This drama was very refreshing to watch. If you're sick of all the kdrama cliches, then give this one a try. A realistic representation of an actual relationship w/ just enough touches to give off that magical feel. No hidden mysteries, no overlapping misunderstandings, no tricks. Straightforward, very straightforward; creds to male lead.The chemistry b/w all cast was incredible and all characters were very well developed w/ interesting and just enough backstory. The dialogue was probably my favorite part. It was full of wits and cleverness, and props to both leads for the excellent delivery. I was very engaged with their convos, very natural and real; especially the first couple of episodes when they were just getting to know each other. They didn't talk in idioms, and you can imagine the conversation still going even after a scene is done, not just a build up to say that one catchy line that is later repeated in further episodes.The camera work was also something. There were no exaggerated replays nor hundreds of shots from different angles. It was, again, so natural. When something surprising happened you too are surprised but not because they added any special effects/zoom-ins or fancy camera flips. I wasn't a fan of the black and white though I can understand why some people enjoyed it as it served as a bookmark and made you pay more attention to that specific moment.Half way through the drama got a little bit boring but I kept up cuz every once in while they provide you with a very satisfying scene that breaks all cliches and you're pleased. The characters were also very consistent. They didn't do a sudden 180 when they got into the funk. Unlike most dramas where the leads, especially females, start off strong and hella charismatic then suddenly by ep9 they're dragged by everyone. Thats why this female lead was possibly one of my faves out there.I also like how everyone was doing their own thing. Usually in k dramas the leads start with a certain "profession" and then half way through it feels like everyone is just taking endless days off and you start forgetting what they actually did with the focus being shifted entirely to the drama and melancholy phase of cycle. They included the viewers in all of the leads professional lives and how seriously they took their jobs like one would do in real life. And, no! You won't just skip work or an important event to go do random acts of romance and god forbid drag the female lead by the arm from point A to point B stopping her from doing important ish.The inside to the writing world was real interesting. It shined light on so many hidden secrets and acts that are done in that business. The good and the ugly. Enjoyed it alot.Finally speaking, It's not like it was the best drama I've ever watched but man, I enjoyed it! The whole thing w/ the running club felt so anime and I didn't mind it one bit. The male lead is just drop dead gorgeous. And man those first couple of episodes makes my stupid mid-life-crisis-20something-ass heart flutter like crazy. I wish they dragged those scenes more. Tl;dr not the best but still a very solid drama.The dialogue is the best. Straightforward, realistic, hella cute.

Read More

Just Between Lovers was a drama that I delved into prepared for a lot of dark and depressing times. I wanted to experience that train of emotions eventually leading to healing. A therapeutic journey. And it was!.. yet not as much as I wanted it to.

This started out perfect but unfortunately, like a lot of other dramas, halfway through cliches took over and the main focus of the plot shifted towards the romance and added up struggles that I thought were unnecessary.

I wanted the plot to pay more attention to the menatal health aspects. What they suffered and went through obviously haunted them and affected their lives to great extents. But the plot, at some point, steered in a different direction and I was left hanging with no actual healing or acknowledgement of their state of mind.

The second lead annoyed me quite a bit. I had a hard time empathizing with him. All the other characters were better devolved than he was even though he was a lead. Makes me wonder if it was just the actor that wasn't able to deliver the part.

On the other hand Kang Doo was phenomenal. Junho is slowly becoming one of my favorites. Moon Soo was also amazing. At times she was a little frail but still. I don't think I came across a similar character in Kdrama. Kinda timid and cold, yet still passionate and courageous. The actress, it was her debut drama I heard, did amazing.


The grnadma, the Noona, the inn keeper and her son. Basically anyone associated with the main lead were lovable and beyond awesome.

Other than the second lead, all the cast was amazing and the chemistry was so natural. The characters were new and none of them fell under the cliche usual characters in Kdramas.

The romance was so sweet and I found myself hungry for the times Kang Doo and Moon Soo were on screen together. Other side plots were also exciting and interesting.

