This is a very short comment I wrote earlier this year that I wouldn't normally add as a review cause it's so short, but I feel sad that this special has no reviews, so here you go, lol.

I didn't enjoy this special as much as the first, even though I do think it is well written. Mr. Lookalike clearly has nefarious plans, and it's obvious throughout most of the special, so I spent most of the time wanting the female lead to figure out what he was up to and foil it, which doesn't happen. That was a little disappointing.

This also felt a bit like an ending to this story overall. I'm still crossing my fingers for another season where we finally get to see Akiko and Akira end up together, because I NEED IT, but this special makes the series feel...done. Which makes me want to cry, so I'm not going to think about it too much.

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I probably would have given this drama a 9 or 10 if the last four episodes had matched in quality with the first 8. A lot of the MDL comments I saw before going in called the female lead too self-sacrificial, a claim I always take with a grain of salt. I personally find that while there are plenty of legitimate complaints about female leads who will literally lay themselves on the train tracks or burn themselves at the stake or sit themselves in the electric chair for some of the most foolish and unreasonable of reasons, there is also lot of disdain out there for too much kindness in female leads, like if a female lead sacrifices herself or something she wants for another character, even if it's truly a noble sacrifice, she actually Deserves to be laid on those tracks or burned at that stake or put in that electric chair. With this in mind, I decided to go into Usokon open-minded. I truly like kind and self-sacrificial characters, and I'm always happy to see them represented in dramas, so I was hopeful and excited for this drama.

For the first 8 episodes, I can genuinely say Usokon is very solid. I enjoyed the episodes so much, in fact, that I struggled to understand what people had been complaining about. The female lead can be more self-sacrificial and kind than she might need to be, but all of her kindness and sacrifices are for truly kind and worthwhile reasons. She never did anything I found to be outrageous or stupid. I really, really, really liked her. Of course, like most everyone else, I found the male lead charming and adorable and a riot to watch as he acted surreptitiously silly and excited over his feelings for the female lead. The romance was so easy to root for, because the leads were sweet apart and together.

But then came the last four episodes.

I'll just jump straight in and say that a random girl who went on one date with the male lead in high school and who he obviously didn't really like back shows up and is all 'I've loved him for ten years! Give him to me!' (I'm exaggerating a bit, but that was essentially her attitude), and the female lead...acquiesces. Granted, two of our side characters have a heart-to-heart with her telling her she's being foolish and way too self-sacrificial and she sort of, finally, sees some reason, but the whole plot twist is completely unnecessary and leads to a rushed finale where the female lead and the second male lead have to fake a wedding ceremony in order to lure the male lead there, because He is so heartbroken over the female leads behavior that he decides to walk around moping about it. As you can see, this ^ story choice...is a real buzzkill.

Now, I know there are going to be people who disagree with my assessment of the female lead as a character in the first 8 episodes. In response, I can only say that there's a vast difference between sacrificing your job on behalf of for your single-mom co-worker who is struggling to make ends meet and giving up your man because some girl he went on one date with ten years ago shows up saying she's in love with him and she'd very kindly appreciate it if you'd gtfo. The first scenario is relatable and shows just how much the female lead cares about other people's well-being. The second scenario is stupid.

I do have to disagree here with some viewers who have said the female leads nice-to-a-faultness rubs off on the male lead, because I think they missed some important context clues from the flashbacks about his character. He starts liking her when they are children but never makes a move until in his late twenties. The reason? Because he's intimidated by the other friend in their friend group and feels like he has to prove himself in order to be good enough for the female lead. He believes (we never find out if he is right or not) that the female lead likes this other friend, and he (the male lead) doesn't measure up. The whole drama, there's this big, neon sign over the male leads head telling us he struggles with insecurity/self-doubt. This is fine with me, because I think it works for his character, and I really felt for him, but I don't think you can act like his difficulty with expressing his feelings are because of the female leads influence. No, he already had that problem. I will, however, agree that his response to the female lead stepping aside for this nobody girl is pretty dramatic. Why he doesn't confront this girl and be like 'We went on one date. You need to grow up and leave the woman I love alone' is beyond me, but he doesn't, and we all just have to live that.

I honestly went into this drama hopeful that it would be a more positive portrayal of a kind female lead. I don't need, nor do I want, all drama female leads to be super kind, but I would like to see more dramas treat female leads who exhibit such kindness and self-sacrificial behavior with the respect they deserve. True kindness and self-sacrifice, the kind that actually puts good into the world, is not for the faint of heart. It's for the strong.

I'll end my review by saying that if the female leads kindness had continued in the same vein as what we'd seen in the first 8 episodes, my opinion of this drama would be very different. It's amazing how much only 4 episodes can completely change the way you feel about a story, isn't it?

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When I watched the original series in 2021, I enjoyed it immensely, but it was also a pretty strange ride. The overarching story is very silly, but the writers really knew how to pull completely unexpected, from left-field, twists while pulling at your heartstrings and making you love these (sometimes odd) characters. It wasn't until watching this special, however, that I realized how much I love the original series.

I just love every character in this universe, and watching them be happy makes me happy.

All I'm asking for is that the writers eventually, someday (preferably within the near future of my life) finally let Akiko and Akira actually get together. It's adorable and hilarious watching Akira chase after her and pine for her and hope, but my heart can only take so much.

And I guess I here I go to see if there is any progress on their relationship in the 2022 special. Here's desperately hoping, lol.

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I enjoyed a lot of things about this drama. It's not completely realistic with how things really work in the idol music industry, but the drama is very intentional about showing the group actually doing the work of being an idol group. They're practicing their choreography, they're doing performances, they're going to photoshoots, they're writing their own songs, and they're facing some of the sorts of challenges you would expect for a group attempting a comeback after falling out of popularity. Group members struggle with figuring out the best pathways to take in their lives, they get into fights and disagreements because of stress and pressure, and they frequently recommit themselves to each other and the hard work it's going to take for the group to come back. It can admittedly get a bit saccharine and dramatic at times, but more often than not, I felt sympathy for these boys rather than annoyance or second-hand embarrassment. I would say this aspect of the drama is where it shines most.

