This is a good drama made worse by inserting too many cliche kdrama tropes.

big problems in story progression (characters, especially evil/expendable characters keep making insane choices to escalate things and keep the story going), and standard characterization flaws (villains keep doing unreasonable things, side characters are one dimensional; only used as a lever progress the story and then forgotten/kept in limbo the rest of the time.

I think Yoon Se Jun and Do Hye Ji (eldest son and wife) were among the more interesting characters in this drama. They had their own goals, and pursued them seemingly relentlessly but without being "too evil". They were a unit, always supporting each other, and I was interested to see more of them but in the end they are left alone just be used as comic relief and not much else. This my be one of my biggest disappointment with this drama.

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weak weak writing

The reason I decided to write this years after it was released and years after I watched it because I keep hearing the main characters name as the poster child of strong women. And as per usual for ranting reviews, this is pretty spoiler heavy.

Romance parts were your run of the mill, cliche, tried and tested kdrama formula; it was cute, it was fun and it was light.
The rest, I had a lot of problems.

A user said that this was an easy-to-watch drama. I disagree. It was very hard for me. In fact, I rated screenwriter Baek Mi Gyeong bad after finishing this. A lot of things in drama were either plain wrong and/or used for cheap laughs.

From now on; my rant starts.

Do Bong Sun's desk at the company. What the hell was that? It was a toy desk, maybe suitable for children going to primary school or younger but no older. From my point of view, giving her that desk was the same as saying "I do not respect you or your work but I am indulging you". It was like those punishment rooms I heard about korean companies that they send people to drive them to quit. How can anyone feel respected and wanted working on a desk like that when everyone else have.. appropriate working environment?

Hospitalized gang and the school gang. Why oh why did they keep showing them? It was not funny seeing a grown man salivate and people groaning or keep getting hurt. It was definitely not sad or impactful (the way it was presented).
And the school gang.. I first thought oh she is going to reform them, teaching to be valued members of society or something. But then they kept showing them acting like delinquents; shouting, fighting gangsters, skipping school... you know, the reason she beat them (and then took them under her wings) in the first place. So, the way it was presented is like She is enabling them instead of showing her affecting her surroundings positively. Intentional?

Only time those groups were "arguably" important for the story was the first encounter of the gangsters where Min Min first saw and became intrigued about Bong Bong, and the last scenes where gangsters told them how the criminal was going to escape and that he has a sniper rifle, and when Bong Bong asked school gang to post the criminals pictures online.
All the rest of the scenes with these groups are in are either filled with saliva, pain or acts of delinquency; all of them played for cheap laughs.
And the thing is; all the rest of the time you showed us these groups could have been used to show more important things (IMO). Like Bong Gi and Hui Ji. They seemed to be more mature than our mains and I can't help but think that their story and resolution would have made the drama richer.
Or the parents. They kept showing Chil Gu bruised right until the end and at the end they just told us "no, Jin Yi was not beating him" and then just let go of that story. Why not show us their relationship?

Oh and just to be clear; the character Bong Bong is not written any good either. The mechanics of her power is all over the place. Bong Bong bullied, hurt and scared people using her power from the first episode and the ONLY time she was unaware she was using her power on an undeserving person she lost her power? So it doesn't matter if undeserving people get hurt with her power unless the scene is funny? Or everyone who is mean to her deserves everything that happens to them? Her uses of her power ranges from scaring, bullying people to practically crippling them.

All I can say is;
Weak writing Ms. Baek Mi Gyeong.

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This was about "those" people. The people who are stuck on some point in their lives while the world lives by, the ones who feel they can not join the society, the ones that lost themselves on the way and now are struggling to find it back.

Despite this gloomy start, this was such a positive drama. There are no bad people here; only lost ones. There are no completely pure/good/wise people here; only real ones.

This is a slice of life drama, told in a very laid back, kinda slow way (being only 7 episodes this is actually not slow at all; just that the story deals with people inner struggles without any protagonist or anything so at times you might feel nothing is happening).

Acting was good. I was especially impressed with Mrs. Naka Riisa. Up to now I tought her as an average actor. Here she outshone herself. I felt her characters struggle every step of the way.

If you like dramas like saigo kara nibanme no koi, osozaki no himawari or oishii gohan then I think you will like this one too. Please note that story here is nothing like those I mentioned; just the feeling.

Definitely recommended.

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a slice of life drama, underdogs as main characters, and no comical villains.. I thought this would be one of my favorites.
not this time, as it turns out.

Early phases were really downer for me; all kinds of cliches kept stacking against our quartet and all during that time and as the series progresses they were always happy; kind of like oblivious of things happening outside of their group. And it always turned out fine. Bad thing happens, they keep being happy after a brief moment of sadness and voila, it was like it wasn't bad at all; a good result comes along.

it was pretty unrealistic in how we expect them to struggle in a given cliche situation vs the actual struggle on screen.

I liked the characters and costumes, but the story and progression seemed shaky at best.

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I liked this a lot and really had fun watching it. I want to make this clear before I start ranting.

