Tepid....as bad as luke warm tea that you don't want to drink.....

First the positives:
Great second couple. Their romance was unique, great chemistry, slow burn, exciting to watch. And the best part - the second ML is absolutely a dish! What a universal good looking guy!!
And the female is very downplayed and wonderful. Toward the end she actually overtakes the FL.....in a very subtle manner. However they are not given enough importance and their story slides away.

The FL character is also very different from the standard 12-year old female with a squeaky baby voice, wearing tiny skirts that barely cover her crotch.
This female lead had a great personality etched out for her and more importantly, she carries off the role with aplomb.

That's it. Those are the only saving grace for this drama.

The negatives::
Such a boring story. N..O..t..h..ING ever happens.
You can easily watch every alternate episode and miss nothing!
If it's a slice of life, then believe me, you'll quit eating pizza slices for a month!
There must be a demographic that watches these insipid, tepid, lifeless dramas.

China has released a few stunning romances in 2023 - and sorry to say, this one needs to be buried away in cans.

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Soap opera for those peeking into middle aged family stories

This started off on a thumping note on romance and time travel.
Then the drudgery of filling 24 episodes sets in and the story drags you into the depths of marital woes of the families.
Its not interesting, too detailed on the minute relationship especially of the FL's parents. Makes you squirm because it almost feels like reality of every family around you.

It had hope.......and that dwindled fast.
Some missing gaps, not enough chemistry nor heartburn.
tear jerker for no reason.
There were other couples who could have gotten more screen time.
Not sure if the FL s mother is a big star or something but she got a lot of show time and every time she came on screen, I hit the forward button.
Just to much screaming and shouting and mundane nonsense.

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Why call it a romance?

This was a wasted 20 episodes of a typical run of the mill drama.
The genre is comedy, romance and drama.
The comedy is cute in the first few episodes.
The drama drags on and on.
The romance - seriously don't trust it.

There was no attention paid to the development of relationship, no chemistry and not one single heart fluttering moment.

After I finished the 20 torturous episodes, I looked up the details on the cast.
The ML is 15 years older than the FL, which is not the problem at all - but then it all fell into place.
He was just so uncomfortable with her, barely held her hand or hugged her.
He was also presumably confirming his dating relationship that same year, so the romantic scenes may have been painful.

The second pair was even worse. Not their acting, just their situation. Pooooorly done.

Watch it for any other reason except the misnomer of romance.

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This could have been a cult classic - but alas!

This drama made me laugh, jump for joy, applaud the entire team, cheer them loudly, slap their backs, clasp my hands......what other expressions of happiness can I use?
Alas though - these feelings of exhilaration lasted only to episode 10 or 12.

After that it started rolling downhill so fast that only crashing against an iceberg could halt it and leave it broken and cracked.

Why why why do most leads in k dramas need to originate in orphanages?
Why did a cancer suffering mother come back to torture her child after destroying his childhood?
Are happy families so hard to find in this region?
Where are all the parents? Why do they all die? Is it so hard to be creative with living parents?
How come there is such finely developed romance but it never culminates in loving families?
What's the ratio of kids in orphanages? I read in the news that the country had banned foreigners from adopting their children.

This drama is so finely tuned with humor and slice of life details that I expected it to walk away with an unseen ending in the drama world.

Alas - the writer, director, screen play writer all seem to have lost their MOJO. The last few episodes are shabby, sorry and appalling in their positioning in this drama.

You had a fantastic product which could have reached the finish line with undisputed victory, yet you decided to go down the repetitive trodden path that was shabby and pathetic.

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Cute adult romance

MDL - please take off the 500 word minimum review. There are times I don't want to blabber about a movie and most times I don't want to read other people's thesis on a drama.
Very annoying that the review has to be 500 words. Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh. Hope this adds up to 500 words.

MDL - please take off the 500 word minimum review. There are times I don't want to blabber about a movie and most times I don't want to read other people's thesis on a drama.
Very annoying that the review has to be 500 words. Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh. Hope this adds up to 500 words.

Rom com is the only genre I watch, so this one is cute.
Rushed in the end. Subtitles were messed up so it kind of killed the nuances of emotions.

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Cringey romance. ….. and nothing else

This drama - is it the Netflix USA watered down version for the American audience?
It is tepid'
, tasteless, cringey, pointless. Like old dramas made in the 70s.
Over the top mother and jobless son are supposed to be the comic relief when in reality they make you want to cry.
The mean and absurd doctors who steal dissertations - yikes'
The whole criminality behind the Macau murder - was it meant as a child’s play?
And finally the romance- seriously if you are married and uncomfortable kissing other men in your chosen career then do the audience a favor and stop accepting romantic roles.
The FL has the expression of Atlas carrying the burden of the earth - sad, sorrowful- and this has nothing to do with her depression.
The ML struggles thhhrough the romantic scenes. His antics in other scenes bring some oxygen to this claustrophobia.

I really wish they would display the meds which the psychiatrist prescribed for the FL because by the end of the 7th episode I’ll be needing the same.

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A visually appealing advertisement for rural living

Don't get me wrong - I loved the drama, but honestly could not rate it higher than 5.

Example Love 020.
Living life in a virtual fantasy land created by some software freaks was appealing to the youth of our generation?
20-30 billion views for that sad, desperate, robotic drama that was poorly made and even more poorly acted? Is this where Mother Earth was heading?
I was so heart broken. Not only that such a terrible show was made but in fact viewers loved it.

