Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale (2024)

Be Your Own Prince Charming & Follow Your Joy!

Cinderella tropes are nothing new but what sets this drama apart is the depiction of the known characters in a different light.

Our FL Cinderella from the start is proclaiming herself as a sort of gold-digger, the Prince Charming ML is distrustful for those who proclaim love to him assuming they are in for his money - and this drama is a journey on how they both realize that what they are looking for is something within themselves and each other. Supporting them strongly are roles of the step-mother & sisters, who are not mean like in the fairytale but have their own way of supporting their Cinderella sister. The villains are funny more than evil. the SML momentarily seems mysterious only to become a catalyst in Cinderella's journey to find her calling.

Best Parts:
> The acting of the ML is worth investing time in this drama. He can be childish, rich spoiled brat but when need be he can be the most manly charming male lead that can make men/women around him swoon. And boy can fight!
> The entire retelling: seeing the age old story in a new light was a fresh perspective; the good have some flaws and the evil are not truly evil. Something that sets well in modern times, and the message of the drama is strong and apt: "Follow Your Joy" and be your own Prince Charming i.e. you yourself are the ones who can make/break your happily ever after.
> The illustrations in the start, background narration, comedic effects and cross over from Taxi Driver was a cherry on top that sweetened the deal.
> Short, well paced drama of 10 episodes

Weakness:
> Personal Opinion: The latter half of the drama did not arrest or hold my attention. I even watched some parts by fast forwarding. I was invested to finish the drama and know what happens in the end, but these parts could have been done better.
> The villains were there just for comedic effect - their actions in order to break the main couple as needed in a kdrama, was lacking. Again two ways to see it: it did not frustrate me but then it made me question what was their role? It felt half-baked to some extent

Overall:
Watch it cause of its short, well paced retelling of the Cinderella trope and for ML, Lee Jun Young's acting.

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WHY ROM-COMS ARE HATED

I wanted to start off strong by saying This type of drama is the reason why people hate ROM-COM genres.

ROM-COM are by no Doubt one of my fav genre in Kdramas with strong woman do bong setting the standard so high with a grand balance of comedy, romance and plot in an exceptional manner, This drama on the other hand.....Is a Pure Joke and an insult to this genre.

With it being tagged ROM-COM, I was Excited for this. Like really really. But with the 1st few minutes of EP 1..my jaws kept falling and falling without any hope of getting up. And why you may wonder, well let's get into that.
Pro.
I think the only pro this drama has is the styling and CGI? Yeah. It's nice. Made the leads look nice on Screen and the setting of the drama is also nice although felt.... limited? Idk. But that was the Only good thing about this show ..tbh.
Let's get to the Bad sides.
Cons.
Plot; It has a plot. Trust me, I saw the plot and it's basically all ROM-COM plot I love. Rich , mostly narcissistic, rude male lead who always don't believe in love. And the typical plot FL who came to work for the guy. And trust me, we always know what happens next ( and I have no problems with it because I EAT UP THESE TROPES LIKE ALWAYS!) but here....sigh.
The plot execution was TERRIBLE. like It was cringe terrible. You wished to make a Modern version of Cinderella ( I didn't say that..the drama literally advertised itself as such) But the execution of a concrete Modern classic Cinderella was BAD. I'd say other ROM-COMs did it better even without advertising themselves as Such.
Like how FL got the job? How they supposedly met indirectly? ( did Bollywood write that Scene?? The handkerchief?) The opening scene of how she even became an orphan or something idk was so BAD. And the follow-up didn't help matters.

Characters: well..idk how to say this ..But I think the Only fun character here were...male lead ( and 2nd lead of course and let's say even the second girl?) The FL character sorry... you're bad and Hella cringe. I liked her in Blooming Youth and thought oh, she'd do good in comedy maybe? And here...The character she was given was BAD. Her execution in the Comedy line Felt so Cringe and hard to watch that I wished she'd get only serious lines and stop forcing on comedy. Maybe the writing of her was bad? Because was never funny. No one was. The male lead I said was rather a fun character but I for one never laughed lol. His character had potential and could be written better. Second guy and even second girl were ok.

