Eleison

I stumbled on some YouTube edits of episodes (haven't watched the drama) and it bothered me how often he made a move to get closer to her and she would always shy away and get coy with him. C'mon, FL, do you like him or not? 😅 I get that this might happen a bit at first, but it was even happening when they were dating; at some point that's got to get old and frustrating, right? 😅

Depending on who you ask, the reviews are deserved, but in my opinion, the ratings are a better indicator of how many people enjoyed a drama and to what extent. I think for some reason a bunch of people nit-picking decided to camp in the reviews for this one. 🤷‍♀️ I don't know where the intense expectations came from.

I think reviews are mostly helpful for people who follow reviewers they agree with and whose tastes align with theirs, and then it's helpful because if someone you trust (and their taste and judgment) and tend to agree with doesn't like something there's a good chance you won't either. Besides that kind of scenario, I never check them. The comments and rating are good enough for me to usually judge if I'll like it or not.

Even the fans probably wouldn't say it was a perfect drama, but it's certainly sweet and enjoyable with lots of heart. Like is true for every other drama, it won't be for everyone. 😉

I've stopped noticing the comments where people are extreme when I visit drama threads (either extreme love or extreme hate) since they're usually too polarizing to be accurate. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle. 😏

Just hearing about the content and reading the comments I realized it experimented too much with the genre for me, and I assumed I probably wouldn't like it. Relieved I didn't start it now!

Nothing can top Reply 1988 which had hour and a half episodes!! And 18 of them, I think. 😮

I made the mistake of starting with the super highly rated Cdramas, so now the lower rated ones definitely come up short in comparison! 😅

I mean, the ending wasn't terrible. Some characters died that made me sad, and it was rushed and felt a bit like propoganda, but it was decent. I would have loved to see more of everyone happy at the end, but it was good enough. There were definitely arcs that felt more interesting and engaging than others, and I did skip a decent amount (especially the step sister and step mom, never liked their scenes), but definitely some interesting stuff in there! Xuan Lin was pretty awesome, and the leads' partnership was sweet. The rating feels appropriate. It's no Double or Love Like The Galaxy, but it has its merits.

Haha, thanks! 😂

Alas, Spotify never seems to have the BGMs for Cdramas. I desperately wanted to find a few of the BGMs from Love Like The Galaxy (an even better score than The Double, in my opinion) and they're not anywhere to be found. 😭 Sad day.

And for the parent to know thousands of people saw it too. 😳 I hear you--maybe some people can look at it objectively, but I imagine it WOULD be hard.

Rebel: Thief Who Stole The People and Playful Kiss.

I will also point out that Thyme's mom's English knocked all the Koreans trying to speak English out of the park. I can't speak to her Thai, obviously, but the English was convincing and decently well-acted.

A dose of reality to bring him back down to earth. 😅

They do tone her down in the second half, but I agree, especially in the first half, she's a lot. A lot of people liked her, but I honestly thought she was kind of nuts. I get she has mental health issues, but that still doesn't mean her behavior is acceptable.

And in the real world, being in a relationship with someone like this would be an absolute train wreck. I hear ya!

NOTE: And I'm not hating on the actress, I had issues with the character. The actress did a great job, and I always looked forward to seeing her next outfit. 😅

And the dubbing isn't my favorite! All the sounds and talking feel more artificial in Cdramas. But I agree that some are quite good. Much better than I was expecting.

I've been seeing people on MDL more and more claiming Cdramas are on the rise and Kdramas are on the decline. I'm not sure I'm up enough on recent trends to definitively agree or disagree, but I don't think it's empty talk. There seems to be something to it as many Kdramas just aren't sticking the landing as well these days (for me). Kdramas suit western audiences a bit more, I think, but I'm starting to think they're suiting them a bit too much recently (thanks Netflix, Disney and Amazon! 😑)... Sometimes I wonder if I'm watching a Kdrama or an American mini series with Korean actors speaking Korean. 🤔

This is why I almost never read reviews. I usually don't find them helpful, and it's especially true of this drama.

That said, it does seem like people either love this drama or hate it, though. 😅

Haha, good to know!

I thought the Japanese version only had 9 episodes, too, but it has two parts, and that's only the first part. It's actually more comparable to BOFs in terms of length with both parts combined. I kind of ended at Episode 9, anyway, though, because I didn't get as into the 2nd part and the first part ended really nicely. 😅

I also liked F4 teaming up to solve Thyme's mom's business problem by prioritizing people rather than money (and all because Gorya infiltrated their world and turned it on its head!). Another great update! Such a great (almost 😅) final arc for Thyme and F4.

He made me root for him (though he's of course a first class jerk for a good portion of the drama and does slip back into old behavior even later in the drama, so, prepare!). :) But this character is loveable for all his faults (in each version); there's no way around it.

It's definitely a must-watch (still has a fabulous OST), but prepare yourself for a toxic emotional ride and elements that have not aged well. 😅 It's ultimately okay, though, because in all versions the ML makes massive strides in improvement throughout the series which is why I think it's largely beloved as a story despite all it's "😬" moments.