Disappointing sequel

😔… Oops. I’m surprised how much I didn’t like this drama to be honest. I skipped a lot in the second half of this, and the final showdown in episode 28 was just absolutely ridiculous and over the top. It felt like a hysterical soap opera and I did not enjoy it.

“One and Only” was a masterpiece and I loved every second of it, but I dislike “Forever and Ever” with the same intensity I would use to describe its prequel. Had I watched F&E on its own, I would have never understood why the characters like each other and why they feel any kind of attraction to one another. I loved the male lead in O&O, but here?? He was so painfully ALOOF, it made me mad sometimes. At first, I liked how awkward he was, but after a while I was so annoyed. Shi Yi is probably the only person on earth to have this much patience and to love the man – no one else would want to put up with someone this … dense (sometimes). The characters were also so… prudish for their ages. Like, you already slept with each other, but then can’t sleep in the same bed or change clothes in front of each other? The male lead really stood in the rain while Shi Yi changed her shirt, as if he couldn’t have just turned around IN THE CAR. Like, that is just too much. Also, wtf was his deal with timing her night routine?? So weird, and to do it standing outside her apartment. That’s creepy, not romantic lol.

I also heavily disliked the script. I don’t think it did Bai Lu or Ren Jia Lun any favors – it rather led to me thinking that these two talented and capable actors were only delivering a sub-par performance. Interactions between characters felt wooden, stiff, awkward and uncomfortable. While O&O had a nice rhythm and flow, F&E felt weird and choppy. This series felt like… a series – in the sense that it just felt like I knew this was being filmed. It didn’t feel like I or the actors fully immersed themselves into it and became the characters (because this is what O&O felt like: I was fully immersed and believed everything I saw/it was convincing).

The family drama…. Bro, wtf was that. I felt like it was so much more dramatic, intricate (not the good kind) and hysterical than it could have EVER been in the prequel. Too many (old) people – I didn’t CARE, sorry.

I loved the cinematography, locations/sets, coloring, OST and styling for this show though. The leads also shared some really nice moments that made me hopeful, but … eh. Most of the time, I felt let-down. Overall, quite disappointing and not worthy of being O&O sequel.

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Healing

The last 15 minutes made me so inexplicably sad and made me cry, I don’t know why🥹. This show was really comforting and served as a means to let go of some of my feelings, which makes me appreciate this gem a lot. Liu Yi Fei is incredibly natural in her acting in this show, she easily conveyed any emotions and really touched me with her performance. Li Xian: I only know him from some clips of “Go Go Squid”, and in those he looked rather stiff, so I didn’t know what to expect. He quickly proved to be very charming, fun and expressive (key word: eye acting😏) on screen, and I enjoyed all the interactions his character had.

I think the show had too many sub-plots though. Too many stories to be told, and at one point I started losing interest and only cared about Hong Dou, granny, A’Yao, and the girl trio (girl friendships 🥰🐥🍓🌸🌷🌞🌈💜💕❣️), basically anything that involved our main leads.


The OST and cinematography were also simply sublime and so pretty!

Overall, a beautiful healing series that goes right into your heart with a dash of romance!

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Quite fun

This was cute and fun! I liked how bright and colorful the show was, it felt like an easy watch.

CCIR sheds light on the competitive educational system, and how it negatively affects students in terms of mental health and behavior towards others (their parents or classmates). Su Ah, for example, may have a nasty personality for most of the drama, but I couldn't hate her because it was clearly a result of the academic pressure she has on her shoulders in order to be consistently high achieving in class. I also blame her mother and any other adult in this show lol. Seon Jae's mom... Su Ah's mental health drastically deteriorated: she had hallucinations and even fantasies about harming Hae Yi. Due to the pressure she felt, she viewed HY as an enemy that needed to be eliminated but we could see that she felt bad and that she was self-conscious. Hee Jae is another example of how academic pressure (and parents) can destroy a person mentally, especially because his mom continued to make the same mistake with Seon Jae.

The found family trope in this show is strong and great, I really liked it. Chi Yeol finally found his people, and Haeng Son's little circle was so wholesome. And I loved it whenever she'd say "Anyway" 🥹. However, I found the episodes a tad too long, I watched the second half of the show in double speed and also skipped a little. I thought I would enjoy it a little more than I did to be honest. The show is overall 'alright' - I don't know what it is, but it didn't catch me 100%. The OST was okay - average, there wasn't really a song that stood out to me. But: I really enjoyed the relationship between the leads. It offers some sweet and fun moments between all the teasing and bickering and is also overall quite mature. I didn't like how it was never clarified that Hae Yi didn't attempt suicide though. That was bad writing... my girl was kidnapped!