Comedy. Ok this is the WORSE ASPECT OF THIS DRAMA. it's downfall. It has the Worse comedy I've seen in like forever now. The way I kept staring at them whenever they make those supposedly funny scenes. I was in shock.

Some might defend and be like, Oh the drama is aiming to be silly and fun and all...No it's not. I know silly FUNNY shows when I see one. And this one is just Stupid. Silly shows aren't funny because people do silly things,Something else is needed. the plot and character needs to contribute to that COMEDY. The situation where the comedy aspect springs up from and the characters has to convey that Comedy as well. But here....No. honestly the characters, I didn't find them funny. Neither do I find most situations funny. The so-called comedy is done badly and rather ended up cringe.

And NOT TO MENTION the random pop up effects and flying up and down that seems cartoonish? suddenly someone is flying suddenly they're running fast.... wait is this supposed to be fantasy as well?? 💀 it's not funny. It's cringe jeez! How is someone suppose to take this as comedy. (note, comedy also needs to be taken seriously as COMEDY for someone to laugh.)
A comparison to other good romcom Would make this even more terrible in terms of comedy.

Well if you find this comedy funny...have fun then.

Romance? Well the banter for me is already bad so I don't know what to say about the romance even if it comes. The bickering duo...I don't find them funny and fascinating. They just bickering almost for no reason. Felt soo scripted and not natural. Just like the rest of the show ...not natural.

ROM-COM is a Tricky genre to make in my opinion. It's either it goes extremely well , or mediocre or BAD like this and some out there. And honestly this could have been done better if MORE attention was put into professional angles of it's story writing and execution.

If the plot was toned down from it's cringe "Fantasy" aspects and they seek to make it actually FUNNY and not randomly throwing situations they presume would be funny. Because a Modern retelling of Cinderella would actually be funny and fascinating to see. And good execution of storytelling and character would nail the comedy fr. Because this drama was making similarities with the story with the names of Cinderella and prince charming in a Korean setup. That was great but the effort to make that SMART, WITTY AND FUNNY, was failed.

It's ok if you like the drama and enjoy it. But YOU enjoying it doesn't make the drama a gem. ( I've been there because there are badly done dramas that I end up liking but still acknowledge their flaws) I'm just making a general analysis of the drama. You can skip the review if you wish and like I always like to say. You can always try it out to see if it's to your taste.

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Silly comedy but boring ?

Dreaming of a Freaking Fairy Tale is a hybrid romantic comedy drama depicting the process in which "a woman whose dream is to become a Cinderella" meets a "prince on a white horse" who does not believe in love. Both support and torment each other due to the reality that is difficult to escape.

A good cast with boring acting. Some characters feel pretty insignificant though, such as the male lead’s dad, the villains, and even the second male lead. I felt the leads had good chemistry romantically and comedically. The leads also had very distinct personalities, although they lost steam as the drama progressed. I think the male lead in particular is a decently written character with his iconic umbrella and quirkiness.

I really liked the acting of the main male and female leads in the first 5 episode, the drama gets really bad after the 5th episode. Their acting gets very boring to watch. The supporting characters were terrible.

I was excited to watch this drama but when it released it turned out to be a waste of anticipation, after the 6th episode I quit watching this drama.

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Made Me Smile But Ultimately a Flash In The Pan

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I love fairytale retellings. I don’t know what it is about them (as I dislike the Disney versions) but I’ll watch anything that’s an obvious fairytale retelling. Maybe it’s the comfort in something familiar or maybe it’s the nostalgia. It was also really nice to see Lee Jun Young (이준영) again. I hadn’t seen him since his debut in 2017 with Avenger’s Social Club (a favorite of mine – I highly recommend).

