LilMeggs
San Jose, CA
For me personally, this drama came off like a Saturday morning kids drama you would watch with your kids. It was silly and light but had a lot of mature jokes and content (such as one of the first scenes we see when Song Soo Jung goes back to the past and is in line with 3 other men awaiting punishment getting different appendages cut off.) Maybe it is because I recently saw Gong Seung Yeon in My Introverted Boss and disliked her character and transferred those feelings over to this drama OR maybe it was because I looked up Lee Jong Hyun after watching the first episode and knowing what had happened in 2019, that I just didn't vibe with these characters whatsoever. But I did enjoy On Dal's character and his relationship with Soo Jung. It was just a very quirky drama that I feel like you either will love or hate. Out of all the characters though, I feel like the Princess was the one who went through the most, but hey...she wanted that storybook romance.
The first half of the drama was a little painful to get through, but once the mains start to understand their feelings for one another and act on them, the story picks up, especially the last few episodes. I think the last few episodes def made me give this a higher score.
I believe my favorite character would be a tie between Mu Myung and Go Il Yong. Maybe Prince Ko, eldest brother of the Ko family (Go Yong) a little more. What can I say, I love a good villain even though...the king was a bigger villain to the mains. I liked Mu Myung because she was this badass warrior who only had loyalty to the princess, but was annoying because he believed he was worthless. I'm down with that. I loved Prince Ko because while every character jumped around between being silly and serious, not knowing what kind of drama this was, Prince Ko was always flamboyantly self-centered who thought he was the most badass general but was actually all bark and no bite. I loved his wild laugh that fit the mood of the drama perfectly, and strangely, loved his interactions with Soo Jung. Without him, this drama would be trash. Sorry, not sorry. Even when he had the upper hand, no one was really worried.
As for the ending - I got it...but felt like there could have been more explanation. The last few episodes were good, that I felt a little disappointed with how they did the ending. The ending was good and sweet, but I feel like they didn't have to give it to us in the last 2 minutes of the final episode with zero explanation or how. But I guess if it a quirky Saturday morning kids dramas, it isn't neccesary.
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11/10 Johnny + Dilraba Chemistry
This drama reminded me of a mix between all the powerful girl boss moments of Dilraba's drama Sweet Dreams and Nice to Meet You. To be completely honest, this drama was a very stereotypical 45 episode Cdrama in terms of the plot, BUT it had a lot of western television drama vibes with its characters. Such as, I have NEVER seen a C drama nor K drama where the characters were super touchy and hanging all over one another. I thought touching was against the law in these dramas! It was really refreshing to watch a drama that had the elements of a cdrama, as well as the romance we see in westernized tv. This drama reminded me of Nice to Meet You simply because the two main female leads were designers, Zhou Fang in clothing design, and QQ in jewelry design, where their dreams are to open up a customization section. Plus, there were hella people behind the scenes trying to ruin Fang's career, such as the other drama, simply because of her relation to Song Lin. It reminded me of Sweet Dreams simply because I felt like Dilraba's character in this drama was all the good elements as well as her boss lady kickass vibes that weren't explored enough in Sweet Dreams.I am not going to lie, I am a little biased, as I am a huge fan of Dilraba, and love her dramas, even though, most of them aren't that very good. So I was happy to give this one a higher score as this one is def my favorite of hers. But her chemistry with Johnny is what made me want to give this drama a 9. I would give their chemistry an 11/10 honestly because it seemed like they were a real-life couple.
But I ultimately gave this a 9/10 because it was just too long and I wasn't into the side characters. This 45 episode drama seemed to drag on towards the end. Yes, the ending was super cute and I teared up a little, but there was way too much filler even though, this drama was supposed to be about two people being dragged through the mud, but come out on top. And it goes hand in hand with my feelings about the side characters. I feel like QQ and Yu Lin were main characters in this drama, and if you cut out their bull crap, the drama would be shortened in half. Don't get me wrong, I loved QQ as a friend, and Yu Lin was an adorable person and friend, but as a couple...yuck. QQ was super back and forth all the time, which annoyed me for being such a strong character in every other way. Then we have Yu Lin, who was a cute puppy dog the whole drama, until the end when he would rather lie and put QQ in a weird position, rather than stand up for his relationship with her. It was annoying, BUT I did appreciate that the writer didn't force any relationship because it was a drama and everyone should be happy.
Overall, I am happy I watched this drama, and I will 100% rewatch episodes here and there. I rewinded so much watching this drama the first time, just to see the hot and heavy Dilraba and Johnny moments. Another point, SO MANY insinuated sex scenes and I AM HERE FOR IT!