In conclusion: a cute little show that offers an insight into education and its dark sides and impact on mental health, but also a show with fun romance, friendship and found family.

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This is was "Squid Game" was trying to be to be honest. I know both shows are different in terms of story and motivation, but I just enoyed this so much more than SG. This was dark and depressing yet entertaining and exciting. The games are completely unhinged and scary and I think I wouln't survive a day in Borderland because wow. I really liked the actors and their characters. Fan favorites such as Usagi and Kuina were just amazing queens, but I also think that Arisu deserves some credit. I feel like he is a little underrated in his own show. Chishiya was an unhinged 5-minutes craft king and Niragi may look hot but he really isn't. It's crazy how some characters just aren't redeemable, but that is what makes him interesting in the first place. An overall super entertaing, scary show that I very much enjoyed and I deffo would rewatch because the cinametography alone was stunning.

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fun rom-com!!

(April 2022) This was so freaking cute: I loved every second of it. I randomly started this drama and it was exactly what I needed: cute, sweet, fun and good humour. You just have to fall for all the different characters necause they were toooo likable. Loved out main couple a lot as they gave me lots of swoonworthy moments, but I also reallyreally loved the second lead couple (which is usually rather rare lol). But Yeong Seo and Ha Ri both had such chaotic bestie vibes while the guys were calm, it was really fun to watch their dynamics. The humour wasn't overdone, the drama has the perfect amount of cringe and ridicule without going too overboard. To me, this is the perfect light-hearted K-Drama.

My only criticism is that the ending felt a little too rushed, I would have liked one or two more episodes but other than that I really enjoyed this drama and can definitely recommend it. I have rewatched it twice already because it is such a comfort for me <33.

(August 2022 rewatch impressions) Every time I rewatch this drama, I know (again) why I love it so much: it’s easy to watch, fun, lighthearted and romantic. Truly something that soothes my soul<3(second rewatch).

(November 2024) Infinite rewatch haha! Still so, so fun and cute, I love this show so much. I laugh out loud so many times and just embrace the slight cringe🤣✅. Only thing is that Ahn Hyo Seop is a little stiff to be honest, but I love the show regardless!

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Not for me

Oh, this was not it. Everything that worked in “Love Me, Love My Voice” did not work here, I fear. This was not for me, and I feel like everyone was doing too much and nothing at all at the same time. Why does the male lead immediately care so much for a girl he doesn’t know? To the point that she literally moves in with him, like? Girl, he could be a freak, aren’t you scared of getting offed?? LYY was also just too intense for me. Bro loved looking at Yin Guo like this 👁️👄👁️, it made me uncomfortable😭😭. When she put that band aid on his leg… I thought I was going to 🤯 because why were they doing that much over a scratch?? I thought I could push through to get to their dating era, but the episodes just drag and drag – the leads just looking at each other wide-eyed, doing too much and yet nothing at all. It wasn’t for me, moving on to the next drama.

Update October 2024: I kept thinking of this show, and picked it up again. I admit that I skipped episodes 23-29 and most of episode 30 to finally get to the end. Overall, this was alright - I guess -, but my initial thoughts are still the same. Again, small situations were kind of presented in such an over-the-top way that I just rolled my eyes👀👩🏻‍💻. Bro has a sore throat, and Yin Guo acts like he's on his death bed. When she visited him while he was ill, she kept bumping into that stupid box in his apartment, which pissed me off so bad BECAUSE IT WASN'T EVEN THAT DARK TO MISS IT?!👹👹 Like, if I can make out every piece of furniture, then it ain't dark enough for her to trip over her two feet. Again, bro was doing too much because her leg was slightly red from bumping into a box twice. Pleaseeeee. Also... Zhao Jin Mai was adorable in this show, she gave me black cat energy, however, her whiny voice was a little annoying sometimes because it made her sound like a 16-year-old 😭😭😐 Anywho, episodes 8/9-15 were quite enjoyable though, once she got back to China... I lost interest again 😐🚩. Anyway, I did it, I watched the show, and had an okay time!

