Forgotten_Soul

Emotions can make you overlook untouched potential

I rated this drama higher than it deserved if you look at facts only. It had a way of understanding disabilities and everything that comes with it that it sometimes was able to pick me up right from where I stand.
But it didn't lead me far in that regard. Because all those messages lacked soil to grow roots into and a sky to rise up to. All it was was a fresh summer breeze in rustling green leaves, the sweet smell of ice cream and the sound of nostalgia wrapping you in a blanket that's oddly heavy to wear.

I feel like this drama doesn't have a pacing problem that so many critical voices mentioned. I'm fine with all nostalgia vibes and taking it slow because I liked them.
I just feel they placed a spotlight and turned it brighter and brighter when there shouldn't be any spotlights to begin with. I wanted this to be a story about all the characters, not just the mains. Instead of setting background and depth in the beginning and stumbling from event to event in the romance plot later, I wish they were interwoven more skillfully. With so much screentime available and such a great foundation, they didn't make use of everything they set up for it.

ML and 2FL were the most interesting characters by far, not only in background but also in their relationship dynamics. ML and his family's dynamics in general were a huge selling point along with the disability for me. And it all had to take a step back for FL, whose story, in comparison, felt rather mid. It feels like she was only put into the story because they needed a romantic interest for ML when there was never really space for her to begin with. Now, don't get me wrong, I also liked that the disabilities weren't the sole focus in this drama because, well, life goes on, and while disabilities shape a lot of our paths, they don't define who we are as a person entirely. But even without FL there would have been plenty to tell.

The whole plot got wrapped up in the typical Kdrama way: rushed, glossed over and with a ton of open questions. That ending just proves that they would have needed screentime to wrap up their strings and messages nicely but wasted it elsewhere instead and it is leaving an aftertaste I am not sure ruins the drama or is mild enough to overlook.

That being said, I binged this drama whenever I had a chance to. The nostalgia, the music, the friendships, the happy moments together, seeing them all deal with hardships differently were addicting. I was happy for the characters when they were and cried when they did. Despite the focus still not being exactly where I would have wanted it, I liked that the romance didn't have the main role here either. I love that I didn't like Han I Chan yet still was able to care about him deeply. Because you can't like everyone, not even if they're the "good" main characters. But you can feel for them.

It's a mood-based drama that lives off the atmosphere it creates and the hopes and dreams it dangles in front of you. I'm fine with dramas like that. It was a fun and emotional ride. But it also could have been so much more. Instead of serving the typical clichés, I wish the drama had dared to stay a bit more unique. Because whenever it did, it did so well.

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Slow burn? More so no-burn...

I fail to understand the high rating on this platform. I like slow romances, I generally don't mind clichés and I didn't expect anything when I started watching this.
I also like the quiet type who lets their actions speak for themselves rather than verbally express their feelings.
It's just that here, ML says "I don't like you", ML's actions say "I don't like you" and the script goes "He likes her." We never get much insight into why he is so very reserved, and the few things we do see come in way too late. We also never find out what the characters exactly like about each other, and the reasons they name don't really sound like love, but more like convenience.

As we see them go through several stages in life, there is almost no character development. No matter their relationship status, their dynamics barely change. Hence, I wouldn't say the story has a slow pace, I'd say it has almost no pace, because there is absolutely no progress whatsoever. The couples` chemistry in the very last episode actually was so adorable and I wish we could have had more of that. But it's just not worth going through the 22 episodes before where the characters experience the same things, act the same way and make the same decisions. Not once do they have an honest and open talk with each other. Their whole relationships is so, so unhealthy. I wouldn't use the words toxic or red flag here, because they're young and simply don't know better - but they also never learn from it. Had they shown the characters learn from each other during their relationship, this could have been a decent drama, but maybe 2017 just wasn't the time for a story like that.

As of the year 2025, I don't recommend watching this anymore. You can watch it, but you could also spend your time watching one of the other hundreds school nostalgia dramas that actually show characters growing up and maturing along the way. If you like the school nostalgia trope more than the maturing and coming of age trope, you might love this drama still, but this dramas repetitiveness and overall tone simply failed to catch me.