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This review may contain spoilers
Have you ever known something was going to be terrible, but decide to watch it anyway? I least I was prepared, which is the long run made it a little more enjoyable. It was so bad that it was actually funny. The main female lead was very stubborn for her situation and kind of airheaded for not realizing that she was an outcast in her family until she is literally being held, hostage. The main male lead was wishy-washy, where he would act like a gruff in front of her, but behind the scenes, he would help her out. It was a weird insta-love for him which is wild, especially after the first wedding scene. Her mother was terrible, yet she seemed to have a little bit of a conscious when everything was going down at the end, but her biological daughter was just batshit insane, where instead of telling her no, she was like, "I don't want my only biological daughter to get in trouble even though I know this is wrong." But it made the movie enjoyable with the extremes. But I hated the ending, where homeboy literally met homegirl so many times and couldn't tell that she was the real maid. What a slap to the face. Was there not a change in her actions or attitude when you got your eyesight back? Or are you blinded, but this time, with love? I lost respect for the main lead at the end of all of this. I would have kicked and screamed before forgiving him. Was this review helpful to you?
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When I was first getting into dramas back in 2018, I had this one on my list when I first saw a clip of the the 3 mains together, intoxicated in a single bed, one cuddling Ro Won, while the other, I assumed was the main male lead, staring deeply into her eyes, and caressing her face. I was like...I really want to know what is happening in this scene, but never was able to find it, until 2020, when they decided to add it to Netflix. I dropped everything to binge watch it, and it was A LOT different than I thought it was going to be able. It was a good combination, back and forth between a very silly stereotypical drama, but then they would have serious scenes at dealt with suicide, self harm, and fears. It was nice to have that comic relief, but at the same time, it confused me. For example, the plot. About a year ago, my roommate had watched this drama on a sketchy site, and when I started watching this drama last week, she told me that there were so man twists and turns that she never saw coming. And I agree with her, there were a lot of twists, but I felt like the writer/director was VERY obvious about what was going to play out. It took until episode 5 for me to understand what was happening - episode 5 was the "flashback" episode, that told is what had happened to Ro Won's sister before her death. But even in that hour flashback, I was still getting confused based on how Ro Won's sister acted about everyone. It got to a point where I was like...ok...I mean yes, that makes sense...but it doesn't, but for the sake of wanting to understand the story at this moment, yeah sure. Let's go with that. Maybe I am just over analyzing everything. But when it came down to all the twists at the end, I was happy that I wasn't insane and overthought everything.
As for the characters, I loved Eun Hwan Ki, and the actor who played him. It was awesome seeing someone who struggled with social anxiety in a main role. I believe it was a symptom of being an introvert, but magnified because of believing it was his fault for his secretary's suicide. I identified so much whenever he would over think in the simplest of situations, and thinking about the possible outcomes, and once you decide on the lesser of the evils, you think about how everything could go wrong, and then you end up doing something completely different and wrong in that situation. That was one of the things I didn't like about the drama, but also did - Eun built up is relationships with everyone one by one, slowly...so we didn't really see anyone standing up for him or helping him until the second half of the drama. And even then, maybe middle second half of the drama. It hurt my heart seeing how closed minded people were being and assuming the worst, but I guess that is a drama cliche. It just hurt how long it lasted. Like yes, if people thought of me like that, I would hide myself from the world too. But when he finally came out, he was the cutest, dorkiest character ever, and I loved him with all my heart. Well until the ending where he was so used to internalizing everything and blew up. And it sucks, but oh, I can identify with that too. It is hard when you want to be with someone or hangout with someone who is completely different from you in the way you act and speak. But it is interesting with a character like Chae Ro Won, who did an amazing job in her role btw, who I had a love ate relationship with. They definitely played her as a young bubbly extrovert who, when it mattered, was an MVP support system for Eun and his team, but in normal everyday situations, was airheaded and really didn't think about what others thought. I cannot atest to her actions as I am not an extrovert by any means, but I did see a lot of similarities between her and my roommate who oozes extrovertness. Yes...that is a new word now. But maybe that is an introverted person's view of extroverted people. Who knows. I just had a love hate relationship with her because her character went from close minded to caring for him and helping him and taking the time to understand him to then again being closed minded because hey we are in love. Other than that, the actress did an amazing job, and it seemed like she was super natural in her role.
As for the other characters, I liked them, but I was indifferent, except for the characters who played a part in Ro Won's sister's suicide or thought they did. They were "traumatized" that it took them 3 years and a lot of pushing for them to realize, hey...maybe I'm putting the blame on the wrong person and maybe we should talk about it so my relationships with myself and other people can be healthy? It made me want to dislike a lot of characters, but I guess at the end, they redeemed themselves. And with that, I didn't care for a lot of side relationships.
Overall, I think an 8.5 is fair. I enjoyed it, but it also hurt my heart to see Eun misunderstood. But in the end, he did the best he could in order to protect everyone else, even if he had to be the one who went down. I think I couldn't give it anything higher because the time jumps and present time with flashbacks weren't super obvious and I got confused a few times. Also, it was nice to see them have "regular" problems after everything settled, but at the same time, I feel like there was a little bit too much weight that went into these problems vs Eun being apart of the reason her sister killed herself. Like you jumped back super quick and forgave him because you knew he was a great guy, but screw him because he didn't write me a chirstmas card. Like...what? The gravity of these situations are equal and you can talk about this without exploding. It was a turnoff as I thought they would be the most mature couple out of everyone, yet that was not he case.