There are some story choices towards the end that are admittedly head-scratching, even if they mostly make sense. The most head-scratching is when one of the members voices his very strong opposition to the leads dating. His opposition has nothing to do with the leads very sizable age gap (which I will get to in a minute), but because a relationship between them would divert the male leads focus away the group, and apparently, the group should trump every other area of his life. This is obviously a nonsense attitude (although it's certainly how the record labels themselves would like their artists to act), and it also comes semi-out of nowhere. There are hints leading up that this character is bothered by something, but you never would have guessed this was the thing they were bothered by. Personally, I think the drama would have been better served by either removing or toning down this plot point, because doesn't serve the story, and it actually ignores the very real problem with the romance.

And that is that this romance has an unnecessarily large age gap. If the male lead had been just a bit older or the female lead just a bit younger (or better, he had been a bit older And she had been a bit younger), I wouldn't have had a problem. But he's quite a bit younger than her, to a degree that the mental gap is just too wide. She was also his teacher in high school years prior which adds another uncomfortable layer. A better scenario would have been for her to be an assistant teacher when she worked at his school, maybe 23 or 24 years old and getting work experience so she could eventually become a regular teacher, thus lowering the age gap to more along 5 or 6 years. I could have been more comfortable with that. The romance is admittedly very subtle and left somewhat open-ended at the end. I think it's pretty clear they get together in the last scene, but other viewers got a different impression, so your mileage may vary.

And I can't end this review though without telling you my absolute favorite thing about this drama. The soundtrack. This drama's songs are literal Bops, nicely weaved into the storyline as songs being written and performed by the drama's fictional group, 8loom. It's amazing just how much they add to the drama. I'm 100% going to buy them on iTunes, and if you enjoy Jpop or Kpop, etc. I imagine you'll probably love these songs too.

Overall, this drama has its charms and its flaws. It's not one of my favorite dramas I've ever watched, but it was a fairly pleasant and satisfying viewing experience, flaws notwithstanding.

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I've read the first two volumes of this manga and really enjoyed them. My Happy Marriage is every bit of a Cinderella story, which is a trope/theme I enjoy when done well. So when I saw there was a movie version, I was immediately sold. And all I have to say after watching it is WOW. This movie is phenomenal.

The filmography, the music, the visual effects, the acting, the story, there wasn't anything I was dissatisfied with. The movie had my eyes glued to my screen in rapt attention from start to finish.

Now, I can't say for sure if reading the first two volumes of the manga aided in my ability to follow the story in this movie or not, but I can admit it's possible. From what I can tell, there seems to be an even split between people who understood the story without interacting with any of the other versions and people who didn't understand it because they'd never interacted with any other version, so I would be aware of that. But I do feel that even if you go in blind, there is a lot to be impressed by with this movie.

For my part, I'm even more pumped to keep reading the manga (which I definitely recommend people read) and maybe even the light novels, which is saying something, because I don't really read light novels.

Also, that bonus scene after the credits setting up another movie. I want, I need, I mUSt hAvE!!!

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I'm still somewhat new to Jdrama's, as I've only been truly seeking them out often to watch for two or three years now. But wrapping my head around the fact that this drama was made in the same year as We Married as a Job (Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu) really throws me for a loop. We Married as a Job is one of my favorite dramas of all time. It's stellarly written and paced with an absolutely charming and sweet and thoughtful romance. And it is so incredibly different from Please Love the Useless Me. We Married as a Job feels modern and current while Please Love the Useless Me feels old-school and a bit dated. And yet, something about Please Love the Useless Me charmed me. Do I think they spent too long on the second male lead love interest when they weren't actually going to end up together? Yes. Did they forget to spend much if any time at all developing a romance between the leads? Yes. Did I find the constant focus on treating virginity as something to be embarrassed of and done away with forthwith and oh no! she has yellow panties! annoying??? Absolutely yes. (Don't get me started about the panties.)

The story is quite flawed and silly. But still...I enjoyed it, lol.

A lot of people are going to call the male lead a jerk, and they're not exactly wrong. He says rude things. But I do think a lot of people misunderstand just what kind of jerk he is. It seemed kind of obvious to me that the intention with his character was for him to come across as rough around the edges (because of his high school days as a Yanki), and he's probably that way with everyone, but it comes from a well-meaning place. Unfortunately, Dean Fujioka just does not look the part of a reformed but still a little rough Yanki, and I don't think his acting really sold that aspect of his character either. But...it's Dean Fujioka, so I kind of have to give him a pass, lol.

An equal number of people are going to dislike the female lead, because she comes across as dumb and too self-sacrificing and too insecure. But I don't need my female leads to be super-smart, I like characters who are self-sacrificial, and I relate to characters that are insecure and struggle with figuring out whether someone is trustworthy or not. She's clearly not wise in who she chooses to trust, but she wants the best for others, and I love that. I connected with her on an emotional level, and that matters to me most in my drama female leads. She also consistently gives it back to the male lead any time he's rude or dismissive, which I liked.

I read in the MDL comments that they cut out all of the romantic bits from the original manga, which is frustrating. The story needed some actual romance between our leads. We get plenty of shots of both of them looking at each other, shots that are obviously intended to convey that they have feelings for each other. They also do nice things for each other throughout the series. But we get way more insight into the female lead's feelings than we do the leads, and apart from the looks and some nice gestures, there is essentially no romance. They also apparently killed off the brother in the drama. I can't fathom why that decision was made, but if I find out it was so they could create the male leads crush on his brother's widow, I'm gonna be irritated. That's probably my least favorite part of the drama.

Given what I read in the comments about the original manga and the way this drama still managed to charm me without it really deserving to, I really want to read the manga now. While I got enjoyment out of the drama, it would be nice to read a version where there's actually some romance.

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Up front, I have to admit that I struggled with the pacing of this drama. I respect stories that move at a slower pace as I don't think there is anything wrong with a story doing so, so I can acquiesce that the problem is probably me, but it was a challenge in the first half of the drama to keep going. I kept waiting for our female lead to actually go camping with the whole group, and it doesn't happen till the very end of the drama. I found that disappointing.