I think the writing is really weak for a drama of this caliber and with these mains. This story would never have worked if we did not have Jo Jeong Seok who could make you fall in love with him even if he plays a brick or a doorknob, and Go Gyeong Pyo who is so lovable and cute you can not help but feel sorry for him here, and of course Ms. Gong Hyo Jin who can make you root for any character she plays and maintains excellent synergy whomever she acts with.

Besides the mains, I think the only characters I liked were Hong announcer and Nurse O. They at least had some semblance of character to them (probably brought to life by their acting, not writing).
When you think about it none of the side characters had any character at all. they were just treated as a cog or a force to move the story in a certain way. they were never given any depth.

Think about Kim Tae Ra. Only reason we do not think how can a mother act this way is because we are used to these kinds of mothers. But unlike regular kdrama mothers she doesn't have any redeeming quality. Because Go Jeong Won is such a nice and kind character and because he lets her mother gets away with things we assume she must also has some good qualities but is there really? Why is he acting like he is her loving mother when nothing she does ever gives us any indication that she is anything but a self serving egoist.
At least with his father they did not tried to coat it with anything and used the father for what he is; a lever.

And not only the side characters. All of the mains have unexplained but assumed characteristics.

If you disregard and ignore Lee Hwa Sin is played by Jo Jeong Seok you'd have a near perfect example of a standard korean drama villain. Just imagine there is no scenes to show his side of the story (and even if you show some, maybe most of them too) he is nothing but a cold hearted and manipulative person with a narcissistic personality disorder.
Only reason we felt the start is shaky but then got into the story is because he is played by Jo Jeong Seok. If he was played by someone less lovable, less approachable then we would have dropped this series in a second. Well probably not me, I love Gong Hyo Jin too..

Why is Go Jeong Won such a good person? nothing in his life or background gives us any reason to expect or believe someone can grow up to be such a person coming from a family and background like his.

A lot of hooks were cast and left forgotten. What happened to mom-crush of Pyo Chi Yeol? He was so cute finding a mom figure in Bang Ji Yeong and then... puff; gone.

A lot of problems with pacing also. Realized who she will pick at 15-16 and waited till ep 20 something for her to acknowledge her decision.

Again; I like this drama. And quite possibly may rewatch it even tho I will get triggered and rage on stuff. Just like I do for most of Kim Eun Suk dramas (Tho so far Goblin is excellent *fingers crossed*).
For me the success of this drama is directly tied to the successful and pro cast and nothing to do with the script.

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This was my first drama from screenwriter Hashida Sugako and it's likely to be my last. She's just the kind of person that gives men power over women on earth. She is in a position to reach a big crowd being a screenwriter and the idea she sends in this drama is atrocious.

This drama is about family, acceptance (both oneself and others), expanding ones borders, (somewhat) unconditional love and personal growth.
Acting was phoned in in some places but it was not bad. Characters were as you expect for a drama that tackles these issues; some were interesting, some where cheesy and most were extra one dimensional.
Scenes were delivered to give you maximum cheese as expected.

Of the top of my head I can recommend;

ai no uta
family, acceptance, personal growth, love
boku no aruku michi
family, acceptance, personal growth, love
lunch no joou
family, acceptance, personal growth
oishii gohan
family, acceptance, personal growth, unconditional love
saigo kara nibanme no koi
family, acceptance, personal growth, love
These are all jdramas as this is one but I am sure I can think of more both japanese and other countries dramas that are better than this.

Don't get me wrong this was mainly ok. Until last episode where screenwriter Hashida Sugako decided to shove her ideas about DV (domestic violence) down our (my) throats. Maybe she doesn't actually believe this but made it like this to make it a fast happy ending. BUT it doesn't make it ok.

[spoiler]In this drama Konno Mahiru plays a wife, a victim of DV, running away from the husband and taking refuge in the cafe restaurant Aya-san runs. In the last episode the husband comes, ridden(sp?) with guilt; and apologizes. He claims he was under tremendous pressure having lost his job and being unable to provide for his family, and when he came home he couldn't handle his wife's stern/unapproving looks and just snapped.
According to the drama he snapped repeatedly; to the point the wife feared the next time he snapped he would kill her and fearing for her life she ran.
How the drama (screenwriter) handles this is: to have the fatherly figure that helps everyone and gives everyone definite advice come and ask her to take the husband back. He thinks he is reformed and also asks her to take responsibility for this incident as she is half at fault too; after all, she did frown and gave her husband stern looks.

This kind of pressure from outside (family, friends, society) is what makes DV so hard to stop especially in countries like mine (with more closed societies) where family is sacred and should not be talked about to strangers.[/spoiler]

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All in all; a very solid drama.


It was better than good but the time travel / time skip / change the past and future aspect doesn't agree with me.

I do not like watching the characters meet and form relationships, form my opinion on these characters and relationships, pick favorites and root for something and then towards the end the writers say; oh btw; these did not happen.

It may help the story, but I do not like it.

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