A Journey Of Comfort & Appreciation

Quite the comforting second instalment of the series. Unlike the first season, the second season gives the experience from the perspective of one of the customers. In season one we got to see the different types of people who come and go within the cafe, however, in this season we get the chance to experience from a new location and scenery the magic and mesmerisation of visiting this quiet and beautiful cafe perched on the end of a hill viewing the whole of Busan. Here we learn to appreciate the little things in life and how sometimes it is good to break out of the usual routine and take a break for ourselves. By doing so it can enable us to see clearly the positive side of life rather than the negativities. Once again every moment spent watching this season was punctual.

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Don't watch if your looking for the generic events...

Despite the title...to be quite frank, that storyline wasn't that spectacular and the plot twist was somewhat predictable. Simply put this drama in comparison to most drama is very lighthearted and somewhat generic.

The comedy here acts as tension relief, though to call it a comedy is a bit generous, but nonetheless, it gets the job done. I started watching it and got a bit bored of it around episode 9 and dropped it...though to be fair I was watching a lot more thriller, and mystery dramas simultaneously and felt it lacked quite a bit in terms of storyline.

After 90 days break from technology as a whole I came back and picked it up again...this time without any biased feelings from any other kdramas or tv series. To say the least, it was quite worth it, as a stand-alone kdrama it was very heartwarming and fun to watch. I enjoyed every episode and always looked forward to the spontaneous characters this drama had in store. If you a looking for a kdrama to pass the time, that is lighthearted and easy to detach yourself from whenever you are required to zone back to reality...this is the kdrama for you.

I wouldn't say it is a MUST WATCH DRAMA!!! but more like a drama definitely worth the time. To those planning to watch, I truly hope you enjoy it, to those who ended up disliking it...it definitely isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Eitherway I hope this review helped :)

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Sad But Beautiful Story

I have read many of the reviews of what many thought about this show, and whether certain situations were unnecessary or not. But for me, I couldn't care less about how the story should or had unfolded. After completing this drama all I have to say is it conveyed quite a powerful and meaningful message to me.

It provokes the idea of what one would do with the limited time they are given. The story begins with our main lead playing out a role for an action film in which he is scripted to die in the end but faced with his own reality of having a terminal illness he exclaims "I don't want to die like this". Of course, given his situation, this drama then ends with the death of our actual main lead in the final episode. There were a lot of complicated and unforeseen turns of events that played throughout the series but ignoring all that, we were left with the raw context that was being directed toward the viewers. What would we do if were told our time was coming to an end? In a way, the show demonstrates to us the scenario of our two main leads and how they chose to deal with their situations. Whether the choices they made were right or wrong, it became clear what each character was lacking was the acknowledgement and appreciation of each other's presence within their lives. Our male lead's mother filled with her own desire to be acknowledged by his father didn't cherish her son enough before coming to realise it, and our female lead didn't appreciate her father's effort to make a living for them enough until his sudden death. Our male lead chose to ignore his feelings or conscious and continued to live a somewhat reckless but abundeful life and therefore only focused on his success and ignoring the suffering of others who weren't of his concern. All it took to change the fates of those around him was the notice of his limited time.

Not everyone's life is a drama and therefore many forget that we face life and death on the daily basis. Each time we cross the street without the use of traffic lights, each time we stand underneath or near construction site on levels above ground level, each time we use our phones while driving, or drink our sorrows away. From the moment we awake to the moment we sleep we are on the verge of death, yet many of us live unfulfilling lifes that only continue to drain the very life within us like a terminal illness. This was what I believed this drama was conveying to its veiwers as I went from episode to episode. It was this final message that help me veiw this story as a Sad but beautiful journey of life.

If you don't believe me, don't take my word for it and try the drama yourself. Unlike me you may come to hate it or you may find it boring and too dramatic but you'll never know till you give it a try just like everything else in life.

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It's and open ending so delude yourself however you want!!!

What a beautiful drama, the title states the intention of this drama and in my own opinion I reckon they executed it very well. A lot of people are upset about the ending however this ending is a great open ending.

The key factors to this open ending is, they established that both leads still loved each other very much with the FL stopping her mother's consistent blind date setups. The MC seemed to have overcome his 'BINK' stance when he mentioned at the end "I look after my nephew and nieces quite a lot these days" indicating the possibility of him being open to having kids now as he had come to make peace with his mother, the ML is also seeing a medical consultant on his swaying mood swings and erratic behaviours. Finally to wrap it all up they both asked the final question "Can we really go back to being strangers again?" Providing an open question to this open ending...

Option 1:
Both leads crossed paths from time to time as they each continued to work on themselves all whilst still holding deep affection for one another. Eventually, as enough time passed, and each finally reached where they wanted to be, they finally came back together. Got married, started a family and though not all moments were good times, this time they survived the game of life as a pillar for one another.

Option 2:
They came to realise love wasn't enough to keep their delusion of being together again a reality...after some time and hard work, both came to see each other more as friends than as lovers. Still holding that deep affection for one another however this time held from the perspective of close individuals. Each finally found the person best suited to them and came to find true peace in their new reality.