But that being said, there is a lot about this drama that I loved. First and foremost, our really camping group of girls are incredibly fun. They're quirky and silly and just really humorous in how they interact with each other. I like the female lead as she's very thoughtful and quiet and clearly a little nervous about meeting new people, but my favorite scenes were of our little camping group as they planned their trips and drooled over expensive camping gear. Who would have thought a drama could make planning for camping look fun, lol?

The theme of the show is both relaxing and inspiring, and I'm honestly quite jealous of these girls getting go on all of these camping trips. I'm thinking I need to start planning some for myself. (Although I wouldn't be able to camp in winter as I have a chronic illness that makes me severely sensitive to cold weather. I would have to wait until spring/summer, lol.)

Of course, the food all looks delicious as well as simple to make. I'm definitely inspired to try and recreate some of the dishes, even though I'll probably have to get creative with some of the ingredients as I don't live in or anywhere near Japan.

Overall, I thought this drama was really good, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something wholesome and lighthearted and relaxing. Especially for any teens (or parents of teens) looking for shows that aren't glorifying things like teenage drinking or other reckless behavior but instead promote young people getting involved in fun and healthy activities. Let's make more stories for teens like this one.

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A Warmed Up Love had a promising start. We open episode one with our female lead, Kiki, sharing the difficult trajectory her life has taken, going from a popular J-pop idol to a nobody struggling with purpose and identity. It's very grounded and believable while still having touches of humor and lightheartedness (she's sharing her burdens with a customer service employee who doesn't know how to respond to a heartfelt confession seeing as her job is dealing with customer complaints, lol.) It's a really great opening on what sort of person Kiki is, the struggles she faces, and it immediately hooked me. Mori Nana is also fantastic at capturing what a young woman is really like, an ability she keeps going for at least the five episodes I watched.

But while I loved Kiki and wanted to see her succeed, there's very little going on around her in the story that I found either compelling or believable.

For starters, I was completely uninterested in all the business drama. It boils down to people fighting for control of a company because of money and greed, but the drama paints it as some sort of emotionally resonate plotline about believing in the power of sweets and a fight to make quality products and doing what's best for the company. This was kind of hard to believe when no one on the board actually cares about any of these things, not even the male lead. Yes, part of his character trajectory was obviously going to be him 'overcoming' his sweets trauma and learning to care about creating delicious and comforting sweets, but this sort of storyline has already been done so often (and truthfully, better), that I didn't care.

Of course, it doesn't help that Takumi is essentially a cardboard cutout with no real personality. This is due to a combination of minimal acting on Nakamura Tomoya's part and a serious lack of characterization in the writing. Takumi is incredibly bland, his only real personality trait, aside from being stoic and determined in a boardroom, beings that he hates sweets, and for the majority of the five eps I watched, he either had little to no facial expression or a fake smile that screamed acting from a mile away.

I was also completely unmoved by the romance. With Takumi's lack of personality and how believably young and inexperienced Mori Nana's portrayal of Kiki is, I found the age-gap to be distracting and unnecessary. The writers also do little to no work creating compelling reasons for either of them to like each other. For Takumi, it's clearly the typical 'my love interest speaks her mind and is earnest' approach, and Kiki is certainly forthright and determined in her opinions and view of life. But while I don't inherently dislike this romance trope, it's also not interesting or fleshed out at all in this drama. As to what Kiki would find attractive about Takumi, I could never tell. To reiterate, he's as bland as a piece of toast.

Truthfully, her crush on him is a level of intense I found unbelievable. Near the beginning of the drama, Kiki discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her and then in the same moment, he dumps her, pinning the blame for his cheating on her. This would be devastating to most people, but Kiki's reaction is rather subdued. We don't know much about their relationship before that moment, so maybe there is a good reason for her to not be as devastated as you might expect, but then she immediately develops a crush on Takumi, and when she learns that he may still love his ex, she's distraught. She literally sobs in a stairwell. There is a serious discontent between these two responses. Her boyfriend cheating on her and then dumping her is no more thana small blip on her life timeline, but when her boss who's much older than her and whom she knows next to nothing about might love someone else, it's a tragedy?

My last real complaint for this drama is that while I get her interest in sweets and in reviewing them online, and I can totally see how that might transition into a legitimate job of taste-testing products to see which ones should be sold in a store, I could never get behind the idea of how reviewing sweets would give the female lead the requisite skills to actually make them herself. No one even bothers to find out if she knows how to cook. Now, I've been known to overlook details like this in other dramas, so this wasn't a make-or-break issue for me. But when all of the most important elements of a story don't work for you, even the smallest issues are a frustration.

It always leaves me frustrated when a drama starts out thoughtful and introspective before turning bland and uninspired, and that's exactly what happened with A Warmed Up Love. I can certainly see other viewers liking, or even loving, this drama, so I won't say no one should watch it. But man, if you're not going to carry that thoughtful heart all the way through a story's conclusion, then why even start?

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It's hard to sum up your thoughts for a drama that had such a great start before making a really good go of squandering its characters and stories. But sum them up I will try, because I do have some thoughts about this drama.

First and foremost, this drama has great chemistry between its leads. Ayaka and Togo are fun to watch together as they bickeringly charm their way into each other's hearts. Their little online videos together start off as part of their contract marriage obligations but quickly become some of the best moments of their genuine enjoyment of one another's company. (Not to mention they become more and more hilarious as the drama goes on.) These two are a couple you really want to see truly become a couple. Secondly, although I consider this of equal importance to the first point, the female lead is an incredibly sympathetic and complex character. I always love it when a drama surprises you with its characterizations, and Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi definitely does that with Ayaka. Ayaka has always been naturally pretty, and it has garnered her lots of attention in her life from the opposite sex. Unfortunately, much of that attention has not been good. A male teacher in her high school behaving inappropriately towards her, a client at her job as a wedding planner attempting to cheat on his fiancé with Ayaka, etc. To add insult to injury, Ayaka never does anything to encourage this behavior and she actively tries to avoid it, but the people around her consistently leave her holding the proverbial bag, wielding her attractiveness against her like a weapon, an excuse to turn her into the scapegoat for their own behavior. She's so pretty, so it's obviously her fault.

