Another Bad Adaptation

If you've read the novel that this drama is based off of, you should know that there are slight differences. While the scriptwriter has remained mostly faithful to the novel, the slight changes resulted in big changes in the nuance of the drama. Originally, the novel was about a strong female engineer/budding entrepreneur who succeeds with the guidance of a CEO. Alas, the CEO (who later becomes her boyfriend) messes up which causes them to break up. It sounds exactly like the script right?

While it may seem generally the same, there are major differences. The ML in the novel always viewed FL as someone could potentially be his equal with the right guidance. However, his big ego and hiding things from her eventually becomes the breaking point. Here, while they try to portray the same dynamic, the drama FL comes off as a naive girl. How can someone that is the supposed brain of a whole AI medical robot be foolish? While the drama FL can be inexperienced in the entrepreneur part of a start up, they completely rob her of her intelligence and contribute a lot of her success to ML. Another review said it perfectly when they wrote that the scriptwriters messed up when they portrayed FL as a poor decision maker and that they minimized the tension between the leads by making ML fall in love with FL in college.

My biggest peeve about the drama though was the big conflict. The novel's author foreshadowed that there would eventually be a problem because ML being slightly (if not too) overpowering/controlling while FL is fiercely independent. Similar to the drama, it was over the fact that ML was basically going to rob FL of the company she built. In the novel however, FL does give ML his just desserts and ML is eventually forced to apologize/grovel a bit. Here, there is basically none of that. ML realizes he messed up and does the whole woe is me act, but there is very little apologizing going on. Eventually the issue went from ML stole her company so that it would benefit his (a one sided betrayal) to the issue being it's an us issue because our personalities don't match. Drama FL leaving the company was fine, but then takes ML back the moment they reunite. They show her accepting ML's decision being the best for the greater good. This in particular rubs me the wrong way because it minimizes FL's acheivements and emotions. It implies that she is still emotionally charged and that her decision to walk away was a poor one - ie. zero change from the beginning of the drama. This doesn't sit right because if I were in her shoes and my company that I struggled to build from day one were stolen from me by the person I trusted the most, I would be upset too. I wouldn't be thinking about the 'greater good' but more about how the person who is supposed to love me the most just betrayed me. The fact that FL accepted this injustice is incongruent with how she reacted when she was sexually harrassed at the beginning.

A small note on the acting. I don't think I like Xu Kai as an actor very much. He tends to play 'cold' ML roles but it just feels like I'm staring at cardboard or stone. He keeps a blank stare most of the time but there's nothing charismatic about him. I just kind of expect something more than just a flat face. Seven did an okay job. There were some moments that were better than others and felt more natural. However, she tends to have this one wide-eyed expression that she applies to multiple different scenarios (ie. when she's dumbfounded, shocked, betrayed, etc.). One of her characteristic is her big eyes which gets her a lot of younger, more naive/pure roles, but here it's an obstacle. Like Xu Kai, she doesn't have a dynamic range of expressions when acting. Every time she pulled out this expression, I was reminded of Shin Se Kyung and the strained face she tends to use when she's run out of facial expressions. I can tell both are trying to broaden their range, but this was a flop.

TLDR: The novel was better. The drama reeks of fake feminism (a term coined by someone on NovelUpdates). While the drama seemingly talks about a strong female lead, her actions do not match up to the expectations. Furthermore, her acheivements are lowkey attributed to the ML and there was very little she actually did. Basically, a Cinderella/Knight in Shining Armor story. Definitely wouldn't watch again.

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Sparksnotes of Temptation of Wife 2.0

Previous reviews mention that this series is a hot mess... totally correct.

There is plot, but not much. It takes the typical shape of a revenge drama but since it's only 20 episodes that are 12 minutes each, there's simply not enough execution time. If more time was given to each episode, there's a chance that it wouldn't feel like a hot mess. The best way to describe this is a very very watered down version of a classic revenge k-drama like Temptation of Wife or a recap of the highlights.

If you like to skip through episodes and wanna waste some time, then you don't lose much when watching this. If you're planning to sit down and actually watch it, then probably don't chose this drama.

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Imperfect Romances; Single Pringles Beware

So many people are disappointed with the ending... I can't say that I'm not either but it was meant to happen from the beginning.

TLDR: Very well written plot. The ending was justified. The characters were fleshed out and the acting was amazing. If you're looking for romance, it depends on what flavor you're looking for. This one is sweet, then sour, then sweet, then bittersweet. It's refreshing but probably will hurt those looking to live vicariously through the MCs. Probably NOT FOR SINGLE PRINGLES looking for a fairytale romance.

