Kiss Sixth Sense (2022)

So much potential for nothing.

Oh boy, here we go. Buckle in guys, apparently I have a lot to say.

The first couple episodes of this show were so close to perfection that I was very excited to see where it was going to go, only for there to be so much promise that went literally nowhere. At the start I was in full ship mode, on pins and needles waiting for her premonition to come true; but by the time it did, I just didn't care anymore.

My gut reaction is to say that the show should have been longer, but in all honestly 12 episodes would have been perfect if every minute had been utilised properly. There were so many unnecessary side plots that should have been done away with to give the actual storyline more room to breathe - i.e. the girl in the team who felt unappreciated, the new guy who was filming a youtube video or something? (I don't even know.) The writers really should have trimmed the fat and just kept the meat of the story.

It took too long for the pair to actually get together and so the rest of the main plot was rushed. The whole miscommunication aspect went on for far too long and if the cute parts of their relationship had happened in the first half of the show, they would have had plenty of time to flesh out the rest of the story. Instead the last two/three episodes felt out of left field - especially that finale which was basically just an info dump to get us to the HEA. Let's not even touch that last half an hour because wtf.

It didn’t help that the main relationship wasn’t all that interesting. In the beginning when Hong Ye Sul had the premonition of them having sex, that was H O T. But then the way they got together felt so cold and calculating. It didn’t feel like she was attracted to him at all, instead she was just going through the motions because she knew that was going to happen anyway. And I didn’t like how Min Hu’s character basically did a complete 180 once they got together properly.

Lee Pil Yo and Oh Ji Young were literally the most horrific pair of second leads I’ve seen in my kdrama journey thus far (usually there's at least one that I like). Every second they were on screen I just wanted them to get run over by a speeding truck. Their jealousy should have definitely ended earlier in the series which also would have given them room to grow as people. And yet, I liked their ending better than the main couple? Go figure.

This show felt like a melting pot where everything the writers could think of was added in, and not enough time was dedicated to the stuff that really mattered. The final episode took me impossibly long to finish as I found myself pausing just to scroll aimlessly through my phone. And I really need to reiterate, that last half an hour was an absolute shock to the system. Definitely won't be rewatching and am unlikely to recommend.

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Just OK

This gotta be my least favorite drama I've watched so far.
I kept watching because I thought it would get better but never really did.
The concept is something but it was poorly executed.
I loved the FL in crash landing on you but here, I don't think she has much personality here. She's sometimes funny and adorable but I think she needs to pick better projects next time.

I think she would be far more better against a ML who had charisma and funny. The ML is is not that good either.
He and the FL didn't have much chemistry at all.
I'm not sure why she even fell in love with him. Just because she could see the future doesn't mean that future should be absolute and he was a jerk throughout most of the show.

The ML is fairly older than the the FL although not that much. It seems like they knew it might be awkward so they came up with a system for them not to kiss much lol but they had some few kissing scenes here and there though.
But them as a couple absolutely didn't know specially since he has been a jerk for more than half of the episodes to her.

There isn't anyone here who stands out. Everyone is just OK.
No one is charming or funny.
No one is interesting.

Also episode 11 and 12 are awful.
The end of episode 12 was so laughably bad.
Both leads ended up acting so comical and weird just because they lost their powers
I'm not sure what they were even trying there. I just couldn't believe my eyes. They kept yelling at each other and acted out of characters.

It really dragged on with some stupid back stories and tropes that I really hate.
Random murderer /killer or whatever. The leads knew each other when they were little and stuff, just Stupid.

There's one actress I really liked in this show. It's the chick that's after the ML. I think she should have been the lead instead of the FL even though I like the FL. She's 38 btw. Absolutely stunning woman.
But the other actress definitely would have made the show more fun.
I definitely won't remember this show tomorrow.

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Entertaining!!!

The stories never bored, you may curious episode by episode. I don't know the story in webtoon but I don't think this is an exaggeration. The plot was good, maybe if you haven't read the webtoon, no one will think it's related to their childhood.
The actor and actrees are so good in acting. Visual, editing, sound, the proportion of scene by scene not too much, it's good enough. Fantasy, romance and comedy are in good package! I just watched it but I really enjoyed it. I think the choice of watching this drama marathon is the right choice for me who is always curious. Very entertaining! Must watch and must rewatch!

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Disappointment At The End.