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I am not sure how to do this review any justice,I loved how this drama wasn't a typical "coming-to-age" story. I feel that a lot of the cta stories are very cookie cutter and deal with how high schoolers deal with the struggles of making friends, fitting in, getting good grades, maintaining relationships with friends, as well as learning self love (and most likely the love of the popular boy.) It is very cookie-cutter. So I normally don't go for these kinds of dramas, BUT ultimately decided to because I love Janice Wu and her love interest played Ice Hockey for their university. I love hockey and thought that this drama might be different as we usually see these coming to age stories with shy average women. Tang Xue (Janice) was far from that stereotype. She was very strong inside and outside and stands up for the "weak." Even if she doesn't know if she'll be successful in "saving" them, she still tries, as she emphasized the saying, "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take." She was a tad airheaded when it came to her romantic relationships, but she never did anything on purpose to hurt someone.
I also loved how this drama was a love letter to Chinese winter sport athletes (as well as non-winter sport ones), specifically their ice hockey team (both men and women) qualifying for the 2022 Winter Olympics, disguised as a simple coming to age romance drama between a woman speed skater and the university's "Ice God," who happened to be childhood "friends." I like to think of it the same as Janice's last drama, "The Brightest Star in the Sky," as I believed it was a publicity stunt to "show the life and struggles" of Z.Tao trying to make a comeback in China. I loved it nonetheless, and that also goes for this drama as well. It was unique as it was told from the point of view of athletes. I always feel that coming to age stories and dramas are very cookie cutter, as they made the main actress a universal average joe of a woman so the audience can relate to her in some way or another. This drama was not like that, as they decided to choose to be more specific with all their characters, and I honestly loved this moreso because I was able to identify with these characters as I was also an athlete all my life, and played in college. Not to the extent of being a world record breaker like Tang Xu, or an "Ice God" like Li Yu Bing, but in a way, being an athlete comes with its own struggles that we all face.
And going off of struggles, it was nice seeing how everyone kind of represented a different person and their struggles of being an athlete and wanting to follow their passions. Tang Xue was a world record breaking athlete growing up until she injured herself at a competition, that ultimately discouraged her from continuing to speed skate. It wasn't until she got to college that she was reminded of her passion, and she had to make the choice of either forever quitting or train to maybe get back to where she used to be. Li Yu Bing's major physical struggle didn't happen until the later episodes, so I am not going to talk about that because it is a spoiler, BUT he did suffer internally throughout the 40 episodes - even though Li Yu Bing was the school's "Ice God" he still had a voice (an 8 year old self) always in the back of his head filling his mind with doubt that he wasn't good enough. Which made him a little impulsive. We only really see it in the beginning of the drama and at the end, but I think he had it hard because the few struggles he did face, were pretty harsh. Then we have my favorite character, little lamb Yu Yan. Yu Yan had transferred to the university to help bring their ice skating team win. Unfortunately, Yu Yan had become a zombie in his own life, being told what to do, where to go, and what to eat. But even though he struggled to find his own passion in Ice Skating, he was a HUGE motivator to other people including Tang Xue when she decided to train again. It was almost like he gave the perfect advice of what passion was and how to build on it to make you a better person and athlete, but it was hard for him to follow his own advice. His story was one of the more difficult ones to watch, but I was super proud of him at the end of the drama. Of course we have minor characters Wei Wei, who only wanted to be the very best, and Jiang Shi Jia, who just wanted to play hockey after graduation, but at what cost. I also liked how they threw in other non-athletic minor characters such as Tang Xue's best friends who were in the medical and veterinary science field as well as Tang Xue's cousin and Tang Xue's old love interest who are both in the journalism broadcasting field.
We do get a lot of the cliche coming to age conflicts and villains in this drama with love triangles, but I liked how the mains had one thing in common, which was their passion for their sports, that they all understood a common struggle and knew how to comfort one another as well as be there for them. It was very comforting and nostalgic for me to watch as I remember the struggles I faced as a team player and a captain. The struggles of figuring out if that sport was something I wanted to train for and continue after an injury, or after graduation. I enjoyed this drama a lot more than I thought I was going to because even though it was a cheesy webdrama with extreme situations at times, they got the feelings and struggles of what it is to be an athlete right.
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Like what they said in the podcast, and in my own words and understanding, this drama was a classic Netflix drama, full of emotion and intensity, with a big budget, and filming locations all over the world including Switzerland. But even they though drama was intense and had some "real world issues," the drama was written like a drama, and the characters acted like they knew they were in a Korean Drama; even though this drama has an intense plot of a South Korean heiress "crash landing" into North Korea and trying to find her way back home, while trying to hide out and not reveal her identity and people trying to kill her, the characters and the mood of the drama was very carefree and no one took one another too seriously. And it made the drama very enjoyable to watch. Like yes, people are trying to kidnap others or try and kill them, but we can take a break and have a family dinner. I think my favorite point the podcast made, or observation, is how Se Ri must have been a college long distance running champion because she was outrunning ALL these special Ops North Korean soldiers in the beginning. Just things like that made it funny and enjoyable as it wasn't realistic, but you didn't care because you got some comic relief in a serious situation.
