Bittersweet

This was overall a really fun watch and I never thought it got too heavy to handle even though it addressed a lot of heavy topics like dream-ending injury, suicide, assault, etc. It was overall really bubbly.

The way they did the love triangle was really different from any other drama I'd watched. I already knew who was ending up with the girl at the end, and I felt like if I didn't know this would've been the drama that would actually SATISFY any SLS. The romance played out really well and exactly how I wanted it to. I hate other dramas that have the heroine end up with whoever she's "supposed" to be with, and this drama talked about loving the person who is there for you instead. Beautiful and realistic.

However, I do think I enjoyed the first half of the drama better than the second half if we look only at plot. Both the male characters went through this emo phase where they just refused to communicate with other people. They were for different reasons abut it honestly felt a little annoying and repetitive — it's already my least favorite character arc and we had to deal with it TWICE.

The first half had more of the underdog story as well, which I really like. The "us vs. the rest of the school" plot is always super fun to watch, especially when the main character had experienced such a harsh fall to hit rock bottom and still has so much confidence in herself.

The ending is honestly a little bittersweet to me, partially because I'm never a fan of epilogue time skips, even though I knew we were always going to get that, with the drama starting out with the K mystery. With that being said, I did enjoy how the pendant necklace bounced around from person to person, not only becoming such a strong symbol but also making us wonder who is going to end up with it at the end.

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I thought this would be very heavy on the topic of insecurity and social standards of beauty, which would have made this a really heavy watch (like My ID is Gangnam Beauty), but this was actually a really light rom-com from start to finish.

None of the conflicts really stressed me out, except for maybe how harshly the male lead treated the FL at the start. It was understandable though, KHJ is really over-the-top clumsy at the start for a few episodes, and I'm sure that put a lot of people off. But her character ended up having one of the largest hearts I'd ever seen, especially when it came to her relationship with her friend.

That was the best part, undoubtedly. You don't see a lot of sismance in dramas, and with the way the plot played out, I was worried we wouldn't see it in this one either. But the characters actually were really mature about dealing with issues, and you could tell that the two best friends had such a powerful bond with one another despite some real missteps.

I know a lot of people had SLS in this one, and I thought I would too; I'm a huge fan of the goofy, weird ML. But the second lead was a little too immature for my liking, and the male lead was pretty soft as well — main lead's character was just more intriguing to me.

With that being said, there were a few subplots in the drama but they felt oddly lacking in development and detail: Hye-Jin's sister could have been so much more than "I don't want to be ugly like my sister," Ha-Ri's family issues could have been paced better, and the whole "who is Ten" felt very forcefully thrown in.

With that being said, I still really liked how they went about the first love situation. I was worried it would become one of those fate and destiny tropes, but I was really glad they didn't do it like that. The characters simply fell for one another a second time, and it was really beautiful to watch.

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Firstly, it was super cool to have each episode titled the same as a fable or a myth, and for us to figure out how they connected as the episode went on.

The plot was overall really interesting, and I loved how it seemed to treat the audience the same way the news organizations treat the audience in the drama — like little mice to do experiments on, to distract and direct attention with carrots and sticks, knowing the power of public anger. I do think the middle part of the drama was the most exciting: when the main conflict was peaking and the bad guys were playing even with our main leads. The ending was a little anti-climactic to me because I felt like the main leads got too much of an upper hand. Yet, I appreciate how the plot played out, and that a lot of characters got their loose ends tied up.

The romance was really interesting. I've always been a fan of friends-to-lovers and Pinocchio was constantly recommended to me. It did not let me down, and I really enjoyed the tension between the main character's romantic relationship and the clashes between and within their families. But it was dragged out a little too much — the disapproval by the grandfather did not have to last until the epilogue to get resolved.

The plot was honestly the strongest part of the drama, and the romance was enjoyable. Pinocchio honestly made me want to become a reporter.

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Seriously, I felt like I enjoyed this as much as I did because the OST really made every single scene. I had heard the DOTS soundtrack before I watched it and already loved all the songs — I only ended up loving it more when I saw them in the context of the scenes.

I had a bit of trouble separating the drama from the hype when I was watching it (in 2020). It felt like I should love it because the rest of the world loved it. Ultimately, I did enjoy it, but there are a few things that I think would have bothered me more if they were in any other drama that I'll still talk about.

So many English-speaking actors. I don't have an issue with English in dramas, but it's the side actors that they get — the ones that speak great English but are terrible at acting. It honestly takes me a little bit out of the drama, and for me, immersion is everything no matter what I'm watching.

