michelleoc

Not earthshattering, but very enjoyable

The Veronica Park character, very annoying - but she really redeemed herself and was so amusing. The storyline, initially not too interesting. Once the storyline really got started, lots of twists! The main characters? Great chemistry and they were both lovely to watch. I found myself smiling, a lot, they were just so cute together. He did a wonderful job of portraying loneliness in his life. He also had the cutest pout. And yes, I did some crying, oh, and laughing too! I don’t like when there aren’t consequences for evil (uncle). Mistaken identity went on longer than I would have liked, but overall this show gave me all the feels. Lovely happy ending.

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What endearing characters!

This show reminded me of a rich, sweet dessert. It was so delicious, but I wanted to take small bites in order to savor it and enjoy every bit of it. This is a show about the families we are born into, and the families we create for ourselves. There were so many sweet moments when I found myself smiling like a lunatic, as well as the heartbreaking moments where I kept reaching for tissues. All of the actors did a terrific job with a wonderful script. I didn't feel that there was anything extraneous in this show, nothing that felt like filler just to have more episodes. Each character had strengths on their own merit. Woo Seo Ri has been in a coma for 13 years. There are so many ways the writers could have gone wrong with this - by turning it slapstick/silly, by making her behave in an immature way throughout - thankfully they didn't do that. She suffered, sure, but she had a strength of character that allowed her to keep forging forward. She had a lovely, positive attitude. Gong Woo Gin had a tragedy in his past that changed him - he cut himself off from human contact. Yang Se Jong, who played him, was exceptional. Watching him unfold like a flower, opening up to those around him was such a special thing to watch. And when something happened and he started to close up around himself again, my heart broke. I also loved Mr. Gong's nephew and his friends, and Jennifer? She was astounding! How someone can convey so much emotion while being emotionless is amazing. I thought they were going to use one of the standard (overused) ideas for the ending, and I was so happy when they didn't! The chemistry between all the cast was just wonderful. I feel like I don't want to move on to something else yet, and start this whole thing over again tomorrow. I put off watching this for a long time because I thought it was going to be filled with cliches, but the writers took the high road and turned this into something unique and wonderful.

I also have to say that I LOVED that there wasn't the evil love rival in this. Jung Eugene as win Joo's boss was terrific, and it was a joy to see a strong woman in her own right, being friends with a man for years. They, too, had sort of a familial relationship. I felt that each relationship was so special, and because of this, I have enjoyed watching this drama numerous times.

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Serious melodrama

This review is based upon my reaction ONLY to the show. I'm a romance/happy ending kind of girl, and this was WAAAYYY on the other end of the spectrum. This is a serious melodrama.

If you want to see some awesome acting by Seo In Guk, watch this. He was amazing. Here he plays completely opposite to anything we've seen him in to date. I had a hard time seeing him as anything other than the hero of a show, but he was chillingly believable.

I felt that the female lead's character was severely lacking in self esteem and came across as needy. This was a woman that should not be let to make her own choices, because she chooses wrong every time.

The music was perfect and carried the mood well.

I have to say that I was depressed after watching this show. Too much angst, too much deception, too much melodrama.

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Set up like a 3-act play

Let's get this out of the way - I enjoyed it, but I had a difficult time suspending disbelief in many areas (and it was NOT the ghosts). The acting was excellent. Eun Bin and Se Jong were so cute together. Shout out to Ong Seong Wu as Min Hwan - he played a very nuanced character. The first time he appeared, he gave me feeling of distrust that was just amplified each time he appeared. The smile with the cold eyes...chilling. Supporting cast was also good.

Great costume design. I loved the closed Eun Bin wore - except for the boxy, square, oversized men's suit that she wore at the shareholder meeting.

Here's where my issues came in - did this have three different writers? This seemed to be broken up into three distinct acts.
Episodes 1-5 focused on ghosts. This section was so entertaining, especially with Gang Uk's fear.
-Gang Uk flatlined and they had to shock him, but just a few minutes later his wound was dressed, he was back in street clothes and standing in front of Yeo Ri. Suspend disbelief.

