A crime novel read!

TWO things have happened: an affair and a murder. The entire story is about answering TWO questions: did he caught? who is the culprit? The narration style is typical of crime novels, often reminding me of Agathe Christie's novel style. All the clues were shown to us and drama tempts us to pick pretences as clues misdirecting us, then showing the truth with right clues making us think "I saw these, why didn't I think in this perspective?" "Ah, Brillant, you outwitted me". And this aspect can come off as hit or miss for many. Taking a look at comments would prove that.

The pacing was in an exponential fashion with initial episodes setting the "mood" very slowly and deliberately with even minor characters given screen space. (It has a mix of all the genres: romance, comedy, drama, mystery, investigation, political, action, thriller. It might have well been a makjang.) The ending was rapid with putting closure to several substories halfheartedly or even open (It reminds me of "Absent in the Spring" novel of Agathe Christie which too has vague ending). I am still wondering if what I had watched was just a big drama adaptation of Kang Yeo Joo's novel (As she says "that's what the audience want" to her assistant) or actual story of Kang Yeo Joo. Yes, even with incomprehensible last 5 minutes the final episode was brilliant. The brilliant narration style and suspense building ( note, it is not the story I'm praising because when all the layers of mystery are removed, it just felt yet another ***-*** character story) has quashed the ambiguous ending. (Now that I look back, the ending was so finely crafted putting all puzzle pieces together that you can't even skip the last episode.)

I can't imagine anyone else other than Cho Yeo Jung playing the Kang Yeo Joo. The aura, the eyeliner, the elegant dresses everything made the character all the more legendary (You would feel she isn't worthy of that legendariness but wait for it patiently.). First things first, I too was initially annoyed by shenanigans of Kang Yeo Joo, and I almost felt like dropping it. But I really stuck around and found she was the most complex character. If the Parasite's Choe Yeon Gyo was "simple" then Kang Yeo Joo is super ultra-complex. There is this scene in episode 6 when Han Woo Sung says he will take her gift to his grave the reaction KYJ gives is golden. That was one of the few moments in early episodes when the poker face of KYJ falters. There are only a few people who can truly understand her and one has to wait till later episodes to know the reason.

Other characters were equally interesting. Go Joon (why late-blooming) did a great job in portraying HWS, I can truly understand why every woman falls for HWS. HWS is truly worthy of his reputation of Nation's Husband. (Even when he is cheating he is thinking about his wife and I didn't bother myself with judging him. We never get to know more about his motives.) Mirae is yet another flawed character in this drama. She can come off as homewrecker but truly her transformation and her past are awe-worthy. I am one of the few people who wasn't shipping Cha Soo Ho with KYJ but the way he looks at her wow! The Umbrella scene reminded me of K2 and how he protects her. I want to see more of Kim Young Dae in future projects. As for all other characters, they added funny elements and depth to stories. But a few didn't have proper closure/development but I'm not complaining. (It would be humanly impossible to deliver both mystery narration and character development perfectly)

Music was good and suited for scenes. Sometimes there was opera style music for hyped/dramatic scenes which I liked. As for OST, OVER by Suran shines out. Rewatch, to make sense of certain things it might require to rewatch. I too wanna rewatch it but it is kinda sad it ended so I can't bring myself to watch it again.

A crime novel: keeps hooked and makes you say "ahh!" and keeps you thinking about it even after it ended.

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Mediocre Myth

At outset, the drama starts out as an interesting and pioneering perspective of time travel. With use of new ideas like uploader and downloader, the science-fiction aspect is on par with that of contemporary world of science fiction entertainment.

Along with this, is the backdrop of a nuclear war involving Koreas, it provides an exquisite playing field for proficient storytelling. These themes remind me of the "TENET" movie.

The show is almost convincible scientifically about time travel*. But that's where the spectacle of this show ends. This show has countless flaws.

One, after setting the story, the show becomes more character driven and not plot driven. Thus, giving little scope for further exploring the sci-fi elements or packing it with more plot elements. Viewers are taken through detailed narrative about various side characters. These insights could have been less detailed.

