Don't bother.

The story started off sweet and ended up terrible. The lead actors are great together. It would have been great if the FL was written to be enough of an adult to live her own life.

The FL's mother is such an off the charts control freak who wants her daughter unhappily married to anybody wealthy that it is not believable that any adult child would still have anything to do with her. Most of the show is spent in misery because of her, so it becomes a chore to even keep watching. I want to see just one show where the daughter doesn't break up with her love interest at some point just to please her family. Just one.

I only stuck it out because of Jung Hae-In, although it was very hard to watch the abuse his character endured.

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Come for the supposed love story, stay for the eye candy.

Better title: "Hwarang: Hot Boys with Bangs" Ok, first can we just talk about the amazing fringe/bangs the dudes have in this series? Sassy bangs, sexy bangs, saucy bangs, make me feel bad about my own hair bangs, somehow still masculine with bangs bangs.

On to the story. The bromance aspect of this show is great. I let go of the romance aspect for reasons I will mention below, but watching the male actors interact was great. I wish they would write more shows like this but for women. Women bonding about things other than men.

The FL character Ah-ro (Go Ara) starts off so strong. She has a personality, she is funny, she is smart, she schemes and scams and is so fun to watch. About 5 or 6 episodes in that all completely disappears and she turns into what my daughter and I call The Crying Thumb (She cries, ALL THE TIME, and does this thing where she sucks her chin in so she looks like a thumb.) She stops having a personality other than sad girl in love with her brother (narrator: not actually her brother.) It is really a shame because I had high hopes for her character based on the first few episodes but the show did the typical thing where the woman ceases being a person once she falls in love.

First ML, Moo Myung/Sun Woo Rang, (Park Seo-Joon - swoon, is always great) was slightly boring but I still enjoyed the character. His love story with FL was beyond cringey because of the whole she thinks he is her brother storyline that didn't need to be a thing. It did not add to the story and made me hate seeing them together. Plus, I didn't really feel any chemistry between the actors. I started fast-forwarding through their scenes together because I would rather watch paint dry than watch these two "fall in love." After seeing so much of FL's sniffling, crying face, it was just unbearable to watch them together even at the end

Second ML King Maek Jong/Ji Dwi Rang is so adorable I can't stand it. I wanted him to win the love of Ah-ro only because he was so adorable and sweet in that entitled way that Park Hyung-Sik pulls off perfectly. But Ah-ro, true to trope, does not like the guy who openly likes her and saves her and spoils her. (Not that love should be forced but come on writers, she thinks Moo Myung is her brother, ick.)

The whole supporting cast is A+++++++++++. Seo Yea-Ji as the Princess, I love this actress...her cute face, her deep voice, she is perfection. Minho/Soo Ho Rang is ugh, so adorable. Do Ji-Han as Ban Ryu Rang so sulky and serious and chiseled. V, what isn't cute about V? and on and on an on. They should have spent more time on these characters and less time making us watch The Crying Thumb.

Lower your expectations and just give it a watch just to see the fight scenes and hot dudes with their bangs and chiseled faces. Don't get invested in the "love story" other than to see Park See-Joon and Park Hyung-Sik battle out over who is the best ML. Be prepared for a lot of loose ends.

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Cute and funny

Adorable and funny and sweet, the FL is so great, I have a massive girl-crush on her. The ML is so cute. The story is great because I love the blend of modern and historical. I really didn't have much to say because I love it and could watch it over and over, but 500 character minimum.

So, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it.

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Waste of Time because no, it is not love

The FL character, Ha Ae-Jung, is so unlikable that this show is hard to finish. Her personality is unpleasant and her constant sulky facial expressions are so unappealing that it is not believable that any of these men would be trying to date her let alone compete for her.

Everything else aside, the show revolves around revealing the identity of the father of Ae-Jung's daughter, Ha-Nee. Then when the truth comes out after what felt like a painful 500 years, Ae-Jung just allows Ha-nee to believe that her father was not in her life due to his own actions. She never corrects this with the daughter, which just added to how unlikable the FL was as written.

The best character on the show was Kang-Sook-Hee, the auntie bar owner. I would have loved a show based just on her.

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No Chemistry

The show does a great job of showing the harsh reality of being a stay at home mom who is returning to the workforce. I like how the friendships between the women on the show are portrayed. But that is about it. The leads just had no chemistry, they were not believable as a couple. The age gap was not a big deal, these are both adults in their 30s who have known each other for a while, so I don't see any need for pearl clutching as far as that goes.