Episodes 6-9 focused on their relationship. They were a very sweet couple. Gang Uk was a walking green flag. I did enjoy watching Yeo Ri go from cold and distant to warming up and smiling. We got a cute engagement ceremony.
-How was he always able to find her when she didn't answer his calls? Did he have a tracker on her?
-Her hands were the only thing that were a problem. The reasoning for him wearing gloves as well? Double protection?

Episodes 10-12 Corporate intrigues. I felt like this whole thing was very convoluted.
-Breakup because of superstition. Suspend disbelief.
-why was Yeo Ri holding the murder weapon?
-the biggest problem for me was when Gang Uk went to the murder scene and found the cufflink. Did Min Hwan's lackey have the White Truck of Doom on speed dial? How did he even know Gang Uk was there? THEN, Yeo Ri pushed Gang Uk out of the way but proceeds to stand there for the truck to hit her. Why didn't she just do a flying tackle? I couldn't suspend belief this far.
-Was the final scene, where they were walking together, the first scene they filmed? The writing was so forced and both actors looked like they were acting. The whole thing felt wrong.

The product placement throughout this whole show was so obvious and poorly executed.

Bottom line? I would still recommend it. Turn your brain off and enjoy the ride.

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What a sweet story!

I have to say I ended up loving this drama. It was difficult for me at the beginning with the mental health issues, but I couldn't help but love both the ML and FL. I loved the story of them trying to save the chocolate shoppe, and the scenes at the beginning of each episode were especially beautifully done, showing the chocolates being made.

This was very funny in places, serious in others, and cozy in other places still. Others knew that they liked each other before they did, and that was sweet. Their chemistry with each other was natural, and I really believed them when they bonded.

There wasn't any of the usual trope-y stuff. No breakup, no evil ex, ML's father was a pill and his assistant was two-faced, but the importance of that was way down on the list of importance. It was so touching when the other workers accepted her and what they did for her to make her feel comfortable.

We got a wedding!

I especially appreciated the fact that they weren't magically cured at the end of the drama, it was more believable. If you want something sweet and easy to watch, give this one a try.

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Did they get a different writer after episode 7?

This one started out so promising! I was absolutely loving it. Lots of humor, likeable characters, good lead couple. Then from episode 8 on, it went down drastically...

Liked:
ML - Cold, stoic, tsundere boss. He fell very low on the EQ score, which is one of the things that made this drama so funny toward the beginning. He dealt with his ex in a very good way.
FL - beautiful, competent, no-nonsense. She stuck up for herself and was able to give logical arguments that the ML could not refute.
Main couple - good chemistry early on
2d couple - got married after one day because they knew each other for a day as children. I liked this, because I felt it was poking fun at the destiny trope.
Food - this was like a food orgy! Lots of delicious looking food.

Until I didn't:
ML - said he wasn't over his ex after five years. The not being able to verbalize his feelings got very old.
FL - quits and breaks up with her boss for a year or so and wants to continue where they left off. She hated it when the ex did that, but it was okay for her? Her ability to communicate rationally diminished with each episode. I liked how she dealt with the employee that he told her to fire.
Main couple - they needed to learn to talk to one another
2d couple - spent all of their time trying to get the main couple together. They were all up in their business all the time, to the detriment of their own relationship. They fought like children.
3d couple - man and woman spent the whole series trying to break up the main couple. It was cute at the beginning, but that didn't last long.
Time skip - I wish we could get rid of this trope.
HE - in the last three minutes.
So much phone usage. Always texting or voice texting, and, as usual, no one can be reached in an emergency. They are at a formal function, she's dressed beautifully and carrying her phone in her hand.
The business aspect was low at the beginning, but then there was a LOT of it from midpoint on. All the people gossiping at work was irritating.

I wish I had stopped at episode 7. It was so good until then.

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I love the concept of "found family"

I'm not a big fan of corruption dramas, but with Ji Sung in it, I had to give it a try.

The story slowed down in the last couple of episodes, but I still liked it. The acting/characters were what made me keep coming back for more. I loved the "found family" aspect of it, people coming together that you'd never imagine being in the same room.

Ji Sung - him standing at the funeral with tears streaming down his face really got me. He can be over-the-top, but, for the most part, he reined himself in admirably.