I also LOVED all the characters. I wanted to be friends with Captain Ri and everyone in his company. The actor who played Captain Ri and actress who played Se Ri genuinely seem like amazing people in the drama and in real life. I also didn't think this day would come, but Captain Ri's company have finally won it all as my favorite gang of minor characters - sorry Love020 and Oh My Venus. But what was funny, is that one of my friends who watched this drama before I did, said I would love it because Captain Ri had very similar attributes as Zhao Nai in Love020 as well as the relationship with the minor characters.
The only people or person I did not like in this drama was Dan, as she added NOTHING to the drama except for maybe helping prove how much Ri loved Se Ri. But other than that, I didn't care for her character...but this drama was annoying and made you care about her at the end with certain events that I am still heartbroken over. Other than that, I loved everyone else including the second lead Jun who despite being a South Korean criminal for stealing from Se Ri's second brother, was a very likable character. He was funny and witty and selfless even though...you know...he stole hella money.
Other than what I have already said, I don't think I can say anything else. This is on the top of my list, a much watch for anyone who loves Korean dramas or wants to get into them. It was filmed very well and the soundtrack was to die for. I wouldn't even call myself a fan of classical music, but whoever handpicked each song, did an amazing job of conveying the mood and the emotions of all the characters. Like literally, my next mission is finding all the pieces that were in the drama. But I think my favorite part of this whole drama was all the "extra" scenes at the end of the episodes explaining some backstory of what had happened in the past and I think I cried through almost all of them. Even though I keep saying that this drama didn't take itself seriously, as they kept leaving everything to "fate," but I don't think I have cried and been heartbroken and just generally as emotional watching any other drama. It had an incredible balance between comedic and serious.
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This review may contain spoilers
Before I write this review, I had to go back and reread what I had said about the first season because it is hard to not compare the two. This season takes place in an alternate reality with similar background stories, but in the universe, Xia Lin had gotten her big break the night her and Mr Ling (she kept calling him that so that is what I am going to call him) met for the first time, when she bought his birthday cake on an off year he decided to celebrate his birthday. Two years later, Xia Lin becomes a B list celebrity when she runs into Mr Ling at a networking event, and their story starts there as she agrees to sign an engagement contract that would "save" her reputation after a fake scandal threatened her career. We do we see a lot of similar parallels from season one, but tiny ones. On the top of my head, I remember a scene about her "drowning" in a pool to get his attention and we get Pidan back this season and Mr Ling's "fear" of dogs. Of course we have some of the bigger plot twist and turns from season one, but some of these twists were reversed.The drama by itself - it was extremely funny and I like their relationship in season one, they mains had amazing chemistry. I enjoyed how Mr Ling and Xia Lin's characters also were reversed in a way. I loved seeing Xia Lin as a serious actress who knew what she wanted and stuck to it, while we saw Mr Ling take on more of cute and fun role, but still a badass businessman. This season, I believe, took more of a simple yet cute approach to the dramatic soapy drama in season one. Yes, we still see multiple villains, but the way Mr Ling took care of everything, was with trust and with a goofy smile on his face unlike in season one, where he was super stoic and serious and never really knew what was on his mind except for his love for Xia Lin. Which is probably why I really liked his season. In season one, you did start to learn more about Mr Ling and start to fall in love with this mysterious businessman who was good at what he did and got everything he wanted, but then you find out about how he falsified medical records in order to get Xia Lin to sign an engagement contract and we are expected to forgive him after an episode or two. In this season, though, the only bad thing Mr Ling did was not tell her that he knew he beforehand and took advantage of a situation. It was a relief knowing that Mr Ling was a genuine guy...or more genuine than season one. As for Xia Lin...it was a little more complicated for me. I liked seeing her as a badass actress who always stood up for herself and knew what she wanted, but as I said previously, her and Mr Ling's roles almost switched this season, where we saw a very suborn Xia Lin who only looked at the surface when it came to things, and always went with her first reaction when making a decision. And I am not saying this was a bad thing or it made her a bad person. I just felt that she was very unforgiving or unwilling to try things out because he assumed it was going to be bad or a disaster. It got a little annoying towards the end, but it could have been a lot worse...like Mr Ling in season one.