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A well-made but pretty standard action watch

What can I say that hasn't been said before? I guess the main point whether you will like watching or not is whether you like the typical action-series tropes or you've grown tired of them.
The main principle is interesting but it's obvious they added the last story arch to leave room for a second season and I hate when writers do that. Especially with already having a second season in mind I would've loved to give the main issue of this drama - vigilantism - a lot more room and fully delve into that.

But with the in comparison rather standard plot coming up, it also started to show all the standard issues I have with almost every action series I ever watched. The police are stupid, we have a police officer going rogue yet never really seeing consequences for it. The series overall is utterly violent and I saw a lot more people die than I expected to (yes, I have read the description and watched the trailers, but it's a lot), yet for the sake of the plot people survive the craziest stuff whenever it's needed and heal crazy fast. On the other hand, of course not only the police, but also other characters make the stupidest mistakes just because.
Furthermore, we have tropes like "just in time", "one person attacks at a time" or "talking a bit before the final blow so the other character can rescue themselves" just as "bored evil rich guy" and as these tropes added up, it started to annoy me. The female main character is way over the top, we only gain little insight into her motives way too late and many other characters' motivation stays in the dark as well.

It was a very thrilling and exciting watch with a very good premise, good music and a nice approach to challenging moral principles, especially with how likeable the main character became in the course of the series. Without that main character, everything else would have fallen apart. But after all, MDL is suggesting I give this a 7.5, simply because of all the tropes that in their abundance I cannot overlook.

I am rating this an 8.5 as of now just due to how much I liked it (and I am not sure whether an action series can actually do without all these issues), but that surely has less to say about the quality of the series and more so of my ability to overlook its flaws. With season 2 I am almost sure they will lose track, the plot will become crazy and utterly predictable and a whole lot different than what this series started as, but the first season is watchable without ever having to see another prequel, so don't let that hold you back.

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In comparison... don't compare | When you should watch this

Disclaimer: I have watched Go ahead but will write this review so anyone can follow no matter their knowledge about the plot.

In general, I recommend watching both versions, but it doesn't really matter where you start. If you really hated one of both, though, I won't recommend watching the other as the main parts of the plot stay the same. This isn't a romance drama. It is about family, growing up and redefining what family means to you while going through the process of finding a healthy way to cope with (your) struggles. The plot elaborates perspectives of people at different life stages, although young people of course are the main focus.
While the Chinese version is a lot longer and its plot felt more realistic, this remake managed to resolve or at least smooth out some of the issues I had with the Chinese version (some I didn't even realize I had until I saw this remake). It does come with its own issues though you will need to be able to overlook.
The fewer amount of episodes means, of course, they had to shorten parts of the plot and character development I would have loved to dive deeper into, but overall, it seemed like this version portrayed more of an ideal version of how things should be. Someone in the comments described this version as quite healing and I found that word very fitting.

While many people described the chemistry to be wearing off after the first couple episodes, it was the opposite for me. With the progress of each episode I could also feel each character grow just as their chemistry with each other became more and more apparent. The music was used so well to bring out the emotions of every scene and support the already great acting skills instead of overruling them. For everyone being hesitant, I want to reassure you to stay patient, watch the characters grow and rethink their (past) decisions just as you probably have done in your life, too. While I understand watching this can feel draggy, boring or frustrating to some people, I loved every step of their way.
What I also really loved were the comedic scenes that almost always lit up the atmosphere. The humour was just perfect to me and even though there were heavy scenes of course, overall, almost every episode had something to make me smile or laugh.
As I already watched the story twice in two different versions and liked both, I don't know what should indicate I couldn't watch it a third and fourth and fifth time.

So, as a general recommendation: Don't watch this if you want to watch a pure fast-paced, heavily dramatic romance drama. Don't watch this if family issues trigger you easily. And, of course, don't watch this if you hated the Chinese version.
But go watch it if you want something about family, something deeply emotional, something to make you smile or something to make you overthink your own idea of what defines a family. I for sure will go and call mine now.

