became way too repetitive for me to continue to care. A large part of the "mystery" in this story revolves around them and they became my least favorite part of the story. I did like how the story took its time in revealing what was happening, but I wished some parts weren't dragged out for so long once things were revealed, especially in the later episodes. The last few episodes were definitely the weakest.
What I surprisingly did like a lot were the random stories of patients. They were extremely interesting, and their diagnosis was like solving mini-mysteries. Some moments are a little graphic, but never without reason. Many of them also stuck to the show's main themes about what the role of doctors can/should be and the more controversial topic of euthanasia. All of the stories are handled with respect and without heavy-handed judgment, which I think is what makes this show so thought-provoking. Maybe that's why I liked it more than I usually like other hospital dramas.
Would I watch this again? Yes, I can see myself watching this again, although I may be tempted to just skip past a few parts. Some of the mystery would definitely be gone, but it's still entertaining enough to hold my interest. I also think the soundtrack generally complimented this drama well.
Overall, I think this is a great drama to watch, even if you're not into medically-based stories because the mystery element makes it all more entertaining. The love story feels real, although it may not satisfy fans who like a strong focus on romance. It's at times heartbreaking, and frustrating, but also inspiring. The patient's stories are strong enough to override the weak hospital rivalry stories, but overall the hospital atmosphere also felt very real. I am curious about the book this is loosely based on, but I think this drama definitely stands on its own. I also don't understand why Cha translates to "John" but no matter what you call him Ji Sung nailed the role! This is yet another drama that won't be added to my favorites list, but I can't deny what this drama does well and that I am glad I watched it. By the end, I felt good, without there being an extra cheesy feel-good resolution. If you don't think you have a high threshold for dramas like this, give this one a chance, and you may be surprised like I was. I prescribe at least 4 episodes of Dr. John before making a decision. Just like this drama's themes show repeatedly, you can't always go by your first impression, and Dr, John definitely deserves a chance to really be seen, especially if you are a Ji Sung fan. If you're not, I suspect you'll become one after watching!
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Doctor John separates itself from every other medical drama due to its willingness to address an issue that is more social than it is medical and/or political. Euthanasia is an extremely risky question because there is no single correct answer. One color to describe this drama’s dealings with euthanasia: gray. Very gray. As a human being, you probably have a preconceived opinion about it before you begin watching. And, amazingly, no matter what opinion that may be, it's more than likely that there is a character in this show that shares it. This show consists of the interactions between all different sides of the debate and how each is a combination of "wrong" or "right," depending on the context. Through these characters' actions and thoughts, Doctor John does the job of telling you that it is extremely dangerous hold one opinion as true across all situations.
That was one of my favorite parts about watching Doctor John. It doesn’t constantly preach one single answer and try to brainwash you into agreeing. It always shows you the multiple facets of every conflict. Whether it be through witnessing the physical and mental pain of terminal patients or the emotional turmoil of those close to them and their doctors, the writers create a bond between you and the characters. Once you begin empathizing (and with characters of different opinions!), the issues of life and death become less and less easy to decipher.
For me, the one peeve I have with plot comes in towards the end. It's one part of the umbrella issue that I like to call K-drama Syndrome, in which something about the latter episodes of a show seems to have an inner need to stray from the original conflict. I get it: it’s hard to continuously talk about something as sensitive like euthanasia without feeling like a piece of propaganda. But there’s a difference between quietly shifting focus and doing a screeching turn onto some unpaved path in the middle of a forest. Fine, this metaphor is an exaggeration—it was more like a kind-of-loud turn onto some unpaved path in the middle of a forest. Euthanasia becomes less prominent of a topic as the plot moves away from patients' stories and more toward less emotional conflicts. It isn’t quite enough to damage my positive opinion of the story, but I did spend the last hours of the ride with a tiny inkling that we might’ve gone in a weird direction.
The cast was lovely to watch. Some of the characters could have done with far more development, but amidst all the chaos of a hospital setting and the constant ins-and-outs of patients, it’s impressive that each character possesses as much individuality as they do. I feel like it’s insulting to him that I even have to explicitly say so, but Ji Sung is fantastic. Cha Yo Han is the right balance of mysterious and endearing; and he’s intelligent, yet not annoyingly so. It’s hard to match Ji Sung’s level, but Lee Se Young did a great job at depicting a capable but scarred young doctor. These two actors have a fantastic dynamic and the ability to simultaneously counter and support one another’s characters without being overwhelmingly cheesy. The romance between them is okay—I didn't care for it, but I also didn't mind it. It just isn’t as interesting as what the rest of the show presents; but luckily, it isn't too much of a main focus, either.