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not good but not bad

I was curious about this drama since I had started it several years ago, but never actually finished it. Unfortunately, it did not catch me as much as I wanted it to. I really wanted to like it, and I (for one) think the acting is decent. Some people don't like the lead actress' acting, but I thought it was alright. The male lead is super handsome, and I found his acting pretty good since he had two act two contrasting characters. It's the story that just didn't do it for me: it did not make much sense sometimes.

1) Mr. Grim Reaper is supposed to be experienced and smart and whatnot but then he keeps on talking to himself about "humans" and how dumb they are, he's overall super goofy and bad at hiding that he's a grim reaper like... Sir. Plus, he has no awareness of his surroundings and people possibly shadowing him. His grim reaper friends literally have to tell him to act more like human like cmon, where is said experience??

2) Mr. Grim Reaper wonders why the female lead cannot see HIS shadow in Moo Gang's/Joon's (? lol, I am not invested enough to figure that plot line out :( )body and then concludes it must be because he's wearing all black. Mf, maybeeee it is because the body you chose is already dead. How should the female lead foresee "your" death if the body already died bffr. I find my theory more plausible than his, how can he convince himself of that...???

So far, the cinematography is nothing out of this world, same with the OST. Overall, I am a bit disappointed. I decided to DNF this on a whim because I was just watching episode 7 and felt like I made huge process, only to see I had only watched like 20 minutes max... so yeah, it drags a little. There are other shows to be watched, so I'll let this one go !! :)

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Big love for my bamboo sprouts!!

What a wonderful show this was🥹💗 I had such a good time watching this drama over the last couple of weeks. Visually, it was incredible, and I just loved the styling and little details here and there. Such as when Zi Qi was invisible, and we could see Miao Miao’s hair ribbon being played with; or when they were sitting on the stairs, and all we could see were the marks their butts had left🤭🤣

I just loved Esther and Yu Xi together, I cannot believe their chemistry was even better than in “Moonlight” (which says a lot because I LOVED them in “Moonlight”). They were both so fun on screen, and I loved seeing Zi Qi yearn and long for Miao Miao throughout the show😭💞 I also loved our little Bamboo gang in general, and the friendship that they had! 🎍🎋

Acting wise, this was great! Yu Xi has such great expressions, and his eyes can convey so much; truly, such a good actor!! And Esther was wonderful as well, she can act cute so naturally I love it so much! I also enjoyed the rest of the cast, I just wish the second male lead could have had more room to show his talents, I feel like he was a little underutilized to be honest. Regardless, I loved the cast, everyone had great chemistry and worked well with each other!🌟

The OST, cinematography and visual effects were also so, so good – this drama was such a feast for my eyes and ears, I loved it!! Although I have to say that it lost me a little bit after episode 23/24, but episode 28-32 were great again, so it’s fine. I will miss this drama now that I’m done with it … 🥹💞

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Cute!

This was cute, but a bit too long in my opinion. I think 12-14 episodes would have been better.
I liked how this was primarily a feel-good drama, the bad guys didn’t take up too much time and were more ridiculous than scary! The show was cute, if not a little cringe at times, but I still enjoyed it and laughed here and there.

I wasn’t a big fan of Kang Ye Na; she acted like she was the only woman ever, like she was the only person ever working hard blabla. I just can’t stand a girl that doesn’t read the room on purpose: flirting with the male lead and acting like she had a claim on him when he clearly doesn’t give a fuck.
The Prosecutor was also super annoying. 1) still lowkey pursuing someone who clearly isn’t available is lame at your big age and 2) he was a useless character. He only existed to make the male lead act on his feelings for the female lead (most of the drama), but other than that… I also never really understood why Mr. goody-good-pants even liked Eun Ha.
I also wasn’t the biggest fan of Mi Ho to be honest. Both of the girls did not give off bestie energy at all, it was really weird. I had to skip all her scenes because I found her so annoying.

I loved the bromance and loyalty between our little mobster family and also the way they warmed up to the female lead😍That was super cute. The show is bright and colorful and cute, I think it’s perfect when you need something light and sweet for in-between!💌

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sweet cringe, but very touching

DNF November 2022

The first couple of episodes were fine (despite being cringe), but I skipped so much in episodes 8 and 9 that I decided to not finish the drama because I felt like I was getting impatient and annoyed with the characters. It’s cute and deeper than I thought but not good enough to keep my attention (or dedication to continue watching).

