betun
India/United States
Real, maybe too much so
TL/DR: Watch it for realism and a beautiful brew of romance with terrific acting as well as characters who could be real people around you. Don't watch it if looking for pace, twists, inspiration and a solid ending. This drama is clearly not for everyone, and not because of the noona aspect of the romance. Having the context of Asian family culture is essential.
Long version:
This is a slow-paced, beautiful drama that is possibly the most realistic one you will ever watch. The episodes are long and contain long sequences of characters doing regular things. This may irk many but by showing everything happening, the series makes everything that occurs very realistic. We see the entire process of love; increasing attraction, the reluctance in making a move and the passionate bonding between the leads. The forbidden nature of their love is ever present in the air but immaturely swept under the carpet in manner that would be more befitting of teenagers than leads in their 30s and latter 20s. Yet, it is utterly believable. The casting of the drama is so perfect: Son Ye Jin looks her real age and so the noona romance is very strongly obvious since the beginning and I was really wondering why he would fall for her, especially in episode 1. Once they become a couple, Jina's lovingly cute nature is brought forth. The chemistry that the couple have is fantastic, their hugs, their teasing, their kisses were spontaneous and not melodramatically planned. The sismance between Jina and her friend, Kyungsun was the best I have ever watched. Their chemistry was romance-grade but more resilient.
Realism: The characters could very well be flesh and blood characters, even the mother and the way events unfold are also so real. Real life has a catch; it usually is not inspiring. Jina starts standing up for herself and uncharacteristically becomes the spearhead of a campaign against sexual harassment in the office. How it occurs and what she does is the way a real person who is not an 'activist-kind' would act. The final result of the action is also what might have generally occurred. Joon Hee's deadbeat father feels guilt but doesn't show it and though attempting to help, contributes less than nothing, exactly as would be expected from someone of that nature. Jina's mother never understands her daughter and does not realize how selfish she really is, which makes us want to strangle her, but a person like her would really not change. Jina's father alternates between playing the strong one who supports his daughter, quite comically at times, and the passive one who just goes along with his wife. The realism of these and even the office workers really was touching.
Nevertheless, the realism is also the problem. The story is not inspiring in any way. Nothing ends in a satisfactory way. It is not as if characters become stupid and implode; they just act like it would happen in real life and real life is seldom satisfactory when resolving difficult situations. When the odds are stacked against a lead, they might be expected to win in a drama but the odds would win in real life. So, what transpires is that the fightback against circumstances is passionate but not fully committed. Jina struggles a lot but she makes up excuses to give in and compulsively lie to cover up, even to herself. It is just the way she is. A non-hero does not become truly heroic all of a sudden. Joon Hee was truly hard done by how things turned out and Jina's cowardice felt like a betrayal but isn't it true that most romances are fleeting and all the passion and promises are conveniently forgotten after a while? If we are looking for loyalty to true love, we would be disappointed with the characters but given how few believe in true love, a real Jina coming from that type of family would have acted exactly like that. One cannot suddenly abandon careers (and visa is not a non-issue).
The middle section of the drama was a deadlock that ended in disaster. The ending felt too rushed and was disappointing in the context of the rest of the drama even though it could be termed happy. There was no finish: we felt like we would see another loop. Maybe that was the intention but it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth as there was no breakthrough and no change of heart either. Pointless, as even long journeys in real life can be.
OST: There is no background score which furthers the feel of real life and the OST has some beautiful songs which unusually are all in English ( the 90s kind) but the same songs were overused and more original tracks would have been nice. The songs work better if the series is not marathoned as they do complement the romance. The romance is worth a rewatch.
Long version:
This is a slow-paced, beautiful drama that is possibly the most realistic one you will ever watch. The episodes are long and contain long sequences of characters doing regular things. This may irk many but by showing everything happening, the series makes everything that occurs very realistic. We see the entire process of love; increasing attraction, the reluctance in making a move and the passionate bonding between the leads. The forbidden nature of their love is ever present in the air but immaturely swept under the carpet in manner that would be more befitting of teenagers than leads in their 30s and latter 20s. Yet, it is utterly believable. The casting of the drama is so perfect: Son Ye Jin looks her real age and so the noona romance is very strongly obvious since the beginning and I was really wondering why he would fall for her, especially in episode 1. Once they become a couple, Jina's lovingly cute nature is brought forth. The chemistry that the couple have is fantastic, their hugs, their teasing, their kisses were spontaneous and not melodramatically planned. The sismance between Jina and her friend, Kyungsun was the best I have ever watched. Their chemistry was romance-grade but more resilient.
Realism: The characters could very well be flesh and blood characters, even the mother and the way events unfold are also so real. Real life has a catch; it usually is not inspiring. Jina starts standing up for herself and uncharacteristically becomes the spearhead of a campaign against sexual harassment in the office. How it occurs and what she does is the way a real person who is not an 'activist-kind' would act. The final result of the action is also what might have generally occurred. Joon Hee's deadbeat father feels guilt but doesn't show it and though attempting to help, contributes less than nothing, exactly as would be expected from someone of that nature. Jina's mother never understands her daughter and does not realize how selfish she really is, which makes us want to strangle her, but a person like her would really not change. Jina's father alternates between playing the strong one who supports his daughter, quite comically at times, and the passive one who just goes along with his wife. The realism of these and even the office workers really was touching.
Nevertheless, the realism is also the problem. The story is not inspiring in any way. Nothing ends in a satisfactory way. It is not as if characters become stupid and implode; they just act like it would happen in real life and real life is seldom satisfactory when resolving difficult situations. When the odds are stacked against a lead, they might be expected to win in a drama but the odds would win in real life. So, what transpires is that the fightback against circumstances is passionate but not fully committed. Jina struggles a lot but she makes up excuses to give in and compulsively lie to cover up, even to herself. It is just the way she is. A non-hero does not become truly heroic all of a sudden. Joon Hee was truly hard done by how things turned out and Jina's cowardice felt like a betrayal but isn't it true that most romances are fleeting and all the passion and promises are conveniently forgotten after a while? If we are looking for loyalty to true love, we would be disappointed with the characters but given how few believe in true love, a real Jina coming from that type of family would have acted exactly like that. One cannot suddenly abandon careers (and visa is not a non-issue).
The middle section of the drama was a deadlock that ended in disaster. The ending felt too rushed and was disappointing in the context of the rest of the drama even though it could be termed happy. There was no finish: we felt like we would see another loop. Maybe that was the intention but it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth as there was no breakthrough and no change of heart either. Pointless, as even long journeys in real life can be.
OST: There is no background score which furthers the feel of real life and the OST has some beautiful songs which unusually are all in English ( the 90s kind) but the same songs were overused and more original tracks would have been nice. The songs work better if the series is not marathoned as they do complement the romance. The romance is worth a rewatch.
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