Formula: Reply series + sports anime feel + the tears of everyone who watched this
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Twenty-five twenty-one is written in a similar manner to the Reply series with someone from present day, looking back at the past but darker and heavier because it talks about the effects of the IMF crisis. It is nostalgic, comical, and very real.

It is a coming of age story aimed at a certain demographic because it doesn't just talk about the shallower aspects of growing up but also brings in larger crises that ended up affecting people's choices. Especially in these times, many people will relate to the MCs: young adults struggling to get their foot in society but keep getting bogged down by circumstances that are out of their control. Twenty-five twenty-one draws parallels between the IMF crisis and the pandemic in a way that is very poignant.

The main message was one of hope; that at the end of the tunnel, there is light. Both MCs (as well as the rest of the cast) were faced with obstacles that kept them from living how they want and from being happy. None of these obstacles were their fault and out of their control which makes them feel helpless. Regardless, our characters are able to find solace and comfort in one another and hope in their darkest time.

Caution, contents contain:
- crack-head energy
- friendship
- sport anime arc for FL and 2nd FL
- two people who fell in love, and grew apart despite still loving each other

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Overhyped and Disappointing

Going into this, there had already been clips all over social media and people were super excited about the drama, but personally it was a flop. Park Min Young has a tendency to choose manhwa adaptations which is fine but they all kinda feel the same. This drama in particular was quite click baity. If you go off of just the clips, you would think that it's fast paced and exciting but it is the complete opposite. The background and flashbacks took forever to complete. There wasn't a particular OST that stood out. In general, everything was kinda meh.

The FL (who is supposed to be the protagonist) makes quite a few false promises to the audience that she's going to chage her fate but it always somehow ends up being ML who saves her. FL becomes quite boring at one point and ML was the only thing making me continue the drama. Unfortunately, he also gets kinda boring towards the end. Not to mention the weird pacing at the end with the random ex-fiance arc.

The actors were great but I did notice there was a tendency to overexaggerate emotions or expressions. I think it might have been due to the fact that this did originate from a manhwa, but I felt that it could have been less cartoonish/comical. There were moments where either FL or SuMin went kyaaaa and I lost it. Honestly, the only character I found half believable was actually Park Min Hwan and the mom.

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Lovely Runner's Shadow

This drama was hyped to be Lovely Runner's successor, but I'm not sure that was the right PR move or successful. Lovely Runner was unique because it had the same 2016-esque cringe element (not a bad thing). This can only be replicated if you don't care how it looks or how silly you think it is. Love Next Door was too tame, too safe to have the same elements that Lovely Runner did. No matter how you look at it, Love Next Door was too much in the shadow of Lovely Runner.

Love Next Door had a star studded cast, but the script was so so so safe. There was nothing unique about it (aside from maybe the second lead couple). Tropes are not necessarily a bad thing, but it has to be done right. The first episode was fine, but as it went on, it becomes clear that it was never a true enemies to lovers or even a best friend to lovers. Love Next Door occupied this weird in between that lacked chemistry. I didn't feel any sizzle at all. I was more invested in the second lead couple because they had more chemistry.

As far as script and logic goes, the use of cancer as a convenient excuse was overdone. Sure, they foreshadowed everything properly, but it felt so surface level. A lot of the interactions felt half done. I can't quite pin it but there was just something incomplete or missing from this drama. Someone pointed it out earlier in the comments section, but I didn't realize it until later. The progression from friends to the confession then them getting together and then the last episode had no tension or suspense. It was pretty bland.

All in all, it was a decent drama. It could have been worse. Yet, because it was so unremarkable with such a well-known cast that it makes it all more disappointing.

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Early 2000s Quality

The plot is nothing crazy (as of Ep 6) and we've seen these tropes before. What makes the drama unbearable is the acting. It was quite in your face, nothing sutble or refined. The cinematography and the cuts were all very old-fashioned/amateurish. This was my second attempt to give it a fair chance and power through, but ultimately what turned me away was the execution. FL is supposed to be an OP (or at least somewhat powerful) character since she hails from a general's family. For some reason, her schemes and acting as a playboy aren't up to par. She's found out by two important characters about 3-4 episodes in. One of them found out because she was wearing perfume (?). This is the screenwriter's mistake, but the actress that plays FL made really exagerated expressions when she was questioned. If she cannot maintain her composure, then how are we to believe that she's supposed to fool the Capital into thinking she's her brother.

All in all, even if I had the spare time, I would not try to push through this drama and try watching something else.

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