Then comes along Meet Yourself.
I was absolutely ecstatic!! Thank you c- drama for taking the courage to go against the tide and making a visually enthralling drama.
Going back to basics, friendships, good old moral values, delightful traditional crafts, cooking, relationships- just purely innocent and refreshing.
Smartly made to show that there was financial viability as well despite living rurally.
The village was picture perfect - so naturally aesthetic that I would want to pack my bags and relocate there.

So why the low rating?
Because they made it like a commercial, an advertisement by the government of the country to lure youth into moving away from city life.
And because this may not get the 20-30billion views that it rightfully deserves.

They needed to spice it up quite a bit.
Firstly reduce the torturous 40 episodes to 16 or 20.
Then add some intensity to the chemistry. The romance was like tepid tap water. It was not slow burn, just slow death. Boringggg. And I've seen this ML in a previous drama where the romance was sizzling.

I wish this beautiful drama would get 50 billion views, so please spice it and spike it so the entire world would want to move to Yunnan.

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Nothing great, nothing to hate

This is run of the mill.
Some people may absolutely love it, but in reality there is nothing spectacular.
Although the chemistry is sweet there is nothing sizzling.

The 2 main leads are wonderful. Both are a director's delight,expressive,stuck to their character and hopefully will have a fruitful repertoire of acting work. All the support actors were also good.

Lovvvvved the music. One great difference between the c- drama versus k.-drama music is that the cdramas translate the lyrics. So heart melting and romantic.

Again- annoying irritating mother.

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The lady with the blue eye shadow

I came across this drama just to watch Kim Young kwang..... And unfortunately felt the need to comment because this is a repetitive theme in k dramas.
Agreed it's 11 years later and many dramas do not hold up to the passing of time, but this review will not deal with that.

It's about mis-casting.
Just because a senior actor in the k- world is popular doesn't mean she can ace any role.
This lady with the blue eye shadow should have been cast in a full blown drama with all 16 episodes dedicated to her insanity. Not mixed with youngsters and their journeys.

Even though I held the remote on fast forward, there was no getting away from her utterly unlikable, over the top atrocious character.

The subtle romance between the other 4 pairs were all washed away. This drama which had so much hope was sucked into a desperate hole by the blue eye shadow wearer.

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Romcom perfection

If you're hooked to the romcom genre (ahem!) then this drama is boiler plate perfection.
Story is clichéd, situations are cheesy, emotions are typical. None of that matters with this drama because the comedy overules all that stuff.

Every supporting actor had perfect comic timing, however the ones that walked away with the crown were the section chief/ f r iend and the doctor. The friend was brilliant......great bromance!

The music was fun - please please include subtitles for main song lyrics as well.
The chemistry could have been steamier, but well, this was a mini series, so not enough time to develop a sturdy relationship.

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The perfect rom-com / please make a template and copy guidelines

Amazon Prime has the worst choices of movies and dramas in the USA.
And Asian choices - forget it.
The collection looks like the Asian film market threw them leftover bones to chew on.

So I clicked on this movie hopelessly, holding the remote with the anticipation of skimming through in 15 minutes.

But - hush my heart be quiet - this movie turned out to be a cult classic!!!
Funny as hell, every situation is classically timed.
The scenes are very detailed, well thought of with an eye on minutiae.

The story - aaaaahhh - please use this as a reference for all future romcoms!
Just perfect!!

And the actors - the SML is so funny, he deserves an award.
The FL - she's just perfect. Nothing more, nothing less.
And the ML - aah - fell in love with him.
He carries the movie nimbly, no over the top emotions,
Romantic, swoon worthy, funny, raucous.........💖💖

I dug up every other drama he was in to watch and wasn't disappointed.

Good work, the full team of this movie!
Classic romcom!

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Nothing stood out ---- yet a great feel good drama

The FL was refreshing, chirpy, happy, fun, and off course kick-ass!
Finally finally finally got to see a funny and romantic story.

I only watch romance and mainly romantic comedies - so I guess my reviews are very stringent and based only for this genre.
A romantic comedy generally floats us away into a world of clichéd tropes, silly situations, comic laughter and happy endings. That's all we ask of this genre.

However when the clichéd tropes make your heart flutter, the silly situations make you blush and the comedy makes you grin from ear to ear, then it gets an award.

But beyond that if you add sizzling chemistry, swoon worthy kisses and a talented group of supporting actors - phew- it deserves a standing ovation!!

Thank you for making this a little bit different!

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Would not have watched if I'd known the ending

Great visuals
Great cinematography
Wonderful revision of the musical - Sound of Music. Very creative and artistically done.
The practice scene with ML playing the maid was darn cute and hilarious.

The villagers were all true to nature and underplayed.
The high schoolers could have gone overboard but they were very well contained.
The Seoul high schoolers were clichéd but you have to forgive them for their short appearance.

The FL was sweet, and did a nice job.
But obviously, Hyun Bin walks away with your heart.

I found this movie on some list which claimed to be Top 100 korean movies of all time.
Didn't want to watch a 17 year old movie, but whatever, I said I would turn it off in 10 mins.
That must have been the era when it was trendy to have these heart wrenching, sad romances.
It's too clichéd now - maybe they could remake it with a happier ending.
So thats why I rated it low.

However - I can't stop thinking of Hyun Bin.
My first drama with him was in his forties, and found him not -bad.
Then I watched Secret Garden and adored him for his c omic timing.
Now this - in his early twenties- I've fallen in love with this actor!!

Wow.........what acting chops, what talent. His eyes do all the speaking - and the dimples don't hurt@

Congratulations Sir for excelling in your art!

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