The FL wears her age well but the show goes out of their way to make her frumpy and plain, I guess because she is a mom. The character is too naïve for a 39 year old woman with a past career who has experienced some things. Her awful wardrobe was a real disappointment, especially contrasted against the ML's who was almost always dressed as if he walked straight out of a fashion magazine. She was always slouching in gigantic clothing or in clothing that was too old for her. There was just something very off-putting about her, so the romantic interactions made me cringe.

I have seen some complaints that they didn't show Dan-i talking/worrying about her daughter enough--you know, because once a woman has kids, we are only allowed to exist and act as mothers and never care about anything else. The premise of the show is that the FL is breaking out of her stay at home mom, mistreated wife role. Her daughter is safely at boarding school. This is about Dan-i getting her life back on track and that is what the show focuses on. If it was supposed to be a show about her as a mother, that would be the plot of the story. It is safe to assume that in the moments we don't see, she is interacting with and worrying about her child. I am glad they don't focus on that, because I don't care about that. Nobody needs yet another show where women are only seen as an appendage to somebody else - mother, wife, secretary, etc. Women who are mothers should be portrayed as people who have thoughts not pertaining to their children and who are allowed to exist outside of their children.

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Great idea, bad execution

The concept of the story was great, the execution was terrible.

Either the Goblin needed to be much younger or Eun Tak needed to be much older. The Goblin was a 39 year old man before his transformation, the FL Eun Tak is a 19 year old HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT whose parents died when she was young. She was living with neglectful, abusive family members, she comes off as vulnerable and naïve. She is in no way mature in looks or acts. It is hard to buy that a 939 worldly Goblin/man is going to fall in love with a girl who acts like an entitled toddler. The fact that he does is creepy. I have zero issues with age gaps in general, but the age gap is glaring since Eun Tak is written to be so immature and spends most of her time dressed in a school uniform. The whole time I watched there was no chemistry between the two, which I am glad for but also it is supposed to be a romantic fantasy drama, at least cast it so we don't feel skeeved out every time the leads are on screen together.

What I saw of the Reaper and Sunny was great. Deok Wha was enjoyable and should have more of a story line. The bromance is great and should have been more developed.

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Aggravating Story

SPOILERS.

General Rants:
Something I have grown to hate is the way the FL in these shows completely loses her personality by episode 6. I am also tired of romantic comedies and dramas that spend more time showing the FL with a dude she doesn't really like for a majority of the show or alone due to her family. I would love to see a couple building their relationship for the last few episodes. So many shows don't have them get together until the last episode and it is really disappointing because that is what we are here for, the actual love. (What's wrong with Secretary Kim wins major points for actually having the main love interests on screen together for the majority of the series not just the end.)

Also, I wish shows would stop casting older men in younger roles then trying to make us believe they are in the same age range as the much younger actress. The actor who plays the second male lead is 46 in real life and is playing a 37 year old against a lead actress who is 13 years his junior in real life. Yet the roles cast them as only 5 years older apart, which is not at all believable. He looks 46 which is fine, just cast him closer to his range, because his middle-aged look makes his character's immature behavior even more annoying.

Now on to the show:

Cons: I wanted to like the FL, but the character was portrayed as entirely too naïve just because she hadn't dated before. She is 32 and has a career, she is not an idiot, yet she is manipulated through the whole show as if she were a 12 year old. 3/4 of the show was spent showing her building - and in - a relationship with a sneaky, conniving old looking, rich guy who broke up her relationship the ML. FL lead refuses to see that is manipulating her. True to trope the FL decides everything based on others' opinions and not her own feelings. She breaks up with ML for no reason other than her own insecurity, then begins dating old guy to please everybody else. She puts up with so much crap from old dude that she would never allow from ML. The FL is supposed to be strong & independent but never actually is. She is so worried about her parents' & friends feelings yet has zero problem continually hurting the ML.

Old guy says believes he has a "destined one" but then spends all of the show trying to force and connive his way into a relationship with somebody who is taken. I have seen a lot of reviews acting as if we are supposed to find him admirable and feel bad for him at the end. He stalked this woman and her family and forced his way into her life, this is not the move fellas. It is creepy and I do not understand viewers who find him sympathetic. I had to stop watching when he was on the screen because I found his character so off-putting. The show wasted so much time on this character instead of giving us more of the ML and FL together. The story arc involving old guy should have been 5 episodes max not 30.

Pros: I love the relationship between FL and her twin brother. That is one of my favorite aspects of the show.

The actor who plays the ML is hot and his character is sweet, which is the only reason I kept watching. It would have been nice to see the ML featured more, we don't get to see much of his personality since he was onscreen so little.

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