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faithless510
Alberta, Canada
This review may contain spoilers
Please Don't Watch This With Expectations Of a Grand Romance
I started watching this drama without having read any comments or reviews. I learned that lesson about short web-series after I passed on a lot of good shows that have unfortunately low ratings and a terrible comment section. I've discovered that it's better to check the tags and then walk in blindly without other viewers opinions marring your own perception.The poster image for this drama is deceptive. On MDL the image is bright and bubblegum colored with smiling faces and a quirky undertone. On Viki the drama link image is a girl with a notebook with 4 very attractive guys lined up in front of her, also in bright and cheery colors. These insinuate a happy and cute rom-com is waiting for you, maybe with a lot of heart-fluttering reverse-harem moments. But if you look a little deeper into the information provided by MDL, you'll notice the second tag is TRAUMA. This drama is basically a character study of a flawed girl that has felt unloved her whole life and the lengths she will go to feel loved and "whole". The relationships with these men, while starting out fluffy, quickly deteriorate into pain due to the circumstances of the notebook. Some are even abusive and toxic. This is all part of the journey the FL takes to achieve self-discovery, and find out that relying on others to provide love when she has none herself is going to be a never-ending circle of regret and pain.
The actors in this drama did an exceptional job of either making me love them or hate them. The FL was flawed and likely was hard to understand by viewers that haven't experienced that feeling of being lonely and unlovable. Her desperation to feel whole by receiving love from another person is relatable, and I found myself viewing her actions as understandable. The actress did a good job of providing emotional balance and I found myself rooting for her. The ML appears perfect but was also flawed in his own ways. He was impatient and jealous, which he vented on the FL often, but was unwilling to confess his feelings to provide context to why he was so upset with her on so many occasions, which lead her into deeper feelings of isolation. The ML's acting was great for a rookie. You could feel his anger, hurt, panic, and love without him saying a word. The SFL was surprising, for the first half of the series she presented without nuance or depth, but in the second half the actress proves that appearances can be deceiving and becomes almost an entirely new person. As for the supporting male leads, they all did a fantastic job of either making me love them or hate them... or love them THEN hate them.
Overall, this drama has a re-watch value that is pretty low, but it's worth watching once if you're in the mood for something a little deeper than a fluffy reverse-harem. Jump into it without expectations and you will enjoy where the story takes you a lot more than if you have a preconceived notion about how it should play out. It's a little dark, a little traumatic, a little emotional, with moments of sunshine and rainbows and fireworks mixed in, just like real life.
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In a world full of Jenny's and WeiWei's be an An DuoDuo
This short but sweet show was a total ride! After watching a few years of Chinese dramas I became accustomed to seeing the typical FL silently accepting adversity, and allowing herself to be bullied because she's too "nice" to retaliate and stand up for herself. I understand cultural norms, but eventually the wilting flower FL becomes overdone and repetitive. This FL was absolutely not willing to let others push her around, threw some of her own punches, and didn't allow anyone to mistreat her without retaliation. It was an absolute breath of fresh air and I NEED more FL's like this in my life.An even better aspect was the ML. He adored her just as she was, no judgement. He even stood back and watched her with a smirk on his face while she was being a total badass. He was right there with her, helping her solve her problems and get her revenge, and enjoyed himself thoroughly through it all. He made no offhand comments or judgmental remarks about her decisions, and didn't try to change her strong sense of self. I also NEED more ML's like this in my life.
The over-wrought drama of the plot was a bit campy, but seemed intentionally so. The evil mistress-turned-wife and ex-almost-mother-in-law were worthy opponents for the FL, and their over the top antics added just the right amount of crazy to the plot. Even the FL's interactions with her ex-fiancée were extremely satisfying because of how decisive she was after his infidelity.
This drama was well worth the short amount of time it took to watch it. It's a quick binge to cleanse your palette of those flavorless boring FL's and controlling ML's.
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This review may contain spoilers
What in the tarnation did I just watch?
**Lots of spoilers**Of the 427 dramas I've watched before I started this show I can easily say this was the worst. It was the crap icing on a poop cake. It starts off as a trainwreck and quickly spirals into insanity. The plot was so choppy and disjointed that I literally asked myself if I was high while I was watching it. Alas, I was not, but the sensation of "WTF am I watching? I must be high" persisted for all 20 episodes. There are bad guys, bad guys with bats, bad guys with knives, stabbings, jealous friends, jealous siblings, jealous classmates, plots to drug and rape someone, plots to kill someone, plots to overthrow a company chairman, plots to overthrow a grandpa, plots to overthrow a father, plots to overthrow a brother, plots to overthrow a sister, slaps, more slaps, even more slaps, fake disability, literal insanity, pregnancy, and bombs. All within 20 episodes clocking in at less than 10 minutes each.
