Destined with You (2023)

Worth it!

I must admit that I was hesitant to watch this drama due to my dislike for Rowoon, but after giving it a chance, I was pleasantly surprised. His character was incredibly charming and quite funny, which made it difficult for me not to adore him. The chemistry between the main leads was the highlight of the show for me, as I loved watching their playful bickering turn into something more.

However, the unnecessary love triangle left me with a few unanswered questions. When did the second male lead start liking the female lead, and why? It was not clear to me, and he never confessed his feelings. Perhaps I am biased because I did not find him attractive.

Despite this, I would still recommend this drama to others. It may have followed a familiar plotline, but that should not stop you from giving it a chance. Jo Bo Ah's performance was exceptional, and you could tell that she had a lot of fun playing her character. The chemistry between the main leads was undeniable, and it kept me invested in the story.

Although I would have preferred if they had taken a risk and made the second male lead the villain or the main lead's secretary, the show's choice to go the safe route was not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, I believe that this drama is worth watching, and I encourage you to form your own opinion instead of solely relying on others' opinions.

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Leaves a lot to be desired

Not sure how to feel about this drama. I didn't think it was THAT bad. I mean, it was watchable. The writing was just insane, the plot just went all over the place and the last half felt like it turned into a completely different drama. It was like the writer completely forgot about the curse and fantasy plotline, just dropped it (literally had the characters say several times "it doesn't matter if the curse was real or not" with no real closure whatsoever) and turned it into a run of the mill past life connection romance. The OST is quite honestly one of the worst I've ever heard in a drama.

Rowoon impressed me, at first I thought his acting was starting out pretty stiff but then in the last half his acting became really good...again, not sure what the change in the middle of this drama was about. Either way he has a new fan.

The FL was annoying as heck, and I'm sick of the past life connection trend in dramas already. But the makeout scenes toward the end were super hot and their chemistry was good, I think mostly thanks to Rowoon.

Overall not really one I'd recommend but it had potential.

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A little gem of romance & fantasy, with a great great CL (｡◝‿◜｡)

I really loved this catchy romantic and fantasy series, with Rowoon as handsome as ever (((´♡‿♡`+))) and Jo Bo Ah, who combines liveliness, sensitivity and shows a touching vulnerability. It's a little masterpiece, as Korean directors know how to make.

PLOT:
A brilliant young lawyer, rich and subject to a curse, owner of a ruined sanctuary, meets FL, a city hall employee responsible for park management. During the demolition, they discovered a box that belonged to a shaman 300 years earlier. This box can only be opened by the FL. The duo will little by little discover their common past, and try to build their future, despite the multiple obstacles, from the past and the present.

PROS:
+ A CL that causes sparks to fly! Rowoon did well to focus on his acting career: he is magnificent, expressive, extraordinary in this drama. The chemistry with Jo Bo Ah is great and it has some pretty hot scenes ( eye candy for the viewers).
+ The story is solid, coherent, well written. Some commentators say it's confusing, because the storyline is not linear, but I don't agree at all ಠ益ಠ), we follow the plot without difficulty.
+ An almost perfect production: superb cinematography, balance between dark, tender and humorous scenes, well-conducted and well-placed flashbacks,... and a soothing ending (｡◝‿◜｡)
+ great OSTs, notably "it's you" by Park Won (in my playlist), which accompany and accentuate the emotions of the moment.

CONS:
- I can't stand the character of FL2 (the classic supposedly super beautiful pest of many plots) and I don't understand why the protagonists nickname her "goddess". She is nowhere near as pretty as the FL.
- Here again, Korean makeup artists have a problem with lipstick, always too obvious, on male actors!
- product or brand placements are TOO obvious.

=> A little gem of romance and mystery, which I devoured in one sitting and which I will certainly rewatch with pleasure.
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J'ai adoré cette série romantique et fantastique, accrocheuse, avec Rowoon toujours aussi beau (((´♡‿♡`+))) et Jo Bo Ah, qui allie la vivacité, la sensibilité et montre une vulnérabilité touchante. C'est un petit chef d’œuvre, comme les réalisateurs coréens savent le faire.

PLOT:
Un jeune avocat brillant, riche et objet d'une malédiction, propriétaire d'un sanctuaire en ruine, rencontre la FL, employée de mairie chargée de la gestion des parcs. Lors de la démolition, ils découvrent une boite qui appartenait à une chamane 300 ans plus tôt. Cette boite ne peut être ouverte que par la FL. Le duo va peu à peu découvrir leur passé commun, et essayer de construire leur avenir, malgré les multiples obstacles, du passé et du présent.