Moon Sori - the irritating tenant that eventually becomes the president of the building. She started out SOOOO irritating, but once she decided to help, she was all in. I loved the change in her.

Kim Won Hae - always good for comedy relief but also plays serious as well. I look forward to his performances when I see that he's in the cast.

But, ultimately, it's Park Byung Eun as the villain that really impressed me. First, his makeup. His skin tone was pasty, making you feel like he never saw the light of day. There were a couple of humorous things from him, but for the most part his performance was chillingly understated. When he showed up at the funeral and spoke to the ML, I totally got the creeps!

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Glad I read a detailed review

I don't usually place much stock in reviews, but I ran across a review for this drama a few days ago. I hadn't even heard of it, so obviously it wasn't on my radar, but since I haven't had much luck in the rom-com department recently, I decided to give it a try and I'm so glad I did. This was one that cause all of life and chores to cease - I finished it in two days! I'm not going to reiterate the story but just give my general impressions:
-ML and FL relationship was believable. They were in a contractual relationship, and we got to go along for the ride as they got to know one another. The development of the relationship and their feelings was believable. We could feel when they started to care for one another.
-Their relationship was also healthy. They supported one another and were there for each other.
-Lovely chemistry.
-There wasn't a lot of over-the-top acting.
-Loved the boss/assistant relationship. Lots of amusing things there.
-There was a lot of comedy in this. I think they tag things as comedies too often. You watch, expecting a rom-com, but are disappointed. I laughed out loud a lot. There was something that happened toward the end that surprised me so much, snorting occurred and I hit my head on the headboard. My husband came in to see if I was alright.
-Likeable characters, for the most part.
-Business talk was kept to a minimum. This was, thankfully, more romance than business. They could have probably cut it by a couple of episodes, but it wasn't too laggy.
-Sweet, happy ending.

Things I didn't care for:
-The second couple. She was a stalker, immature, and whiny. If she had changed in earlier episodes and become more mature, I would have been all in on this relationship. But it was too little, too late.

A good rom-com makes me feel good while watching it. A really good one keeps me smiling. This one kept me smiling.

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Very good show

So, it's not rocket science. This is a great show to watch if you just want to turn off your brain for a while and have a chuckle every so often. I would imagine most would rate it higher than I, but I had to fast forward through so much, because the fight scenes were too intense for me, and the bullying as well. And why does everything exciting have to happen at night when it's dark? The filming was so dark in places it was hard to see what was going on. I thought they could have done with a few less characters as well. So many villains!

This drama was adapted from a webtoon, and I thought they did a terrific job on it. The characters were all over-the-top. The good guys hardly ever lost a fight, even when ridiculously outnumbered. Slow motion punches, people flying through the air. Heroes getting only grazed by a bullet when hundreds of rounds have been fired. Our heroes being protected from a plethora of bullets by hiding behind a wooden desk that, in the real world, bullets would pass through like butter.

So Ji Sub never disappoints. He is able to go from intensity, to fear, to despair, which just using his eyes. I found him perfect for this role.
Seo Su Min as his daughter Min Ji was excellent as well.
I especially liked seeing Choi Dae Hoon as a cool guy. He normally plays kind of a doofus, but I thought he was terrific here, practically living in his karate garb.
Yeon Hyung Ho was great too as the ex-marine. I loved how they played up how loud he was.
I was very appreciative of the humor that these guys brought to break up all the fighting.

Since it was from a webtoon, I kind of had to try to skim over some of the glaring improbabilities:
Min Ji was hit with a brick, and with the amount of blood left behind at the scene, she would have been dead. She's lying on the ground for a while, then stuffed in the back of a car, then dragged to a refrigerator container, all with multiple baddies thinking she's dead. All this happens over more than a day. She immediately wakes up once the lock her in the refrigerator, no appearance of having been wounded (other than the blood all over her) and it able to get herself out. With the amount of blood loss, and lack of food and hydration...there's no way...just sayin'.

Did the main baddie daddy die or are they saving him for the sequel that they obviously set us up for? He was stabbed outside the hospital, and they whisked him back in right away. Unless I inadvertently missed it, I would have liked to see a definite end to him. I would have liked to see more consequences for his daughter as well. The apple didn't fall far from the tree with that one!