Two, Will over Wits. Almost every scene has some sort of test for characters to make a choice. Almost every character ends up making emotion-driven decisions and not reason-driven. This leads to a countless loop of bad folks coercing good folks to fall into their traps. Countless episodes are wasted in these cat-and-mouse endeavors.

Three, Lack of an alternate answer to the recurring question "Girl or World?" Right in the first instance of asking this question, the answer is undeniably obvious. Yet, the protagonist delays to choose the answer giving a false hope of possibility of an alternative answer. Had this been answered earlier, it would have ended the show quicker.

Four, Romance: The Leads' relationship feels more like comradeship and less like romantic one. If at all it is present, it is not so passionate and intense given their life-threatening circumstances.

Five, the beginning of the time loop. How did all this began that is, the events right before the first loop are hardly explained. I believe that explaining a bootstrap paradox is an unimaginable task.

Despite the flaws, there are a couple of appreciable elements like, One, ambitious production. The initial fights and stunts scenes felt amateurish in CGI. But the events of the future were well produced. The drone chase scene was a personal favorite. Fights scenes were really good, especially the last fight of future timeline. Two, despite the ever looming question of "save the world", the intermittent scenes of future events were very imaginative. Three, Badass FL and Genius ML both bring something unique to the plot. Four, the "Act of Kindness" (without letting the spoiler out), that was the best moment in the entire drama and gave the best "glimmer of hope", an essential feature of the Sci-Fi genre.

Acting wise, both the leads are exceptional. PSH stunt scenes are awe-worthy. Kim Byung Chul does an incredible job. Music wise, I really liked the title music of whizzing sound and the end song. Rewatch value is lower as sci-fi elements are hardly convoluted.

Sisyphus: The Myth is inventive concept but fails in storytelling.
~~
*Logical inconsistencies do exist.

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Nom, Nom, Best French Cuisine Ever!!!

At the surface level, the story is very simple: After a bad breakup, Dr Mimi resorts to settle only for the perfect man "World's Best Steak" until she develops a unique friendship with a fellow online gamer.

Now, remove the backdrop of online friendship and that's just the plot of gazillion romantic-comedy dramas out there, one might wonder. But what differentiates it from others is two things.

Firstly, the setting of COVID-19. Unlike showing some masks and sanitisers, this drama extends into showing the shift in workplaces' paradigm, work-life of health care workers & the consequential harassment and how even restaurants and other places cope with the changing scenario. Even the change in dating places and "bases" is shown. This is endearingly shown by simple events like distribution of customer calendar can lead to a domino effect of spreading happiness and assurance to a grandma living miles away during tough times, or the buying of meal coupons can aid the restaurants. Although this drama is fictional, this doesn't fail to show the handling of the pandemic in Japan in an innovative way.

Secondly, the unconventional and delicate handling of otherwise serious issues like the mature handling of the lovey-dovey couple's decision making process or resolving the suspicions and jealousy. The best part was the importance given to the consent of the child in his father's dating. Heck, even the second male lead couldn't be hated. Lastly, the handling of online relationship merging with the real-life one. The way it didn't fake its transformation into a perfect real-life relationship or didn't completely deny the possibilities of such a relationship happening was applaud worthy.

The entire drama is a complete heartwarming treat and never induces anxiety. If at all any such moments develop, the issues are all dealt with in the episode and the only one time it didn't, was to give a completely wonderful finale. The ending was totally unpredictable given the recent release of so many marriage centred rom-com jdramas. I was a tiny tiny bit disappointed in the conventional sense. But the ending was totally justified and had a really lovely message which has time and time reiterated to us yet many of us keep forgetting it.

There are so many many food references from calling Dr Mimi as French cuisine by her ex, and comparing all men with food by Dr Mimi, to the game IDs as food names, and Dr Mimi watches Indian Food Journey (a food show). Like they say good food is a good mood. These reflect how eating and cooking food helped us cope with 2020.

The comedy aspect can sometimes be a second-hand embarrassment and face-palming but I couldn't stop grinning widely. The romance aspect was so mature and cute. Who cares about a full-on makeout scene when even hand-holding can be so hot!! The days when I watched episodes I would feel so happy and warm. All the characters are so lovely and have their own dimensions. If at all any character was acting oddly, they soon resolved their "issues".