The Acting: TERRIBLE
The Plot: RIDICULOUS
The Ending: THE WORST I'VE EVER SEEN
Do yourself a favour and give this one a skip. I suffered so that you don't have to. Trust me. That's time I'll never get back... but yet I finished it.
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Gut-busting scenes and total fun!
I'll preface this by stating I refused to read the webtoon prior to watching the movie. Reading first always makes the movies harder to enjoy for their own merit because it gives you *expectations* of how things should play out, and when they don't follow what you think should happen you get disappointed.I found Lee Jun Young to be a total breath of fresh air in this movie. His portrayal of the character gave me absolute Golden Retriever vibes, and with his eyes alone he could express a frantically wagging tail while looking at his Master.
The story was a wild ride from start to finish and had me tearing up, laughing hysterically, biting my lip, and cringing so hard I thought I was dying. The *spicy* scenes were well done (although no sex was portrayed), had a really nice message about consent, trust with a partner, and accepting people for who they are. There was an excellent portrayal of how some men treat women in the workplace, and then showed what better men can do and say to those terrible men to point out their actions.
The OST was nothing memorable, to the point that I can't remember if it had any music at all.
I will definitely rewatch this movie MANY times, even if it's just to enjoy Lee Jun Young's puppy dog eyes and absolute devotion to his Master.
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Nothing is what you think it is.
If you're triggered by student/teacher relationships then this isn't the show for you, but you'll be missing some pretty epic storytelling if you pass on it. The first few episodes are setting up character personalities and a lot of watchers take these episodes at face value. The teacher seems like an emotionless robot, the student seems like a juvenile bully, the mother seems like an emotionally abusive tyrant. But as the story peels back its layers you will be pleasantly surprised by the emotional depth of each character, how their pasts effect their futures, and how personal growth can change relationships.The ML is particularly spectacular to watch. His acting is nuanced and his performance is completely believable. His small mannerisms at the beginning SCREAM "I'm a 17 year old boy" - slouched shoulders, hands in his pockets, kicking pebbles as he walks, opening and closing doors with his feet, and rebelling in all ways possible. As he starts to develop more adult feelings and begins his emotional journey his mannerisms become about where his eyes linger and quickly dart away, jealous glances, longing looks, mirroring the adults around him, and the changes he makes to become a better person. The transition from boy to man is slow and volatile, but believable because of the attention to detail from the actor and writers. The chemistry between the leads is also incredibly natural and fiery hot.
At 12 episodes long, this was just the right amount of time to say what needed to be said. Any longer and it would get draggy, any shorter and it would feel like it was missing something. Don't be afraid to invest your time in this show if you appreciate a well-planned mystery with romance, friendship, distrust, and emotional growth.
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All the BEST clichés!
This was an adorable tongue-in-cheek romp through all the best tropes, clichés, and rom-com plots that Korea likes to throw into it's dramas. It never took itself too seriously or too lightly, and paid homage to all it's tropey predecessors with style and class.I rarely feel this way, but 12 episodes felt WAY too short, and I wished it would just keep going for the usual 16 episodes. Don't get me wrong, the story isn't rushed or cut off, I just wish I had more hours with my favourite Archaeopteryx and his Researcher.
I can't even count how many times I laughed out loud through this series, whether it be the intentionally daytime-TV styled over-dramatic filming of certain scenes or the awkwardness of a Jurassic dinosaur having a contract relationship with a woman acting as two very different people. Another unique feature was the way they paralleled the TV show the grandfather watched along with some situations happening to the main characters. It was an absolutely brilliant way to poke fun at it's own soapy melodramas that arose.
The acting was spot-on, with just the right balance of levity and seriousness, . It's lovely to see how a good script and good direction can make actors turn into unforgettable characters that you'll carry in your drama-loving heart forever. The ML and FL had fantastic chemistry with adorable skinship and the SML and SFL were definite *Couple Goals*. The friendships portrayed between all the characters were also *Friendship Goals*, and their interactions were a huge percentage of the humour.