Acting/Cast: A good cast with good acting. Some characters feel pretty insignificant though, such as the male lead’s dad, the villains, and even the second male lead. I felt the leads had good chemistry romantically and comedically. The leads also had very distinct personalities, although they lost steam as the drama progressed. I think the male lead in particular is a decently written character with his iconic umbrella and quirkiness. 6.5/10

Writing: This drama had a strong start. Extremely cartoonish, over-the-top, and surprisingly risqué. I typically dislike dramas like this. However, this one was hitting. I was surprised that I was actually laughing at the comedy and embracing the craziness. The enemies to lovers relationship progression was also starting off really well with a charming quality. I watched this drama while watching My Sweet Gangster and both dramas have a similar zany vibe. When the second male lead walked in, I thought I was experiencing a severe case of déjà vu. Then, I realized that Kim Hyun Jin (김현진) is in both dramas playing a nearly identical character (although, I prefer his character in My Sweet Gangster). Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale was grabbing my attention a lot more than My Sweet Gangster (I even felt that dropping My Sweet Gangster was a possibility at the time). However, this drama started losing steam (probably around when the leads kiss) – the leads began to lose their strong personalities (especially the female lead) as well as losing the drama’s craziness expressed through ridiculous CGI, and even losing its sexually provocative overtones. What a tease… Well, at least its decline wasn’t as bad as Destined With You or My Roommate is a Gumiho. There were a couple issues that I had with the plot. First, the female’s motivation for wanting to “escape” the family was weak. They treated her well, so I don’t know where the angsty teen girl attitude was coming from. Second, the first kiss scene between the leads was a miss for me. The female lead was right when she said that he should have faked the kiss. Actually, even that still would have been weird. In the USA, there’s often policies at workplaces that prohibit boss/employee relationships because of the issues that they cause. So, for me being American, it was just not a good look. 4/10

Direction/SFX/Music: CGI was used quite a bit in the beginning of the drama. It was very over-the-top, but it gave the drama a strongly unique identity. I wish they had maintained the same energy throughout the entire drama. There’s one song on the OST that I like (Intersection by Charlie Bean Works). The rest aren’t my style. 4.5/10

Entertainment Value: Highly entertaining in the first half. I smiled while watching. It did start to lose some steam for me though. I think they kissed way too soon, and I also think there should have been more of a romantic pay-off, since the beginning was so sexual. The beginning gave me the impression that it was going to be a more adult drama, but don’t get your hopes up. I mean, by the end of the drama, you’d think that there’d now been more of a reason for the lustiness since they become more emotionally connected with each other as well as also being physically attracted…but no. What’s so disappointing about it, is that it could have been done really well – it was headed in the right direction – but it suddenly changed course and didn’t quite follow through. I think Secret Garden is the only drama I’ve seen that had made the romantic build up and pay-off extremely satisfying. The villains/antagonists in this drama are not serious threats and even some just seem underdeveloped (such as the male lead’s dad and the female lead’s family who she thinks is bad for some reason but isn’t). Because of this, the drama is a light watch, not to be taken seriously at all and just very goofy. Although, I enjoyed this drama while I was watching it, I have found that it’s forgettable. I’m already forgetting it. Surprisingly, so far, I like My Sweet Gangster so much more than this drama (it’s doing impressively well with its character and relationship establishment). Oh how the tables have turned... 6/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 5.5/10. Although fun, this drama is just not memorable for me (probably due to the change in tone from how it was in the first half and underdeveloped side characters). The most memorable thing about this drama is the male lead, the umbrella, and some of the crazy scenes in the beginning - the tornado, having to pee, and maybe the catch on the stairs when they first meet.

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What the hell.......

Great story......much needed in this day and time, however the comedy was cringey, slapstick and poorly done.

2024 has so far lousy k dramas ( in the romance genre) with poorly written scripts or cold romance, cringey chemistry and just down right disrespect for the audience.