Speaking of characters, I also really enjoyed how this season addressed one of my biggest concerns - the side characters. In season one, I didn't feel any loyalty to care about any of the sides except for Chu Yan and Fei Fei. A little bit for Wen Li....but no so much. In season two, they made these characters into mains. I was happy that they basically made Fei Fei and Wen Li's romance as important as Mr Ling and Xia Lin's. I also loved the update Wen Li got by actually having a personality in this drama. It was refreshing seeing him take charge and have a personality as I felt like him and Fei Fei were actually compatible from the get go. Fei Fei was more-or-less the same. I also loved the alternate reality Chu Yan who didn't have daddy issues and was very levelheaded and familial as well as compassionate about the work he did. I think the only issue he had was being "too shy" or just not speaking his mind about his feeling for Xia Lin. He had two years to do or say something and she would have 100% dated him. Instead, we get the story of his relationship with Ruan Meng that we all wished wasn't rushed in the last few episodes in season one. But I will say the same thing, I wasn't feeling them too much as I felt that Chu Yan showed any romantic feelings for her. Their story was cute, but I felt that she kept pushing and pushing and basically made me feel like if he rejected her, he would have been branded a terrible human being.
Overall, I felt like this drama was a perfect stress reliever in a crazy time. It took all my concerns from season one, and made the characters more likeable and goofy. It went from a dramatic soapy drama to a very cute and simple drama. The worst thing the villain did in this season was NOTHING compared to season one. I also loved how they kept ripping on one another for being too cheesy this season...even though that is what this season was. If you want to know what this season is about, please look at the photos attached to this drama's page and see their engagement photo shoot. Honestly, if the person I marry doesn't look at me the way Mr Ling looks at Xia Lin in their engagement photoshoot...I'm out. This season felt more like Mr Ling loved Xia Lin for the person she was and his love grew for her the more they were together, whereas in season one, I felt like he was fixated on her and became obsessed, but there was love there and eventually, Mr Ling learned the difference and changed.
Also, a random side note; I really liked how different this drama is from what I usually like which is why I gave it a high score. I liked how I was laughing in every episode and how quick everything was, but a comfortable quickness. I've been getting a little annoyed lately watching dramas where it takes 3-4 eps for something to happen to to be fixed, whereas this one was like...nope...people don't like to wait so we will make the viewer wait a max of a single ep. But it was also a downfall towards the end. I felt like the last episode was both unnecessary, but also wayyyy to rushed, such as the issue was was expressed at the end of ep 14, was quickly solved at the beginning of ep 16, and then we got a bunch of wedding filler and then a time jump with more filler. I felt like they could have come up with a more natural solution throughout the ep and then maybe a cute wedding scene that was literally superrrrrr rushed. Like holy cow their vows. Other than that, I had more questions about the people from season one who never even showed up in season two such as Mr Ling's obsessive friend who literally hypnotized him in season one to fall in love with her or his step brother who kidnapped Xia Lin. Like what happened in this alternate reality where they decided they didn't want to be crazy people and show up? Besides those points...I loved how cute and cooky and this drama was and I still can't get over Mr Ling. Like got to find you a guy like Mr Ling in season two.
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I enjoyed most characters, Akari being the only one that I couldn't get on board with, but I enjoyed how every character had something that they were struggling with. Aki being a lack of self love and respect, Tomo not knowing how to decipher his feelings as well as putting himself in other's shoes, Taichi having "mommy issues," and Akari...I couldn't figure out, but maybe it had something to do with being the exact opposite of Aki with thinking she was better than everyone else.
Even though the drama was simple, yet emotionally confusing, Aki's feelings were relate-able. My heart hurt every time she didn't know Tomo's feelings or every time she thought she finally broke through and was finally happy, it turned out to be the opposite. I did enjoy how everything was from her point of view, so we got to witness what goes on in the mind of a girl in her mid 20's, trying to figure out what love means to her in reference to self love and the love she feels like she deserves. You know, what every girl goes through at some point in her life.
There were some/ a lot of parts where I wanted to slap her because she was acting extremely wild because of her lack of self love, but everyone has that cringy past, so I buckled up for the ride. Overall, I enjoyed the relationships she built with her shared-housemates. It was a journey they all took together, and even though their issues might not be 100% fixed, they realized that there were parts of their lives they wanted to change and they are taking the first step.
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This review may contain spoilers
This was one of my highest anticipated dramas of winter 2020 as I was getting into a lot of web dramas and the premise seemed interesting - the classic marriage contract hate to love relationship.Overall thoughts? If you want to watch something light and silly to kill some time during this hard time, this was pretty good. To be honest, I watched the drama in two parts. The english subtitles were still coming out, and the site I was watching it on released 3-4 subbed eps a week. After some time, in the middle , decided to just stop and wait until all the eps were out so I could binge watch the drama like I do all others. but after a while, it was hard to get back into, and I ended up forcing myself to watch a single ep. So I gave up. Until I realized how much I hate to leave things unfinished, so I started up again.
