Ok the best thing about this drama are the roommates of both main leads. They were really the saving grace of an otherwise super bland show. It's not cause of the actors, the main leads had a lot of chemistry that was not utilised at all. The script and plot is so bland that literally nothing happens till the last 3 episodes. And by that time I don't even care. I skipped most scenes except when the funny room mates were on screen and the few romantic scenes we get.
Honestly I don't think the ML was that toxic given the history of toxic male leads in drama land. He really seemed to care about all the small things of the FL, although I agree his jealousy went too far (but if you think about it, it was only ever to the 2ML who was actively pursuing the same girl he was in love with).
There are faaaaar better college romance dramas than this. They had all the right ingredients for this apart from a plot that was interesting enough to watch. I would skip this and just watch a youtube compilation if you want a run down of the show. Not worth the 24 eps.
God the first one was such a mess, like it was terrible. If they do this I hope they get new writers who don't write problematic scripts like the first one.
The writer of this drama threw everything but the kitchen sink in here. From a million guys falling in love with the FL to "traumatized" bossy ML to annoying 2FL. I did feel bad for the 2ML esp since him and the FL get so much screen time you start to think that they are the main leads. The main leads in contrast get very few actual love scenes, most of them are of him bullying her. And be prepared (at the start) for extreme close ups of very wooden kisses. They get better towards the end but man I was like....director...I can see his pores, zoom out.
Also as handsome as the ML is he really really needs more acting lessons. I have seen him in other dramas and he's more or less the same. Not really good. I can see the potential but he needs to work on his emotions more. As for the FL thank god for whoever gave her notes to turn it down cause she was annoying af in the first few eps. Luckily she can act and once she stopped being so OTT she was much better. She made the first half of this drama really fun to watch.
I agree with the comment below where someone said they tried to do too much at once in this drama. There was so much happening with so many characters, none of which were fleshed out or thought out well. They crammed so much into 24 eps and yet I still thought the third act was dragging and FF through it.
If you want to watch this, prepare for whiplash and to really really really shut down your brain. Like. Don't even have thoughts watching this and maybe you can enjoy the first half at least.
The writer of this drama threw everything but the kitchen sink in here. From a million guys falling in love with the FL to "traumatized" bossy ML to annoying 2FL. I did feel bad for the 2ML esp since him and the FL get so much screen time you start to think that they are the main leads. The main leads in contrast get very few actual love scenes, most of them are of him bullying her. And be prepared (at the start) for extreme close ups of very wooden kisses. They get better towards the end but man I was like....director...I can see his pores, zoom out.
Also as handsome as the ML is he really really needs more acting lessons. I have seen him in other dramas and he's more or less the same. Not really good. I can see the potential but he needs to work on his emotions more. As for the FL thank god for whoever gave her notes to turn it down cause she was annoying af in the first few eps. Luckily she can act and once she stopped being so OTT she was much better. She made the first half of this drama really fun to watch.
I agree with the comment below where someone said they tried to do too much at once in this drama. There was so much happening with so many characters, none of which were fleshed out or thought out well. They crammed so much into 24 eps and yet I still thought the third act was dragging and FF through it.
If you want to watch this, prepare for whiplash and to really really really shut down your brain. Like. Don't even have thoughts watching this and maybe you can enjoy the first half at least.
At ep 1 and wow the FL is a piece of work.....she was the one who spaced out and hit the kid and then got all high and mighty about it? No matter what when you work with kids it's always safety first. She was barely apologetic about it!
I know this wasn't a romantic drama at all but I really really wish that Goo Ryun and Park Joong would have had a happier/romantic ending. They deserved it after everything they went through. They could have defied fate and retied their strings on their own, esp now after knowing how much they still mean to each other.
Ok so to start of with... I cried in every episode...but I bawled my eyes out at the comfort women one. That episode just broke me.
On to the drama review essay:
It's really good. Although I completely agree that anyone with suicidal tendencies can't simply just be told a few sentences and are magically cured, I think the drama was trying to impart the weight our words can have on people. Most of the episodes you will see that as the recurring theme. Whether the assault case, idols, body dysmorphia, bullying etc it was how they were talked to/about (as well as how they were treated ofc). So that's the first thing to keep in mind. Yes it's a little superficial and on the surface, but who is going to watch 16 episode drama on pure therapy sessions? I do think where the drama missed out was pointing out the importance of therapy for these issues and they should have really highlighted that instead of "be stronger, love yourself".
In terms of acting and story, everyone was stellar. I enjoyed so much of comedy sprinkled in and the parts that reduced me to a crying mess. Each issue was treated with importance and carefully. I don't think they were superficial in social commentary this drama gave, rather just the reality of the treatment for them. Obviously the star of the show was Goo Ryun, but I found Im Ryung to be my second favourite. Really enjoyed his performance and backstory. I wish Soo Hyuk had a bigger role- I felt of all the actors he was the least utilised in the show.
Overall this is a drama that deals with pretty heavy and serious issues, some can be quite triggering so watch with caution and on a day when you are mentally strong. But it is completely worth the watch and raises some interesting issues that (esp Korean) society needs to face.
At first I was also skeptical about this drama, mainly because of some news about the scandals that have arisen.…
Ahh. Thanks for the update. No, no news about birds its just that in the show they kept using the long stick to "play" with the birds who were in the cage. So that's a bit :/
This was such a disappointment. The first half was so fun even thought it was starting to get repetitive I still enjoyed the story, the second half was a snooze fest. I felt like after ep 36 it wasn't worth watching anymore and just skipped most scenes to reach the end. So many plot points were comically cliche and predictable (esp all the death and nonsensical character motivations). And the repetitive battle scenes omg. You could literally see the writing getting lazier and lazier. There was no need for that many battle scenes only to have the most anticlimactic ending. Which was so underwhelming, all that and they just have a 5 second fight with the main antagonist and for what?
