kingsqueen
USA
This drama was a slow paced filler romance. (The story doesn't really start to go anywhere until around episode 6.) Although I love both lead actors, the first couple of episodes were sort of awkward, and I wasn't sure how I even felt about it. I wanted to support the actors, but the drama was just sort of...meh. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. It was just average, and that's why it got a 7 overall for me. I rated much lower for the storyline because everything except the main lead parts and their romance was just superficial.
That was the one part of this show that I really did enjoy - seeing Soo Ho blossom and become his true self under the care of Geu Rim. I like that Geu Rim was the mature and stable person in this show. She didn't have really any character growth because she didn't need any. She was calm and forth-right. She always had the perfect response to Soo Ho's (and PD Lee's) childishness. There were no huge conflicts and no noble idiocy, just a pure and sweet romance (the radio part of the show was almost an after-thought after the first half of the show and seemed to take a backseat instead of being anything major to the story.) Soo Ho could be very possessive and jealous, but because he was so child-like, cute and innocent about it, I really couldn't muster up any indignation over it. I was happy that Geu Rim was a woman that didn't let the men (Soo Ho and PD Lee) get away with bad behavior without calling them out on it.
Here is where the not so great part comes in. The story-line was problematic. The side characters really didn't have much to do, and their parts in the story were too shallowly developed to bear any weight in the story. While that made things very comfortable and easy for our lead couple, it also didn't give them any true conflict to resolve, which bored many viewers. I was ok with riding along this easy river of romance because I liked the leads honesty with each other and their resolute determination that they wouldn't let things come between them. The 'villains' that the show set up just sort of petered out about 3/4 through. Towards the end, they decided to make these thorns more sympathetic and less troublesome. Most things were resolved in neat little bows for us, very tidily and quickly. And the rest was sort of just let go. If the pacing had been better, I think they could have written a stronger story that would have been more compelling for us as viewers. Instead, they weakened out their own plot and it was already thin to begin with.
I wasn't bothered by the age difference between the actors as some people were. I am well aware that an actor doesn't have to be the same age as the character she plays. I had no issues at all with the leads that they cast for this. Now, I do have to say that the first several episodes, I wasn't thrilled with the styling choices they made for Soo Ho and Geu Rim. Soo Ho had some horrendous red hair - and red eyes to match. However, with his transformation, I could kind of see that maybe they were making an allusion to him becoming more of his 'real' self. Geu Rim also had hideously poufy curly hair and this served to make Kim So Hyun actually appear younger than her actual age rather than older, as her character was. Thankfully, they also toned down this style and she became more believable as a woman in her early 20's vs. a high school girl.
For what it's worth, if you are just looking for something light and don't mind an extremely shallow plot that just serves as a backdrop for a comfortable easy romance, then I would say this is what you are looking for in a rom-com. It's nothing ground breaking or 'never been done before', and it can be pretty cliché, so know that going in. If you are a jaded viewer who hates that sort of thing and/or needs something faster paced and a more solid plot, then you are going to want to take a hard pass on this one - it won't be for you.
That was the one part of this show that I really did enjoy - seeing Soo Ho blossom and become his true self under the care of Geu Rim. I like that Geu Rim was the mature and stable person in this show. She didn't have really any character growth because she didn't need any. She was calm and forth-right. She always had the perfect response to Soo Ho's (and PD Lee's) childishness. There were no huge conflicts and no noble idiocy, just a pure and sweet romance (the radio part of the show was almost an after-thought after the first half of the show and seemed to take a backseat instead of being anything major to the story.) Soo Ho could be very possessive and jealous, but because he was so child-like, cute and innocent about it, I really couldn't muster up any indignation over it. I was happy that Geu Rim was a woman that didn't let the men (Soo Ho and PD Lee) get away with bad behavior without calling them out on it.
Here is where the not so great part comes in. The story-line was problematic. The side characters really didn't have much to do, and their parts in the story were too shallowly developed to bear any weight in the story. While that made things very comfortable and easy for our lead couple, it also didn't give them any true conflict to resolve, which bored many viewers. I was ok with riding along this easy river of romance because I liked the leads honesty with each other and their resolute determination that they wouldn't let things come between them. The 'villains' that the show set up just sort of petered out about 3/4 through. Towards the end, they decided to make these thorns more sympathetic and less troublesome. Most things were resolved in neat little bows for us, very tidily and quickly. And the rest was sort of just let go. If the pacing had been better, I think they could have written a stronger story that would have been more compelling for us as viewers. Instead, they weakened out their own plot and it was already thin to begin with.
I wasn't bothered by the age difference between the actors as some people were. I am well aware that an actor doesn't have to be the same age as the character she plays. I had no issues at all with the leads that they cast for this. Now, I do have to say that the first several episodes, I wasn't thrilled with the styling choices they made for Soo Ho and Geu Rim. Soo Ho had some horrendous red hair - and red eyes to match. However, with his transformation, I could kind of see that maybe they were making an allusion to him becoming more of his 'real' self. Geu Rim also had hideously poufy curly hair and this served to make Kim So Hyun actually appear younger than her actual age rather than older, as her character was. Thankfully, they also toned down this style and she became more believable as a woman in her early 20's vs. a high school girl.
For what it's worth, if you are just looking for something light and don't mind an extremely shallow plot that just serves as a backdrop for a comfortable easy romance, then I would say this is what you are looking for in a rom-com. It's nothing ground breaking or 'never been done before', and it can be pretty cliché, so know that going in. If you are a jaded viewer who hates that sort of thing and/or needs something faster paced and a more solid plot, then you are going to want to take a hard pass on this one - it won't be for you.
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