julwa

I put off watching this drama for a long time. Even though so many people recommended it, I just couldn’t bring myself to start it. But I finally did, and now I completely understand why everyone praises it so highly. This drama is simply AMAZING. In every possible aspect—the story, the characters, the chemistry between them, and the cinematography. Every episode keeps you on the edge of your seat, eager to see what happens next. There isn’t a single moment where the story drags or becomes boring. And once you finish it, there’s almost nothing you can criticize as being poorly done. Maybe the ending leaves a slight sense of longing, and a few storylines could have been explored a bit more, but none of that affects my overall opinion of the drama. If anything, it only proves just how damn incredible it is.

The relationship between the main couple—Yun Se Ri & Ri Jeong Hyeok—was PERFECT. I fell in love with them both as individual characters, and I loved them even more together. Their relationship can be summed up in two words: TRUE LOVE. Watching them grow, open up to one another, and become better people because of each other was beautiful. They experienced genuine happiness for the first time when they were together. The support they gave each other and the way they constantly risked their lives for one another was incredibly moving. Their chemistry was also absolutely beautiful. I also loved the whole concept of fate bringing them together. I could write endlessly about them, but I’ll spare you. I’ll simply say this: their relationship was so beautiful that it made me cry from pure emotion—and I’m not someone who cries because I’m touched. The only thing I can criticize is the ending, which left me with a lingering sense of dissatisfaction that my mind simply can’t let go of. They only get to meet in Switzerland for two weeks every year? Is that really supposed to be the rest of their lives? I refuse to accept that. In my head, they moved there permanently. I genuinely wanted to see more of their happy life together in Switzerland.

As for the soldiers from the Fifth Company—their friendship was absolutely wonderful. Watching them always put a smile on my face, but it also made me cry. In my opinion, it’s the most beautiful friendship I’ve ever seen in a drama. Their time in South Korea definitely deserves special mention—it was fantastic. Pyo Chi Su and his constant bickering with Se Ri made me laugh countless times, and I also loved Geum Eun Dong’s gaming storyline with Jeong Hyeok while they were in South Korea. On top of that, I have to give special praise to Kim Ju Muk, who became my favorite out of all of them. And this is another reason why I don’t feel like I got a complete happy ending. The thought that they can never all meet again still breaks my heart. :( The same goes for the women in North Korea. They were all wonderful, and their relationship with Yun Se Ri was equally heartwarming. I’m also sad (though a little less) that they’ll never see each other again. At least we got that cosmetics scene as a small consolation.

Naturally, I also have to mention Jung Man Bok. I liked him from the very beginning, even though he initially belonged to the antagonists. Every time I looked at him, I felt more sympathy for him than for anyone else. That’s why I was so happy when he switched sides and started helping the others. I was even happier when he got a new job after returning home and we finally saw him genuinely happy. He absolutely deserved it. And the b*stard completely fooled me into thinking he had betrayed everyone again and gone back to helping the villains. His only flaw was that he couldn’t shoot to save his life. I also really liked Hong Chang Sik and Park Su Chan. There was just something about their personalities that made them incredibly likable, and their scenes made me laugh over and over again.

Now let’s move on to the second main couple—Seo Dan & Koo Seung Jun. I have to admit that for quite a long time, I couldn’t understand why people loved them so much. They actually annoyed me, especially Seo Dan. But eventually he stopped irritating me, and I even started to grow fond of him. Being with him also made Seo Dan grow on me. She stopped being an irritating, desperate woman obsessed with someone who didn’t love her back and became someone I genuinely enjoyed watching. Overall, they made each other much better people, and they both wanted to become better versions of themselves for each other. By the end, I was absolutely sobbing when he d*ed before they could have their happy ending. And I loved watching her take revenge on the people responsible for his d*ath.