In the beginning, everything was light and silly, as it was a romance between Yi Han, an aspiring actor who is immature and is in love with his manager, and Pei You You, an orphan who is working as a nail artist to try and buy her childhood home in order to feel closer to her mother. In the beginning, it was cute seeing You You as a strong, independent woman interact with her contracted fiance Yi Han, and basically babysit him. Eventually, we got to see a fun side to You You, and a very cute middle school romance bloom between the characters. I was actually really surprised how quick their romance started as they got officially married on their own within the first 10 episodes and the rest of the drama was them learning new things about one another and falling more in love. That was when I started to fall off as the drama seemed to be less about their quick romance (which I also appreciated because I hate waiting til (for example) ep 16 for the mains to finally kiss) and more about the romance between the side characters. First we have, You You's half brother Lu Ming and starlet Ran Zi Shu. At first, I absolutely HATED Zi Shu. She was borderline insane and throwing her affections towards Lu Ming who traveled to China for the summer to meet and get closer to a sister he never knew he had. He honestly, looked confused and terrified. But as the drama went on, their relationship was actually the healthiest one. Which blows my mind. They normalized and it was very simple and cute. On the other hand, we had Kan Di (Yi Han's manager) and Lin Tian Nuo (You You;s childhood friend and film maker). I won't go into this one much, but I felt like their relationship was unnecessary and forced. It seemed like they wanted to make a happy ending for everyone so they were like oh...Kan Di, the divorcee, and Tian Nuo, the childhood friend who never had a chance. I actually really liked Tian Nuo as a character - he was the opposite of Yi Han in the beginning as he was mature, level headed, and always accessed every situation as well as always put You You's friendship before any other feelings. But when he started to "develop" feelings for Kan Di...I lost interest.
It was the middle that lost me, BUT I had a glimmer of hope thinking that this drama could save itself by having a big conflict that came to light toward the end....and boy was I surprised. We all knew what or who the issue would be at the end, but I didn't expect it to unfold the way it did. I honestly, couldn't put my laptop down the last 5 eps as I wanted to find out what came next.
In the beginning, this drama was silly and fun, and I didn't expect AMAZING acting from a silly and light web drama, but for SOME REASON, the actors decided to pull a 180 the last few eps. It was like the actors who played Yi Han and You You decided to show up the last few minutes and then win the game with a huge victory. I found myself tearing up as I believed that they were both actually heartbroken. It ultimately made me bring this score from a 6 to a 7. Yi Han went through crazy character development and matured so much after all hell broke lose, and seeing him cry, BROKE MY HEART. I think I fell in love when he explained everything in his little speech at the end and now really want to see him in other dramas. Was I a fan of the ending...eh...it was super emotional and pulled at my heartstrings, but I already knew the fate of the two mains, as it was spoiled in the opening credits. I get why they chose to go that route as one of the reasons why they were having issues was because You You was feeling inferior to Yi Han and his career, so it was a little slap in the face with reality for You You, but it made for an emotional ride that made Yi Han and You You realize what is most important and what their dreams were.
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Overall, I enjoyed it for a 2010 drama. It was filmed like soap opera, which earns points in my book. It had good set up with Gae In's boyfriend breaking her heart in the most messed up way possible. And it continued on really well. I think the only thing I didn't like about this drama, were the characters. I don't like I liked any of the characters tbh.
When Jeon Jin and Gae In started dating, they were extremely cute and goals, even though he wasn't 100% honest with her because of his pride and wouldn't let her help him in anyway regarding his business. But separately, they were both rather annoying. Gae In is very bubbly which is cute, but she is a little dense and ditzy and when she needed to be serious and step up and be an adult as I'm pretty sure these characters were in their 30's, she would act like a child. And it took her a while to grow up, probably the last few episodes. Jeon Jin on the other hand...he wasn't terrible. He was loyal to his people and a great son, but whenever an issue arised, he brushed it off thinking it would go away...but instead would grow into something a lot worse because he wasn't the one to explain it himself. And then he would take the blame and sulk, thinking he wasn't good enough. Like this whole thing could have been avoided. Yes, people would be mad for a day, but they would know your character and forgive you and appreciate that you came clean. But no. We need telenovela drama. We need to hurt people more than needed.
As for the side characters;
Han Chang Ryul - Gae In's ex and Jin Ho's rival, he had a good heart, but he was selfish and under the control of his father...almost like a Draco Malfoy of this drama. He would dig himself a hole, but then do good things that got him out of the hole, just to jump right back in. He wasn't the worst.
Kim In Hee - Gae In's ex bff, literally the worst human being. I thought that she would redeem herself, but after a certain point, I wanted her to just fall in a ditch and stay there. But I guess she was important to Gae In and her journey to stand up for herself.
No Sang Joon [Jin Ho's assistant] - he annoyed the hell out of me. Even though Jin Ho wouldn't flat out say his feelings to him, they were obvious and Sang Joon literally was the start of most drama in this show. It was hard to like him.
Lee Young Seon - Gae In's best friend - she was alright. She was passionate about her friendship with Gae In, but she was a girl version of Sang Joon, but she liked to start meaningless drama. Plus she was the one who convinced Gae In that Jin Ho was gay from the beginning. Jin Ho just never confirmed or denied the rumors.
