No Gain, No Love (2024)

really fun, really heartwarming

this is so good, but i'm so sad to say that the biggest flaw was that it's 12 episodes long. the acting is great and the characters are complex and interesting. the plotline has the balance between fun and dramatic and i love it. but there are so many interesting stories that seem to be not well solved by the end of the drama... it's kind of frustating to be fed with so many interesting characters but don't get an apropriate end for them. also WHERE ARE THE CUTE MOMENTS OF HAPPINESS OF THE MAIN COUPLE? them getting together at the last second.... UGH but it was really cute...

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Interesting, comedy and romance ?

Son Hae-Young (Shin Min-A) is the type of person who doesn't want to lose money under any circumstance. When growing up, she had to share her mother's love with others. She often found her partners in relationships below her break even point. Now, Son Hae-Young faces the possibility of missing out on a job promotion at her workplace. To avoid such a loss, she makes a plan for a fake wedding. She recruits Kim Ji Uk (Kim Young-Dae) to be her fiance. Kim Ji Uk works part-time as a cashier at a convenience store. He is the type of person who can't ignore people in need and tries to do the right thing. He is smooth with every customer at the convenience store, except for one person. That person is Son Hae-Young. When she suddenly asks him to become the fake groom at her wedding, he somehow accepts her offer.

Honestly I think this drama was short but interesting to watch. It has everything comedy, romance, suspense. The plot of the drama was interesting, it will make you interested. The cast was good. Every actor acted which was good to watch.

You will also get to see family affection in this drama even if you are not related by blood.

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One hell of a found family

Found family is one of the oldest tropes in a writer-nim's repertoire. It has all the ingredients for a banging meet-cute plus bonus characters development as all the complex relationships change and evolve over time.

This drama certainly doubled down on this premise with the parents being saintly foster parents to a string of disadvantaged kids. This did not go down well with their own daughter as she sees her parents giving them more love and attention than their own flesh and blood. There is a lot of unspoken angst and resentment bottled up inside her. What is a little odd is that her BFF's are two of the foster daughters, so her feelings towards at least some of them are ambiguous to say the least.

As in dramas of this ilk, there are always secrets and double dealings. In this case, everyone is pulling double duties. It did not go down well when some of the secrets were revealed. I must admit that some of the twists were clever but there is a lack of finesse. You feel that the dice is loaded from the start.

To be honest, this aspect of the show leads to some of the best and worst plot developments. It gave us some surprise revelations and swoon worthy moments as well as misfires that pile on the angst and take us down several garden paths.

I suppose if you want to be brutal about it, there is not a lot left to the A-plot once we get past the cute and swoon-y start and sort out who's who after some surprise reveals. The middle section was stretched to fill in the allotted time. It leads to some odd plot developments which are quite contrived and added little of substance.

The ending was as sweet as you can expect. Every loose ends are tied up with pink bows. However, there is minimal fan service surrounding the OTP. Similar to shows of late, the 2CP seems to be more interesting and is given a lot of attention. I'm not complaining per se, but it does feel a little odd.

In the end, I enjoyed this show. The ML was the star for me. He looks cute in many scenes, and he will make you swoon. The FL is solid as ever, but I feel that she is in her comfort zone and is happy to stay there for now. The support cast, production and OST are all fine.

This is a solid series that delivers but there is not a whole lot to distinguish it from the rest of the pack. I’m happy to have watched it but I’d be hard pressed to remember it in a few months’ time. That is a shame.

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Alright, I guess?

K-dramas can't cope with 12 episodes these days either, y'all. They should cut it down to 8 once and for all ?‍♀️

Either way, this was entertaining of course. It's worth a watch just for the wacky comedy and maybe the secondary couple bcz of their chemistry. The main couple, on the other hand... It's not that they DON'T have chemistry or anything, their story is where they lost me.

The first half was seriously fun and romantic, but they looked like they were running out of ideas as their story went on. Therefore, what we saw was unnecessary backstories and plot twists being shoved in left and right. It felt like way too much was happening at the same time, and in the end, everything was only slightly brushed along and half-assedly concluded. Had they only focused on the romance and the comedy, this could've been a really good romcom. Unfortunately, the writer (who also wrote 'Her Private Life'-- which suffered from the same repercussions towards the end) seemed to run out of ideas and it was... obvious.

I like Kim Young Dae.... when he's being unserious and funny. The man cannot play a quiter/less animate role for the love of god, I'm sorry. On the other hand, Shin Min Ah was quite nice to watch. I really liked her character for 70% of the drama, and I think she was able to bring that extra oomf to 'Son Hae Young' as well.

The music was whatever. None of the tracks were catchy or distinctive.

In conclusion, even though it was a 12 episode drama (plus the screentime they wasted on Kopiko, Subway, Bananapresso Coffee, BMW), it could've benefited from lesser episodes and lesser dumb plotlines.

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started off good, but went a bit down hill for me

I was looking forward to this drama. I was like « something different » and I like fake dating trope.

I enjoyed more maybe the first half, I think it was funny and I liked where it was going. But around ep 7, I started to loose some interest and became boring for some reason even if I still enjoyed the comedy in general. I think the writing wasn’t that good. The romantic story of the leads became less interesting and not that develop well.

I think the leads have good chemistry and look good together. maybe not enough romance for me.