FINISHED July 2023

For some reason the show just kept me thinking, so I finally decided to finish the last 7 episodes. I am happy that I decided to do so because there were a lot of fun and sad moments that touched my heart. At first, I wasn't the biggest fan of Seo Jun as I found him a little toxic but as the show went on, I could see his charms. My number one choice was always Su Ho though. To me, he and Joo Gyung just always fit perfectly. I hate the writer for ruining Soo Jin's character like that over a boy, I couldn't be mad at her; I was more frustrated with the script writers to be honest. The ending was super cute and fun, overall, the show is a sweet treat that can be a little cringy but is definitely a little deeper that you would think!

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My heart is heavy but the show was fantastic

I finished this beautiful, stunning gem today and ... cried at like 10 in the morning because the last episode was so epic! I am so sad that I finished this show omg… This was such an excellent, beautiful treat. I cried, laughed, got mad, cheered, just felt all the emotions!! The show was fun and stunning to watch despite my favorite characters being in so much pain. The OST for this part was just as pretty as in the first, and the story was just *mindblown* (I am surprised I actually understood it all lmao). I just loved how intricate and complex it was, my god. I will miss these characters and their interactions, and I will miss Daeho Fortress because she was a true stunner…. What a show*insert a turtle emoji*.

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I'll just copy my review from letterboxd :))

Here are some reasons why I didn't really like this drama despite its popularity:

- the father of the fmc is a dean at a school and wants rules to be followed but then he doesn't want to listen to a doctor because he knows better?? (literally even runs away from the hospital lol) I know he must be scared but bffr.

- the doctor (mmc) not fully disclosing the patient's diagnosis to the patient. like, okay, the wife and fmc know that his real diagnosis is stomach cancer, but i'm pretty sure that not telling the patient himself what he has is illegal lmao but okay, at least he's comfortable i guess.

- the mmc has trauma because his mentor died after a surgery that he performed on him. now, he cannot do surgeries anymore (or even practice with his suture kit) because he starts shaking and having a panic attack. understandable. not understandable is the fact that the leads have one (1) in-depth/serious conversation without bickering and being silly and POOF he can perform the surgery for the fmc's father. this was the moment that made me DNF tbh... like trauma is not healed after one talk, especially not with a girl you just met a couple days ago and that stays in the hospital all day because her father's sick (meaning: they don't even know each other). like, yes, her words can feel encouraging to him but c'mon... he had literal panic attacks and trouble breathing when they showed his trauma symptoms... bffr.

- the second lead romance was booooring and annyoing, so i would have skipped that anyway tbh, but yeah. so far, the only second romance i liked was in "Moonlight" (still my fave cdrama...)

i understand the cast is suuuuperduper extra famous and popular and i thought they worked quite well together but the story... eh not so much - at least for me, sorry

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started out well but then....

This is my second Lee Joon Gi drama, and I am so disappointed :(. I liked the main leads and their acting a lot, and I kind of want to see LJG in an unserious/unhinged funny role again because he did well here but some of the other acting performances were not convincing me at all. Choi Min Soo was one of the actors I could not stand in the show. Regardless of his character's ending (which I did not like because I felt like it was lazy writing), his acting made the character even more unbearable. He was overacting and simply gave a bad performance in my opinion. The tongue flicking was nasty, his hair and make-up made him look like a clown and his gangster behavior felt like a joke. He looked more like a cartoony stereotype than a true gangster.

I also found it ridiculous how everyone was head over heels over Cha Moon Sook, like....?? Everyone was just following and praising her like a dog, it was cult-like. It was ludicrous how everyone fell to their knees to apologize whenever they breathed wrong like she really had some serious power over these men and women, but I couldn't take it seriously because I found it too much. At times, the show felt like a play rather than a TV series because it felt too over the top.

Some things also just didn't make any sense. Like Song Pil's (SP) gang actually believing that he killed his uncle. I don't care that they ended up being corrupted by Miss Cha, it still felt so dumb that these men, who watched Sang Pil grow up, actually thought he killed his uncle. That entire plot felt dumb to me but okay. Also, Jae Yi's mom telling SP to break up with her and blabla like?? Girl, your daughter is not working with the man because she's in love, she's trying to get Cha Moon Sook locked up for being responsible for your supposed death.... be fucking for real, that annoyed me too.

I ended up watching the show in 1.5x speed to get it over with, but I have a feeling this is one of the not so good law shows because this felt all over the place. It was okay but also quite disappointing....

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