Not surprisingly, Ayaka has learned to handle this by acting nonchalant and unbothered, pretending she doesn't mind all the (truthfully negative) attention she gets from these men and that the sneers and accusations from others are like water off a ducks' back to her. Of course, we learn better when we see her alone holding back tears after she's been unfairly blamed for another incident. This characterization is very beautifully done, and gosh does it make me really like her. Unfortunately, the story drops this characterization in the second half, which I consider a serious misstep by the writers (among the multiple missteps they make with this drama). Ayaka is a strong female lead with a lot of depth worth exploring, but the writers appeared to only be interested in exploring it half-way.

Sadly, the writer's decision to step away from developing Ayaka as a character means they have to fill their time else ways, and they are two specific plot decisions in the last four episodes that deeply hamper the overall story. One is a very common, and often bemoaned trope, in Asian dramas that I actually think could have been made to work if given the time to develop properly. But the other is an infuriating, mind-boggling, head-scratching choice that was so improperly conveyed to the audience that there's really no way to fully salvage it as a writing decision.

Starting in ep 7 and concluding in ep 8 is a plot point around a possible sexual assault against Ayaka by the second male lead, Kamiyama. Personally, I don't believe any sexual assault actually occurred, but the whole things plays out in a way that does not make that clear. From the way things are set up, it very much looks like Ayaka has been assaulted. We start with her leaving a school reunion drunk, then she's passed out in a taxi with Kamiyama who intentionally hangs up her phone when Togo calls her, then Ayaka is waking up in a hotel room not wearing her dress and Kamiyama walks in without a shirt and intimates that something happened between them. Then when Ayaka tells Kamiyama she doesn't believe him, he tells both her and Togo that something absolutely did happen. Of course, Ayaka was passed out drunk while Kamiyama appeared to be relatively sober, so the perfectly rational conclusion for anyone watching would be that he did, in fact, assault her. But THEN in the very next episode, Kamiyama apologizes to Ayaka, saying he lied about something happening between them, and it's clear from the way this is presented to the viewer that he is telling the truth, and we as the viewer are supposed to believe him.

The problem is that the writers thought this one moment of apology was sufficient enough to clear up all of the confusion around what actually happened. But why Ayaka is not wearing her dress the next morning is a very important detail that the writers never explain, and not explaining it leaves viewers with the very strong impression that Kamiyama did, at the very least, attempt to sexually assault Ayaka and then maybe stopped himself part way. (Which is still assault.) I'm someone who tries to understand and respect the writers' intentions for their story, so since that's what the writer intended, I've chosen to believe that Ayaka took the dress off herself when she crawled into bed, and that Kamiyama left her there for the night and went home. But it's perfectly reasonable and understandable that some viewers would believe she was assaulted.

Of course, I have to talk about Togo's reaction to this situation, because it is not the best. His immediate reaction is anger and distrust, which very much upset me. He has no questions for Ayaka or Kamiyama about what happened, he immediately makes assumptions about Ayaka's character, he just has no interest in having an objective understanding of the situation. But it's also not clear he actually understood that Ayaka had potentially been assaulted in that hotel room. I get the impression that he thought Ayaka and Kamiyama had a consensual sexual encounter, which is obviously completely different from rape or assault. Since Ayaka never tells him what she remembers (for completely understandable reasons), and Kamiyama straight up lies, Togo never gets the full picture. I still think his reaction was unfair, and he owed Ayaka an apology when things were cleared up (and Kamiyama a swift kick in the groin and a clear warning never to come near Ayaka again), but I am willing to be more gracious and understanding towards Togo since I'm not sure he ever truly understood what was going on.

I wish I could say it was a surprise what the writers decided to do next, but this trope is so overused it literally never surprises me when I see it in a drama anymore (although it certainly often induces rage deep with me). After the very heightened events of the (very poorly handled) potential sexual assault, the writers decide the last two episodes are the perfect time for a forced separation between our leads (some drama writer habits die hard, apparently), and there's nowhere near enough time left in the drama to deal with all the varied aspects of this plot point. It comes with arranged marriage (between Togo's father and step-mother), prior relationships of both parents that both produced sons (Togo and his suddenly introduced half-brother), Togo's stepmother's unhealthy attachment to him, her terrified unwillingness to acknowledge her biological son, and a rushed conclusion where all four of them are suddenly happy and reconciled. There is so much to unpack in this plot point, things I actually wanted to see the drama unpack, and if the writers had not chosen the last two episodes to address all of these things, I think we might have actually gotten to see this part of the drama be more fleshed out. But it's not fleshed out. Instead, it's rushed and awkward, and Togo's stepmother ends up looking completely unhinged and irrational.

Overall, the writers bungled the last four episodes of this drama. They should have chosen to focus on one of the above plot points instead of trying to do both, because trying to do both hurt the story. For my part, I think it would have been a wiser use of their time to focus on Togo's relationship with his stepmother and her secret son and all of the things that come attached to a situation as tenuous as that. There was a lot of really interesting stuff brought up in that situation that was never explored, and I even think the forced separation could have worked if the writers had really wanted to do it.

But we'll never know what that would have looked like in this drama, will we? Cause it didn't happen.

Having finished this and gotten plenty of genuine enjoyment out of it, I wouldn't tell people not to watch this drama. I think you might want to be aware of the missteps that happen in the latter half so you can temper your expectations. But some viewers aren't going to be so frustrated by the writing choices in the latter half of the story as I, and many other viewers, are. I myself might even rewatch this someday just to relive the leads amazing chemistry and the comedy and enjoy the short-lived effort at exploring such an interesting and sympathetic female lead.

Key word being someday.

Someday farrrrr in the future when I've gotten over the disappointment that the ending of this drama was.

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This is one of those dramas that I wish I had watched when it was airing so I could have joined in with all the drama lovers out there who squealed and swooned and fell in love with these characters and story. It's pretty close to perfect in my books, even if it has a couple flaws here and there.

First off, I was genuinely surprised, given the year She Was Pretty came out, at how consistent the storytelling is, how good the pacing is, and how well-written the characters are, not to mention how delightfully free it is of draggy plot points and noble idiocy and name any another irritating trope you might expect from a Kdrama. Given She Was Pretty came out in 2015, I was expecting some of these oft bemoaned elements to arise, but they never do.

