low rating is more personal than this show being objectively bad

i think this show was just an unfortunate case of me not liking the choice of cliches and/or the execution of them. usually i love lots of cliches but this one wasnt to my taste. not to say it was an absolutely terrible show, because i definitely have some good things to say about it. the biggest one being that the fl was an absolute delight lol i love a fun silly woman who can also stand up for herself! just didn't really feel any chemi between the leads but yea i just didn't really care for this show tbh it's unfortunately cuz to me it was surprisingly getting good ratings so clearly this is very much a me thing.

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mediocre at best

too lazy to give in depth review bc honestly i did not enjoy it enough to retain details of the plot but heres more than enough of a review incase you're unsure if you should watch. the spoilers in here are not that crazy so unless ur mega particular it won't matter:

what this drama does great:
- amazing casting
- the setting itself is cutesy. love the wholesome village vibe we get at the brewery i forgot the name of the place. love me some supportive aunties for side characters
- the mcs themselves are both very cool and interesting. they both have alot of nuance to their character and it's hard to tell how their dynamic as business partners or potentially lovers is going to be. i love strong independent fls and quiet genius type mls so that part intrigued me at first

what (imo) this drama did not do well in:
- plot progression is similar to a web drama. just not well made. quality of story is low. i'll get more into this with some other criticisms
- constant solving of issues with the whole power of friendship/in numbers with the company team really pmo. areum's boss' whole thing with trying to shoot yongju and her team down was stupid because we never got a reason for all of it other than at the end of that plotpoint but it wasn't even an actual reason we just got his backstory on why he's so miserable. they didn't even bother to make it interesting lol
- idk if it's just cuz the topic of the drama is kinda silly the drama in general is cringe. theyre trying to give fun kdrama which dont get me wrong i love a good clicheed kdrama but theres a way to make it right and quality is still important. i thought outside the leads acting was whatever. nothing amazing but maybe sejeong creates high standards for her cast members to me lol she's j too good
- overall, lack of detail and nuance in the story was really where it all went wrong. i would've preferred more depth
- did not have enough on ml being an empath

my general thoughts:
- not very interesting
- half the work-related scenes were cringe
- the only enjoyable parts were at the beginning when yongju was trying to win over the ml
- again the quality was poor felt worse in terms of story even compared to a youtube web drama
- i don't understand why sejeong accepted this role. alot of my criticism for this show is the same things i said abt today's webtoon. she has such a great roster outside of that so i hope she can make better decisions and i can enjoy her shows more in the future
- i would not recommend this drama. but it is short and brainless so if u want to watch smth for the sake of watching it then go ahead

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unique take on crime thrillers

this drama brings a new variety to the world of crime investigation-related thrillers - slower pacing/storytelling to bring more detail and add more nuance and, pun intended - doubt as to who to point fingers to as the story progresses.

here's what i liked about the doubt / why you should watch it:
- cinematography is beautiful. the setting is nothing special, just a normal city and the detective/his daughter's normal house. but the way they depict it to be gloomy and colorless adds to the ambience, and also highlights the relationship between the detective and his daughter.
- the big picture is not clear throughout the drama, which is where i think they did a great job. each episode they revealed something about the storyline that wasn't known, but not necessarily solving the issue at the end of the drama. it was fun, trying to figure out whether or whether not habin was the culprit. sometimes it felt so obviously her, and sometimes not.
- watching the detective's calm, collected, and cold demeanor slowly fall apart towards the last few dramas was a great addition to the climax of truly finding out the important parts of what really happened to lee suhyeon, and habin's mother.
- some people may not like the pacing of this drama, that is for sure. it is slow, which is why it's unique. instead of big shock moments and revelations, things played out slowly, allowing us to first be introduced to every character into high detail, and steadily connecting each detail to the storyline. i felt that when everything was starting to come together that i really understood what was going on from a multifaceted view. it's fun it made me feel like a smart detective a little bit

overall, they did a great job with this drama. it's changed my perspective of crime thrillers and maybe they should always be around 10 eps idk

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funsies kdrama def recommend

family by choice is a fun drama centered around the relationships of haejun, juwon, and sanha who have a sibling-like bond but have no blood relation to one another.

what this drama does great:
- gives us a multifaceted view of all the main characters. we're able to see life/the timeline of the drama from all 3 of them which i thought was great! getting to know each character felt so personal.
- haejun and juwon's dad had some of the most sob-worthy scenes ever. their relationship was so heartwarming. haejun's healing journey was so great to watch and also to see dal and him help each other through hardships throughout their lives.
- their take on familial troubles wasn't shallow and actually felt very realistic.
- every episode while all having pretty sad moments at times always felt really giddy it's just a really fun watch overall it makes you wish you could be there too
- NO love triangle thank the lords

what could've been done better:
- while sanha's 14 year long or however many year long crush on sanha was well drawn out, we never got that from juwon. it was just her being flustered by sanha's confession(s) and then dating him. i wish they could've either added scenes where maybe in their younger years she thought of him that way too or have done like flashback scenes idk it just. for a childhood friends to lovers trope was not a very deep romantic relationship
- haejun's america storyline was idk all over the place and needed better integration to the plot. also similar to my issue w juwon he should've had a gradual liking to dal while im happy they got together at the end he literally said in that ep that they aren't good together and then later asked her out

overall lovedddd this show chaeyeon is such an amazing actress

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it's a good drama overall but everyone's missing the point of it, + why there was lost potential

before i get into my review i need to explain why i think everyone's just completely missed the intention of the drama. it's not meant to be like previous KBS school series. it's not plot heavy and intense but that's the POINT. they don't want a crazy drama they just want a cute, simple one that highlights the characters, their interactions, and their personalities; hence why there are SO many common kdrama tropes in here. if you're watching this focusing on the plot you don't know what' really going on. i loved this show. it's right up my alley of trope-y dramas with the VERY basic second lead (which is never overdone because it really doesn't get old) and the whole best friend dead and blaming each other (this is not a spoiler. this will not change anything for you dw) and then the poor second fl who's mean who becomes nicer etc etc. i also love dramas abt school corruption lol it's just an interesting concept. again, this show was about the characters themselves and NOT the plot. the cast overall was good but i felt the girl who played jiwon needs some work but i still realyl liked it :D the entire cast is gorgeous and the school n all that all look very satisfying i liked the concept of nulji high alot. kijoon's grandpa was one of the best too :D

okay this part is going to include spoilers:
i feel like there was just soo much lost potential with this drama, if they focused a little more on the students rather than the teachers. like how jaehee wanted to make friends and did everything she could to show that she's not the bad person she used to be known for and that she's not for the corruption she benefits from. also the whole divorced teachers thing. it was an interesting concept but they didn't really finish it off well. also jiwon was extremely boring? this entire show i feel like kijoon youngjoo and seoyoung are the only leads with any sort of character development and a sort of "history" we know nothing abt jiwon. also her pouty personality definitely gets boring but it definitely gives me reason to not have wanted her to end up with youngjoo it wouldve been so awkward. i love the childhood friends to lovers concept but i think youngjoo and seoyoung's trope works even better. both with a traumatizing past of losing loved ones, he met her at seoyoungs orphanage and she fell in love immediately. its just so cute dude i like it and how they always got flustered in ep 15 i love them together sooo much they bounce off each other so well truly,

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