With that being said, I never felt like the "Agus" plotline or any of the antagonists posed a real threat. I don't know if it was the acting or just the fact that their backstories weren't set-up strong enough, but the only real conflict that stressed me out was the earthquake and its aftermath, which I think was the strongest part of the entire drama and made me cry a river. The amount of tragedy and unpredictability surrounding that drew the most emotion out of me, whereas if it was the good vs. bad guys, I pretty much always knew the good guys would come out on top.

I felt like th time skip at the end was kind of the same issue that a lot of dramas have issue with — a last ditch, huge plot twist at the end that separates the characters. And while I don't think DOTS did it terribly, its set-up was also meh because you also knew that the characters would end up not really being dead.

Even so, I loved both ships equally (a rarity) and the romance on its own was very strong. You don't often see two characters that are so strong and independent on their own, and the way they bounced their conflicting career values against the love they felt for each other — it was really, really, really good., and I really appreciated how upfront, communicative, mature, and understanding they both were. The same could go for the second ship; it was inevitable that their roles and personalities would clash considering how headstrong they both were.

Now two other things that I did love about this drama were the bromance and the humor. Seriously, it has one of the strongest bromance relationships that I've ever seen in any drama, and it made for lots of laugh-out-loud and replayable moments. The humor was very evenly spread throughout the drama which made it a pretty easy watch despite its harsh backdrop.

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Amazing chemistry

This is the type of couple I honestly love — teasing male lead and sassy female lead in a love-hate relationship who just really have amazing chemistry together. This is one of the dramas where I never stopped loving the main couple after they got together, which happens a lot to me. Even after getting in the relationship, the main female lead never lost her spunk. They were so good together.

I really did not like the second lead at all honestly, and with that being said, my biggest criticism was with the big noble idiocy conflict. Not only did it make no sense considering the TX's personality, but it kind of messed up the main relationship — even if they had some good moments after, they never got back to where they used to be and all the new conflicts seemed so overblown compared to the rest of the drama. In my head I'll just pretend that that part never happened.

The side couples were really cute — but not all of them, and there were a little too much of them. The characters stuck in unrequited love ended up having really good character development and I do appreciate that a lot of the side characters got redemption arcs and their own stories, but there was really no need to push everyone together into pairs. The third roommate was one that I wish got her own backstory and had more of a role than being the dorm Dumbledore.

The friendships were honestly really good (both bromance and sismance!) and I think some characters could have done without the romance. I especially loved the guys dorm and how they teased LYB about TX. Adorable.

Overall, however, I loved that the drama was both romance, friendship, and chasing your dreams. The part before the noble idiocy would honestly go into my all time. This drama reminded me of Weightlifting Fairy KBJ (another of my faves) and there are so many scenes between the two leads that are worth rewatching.

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There's a lot to love about this

I'm gonna have to review this drama in two parts: before the noble idiocy and after.

Before:
It's been a long time since I came across a drama that balanced romance and friendship so well, with so many fleshed out side-characters.

I loved seeing the progression of Miao Miao throughout the years — her glo-up was honestly so natural, both physically and mentally. He Xin was probably my favorite character; I've always hated female-chases-male-first because the girls are always portrayed as lacking independent thought and being so clingy, but He Xin wasn't like that at all and even when it came to matters of the heart, she kept her head and put herself first.

It felt like almost everyone had their own stories, and evil schemes / misunderstandings were never blown out of proportion — the characters believed each other, trusted each other, and even when love triangles happened the characters handled it very maturely, which was super refreshing to see. The same goes for the families — there were the typical parent-child/sibling-sibling fights of course, but it was still easy to see how everyone got along at the end.

The romance was definitely a slow-burn (my favorite) and there were so many jealous scenes (also my favorite, and Kuanlin's eyes are so EXPRESSIVE).

I also LOVED the fashion teacher!

I also wanna say that this drama was a lot funnier than I expected, and I laughed so hard my abs hurt. I gotta say though, that I also hella cried. A LOT.

After:
Look, I didn't hate the post-noble idiocy as much as I have in other dramas and I felt like they explained the reasoning behind it well, but ultimately noble idiocy is still one of my least favorite tropes and I felt like it was rushed.

There are some plot holes that were sort of left out — like how Miao Miao never asked Xiao Yue about the Doraemon flowers, but overall my rating for this is still quite high, and it's honestly because I loved the 'before' part THAT much.