I will acquiesce that the conceit of the drama, Hye Jin's best friend pretending to be her, does go on a bit longer than it should, and I felt some frustration with her character for not manning up and admitting to the lie. I empathized and sympathized with her deeply, but I also wanted her to stop putting herself in a situation that was only going to cause everyone hurt. Ultimately though, the drama's main conceit is used in an effective way that doesn't leave you hating any of the characters. I was sad for Ha Ri that she was so desperate for love she would lie, and I walked away from the story very happy that she finally decided to do the thing she really needed to be doing all along which was pursuing her own purpose.

I was admittedly not totally on board with the writing decision to have the OTP get together immediately after Sung Jun discovered that Ha Ri had been impersonating Hye Jin. I knew he would be angry with Ha Ri for what she had done, but I expected him to be angry with Hye Jin as well, since she was the one who asked Ha Ri to pretend to be her initially, and I figured he would assume she had asked Ha Ri to continue the lie as well. In retrospect, having now finished the drama, I'm glad the writers didn't go in that direction, because it would have probably meant last minute shenanigans the story did not need.

I think it is a fair critique to add here that while the first half of the drama spends some time exploring what it means to be the main character and what it means to be a side character with the female lead seeing herself as someone not all that important who just lives on the sidelines, this all kind of disappears for much of the second half. The last couple episodes bring it back in a really lovely way with the female lead deciding to be the main character of her life, but I wish the drama had explored this more before then. For example, I was hoping the drama would show us what it was like for Hye Jin and her family to go through the financial struggles they did and just how that impacted Hye Jin's self-esteem, but the story never goes there, and I don't know why. Of course, the female leads makeover and her honest and determined effort to succeed at her job at the magazine are intended to be an unspoken exploration of the main-character-versus-side-character theme as well as aid in her ultimately deciding to stop standing on the sidelines of her own life, and I think it is all very beautifully done.

The romance is pretty solid. Sung Jun starts off as an unnecessarily harsh boss, but he isn't the sort of jerk that's typical of older Kdrama's. There's no manipulation or abuse toward Hye Jin or cruelty or real insult to her appearance or personality. He is unnecessarily unfair to her in regard to the quality of her work, but he treats all of the magazine employees that way, not just Hye Jin. I do think the drama could have evened things out a bit by showing him being mean to the other employees a little more often, because it does seem a bit like him singling her out at times, but he is still quite mean to the other employees. He's just a little extra mean to her on a few occasions.

Of course, then he begins to fall for her (before the makeover ever happens, which I absolutely love), and he really begins to soften. By the time Ha Ri is caught in her lie, Sung Jun's pretty much gone for Hye Jin and hasn't been even the tiniest bit harsh to her for some time. In fact, he softens with all of the magazine employees over the course of the story and sort of becomes part of the work family.

Some people probably aren't going to like his harshness in the beginning but having lived in Korea for a time myself and knowing a little bit about Korean workplaces, I don't think his behavior is all that out of place, unfortunately. In fact, Sung Jun is downright nice compared to some bosses.

My only complaint with the subplot of the drama, the magazine possibly shutting down, is that the reason for it makes no sense. Businesses close because they're not making money or they're actively losing money or it's a small business and the owners don't want to run it anymore and a variety of similar reasons. No business is going to shut itself down because it's coming in second place in sales compared to another business. Second place...is profitable. Second place...is keeping the lights on. Second place is solid. Despite this illogical aspect of the subplot, the drama does show a strong portrayal of the magazine team working to turn things around, and Most's inevitable ranking as #1 is, in my opinion, appropriately bittersweet. If they had saved the magazine and everything had ended on a perfectly happy note for everyone involved, it would have been way too cliche and tied-together with a bow. Shin Hyeok's sacrifice for the magazine is absolutely beautiful and moving and made the win feel earned rather than simple and easy. It also made me cry.

Speaking of Shin Hyeok, I now understand what all the hype is about around his character. He was a constant ray of sunshine, provided at least half of my smiles while watching, and I loved him So. Dang. Much. It hurt to watch his heart be broken, and it hurt to watch him push through it to still be Hye Jin's friend and to help the magazine survive. If Shin Hyeok were ever to spring from screen as a real, living, breathing human being, I would gladly fill the hole in his heart.

I haven't talked about Hye Jin yet, but I honestly have no end of good things say about her character. Hye Jin is such an 'I'm gonna face whatever comes my way head on' kind of character, and it was so incredibly easy to both like her and root for her. She obviously struggles with her self-esteem due to her appearance, the way people clearly treat her because of her appearance, and the financial struggles her family experienced while she was growing up. But even when she's struggling, she doesn't quit on herself. Some people will think she's too 'positive' and 'upbeat,' that she's not realistic, but it's exactly her positivity and upbeat-ness (and her deep, un-ending well of kindness) that make me like her so much. I personally struggle with depression, finding my purpose, with insecurity and self-loathing. Hye Jin was a timely and hopeful reminder that I Am the main character of my life, and I should never give up. I really quite love her, and I may end up adding her to my favorite female leads of all time.

This is somewhat to be expected of a drama of its era, but they definitely don't do a great job of making Hye Jin's skin 'condition' look believable and realistic. Technically, it's not a condition. The drama treats it as the natural way her face looks, and when she has her makeover, one of the characters even comments that she's lost all of her freckles, so I guess that is supposed to be part of what was going on. But it's obvious to everyone watching that that is not how people's faces normally look. I'm truthfully not all that bothered by this so I'm not docking the drama any major points, but I do think they could have gone with a skin condition like rosacea to give it more believability.

Finally, I know Kdrama lovers don't typically like their romance dramas to spend too much time with the characters after they've already gotten together, because it's all about the lead up to the relationship, but I enjoy a good romance where we get to see a couple be a couple (case in point, the Jdrama We Married as a Job), so I loved the finale episode. All of the major plot points of the drama are mostly wrapped up by the next to last episode, so a lot of the finale is our leads being cute together. And they are very cute together, lol. But there was also a really nice amount of focus on Hye Jin pursuing, and succeeding, in her goal to be a writer as well as becoming fully comfortable with her own body, freckles, red cheeks, and all. The three of those things combined make the finale more than worth for it me.