The actors have really done a superb job. Especially Haru, who with her numerous expressions makes the character more lively and comical. The Music was very unique to this drama and the violin-Esque number suited the drama moments well. The jazzy music played other times uplifted the drama's liveliness. The end track was memorable and serene. Rewatch value, for all its messages and heartwarming scenes, it is totally worth.

Final note, Remolove needed 2020 (events), 2020 needed Remolove.

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Realistic Glimpse of Teenagers' sexuality!

As much as unrealistic and taboo, the theme of the drama (and their literature club) is, the drama remains realistic and true both to the character portrayal of the manga and thought workings of the budding teenagers.

Panning out on vast oceanic view, the drama begins with thoughts of both the girls and their teengirls-hating teacher. Though having an aversion of "ees-eee-eks", the club members enjoy reading the literature perspective of racy, erotic books aloud in the confines of their school club room. With the utterance of the bucket-list wish by a member, the lives and ideologies of the club members gets shattered leading to a sequence of new desires, self-discovery and personal growth. An eclectic ride for the open-minded souls which can be reminiscent of one's own youthful mistakes and fears and their vanquishments.

The visual imagery from start to end, ranging from trains and tunnels to colour theory is applaud worthy. The narration is fast-paced. The titular dancing number was cute. Music was nice but forgetful. The acting felt realistic.

The upsetting aspects were the scenes were the minors throwing themselves upon the adults for sexual gratification and the ambiguous sexual nature of the Saegusa Hisashi's character (Caution!). Fear not, for nothing was shown explicitly but may be implied.

Final note, this drama is only for those who are progressive and acknowledging the mishaps of the youth and definitely not morally agreeing to them.

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Ugh (ft. slow and boring)

Cheating dramas are problematic. Without genuine reasons of cheating, it would be difficult to convince viewers to stay. This show gives silly reasons for why men cheat their good & hardworking wives and why women would yearn for company of married men.

Without the revenge track, it would be difficult to soothe the fewer viewers who had somehow managed to stay. That's not gonna happen in this one. Nah nah, not in this season, I don't give a rodent's posterior about the revenge, if at all, that happens in next season, if at all, that manages to air.

This show wastes time in talking about random things like golf, oriental medicine, dogs blah blah, in the first half of episodes and glorifying whatever "love"/lust emotions cheaters were feeling in the second half. By the time, it reaches the point of actual cheating, already 10 or 12 episodes are gone. Even good and realistic dialogues are made to lose their charm by saying again and again. Episodes after 5 or 6 can be finished in 15 minutes.

There were one or two things I liked. One, the kids of 50yr couple and 40yr couple. Their words and actions were so mature than their dads' (lol!). Two, the radio station scenes and the ladies' work dinners along with Seo Ban. Both the scenes had interesting dialogues especially Seo Ban's snarky replies.

I can only conclude that the writer has taken her audience for dummies, spoon feeding them; telling them in nagging dialogues instead of showing them with subtlety. She could have written a tighter screenplay excluding all irrelevant scenes. It could have been tiny bit interesting had she not made the mistresses so generic, so predictable.

In final episode, the hurried afterthought of adding new character and "new" links between characters was badly executed cliffhanger. By then, the drama is already an overkill. Although my curiosity is piqued, life is too short and I would rather spend my time watching something amazing.

It's a pity that this was well produced drama oozing extravagance. It's a pity that the music and OST was so good especially, Dead Inside and Memory. It's a pity it had good actors.

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Life is a continuation of choices.

After watching "Clover" 3 years ago, I have waited for next slice of life/romance drama from Okura Tadayoshi. I feel my wait has been rewarded well and his acting has improved greatly.

I didn't like the original, Familiar Wife, but I loved Shitteru Waifu from the first episode. Familiar wife, seemed more frustrating and didn't invoke that nostalgia and longing sadness which Shitteru Waifu exceled at. Japanese remakes have disappointed me. By some magical stroke of luck, the creators took familiar wife and made it their own style, the classic Jdrama style of raw emotions.