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A lot of potential not fully used

While I agree with most of the criticism mentioned in more sceptical reviews, I was still able to enjoy watching this drama, mainly because I didn't expect much. So here's a heads-up on what to expect before you get disappointed:
- E-sports will play a big role and the tournament games will create a lot of the excitement other drama series create differently. I am not knowledgeable enough to determine how realistic everything shown is. To me as an uninformed viewer, it did not feel false, unrealistic or exaggerated.
- There's only little explanation on terminology, so for anyone who doesn't know anything about e-sports, this might not be something you watch easily in-between because following might need focus. I recommend especially looking out for the scenes where they show who plays which character in order to be able to follow the animated scenes.
- From what I've read, it will be different than the novel it's adapting.

Due to the focus on e-sports, I, like many others apparently, felt the emotional side of the story to fall a bit flat. I liked that emotions didn't bubble up constantly, creating a lot of tension and drama and hasty decisions (which I usually find unrealistic and over the top anyways). On the other hand, that also made character and relationship development as well as reactions a bit hard to follow since as a viewer, we do not get a lot of insight into the character's way of thinking and feeling (not saying there is none, it's simply not the focus of the story).

Furthermore, I loved the fact that even the side characters fit well into the story and actually had various and complex relationships with one another instead of fulfilling one designated purpose . The team's dynamics for all the e-sports teams were so nice to see as they each differed and had their own "personality". Each team's dynamics was great and heart-warming to watch.
Speaking of chemistry, the comedic chemistry between all the characters felt great. Xu Kai did a great job of making his character seem interesting and complex despite not showing a lot of emotions openly. The character's dynamics allowed for a lot of comic scenes. The romantic chemistry, on the other hand, could not develop fully as the viewer didn't get enough insight into the characters. It was the romantic relationship issues that I disliked the most as they felt so constructed and weren't resolved well.

What is also playing a role for the story is the public opinion/ fan's influences, which some mentioned to feel exaggerated. I did not feel as it was too much, but rather realistic, especially in regard to the different reactions each character had. (And I say that as a person who doesn't use social media outside of their work because I don't like them and think they are playing a way too important role in our daily life.) I didn't like how certain characters dealt (or didn't deal) with this, though. Here, too, I agree with some of the negative reviews.

Towards the end, and that's where I deducted most points, we did get more of the typical drama moments that felt unneccessary to me as with the fan's and family's reactions, the e-sports games, the (side) characters' stories and the development of the romantic relationships the series had more than enough to create suspension with, which would've been a lot more inventive than the classic tropes it relied on.

Overall, we have a lot to enjoy on the plus side. It is up to you whether you feel like this series wasted its potential, as it didn't execute its positive aspects to the end, or if you are simply glad this series even has those points where other series fall flat immediately. I, personally, think the series would have had to be longer to be able to really follow through with all the different aspects it tried to show, while furthermore not accentuating the focus to where viewers would have preferred to have it. Rationally speaking after having given it some thought, I would rate this series 8/10, but from how much I felt entertained personally while watching, I'll give it a 9/10.

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Suitable for newcomers, a disappointment for experienced watchers

Spring Cleaning Challenge made me finish this after I dropped it twice. I needed a whole year to watch it.
---- If you loved this drama, keep scrolling ---
From my enjoyment, I would rate this 6/10, but objectively speaking, depending on what you prioritize, it could be a 7/10. Visually, it's absolutely stunning, and although I put the drama aside for months, I listened to the OST a lot during that time. The acting was great as well. I loved Jang Uk as a character and seeing his development.
The rest was...not even remotely as noteworthy.

I think Alchemy of Souls is a great drama for those who just started getting into Kdramas, especially Romance ones. But I can't get over the disappointment of getting a a fantasy setting with a badass FL only to end up with "damsel in distress FL in an average romcom but make it fancy" setting.

I will spare you the details of all the ways I was let down, but let me mention this: Although I really liked Jang Uk, I was team SML. FL had chemistry with literally everyone but ML. I still don't get why the mains fell for each other except for the fact they went through a lot together. Don't get me wrong, I don't always need a "reason". But the romance developed so weirdly paced and felt sudden and...like a plot device.

Now, imagine your main selling point is only a plot device and then the plot is only mediocre, too. It's interrupted by misplaced comedy, full of plotholes and entirely predictable. As the characters stumble from sidequest to sidequest, they solve their issues with luck rather than the wit, competence and effort you'd expect from their position. The whole storytelling was exactly that - telling. With all those visuals that could have shown something truly outstanding, they decided to prioritize telling over showing. I am almost sure the writers also forgot about 90% of plotlines and backstories they opened as they wrote the consecutive episodes, since many main plot issues introduced once never resurfaced again.