While this drama doesn't quite make it to a perfect ten-out-of-ten rom-com for me, it gets pretty dang close. I'm just sorry I waited so long to watch it. 2015 me really missed out.

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There’s not really a lot to say about this drama, whether positive or negative, but it’s been in the back of my mind since I finished it to write a review, so I will just have to write it in order to get my brain to shut up, lol.

Attention, Love! is a very typical story for its genre. It has its charming and funny moments, but it also has its fare share of frustrating character choices and some wheel-spinning. It’s certainly not the worst offender out there in this regard. You will find much, much worse. And people who enjoy stories that involve lots of pining and characters’ inability to move on will most likely enjoy this one. For my part, I found the enemies to friends’ relationship between the leads in high school fairly sweet and enjoyable. I think that was the strongest portion of the drama, as while their path to friendship is sometimes dramatic (like things often are when you are a teen), it’s not utterly ridiculous, and the characters are pleasant to watch together on screen.

The premise of essentially a future arranged marriage between the leads is really not necessary to the plot as it’s only discussed earlier on in the story and barely ever mentioned as the drama goes on. It also doesn’t have any real impact on the characters apart from the female leads initial dislike of the plan. But then she sees our male lead and has a change of heart, lol. I mostly ignored this part of the plot because its lack of importance in the story makes it very easy to do.

Where the drama starts to wheel-spin is once the leads head off to University. This portion of the drama (which makes up the majority of the rest of the story) is a very long stretch of the female lead pining for something she can’t have and the male lead sending mixed signals over how havable or not havable he is. The frustration this creates for the viewer could have been lessened with some smart usage of the drama’s chosen clichés and tropes. In my personal view, most clichés and tropes you see in dramas are usually fine within themselves. The issue is with how they are used by a story. Here, the trifecta of the female leads pining, the male leads refusal to admit his feelings, and the forced proximity between the two does very little to serve the story. They certainly create tension and jealousy between the leads as they watch each other interacting with other love interests and try to convince themselves that they don’t care, but it does nothing to help our leads grow closer together in any way, particularly the forced proximity.

If you’re going to have your female lead stuck in a loop of pining for a guy who isn’t making himself available, and you are going to force her to live in the same building and on the same floor as him, you’ve got to provide some level of growing openness between them to fuel said pining. The leads should have begun spending more time together at this point, not less. The male lead should have begun to blur the lines between friend and more than a friend. There should have been moments where things almost crossed over into romance. But there’s very little of this. It’s mostly the male lead manipulating things in the background to keep her from moving on but being openly hostile towards his own feelings for the female lead, and at a certain point, you have to ask why he won’t just let her go if the writers don’t intend for him to be a selfish jerk.

It’s this dynamic, the male lead refusing to let the female lead move on and the female lead endlessly pining, that ends up being the most frustrating part of this drama. Otherwise, this drama is very easily watchable. The female leads best friends from high school have a super cute romance that in some ways is far better than the romance between the OTP. The pretty, prissy new friend she makes in University is a super fun character who turns out to be fiercely loyal and protective of those she loves. And the female lead herself is a very determined and go-getter character (outside of her blind spot that is her crush on the male lead). Something I particularly liked about this drama, which I've seen no one talk about, is Shao Xi's natural trajectory from a tomboy who doesn't spend much time on clothes or makeup, to a young woman still every bit as fierce and determined and pretty tomboyish but who also develops a more active and realistic interest in said clothes and makeup. She never felt like a different person to me, just like a young woman growing up and into herself, and I thought it was really well-done.

I wouldn’t say to anyone don’t watch Attention, Love! because this drama might be your thing. Definitely give it a shot if you enjoy pining and male leads who can’t admit their feelings. You might like it. But personally, I think there are better dramas out there. And now that I’ve written my review, I realize I had more to say about this drama than I thought, lol.

(I have to add here that while I didn't love this drama, I did love the remake of "Close to You" that played repeatedly throughout to the point that I eventually bought it. That song is beautiful.)

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I'm hesitant to say Youth is better than the original Kdrama, as it's been a while since I watched Age of Youth (I plan on doing a rewatch so I can do a comparison and analysis), but I'm confident in saying that this version is more strongly written and plotted. I adored the original with all my heart, but I would be lying if I said it didn't have flaws. Plotholes, plotlines that don't go anywhere, some story elements that come out of nowhere. Youth manages to address all of those issues while staying pretty closely faithful to the original story And giving it its own feel and vibe as a remake. This version fills in the plot holes, follows through on the dropped plotlines, and gives all of those random story elements purpose. I think I'll probably find I prefer the performances in Age of Youth more once I do a rewatch, but I have to commend this version for the way it handled the flaws in the original without losing what made the original so good.

I’ll start with what is arguably the main character of the original drama, Eun Jae. I don’t remember a lot of the specifics around Eun Jae’s background, why she believed she was a murderer and what exactly actually happened, but I was impressed with how this version took her backstory and expounded upon it, giving us more insight into what was going on in Xiao Chun’s family, etc. I also think this actress gave the best performance of all the actresses in this version and that her performance most likely rivals that of Park Hye Soo from the original. (Will have to rewatch the original to confirm that.) I was really impressed with the way this version made Xiao Chun such a complex character. She’s shy, insecure, socially awkward and uncertain, but there’s a hidden strength that comes out when you don’t expect it. She’s fiercely protective of her mother, feeling (and often being) responsible for her mother’s well-being after her father’s death, and she’s the only one of the girls willing to square off with Gao Lin when he’s holding Chen Chen captive.

Speaking of Chen Chen, I was very pleased with how the writers chose to handle her story in this version. When Ye Eun’s boyfriend held her hostage in the original, viewers were in general agreement that it came out of nowhere. We all remarked among themselves about how unexpected and unbelievable it was, even though the writers were ultimately able to make it work. In the original, Doo Yeong comes across as nothing more than a jerk, a user, someone who would gladly toss her to the side if given the opportunity to date someone he considered ‘better.’ He certainly wouldn’t be happy with Ye Eun breaking up with him, but kidnapping and assault seemed like a bridge too far, even for his jerk self. But when Gao Lin holds Chen Chen hostage in Youth, it doesn’t come out of nowhere. There’s a natural progression to that moment, dropped hints here and there that he feels intensely jealous of her family’s wealth, of how well-liked she is by others, and of his own destructive insecurity and selfishness. You understand what drove him to kidnap and assault her, and when it happens, you’re not completely thrown for a loop and wondering how we got here.