I’m content with Doctor John. Despite some rocky roads at the end, the high volume of tears that I shed and how it got the gears in my head turning are testaments to how attached I was to its story. Should you be in the mood for something thoughtful, emotional, and down-to-earth, Doctor John is a good way to go.
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This review may contain spoilers
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS REGARDING THE SERIES AND ENDING SO IF THIS IS A CONCERN, DO NOT READ ON.I started this series mainly as I am a fan of Ji Sung and enjoy medical dramas. A new drama with two of my favourites, what could go wrong.
I believe that the acting from all concerned was great. I loved what they did, they played their parts very well and I really felt that they gave it the best effort that they possibly could.
I personally felt the drama had a very poorly developed storyline that left me cold. I started watching almost from the beginning and for the first half of the series, I was really loving it and could not wait to watch the next episode. Then something happened, and I am not sure why. Did the writers run out of ideas? Did they have to stretch out the series for some reason? We had Dr John’s serious illness about halfway through, not just his lack of feeling pain - what happened to that storyline? It seemed to go nowhere, or am I missing something. He went abroad and had another major illness. Very little was explained about that. This suggested more that the writers had run out of medical conditions for him to solve and instead sidelined his character. I wasn’t in the writing room so I don’t know. The story then picked back up after 3 years, although he had supposedly been watching over his romantic interest for 1 year. The excuse the writers gave for the time jump and Dr John’s involvement, or lack of, during that time was, I feel, incredibly poor. This seemed to be just another instance of the inability to know what to do next with the characters and story.
The romance between all parties seemed to be mostly developed at the half way mark, then nothing. The series ended with very little progression beyond that point. This was seriously disappointing.
I major thing I look forward to is the music. It can really deepen the emotional aspects of the show, although I believe it can be overused and repetitive if not done properly. However, a week after finishing the show, I could barely remember any of the music. It was obviously very memorable for me.
Perhaps I am expecting too much from a drama that I have devoted 16+ hours to but on my scorecard this could have, and should have, been so much better given the high caliber of acting talent involved.
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- Comedy is present
- The main male character at the beginning of the episodes is cool
- You'll learn some new medical terms
- For the first time, you'll see this drama's concept is unique, but it fades after a few episodes.
Cons:
- Too much crying scenes
- Too much romance scenes
- Too flat, no roller coaster-conflict
- Not thrilling, some episodes make you boring if you're a "high tension drama" lover.
- It'll better if you look for other medical dramas, if you really want to watch high tier medical drama
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On to the bad and I mean really bad.
While the cast is amazing and the acting is good, the writing is terrible and doesn't give the actors much to work with. It felt as if the writer of this drama had no clue where they wanted the story to go and were writing it as filming took place.
The opening few episodes of this drama are really great and makes you excited to see what comes next. But, then everything that was being built up is just dropped and essentially forgotten by the way side. This happens throughout the drama. Every major conflict or major story element is just dropped at some point so that they can introduce a new one.
Then we have the music, one song is played over and over again in its entirety and every time the person on screen just silently kills time, usually by looking at the scenery, till the song is over. The song is good, but why? .....just why?
Then we come to the worst of the worst the ending of the show. Around when there are 4 episodes left. The story once again decides that even though we are at the climax, of what should be the shows most prominent arc, it gets dropped and we are off on another story thread. OH, but this one is like watching paint dry all the way till the end of the show. Nothing happens, nothing new is achieved, no new lessons were learnt, no new developments are made. These last few episodes feel like filler at its worst and filler is not something that should ever be used to close the story.
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This review may contain spoilers
I'll do my review based on the ratings.1. Story
— The story is basically about pain. What makes Doctor John different is that its not the usual setup on any medical dramas that I've watched so far. The illness that they mention throughout the drama is new to me. Never heard about it. The drama shows what pain really means. What I felt it lack is the euthanasia part and also about Siyoung's dad. I think they quite rushed it because there's not much episode left.