Initially, I couldn't stop myself from comparing both but the difference became so obvious as show progressed.
I couldn't stop myself from admiring the narration style, the nostalgic flash back scenes filled with beautiful light glare effects and the music which felt like a tune you had heard long time ago.
I couldn't stop myself from feeling both resentful and sorry for ML. (He looks aged now or is that his level of dedication?!)
I couldn't stop myself from saying "ah cute" at both the leading ladies,(and feel bad for them) and cutest of all, the FL's mom. (I love my mom, but she is so cute and sweet, I just cant..).
I couldn't stop myself from pausing mid-episode, and ponder my own life choices.
I couldn't stop myself from crying a tiny bit in every episode and at my own regrets.
I couldn't stop myself from feeling that elated joy and satisfaction of the ending. (I wish I could talk about the ending and how starkly different it was from the original's.)
I couldn't stop myself from being sad now that it has ended.
I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the innumerable messages from this show.
I don't think I can stop myself from fondly lookback at this show for years to come. (surely will do a full rewatch some time later.)

I guess, I couldn't stop myself from giving a personal and biased review. (There are minor flaws, like they didn't show much about bank people in last episode, or most of the scenes were a bit predictable but I'm not complaining.)

To quote the show, life is a continuation of choices. You could choose to watch this show and feel grateful for living or you could choose not to watch this show and live with regret of not pressing the play button.

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An ode to dream chasers!

If you are fan of jdramas which-
totally touch your hearts,
makes you feel raw emotions,
connects you with the characters,
then this show is definitely for you.

In an intriguing episodic format, bar's each customer finds
Solace, hope and comfort in three different forms:
A drink from Amamiya Ryoichiro,
A canned food dish from Nakauchi Satoru, and
Words of wisdom from Kobayashi Naoki.

The bar serves as "reality asylum" for aspiring artists of all kinds:
Musicians, painters, comedians, writers.
With a "lighter focus" story arc on three men's lives and pasts.
This show is packed with many stories and gives many life quotes.
This will surely make you think about your life and your dreams as well.