This story intrigue me. They both had special power because of an accident. The lead characters are great. The story is really good and it even had a few twist and turn that surprises you. But the ending disappointed me. The way they hated each other because their powers was gone just totally did not fit with the story. Is like they lost their powers and the devil got into them with lots of hate for each other. I can't believe after all the years with the power that they did not get to learn about themselves and then about each other. The ending did not fit. It seem like they were in a hurry to finish the story and put no thought about the ending.

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Good till it wasn't

The beginning was what attract me. I like it all
However by the 7 ep it was introduced the murdering line, not necessary. But we can deal with it if it blossom the couples feelings.

But after everything the couple went through, the ML hurt himself more then once for the FL, they behaved like child by the end. It didn't make sense at all.

I mean, ok not to romantize so much the relationship between two workaholics, but throwing the breaking up card every single time doesn't sound mature at all.
And what about her powers? Did it come back? Was it the only way to them to be together? Wasn't she going to do everything she could to set her on destiny?

Let's not romantize a relationship where the woman is too insecure and the man has to support it all. Let's make them go to therapy. Because it is not healthy

It is good, till it wasn't.

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Compelling premise, started strong, but then fell apart in the last episodes

8/10 is my rating. Is a 2022 South Korean Supernatural Romantic Comedy with 12, 60-75 minute episodes.

First I will provided a synopsis the review.

Synopsis

Hong Ye-sool (Seo Ji-hye) is a hard working unit lead in an advertising agency. She works so hard she gets nose bleeds and is accident prone but still her boss, Cha Min-hoo (Yoon Kye-sang) nit picks every project she works on. Others think he shows favoritism to her and gives her the best opportunities. Their situation is very confusing to Ye-sool who just wants to get ahead in her career in a very competitive industry. Her personal life is a mess as she has a sixth sense that allows her to see the future when her lips touch another person. Specifically, she can see the future surrounding herself and that person but not when the event will happen. When she accidentally kisses her boss, she is beyond confused when she sees a future where they are together romantically. With the way he treats her on a daily basis, that vision does not make any sense to Ye-sool. While she is reeling from confusion her ex-boyfriend, famous director Lee Pil-yo (Kim Ji-seok) shows up hoping for a second chance with the woman he still has feelings for. But she has seen her future with him and it was the reason she broke up in the first place. All of this leads her to wonder is she seeing the future that will inevitably happen or are the action she takes as a result of her visions the cause of that future?

Review
I really liked the premise of this. Kissing someone or having your lips touch someone and seeing the future - that pulled me in. And he has some kind of super sensory super-power? I though wow! what's that all about. And the first episodes where he was the overly mean boss, she had ended relationships based on things she was in the future, and they are in this high powered add agency, all of that was very interesting. And it was clear they would get together but, in those earliest episodes, it was hard to imagine how. He was over the top mean to her at times. It reminded me of that old idiom about the boy who picks on the girl liking her. I don't subscribe to that because anyone that acts like that to me is too immature to be worth anyone's time. I really liked her ex-boyfriend, Pil-yo, and could not understand why she seemed to be leaning toward her mean, demanding boss. Slice of life is always interesting to me and getting some insight into what it is like to be a lead on a big add project was something I had not seen before. So there were a lot of things to pull me in and reasons to recommend others watch it. The male lead could be very attractive at times and, when he was being nice it made him more attractive, I thought. But, of the two I thought Pil-yo was more attractive and it was likely due to the fact he seemed to be consistently nice.

Spoilers*

Early in the series, Ye-sool was this kind, competent woman who was friendly and liked by her co-workers it seemed. The set mishaps and all the accidents between the two leads that triggered her visions and his super sensory were interesting. The way he completely avoided her was amusing. When we got the back-story of her break-up I thought, even though, but how does she know she can't change that future? I also thought perhaps it wasn't what she thought it was. Maybe he is just around a woman with a child but it's not his. When it came out later that was indeed the case and that he had waited three years to prove to her that things weren't what she thought they were, it was heart breaking. I had serious second lead syndrome. But usually there is something that makes you think her choice was the better one, at least for her. But in this case, I never saw anything about him or their relationship that indicated she made the better choice. He was consistently sweet and awesome to her. I liked and could tell there was something developing between him and the actress. They had that playful flirty energy going on. And I actually found that story more heart-warming than the main story. I also liked her cousin and the doctor and found their relationship very believable and cute. I found myself wanting to know more about those side romances than the main romance. I liked their secret romance at work and all the signals they came up with that used his special abilities. That was cute and funny. But then they really drove her whole vision of Ye-sool and Min-hoo having a steamy sexual encounter into the dirt. It made no sense to me that, after all the build-up, they had already been together before that happened. Then, the fact they went to so much effort to create all the circumstances surrounding it, to effectively make her vision come true was weird. It became like a fetish between them. And added nothing to the story at that point.

