Gets repetitive and annoying

At some point you expect some character development, and by episode 10, OHN's stupidity and stalking tendencies got extremely annoying and unbearable, especially when everything felt like an exact repeat of the earlier episodes. I liked the moments where OHN got tired of BSJ and finally said she was giving up—I just wish that these moments lasted for more than ten minutes before she ran back to him. That was a big reason I liked episode 13 (post-marriage meeting) because that lasted longer.

Another thing that makes this super problematic appeared during the college years, when OHN planned her entire career and future around BSJ's. For someone like OHN who seemed to know who she was, this lack of identity and independence was just one step too far.

A lot of scenes started annoying me as they went on, too. OHN's clumsiness and stupidity and apparent lack of ability in ANYTHING got very tiresome. OHN's tennis scenes pissed me off, especially. I wish there was more character development and growth on her part as an individual. I wish there was more growth for BSJ too, and he addressed his mother directly about what she did when he was younger—I'm not sure why that part was talked about as "trauma" and made out to be such a huge deal when it was never going to be resolved.

Honestly, a lot of characters were annoying in this, and it seemed like many of them were exaggerated in some way. BSJ and OHN were okay, obviously, but Bong Joon Gu was also horribly desperate and irritating. Of course, I liked Eun Jo and BSJ's mother, but mostly as comic relief. I liked OHN's two friends as well, but I just wish they had more screentime and personality than just being the people who OHN always ran to to talk about her boy problems.

Plot-wise a lot of things are questionable, like the random and rushed marriage (that nobody even questioned) and the sub-plot of the guy who suddenly liked OHN who never showed up again after two or three appearances.

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This was the very first k-drama that I ever watched, and it began my obsession with k-drama in general. That's the best testimony I could give.

For a drama that has such a dark sub-plot, this drama was surprisingly funny. The romance was hilarious, especially the jealous scenes, and I loved the chemistry between the two leads. The side characters were really interesting as well, and I enjoyed seeing how other relationships developed.

I was SUPER intrigued by the mystery aspect of this, and it definitely delivered. The backstory was nothing that I'd expected, and the cinematography creeped me out successfully, which was a great balance.

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Plot vs. Plot Triggers

To start with, the world-building was a little confusing, but it definitely definitely grew on me. I grew to enjoy the different rules, aesthetics, and customs in different Clans — it's sad that we rarely see all of the groups get together because so much of the story is focused on individual characters, but as a backdrop they were still great to see.

The characters were plentiful but not confusing (at least not once you got used to them) and I particularly liked the female lead Baiqian, who was a strong female lead both in name and in personality. The relationship with Yehua was also great — a male lead who was so faithful and never wavered is always so satisfying to watch, even though there were some scenes where he was forceful and it made me uncomfortable.

Other than that, there is one thing that really bothered me and that's how the plot points were triggered — always by the cliche backstabbing, jealous, second female lead trying to sabotage the main leads' relationship. I've always been very annoyed by how the misogyny present in the writing of second female leads, and it was so obvious in this drama. It felt like there was an entire magic world and a faction war out there and yet everything was triggered by the pettiness of female characters. There had to be over three of them, and I honestly can't think of many female side characters that were genuinely good and important. I'd rather have the Ghost King or another antagonist be the main plot-driver.

Still, I think this drama played on tropes pretty well — while amnesia and time jumps usually bother me a lot and still sometimes felt convenient or rushed, I understand how both of them were an essential part of the plot and were explained generally well.

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Father-daughter relationship

So the father-daughter relationship in this movie was undoubtedly the best part of it, and I really wish we had seen more of the before-after scenes with them. These scenes were so touching that scenes with the mom honestly paled in comparison and I just didn't love her as a character at all; her subplot felt very extra and I was also just not very interested in her conversations or reactions.

What I was interested in was the reaction of the children; I was honestly expecting this movie to be a lot more depressing, with instances of the community reacting with disgust or blaming the parents, or with other students being nosy/gossipy and there being bullying. But this wasn't the case at all and the movie delivered exactly what the title promised: Hope.

That's not to say that it was all positive, as of course there was the commentary on the legal system. It was interesting but they didn't go much into it and I kind of have mixed feelings on that.

Overall, this was a pretty touching movie and I did feel emotions — but it wasn't consistent.

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