The cinematography was phenomenal. That rain scene with the two leads took my breath away. The special effects when that building fell down were a little meh but whatever . The music reached to the depth of my heart and clenched it.

This drama was set to be perfect and to a lot of people it was, but I'm very critical when it came to the things I like and and I can't let things slide easily.

All in all it was definitely worthy of all my time. I don't usually rewatch dramas, especially ones with such heavy plot, but Junho is really growing on me and I find myself wanting more of him.

Hopefully we'll see more dramas like this in the future. Ones that are more realistic and really delve into dark places. And hopefully next time around they won't shy away from seeing it through till the end properly.

Read More

This drama was very “matter of fact” for lack of better words. It sorts out the Good and Bad for you so you couldn’t even think twice to pick a side; the evil were unquestionably evil you couldn’t help but root for the main character.

First it traumatizes you exposing you to the absolute worst that a person can go through then lures you in, dangling that carrot of sweet, sweet revenge. Now you’re invested and can’t help but see this journey through. And for some reason this was exactly what I found to be wrong with it.

The drama relied heavily on your feelings of absolute hatred for the bullies and placed all of its bet on your desire to see them hit rock bottom ignoring everything else.

Everything was just too convenient. How people blindly sided with the FL, how crimes were casually committed and how, for some reason, people were more than O.K. with it and how there was a pattern to everything that after a while you could predict exactly what was going to happen next.

There were no apparent plot holes and the acting was superb but there was still something missing. The characters lacked depth and the plot, despite its heavy nature, did too.

Our FL, Dong Eun, despite going through the absolute worst of abuse, displayed some very random, nonsensical trauma responses that seemed to only arise at times of convenience.

Which brings me to the romance. I don’t see why it needed to be included in the first place. It was so forced and did not add up nor make sense when taking into account Dong Eun’s past.

It was almost like the writer woke up one day and was like, this is how things would go, no questions asked. Now let’s take them there no matter what. Lots of cringy moments were born thanks to this and I almost dosed off in a lot of parts.

But guess what? I still tuned in ‘cause I wanted to see how these motherf’ing bullies go down, which was also for some reason not as climactic as I would’ve like/thought it would be. All thanks to the writer’s “convenient” way of sorting matters.

So yeah, will I be rewatched this ever again? Don’t think so, but I still enjoyed it. Not the thriller I expected but still a fun watch as long as you turn off your brain and leave the character analysis at home.

I understand the buzz around this drama, but it could’ve been much better.

Read More

Conclusion: cheaters, aka Jeung In, are just unlikable like that

Went into this series right off the back of SITR and mainly for the sake of Hae In. I didn’t have that huge of expectations but this still managed to disappoint.

The story seemed like it was put together last minute and no amount of good acting could save the nonsensical plot, lines and actions of the characters; particularly the female lead.

Jeung In was portrayed as this strong, decisive confident person while in reality she was just self-cantered, self-absorbed, and anything but decisive.
And her inability to communicate properly was the cherry on top. It made any attempts at trying to portray her character as this private, independent kind of person who keeps to themselves fall flat as all she only managed to appear as was defensive and childish.

From her being passive aggressive to her EX instead of just breaking it off completely to her continuing to still meet up with him after each “break up”; being all moody screaming at him one day and inviting him to wine and dine the next, and dear lord don’t get me started on the cheating which for some reason everyone avoided calling it that. Making it seem like her actions were justified and instead shifting the blame to the male lead.

Speaking of which, Ji Hu’s character I did not mind but at times his relationship with his son seemed.. off and yet again I blame it on the bad writing. His feelings for Jeung In were unjustified as she was nothing but rude to him. Was he just desperate? I don’t know. Their whole relationship didn’t make sense; how they jumped from liking one another to being crazily in love, none of it made sense.

As for other characters, her older sister’s inability to just get a divorce and get it over with just annoyed me. I get it societal pressure and what not but, yet again, it must be the poor writing ‘cuz I did not feel none of it. As for the youngest sister, even though a lot of people seemed to like her, I couldn’t. She was imposing and immature and the way she kept on stalking that dude was just creepy.