As my title stated and now the context of my review states the ending really is up to how you want it to be...we already got to see them be affectionate and if that was enough for you, then write the after story however you want. If you prefer they got back together, by all means that's what they did...you just have to imagine this as the true ending. That's why I found this ending well-suited for this very drama, it left me feeling oddly at peace with how this ended and quite fulfilled.

I'm not saying others will or were left feeling the same way but I was hoping to share my lens around, so others can see how I perceived the drama.

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ITS NOT THAT BAD, WATCH IT FOR YOURSELF

When I see negative comments on any kdrama, I always see it as a challenge and would often try to watch it from start to end from an unbiased perspective.

To my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed this drama that I completed it in a span of 3 days, yes it's not perfect but it was very entertaining. From the thriller and the plot twist to the comedy and the "romance" it was in a way refreshing to just watch without investing much into the drama. The reason I place romance in quotation marks is simply because romance isn't the main focus of the drama but rather the side dish so if you're here for that, I suggest looking elsewhere. It could've been explored a bit more in this drama but in my opinion, the small level of romance present was the right ratio.

A lot are complaining about the ending but it really isn't that bad, I mean it could've been better but in a way, it was still realistic. And though the bad guys were in a way "evil" and "bad" the whole drama is literally them running (metaphorically) from the "Good guys" while they get corned over and over again till eventually they get caught. Which makes it very entertaining

Do I recommend it? Yes 100% but I suggest watching it for the sake of watching, don't invest too much into it.

Overall: 9/10

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No point choosing to watch based on reviews, just try it, time well spent

The 3rd instalment was actually quite sad but at the same time beautiful in its own sense. The 3rd season extends the story of the 2nd season by exploring the stories of the background characters that appeared within season 2. The two school girls, the late school boy who came for one of the two school girls' notes and the high school boy on the bus who avoided eye contact with the FL of season 2. It was surprising to find that the timeline of seasons 2 and 3 are in fact intertwined within the same timeline and both stories are occurring at the same time.

However in this season, we learn, that no matter how much one might want to change the past, the past will always be the past, but the future can be worked on. We were given the insight into the life of a troubled high school teen boy who struggles with his feelings for his high school female friend but only has thoughts for his mother due to her constant memory loss. It's a touching story of how things lost in the past, dreamed for the future can be found in the present.

Once again, every moment spent watching was punctual

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A Light Hearted Romance To Pass The Time

Fun Fact: This film made a cameo in "Crazy Love"

After finishing Jugglers, I would definitely say it's a great light-hearted drama for passing the time. Depending on one's taste, the acting, story and conflicts may seem a bit obnoxious and overly dramatic; But these aspects contributed to formulating a playful and comedic atmosphere in which every threat and conflict made, would be taken with a grain of salt. The overall drama depicts various perspectives that convey meaningful messages for those who struggle in varying situations and how each character reacts and adapts to find a solution to their problems. Much like life, not all characters made the right decisions but eventually come to terms with their mistake and seek in finding resolution.

STORY: (Spoilers)
The main story focuses on Jwa Yoon Yi who is a 29-year-old woman about to reach her 30's struggling to find a stable relationship due to her job as the assistant of a married, cheating womanizer, who calls her at any hour to hide his scandalous acts from his wife. Despite her destain for his disreputable nature, she continues to assist him in hopes he would take her up the corporal ladder for promotion and an increase to her annual salary. This dream is only short-lived when her boss uses her as a scapegoat to hide all his scandalous acts as though he was seduced and only having an affair with his assistant Yoon Yi, due to this Yoon Yi loses her job and is placed on a waiting list of blacklisted assistants.

Prior to Yoon Yi's downfall in her career, she briefly meets our Male Lead Nam Chi Won while running an errand and becoming a victim of a traffic accident in which she insists to Nam Chi Won that she is fine so the encounter could be brushed off as a minor accident. We later come to discover that Nam Chi Won is in fact a Managing Director and a candidate to become the vice-president of the same company Yoon Yi works for.

The story evolves quickly to Yoon Yi eventually becoming the assistant of Chi Won who is the only manager in the company preferring not to have an assistant due to his quiet but stern and desolate nature. However, despite a rocky start to their relationship a series of events and coincidences leads to Chi Won slowly becoming fond of Yoon Yi, this fondness is slightly deepened when he drives her home after a night out drinking to discover she now owns and lives in his childhood home and is looking for a tenant for the upper level. Harbouring only a tragic memory of the place, and hopes of overcoming a trauma developed from those tragic memories, he decides to move into the upper level. Now co-habilitating in the same building separately they start to form a closer relationship and find themselves relying on each other during troublesome situations both at home and at work.