I should add that the description of Season 2 I saw on accident got me spoilered so hard it ruined the last bit of suspense that kept me going. Hence, my enjoyment was heavily detrimented by that. But experience told me those spoilers, especially coming from Netflix, aren't necessarily true, so I kept hoping.
It wasn't as bad as I thought.
But what was that ending? I made it through 20 episodes of 90 minute length, which, if I may say so, is longer than some movies I've watched, yet they still had to rush the ending? And...that's it? Shouldn't a drama rated this highly at least be one of the few exceptions that have a great, well-balanced, timely ending?
I expected more of this. So much more. But in the end, I only kept watching because people kept promising me season 2 was different. They better be right.

Would I recommend watching? Actually, yes. But only if I knew you're the kind of watcher who can leave their brain at home when they watch something and you prioritize visuals over content.

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Not a must-watch for me

With how highly this drama was praised and the genres listed, I might have had the wrong expectations going into this.

But let's start with the good parts first:
🟢 Lee Dong Wok as Jeong Jinman was so good. Love his acting, love the characters he plays and love how he's never stupid but still human in his mistakes.
Oddly enough, this is the drama where I finally understand why people consider Lee Dong Wok a good actor. Despite this probably being his most stone-face role I have seen him in, his eyes speak volumes. And I love acting that's heavy on tiny expressions, especially around the eyes.
The very good acting also had a huge effect on my investment into the characters. I genuinely cared for them and hoped for them to either die or make it.
The story itself isn't overly complex, but not too simple either, with multiple strings coming together in one place.
Considering the genre, there's very few plot armor, plotholes or stupid mistakes.
Lastly, I should mention the great OST. Listening to it as a standalone, some tracks made me feel physically uncomfortable while others felt warm and homey. Someone really did their job in setting mood and atmosphere.

🟠 Now here's the things where opinions might differ:
First and foremost: Why did I have to wait for rainy days to watch this in order to actually see what's happening on my screen? Why is everything so damn dark?
Regarding the characters, Jeong Jian was well-crafted, considering she didn't know what she got into. A tad more badassery would have been neat at times though. Some more connections between what her uncle taught her and how she employed it would have helped in that regard while also emphasising the drama's main theme.
Side characters were very stringently written and had clear roles, but their impact on what was happening never went beyond their scope for the plot.

🔴 My biggest issue with this drama though was the patience it needed and the in comparison low payoff. There's very few action scenes in the first couple episodes and while as the viewer I knew what was going on very quickly, I was forced to wait for the characters to figure it out at their own pace.
Througout the drama, scenes are presented from different perspectives which often felt like stalling. Some add-ons were nice and contributed to context and suspension, often enhancing emotional investment in side characters, while others didn't add enough to be worth my time. For an action drama this had a whole lot of talking, plotting and waiting.
The whole anachronical way of storytelling was totally not my cup of tea. Ending the episodes on a thrilling cliffhanger and then starting off the next in an entirely different timeline works wonders in unengaging me over and over again.
Once I got immersed into the new scenery, it was easily engaging and I did binge this in just a couple days. But being thrown off over and over when I was impatiently waiting for things to go sideways was painful to watch. I love my plot to be in order.

The final slightly off aftertaste was enhanced by the ending. Not only was it rushed, the only reason why I kept watching got totally left untouched. Very dissatisfying. I had rather not watched scenes on repeat and get a more detailed ending than spending so much time on things I could easily figure out myself. Although plot over characters might be a personal preference, just ten more minutes would have worked wonders in making the ending less abrupt and actually providing emotional satisfaction.

Overall, my expectations were a tad off which didn't help the watching experience. This mixture of action, gore and plot was strange and unexpected. I don't recommend eating while watching though, you'll end up glued to your screen forgetting about food anyways.
It's a good drama. If you have good patience. I think I ordered mine from Wish.

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Can magic be real? - Ignore the tags and find out yourself

Everything I liked most about this movie turned out to be the things I also disliked the most.