Each and every episode was basically the same thing. The plot didn’t go nowhere. Characters would meet, converse in lines that, despite the good acting, felt extremely shallow, argue about struggles that were very difficult to relate to when you couldn’t make sense of the plot and that was pretty much it.

And while SITR was not my cup of tea when it comes to k-dramas, it was a well-written show and I overall enjoyed it. The fact that OSN was by the same director was even more disappointing.
Using the same themes and “concepts” like the osts for instance. Has the show been more well-written I wouldn’t have minded it, but as the episodes continued it felt just lazy.

As far as realism goes, they did get one thing right. People who cheat are damn unlikable.

But to give credit where credit is due, and after finishing this drama (skipped forward a lot of it), The female lead acting in silent moments; or when nothing seemed to be happening i.e. having food, lazying around the house was very natural and I honestly was impressed with a lot of these “just hanging around” scenes.

Yet again, the acting was never the problem.

Read More

Your classic case of a Romcom turned Murder Mystery

So I’m not even gonna lie, I found out about this drama through tiktok edits titled as the most wholesome drama of the season and saw some scenes that literally blew me away with how cute they were. So naturally I pick up the show and start watching.

The first episode is awesome, it’s amazing, it’s everything I wanted and expected. Our FL, weighed down by the harsh daily life of the city decides to move to the country side. Great! Everything is settled and arrangements are made and there she was at the beach of Angok basking in the sun. Watching that scene was the most liberating thing ever and you could literally feel your stress being washed away as she runs towards the water and dives in.

Episode 2 rolls around. Now we’re being introduced to the town and the dynamics of the people living there adding dimensions and depth to the story. We love to see it.

The FL meets the ML and instantly they are hooked on one another. Their feelings slowly develop and in each and every scene between them I could literally feel the butterflies.

And so I was hooked. It didn’t require much and I didn’t expect more. Things are slowly unfolding as they should.

As the FL is staying there, she decides she’ll starts journaling so we are baited with this plot point of her developing an interest in writing and all things are going as expected in this tranquil country side. You got your usual nosy kids, angry locals and small town secrets but nothing that can’t be conquered by the power of love and friendship.

Only problem is, as the story progresses, they decide that complicating the plot is the way to go. First of, they introduce the ML’s “dark past” which is alright. Nothing out of the ordinary. But only they decide that no, that’s not enough we need a convoluted murder case and an unnecessary plot twist and that’s where the show completely lost me.

Dae Bum, the ML, had enough of a “layered” backstory and a lot on his plate in the right-now to worry about. But they decided to bring up the past in the most ridiculous, unnecessarily complicated manner. There was no need for a second murder to happen for the first one to be “solved”. In fact, the first plot they went with was more than good enough. Why keep on adding on more and more plot points?

Especially when they dismissed and quickly went over his current present problems. Glossing over everything and quickly resolving it.

As for Yeo Reum who ran away from the toxic city life only to be chucked into this mysterious village of horrors. People complained about how much of a doormat she was but I thought to myself nothing wrong with a meek FL. Not everyone in life is a fighter. But nothing developed at all.

Everything they prepared us for regarding her character “arc” never unfolded. She did a magazine interview and that went nowhere I don’t even know why they bothered adding that in. In the end they teased how she’ll start writing a webtoon. Like, why couldn’t this just be the plot? Why did she have to be this detective Conan all of a sudden?

Her morals were questionable at times, and while I tried giving her the benefit of the doubt, her inconsistency at times confused me. E.g. yelling at Kim Bom for not wanting to be associated with her abusive alcoholic father and then getting annoyed at that mom for wanting to protect her DISABLED son who was falsely convicted for murder?! Make it make sense. All whilst completely forgetting about her brother who was unreasonably villainized and then completely erased from existence never to be mentioned again.

I tried to brush some things off as being part of the “culture” and nature of a small town village but I couldn’t at times. Especially when she, as the main lead, was supposed to represent the opposite of those traditional expectations.