The main conflict of the drama is the battle for the seat of vice-president between Chi Won (whose interest isn't peaked until he starts to form a bond with Yoon Yi) and Jo Sang Moo the "main villain" of the drama. There are also conflicts occurring between Yoon Yi and one of her four close friends Ma Bo Na who happens to be the assistant of Jo San Moo. The following events lead to the conclusion of the drama which plays out and is resolved predictably.

FINAL STATEMENT:
The overall story of romance was quite beautiful whilst the important messages left for us viewers were indeed profound. I would recommend this drama to anyone seeking a quick watch to relieve themselves of any recent intense dramas and are seeking a light-hearted romance that is quite far from the intensity of melodrama.

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My Review (Essentially A Break Down of the Series)

First of all, it was a great web drama and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a more or so slice of life drama.

Obviously, our two main leads are Kang Pa Rang and Lee Shi Won, the whole love concept I believe is the misunderstanding each character has about their feelings. Shi Won, believes since she was in elementary school, that she has been in love with Kang Pa Rang. While Kang Pa Rang never truly showed any interest in girls but is obsessed with the concept of falling in love. Our second main lead Lee Shi Eon is convinced of his feelings for Shi Won but can't bring himself to express his feelings for her for she is convinced of her own feelings for Pa Rang, thus forming a love triangle. These 3 contradicting characters with completely opposite personalities have somehow remained friends for over 10 years all because of Kang Pa Rang. Eventually, it becomes clear towards the ending that Kang Pa Rang seemed more so as a buffer between the relationship of Shi Won and Shi Eon, it seemed that their friendship with him was a way to slow down their inevitability of eventually coming together as this is emphasised through their many shared commonalities of "fate". At the beginning of the series, both Shi Won and Shi Eon stated their friendship with Kang Pa Rang was an act to hide their feelings toward their love interest, while for Kang Pa Rang his friendship with both of them was genuine. As the story develops Shi Won starts to come to terms with the fact that she is either confused about her feelings for Kang Pa Rang and starts to show that she may truly have feelings for Shi Eon after their friendship takes a blow when all of their true feelings for each other are exposed. This is aided by Shi Won's realisation that she had made the assumption that Kang Pa Rang needed both her and Shi Eon as friends since he suffered from separation anxiety, but eventually comes to learn that her immature and innocent love interest Kang Pa Rang, never really needed them but rather both her and Shi Eon were the ones who needed him the most. Shi Eon on the other hand begins to develop a true friendship bond with Kang Pa Rang when he starts to realise how much he needed Kang Pa Rang as a friend when he goes through a difficult stage in his life. The bonding process wasn't exactly smooth sailing but the friendship eventually become genuine.

The reason all these were explained was to draw upon the meaning of the final scene:
In the final scene, Shi Eon and Shi Won are seen attending the same university. Shi Won asked if Shi Eon also had a 10am morning class but Shi Eon states that his class is at 2pm but he felt the need to come early. Shi Eon then proceeded to reach out his hand smiling and says "Let's go" as Shi Won reaches out to hold his hand smiling, Shi Eon quickly retracts his hands then turned and starts walking and Shi Won follows along and starts beating him in a bubbly and friendly way. The scene changes to Kang Pa Rang walking along a crowded street alone in a tracksuit eating a cup of rice, he then makes a call to whom we presume to be Shi Eon and after a brief conversation ends the call and states "why do I feel like an outcast". I believe this was an indication of two possible endings.

1 - Shi Won and Shi Eon no longer needed the company of Kang Pa Rang to act as a buffer in their relationship as their feelings have finally become clear. Now that both are attending the same university it's most likely that their romance would blossom. As Shi Eon stated that the next time he holds Shi Won's hands would not be as a friend. Retracting his hands could be interpreted as him teasing her finally realising their feelings are mutual. As for Kang Pa Rang despite stating feeling like an outcast and finally realising his feelings for Shi Won he has finally been able to overcome the feeling of loneliness as he is seen walking alone in this final scene showing that he is maybe able to now pursue his own choice of career in art as he no longer feels that need to tag along with the plans of others and can now make his own plans.

Or

2- Shi Eon now acknowledging Kang Pa Rang as a true friend and wanting to respect his feelings for Shi Won decided to end his continuous advances toward Shi Won and stay as friends with her after one final playful act, which was the reason behind his decision to retract his hands despite Shi Won reaching for it as a sign of acknowledging his feelings and willing to accept it. Shi Won has now come to terms with the fact that she has feelings for Shi Eon which was why she happily reached out to hold his hands despite his statement of not holding her hands again as friends. As for Kang Pa Rang, he has finally realised his feelings for Shi Won but by this point it is already too late and so what started as a group of 3 different people acting as friends ended as a close group of true friends with an additional 3 side characters added into the mix. Further emphasising the title of the series "FAILing In love".

Both endings are of course very plausible and in their own way deliver a satisfying lesson about life. But it's clear that the writer of this beautiful web drama wanted to leave an open ending free to interpretations but I just wanted to give the two interpretations I came up with when watching this drama.

P.S I fully recommend this web drama to those who aren't romancing fanatics and like the idea and concept of realism portrayed within this story.

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