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Adorable
This was the typical rom-com — very adorable and never really high stakes because you knew things were going to be okay.Ultimately, I really enjoyed it, and it helped that the secretary and boss didn't fall too much into the cliche cold jerk/weak but warm stereotypes. JGH stood up for herself when necessary, and DMI was nicer than a lot of other bosses. The chemistry was really good.
I do, however, have a natural dislike for characters that keep these kinds of secrets — the kind that involves and hurts someone else and is purely for selfish reasons — and while I think the drama did a good job of balancing how JGH wanted to be someone else and yet felt trapped in her lie, I still think it might've been dragged on for a little too long.
I also wish the rules around DMI's face blindness were worked out a little better; how it was resolved at the end honestly felt deus ex machina, though I was still kind of relieved we got a nice resolution.
The secretary subplot was honestly really interesting, but I really wish it had been given more screentime and had been fed to us earlier. It's also rare that our two main characters are so uninvolved in the subplot and rather just victims of it (which was interesting to see actually). But I also felt like it wrapped up a little unsatisfyingly, though that could've been because I just didn't spend enough time with those characters to care deeply for them.
I liked JGH's siblings as well — even though they were parent-less, there wasn't ann overdose of angst and I loved how they still teased each other and supported each other.
Ultimately, this was a really fun watch, and I gotta say Veronica Park was HILARIOUS and cast perfectly. Favorite character.
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Drama Special Series Season 3: Adolescence Medley
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It took a while for the main female lead to grow on me, as throughout a lot of the drama she really just felt like another cliche quiet, top-of-the-class good girl lead. The few scenes we saw her with her best friend made me like her a lot more and I wish we had more time to get to know the more talkative, smiley part of her.
Another character I really wanted to know more about was Brown Bear, and part of me wanted him to end up in the main ship instead, as his personality and backstory just seemed much more interesting than the main lead, who I didn't like as much. The few minutes of flashback we saw between Brown Bear and A-young's brother made him grow on me A LOT. Overall, I just wasn't a huge fan of the male lead, and I didn't think there was enough time for his character development.
Story-wise, however, the plot was really strong and I liked how we saw very subtle but well-paced character development in the side characters. The open ending (which is a style I'm not a fan of in general) left a lot to be desired in my view, but it can still be considered a happy ending, which I'm grateful for.
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This review may contain spoilers
The main couple's on-and-off-and-on-again relationship started to get really repetitive, and to be perfectly honest I was rooting for second lead a lot more.Now, the special episodes I loved, because NOTHING beats the friends-to-lovers trope and even though something about Pu-Reum doesn't quite sit right with me, I love Ha-Neul and I will root for his ship.
I'm also surprised about something else—I'd always thought Jae-In was the main female lead, but it's been three seasons and she doesn't have much plot. I'd definitely want to see more of her in the next season.
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The plot of the "missions" to bring the cousins closer together completely disappeared, and we were hit with a bunch of old k-drama tropes: disapproving guardian, secret relationship, hospital and health issues, fighting over a corporation...etc. etc. etc.
A lot of the characters lost their personalities. Even the female lead, who was my only reason for watching, started descending into a stupid girl who cried A LOT and refused to communicate about anything. Truth be told, I was rooting for Hyun-Min because he was such a fun character(and I'm tired to death of the cold/rude male trope), but he definitely lost his charm somewhere, and at the same time, Ji-Woon's cold personality did a 180, as if the writers were actively trying to get the viewers to like him. For me, it was too little, too late. Overall, some of the things the characters did just lacked common sense, as if it was to move the story along. Hye-Ji was also honestly such a problematic character who had no personality (other than being obsessed with Hyun-Min), and the fact that she was such a huge part of the plot development annoyed me, though I liked that she wasn't as conniving as other k-drama second female leads.
I will say, though, that the OST was good.
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Si Tu Mo was a lovable main female lead as well. She definitely stood up for herself, was straight and to the point when it came to romance and friendships, and it was really great to not have to get frustrated at those stupid misunderstandings that too many other dramas have.
Sadly, the last few episodes of this drama really slowed down the pace, and I felt like it dragged without any real storyline—they seemed like filler episodes.
The OST is also okay, but I love love love Time For A Love Song by Luna!
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For a drama that has such a dark sub-plot, this drama was surprisingly funny. The romance was hilarious, especially the jealous scenes, and I loved the chemistry between the two leads. The side characters were really interesting as well, and I enjoyed seeing how other relationships developed.
I was SUPER intrigued by the mystery aspect of this, and it definitely delivered. The backstory was nothing that I'd expected, and the cinematography creeped me out successfully, which was a great balance.
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Better than Part 1
Well, this was surprisingly more enjoyable to me than Part 1. I went into this one a little bit nervous because Part 1 was honestly too dark and slow for me, and I was worried that we would continue to be bombarded with more misery.But it was actually not bad! Seeing the murders was simultaneously dark and really, really cathartic, which was refreshing compared to the previous part. A lot of the questions that I had were also answered in a really satisfying way. The ending left me with some mixed emotions, but I think it was a great ending and honestly I can’t imagine the story going any other way.