Many of the plot points were left undiscovered. Kim Bom’s childhood friend, her father and his alcoholism (and apparently gambling addiction, too now). Speaking of Kim Bom, she had the most tragic and dramatic plot out of everyone in that show which was poorly executed.

Whenever the writer was at loss on how to mobilize the plot, boom! they threw a tragedy at Kim Bom and that’s how it went. And DON’T get me started on how simply Jae Hun just went and came back from The States. Ridiculous!

Sung Min being a single dad. Like, where’s the mom? In this gossipy small town no mention of her at all?
Ji Young absolutely hating the country side only to decide on a whim that, no! She actually doesn’t. Like, what?

The billiards club and how Sung Min’s dad became the owner. Dae Bum’s family position in Angok and just Dae Bum in general. How he grew up without his parents and what actually happened between him and that professor. He remained an enigma to the very last moment.

And the god damn pacing. How much time went by? Between the multiple time leaps and Yeo Reum packing her bags to leave every other day it was impossible to discern. At times it felt like days other times it felt like months.

And the romance! Where did it go? We never went past the awkward infatuation stage which was cute until the show approached its end and I grew frustrated. The most we got was some hand holding UGH! On the other hand, Kim Bom got a dramatic passionate kiss under the rain. Absolute clownery.

And the beach! You’d think now that she lives by it she’ll be there every other day but, no! I mean, I can’t blame her she was too busy solving crimes.

I was never set up for this amount of disappointment in my life. The last thing I expected was for this to turn into a murder mystery show. Other than the cute moments between the two leads, their chemistry and endearing conversations, everything else seemed to go wrong. It was a shame to see this go to waste especially with how exceptional everyone’s performance was.

I’m convinced something went wrong with either the budget, ratings or writers because to have this easy of a plot then f’ it up this bad made zero sense.

Read More

This drama had SO MUCH potential but unfortunately so many things just went south and lead to major disappointments. The plot was very unique, or at least the focus on the 1930s era was. I've yet to see a korean drama that was set at that time, and I just WISHED they had stuck w/ that because it was, start to finish, flawless. It was perfect and it would've easily stood on its own. The present-day storyline was so forced and awkward even tho it started out alright but later on I found myself really done w/ it. It almost felt like the writer thought that the 30s plot was too heavy and serious so he/she threw in that twist to make it sorta lighter. It was awkward and every time they talked about their past life nonchalantly I cringed a little.Everything from the comeradery to romance to just plain random actions all made so much more sense in their "past life" and the character development, tho was portrayed in little scenes, was phenomenal, and goes off to prove how much effort was put in writing. But the "present" was so bland and the romance between the leads and how their feelings developed made no sense. There was just something wrong with the pasing. And maybe if equal parts were given to both eras with focus on their main purpose of writing the novel and remembering their past life would've been better. Instead of adding fillers and a lot of meaningless plot twist dwelling in the "present" and repeating flashbacks.Speaking of the leads; the female lead was nothing special at all. They tried to fill her present-time character's background w/ all of these events and traumas but it just falls flat a couple of episodes later. Even in the "past" I wasn't that impressed w/ her performance but it was decent. It wasn't the acting as much as it was just a character I didn't like. But yet again it was well developed and understandable.Unlike many, I actually liked the buzz haircut on the male lead, something fresh and new. His "past" character was phenomenal and he performed so well along side the other two. He also did really well in the "present" I just blame the writing.The second lead did wonderful. He was the same all throughout, and not in a bad way. Some how it felt like he was the main character and I enjoyed his scenes so much. He brought in a very natural humor to the story and kept things exciting whenever it got dull. Despite the obvious gaps in the writing quality b/w the two worlds, the transitions were so smooth and top notch. And the sets and cinematography were wonderful. It also had one of the best kissing scenes out there.Despite all what I've said, I really liked this drama. I made an account specifically just to write this review cuz I was just that touched with it. I could almost swear that the 1930s was first written on it's own, it was so good. Do I recommend this? Highly! It was very refreshing and new. The experience was like no other and I just desperately want a remake even tho it's impossible. I will definitely rewatch this in the future. Maybe lower expectations will help me enjoy it more.

Read More