asmitha chandini
INDIA
This show is amusing, but it’s dated.
A part of the large Mischievous Kiss empire started from the Japanese shojo manga almost 30 years ago (the original began in 1990), this is a Korean spin on it after many previous Japanese remakes and new international sequels are being produced still.
The male lead, Seung Jo, has his cute moments, but overall is cold, underhandedly manipulative, and constantly puts down Oh Ha Ni for all her shortcomings (even after they finally get together). He rarely admits he even likes Oh Ha Ni and pulls the old “how did you put this spell on me? I really don’t know why I love you, but I do” to new levels that are honestly hard to believe throughout much of the show.
The real draw for me was the slapstick comedy and over-the-top antics of early 2000s sitcoms which balance the cringe-y moments. You may also enjoy the lovable, nosy-yet-sweet classic TV trope mom to Seung Jo (totally following the pair around all the time in disguise) or Oh Ha Ni’s diehard BFFs
that support her and believe she will succeed no matter how many times she fails (in basically everything), yet Oh Ha Ni is not called ‘Noah’s Snail’ for nothing...a clever motto her character revolves around... Not to be forgotten, Ha Ni and Seung Jo’s dads are comical and completely adorable in their devotion to one another and that shines through a lot of the show as their kids live under the same roof!
So while I get the enamor of the underdog on the come up and Oh Ha Ni gaining her 4 year one-sided crush’s reciprocated feelings, there’s something that leaves a bad taste in my mouth even when the most likable modern day FL strives for nothing else in life aside from winning their crush’s heart. Oh Ha Ni outright stalks Seung Jo throughout the entirety of the show — trying to secretly follow him everywhere like when he joins Tennis Club, tailing him to find out where he works and separately lives at one point, trying to become his restaurant co-worker and when failing proceeding to show up daily as a customer while pretending the whole time she’s not there for him at all. Her very existence only runs on catching glimpses of him, eavesdropping on his conversations, getting a later job as a secretary to be close to him while he steps in for his dad’s company, and changing her major to nursing when Seung Jo decides to pursue becoming a doctor.
This didn’t age as well as Coffee Prince or other even older Korean romcom shows of its kind and while it’s easy enough to deduce I would prefer more than a one-dimensional leading character with some form of her own independent ambitions and basically able to do, well, anything, if I had seen this show when it first aired a decade ago, as a young teen in a different era, the charm of this show might have been more bright.
A part of the large Mischievous Kiss empire started from the Japanese shojo manga almost 30 years ago (the original began in 1990), this is a Korean spin on it after many previous Japanese remakes and new international sequels are being produced still.
The male lead, Seung Jo, has his cute moments, but overall is cold, underhandedly manipulative, and constantly puts down Oh Ha Ni for all her shortcomings (even after they finally get together). He rarely admits he even likes Oh Ha Ni and pulls the old “how did you put this spell on me? I really don’t know why I love you, but I do” to new levels that are honestly hard to believe throughout much of the show.
The real draw for me was the slapstick comedy and over-the-top antics of early 2000s sitcoms which balance the cringe-y moments. You may also enjoy the lovable, nosy-yet-sweet classic TV trope mom to Seung Jo (totally following the pair around all the time in disguise) or Oh Ha Ni’s diehard BFFs
that support her and believe she will succeed no matter how many times she fails (in basically everything), yet Oh Ha Ni is not called ‘Noah’s Snail’ for nothing...a clever motto her character revolves around... Not to be forgotten, Ha Ni and Seung Jo’s dads are comical and completely adorable in their devotion to one another and that shines through a lot of the show as their kids live under the same roof!
So while I get the enamor of the underdog on the come up and Oh Ha Ni gaining her 4 year one-sided crush’s reciprocated feelings, there’s something that leaves a bad taste in my mouth even when the most likable modern day FL strives for nothing else in life aside from winning their crush’s heart. Oh Ha Ni outright stalks Seung Jo throughout the entirety of the show — trying to secretly follow him everywhere like when he joins Tennis Club, tailing him to find out where he works and separately lives at one point, trying to become his restaurant co-worker and when failing proceeding to show up daily as a customer while pretending the whole time she’s not there for him at all. Her very existence only runs on catching glimpses of him, eavesdropping on his conversations, getting a later job as a secretary to be close to him while he steps in for his dad’s company, and changing her major to nursing when Seung Jo decides to pursue becoming a doctor.
This didn’t age as well as Coffee Prince or other even older Korean romcom shows of its kind and while it’s easy enough to deduce I would prefer more than a one-dimensional leading character with some form of her own independent ambitions and basically able to do, well, anything, if I had seen this show when it first aired a decade ago, as a young teen in a different era, the charm of this show might have been more bright.
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