I agree with others that said the whole killer angel was put in awkwardly. There were so many ways they could have had a tragic accident in the past that would have given them abilities that some super stalker just seemed unnecessary. If they had kept that as an element the whole time, all these creepy encounters or something it would have been different, but it felt like they basically threw elements of it in at random junctures. Logic did not follow that this man would have killed her husband and she would choose to hide the details from her daughter. She knew he was not only obsessed with her but also delusional in thinking Ye-sool was his daughter. So the fact that he was able to stay so close to Ye-sool as a friend/confidant did not make sense. There was also the instance where they moved into a new house and Ye-sool was lost and that is how she met Min-hoo and most would assume they made this sudden move to get away from the stalker but that was never stated. And they spent very little time showing him actually stalking them before he is just suddenly in the house and murders the dad. So then they go to the USA but there is nothing about how that was significant or why and when Ye-sool came back. Lots of disjointed elements around the whole stalker story.

There were also character inconsistencies. Ye-sool goes from this somewhat demure, kind person that gets along with everyone to some unreasonable harpy after they start dating. She picks fights with him and seems to enjoy serial break-ups. They were so sweet together when they were younger that relationship built on constant conflict did not make any sense. They both were so careful about how they presented themselves in the office that their very public fights and shows of affection made no sense. It was funny on one hand but very disturbing on the other. It would be completely inappropriate behavior for any workplace and their big boss seemed to have very strict standards for professional behavior. I felt embarrassed for them and uncomfortable for their co-workers. She also became this hyper critical, mean-spirited lead and that did not make sense with her earlier character. She hated when Min-hoo was that way with her so for her to "grow up" as a leader and act like that made all the build-up earlier non-sensical. The fact they are both so hard to work with they can hardly find a director, you wouldn't last long in their profession if that was the case.

It was the first time I felt like rooting for a couple to split. Their constant fighting, breaking up and getting back together made for such a toxic relationship I felt like just quit it already. It was funny but cringy because anyone that acts like that should not be with the other person. On the plus side it did help me get over the second lead syndrome because I felt happy for him he escaped the completely toxic harpy. I did not feel she was fair to him anyway, if she loved Pil-yo as she indicated earlier, you would not have let something like that break you up. You would have tried to change that future or at least talked to him about it. They also did not give us much build up with them as a couple. We only saw a few snippets of them together happy then some crazy break-up.

My daughter read the web toon and said they deviated quite a bit from that. It isn't always bad they do that but, in this case, the deviations made less sense and made the story less engaging. In the webtoon she was always nice she said. It was a traffic accident that brought them together. Just a lot of things she said that made the story less grating. So, I think it would be worth reading the webtoon for comparison.

I recommend this just not as a top recommendation. It is interesting and has its high points but don't expect the romance to be heart-warming. Like seriously, at minimum they need a couple's counselor.

#KissSixthSense
#SeoJiHye
#YoonKyeSang
#KimJiSeok

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Interesting concept, got a bit lost in the end

This drama started out really well. All the romantic tropes you could ask for where there. Enemies to lovers, Boss in love with employee, Childhood friends, a mysterious curse only their love can solve, a tragic accident resulting in memory loss, a second male lead that's too good for the female lead...

The storyline and concept in of itself is really interesting. Sadly, I don't think they used it to it's full potential. But let' get to the good things first. The biggest surprise for me was how open they talk about sex and it being a big plot device without making the show explicit. Yesool is going through her horny era in this drama for sure. It's not handled awkwardly as if it's a bad thing but rather naturally. I really enjoyed that.
Secondly is the last episode. I won't spoil it, but I've never seen a last episode like that one. Personally I wasn't a fan of that kind of dynamic, especially because it seemed that Minho's character made a 180. But I can see the directors/writers intention behind it.
This brings me to my biggest criticism. I honestly kind of disliked Minho's character. I try not to hold every character to a super high standard, but he treated her kind of shitty up to the 5th episode or so.. he worked her to the BONE only because she had a boyfriend? We never actually got closure on that. That's also why I never came around to liking him. His character development just suddenly happened. They gave us some loose backstory, but it never really clicked for me.

