Failing in Love (2019)

It's as it is title suggests Failing in Love not falling in love.

It was a good watch for me, I enjoyed it and specially the ost was amazing it's one of best part of this web drama. As it's name suggest it's about failure in the love lives of teenagers, their feelings, struggles, emotions, confusions, finding what they want from life and the friendship between them. It's a pretty much portrayal of a regular teenagers life I can understand cause I'm passing through same phase.

The execution is pretty much realistic, I liked the fact that even though it's just a short drama we get to know the backstories of characters and also pretty much big character development in the end. Although the ending wasn't fairytale like they lived happily ever after together but I really liked that it wasn't typical but everyone was happy and satisfied in there own life in own way, it was perfect ending for me.

This isn't about who ends up together or who gets the girl it's much more than that.

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Okay so after finishing this drama I have mixed feelings about this. What I most like of FAIling in Love is the cinematography and the OST, a few times i was like 'this feels like i'm watching a movie'. Also the production was good. But, and here is one of my problems, I wanna talk about Pa Rang, because at first it was the typical character you may like because is cute and innocent. But after seeing a few chapters my opinion change and i was like 'oh I don't like him, he's so unmature' but after knew his story I fell in love again, and then at the final I found it childish. He's my favourite character, after all I think he's a really good person, innocent and he doesn't have any bad thinkings. He's pure and the most real (even though his weird behavior). But, after a few mixed feelings about the characters, it was a really good drama, with an amazing script. I recommend it because it's so easy to watch, you will be involved with all the characters and the story, really, they did a very good job. At first I was insecure to watch it because it doesn't catched my attention, but thank god i didn't pass and i finally decided to watch it, because it was a big surprise. I hope to see more works of any of them ^^ I recommend it a lot! (sorry if i have a grammatical errors, english is not my native language)

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A warm fuzzy drama with one of the best casting and direction. Son Sang Yeon played the role so well, he was just adorable and genuine and in fact the whole cast is like this. I got so involved in the characters and there was just the right amount of emotional depth and I love that the main focus was always the friendship. It shows how we sometimes take what people say at face value even when it's just a broken person trying to cover up their trauma. And how hard it us sometimes to ask for help even when you desperately need it. And that love is love whether it's for a friend or a partner. And the most amazing part was the way they kept the 'who will she pick' conflict right till the very end so it keeps you guessing and when the conflict does get resolved, it's just the most beautiful way to end it. The script is so poetic and only keeps getting better as it reaches the end. One of the best surprises I received this year!

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I should say that I made an account here specifically to say something about this drama. And that's saying a lot because while I've seen some dramas before, never had I felt the need to write something about it as strongly as this one did. I needed people to see how good this drama is. For this review, I'd talk about the narrative technique and the characterization, which, for me, sets it apart from other drama. I give it a high rewatch value because if you do see it once, enjoyed it, and then decide to watch again, it'd be interesting to focus more on Parang and how he actually copes to being alone and how his friends may have underestimated him just because he seems childish and/or foolish.

Dare I say it, this drama had one of the best pilots ever. The introduction, along with the OST, is exciting and the cinematography (filters that made every scene seem as if it came out from a movie) was something that I highly enjoyed. First episodes usually set the possible genres the drama would go through. It started with a confession, and while all along it went straight through the path of romance, subtly touching the lines of friendship, it somehow changed itself in the final episode, cementing more on the aspects of the latter. Now this is important. The immediate shift of focus is not just by technique but by design, because as much as many may not have noticed it, it actually changed the plot framework the drama has led its watchers to believe. There is an element in the plot in which the entire story heavily revolved around with (Kang Parang's separation anxiety), but what's truly interesting is how this got easily broken down by a perspective that has been kept, or more accurately, overlooked, by the viewers for 9 whole episodes. This is only to be let out in a dramatic and suspenseful self-reflection in the final episode. Moreover, this act of, I'd like to call it betrayal, exactly supports the reason as to why the drama is called "Failing in Love", vaguely supporting or discrediting the role of friendship when it comes to romance. This alone automatically sets a high bar for me.

