Slow...
The last episode made me think it was the girls who adopted Jin So Baek tbh lmaoThis show was intense, the violence graphic, and thus sometimes really hard to watch. !! TW for (domestic) violence, marital rape !!
Although the show only has 8 episodes, I truly believe that it should not have been any longer because the pacing was incredibly slow. The episode length wasn't even anything outrageous (50-60 minutes), but it felt much longer than it actually was at times. To me, the most compelling performances were given by Lee You Mi and Jang Seung Jo; especially Jang acted his dual role convincingly, he played two kinds of abusive assholes so differently and yet so well, he was genuinely scary. Lee You Mi was also really good in her role, her performance felt very immersive. Jeon So Nee wasn't as bad as some people say, but I didn't find her that captivating as Eun Su; likewise, Jin So Baek as a character felt a little unexplored, which is a bummer because Lee Moo Saeng was intriguing enough as the character. I quite liked the ending because the bad guys got what they deserved, and the girls found happiness. The show ends on a positive and hopeful note, which I appreciate, so I won't care about any plot inconsistencies.
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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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… well. Unfortunately, I didn’t like this show. My favorite thing about it was the acting and Lee Joon Gi’s and Moon Chae Won’s chemistry. Kim Moo Jin as a character was super annoying, I did not care about him and his old love (story) Hae Su. The real Baek Hee Sung got on my nerves so much, I’m glad he died. I got tired of the show after a little while… It was good but I didn’t go crazy over it, despite the hype. I just didn’t love it, which is kind of sad but I'll watch Lawless Lawyer next and I'm excited to see LJG in a different role! Was this review helpful to you?
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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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Just No
Contrary to what some say, I loved the costumes – probably the best thing about this show after the cinematography. The story, however, … boring, just vibes, no plot at all actually. The acting wasn’t great either, I gave up on episode 13… the Xing girl’s acting was atrocious, I just couldn’t anymore. Bao Shang En is a little bit bland, but had some good moments in my opinion. Zhou Yi Ran is alright as well, but we have got to stop with the constant aura farming whenever he makes an entrance… it got cheap and cheesy after the third time. Since I wasn’t emotionally invested in the story at all, and as it didn’t manage to convince me despite continuing, I just had to drop this.Was this review helpful to you?
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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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well no!
I decided to watch this on a whim when it started airing, but now I just want this out of my watchlist lol. There is something about this show that feels cheap and low-budget, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it *does* lessen my enjoyment.The acting of the leads is not bad, but the female lead's dubbing takes away SO much from her acting. Episode 5 nearly took me out, the VA did such a bad job. I get that them pretending to like each other in front of the concubines was supposed to be a little over the top, but the dubbing made this scene almost unwatchable. The action scenes are also ... not good. Especially the wolf attack in the first episode was badly done, and badly edited. I don't know what it is about the show, but it feels like they had 5 Dollars and a dream. The production is sub-par, which is a bummer because the leads are good actors in theory but completely let down by a bad script, mediocre direction and choppy editing. Couldn't be bothered to continue, therefore I'm dropping this before I end up wasting my time.
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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 2022The 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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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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