PROS:
+ Un CL qui casse tout ! Rowoon a bien fait de se concentrer sur sa carrière d'acteur : il est magnifique, expressif, extraordinaire dans ce drama. L'alchimie avec Jo Bo Ah est géniale et on a droit à quelques scènes assez hot.
+ L'histoire est solide, cohérente, bien écrite. Certains commentateurs la disent confuse, parce que la storyline n'est pas linéaire, mais je ne suis d'accord du tout ಠ益ಠ) , on suit le propos sans difficulté.
+ Une réalisation quasi parfaite : cinématographie superbe, équilibre entre les scènes dures, tendres et humoristiques, flashback bien conduits et bien placés,... et une fin apaisante (｡◝‿◜｡)
+ des OST géniales, notamment "it's you" de Park Won (dans ma playlist) qui accompagnent et accentuent les émotions de l'instant.

CONS:
- je ne supporte pas le personnage de la FL2 (la classique soi-disant super belle peste de nombreux plots) et je ne comprends pas que les protagonistes la surnomment "déesse". Elle est loin d'être aussi jolie que la FL.
- Ici encore, les maquilleurs coréens ont un problème avec le rouge à lèvres, toujours beaucoup trop évident, chez les hommes !
- les placements de produits ou d'enseigne sont TROP évidents.

=> Un petit bijou de romance et de mystère, que j'ai dévoré d'une traite et que je regarderai certainement à nouveau avec plaisir.

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No depth despite 16 Episodes

Since Rowoon was so convincing as ML in "She would never know" and "the kings affection", I expected a lot. The story line around the love spells would have provided many opportunities, but it was not clear to me when or when not, why or why not they were effective. What was left was a lame love story with no chemistry, in which the ML struggled to find emotional depth without succeeding at least in parts. The dialogues are cliché and miss any opportunity for real engagement. Clichees can play an important role in a story, but this opportunity was also missed. The story, the characters and their motives did not become plausible. I know "100 days my prince" from the screenwriter, which I liked. The cast with the supporting actors has already proven how good they are in many dramas. Too bad!

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From episode one it seems it’s destined to fail

So I am watching this drama for three things, Rowoon, the budget, and the fact that it is on Netflix. Netflix has been a great platform that releases some good k-dramas along with gems that.

If you came to this drama to look for a well connected linear story about destined lovers. Don't expect that. Don't expect any more than a romantic comedy with supernatural elements. I really thought from the promotional material that this would be much more compelling than it really is, but unfortunately it's a let down in that aspect .. and I'll explain. That isn’t to say it’s irredeemable horrible, it’s not what I expected so that leaves a lot of room to surprise me either good or bad

Hong-jo was someone I initially thought would be beautiful and endearing, someone that Rowoon's character gets attached to admits his loneliness. Instead this girl talks out loud to a box, she has some infatuation with a guy because he is good looking. I like characters because I see why they are the way they are, and especially if they are this dumb it is important to give them a motive. For example, Rowoon's character in Tommorow was very out there, he was a lot but that was juxtaposed by the situation he was put in. He was very motivated and ambitious and passionate. Hong-jo is teetering over the line of being unlikeable for me because she is so animated. Although I do like it in good doses, it just gets to be a bit much and that stays consistent for the episodes I have seen.On a writing standpoint of things it will be hard for me to buy into their love if they keep her character this way. Since she is so outlandish it will be hard for me to adjust if she mellows out. Not saying it can't be done though.. I'm just saying for the first two episodes they miss the mark. I really don't like characters that have fluff scenes just for people to get laughs when the parts she have are not even funny. Since she is by herself all the time she talks to herself, and those are scenes that pull me away from the dark nature of this dramas other scenes with Rowoon's character, Shin-Yu. I don't get why he wasn't the main focus and I hate when shows have such a potential with brooding characters that are closed off, conflicted, cursed... instead it focuses on Hang-Jo who has a lot of talking to herself, it is not fun, it is hard to watch.... embarrassing at times...