The characters are very interesting. We are introduced first by a childish boy named Kang Parang who doesn't seem to know how to take care of himself properly. Steadily, we are introduced to the people around him. Lee Shiwon, whom had a crush on Parang since ages but doesn't seem to know if her feelings are platonic or romantic, Lee Shion, the mysterious guy who both Parang and Shiwon like to refer to as a psychopath, and Kim Geon and Jung Chae So, who actively support and add color to the daily lives of our MCs. What I like most about this is the complexity of the relationship between the three leads. It's not surprising to feel that something is off between them, especially with a wild pilot episode. Eventually, each of them is given chances to speak out their thoughts, and while Kang Parang's POV may seem wishy-washy, it eventually becomes a POV that holds closest to the truth. The other two seemingly weave a narrative that, while is utterly convincing and surges the plot forward, is actually self-fulfilling. The story is also unafraid to introduce a very toxic personality (Lee Shion), presented to its viewers in a harsh, sudden, character shift. How the story maintains to keep the genre of romance and friendship despite this difficult situation is actually where the suspense lies. As mentioned before, there is an act of self-reflection in the final episode. While this heavily changed the foundation of the story, you may ask, was it also done to justify the toxicity of Shion? Was it done to make Siwon reevaluate better what Parang really means to her? Was it done to debunk the main idea previously imposed on Parang? What I think the drama wants viewers to think about in the end should be more on these aspects rather than on who could have ended up with who.

Failing in Love is a slow drama that touches a few important issues under the basic representation of youth. It may even become frustrating or disappointing at times, especially to viewers who hop more on the romance side. But to those who want to explore more on the complexity of loneliness, comfort, human needs, and the fine line between romance and friendship, this drama is worth giving a try.

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Honestly not a bad show at all. It's quick, easy and the acting is really nice. You'll feel yourself pulled in and it's literally so fast that you truly don't feel yourself wasting any time which is even better. It was just a light hearted show that made you feel somethings all in one. The ML was a fun kid, he was great and you really sided with him and even though you wanted to get mad at other characters, there's a story to everything and things really just made sense over time. For someone that just kind of needed a filler in between shows, I don't see why this was not a bad one, it's actually so really good. The story was much more than a boy trying to find love, but everyone trying to find understanding and reason to things during their youth and feeling alone. The acting was a group of young actors and actresses that really brought their A-GAME. The OST is nice and catchy and sweet and overall such a good show.

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Suspenseful Ending.

Just as the name suggests, this is a drama about 'falling in love' because the love in this drama is never resolved. The story is about three protagonists who are childhood friends: two boys and one girl. The boys are like the polar opposite, one is super popular and is always rejecting girls (misunderstood as a psychopath) while the other is timider and always is getting rejected by the girls he asks out. The girl, Shi Won, seems to have a crush on Pa Rang (timid guy) while Shi Eon (popular) seems to have a crush on the girl. As the story starts, Pa Rang seems to be super reliant on his friends especially Shi Won, Shi Eon, and Kim Geon to take away his fears of being alone because he has separation anxiety. However, as the start progress more and more, we can also see that Shi Won and Shi Eon are reliant on Pa Rang to get rid of their loneliness as well but don't seem to realize it because Pa Rang acts [or shown) as the 'glue' of the group to his anxiety. Even though Pa Rang asks Shi Won out, he ends up getting rejected due to Shi Won thinking that he is just asking her out as he did with other girls (no true feeling). Although Pa Rang and Shi Won had a feeling for one another since childhood, they end up 'failing in love' because they don't really express it to each other. It's the opposite with Shi Eon who finally expresses his feeling to Shi Won after 10 years but he also fails in love because Shi Won doesn't accept his feeling even though she seems to have a feeling for him as well. In the end, Si Won realized that she didn't have to take care of Kang Parang all the time because Kang Parang could take care of himself and Shi Eon shows more of nice sides. The drama also ends with Pa Rang building up the courage to be more independent but he still has his fear while Shi Won and Shi Eon go to their classes. The main point of this drama is self-realization because the theme of love is never resolved in this drama as it ends without anyone ending with each other but they do come to a realization about themselves.

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" Failing in love " was a good, coming of age drama.

Only ten episodes (or five of one hour) long, which fitted the drama somehow, even though it needed some breathing space to develop the characters to a deeper, larger scale. That is, the characters were interesting and the drama only scratched the surface and didn't present them in a way to enable the viewer to understand them. The main reason for that was that the drama gave too much time on the complex love triangle. However, they did the ending right, because that romance was getting tiring. The side characters were somehow left out of the main plot too.

