For all those saying that it's insane for her to have been mistaken for a guy by everyone, I disagree. Unless someone is actively looking to see a particular gender, I completely believe that anyone looking would assume she's a guy. Unlike most dramas where a female lead is trying to pass for male, she didn't do the whole awkward "Look at me, dude, man, bro, I'm totally a guy, just... look at my... Um... I can spit far and fart! See? I'm a guy!"
Instead she just kind of lived life. Like, other than binding, she didn't exactly go out of her way to convince anyone of anything. She didn't change her speech, behavior, or anything like that. She held herself in a way which girls get called out for all the time for being too boyish, and she had a haircut that didn't just look like a girl wearing a bad wig. Do I think the ML wasn't straight? Yes, I don't think he would conceivably have fallen for her as a guy otherwise, especially considering he was wholly attracted to her and wanted to go farther while under the impression she was male. Buuut sexuality's a spectrum and I applaud the character for coming to terms with his attraction to a guy in the first place, and for the side characters being supportive and all that jazz.
I have rewatched this multiple times and will likely watch it multiple more times. I genuinely love the acting in this and how for once in a drama the FL doesn't go over the top dramatic in her "I'm Totally a Dude" shtick and instead just continues to act naturally as just a bit of a rough girl. Anyone who says she's obviously a girl is only saying that because they know her, because I guarantee if you saw her looking like that in public you'd either assume she's a guy or at least stop to question her gender. It's only obvious she's female to the viewers who know or know the actress from other works where she presents as more feminine.

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Watch the Movie First

TBH I liked it, and it was cool to see how they transitioned the mini series into having the vibe of it having been intentionally made as a movie, but to me it kind of made it feel more low budget? Like the mini series production value felt like your run of the mill mini series production value. Made into the movie, however, it just felt cheaper.

Almost all scenes had more white noise where there were previously voice overs, and just noise pollution in general instead of a clean sound. Plus the music was randomly loud and overbearing, especially adding on to how it didn't always fit the scene to begin with.

In some ways, taking out the voice overs gave more room for the audience to simply read into the characters' feelings from the actors expressions (which were always on point, might I add). However, there were some things which I feel like I gained from the voice overs in the mini series. With them, I still enjoyed the actors expressions and all, and they weren't there just to add exposition and move the story along (obviously, if the plot was still able to function after removing them) but I just felt they gave us more insight into what they were thinking at that moment, instead of leaving everything more ambiguous and only being able to see the pain and longing, and not the reason behind it or the words going through their minds. (i.e. Kang Gook staring at Tae Joo kissing the girl. In the movie he just looks hurt. In the mini-series he says it's because as a bodyguard he needs to always be watching him, and you can further hear the hurt in his words, which I feel just add a whole other layer to what we're already seeing).

All in all, I did enjoy the movie. I enjoyed seeing them rework scenes and editing to give it more of a movie feel, and how they went with slightly different story-telling choices than they had previously. I do, however, recommend watching the movie first. Not because it's better, but exactly the opposite. I feel like you'd have more satisfaction from loving these characters and making your own assumptions before watching the mini-series and learning even more from their actual thoughts. Kind of like reading a book a second time and finding all the foreshadowing you'd missed previously.

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I've seen this multiple times now and I still love it. Sometimes I have to pause when I know the cringe is coming, but it's still amazing. It's not common that a drama actually makes me laugh out loud, but I absolutely love this one. It's one of my go-to comfort shows, where when I just wanna curl up and watch something sweet this is one of my usual fall backs.

I love the leads and their entire dynamic, with Si Tu Mo not just being the ditzy to Gu Wei Yi's smart, but instead having an equal relationship with just as much give and take. Gu Wei Yi is portrayed as intelligent, but not overbearingly in all aspects of life like you'd get from most smart male leads. He's also not arrogant about it, once again, like most smart male leads would be, and never puts Si Tu Mo down or makes her feel any lesser for not having his level of intelligence, as he seems to also understand in just how many ways her intelligence can be superior to his own in other fields of life.

They had a lot of cute scenes together that truly showed their dynamic, and I really am a sucker for whenever stereotypically "mature" characters get the chance to act like complete children, which they both do a lot. They each show different layers of themselves and their own maturity through their actions for each other and in general. Them calling a rumba their child and referring to themselves as its parents, them having fun in a ball pit, them having a watermelon eating competition to determine who likes it more, him hiding her food in a high place when she's ignoring him so she has to talk to him, but then also their level of communication where they complain about each other before ultimately apologizing 30 seconds later and forgoing fights which in other shows could have spanned multiple episodes.

I think it's just kind of refreshing to see what's actually a pretty healthy relationship. Not too much excess drama, no one TRULY tearing them apart (a little bit from side characters, but there's no backstabbing or plotting, just a touch of good old fashioned jealousy which encourages the characters to acknowledge their feelings for each other). Strong communication where they both have their boundaries and if Si Tu Mo tells him not to touch her, to let go of her from a hug, or just in general she doesn't want to go any further, he back off. No forcing her to do anything, no uncomfortable "Was that sexual assault...?" no saying he just couldn't help himself, he lets go, he takes a step back. He proceeds to actively talk out what's happening even though you can tell they're both uncomfortable talking about everything, especially him at times, he's not the most talkative person ever. But they still proceed to talk it out and maybe hug after if they're both okay with it.

All in all, I just love their innocent dynamic and respect of consent, and highly recommend this to anyone looking for a cute, completely uncontroversial show to brighten their day.

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