The acting was very good tough. I loooove that they casted Yoon Kye Sang for this. He was born in '78, so OUT with the baby faced male lead that somehow has an executive position at 23 y/o and IN with the 44 y/o who might actually has worked his way up. The dialogue overall was fun, as well as the main leads chemistry. I enjoyed watching them figure each other out.

In the end it seems like they tried to come up with a drama that has everything and smushed as many tropes into it as they could and then attempted to counter those with some sub plots when they should've focused on the main plot. They left sooo many loose ends and the resolve of the mystery of their powers felt like an afterthought and honestly kind of lazy. The first half was good, but they unfortunately lost me in the second half a little bit.

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Wish they'd been more true to the Webtoon

I wonder why they went with a slightly older cast for this drama. The leads did a fantastic job and were great together, but some of their attitudes and behaviors were a little juvenile for people in or close to their 40s. I wished they would have kept Yoon Kye-Sang's longer hair, they aged him quite a lot when he cut it shorter.

I'd say it was a good show, but I found myself getting bored more than once mid-way through the episodes (only to get pulled back in by cliffhanger-ish endings).

Even though this drama was only 12 episodes long, I think they could maybe have made it even shorter. I'm very curious to read the webtoon it was based off of now, though. I'd like to know if the things I didn't like were already in the source material or if they came about once it was adapted.

The musicalization choices were slightly odd, too. There was one particular instrumental that gave off very strong cheesy-Halloween vibes. Also one that sounded like there was someone gargling liquid.

All in all, nothing too memorable, but good enough.

EDIT:
A few thoughts and observations after having read the 1st season of the webtoon. Ye Sul and Min Hu are 26 and 31 years old respectively.

The show changed quite a few details. The biggest being that the ex-boyfriend has a different name and isn't a film director, but also works in advertisement (personally, I liked this change).

The other considerable difference is that Ye Sul and Min Hu become next door neighbors very early on, and in a series on events not unlike those depicted in the drama My Love From Another Star, they go from fighting constantly to relaying on each other because of this physical nearness (wish they'd kept that).

Another change is that in the webtoon Ye Sul's father is a pianist and Ji Young, Seung Teak and Ho Woo don't exist (they were also a nice addition on the show's part).

Personally, I liked the tone of the webtoon better. It was a lot more comedic, silly and cute. I think the show could have benefited from a more cheerful, energetic vibe. At the very least, they should have stayed true to Ye Sul's exuberant, bubbly personality. The show made her character so drab and boring compared to her webtoon counterpart.

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It's a magical show with significant flaws.

Rating this show is extremely difficult. On one hand it's been such a long time since I've seen a kdrama that I enjoyed so much. It kind of recaptures the feeling of some of the greatest kdramas I watched, when I started the Asian drama watching hobby. (Lover from the Star, Secret Garden etc..) However the -2005 era-ish - love triangle is annoying on multiple levels, even though it's not the most frustrating one I have ever seen, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Also the writing is not only inconsistent, but also multiple annoying cliches are used, such as falling onto lips, weird relationship contracts, agree to go on 3 dates with the ex, getting filmed by bystanders at an opportune moment etc..

Onto the good things, I think the cast is great, the leads have increasingly great chemistry as we go along & while the special abilities are a bit underutilized, they add a nice flair to the drama. There is a lot of charm going on across the board, it really often feels like I'm watching art, not a technician's work. The office life part of the drama is above average, there are some kdrama specials of course, but it's usually far worse than this.