There are also many family storylines throughout the drama, so I’ll cover them all together:
-> Yun Se Ri’s biological mother — Who exactly was she? What actually happened to her? Was she really her father’s mistress? So many questions and absolutely no answers.
-> Yun Se Ri’s stepmother (Han Jeong Yun) — I found her storyline incredibly interesting. I wish the drama had explored her mental illness in more depth and explained what caused it. Maybe it stemmed from her husband's betrayal, which is why she reacted so negatively to Se Ri’s love? Despite everything that happened between them, I honestly believe she loved Se Ri more than anyone else in that dysfunctional family. I was actually hoping that after everything they went through, they would grow even closer, because I genuinely felt sorry for her.
-> Yun Se Ri’s father (Yun Jeung Pyeong) — From beginning to end, I never felt even the slightest bit of sympathy for him. To me, he wasn’t a good person or a good father, and he played a huge role in shaping the awful people his sons became. Unfortunately, he never faced any consequences—not for that, nor for the way he ruined Seung Jun’s life.
-> The older brother and his wife (Yun Se Jun & Do Hye Ji) — Were they good people? No. For most of the drama, they were two incredibly annoying as*holes. Did they drive me insane? Absolutely. Their only redeeming quality was that they weren’t completely evil and eventually experienced some sort of redemption. Did that make me like them? No. But at least their scenes stopped making my blood boil.
-> The younger brother and his wife (Yun Se Hyeong & Ko Sang A) — I’m writing this review a week after finishing the drama, and you know what? My blood still boils every time I think about them. Two complete pieces of sh*t without a single redeeming quality. In my opinion, no one in this drama was more evil than those two, and no one pissed me off more (yes, they even surpassed Cho Cheol Gang). I honestly can’t decide which one I hated more. The heartless b*tch with no conscience, or the p*thetic c*ward who blamed everything on his wife because he couldn’t admit he was a terrible human being. I don’t even want to write more about them because just thinking about them raises my blood pressure. Nothing makes me happier than knowing they’re ro*ting in prison together.
-> Ri Jeong Hyeok’s mother (Kim Yun Hui) — She didn’t get much screen time, but to me she was the best parent in the entire drama. She genuinely loved her children, and their happiness was always her highest priority. She deserves special recognition among all the dysfunctional parents in this series.
-> Ri Jeong Hyeok’s father (Ri Chung Ryeol) — I have mixed feelings about him. Technically, he didn’t really do anything wrong, but from beginning to end something about him felt off, and to this day I’m not convinced he’s actually a good person. Cho Cheol Gang’s words also keep bothering me. Yes, he was manipulative, but I still wonder why Chung Ryeol never truly investigated his older son’s d*ath for all those years. Maybe the problem really did begin with him?
-> Ri Jeong Hyeok’s brother (Ri Mu Hyeok) — Every flashback made me grieve even more over the d*ath of such a genuinely good person. I would’ve given anything for him to have secretly survived and reunited with his brother so we could have seen them together in the present.
-> Seo Dan’s mother (Ko Myeong Eun) — Her personality irritated me beyond belief. She wasn’t necessarily a bad person, but her attitude annoyed me so much that I couldn’t help seeing her negatively. Ironically, she also became one of the reasons I started sympathizing with Seo Dan. I genuinely felt sorry for her for having a mother who pressured her into marriage, which only fueled Seo Dan’s desperation. Later on, her mother earned a small plus from me when she started supporting her and said that her happiness mattered most. But then she immediately ruined it again by trying to push another marriage onto her in the end, even though Seo Dan wanted to focus on her career because Seung Jun had been the love of her life.
-> Seo Dan’s father — Who was he? Is he still alive? Did he die? Once again, so many questions and no answers.
-> Koo Seung Jun’s parents — He only mentions them briefly throughout the drama, but I think that storyline was interesting enough that I really wish it had been explored further. It would have added much more depth to Seung Jun’s character, especially since his childhood clearly had a huge impact on the man he eventually became.

Finally, I saved the cherry on top: Cho Cheol Gang. Yet another absolute b*stard in this drama who constantly made my blood boil. Did he ever do a single good thing in his life? Well, I’ll give him this—he was an exceptionally well-written villain. I’m also curious about his past. Something must have happened to turn him into someone so utterly ruthless, with absolutely nothing left to lose. I also have mixed feelings about his d*ath. Right after finishing the drama, I was happy that he d*ed. But now, a week later, I honestly wish he had spent the rest of his life suffering both mentally and physically in North Korea instead.