The VFX of Shin-Yu's hallucinations are really good. I wish this drama could be more into that more mature plot. Instead it goes for a love-plot that I did see coming. I just didn't see it coming to be this dumb. Maybe it is supposed to be funny... but it's like Hong-Jo and her scenes are out of a completely different drama than Shin-Yu's curse plot. I use dumb a lot, and I think its fair. Hong-Jo is a civil service worker who works the lowest grade. I did some research to see that it means she took a test but was not smart enough to work higher up in the government and instead sort of does odd jobs that the government pays for. So she was too dumb, and she still is dumb and is like a lost puppy with one thing on her mind. I do like puppies though so maybe if I watch long enough I will grow to like her. It is just this character is too much and I doubt I will really buy into any heart-tearing scenes.

The things about this drama I do like... I love that Rowoon is acting here.. don't really like the role though. It is very stilted and he isn't a good guy at all. The first lawyer scene he has establishes that and I could go over in detail how he screwed that up but I am not.Maybe it is because he is cursed and it reflects into his attitude. Obviously the guy has been scared by his past. This drama could work much better if the first episodes were better, be grand and bold. Show his connection with Hong-jo from his past life because we all know they are connected by fate. His character is what my friend said while watching a voice of reason. So he can level out any of the wrong behaviors by others with realism.

The first episode was unfortunately really bad at hooking me and anyone who wants to watch 15 episodes. I would've showed how he got cursed, and later on you can develop it more with longer past scenes that show the connections deepening between Hong-Jo and Shin-yu. So you'd have the end of their story at the beginning, and then work from the beginning and to that point. I would do it like this, it's easier to follow, has a better hook, Hong-Jo can be quirky and you can see how Shin-Yu grew to like her instead of throwing them into this dynamic of a cold man and upbeat woman. It wasn’t that it did it wrong, there are just better ways to do it and it’s a shame to see it other ways for me.

The beauty of dramas are that they aren't real. Taking advantage of their medium to tell an entertaining story. This drama has the budget but the writing is a miss in a lot of areas. It is such a drastic gap with their personalities that it seems like a fan fiction if you think about it too much. the dialogue isn't natural, their situation definitely isn't. I know it's supernatural, again though I wish to see balance. Balance the real setting between that supernatural parts. I am starting to grow with the campy nature with this drama, although it did take a while. I have a soft spot for Rowoon and as annoying I find the female lead, if he wants to be with her then there is no harm. This show could be a lot better, but it isn't the worst, definitely not the best though.

Watching through episode 7 any character I liked or was trying to has been severely flawed by the nonsensical writing. The second male lead leads of the love spell and was ok with it? And he regrets not liking her? There is nothing given for us to know why, and compared to his no nonsense attitude it makes even less sense. Both the leads like this woman who is meddling with peoples lives for her own gain. It is nothing more than that and it isn’t deep or romantic, it’s disturbing and I can’t get past it.

this drama is just not worth my time anymore

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Disappointing and less than mediocre

In short - the story was shit, the acting was not very good, the main two leads were good looking and had some sort of chemistry.

Goodness, this is the worst drama I have watched this year by a long shot...What's with the story? Too many elements thrown into what turned out to be a crazy stupid plot. The beginning was kind of interesting and I stayed watching because of the cute actors (yes, I am superficial like that!). It was funny at places and that made it kind of fun. Then I started losing all sense of what the overall story was supposed to be. The antagonist at the beginning was lost during the middle and was made to pop up during the final episodes, so very conveniently just to tie the loose ends.

The historical, past life bits were fucking annoying. Some side characters were irritating and I wished them to be gone from my screen. The main leads, as I mentioned earlier, were eye candy and that's why tolerable but oh god I have some gripes for them as well. The female lead started grating on me with her childish way of speaking. Like please!!! The writers and directors need to start treating their main leads like proper adults pleaseee..The main lead's acting felt like 'acting' in so many places and it irritated me to see him not working even thought he's supposed to be a lawyer. I think this was because I recently watched a couple of lawyer-judge type dramas where it's more realistic..

Anyway, conclusion is this is like a bubblegum candy type drama that will ignite your interest in the first couple of episodes and then leave you feel vastly disgruntled at how fucking boring and mediocre it is.

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stars only for rowoon

this was okay. the whole plot with the spells should’ve been more capitalized off of. only used in the beginning then basically forgotten about. didn’t feed into the fantasy aspect as much as i hoped it did. BUT rowoon and his puppy personality. omg and how he like chases after the FL ???THAT MADE THE DRAMA. ugh he’s actually so cute and i can see how much his acting has improved since extraordinary you (well in that one he literally was a 2d character and showed no emotion or anything so…) i loveeeed his personality in this so much. i love the he falls first but doesn’t want to trope. ugh and how he was obsessed with her. need. but other than that the rest was meh. everything pretty predictable, cliche “oh i knew u in my past life” and “oh we r destined to be together” stuff. so nothing exceptional. EXCEPT FOR JANG SINYU!!! would rewatch just for him.