The agent and his daughter are given new identities, yet their last name remained Kim and they just changed her name from Min Ji to Ji Min? Plus, they were still close to their two friends? Again, a perfect set-up for a sequel, but very implausible.

So, though it wasn't my cup of tea, there is no denying that it was a fun ride.

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It pains me to have to rate this as low as I did

I'm normally on board for an office romance. I'm ALWAYS on board for Seo In Guk. So, to say I was disappointed with this offering is an understatement. I think the major blame needs to go to the writer, for a number of reasons. The lead couple and the second couple felt like their stories were too much alike. Sure, one woman was ghosted and the other left for someone else, but the female responses to both situations was the same. The females seemed weak and needy to me. When the SFL said to SML "I'm always going to put myself first", I think the point was that she was going to start believing in herself more, but the result was selfishness - that's not a relationship that's going to work in the long run.
The FL came across as childish and seemed to always be making emotional demands of the ML. Her internal conversations always seemed to be about why he wasn't behaving in the way she thought he should.
I'm also very tired of the trope where the couple goes through so much, they are supposedly very in love, but then she is reluctant to get married.
Seo In Guk - he has never been one to over-emote. He can convey so much using just his eyes and a slight upturn of his lips. In this show, first I felt an extreme lack of energy from him, like he was slogging through mud or something. I kept thinking of Winnie the Pooh's friend Eeyore.
There was a real lack of chemistry between the leads and I didn't believe in them or their love.
Small thing related to makeup/lighting. There were a number of scenes when the main couple was outside at night, talking. The makeup for the FL was strange, lots of reddish around her eyes and not in scenes where she was supposed to have been crying. And the scene where she goes into the bathroom after he showered, I don't know if it was makeup or lighting, but Seo In Guk looked yellow. Not a good look.
This is one of those shows, that after completing, I'm gun shy about being disappointed again. I guess I'll have to re-watch something that I know I loved.

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Oh my

Food and romance? I'm in! And if you were to take everything else, other than the main couple out of this drama, I would have rated it much higher. I loved them together.
Song Seung Hoon in the ML role was wonderful. I've never seen any of his other works, but he was charming and very likeable. There was something very charismatic about him.
Seo Ji Hye in the FL - loved her! I like that she's got this killer beauty about her, but she can be playful and vulnerable. They were lovely together. We got a lot of scenes of wonderful food, and quiet times of them getting to know one another.

However:
So much wasted time! Too many story lines.
The story line with her boss and the homeless doctor was silly.
A love rectangle - no thank you.
I despise the trope of the ex coming back into the picture and doing whatever to break up the main couple, just because they've decided they now want the person and they deserve to have them. The ex-girlfriend was such a character, and the ML was entirely too patient with her, letting her fawn on him, linking arms with him, etc.
Then there was the FL ex - he was LITERALLY a stalker, but she didn't call the police?!?!
I didn't like the social media story line - I'm so over this in real life, people making a living of "likes" and clicks.
We got a wedding at the end, but it was her boss and the doctor. I was robbed! Plus, what was with the vine hanging in her face?!?!

This would have made a wonderful, healing movie if it was just about the main couple.

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Perhaps I've become jaded

Have I seen one too many body swap dramas? Have I watched too many family/corporate power struggle dramas? Perhaps, but this one did not hit right on any level for me.

First, I was hoping for some comedy. I didn't find anything in this funny.
Too many characters to keep up with, each more evil than the last. Who was I supposed to root for? I didn't care for anyone.
For me, the ML was overacting and his scenes felt completely unnatural to me. Was it because he was supposed to be the chairman?
The chairman's daughter developing feelings for the ML when he was the chairman - just no.
When the chairman woke up in the ML's body, he was excited that his leg was healed. Magically, so was the ML's injury as well.
What was with the chairman's hair?! It was so distracting! Did the hair/makeup person not know how to make someone's hair gray without making it look like a stiff powdered wig?

I'll admit, that based on everyone else rating this so high, I was just in a bad head space to be watching this at this time, but I was greatly disappointed.

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