There is one moment in Ni Jin’s story that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, however. Namely when Zhi Qiang attempts to choke her to death in a fit of rage, and for some unexplained reason, she continues to meet with him. Its already illogical for him to blame her for his daughter’s death, as there was nothing she could have done, and it’s not like she herself was trying to drown his daughter. It was simply a sad situation that left many dead and many more devastated. But I can at least understand his motivation, the way his grief would drive him to such desperation. What didn’t make sense was why she continued to meet with him after his attempt to kill her. I think they could have given her a logical reason for doing so, namely her guilt over his daughter’s death and feeling like she deserves to die, but the writers never tie any of this together, so the character choice leaves you scratching your head. I like how their story concludes, however, so I chose to overlook it.

In the original, Ji Won doesn’t get any real backstory or central conflict to work through until season 2, something viewers greatly lamented at the time. And when it did give her that backstory and conflict, it was a real dark downer and not really what the audience was expecting or hoping for. This is perfectly fine for a drama to do, of course. Just because a character is feisty and peppy doesn’t mean they can’t have serious trauma. But the writing choice had the unfortunate result of taking a really fun and feisty character and zapping the life out of her for the majority of season 2. It also inspired the writer to give what was probably the crowd favorite character of the series a premature death in the future (something I refuse to treat as canon, because how dare you). This version takes a different tack with Yi Tong, dropping the dramatic (and traumatic) backstory for something a little more simple but still just as painful for a young person to go through. In this version, Yi Tong has had a habit of telling exaggerated stories since she was a kid, initially as a bid for attention from her often-absent mother, then later as a response to some genuine trauma from being accused of lying about plagiarism when she was actually telling the truth. I honestly think I prefer this backstory/central conflict more, not because I have a problem with stories that address serious topics such as child abuse/assault, but because this version does the work to give this backstory/conflict purpose and meaning. It makes sense that Yi Tong would lie to get her mother’s attention, and it makes sense that she would later use it as a coping mechanism/way to avoid things that make her uncomfortable.

This version does leave three of the four romances on a somewhat open-ended note, which will probably disappoint viewers (it disappoints me), but the way the romances are left is mostly appropriate. All three couples end on a positive note with hints of things progressing in the future (where we, the audience, can’t see them). My one frustration is that we still did not get a conclusion for our feisty Ji Won/Yi Tong and her news club buddy. After the disappointment in the original series, the way the writer set up such a comically intriguing couple only to break all of our hearts by revealing Ji Won’s eventual death and NOT at least compensating us by having the characters get romantically together in the present, I think it was more than fair to expect this version to give the couple a happy ending this time around.

The one thing that I think stops me from calling Youth my favorite version is the performances from the lead actresses. All the performances in this version are solid and strong, but with the exception of the actress for Xiao Chun, I do think I will find myself preferring the performances in the original. I think the performances by Park Hye Soo and He Lan Dou are comparably wonderful and which viewers will prefer will end up being a matter of personal preference, but I have a feeling I’ll equally love both after my rewatch of the original drama.

Overall, I have to sing Youth’s praises for managing to take an already beloved drama and not only not screwing it up, but actually improving upon it in some respects. Many will probably still prefer Age of Youth to Youth, and for understandable reasons. It was such a standout drama for its time with performances that really stick with you. But I think Youth is a remake worthy of a watch and worthy of being loved, regardless of which ends up being your favorite.

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This is the story of a couple of oddballs (well, more than a couple) being odd together, lol. The mannerisms are exaggerated, the scenarios are outlandish, there's a whole side plotline that is five layers of silly, and that's honestly the entire charm of the series. The entire drama is intentionally silly and doesn't take itself seriously. If there's one thing you need to know about it going in, it's that.

Hwang Me Ri is admittedly unlikable for the first half of the drama, coming across as very selfish and thoughtless towards others, while Kang Dae Gu initially comes across as a leach and a slob. But as the story progresses, you begin to like and understand the characters more in spite of themselves. Hwang Me Ri becomes a more sympathetic character around the halfway mark, and Kang Dae Gu quickly proves himself to be a decent guy who's just struggled to find his way.

The story itself is very self-aware, poking fun at its characters and joyfully placing them in awkward or embarrassing situations for the viewers entertainment. The drama does take itself a little too seriously in the last few episodes, wallowing in a little too much 'woah is me' around some particular plot points that didn't need to be such a big deal (especially considering the literal dramatics of some of the drama's earlier events), but it's otherwise a solid drama that's likely to give you some pretty big, roll-your-eyes, belly laughs.

My recommendation for those thinking about watching Merry Mary is to not take anything in this drama too seriously, because you're definitely not meant to. Just go with the flow, and you'll have fun.

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I have now seen (though not completed) every version of this story minus the Thai version. The original is the first drama I ever watched and was 100% a crack drama for me, so despite its flaws, it holds a special place in my heart. It also has one of the two best female lead portrayals of the four versions I've seen. Chen Xin Yi gives a deeply affecting performance as our resident post-it girl, moving you with her smiles and her tears. When she cried, You cried. I watched the Korean version next and consider it the best version as well as my favorite. The writers toned down all of the over-the-top and nonsensical bits from the original, grounding the characters and the story, without losing any comedy, and the OTP is definitely a fav. I also immediately adored Jang Na Ra's character with all of her softness and tenderness and fabulous fashion sense and consider her a tie with Chen Xin Yi for best portrayal. Next, I watched the Japanese version which is much shorter, much quicker, and ends exactly in the middle of the story with no likelihood of another season to give the story a conclusion. This version admittedly has poor pacing and very little build up before some of the major events of the story, but I still enjoyed it and will be forever disappointed that we didn't get a season 2. It's the perfect drama for turning off your brain and enjoying the ride.