Then we have Director Choi, the only person who I decently liked in this drama. I felt bad for him because of the person he loved would not love him back the way he wants ever, but when it came down to it, he was a father figure to everyone. He knew when Gae In and Jin Ho were lying, even when they both could not tell themselves, and would help them when they didn't want to help themselves.
I think a 7/10 is the best I could do because of the characters, as well as the drama filled last 2 episodes we got. Drama that wasn't needed but was put in for filler just because we needed a dramatic and quick solution. Other than that, I loved actor Lee Min Ho and gave an extra point.
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As for the characters, I loved their "tragic" backstories that haunted them to present day which ultimately led them together. I loved how it went from annoyance, to curious, to "friends," to finally lovers. And their romance was cute and passionate and mature. But...they were the only people that I cared about in this drama. I didn't care much for Oh Bo Mi or Choi Chang, especially as a couple. I liked Choi Chang in the beginning when he started to hit on Young Jae when she first moved to the area, but all of a sudden, he just stopped showing up and insta fell in love with Bo Mi. Bo Mi on the other hand, was just not my type of drama character. She was a tad annoying, but I have to give her credit for having passion for her job. But I think I didn't like her whatsoever was because she didn't go through any character development. I think the only other people I cared about in this drama were Kang San Hyuk's assistant (who is the REAL homie) and his teammates when he joined the forest rescue team.
There were some heavy scenes and topics in this drama that I have yet to see in other dramas (I don't watch medical dramas) and I thought they did a very good job going about every situation. I think my issue with this drama was that...it was boring. Some episodes were better than others, instead of having a consistency ratio. Also, having a degree in business, I was super lost whenever they talked business, which was a large part of the drama. I got some things, but not all.
Overall, I might watch this drama again just for the way it was filmed. It makes me wish this was a real place (maybe it is...I couldn't find it) so I can go visit it. Maybe Airbnb that little house. As for the plot, maybe not. It was def a "business" drama. If you cut all that business talk about and just watch the rest of the drama, maybe it would be more entertaining. For me at least. I also wanted to give this drama a higher score than what I have been seeing because, I have not seen another drama so visually pleasing before. Also, the romance between the mains was super sweet and loving that I can overlook everything else.
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This review may contain spoilers
Because this is a Netflix drama, I thought that this would be over the top with a huge budget, so I didn't expect much except for a classic Western plot that was extremely flashy. I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. I really need to stop doubting Netflix's asian drama originals. Yes, it seemed to have a big budget, but not as much as a lot of the original action dramas. It was simple, but the plot was complex, and the relationship between So Yun, Nan Do, and Holo was really solid. So Yun, due to her face blindness, doesn't trust people off the bat, and they always need to earn her trust. Nan Do, was a man who didn't believe in love and really any emotion after his mother's death when he was young. He didn't believe in creating positive relationship with people except for Holo.It was extremely interesting to see how Holo's existence influenced both So Yun and Nan Do and ultimately became almost a middle man - expressing both So Yun and Nan Do's better emotional traits. He took the best parts of both of them and became this confidant to both of them.
Yes, this drama had a lot of cringy and cheesy Asian drama tropes, but they were easy to look past with everything going on. I think the one I hated the most was how So Yun had thought she was in love with Holo and acted like such an idiot with her imaginary boyfriend. Yes, I have watched My Absolute Boyfriend and have seen a relationship between a robot and a human and totally shipped them, but this one was weird. Holo was such a great influence on So Yun, and he had brought her out of her shell and helped her become confident in herself, but her sudden development of feelings for him was super odd. Even Holo looked extremely uncomfortable while trying to go along with all her date plans. In the beginning, So Yun was a sheltered woman who was great at her job and terrible with starting any kind of relationship. But when she first met Holo, she was quirky, intelligent, and cautious when she needed to be. She just needed a little kick. Then when she fell in love with Holo, she was still all of those things, but it ended up being this cycle where her happiness depended on Holo's existence and him being by her side always. It never seemed healthy. In the middle of the drama, I actually started to dislike So Yun's character, but she came through at the end.
Nan Do was a funny character. Even though he was trying to "teach So Yun as lesson" but ruining her life...all I really saw him as, was a butthead. He was wilding out in the beginning, but when it mattered, he would do the right thing. It took a little while to get out of his ways (with a little help from a crush developing for So Yun), and he expressed some annoying drama tropes, but all in all, it was understandable. Not reasonable, but understandable.
I think my favorite part of this whole drama, even though it was cheesy and obvious, was Holo's "backstory" and who he was and the people who created him, and what they wanted to be. I think the only time I sad cried in this drama, was when So Yun and Nan Do finally realized why Holo's personality was programmed the way it was...because there was a specific reason. Plus, it hit home for me personally understanding how hard it is being the person you want to be, but honestly scared to be that person.
