Marshmallow-Chocoholic

I know exactly where you’re coming from. It’s hard to really describe but it’s sort of a " in the middle" drama for me; not inherently " bad" per say, just not overly " good" either.

Sorry, I should have clarified. Yes, the filming was finished in 2018, but the actual production itself just couldn’t be picked up ( as you have already said). Also, I do know that it wasn’t originally Chinese in origin ( hence the webtoon), but undeniably the movie did help to launch the concept to fame and for Naver TV/ iQiyi to pick up the rights for the premise ( as well as get the original writer onboard). The biggest reason why I think a lot of people have a downer on it already isn’t really the lack of romance, but just it’s filled with textbook cliches. Sure, shows can do this and still be successful, but they tend to add something different or new. So far, Lee Geun Young just exists to dislike the ML. I agree with suddendlyisee said previously in the comments that the FL is a bit bland at the moment. Fingers crossed that they will do more with the characters as the show goes on, rather than keeping them in bland moulds.

I can see where you’re coming from , but, the biggest thing to remember is that people have been anticipating high expectations for a couple of reasons; it’s been three years in production ( and lots of hype around it), it has a good cast and it was based upon the fairly high-profile Chinese movie also. It’s sweet and fluffy but in all honesty, I can also see why people are a bit disappointed. So far, there’s been minimal development between leads, it’s cliche-filled, and even being three years old, it doesn’t reflect more modern attitudes to dramas by the textbook toxicity of the relationships. Certainly not unwatchable, but just average more than anything.

I don’t think people are entirely going on a witch hunt with the producers or actors with this one. They’re just not impressed ( myself included) with the quality of it either.

You’re not the only one. It’s not unwatchable, it’s just not exactly brilliant either. This far down the line I’m literally sticking around just to see how they try and finish it.

Hi thz89. Thank you so much for reading my review and I am glad that you are able to relate towards what I have written. I was in a lot of debate what to give ” River Where The Moon Rises" as a rating between 5.0-6.0 when I was at your point in the series when you wrote that comment. In fact, I was debating whether to drop this one due to the pacing, but I wanted to give it another chance in the second-half. Perhaps the only things which saved me from giving this drama a lower rating was that there were a couple of things which were commendable in the second-half such as the beauty of some of the cinematography, Kim So Hyun’s acting and some intriguing elements of storyline, until of course the ending hit a bit of a snag. ( Hence why it didn’t get a higher rating than 6.0 in addition to that messy first-half, with a change of actors aside.)However admittedly if the series hadn’t improved slightly in the second-half, I would probably have given this drama a much lower rating :).

Thank god I’m not the only one who seemed to notice this. When I saw how the cliches were panning out, my first thought was ” this is exactly like something from the old setups of the 2000s/10s” when both the MLS and the FL showed signs of manipulative behaviour and emotional abuse. Don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t make it right what happened in any of these drama’s with the portrayal of relationships, but it least even most screenwriters who created these programmes seem to have at least recognised the errors of their ways and moved on with the times. I get a drama tackling these themes to make a point about the problems of these types of relationships, but glamorising it or passing it off for laughs ( like you said) in dramas now just feels uncomfortable, outdated and wrong.

100 percent agreed. Its becoming a really tiresome cliche with this whole indecisiveness in dramas by either the male/ female lead manipulating people who like them for their own gain. What’s more annoying is the fact neither male lead seemed to be at all able to give an emotional reaction outside of the comical element of rivalry towards having actual feelings or being clever enough to sus out what the FL was doing.

Agreed. This drama could be shortened to maybe 8-12 eps because the way the storyline is going at the minute is just a waste of time for the actors, viewers and production value.

I’ve stopped trying to watch this drama with braincells tbh...

Agreed. The only reason I’m sticking around is just to see the friendship and decisions of Bi Soo and Oh Joo’s mothers because it’s actually more interesting than any of the romantic pairings. Otherwise, I would have certainly dropped this drama already.

The issue with comes with lazy-storywriting through cliches and Plot Macguffins ( such as the whole angel ideology which was just thrown in) often becoming tiresome as well as questioning the portrayal of characters from their initial introductions. Don’t get me wrong. There are some good elements with both male leads’ mothers and some more profound elements thrown in, but the reason that someone watches a romance drama tends to be for the romance itself. Instead, the fact that we are interested more in side stories than the actual main characters just goes to show that the main storyline isn’t that interesting.

If they’re done right, love triangles can be really fun but this one is just ridiculous as it seems completely degrade the characters to even having emotions.

Yeah, you aren’t missing out on much not watching this one. It wouldn’t be too bad, if the show wasn’t using cliches which are just outdated and ridiculous in the circumstances for LMK, KMH and Nana’s characters.

Agreed. The premise sounds interesting but must admit that I’ve always been cautious with Eun Sook’s writing-style since TKEM. ( Especially as she seems to fall short of writing in-depth characters, something which is fairly necessary for this type of genre.) Nevertheless, will give it the benefit of the doubt and hopefully the writer will surprise us ( in a good way ! :))

That’s fair enough. I’m a harsh critic. For me, it isn’t particularly because I don’t enjoy a show that I give it a lower rating ( in fact half the time I can absolutely love like “ Hello, Me!” personally which I have given a 5 or 6), but I tend to be pretty objective and look at prominent qualities( characterisation, pacing, storyline, cliches acting etc) before determining a rating. Ironically for me, 6 is a pretty fair rating and anything above that has to really be worthy of blowing someone’s socks off.

Hi, thanks for your reply! I’m amazed that you’ve looked through some of my reviews. Having done the same for your profile, I noted that your reviews are quite to the point about your thoughts and feelings on a series and you’re pretty versatile in ratings. Honestly, I have nothing against reviewers like you who generally like a show and are willing to see all sides . What annoys me slightly is coming across people who may like something subjectively ( again, nothing against that) but will turn a blind eye to anything critically. Yeah, I will admit that I can be pretty harsh with things. ( You must have had some tough English-teachers though.) On a side note, I generally wouldn’t have known that English wasn’t your first language until you mentioned it! Where I come from, we had the choice to study two optional languages in addition to our mother tongue in high school . Having chosen two languages, I can honestly say I still get really nervous trying to speak to native speakers ( especially as my teachers were native speakers). I know it’s not the same as English, but trust me when I say that I understand where you’re coming from. Thank you again for reading through :)!

I am not entirely sure if this is directed at the “ cynical/ hollywoodphile reviewers” like me ( someone who gave this rating a 6), but it wasn’t particularly that nobody didn’t enjoy the fact it was “ feel good”. In fact personally, it was really refreshing to see a drama which isn’t dominated by romance so much as family and positive messages about self-love. However, it was undeniably not flawless either. Admittedly and objectively being a harsh critic, there were a couple of characters who felt a little underdeveloped and relationships in addition to the basic formulaic application of the show feeling slightly outdated. Honestly there’s nothing wrong with the approach as it did feel pretty retro and it was clear from the character’s age that the drama was aimed at a slightly older audience, but opinions differ I suppose.

I can see where you’re coming from. As someone who did give this show a lower rating (6), it wasn’t particularly the “ fluff” which bothered me. In fact, the direction of interactions between family and messages did feel pretty heartwarming. What was a bit of let down (for me personally) was the character writing a little. There was development ( don’t get me wrong), but, a lot if should have been more imminent .

Thank you for reading! :)