The acting continues to be strong, particularly the ML’s. TJH is undoubtedly the standout actor in this drama and managed to portray such a wide range of emotions.
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Good but depressing
I really like the concept here and found family + romance is one of my favorite type of relationship dynamic.But around halfway it just got way too depressing for me — everyone other than the leads was evil, things kept going wrong, and the slower pacing felt like we were just wallowing in misery for so long, when it was fairly obvious early on where the story was going. Very convincing acting all around though, especially from the ML.
I’m still fairly intrigued by the present day mystery and if there’s an actual, non-supernatural answer (which is what I’m hoping for), but I wish we could get there just a tad faster.
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Sad but doesn't use its full potential
This one is a pretty difficult one to rate because it obviously deals with a really heavy topic, and it does it pretty well. The acting is convincing, and the internal conflicts are realistic.The best parts of the story were when it was focused on the family dynamics, both parental and sibling, but other than that, plot-wise, I found this a little frustrating. I didn't really care that much about the romance, particularly when it came to the annoying second lead. Most of the plot beats, while pretty typical, manage to not feel cliche, but I feel like other relationships and experiences (like work, for example) could've been explored a lot more.
Ultimately, I think this was a good watch but I don't think it hit me in my core the way I expected it to, the way One Liter of Tears (a similar drama but about SCA) did.
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Overly dramatic
Sigh, another one that got glowing reviews that I just didn't really care for. I like the time travel and second chance premise but I don't think I ever really connected with it. While the chemistry does seem pretty good at times, I didn't actually buy into the romance and why they fell in love with each other; it felt sudden and forced — giving us dramatic, romantic moments without actually laying the foundation for them getting to know each other.The actual plot feels kind of unfocused. Most time travel dramas have a main lead that's really driven towards a specific goal that they failed to achieve the first time; Armin's actions feel all over the place and I'm really not sure what he's trying to do. The main antagonist is introduced and he just feels very "mustache-twirling villain" in a way that felt really out-of-place and goofy.
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Looks and sounds stunning
As a musical drama this show absolutely knocks it out of the park. The songs, while not necessarily my type of melody, always sounds really clean, and the beautiful visuals make all these scenes feel super epic.I really liked following the journey of the band as they came together; the show did a great job of tying into different themes of following your dreams, insecurities, and rivalry. Some point points did work well for me, while others didn't work as well — the romance, for example, wasn't altogether too convincing. Even I, a romance lover, think that the drama could probably have done without it.
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Bittersweet
I enjoyed this one and all the warmth and bittersweetness that came with it. It’s beautifully filmed and I really like how purposefully opaque and unreliable the story-telling is.Compared to the original Chinese movie, this adaptation does seem a little more buttoned-up and less raw, which could be a negative. But on the other hand, I also found it to be much less frustrating — so it turned out to be quite an even trade I guess.
Ultimately, I still liked this one; I’ve been in the middle of the book for quite a while and now I feel more motivation to pick it up again.
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Sad I didn’t love it
Went into this one with sky high expectations considering the glowing reviews and the Zodiac comparison (a movie I really liked), but it ended up not working for me.I like the themes surrounding the investigation and who was accused of being the culprit, but I couldn’t get myself invested in any of the characters’ psychologies, and none of the humor landed. I thought this would be right up my alley but it felt really slow throughout and didn’t have the investigative tension I hoped for.
My favorite scene is the final scene.
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Good social commentary
I think the best parts of this were undoubtedly the relationship between the two leads and seeing them work together; they don't have so much screentime together but when they do it always steals the scene.I'm a bit more mixed on the overall plot; I like the themes it's addressing a lot, from the prosecutor-police relationship to broader institutional corruption, but the pacing feels pretty slow and I wasn't fully interested in all the characters involved, like Yeon-Jae (the Hanjo chairwoman). It feels like it makes its point clear really early but then takes a really long time to get to it.
Ultimately though, I still think this was solidly written, but not really as engaging as it could be.
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Sweet, but...
This was a pretty sweet campus drama, though I don't think it ever managed to hit me as deeply as it wanted to despite covering some pretty heavy topics.The pacing is a little slow at the start, which made it very frustrating for me because it felt like all the non-main characters were downright horrible all the time. I ended up not really liking how the show handled their arcs and how they interacted with the main leads, but perhaps I'm just much less forgiving of a person.
I didn't really enjoy the romance very much either. I like their arcs individually but never really bought into them liking each other or being in a deeper relationship; the FL felt really disconnected from the ML's arc the entire time.
There's also one side female character I found to be pretty unnecessary.
Overall, the acting is passable but kind of awkward at times; you can basically tell it's a webtoon adaptation. A nice show but one that didn't quite hit the right beats for me.
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