I also liked :
- the friendship between the sisters
- assistant-ceo duo
- brothers duo
- in general I liked the second couple, but I’m not sure them falling in love made sense with such few scenes. they were cute and think had chemistry. the office date was perfect, when they had matching energy by playing the novel’s character. they had a good ending too
- the fake wedding was beautiful
- ML fake proposal was so cute
- I think the acting was good
- SML coming to save SFL and fighting her dad
- few romantics moments between the leads
- 3FL finally ending her relationship and deciding to raise her child alone (with her sister of course). That relationship was just weird and very uninteresting to me.

SML was a bit annoying but not really

FL’s ex, he was trash. they didn’t give proper closure. what happened ? guy is living happily and getting recognition at work (unsatisfying) and what happened with his wife ? who seemed like a decent and kind person, still think it was trash of FL to not tell her she dated him, he literally dated both of them at the same time and wanted to have an affair with her.

The conflicts between the leads in the last few ep were just cliché and unnecessary… don’t talk to me about the stupid breakup in the last ep and 5-10 min reunion-happy ending. that was trash and lazy writing. Actually, the leads in the last ep in general was bad writing to me. Rushed and unsatisfying ending

And feel like no proper ending regarding the brothers and their father(SML parents I could say too) even second couple and his parents

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a true romcom that's really romcomy

a drama where i think our writernim have found the right balance between seriousness and absolute ridiculousnes , drama and comedy .. my respect, writernim.
this show was so good , one of my favorites second couples ever to be honest was looking forward to their scene as much as i was the leads if not more , it was so good , i love their story .. i like the leads as well so much , lovely kisses as well and the couples are just too cute
the drama was so good that i stayed up all night til 4 am binging all episodes , the final could've been a bit better but it doesn't take away from how good this was
it was such a one true romcom .. not much else and i like that about it , nothing too cliche in my opinion i love it .. it made me laugh so hard and made me happy ..... there were of course a few serious things but they don't take up that much space and everything is like really well balanced whish is how i wish most romcoms are tbh
the feelings and fun count in my rating so yeah subjective all the way with this one , when i enjoy a drama i no longer rate it objectively and i don't care about it's flaws ... bok gyu truly hilarious he and the writer are my fave characters tbh they have my heart and don't forget to watch the spin off , after this as you won't have enough of them

i really really adore this one i have to give it a 9

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A good show that could've been great.

The first 8 episodes of this are pure romcom excellence: captivating characters, strong chemistry (romantic, platonic, and familial) between the actors, lots of fizzy comedy seamlessly blended with more substantive, heartfelt moments and some smart analysis of workplace discrimination against single women. I also appreciated the refreshingly open and mature attitude the characters (with one notable exception) have towards their own sexual appetites. The way the show engaged with common romance tropes in a fresh, creative way was just a joy to watch. Another banger of a performance from Shin Min Ah, I can't praise her work highly enough in this.

However, things started to go awry in episode 9. The second ML acts like a hardcore jerk to the leads in episodes 9 and 10, and never makes amends. This made it hard for me to enjoy the cutesy scenes between him and the second FL, as winning as their performances were. While I enjoyed his performance for the majority of the drama because I think he did a good job with the comedy and his dryer, low key delivery contrasted well with Shin Min Ah’s effervescence, Kim Young Dae was flat and didn't emote well when he had to play angst. The other lead actors are so good the difference in their skill vs his was apparent to me. Finally, the the show had too much plot to cram into 12 episodes and as a result we were really short changed in terms of good couple moments between the leads. I was so annoyed they’re barely on screen together in the finale.

This is still an enjoyable watch but I'm a bit frustrated it faltered down the stretch.

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Fun, enjoyable and easy to watch!

I really enjoyed this drama from its start to its ending. It’s really fresh and heartwarming. The perfect series that boosts your mood after a tiring day!
It also has a satisfying ending, even though I hoped that secretary Yeo would feel more sorry about his really hurtful comments and that he wouldn’t brush it off with a smile… or maybe that’s just how his character is.
I really really liked Hee-sung and Yoon PD and how their relationship evolved and got more clear.
I also believe that the overall plot was explained well and it unfolded smoothly. Shout out to the writers for this amazing drama!!

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so balanced so good so peak...they hate it because they don't get it

This is romcom of the year for me along with lovely runner, one that I didn't expect to like much when I started but quickly fell in love with.

It had the perfect balance of comedy fluff angst sentiments it's almost too perfect, no episode seems unbearably draggy, all characters are fun and the plot does not take itself too seriously, as it shouldn't.

This is a kind of drama you watch after coming home from a long day and just feel giggly and satisfied! The various relationships portrayed in this romantic familial etc were the highlight for me

For example haeyoung and the sisters, relying on each other despite their differences, gyuhyun and his lucifer, who he couldn't bring himself to hate properly even when he was forced to, even haeyoung and her mother was so interesting. It was so bittersweet and sad for me when they showed how haeyoung was such a stranger to her mother, cause being both of them partially, still the love was very much there.

Watching Sangyi finally get a girl made me so giddy for no reason like hes so amazing!! please give him more lead roles. Shin Minah obviously shined as the star she was, and Kim Youngdae also played Jiuk like he was written just for him, the entire cast had great chemistry and comedic timing.

One thing that damped the experience for me(by a VERY tiny amount) was the freaks in the comment section of this every week though lol. Even before I type this review I saw a bunch of misogynists in the comments and it's just infuriating to see people would keep up with a whole series just to spew hate and slutshame women, well whatever goes around comes around, I hope the cast and team thrives and are proud of their work, they made a great drama.

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