The music: Awesome. Until they threw in some just outdated pop-songs and played them almost in full length, ignoring whether it suited the scenes.
The characters: I didn't care about them or their lives, but I genuinely liked them. Until their actions became less and less conclusive.
The concept: Great. But it lacked a story to tell.
The magic: So beautiful and stunning until they exaggerated it. If you know a bit about the "classics" of magic that are also referenced throughout the movie, you'll find nothing new or original here, but it was still nice to watch.
The mystery: Had me genuinely intrigued throughout the whole movie but turned out to be highly underwhelming.

I think you'll enjoy this movie the most if you're looking for something to spend a nice evening with and then forget about it in a couple weeks. For me, it had no message, no relatablility and no red string in terms of storytelling, visuals or music. And of course it's not scientifically accurate in any form.
If you like magic and mysteries, chances are the highest you'll get enjoyment out of watching.

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Disappointment on detour

Disclaimer: I had to switch to another video after the first half, hence subtitle quality was significantly worse for the second part.

The inital idea was quite intriguing: A highly skilled assassin suddenly wakes up in the body of a high school girl. Although she seems to have no intention to find out what happened to her former body or to return to her former life, that part of the plot appeared quite consistently throughout the story until the last quarter of the drama. Since 99.9% of vertical dramas cater to some sort of damsel in distress trope, I was excited to finally find one where the "helpless girl" wasn't the least bit interested in ML's attempts to "save" her.

If you're expecting this kind of plot, you'll end up being disappointed. FL turned into a damsel in distress almost every episode and her only ideas to save herself lied in showing off how pretty she was or turn to some sort of violence. ML's rescue missions relied on his social status and economical power every single time, becoming less and less sophisticated as the drama progressed. If the dialogues hadn't said so, you could have thought the main leads actually hated each other and were trying to rain on each others' parade. With all the attempts to make FL badass and independent, the writers forgot to give her feelings for ML, too. I would've loved to see both team up instead of each doing their own rescue missions neither of them appreciated. And while FL's former life kept being mentioned, it was more of an unexplored plot device than a new spin on an old tale.

If you like pretty leads, the damsel in distress trope and an interesting initial setting, this might be sufficient to entertain you. Still, I recommend watching a vertical drama that's easier to find. The original plot idea isn't worth digging through the web for.

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Potential alone isn't enough

Having read many reviews before, I knew what to expect, hence there is no disappointment that made me lower my rating. This series was what it was: mediocre. A nice watch if you knew what you were getting yourself into, but not outstanding in either way.

I binged this for all the wrong reasons. I wouldn't say this series wasted its potential, but it never even tried reaching it. The acting was good, especially those glances between both mains that could carry a whole conversation without any spoken word. But it just wasn't enough when it came to the deeper aspects of the story - the part that actually had me hooked.
People complained about there being too much trauma, but I would have loved to see an actual plot with character development, overcoming past bad experiences and growing together as a couple. Just that this wasn't the case here.

Out of 10 episodes, 3 were what I'd call fillers entirely. While I don't mind episodes where nothing grave is happening, I feel it didn't help the storytelling to have that many, especially not with where they were placed. The rest could've had actual meaning to it if the resolution of the conflicts didn't always go conveniently smooth to a point where it was clearly unrealistic. Even all the trauma ended up being overcome in the course of an episode. All that buildup for nothing.

All side characters were plot devices entirely, they were either the bad guys creating plot events, ambiguous characters with few minutes screentime whose only purpose was to create angst when required or the nice and supportive ones that were all happy and understanding and did nothing but laugh and smile and create ten layers of fluff. It got dull after a while.

So if you want all happy and fluff, you'll hate certain parts of it, while if you're looking for actual issues to be overcome instead of the usual three apocalyptic horsemen of BL dramas, you will find the execution of that to be lacking.

Watching felt like eating an amazing chocolate cake, only that I would never get to finish the slice before it got taken away. I don't care if you give me chocolate or red velvet cake, I'm fine with either, but let me finish my damn slice. I'm tired of series trying to appeal to every taste and thus leaving them all dissatisifed.

One last thing on the uncut version: The "fanservice" scenes were mostly cringe in my eyes and didn't add anything to the story, hence you can save yourself from having to rinse your eyes and just watch the normal version.