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Even though the drama setting did seem very "Hollywood" and it looked like they were filming on a film set the whole time (I didn't truly believe they were filming in the locations they were in, but at some lot in Hollywood), it was oddly charming. Everyone seemed like they were playing a character, rather than actually being the character....but not in a bad way. It is hard to explain, but as a person who loves watching wildly different films with completely unique styles from the director, producer, and cinematographer, I found this drama to be extremely charming. The only way to describe it...is my relationship with the movie Hail Caesar! with George Clooney and Channing Tatum (the only actors I can remember on the spot.) The whole film seemed very Hollywood (given that it was shot almost entirely on a Hollywood film set and most actors were....actors) and all the actors came off like they were actors playing a stereotypical character. Did I believe the actors portrayal of their characters. No. Did I love the film anyways? Yes. The film knew what it was, and it played to it, and I think it paid off. Much like this drama, I didn't believe in the characters being their characters, but I think that the actors themselves were very charming and likable, and the plot was super intriguing and well done, that I didn't care. I was sucked in within the first few minutes of ep 1.
The funny thing though is that, I didn't realize Netflix had the option of watching the drama in Mandarin as it was filmed, or in a few other languages dubbed. So I watched the first episode in Mandarin, and the remaining episodes in English (British) so it became almost a comedy to me, and everyone was in Asia, yet everyone had British accents, talking in slang. It was cringy and funny, and I had a great time. But I did go back and watch a few of my favorite scenes in Mandarin to see how the compared.
I loved most of the characters. I loved how Li Lan was very spunky, independent, driven, and familial. She would sacrifice herself in order for her family to be healthy and happy. She was selfish, but not in a bad way...in a way where she made sure everyone was happy and thriving while being able to achieve her dream. Also, she knew that she was allowed to be selfish, and other people should be as well, but not when they are replacing their dreams with something that they knew didn't compare. Er Lang was by far my favorite character in this drama from the moment we met him under a piece of furniture because he was "exhausted from housework and decided to take a nap." He was super comedic and driven as well, even if he was a little bit of a butthead in the beginning. I still liked him. Everyone seemed so proper in this drama and it was nice seeing someone as quirky as Li Lan, but in a male role. It's funny though. I had no idea if this was supposed to be a romance drama, but from the moment Li Lan encountered Er Lang, I shipped the pair. Then we have Li Lan's childhood sweetheart Tian Bai. He wasn't a terrible person. If anything, he had to go through and overcome a lot of personal challenges in order to be the person he wants to be, and not the heir to the family after his cousin's death. He wasn't a dislike-able character and would always accompany Li Lan whenever she was in any kind of trouble, but he did have a lot of issues that he needed to figure out himself before leading Li Lan on. Like Li Lan went through a lot of hardship in this drama, but I think Tian Bai was the reason for so much heartbreak. That is why I liked Er Lang. Both men are amazing people - they used their different strengths to help Li Lan and her fate as a ghost bride, but where Tian Bai always accompanied her, Er Lang would take action and him and Li Lan would work together and take action.
I've read a few reviews before writing mine, as well as before I decided to watch this drama, and they all said they same thing. The actor who played Tian Ching, Li Lan's dead husband and ruler of the "Underworld" or the realm of judgement, was flat and didn't compare to the other actors, but it was ok, because everyone else's "imdb" page has rows of experience, while this was homeboy's first drama. Which is fair, but I think he did an amazing job portraying a spoiled heir who had been poisoned and seeking revenge from his killer. It was weird though, because there were some scenes where he was supposed to be this scary ghost who haunts Li Lan, but there were some "tender" moments between them in the underworld, where it seemed that he genuinely cared about her. For weird reasons, but nonetheless, he seemed like he wanted companionship in a world that scared him as well (and it helps if it was someone he cared about in the human world as kids.) I almost felt bad for his character every time we saw him "out of his normal role" and it was hard to fully lean on one side for him. He was a horrible person who did whatever he wanted in order to get what he wanted, but he did seem to have some kind of heart. Even if it was a little one, he had one. If anything, I think his mother was the true villain in this drama, and I wasn't satisfied with her ending. It was almost like she was playing the victim, even though she was the one stirring the pot. She was allowing her son to act a certain way, making him feel like it was okay his entire life, and she had the audacity to act like she was a victim. That he must have been born the devil and even though she didn't help the cause, he was always going to end up that way regardless.
Which is why I am hoping for a season two. The ending of Volume 1 tied up nicely, but it was also open ended where they could and honestly should write for a second season. Maybe...we would get to see Tian Ching become a better person, helping Li Lan with another "life altering" situation because if there is a season two, we will 100% be going back to the underworld, even if not at first.
I 100% recommend this drama to someone who is looking for something completely different from the average romance drama. This drama also has elements of a budding romance, but it is about learning what love is and what kind of love you desire to have for the rest of your life. There isn't one road and love isn't just one thing. Everyone expresses love in a different way and sometimes the love you've always thought you wanted, isn't what you want now. Not that one person's way of love is better than the other, but sometimes you have figure out what love means to you and to find someone who will compliment that.
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