That said, the drama had an interesting idea and some even more interesting characters. The mood of it was perfect and the story was coming of age driven and, even though it looked light and fluff sometimes, it was dark and did justice to the complexity of being a teenager.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

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Sweet, short slightly confusing

This web drama is really cute with a slightly confusing love triangle a great female lead, great friendships, lovely flirting scenes and an intro that just makes you happy (I do not know why but it does).

The two male leads have both adorable and not so adorable sides to them, me otherwise being a succer for the icicle psychopath wounded sole types found myself conflicted between the two polar opposites finding myself both annoyed and slightly feeling for them just wanting to give the whole cast of this a big hug...

I started watching this because it was number 27 on my ptw after I had asked my husband to pick a number it was definitely an easy to watch easy to binge type of series so for those in need of something in between master pices or heavy stuff this is definitely worth watching.

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More like a comment than a review

Well I get why they don't like the ending because the ML and FL didn't really have that "romance", if your a sucker for romance, you'll hate it. They kissed other people but they don't have that moment for themselves.
But it was perfect for me, because I like her more with the other guy. Their chemistry is top notch. Like Lee sieon and Lee siwon are made for each other, her liking parang while he likes her but he doesn't really show it(my fave tsundere). he's a popular but lonely guy. In the mid story, I want them together when I noticed he liked her. I thought she would surely end up with Parang and I feel bad for my ship because I thought it would surely sink but guess what?? They kissed and even have more romantic moments together, he was so determined to risk that friendship to be with her, thats when I got that 2nd Lead Syndrome for the 1st time. I dont know if they got together but I like it that she didn't end up with Kang Parang, but in the end he was holding out his hand and she was about to receive it, it's unclear but that's fine. It would ruin the story if she did end up with parang. It looks like she got used to it more than seeing him as a man.

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Jumping straight to it, spoilers ahead. Don't read if you don't want spoilers.

Major moments of the drama;
- KP's first relationship was a sham bc the girl only wanted to get close to SE
- SE kissing SW for the first time, I thought it was funny that she actually indeed did kiss KP before (but as kids, so does it really count? LOL)
- KP realizing his feelings for SW was real. Either romantic or platonic, he does have deep feelings for SW
- SW finally realizing that her feelings towards KP was not romantic. but platonic (TY bestie for opening up her eyes)
- KP putting aside his own feelings and realizing that SE needed a shoulder to lean on more than him.. like FINALLY. He acted like a child the whole drama when they're all the same age. Nothing is more annoying than being a parent to someone the SAME age.

Thoughts:
- High school being high school, there's always going to be talk. But it was getting boring and annoying that everyone kept assuming SE was gay. Not everyone is thinking about romance and dating every second of the day. He could have been busy studying for CSAT since they are in fact, seniors preparing for college. Also.. he's ranked #1, lots of pressure. AND EVEN IF HE WAS GAY, WHO CARES??
- Which brings me to.. The whole SE's older brother being gay made no sense to me. I only say this bc nothing really comes from this plot line. You can say that it caused his mom depression since she tried to kill herself (ep 10), but then the writers could have just given her depression. It added nothing to the storyline besides the point where he was being confronted by his brother's lover. But good to know SE is an ally ?
- KP might be autistic. The way he acts and everything, he could be on the spectrum. The whole picking his nose and not understanding social cues... just points to it. Abandonment issues def isn't the only thing he has.
- I like the SFL. She was painted as an annoying girl who wouldn't take no for an answer but I think she was in it for the chase. She wasn't as annoying as SE might see her to be. She never overstepped (tooooo much) and when SE told her to leave him alone, she left. But I like her bc when she realized that SE was also in a one sided love, she basically stepped back. She realized that she's been rejected for good.
- SFL and the other friend's storyline could have been expanded. I like how they found comfort in each other bc they were clearly being ignored by the 3. KP wasn't a good friend at all.. lol

Now.. the ending. The whole open ended-ness... I liked it.
Like the title says, FAILing in love.. I don't think anyone ended up with anyone.
- KP learns to be alone. Though he does call to see if SE is free, he isn't stuck to someone. He's walking down the street alone when he couldn't do that throughout the whole drama.
- SE and SW aren't officially together yet, but I think they were both able to purse their relationship without having any outside worries.
And if we don't want to see it through romantic lenses.. SW and SE both befriended KP with hidden motives. The both of them were never alone with each other and never got to know one another. When KP "grew up", they were able to go to college and worry about themselves and finally become friends with each other.

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