Plus the leads took so long to get together that for me the chemistry had already fizzled out. There's always a balance I feel with slow burn romances, and if the writer misses the timing then theromance is lost. That's what I felt happened here. There was no longer any tension between the lead actors.
Despite the massive writing flaw, the actors did the best with what they had and the production was great. OST was forgettable. All in all, this was such a wasted opportunity for a great cast and production crew. I hope the leads get a chance to act together in a much better series in the future.
Yeah the HFX's father is pretty callous. But he does kind of redeem himself later on, just a little bit though.…
Yeah I have reached ep 36 and I am strugggggling to finish this. It lost all its charm for me and the leads took so long to get together that for me their chemistry and tension had all fizzled out. May as well have just been good friends with the way it played out. I am quite disappointed in how the second half has played out so far. Will finish it to finish it I suppose.
Wow, at ep 28 and I'm furious at this King. How can a father do this to his own son? I hope he has the worst ending or this drama's is going to drop from an 8 to 6 for me. I'm soooooo unimpressed with where the writer has taken this right now.
It doesn't even make sense, he knows eventually he has to appoint an heir, and ML has not only shown valor but also extreme intelligence and instead of praising him he is going to take away everything from him? Just because he is the son of the wife he was forced to marry? But he is still his son??? How in the world is this believable writing??
Also omg the romance is sooooooo slowwwwwwwwwwww.......I'm giving up on the main leads ever getting together properly (even though I know it happens).
Honestly I don't think the ML was that toxic given the history of toxic male leads in drama land. He really seemed to care about all the small things of the FL, although I agree his jealousy went too far (but if you think about it, it was only ever to the 2ML who was actively pursuing the same girl he was in love with).
There are faaaaar better college romance dramas than this. They had all the right ingredients for this apart from a plot that was interesting enough to watch. I would skip this and just watch a youtube compilation if you want a run down of the show. Not worth the 24 eps.
Also as handsome as the ML is he really really needs more acting lessons. I have seen him in other dramas and he's more or less the same. Not really good. I can see the potential but he needs to work on his emotions more. As for the FL thank god for whoever gave her notes to turn it down cause she was annoying af in the first few eps. Luckily she can act and once she stopped being so OTT she was much better. She made the first half of this drama really fun to watch.
I agree with the comment below where someone said they tried to do too much at once in this drama. There was so much happening with so many characters, none of which were fleshed out or thought out well. They crammed so much into 24 eps and yet I still thought the third act was dragging and FF through it.
If you want to watch this, prepare for whiplash and to really really really shut down your brain. Like. Don't even have thoughts watching this and maybe you can enjoy the first half at least.
Also as handsome as the ML is he really really needs more acting lessons. I have seen him in other dramas and he's more or less the same. Not really good. I can see the potential but he needs to work on his emotions more. As for the FL thank god for whoever gave her notes to turn it down cause she was annoying af in the first few eps. Luckily she can act and once she stopped being so OTT she was much better. She made the first half of this drama really fun to watch.
I agree with the comment below where someone said they tried to do too much at once in this drama. There was so much happening with so many characters, none of which were fleshed out or thought out well. They crammed so much into 24 eps and yet I still thought the third act was dragging and FF through it.
If you want to watch this, prepare for whiplash and to really really really shut down your brain. Like. Don't even have thoughts watching this and maybe you can enjoy the first half at least.
On to the drama review essay:
It's really good. Although I completely agree that anyone with suicidal tendencies can't simply just be told a few sentences and are magically cured, I think the drama was trying to impart the weight our words can have on people. Most of the episodes you will see that as the recurring theme. Whether the assault case, idols, body dysmorphia, bullying etc it was how they were talked to/about (as well as how they were treated ofc). So that's the first thing to keep in mind. Yes it's a little superficial and on the surface, but who is going to watch 16 episode drama on pure therapy sessions? I do think where the drama missed out was pointing out the importance of therapy for these issues and they should have really highlighted that instead of "be stronger, love yourself".
In terms of acting and story, everyone was stellar. I enjoyed so much of comedy sprinkled in and the parts that reduced me to a crying mess. Each issue was treated with importance and carefully. I don't think they were superficial in social commentary this drama gave, rather just the reality of the treatment for them. Obviously the star of the show was Goo Ryun, but I found Im Ryung to be my second favourite. Really enjoyed his performance and backstory. I wish Soo Hyuk had a bigger role- I felt of all the actors he was the least utilised in the show.
Overall this is a drama that deals with pretty heavy and serious issues, some can be quite triggering so watch with caution and on a day when you are mentally strong. But it is completely worth the watch and raises some interesting issues that (esp Korean) society needs to face.
Plus the leads took so long to get together that for me the chemistry had already fizzled out. There's always a balance I feel with slow burn romances, and if the writer misses the timing then theromance is lost. That's what I felt happened here. There was no longer any tension between the lead actors.
Despite the massive writing flaw, the actors did the best with what they had and the production was great. OST was forgettable. All in all, this was such a wasted opportunity for a great cast and production crew. I hope the leads get a chance to act together in a much better series in the future.
It doesn't even make sense, he knows eventually he has to appoint an heir, and ML has not only shown valor but also extreme intelligence and instead of praising him he is going to take away everything from him? Just because he is the son of the wife he was forced to marry? But he is still his son??? How in the world is this believable writing??
Also omg the romance is sooooooo slowwwwwwwwwwww.......I'm giving up on the main leads ever getting together properly (even though I know it happens).