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Choose your priorities before watching

When it comes to thriller dramas, especially those with limited runtime, you will often find that the screenwriter has to make cuts in certain areas you might find to be crucial.
I find that to be the case here, too.

If you're looking for a Japanese thriller where the crime(s) actually are not predictable from the start, I really recommend this one. On the drama side we have a lot going on at the same time, so if you're all about the mysteries that keep building up, you'll be entertained, trying to figure out the puzzle pieces as you go. Although I do feel this drama promised more than it delivered, I was satisfied with the overall resolution of things.

The overall tone is very emotionally heavy and not an easy watch at all, but with so much happening it's really fast-paced and easy to binge. That is, if you're able to endure the mixture of hoping for a happy end and hardly doubting that's even possible at this point.

Music and cinematography were very well-used, the imagery clear with a lot of room to interpret and connect the dots without foreshadowing too much. With few plotholes and unrefurbished visuals, the plot and its delivery are so realistic that everything seems likely. Realism is the main theme overall, while being just artsy enough to allow you to dive deeper if you wish to do so.

Only the characterisations were a bit weak with how much the plot tried to convey in a short amount of time. Hence, any sympathy towards the characters you feel will more likely be based on own experience and the simple knowledge of the grave impact the plot must have on the characters, rather than to be experiencing these things with them.
If you like deducing hints, you will find it easy to imagine why each character acts the way they do, but the focus lies more on how characters deal with what is thrown at them.

As I have been listening to the drama's OST these past days, with every song I also remembered scenes from the drama and the mood it conveyed. It's a perfect example of how big of a role music plays in creating a lasting impression.
Masaru Yokoyama, the main contributor for the OSTs, is known for his soundtracks for popular anime like Anthem of the Heart or Your Lie in April and his experience really showed.

I recommend watching if you're interested in looking behind what you see on screen, questioning motives and facts and your own perception or if you want to be emotionally affected heavily. Your investment is likely to leave a lasting impression.

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How can nothing be so good at being everything?

Everything about this movie screamed "this is not for you", but I decided to start watching anyways. If you too are wondering whether you should watch, here's a couple points to consider.

Having read all the reviews about this being a calm slice of life countryside movie, I thought my hyperactive brain could never focus on this. And I won't lie, the first 30 minutes felt like an hour. But at the same time, I didn't want this movie to end.
I don't like movies for a dozen reasons so it's rare that I watch any, and I never would have thought I'd like a movie where absolutely nothing happens. Turns out, when life is being crazy, nothing happening can be a blessing. I just wanted to immerse myself in the images and never stop looking at how beautiful they were, be it large wide or close-up shots.
Nonetheless, it is not the indeed very beautiful scenery that's this movie's biggest strength.

I also have ARFID, which is roughly the complicated word for "picky eater" and "dislikes food". So me admitting that after watching this I want to try almost every dish they showed is the biggest compliment I could ever make about someone else's cooking.

Regarding the characters, as much as I disapproved of the FL's decisions at times, I was still able to like her as a character. Maybe, sometimes we judge someone's decisions on the grounds that we wish we could do the same but feel we can't. The FL's acting fit her character really well and conveyed the character's love for cooking and nature convincingly enough to make you want to join her. All side characters and their interactions felt very realistic and there wasn't a single character I disliked - not even the ones I thought I'd hate after the first couple minutes.

The biggest selling point of this movie though is that it doesn't romanticize the countryside, nor does it make it look terrible. It's able to portray that to some people, the pros simply outweigh the cons without failing to demonstrate the cons have to be addressed nonetheless. While we actually see characters addressing their issues instead of just mentioning them, the movie never even once loses its calm, relaxing, inviting and healthy atmosphere. And while it feels like nothing happened at all, looking back at the end you will find that, just like the seasons, things indeed have changed.

I'd recommend watching this if you:
- Like slice of life and calmness
- Ever thought about moving to the countryside or enjoy being in nature.
- Like food OR don't like food and want to change that
- Want to take your time. If you quickly want to watch something, you won't be able to enjoy watching. Sit back and wait for this movie to have its effects on you.

PS: No need to get the snacks out. After being twenty minutes in, I put aside my chocolate because I suddenly craved a salad.