Even the underlying subtle social commentary was thoughtful,
For instance, a toy car gift for a girl child.
Acting wise, I liked all the three men.
I liked "Entertainer" by "I don't like Mondays".
Definitely worth the rewatch for the heartwarming messages.
~~~
I don't personally like the idolizing of canned food.

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Switch off your cynical brain and "fall in love" with this!

Last week, I finished off 38sai Batsuichi Dokushin Onna ga Matching Apuri wo Yattemita Kekka Nikki; if that show is about harsh realities of dating app, then this one is about warm fantasies of dating app. I'm quite surprised that the couple really meets through an app and are down to get married without knowing anything about each other. Not even, work place, haha.

I'm tempted to imagine logical scenarios & reasons and bam, the sugary fluffy content overrides my logic and I'm carried away by the cutesy/racy scenes postponing to address serious issues for later like Ami-Chan. The plot progresses at the pace faster than light going from cute mode to flirty mode to serious talk mode to sexy mode under 5 minutes.

I'm torn between giving high plot rating for its sheer brilliance without any bad characters & still making this show enjoyable and low rating as it keeps major issues unaddressed until the last episode. But thankfully the ending has exceeded my expectations and I'm satisfied for addressing several questions including their first meeting. My cynical brain is pacified.

Both the main characters are ideal, typical of shoujo mangas. Heck, even the Reverse-harem doesn't really get its chance. I'm surprised by the cast but they are good and well suited especially Matsui Airi's smile is such a charm.
Itagaki Mizuki despite his age, he pulls off the slightly older role well. Although there are certain minor flaws, he is good.

This show is beautifully produced given its length and the opening song is such an earworm. I too wanna dance to it.
Rewatch is highly recommended for its sugary content which is quite rare in the drama world.

Final note, don't question the logic, everybody is lovely in this drama!

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Confusing, Critical, Cringe, and Comedy!

I was genuinely interested in this movie because of the summary. To confess, I have not read the manga and watched the anime. I am not a fujoshi but I kinda knew what I was getting myself into.

Confusing - Now I really can't get the point of the movie, is it fanservice? is it the message that fat chicks can't get hot guys? I can't take away any point from this movie. It was purely filler content to pass away some 90 minutes of my life.

Critical- I do agree that being slender grabs eyeballs but making that a criteria for dating felt derogatory. Anyway, I'm placated by the ending given to the MC. Also, well, it could have been a fat princess in the school drama segment instead but that would miss the point of this movie.

Cringe- Can't separate cringe from these type of themed musicals. What really was biggest cringe is the exaggerated weight loss scenes and the fangirling scenes.

Comedy- It was the only good point of this movie given that the quality of production was low, acting was amateurish, story felt random. I laughed hard many times.

"Boys! Please Kiss Him, Instead of Me" is something utterly absurd movie to watch when you are utterly bored and even if you don't, you wouldn't have missed anything.

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Midpoint of Contract Marriage Drama Yardstick

If in a rating spectrum of contract marriage dramas, I would put "Perfect and Casual" as calming on one extreme and " Well Intended Love" as agonizing on another extreme, then "Love in Time" falls somewhere in middle.

5 Point Short Review

+ points
Not overly annoying
safe zone drama
Doesn't drag its misunderstandings

- points
High cringe
negligible character development

Detailed Review

Being in the middle of this Contract Marriage Drama Yardstick, this lies within the safe zone of not having overly annoying characters, unbelievable twists, etc. Yet, it still manages to annoy with its misunderstandings which gratefully don't last more than a couple of episodes.
It has sweet moments and some weirdly sweet moments that can make one cringe. Perhaps, the biggest cringe would be a CEO to live-stream his private life but he isn't a baddie here. He doesn't trick our heroine with some life-threatening disease or something. What he does is providing too much beyond the capability of our heroine who gets overwhelmed that she screams space. And this theme keeps going in circles till the drama ends.
Oh the ending, it had a different story in itself but to talk about that I really wonder you would survive this far.

Happy viewing!!!

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An Unwanted Sequel

233rd Review of Love Alarm 2 tells a lot about how this show has impacted many, mostly disappointment. Lot has been said already; here are my two thoughts.

One, What could have be completed in just two more episodes of season 1 had been dragged out for about 2 years (Even my tastes of kdrama has changed.) and 6 episode (really?) . That's what many kdramas do, adding a time jump and voila, a decent closure. But no, Love alarm, the very un-kdrama-ish kdrama, somehow tries something new: season format. And the result is obvious.

Two, if it weren't for Cheon Duk Goo, I would have totally abandoned this. CDG's closure was a mediocre but it was probably the only decent thing season 2 could offer. As for others, even 5 years time jump doesn't seem to mature these characters. They are still stuck in their sorrows of their own making. But somehow a couple of events make them grow up. Nah, I couldn't buy that.

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Family focus