2. Acting/Cast
— The acting is superb. That's why I gave it 10 out of 10. Especially the two leads, Jisung and Lee Seyoung. They pulled it off. No doubt, Jisung is really a great actor. His eyes is really beautiful. The way he looks to Seyoung is making me crazy. Lol. For Seyoung, this is my first time watching her and she did great. The crying scenes are really good. Im thinking how she cried so fast on those scenes. The chemistry between the two leads are sooooo good. Didnt expect that it will be like this good. The Matong Team, they are hilarious. Especially the last two episodes. You'll know what I mean if you already watched this.
3. Music
— I think anyone will agree that the ost's of these drama is great. Although most of them are in english but every song is suited to those scenes. I recommend you to listen Star by Minseo ????.
4. Rewatch Value
— I'll probably rewatch this drama again after I finish rewatching one of my fave drama.
5. Overall
— To sum it up, this drama is worth watching for. They'll make you cry and even makes you realize some things. For those who are in doubt watching it, dont hesitate to watch this drama, you're not going to regret it.
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I'm going to talk about the takeaways from this drama and there's A LOT OF 'EM!First we learn the ML has CIPA-a person who can't feel pain, right? But it's only shown in the first episode and it's a really short clip.
We learn the FL develops and instant crush on the ML which is a heavy eye roll for me.
Then we see weak plots about different characters exhibiting pain that barely gets covered.
One episode has a supposedly virus outbreak but that quickly dwindled.
Then the FL learns of the ML's secret and she becomes even more clingy and naggy ( yeah not a word but I can't think of anything else.) She becomes so annoying that I began to look elsewhere when she starts whining and crying over stupid stuff. I had to ask myself is there not ONE episode where's she's not crying and wondering why the ML don't have feelings for her or why he's not showing enough feelings for her?? At different points she made his issue all about her.
The next is that prosecutor and nurse. Call me crazy but the way she handled the guy who had anal cancer was so wrong and yet she didn't get in trouble for it and that prosecutor should've been disbarred for trying to get someone who served their time fired. Isn't that harassment?
Then out of the blue the ML starts having problems with his health. Episode 1-8 he's doing fine then the next few episodes he's having health problems then close to the end he goes to do some research about his disease. We see he's not doing good then the writers time stamp the last two episodes of making it seem as if three years past and the ML shows up out of the blue and the FL goes into her clingy, crying, nagging self...again... By this time I'm skipping a lot of her whining and literally stalking the ML because he didn't call her.
The last episode was the most let down of all the other episodes. The writers had no where to go and just let the uninspired sappy romance go on forever!!! The other doctor and sister's relationship was more believable than the FL and ML.
I like medical dramas and thought this would be a good one but alas, I only watched because I literally had nothing else to do. I just hurried and watched the last few episodes just to get them over with. I could've dropped this but I was curious as to how it would've turned out. With the same three songs being played over and over in each episode, the crying, the sappy uninspiring romance....this has definitely been a medical drama let down for me and is a sign to truly skip dramas that have romance in it. No matter how good it is, if it's got romance in it like this I will avoid it like the plague!
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This review may contain spoilers
I tried to write a review without spoilers but i am sorry this still does contain some minor spoilers. - !!Disclaimer!!: This is just my opinion about this drama. I don't think this is the Truth of the Truths of this world. I won't recommend this drama to some of my friends, but I will recommend it to some others. So if you want to try this drama and start to hesitate because of this review, please don't :) you can just start it, try several episodes and then decide for yourself! Thank you for reading! -
Doctor john explores the concept of euthanasia, pain, rare diseases, CIPA patients etc. etc.
Well I saw many good reviews so I'll just take the unpopular road this time, with telling the bad things this drama had. very sorry to people who liked this and to people who worked hard making this drama but this was very meaningless and unrealistic story.... I gave rating 4 only for the people who worked on it.
What I liked:
-sister and fellows romance
-kitten
-mom
What I didn't like:
-story (lol)
-characters(lol)
-they mixed too many concepts
-something failed here very badly....
-one-sided answer to a controversial problem.
-main couple's romance
-male lead's occupation
-just everything lol
longer review:
Music was ok, so I just put a random number there. Acting was ok, as they act out the written characters and are not characters themselves. The story/plot.... well this is where the real issues start.