As for the ending, I detracted an entire point from my rating due to the last two episodes. Up to episode 10, this is a flawed, but very entertaining fluffy romcom, however that's followed by 90 minutes of flashbacks & the big crisis of the drama, this part held very little interest for me & while I was waiting for the inevitable happy ending the last 20 minutes happened. If this was in episode 7 I would have loved it, but before a 10 seconds happy ending? Heck no, what were they thinking? I guess this is what happens, when the production team thinks they don't really need an established writer, since it's a webtoon adaptation. They were mostly right, except the webtoon is ongoing & season 1 ended with a cliffhanger & the writer did not spend enough time to think up a reasonable way to give us closure. Though with adjusted pacing it could have worked, who knows it might be 90% the editing's fault, after all the audience has no idea what ended up getting cut..
Then I again I'm not sure if I blame them, this is a long ongoing trend in kdramas, the production team doesn't care much about the last episode, because it does not influence the drama's success, people already watched the product placements, it's not like you need the audience to come back for another episode, right?

edit: I should give more credit to the writer, yes she has botched the ending somewhat, but the drama's plot is better than the webtoon's in my opinion. (usually the reverse is true, see Secretary Kim, Business Proposal)

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Review of "Kiss Sixth Sense" (Spanish, English, French). Contains some small spoilers.

(Spanish)
Es una historia rica en elementos narrativos. Hay drama, hay romance, hay acción, hay fantasía, creo que esta serie lo tiene todo. Son 12 capítulos, para mí no se ha vuelto aburrido. En otras series he encontrado que la trama, a pesar de no ser ciencia ficción, era irreal, forzada y podrías terminar hastiado. Este drama no es el caso. Me encanta la relación de Cha Min Hoo y Hong Ye Sul, pero yo habría cambiado la manera en la que el guión ha interpretado su final, quiero decir, al final ellos se ven en una relación que se ha ve muy inmadura con respecto a lo que se había visto de ellos en el resto de capítulos. Entiendo que han perdido sus "sentidos o súper poderes", pero ellos, aunque les requiriera esfuerzo adaptarse, creo que ellos debían comportarse como adultos. Otra cosa que no me ha gustado es la carencia de información con respecto a Ban Ho Woo. ¿Se supone que ella morirá en un futuro? ¿Tiene alguna enfermedad? ¿Le pasará alguna otra cosa mala? ¡¿Cuál era su motivación para hacer lo que ella hacía?! Supongo que nunca sabremos la respuesta. Por último, quiero destacar la banda sonora, sumerge al oyente en un viaje emocional, es simplemente preciosa.

(English)
It is a story rich in narrative elements. There is drama, there is romance, there is action, there is fantasy, I think this series has it all. There are 12 chapters, for me it has not become boring. In other series I have found that the plot, despite not being science fiction, was unrealistic, forced and you could end up bored. This drama is not the case. I love Cha Min Hoo and Hong Ye Sul's relationship, but I would have changed the way the script has interpreted their ending, I mean, in the end they find themselves in a relationship that seems very immature compared to what that had been seen of them in the rest of the chapters. I understand that they have lost their "senses or super powers", but, although it took them an effort to adapt, I think they should behave like adults. Another thing I didn't like is the lack of information regarding Ban Ho Woo. Is she supposed to die in the future? Does she have any illness? Will something else bad happen to him? What was her motivation for doing what she did?! I guess we'll never know the answer. Finally, I want to highlight the soundtrack, it immerses the listener in an emotional journey, it is simply beautiful.

(French)
C'est une histoire riche en éléments narratifs. Il y a du drame, il y a de la romance, il y a de l'action, il y a du fantastique, je pense que cette série a tout pour plaire. Il y a 12 chapitres, pour moi ce n'est pas devenu ennuyeux. Dans d'autres séries, j'ai trouvé que l'intrigue, même si elle n'était pas de la science-fiction, était irréaliste, forcée et qu'on pouvait finir par s'ennuyer. Ce drame n'est pas le cas. J'adore la relation entre Cha Min Hoo et Hong Ye Sul, mais j'aurais changé la façon dont le scénario a interprété leur fin, je veux dire, au final ils se retrouvent dans une relation qui semble très immature par rapport à ce qu'on avait vu d'eux. dans le reste des chapitres. Je comprends qu'ils aient perdu leurs "sens ou super pouvoirs", mais, même s'il leur a fallu un effort d'adaptation, je pense qu'ils devraient se comporter comme des adultes. Une autre chose que je n'ai pas aimé est le manque d'informations concernant Ban Ho Woo. Est-elle censée mourir dans le futur ? Avez-vous une maladie ? Est-ce qu'il lui arrivera quelque chose d'autre de grave ? Quelle était sa motivation pour faire ce qu’elle a fait ?! Je suppose que nous ne connaîtrons jamais la réponse. Enfin, je souhaite mettre en avant la bande sonore, elle plonge l'auditeur dans un voyage émotionnel, elle est tout simplement magnifique.

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