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A story about curses and spells and magic and a destined love? Sign me up! The premise of this sounds so intriguing and has all the kinds of things I like to watch. Unfortunately it does not deliver on any of those counts, or at least not in a way that would keep me watching or have me suggesting it to anyone. What this has ended up being is a fun first 3 episodes and then confusion and frustration after that as they add more random subplots without giving any more information about the previous ones and watering down the adorable chemistry between the leads as time passes. While they have managed to add quite a few plot lines the pacing is slow and you will feel like nothing really happened by the end of every hour episode.

The main characters in this series are fairly two dimensional with very little character building or even growth. You don't understand their actions or behaviors since neither are given much for you to go off of. The female lead is supposed to be spunky and awkward but endearing while actually comes off as a pushover with no backbone or ambition. The male lead is a strict lawyer that shows no real interest in anyone with a family curse that makes him so stand offish. The female leads coworkers are some of the most irritating to have to sit through; the only character traits they have is petty and man obsessed and are there purely to bully the female lead.

The first couple of episodes will hook you. You meet the characters and the OTP meet each other and do not particularly care for one another but get pushed together through a spell book that he needs her to use to help him. In turn she uses the spell book to make a love potion that he accidentally drinks and at this point their chemistry and his hilariously sweet behavior is at the highest. But then after the first few episodes the show just randomly drops subplots and picks up new ones without interweaving them together or giving the viewers a chance to even wrap their head around the previous random blip of information. The first episode introduces the red hand and the curse to the ML but then it is only casually mentioned again once and reintroduced, sort of, again 9 episodes later. The ML has broken up with the SFL twice now but since she doesn't accept the break up then he just continues dating her? It is so odd and makes no sense, since when is it so hard to break up with someone?! The random storyline for the SML is just a silly as for the SFL as well as the random stalker. None of these plots seem to be connecting in a coherent way but of course now at episode 10 they introduce a new subplot of them being reincarnated lovers. I assume the show will try to weave everything together, all 6 or so plots as long as they don't continue to add more.

Visually speaking the production of this is nice and the music is beautiful but the writing for this is a huge miss. The great chemistry from the two leads in the beginning has become boring with the hot and cold behavior between the two as the show progresses making it feel tedious to watch.

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Just watch it!!

It was nothing like what I had expected it to be. I thought it was a normal boring story about office workers but NOO!!! It is too good to be true.

The story is top notch and I promise you, you won't ever regret watching it. In a few scenes, I felt I was present in the drama due to their immersive acting. This drama made me feel single in many ways but I loved it!!!!! I really enjoyed watching this drama, it will make you laugh, cry and enjoy in every way possible,

This drama you never knew you needed in your life but this would be surely on my list of drama recommendations for new watchers.

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Great start. Lost me with the cheating.

The first half of Destined With You was great. It was funny and I was enjoying the fantasy element as well as the creepy bloody hand. In fact, I started to miss it later.

My biggest issue was that the ML despite having a girlfriend, kisses the FL. This was clearly a red flag for me so much so that I was angry with the character for a good few episodes and couldn't enjoy the story.

The other issue I had was that by the end, it isn't completely clear if anyone was acting under the power of the love spell or not because of the twist. I'm not sure why they made it seem so confusing. That's a plot hole.

Third biggest problem I had with the show is the father being verbally abusive to the mother as well as negligent towards her needs and the writers made them patch up after teasing a caring younger guy as a potential love interest. There was one more female character that was divorced and found love. Not sure why ML's mother didn't deserve better as well? Is it because they didn't want her to find love with a younger man? The father was so horrible towards the FL as well. All the more the mom should be with a nicer man. This is the second such drama that disappointed me in this regard. First being Doctor Cha.

I still have a few doubts related to the story. Towards the end, I decided to speed it up because the story was moving a bit too slowly.

The best thing about this drama was the SML. I wish FL had ended up with him. He was a really decent guy. FL and ML's chemistry was nice except for the weird cheating aspect. SFL was stunning but unbearable. Acting wise, everyone did great. It was the story that let me down in the second half.

The OST of the drama is beautiful.

I would say the first half of the drama is a lot more fun than the second half. It's not a bad drama but it could have been better with a bit of tweaking.

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