First of all this drama started with prison and showing Doctor Yo Han as some brutal mysterious guy stitching himself. Plus the main female lead Kang Shi Yeong who was constantly crying for any reason. Well at first we don't know the reasons so it's ok. And when we learn her reasons we start to understand her. But she keeps crying even for reason unrelated to her problem, for any little thing. Anyway... after that the whole story goes to hospital. The prison part was extremely unnecessary. It was just a useless way to keep viewers, because 1) it's prison and that itself is usually intriguing, 2) Yo Han was shown very mysterious, which was captivating. BUT It didn't help the plot at all. They could have just stated about prison and that's all.
After that we see them working in hospital. And the problem of euthanasia rises more. We see two people who are fiercely fighting against it, and also the lead who doesn't say anything. So here i thought oh wow this explores that problem it's great! However the drama suddenly starts exploring rare diseases. and you get one rare illness after another and the doctors are like investigators trying to find the culprit. Why, oh why should the anesthesiology department be the only place where people can do diagnosis. Yo Han could have just been a person who gives diagnosis, like doctor House and it would have been awesome. But somehow anesthesiologists do that job. Then they start talking about pain. How people feel pain, what is pain, for what, and about people who don't feel pain at all. Cha Yo Han says many nice quotes. But wait... this is already like 3 different dramas. O_O and all this time Kang Shi Young was following Yo Han a bit like a stalker and crying all around about him not telling her this or that, not being careful etc etc. I felt no chemistry between them, to be honest. It felt very forced and one-sided.
during all this time they were showing some secret group which was somehow related to that problem of euthanasia.
In the middle of the drama the two people who were fighting against euthanasia turned out to be simply crazy. while the drama was showing them so full of justice at first.
Might think this just explores that problem more and more, but in the end it gives a clear answer: "we are against euthanasia, and it is murder". they don't say it like this but this is what is implied very strongly during the last 4 episodes.
The secret organization only truly appears during one episode and then no one even thinks of searching them more.
takes shift to the forced romance and ends, leaving in darkness so many doors they opened randomly but never really showed us the rooms. Him willing to be a doctor like that even while dying also didn't make sense, he totally could be someone who makes diagnosis. that would suit him much better and that was what would needed from that person. This was very meaningless and unrealistic story. Maybe the writer wanted to explore many problems and wasn't sure she will be able to do it in other dramas and decided to use everything here. lol Well this became a grey mixture not even captivating enough.
The characters were also written poorly. Cha Yo Han as I already said is perfect at making diagnosis but somehow he is anesthesiologist, and even performing surgeries sometimes(!!!) I mean not just going there checking the patients sleep and all, but really doing stuff.... lol also treating many patients. their department looked more like the emergency center of rare diseases. In the middle of the drama he starts to act like a girl lol with female lead being all protective and him accepting everything and falling for it. lol Kang Shi Young was a character that cried a lot, got in the way a lot. They tried to show her as a strong person but she wasn't. Her big problem became not so big of a problem later just because she met him and her head was full of him. All the stuff she said was not so nice. I mean i would have gotten angry if someone talked with me like that. told that kind of stuff and cried all the time. The two other resident guys were just funny comedians, not even knowing english... just how in the world did they become doctors. The only nice characters were Kang Shi Young's mom. sister and the other doctor that plays Mugwang (cursed guy) in Arthdal chronicles. Their romance with kitten was nice.
P.S. I watched this with my mom and she was even disappointingly asking how the actors could choose such a drama and how directors could agree to shoot it and no one told the plot as big holes in it.
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I decided to give this drama a shot because of ji sung who is a great actor and the synopsis sounded interesting. The first couple of episodes were really captivating and it shocked me that they discussed a subject which has always been a source of debate with no ending conclusion, but i appreciate to watch something different and the fact that makes you search and think about topics that we don't usually talk about.
The music was so good and it fits the atmosphere of the drama and the acting was great. I know everyone is talking about the FL hair style that was a mess but i didn't care and i found the cast did really a good job portraying their characters.
The story started very well with medical mystery genre and a slow developed romance that really fit this kind of story. The chemistry between the leads was good and then the euthanasia was brought up. i thought it was great to see a drama that approach this topic. The writer did a good job in the beginning but toward the middle i felt like she was lost and didn't know how to handle the story anymore and she focused more about the illness. I expected more deep conversation about pain death and the value of life and i expected the actor lee kyu hyung's character to have much more importance in the story.
Beside that "in my opinion" the story wasn't so well developed the drama was worth watching. I enjoyed every episode and the acting was soooo good never gt disappointed by ji sung and i loved the side love story of the second lead.
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