This drama had so much going for it in the silly story, fun characters and feel good ending that creates so much hope.
However it was executed so poorly.
The comedy was not funny, the bad running away mothers was a desperate fall back to sad childhood for both leads, the thugs were cringey, the female villains were like banshees.......ohhhhh h.

Could you have asked the producers and directors of "A Business Proposal" to make this drama into a fun, exciting romcom and created a hit??

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What happens if you order Queen of Tears from Temu

I wanted to love this show, I'm a fan of the actress. She's so cute and she and the FL of Queen of Tears both appeared in Lovestruck in the City. This show, however, was not the better of the two. The comedy and cringe is just so bad. After watching over 100 K and C dramas by now, I have gotten used to it. But by and large, many of the newest shows, especially those that are financed and backed by netflix have learned how to properly tackle serious dramas. This doesn't mean we've dropped the comedic laughter; it's just been sprinkled on that it becomes an enjoyable but brief escape from the mature scenes we are starting to get used to. It's important not to forget the audience that put your genre on the map. We owe a lot to these tropes. But sometimes, a drama is trapped in that purgatory of staying perpetually in that cringe state. Sadly, this happened here.

It was incredibly hard to get past the 3rd episode. Not only is there so much cringe, but many scenes literally turn cartoonish. Now remember that this is the same writer from Bong-soon, so you could say that I'm used to this. But even Bong-soon didn't go this far off the deep end. What's worse is that there is no chemistry between the leads. And so many things aren't explained. We have no idea what line of work the ML actually holds. We learn he provides a sort of amusement park for the wealthy. They're allowed to be "kids again" or such. It's never fully explained, and the plot holes pile on after this. If this is truly a wealthy class escape, why do we barely see no more than 10 characters visiting the place at once? For better reference, think of King the Land. It does a much better explanation, and it is literally doing the same thing here. But like I said, Dreaming just seems to perpetually stay in the comedic side, without properly explaining scenes.

There's also the miscommunication trope here. The ML simply doesn't want to reveal his feelings. In fact, he doesn't do so until the last few episodes. By then, it's already too late, and I found myself relieved that the show was nearly over. In another instance, his mother comes back briefly, and we get a somewhat confusing story on why she left in the first place. His parents reconcile immediately, despite a 20 plus year gap and even more questions left unanswered. If you're as confused as I am, imagine watching it.

The only savings grace, like I pointed out earlier, is the female lead. She's beautiful. You can tell she tries her hardest with what little she can work with. Sadly, there are just too many things working against her. Anyhoo, in conclusion, if you can handle large amounts of cringle with an incomprehensible script, you might find something here to pass the time. But there are far better dramas out there, even mediocre ones that respect your time.

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this was Soo bad

a lot of people are saying that it was so fun to watch and it's such cute rom com

but i personally hated it. first of all i was really exited for the male lead i love him and his acting in all those psyho dramas so i was exited to see him in romance drama this type but the acting was sooo cringe and he was such a loser not in a good way, not like I don't know sun jae, it was honestly so hard to watch the same goes for female lead

there was almost no development between them nor chemistry. the male lead had more chemistry with the second lead guy💀

i am not even gonna talk about the effects they were so cringe and bad and took such a big part of why i hated the drama.

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I've been enjoying it so far, it's really funny ?

This drama is hilarious so far 🤣 I've been laughing so hard 🤣 I love the chemistry and obviously the main lead 🥲His acting is something else.I have been a fan since "May I help you" ,"Brave citizen".
I really recommend this drama if you want something funny, out of usual, with a lot of romance and unserious characters 😆
Well is not the Cinderella I've been excepting but way more better.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😍😍😍😍😍

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I had so much fun watching this! Things just go boom when the leads meet.