Overall I suggest this drama to anyone looking for an adorable love story full of humour, parody, levity, sadness, seriousness, friendship, and food.
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This review may contain spoilers
Angst, misunderstandings, mistrust, and schemes!
This drama was a wild ride! The tropes and the cliches abound, but given the fact that the episodes are 4 minutes long I can't say it was a total waste of time. This is definitely a filler between longer and better dramas, but I find myself enjoying these quick little bites of angsty soap-opera styled mini series.The acting was pretty "meh" in this drama. I had seen the ML in "Confess Your Love" (another short web series) where his acting flowed a little better, but I can't always blame that on the actor. Often the director is more at fault for bad performances because they don't give the actors clear instructions or give a pass to less than ideally acted scenes. But I digress. The ML, FL, and the two Second Leads were all adequate, but the few action/fight scenes were poorly executed.
Spoilers below:
The plot is a literal mess. The ML and FL go back and forth in and out of a relationship multiple times. The mistrust from the ML is astronomical, particularly after he said he would never lose his trust in her ever again. It was actually super toxic and I found myself enjoying it less because of that aspect. I love a good soapy melodrama with all the fixin's but some of the ML's actions made me scream internally. Same to the FL for going back to him time and again. This was only 26 episodes at ~4 minutes per episode, so the plot progresses at the speed of light, and the resolution for the villains felt a little lackluster.
/end Spoilers :)
Overall this was a quick and dirty web series that makes good filler. It's also good for the days you don't want to invest a lot of time into starting a full length series, or you have a low attention span. It wasn't the best, but I can't say it was the worst because it kept me clicking "Next Episode".
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Not What I Was Expecting, But So Much More.
Public Service Announcement: THERE IS A SCENE AFTER THE CREDITS OF THE FINAL EPISODE. STICK AROUND UNTIL THE VERY END!Once in a while a drama comes along that grabs you and holds on. I have only experienced this with a handful of C-Dramas, but when they hook me they REALLY don't let go. This show has been added to the very short list of dramas that live in my heart rent-free. It didn't follow the standard "overbearing CEO/overbearing boss" trope despite that being the overall premise of the plot and it kept me emotionally engaged from start to finish.
The acting of the cast impressed me, especially the FL (Song Zu Er) and ML (Z. Tao). I had watched 10 episodes of 'The Brightest Star In The Sky' before I dropped it, partially because I didn't like the acting. Z. Tao has either improved his skills or had better direction in 'Legally Romance' because he seemed much more natural in this role. The supporting cast was also exceptional, especially the FL's brother (Yan An) for being such a new actor. I had previously watched him in 'Love Crossed' and he was so-so in that show. His skills have improved exponentially VERY quickly. The SML (Garvey Jin) had fantastic presence and charisma. His use of facial expressions to convey emotions was seriously remarkable. He also made me fall a little in love with him - both as a fresh-faced university student and a jaded adult.
The cinematography in this show was so gorgeous. It's hard to explain, but sometimes the use of the camera angles and lighting made it seem even more like a fantasy dreamscape. The director is quite young and relatively new, with only 3 dramas under his belt, but this show felt polished and shiny, like a far more experienced director was at the helm. One of my favourite aspects of this show was the brief 4th wall breaks the FL has while she talks directly to the viewers. They're used so well and give a lot of really important information very quickly. It's rare to see a 4th wall break done frequently and done well at the same time.
I'm not much of an OST person, I don't tend to notice songs aside from the mood they create in the scene, but the music in this drama was good enough that I took note of several tracks. One song in particular had me replaying the scene over and over just to listen to the music and going on a mad Shazam/Spotify/YouTube/Google search to find the full length version. Alas, the song eludes me still, much to my frustration.
My only *very minor* dislike in this show is that once in a while it can be confusing when they're discussing some aspects of legalities, contracts, etc. For the most part all the legal jargon was toned down and easy to understand, but in the final 8 episodes I found a few of the discussions about the cases harder to follow. I also found some of the blur between the past, the 'second' past, and the actual current timeline could get a little too ambiguous about what was actually experienced by people that didn't relive the "second" past.
Overall this was an excellent drama with lots of cute scenes between the ML and FL, as well as the secondary couple. There were also a lot of emotional scenes throughout the show that had me shedding a few of my own tears, and even some action-packed moments that made the climax quite intense. Definitely worth the watch!
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