Night_Lore

Because This Is My First Life feels very different from most of the dramas I’ve watched. I honestly think the writing is some of the best I’ve seen in a K-drama. It was thoughtful, emotional, and surprisingly relatable without trying too hard to be dramatic.

Things I loved:

1. The slow burn between Se-hee and Ji-ho

I loved how well their slow burn was done. Their relationship took its time, and I found myself rooting for them more and more as the story went on. Nothing about their relationship felt instant, which made the emotional payoff so much more satisfying.

2. The reconciliation scene

The scene where Ji-ho came back and Se-hee thought he was dreaming absolutely broke me. The way they looked at each other, and the way he started crying, was so emotional. After watching him stay so composed and emotionally closed off for most of the drama, it was really nice to finally see that vulnerable side of him. Even the scenes where he got angry were interesting because we rarely saw him openly express what he was feeling. After watching him suppress his emotions for so long, seeing him finally let everything out was incredibly satisfying.

3. The way Se-hee treated Ji-ho

One of my favorite things about Se-hee was how considerate he was toward Ji-ho. I especially liked that when his ex came back, his main concern was Ji-ho and how the situation might affect her.

He also didn’t make moves on Ji-ho until he was sure of himself. I’m so tired of male leads who stay confused about their feelings and end up making the female lead suffer because of it. Se-hee was quiet and emotionally reserved, but he always respected Ji-ho and her decisions. That was probably the best thing about him. He was genuinely a good guy, and I was happy to see him finally heal from his past and allow himself to be happy again.

4. Ji-ho being soft without being weak

I really liked Ji-ho as a female lead. She was gentle, quiet, and soft, but that never made her weak. When something truly mattered to her, she stood her ground and made her own decisions. I liked that her character broke the stereotype that a soft female lead also has to be passive or helpless.

5. The meaning of Se-hee’s house

I think Se-hee eventually sold his house because he simply couldn’t bear to live there anymore after everything that happened. That made the ending even more meaningful to me because he and Ji-ho eventually built a home of their own together. It was a beautiful reminder that having a house and having a home are not necessarily the same thing. Home is where the heart is.

6. Watching the characters go through an entire journey

By the end, I really felt like I had gone through a whole journey with these characters. I especially loved watching Se-hee and Ji-ho grow and change throughout the drama.

Even the smaller moments showed how much Se-hee had changed. Watching someone as economical and careful with money as him start spending unnecessarily on Ji-ho was so funny and cute. It was only 16 episodes, but somehow it left a deeper impression on me than a lot of longer dramas.

I also prefer watching dramas in one go, and I think that made this one hit me even harder because I could stay immersed in the characters and their emotions from beginning to end.

7. The poem and literary references

I loved the references to poetry and literature throughout the drama. They fit the characters and their situations so well and added another layer to the story. They didn’t feel like they were included just to make the drama sound deep. They actually connected to what the characters were going through and made certain scenes more meaningful.

8. CEO Ma Sang-goo

Sang-goo was easily one of my favorite characters. He was mature, grounded, understanding, and surprisingly emotionally intelligent. I really liked the way he approached people and handled difficult situations. He was just a genuinely likable character.

9. The social and economic themes

I also really liked how the drama touched on Korea’s economic changes and showed how the circumstances people grew up in affected their lives as adults. It helped explain their attitudes toward money, housing, careers, relationships, and marriage. Those details made the characters’ struggles feel much more grounded in reality.

10. The cat

And obviously, I have to mention the cat. It was so cute. Every time it appeared on screen, I just wanted to pet it.

Things I absolutely despised:

1. Ho-rang and Won-seok’s relationship

I absolutely hated their relationship, especially the fact that they got back together in the end. Ho-rang was so fucking annoying to me. Every time she came on screen, my blood boiled.

I found her incredibly selfish and toxic in that relationship. She wanted marriage badly, which is completely fine, but the way she constantly pressured Won-seok about it was not. It felt like she was so focused on what she wanted that she barely listened to what he was actually telling her.

2. Ho-rang’s ending

This was probably one of my biggest problems with the ending. Everything worked out a little too perfectly, especially for Ho-rang. I would have much rather seen her stay single for a while and actually reflect on her choices, the way she treated Won-seok, and the mistakes she made in their relationship.

Instead, after the breakup, she started seeing another genuinely nice guy and ended up involving him in a situation where her feelings for Won-seok clearly weren’t resolved. That annoyed me even more. If she still loved Won-seok that much, I don’t think she needed another relationship in between just to realize it.

I really wish her storyline had focused more on personal growth before putting her and Won-seok back together. Their reunion would have felt much more satisfying to me if I had actually seen her reflect and change first.

3. The final bus scene

I really wish the last bus scene had been only Se-hee and Ji-ho. That place already had meaning for the two of them, so it would have been much more emotional to end their story there together.

I don’t remember the bus having any particular significance for the other characters, so having everyone there felt unnecessary to me. It took away some of the intimacy from what could have been a really beautiful final moment between Se-hee and Ji-ho.

Overall, Because This Is My First Life left a much bigger impression on me than I expected. I definitely had my issues with some of the side stories, especially everything involving Ho-rang and Won-seok toward the end, but they weren’t enough to take away from everything I loved about it.

The writing, the slow burn, Se-hee and Ji-ho’s character development, and all those small emotional moments made the drama feel very complete. By the time it ended, I didn’t feel like I had simply watched these characters for 16 episodes. It felt like I had watched them actually live, change, get hurt, heal, and slowly figure out what they wanted from life.