Mokomi is an eccentric girl who can experience animism. But more eccentric is her family consisting of control freak mother, passive father, outspoken grandfather, and a brother who seems normal. This drama shows the character growth of Mokomi into a more confident, and socializing person. Along with this, she discovers her true purpose, and her career. Subsequently, this also transforms her family.

Yuya, the ML(?), is less of companion and more of facilitator for Mokomi. There is hardly any romance and backstory for him. One never gets to know why he considers his bicycle as friend. If it weren't for Mokomi and Yuya calling each other informally, they might have well pass as good friends. In this sense, the ending not focused about him made sense.

What was enjoyable? Mokomi's stint of having imaginary friends reminds of our own childhood days. The struggles of feeling awkwardness in socializing, and the difficulty in adapting to outside world were relatable. The consequent transformation of both her and family was good and gives off good message that letting go heals the scars of past.

What could have been better? Since focus is family, one can't complain about Yuya. But her brother scenes and transformation was compromised given the severity of his situation. Same could be said for her mother. It was hurried ending but manages to give closure to everyone.

It was a well produced show especially those animism scenes where so good. Acting was good especially Koshiba Fuka's. I hardly remember if any songs were present. There were only some bgm which was good and suitable.

Mokomi: Kanojo Chotto Hendakedo is good but wish it focused beyond family.

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Can a pretty (and good) boy make (your) korean dream come true?

The drama set in Sandbox, a swing-safeguard for budding start-ups begins with Seo Dal Mi, one of the several dreamy aspirants, breaker of many pretty boys' hearts (more on this later), attending a start-up relay lecture, meets Han Ji Pyung (AKA 'Good Boy') and Won In Jae (her icy poles apart sister, starring as Elsa in her company's promotional videos, brownie points for comedy).

The story goes back and forth from present to 15 years back, giving a nice backstory for our good boy, an orphan, winning a competition, left no one to congratulate him, strikes an unusual friendship with Dal Mi's grandma. Meanwhile growing up in a turbulent family, Seo Dal Mi, follows her broke but ahead-of-his-times dad whereas her sister follows her mother who marries a rich businessman. To assuage Dal Mi, her grandma and Good Boy team up to write love letters under the name of Nam Do San, the male lead and unfortunate victim of many fangirls' hatred. Nam Do San, an undeniable child prodigy, but lacking dream, social skills, a dimwit but good knitter, runs a pitiful Image Recognition start-up with his friends. Everything goes fine, until Seo Dal Mi meets Nam Do San or until Seo Dal Mi meets Won In Jae at the lecture! (Giving an urge to prove herself)

Now, the main characters, Heartbreaker, and Elsa, with their motives being to achieve the (korean) dream of succeeding in life whereas the Good Boy, and Dim wit, want to win their first love, Heartbreaker's heart. Pretty simple story, right? No! Nothing is simple. For more than half of drama, heartbreaker remains in dark about who is her first love (also the reason why she keeps breaking many boys' hearts) and everyone else, especially good boy and dim wit protect her heart from breaking with lies and trickery (obivously!). This goes on and on till the spectacular risky explosion at episode 10 coupled with predictable twists in mainstory ( which is about start-ups finding investors, reminding you in case, you got lost in love triangle) gives a typical kdrama of unreasonable break-ups, unreasonable heartbreaks, and a time jump, (nice trick to avoid showing gradual character growth, they would have probably messed it up too anyway) which brings us to impending question: Will the Tarzan (their new project) reach the smart city? ( No points for guessing, it's a kdrama.)

What was Good? (and Bad?)
Comedy was superb in the initial episodes, especially the videos, the goofiness of the Samsan gang, the food hoarding etc. Romance was not over the top but you can't deny that it didn't get hot. I had to fan myself for the rooftop scene. The aesthetics and set production of this drama was exceptionally good with no compromises.
The pretty and good boy, a lifesaver, a metaphorical sandbox for the dimwits & co, the enlightened shepherd for the brainless sheep gets a pretty decent closure without getting completely tainted as an evil person. The Dimwit, too has some decent backstory, but often gets shadowed by the sunshine of good boy. (Gone are the days of rich, successful, and sharp-tongued guys getting the lady, time is for geeks!) This character did haphazardly attempt at breaking the conventional mold of kdrama male leads. Heartbreaker: she was street-smart, sassy, bright, lively, the go-gether of the entire drama, she does however unluckily falls victim to the kdrama tropes- "Oh I care about you, so let's break-up!"
Other characters- Elsa and her mother, turn a new leaf without inflicting any malice; her grandma, steals the show with her spot-on character judgements and corndogs; SamSan gang, although sometimes dumb, had solid friendship and goofiness; Dimwit's parents, lovely and comical couple, could have give more story. Many more characters- Sa ha, SH VC's Ceo, amicable guest appearance by Kim Joo Heon as father could have gone wrong but didn't.
The Technology, Image recognition, is shown very realistically and toned down for the audience, giving its applications. The workings of start-up and business is also given practical glimpse, with a dash of drama. Especially, the selection process of sandbox was innovative and interesting.