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Well-made story losing potential in execution

The story of this short drama was what I imagine is pretty close to today's teenage lifes. Except all the not-studying, but I guess nobody wants to see that. That means, if you don't like the typical teenage drama, you won't like this one. Had this been an American series or a series in full length, I probably never would have watched beyond the trailer. I'm glad I watched though as even understanding I'm not the target audience this felt like a cute youth-series that a teenager might really like.

Story-wise, I thought it was really good, with an interesting premise executed well overall. The pacing was a bit off in the middle as it seemed a bit slower then suddenly picked up rapidly for the last two episodes. To me, the ending didn't feel rushed, but the middle part definitely was a bit slow.

Other than that, the message here wasn't out of the ordinary, but very nice, and I loved the friendships between all characters, but both FLs especially. Although the identity swap of both FLs was the focus point, we got at least short insight into all other character's stories which allowed for a wider picture to make the message more relatable and convincing. Unlike many others, I didn't dislike the FL's personality and found it to be realistic as I do know people like that irl. With changing dynamics, the chemistry between characters changed, too, but sometimes seemed to be lagging behind the relationship status.

Watching this felt like eating a fancy dish you put a lot of effort into making just to realize you forgot to add salt. So many scenes were so slow. Slow walking, slow camera movements, slow focus onto the faces, slow responses. Every dialogue felt like it took twice the time it would take in real life. It was odd and made many characters look a lot more stupid than they were.

The actors are young, playing even younger characters, most of them also had their debut with this and it sadly showed. You could see they tried hard, but with all those slow scenes focusing on their barely existent facial expressions, it was like the direction put a spotlight on the one thing they shouldn't have highlighted. Maybe they were trying to play the face card, but that doesn't work on me. Even when I was a teenager I wouldn't have been happy looking at the same "pretty" straight face for six hours on end.

It's a cute, calm and slow teenage drama with young actors acting almost their age. If you want something to watch between heavier stuff, you won't be making a bad choice watching this.

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Almost no reason not to watch it

I watched this show when I didn't have time in-between to watch a full episode of other series and I liked it a lot more than I initially thought. The story isn't very original or complex, let alone logical, but it's sweet. I usually don't like the misunderstanding trope that is heavily relied upon here to drive the story, but they actually solved it considerably well and quickly. Overall, this is a series with not much drama, angst or red flags/toxicity. The main character still had her backstory, although I wished to see her grow a bit more.

The acting wasn't top-notch, but not horrible either, and I'm almost sure they exaggerated certain expressions on purpose to make it funny (as it was). After all, I wish this was a tad longer, because I really enjoyed watching.

I would recommend watching it on platforms other than YouTube, though, as the music is almost nonexistent and they had to remove the lyrics. I watched the later episodes on a different platform which really improved the show's atmosphere.

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Left my brain at home to enjoy this

This felt like one of the stories dissatisfied housewives read in between the struggles of their daily life. It's got action, sensuality and mystery but yet needed not a single brain cell to be able to follow. Maybe it's because as a bookworm with never enough reading material I grew up reading books like that and hence gotten used to overlook plotholes and red flags as if I was half-blind that I was actually able to enjoy this as much as I did.

This was a mess. The relationships between characters were wildly unhealthy, to say the least, and consent was in the grey area most of the times. If red is your favourite colour, go watch this.
While many details were so well-made such as the choice and use of music, small hints, complex entanglement and a generally pretty stable concept for the action-part of the plot, it at the same time had plotholes the size of Sagittarius A*. The amount of coincidences and dumb decisions was crazy.
People pointed out the lacking acting of the FL but I honestly have no clue how the story could have worked with a character that actually seemed to care about what was happening around her. The ML did a good job at acting, though, he actually did display emotions quite well when suited. From how much I enjoyed this series, I would rate this a 7 or even higher, but my own morals won't allow to rate something with so many red flags higher than a 6.5.

I recommend watching if you want an easy action-packed watch that's nice on the eyes, has some spicy scenes and a little mystery. With the short episodes it's very easy to breeze through on a bad day. Even if you find nothing else to like, the stupidity of some scenes might make you laugh.
That being said, if you're easily triggered by questionable consent or want an action-packed plot with less holes than fishnet tights, I recommend you pass on this one.

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