Anyone who simply views this series as a story about a 31-year-old woman being in a relationship with a 15-year-old boy is simply not looking deep enough. The world is made up of religious, societal, and even cultural "rules" about how to live. Many of those "rules" involve telling others how to live.

Wako is a young woman who has always lived her life under the premise of doing what everyone else expects her to do. I've lived in Korea, China, and Taiwan as an ESL teacher. I don't think many people understand or appreciate what it means to be a woman who is being told how to live her life. In many cases, they are told as children what they will do for the rest of their lives. This is no joke. I had a mother who'd already told her 8-year-old daughter that she was going to be a doctor. And, yes, if you're a woman at/near 30, and if you aren't married yet, you will undergo enormous pressure to hurry up and marry and have kids. Asian parents often live vicariously through their kids.

Wako is constantly reminded of how old she is and how she needs to hurry up and marry and have kids. She is in a familiar and comfortable four-year relationship with a boyfriend with whom she no longer connects with. Of course, as with 99% of the people on this planet, we often prefer the mundane, shallow, and unfulfilling life to taking a chance on something better. In short, people settle. And perhaps there is nothing so sad as someone who settles. Someone once said, "Your comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there." This is why so many people lapse into doing things they don't love. Why? Because it's safe.

Iko represents a step out of that comfort zone for Wako. Of course, they are despised and nearly ostracized. Those who believe in the "rules" will likely say, "And rightly so!" But this series isn't about the relationship as much as it represents going against the grain. Swim up river even when everyone else is going down it. Don't be a lemming. Follow your own heart and your own dreams no matter how many people cry against you. Carpe Diem!

Of course, it does take courage to do this. To tell your family and friends that you aspire and want to do something that they all disapprove of. Wako finally understands why she isn't happy. She looks for "love" and approval in all of the wrong places, in everyone, and yet she can't understand why this does not bring her happiness. Love can only come from within. It can't be found outside of yourself. And it isn't until Wako finally realizes that the only person who is responsible for her love and happiness is herself.

The series is beautifully filmed, deftly acted, and the story is something that is sorely needed in today's world that loves to tell everyone what to do and how to live. The world wants followers. Masters dare to walk alone on a path created only by them. And yet ironically, people find them so compelling that they end up saying, "How did you do that? How can I do that?" The master can only respond, "Not by following me, but by following your Self. By being true to who you are! That is the only way!" Becoming absolutely vulnerable to your Self and others is the only true courage. And that is what this series represents.