Ep 1: I have realized that Lovely Runner set the bar too high for all the romcom's to come, so I can't help but compare everything that comes out to it. However, I can't deny that I laughed a lot throughout the first episode. I was looking forward to the show, ever since I heard about it. The ML is the real draw, the FL doesn't look so good with those bangs, however her character is actually funny to watch. Honestly, at this point, her sister who eats her feelings is more relatable. I can't yet figure out what kind of a person the ML is but he is fun to watch. Bubbles are such a good substitute to cigarettes. Let's see if he actually sues her for murder.

Ep 2: Oh wow! Since the moment they first met, they have been going at each other and it is so fun to watch! The verbal match is amazing. The first 10 minute of the show so far are so hilarious, I just had to pause and write it all down so I don't forget things as I go. It was interesting and kept me engaged throughout the whole episode. I like watching dramas like this, especially while eating food, it makes me appreciate and enjoy the food more. For a moment there, I had forgotten the drama description that said the ML has a gf and she hasn't broken up with him yet. I kept thinking maybe she was an ex. But she is not just a gf but a fiancé. That was fun to watch!

Ep 3: Okaayyy. Fair warning, don't watch it on loudspeaker with your family around you. They make very explicit noises that make you feel like your family caught you watching a kissing scene on TV. I have my earphones on now so it is safe to watch. I got to laugh a little less compared to the last episode but it was still a fun one. They are all so silly, our FL's friend adds to the nuisance, making it more interesting.

Ep 4: Half of the time it feels like you are watching looney tunes, the scenes are so cartoonish and that's exactly what the show is all about. It brings back some of those funny cartoon memories patching it together with a comedic parody of Cinderella. You discover that her step sisters aren't that bad and her step mom is actually pretty decent, but all of them are just a little bit crazy in their own way, expect for the older sister. She seems rock solid so far. I wonder if the new guy they introduced in the episode just wants to take advantage of her because he is being too obvious about it. Well I was right, poor Cindy.

Ep 5 & Ep 6: I enjoy the interaction between the leads, but the bickering was toned down in these episodes. That kiss could have been better on the FL's part, but it looked good. That almost second kiss would have been better than the first one. The angle was right. The ML going out of his way to marry her off to other guy because he doesn't want to be abandoned is a bit sad. The fiancée and her family are so funny. I get that she has anger issues but I'm not really sure that she likes Cha Min. She rather considers him a possession. I hope the FL gives up on the SML, because it wasn't jealousy that made him say he liked her but competitiveness. In contrast the ML's feelings for her are quite real no matter how much he doesn't want to accept them. They are both so blind to how beautiful their life could be if they just stopped trying to live a loveless life.

Ep 7 & Ep 8: Cha Min blows so hot and cold, only Jae Rim can tolerate that kind of nonsense because they are both equally crazy. The SML has improved a bit but not by long. They totally got me with that imaginary scene with the leads kissing! I thought the drama was going in an another direction. He was kinda right, his mom was a little too late with the apologies. She could have made time despite how she may have been perceived. I just feel so sad for the boy that grew up being brainwashed by his father who couldn't keep his resentment to himself. He didn't give the boy a chance to form his own opinion but tried to indoctrinate him into his crazy beliefs about women.

Ep 9 & Ep 10: I wanted to see who the crazy ex fiancé was going to end up with & what happened to her crazy uncles as well. Overall, it was a nice story. I thought the last two episodes would focus on the happy ending, but we got one where they separate even though they weren't really dating. The last episode was good though. This should have been 16 episodes, so that we had some more crazy Cha Min & Jae Rim moments! They were adorable when they got together. This is definitely something worth rewatch.

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Funny, endearing and romantic

I really love this piece of fluff, and after watching back-to-back only korean and chinese drama for about 4 years I was beginning to sink in a slump. But this Drama plays so well with all its tropes, is unashamedly romantic and has sweet side characters. The main Couples chemistry is so great, both have flaws and they are just on fire with all their squabbling. Definitely a win for me, wish it was longer! Lee Jun Young is amazing as always, I loved him in Love and Leashes and the FL is very good, too. My secret fav is the boxing sister, though. She is hilarious and sweet-ish.

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