Acting, Music and Rewatch Value
All the leads have upped their game including Suzy. Nam Joo Hyuk aces the geeky role perfectly. Kim Seon Ho, god blessed his parents, steals our hearts with dimples and reality pills of dialogue. Red Velvet's Future is an earworm, Gaho's running is memorable and BOL4's Love letter is peppy. Of course ya, As for rewatch, All Good Boy scenes are must.

Final Note, Predictable and typical love triangle kdrama (which as always tries to do too many things) with refreshingly unconventional characters and interesting setting of start-ups, image recognition but got sidetracked with fanwars.

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"People never change. They just become more of who they really are."

This drama's synopsis looks like a middle-aged woman's thirst diary. Is this really, though? The answer is yes and no.

Five seconds into the drama and I felt naive female protagonist who wants to have "fun" with young boys and I dropped it. It was so for like weeks until I came across "it is getting dark" comments. The thought "How dark can it get?" pulled me back to restart the drama. Translator's note of "this is based on a real story" kept me going.

Yes- The main character, Chiaki's desire, who for whatever reasons ended up being a divorcee, is relate-able as who doesn't want to have some fun companionship by going on dates and getting treated in a lady-like way. And this show doesn't end there. It is neither a fantasy genre nor "just" shows the woman's fantasies having dates with handsome guys.

No- Every action is bound by consequences; likewise, what follows is a series of abuse, violence, and (almost?) rape like situations. (I can't really put a finger at whether she is in pain or pleasure.) Several questions pop up: "Is she liking it?" "Is she a masochist?" "Why can't they take no as an answer?" "Why not stay away from all these?" Does she quit her hobby after devastating events happen? forms the rest of the story.

The ending - Hint: read the headline.

Acting is convincing, not great and the cast is suitable. Music really brings in the chills.

Rewatch value: unless you are a masochist, it isn't worth the pain to watch it again.

Final note, this drama neither shuns away from showing ill consequences of dating app nor does it offer any positive character growth.

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Can beauty of "True Beauty" go beyond fan service?

If you are a fan of either the original webtoon or any of the cast member, this drama is a delightful treat. But if you are like me who didn't find the original webtoon with substantial content and good plot progression, then this will definitely satisfy you, even exceeding your expectations. But what if you are a general audience who is unfamiliar with both webtoon and the cast, is this for you?

At the start, it was difficult to get into the show. I was subconsciously comparing it with My ID is Gangnam beauty and how good it was. The thought that this is about a teen girl and her musings makes this feel very innocent and childlike in front of MIGB broke me free of comparison.

School dramas can be difficult to satisfy. There is bullying. Then, there is innocence in romance. There is unnecessary misunderstandings and overthinking typical of that age. True beauty has all of these. Yet, it continues to entertain, unlike classic school kdramas, be it Playful kiss, Heirs, Boys over Flowers with lighter characters. I was surprised that the characters convincingly look like and act like school going teens.

What sets this apart from the other school dramas is its perfect amount of interweaving of comedy and seriousness. I was tempted to drop if the whole "letting out the truth" would be very dramatic and teary but it didn't. Last four to two episodes had heavy plot progression. Especially the last 2 episodes felt like events were happening faster; so many, many things were happening. But luckily, there were enough comical moments like the secondary couple to make the mood light. Whatever issues happened were dealt with in the same episode or in the very next episode. Bonus, There is sismance, there is bromance. And there is The HSJ-LSH© level bromance.

Additionally, nobody is a jerk here. There is one or two but you can't hate that person and they get their bitter medicine as well. But what was best is the character transformation of MC coming out strong and bold. Of course, both the male leads were interesting. I'm gonna glide over the entire love triangle because talking about it means dealing with spoilers. LSH has more amount of screen time as a love interest with LJK, as opposed to HSJ, so for me, it seemed like an unfair love triangle for HSJ. Again, it's a kdrama. I am neither team HSJ or team SH because both are good. Let the timing do the work. Let the lady choose.

When I heard there was a production for this webtoon, I wondered how well it was going to be produced. I was surprised money went to all right places, hiring a good screenwriter to write a solid and tight plot, good imaginative scenes to give the webtoon-ish feel, experimenting different episodic narration styles, and good music. I think I love all the OSTs with top 3- I'm in the mood for dancing, Call me maybe, and I'm missing you.

And the best part is how true the casting is true to the webtoon. CEW's acting of subtler expressions is getting better. MGY is gorgeous as ever. I don't think I would rewatch it again except maybe comedy scenes.

Undeniably, True Beauty will become a game-changer by heightening expectations for future school kdramas. Yes, the story is nothing new but it keeps entertaining being light-hearted and hilarious.

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