Now we come to this version, the C-drama. This is the only version I have not finished and barring a future viewing of the Thai version (which I imagine will be every bit as dramatic as the original with probably a LOT of abuse thrown the female leads way based on my impression of what Thai dramas seem to be like), this version (c-drama) is my least favorite.

This version attempts to tell the story straight without much in the way of comedy, which could have been an interesting angle to tell the story from, but the more I watched, the more I found myself wishing the drama had more of a sense of humor. While the comedy of the original was outlandish and over-the-top (even sometimes grating), it still served as a well-deserved break from all of the melodrama. This version certainly is not as melodramatic as the original, but it was maybe something worse. Bland. It took all of the pertinent characters and events of the original, arranged the pieces in a similar fashion, and then did very little of interest with them. There's not much done to flesh out the characters or create compelling motivations, little to make the male lead a little more likable or sympathetic, and there's only light comedy which mostly centers around a few side characters. There's just no real personality with this version, except maybe to be a little more depressing.

They do start to switch things up a bit at one point in the story with the male lead deciding to stay with the female lead and come clean to Anna only for the female lead to start expressing uncertainty and fear at this reversal. I was hopeful that they would really lean into the male lead recognizing his feelings and the female lead panicking and pushing him away. It would have been great to explore the female leads insecurity and create some meaningful backstory for her character. They make an attempt at this, but it's half-hearted at best and is quickly followed by the expected shenanigans with the second female lead and 'the incident,' which cancels out the writers' efforts and leaves you dissatisfied.

Many of the performances are forgettable as well. There are a handful of characters that are well acted, namely the male lead, both leads best friends (who have a far more interesting and enjoyable romance), and the female leads mother, but the story is so uninteresting that their performances are not very meaningful. (Apart from the mother, who seems to always be one of the best characters in this story, with exception to the J-drama.) The female lead is particularly uninspiring. First and foremost, they did very little to make her appear mousy and insecure, which goes a long way to believing a character. But she also had very little range when it came to her facial expressions and tone of voice. She always looked and sounded mildly sad and detached, which didn't benefit the story or her character..

Ultimately, all three other versions I've seen have had something unique to bring to the table, something to make you want to watch. The original is, well, the original, as well as a classic Taiwanese drama, and regardless of how over-the-top and dramatic it is, it has a female lead that pulls at your heartstrings. The Japanese version is weak in terms of pacing, and it ends in the middle of the story, so that's a bummer, but it's a quick and easy watch that won't make you tear your hair out. You can turn your brain off and enjoy it for what it is. And as I've already said, I think the Korean version is the best. It put meat on the bones of the story, elevating it and its characters to something more meaningful and resonant. Sadly, this version can offer nothing but blandness.

I imagine there are plenty of people who really like this version, even love it, and I'm not here to rain on their parade. I quit after episode 21, so maybe I missed where things got good. But from what I saw, I thought it was rather uninspired, and I didn't have any interest in finishing it.

Links to my reviews for the other versions:

https://mydramalist.com/profile/OhSoEnthusiastic/review/22006

https://mydramalist.com/profile/OhSoEnthusiastic/review/22004

https://mydramalist.com/profile/OhSoEnthusiastic/reviews/75009

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I really enjoyed this drama’s focus on what I would consider a somewhat unusual subject matter, being the type of good-looking where you don’t necessarily have to work all that hard in life and what happens when you realize that attractiveness is fleeting, and your good looks are about to run out. Kosuke, our male lead, is a good-looking guy (I wasn’t into him in the beginning, but he definitely grew on me as the drama went on), and it’s made his life easy in a lot of ways. When his future self shows up to tell him ‘good looks have a shelf-life, and your expiration date is coming,’ it serves as a bit of a wakeup call for Kosuke. He hasn’t been a selfish or lazy or mean person, by any means, but his life has been pretty smooth sailing, and it’s made him a bit unaware of the people around him. For example, he’s never had to put in the effort to pursue a girl, because they’ve always just come to him due to his good looks. His current girlfriend (who quickly becomes his ex-girlfriend) says to him early on that he doesn’t seem to pay attention or notice other people’s feelings.

Admittedly, the second half of the drama doesn’t really do any more exploration on this subject, the ramifications of being this good-looking, as the main characters romance ends up overshadowing this part of the plot. But the budding relationship between the leads is so incredibly sweet and charming, that I kind of didn’t notice (or mind) that it took over the story.

One complaint I saw from people who watched the drama before me was with the way things were wrapped up in the romance in the finale. From everyone’s comments, I understood that the leads don’t end up together. I went into the drama knowing that was going to happen, and I had prepared my heart for it. But to me, the last scene of the drama seems open to interpretation, and given the scene just before it, I think it's actually possible our leads got a romantic happy ending after all. Of course, this is speculation, and I could be wrong. If my interpretation of the final scene is incorrect, then I do think that creates some problems for the story, but I've chosen to make a happy ending my head cannon, because the last two scenes make it seem possible.

Apart from the possibility that the leads don’t end up together romantically in the future, I still like the rest of the finale. It’s overall pretty enjoyable and does actually involve our leads sort-of getting back together in the present with a kiss. But the most satisfying part ends up being Kosuke making peace with his possible future. When he has his last conversation with his future self, you realize that what he’s making peace with isn’t the future of his romance with Izumi, but rather, with the end of his good looks. He recognizes that future Kosuke didn’t make any attempt at changing the past, which means the future must not be so bad, and that gives present Kosuke confidence. Confidence to tell Izumi again that he loves her, and confidence to walk into the rest of his life knowing everything will be alright.

On this note, I was a bit frustrated with future Kosuke at one point, because it felt like he was going to be the reason present Kosuke and Izumi didn’t end up together in the future. But after both Kosuke’s conversation in the finale, I got the impression that what future Kosuke was trying to do was prepare present Kosuke for the end of his cuteness (not the end of his and Izumi’s romance). I thought that was a nice twist.

Overall, I thought this series was really charming, and I really hope it gets a special episode, because I would watch it. And I just want to add here that the main actor is PERFECT in this role. He NAILS the cute and comical expressions of his character, and I love it so much. I think it’s why I was finding the male lead so dang attractive by the end of the drama, lol.

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