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Yep, this is one of the better web dramas out there, and honestly if it had been a full length drama I don't know if I would've loved it more or the same. There's a lot to learn from this drama about being there for the people around you and not judging before you know what people are going through — ultimately, it's these small everyday actions of just BEING there that can leave a lasting impact on someone's life. And it's having these people around you that make those hard days a little easier to get through.

This drama had the perfect blend of romance, slice-of-life, and friendship, and the ending was happy and yet bittersweet; I honestly couldn't imagine it going any other way. For such a short drama the plot points were hit on perfectly and the rules of time travel were fleshed out well. There are some moments at the end where I wish this could have gone into more depth had there been more time, but overall — this is a great watch.

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This was surprisingly really enjoyable, and something I looked forward to every week!

The friendship between Na Na and her roommate was one of the best parts of the entire drama and I loved how there was zero unnecessary drama between them; their conversations were touching when they needed to talk about something serious, but otherwise I also loved their banter.

The romance was really cute, without unnecessary drama as well.

Obviously my favorite part was the relationship between the two girls, which was the main part, and I thought everything was resolved super nicely and realistically.

In fact, Na Na was such a likable main character — I love savage moments and she had so many of them. She was overall just super relatable to me, from the way she sort of ran from her problems to realizing who was worth her time and who wasn't.

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Every time I watch one of these coming-of-age Asian dramas, I feel sad that I grew up in America, where there are no uniforms, where the people in our classes change every subject, every year. With You gave me a kind of nostalgia and sentimentality that I don't think I'll ever feel in real life, and yes, of course it made me cry.

With You focused a little more friendships, and the romance was more of the little things instead of the big grand gestures — and that's the kind of relationship that makes my heart flutter. For that reason, I didn't have SLS at all (just like how I didn't in ALSB).

I'm also someone who HATES time skips, and I was honestly dreading the end of this drama. Surprisingly, I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would, mainly because they didn't drag it out. Still, the time jump opened up so many plot holes and lack-of-communication issues — in my head, I'm just gonna pretend that that part doesn't exist.

The time jump also focused a lot more on the romance than on the friendships, and it delved more into melodrama style. Beta was my favorite side character, and I felt like her plot never got closure both in the friendship and in the romance departments.

Overall, With You had a lot of my favorite cliches, and it managed to pull it off swimmingly. The ending was very reminiscent of a lot of other Chinese dramas that suddenly go from wholesome to angsty — but as a whole I still really loved Geng Geng and Yu Huai, especially during their high school days. And lastly, the OST is AMAZING , but sadly super hard to find.

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Full of emotion, good storyline!

I enjoyed this a lot and they honestly did really well with such a tight budget! The balance between past and present scenes was done really well. I honestly also really appreciated many Shin Woo scenes where he went through with his hard words — it was just a nice switch up from the “antihero” who always ends up doing the right thing anyway.

I do wish they had played the audience more regarding which brother was which — which I think would have been more interesting than running around after Drug Lord and I'm a fan of psychological stuff — but at the same time I appreciate that each brother was very distinct.

I’ve got mixed feelings about the bad guy's ending — it kind of frustrates me that it wasn’t Eun Chang or Shin Woo that had the satisfaction of revenge, but at the same time the fact that Drug Lord’s downfall came from someone so close to him he never saw coming is satisfying in itself.

Another thing I would say is that I wasn't a fan of the open ending, especially because I really liked Eun Chang's character.

Overall it was still a really interesting watch and there was really good character development considering how little time it had. The drama also used some cliches but it handled them pretty well.

And thus I have concluded my first ever drama special!

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I had been putting off watching this drama for a really long time — even though I knew I'd love it. And I was absolutely right. Not only is the cinematography beautiful, but the story was about so much more than a love story. In a lot of dramas, the tragic story becomes the catalyst to get the main characters together, and it falls into becoming a plot device. Just Between Lovers didn't have that issue at all, and I rarely see such a perfect balance of the themes of family, friendship, romance, and individual identity, and they all tied into the tragic event of the S Mall collapse so fully.

I already loved Junho from clips I'd seen of him, but after watching this drama in full, he's definitely become one of my facec actors. You could feel all the anxiety, the emotion, the trauma, sadness, anger...you could feel EVERYTHING that the character was feeling.

I literally sobbed through the entire last episode — getting my homework wet and everything — but it was so worth it, and I don't know if I've ever felt that much anxiety over how a drama would end.

Another thing that I appreciate so much about this drama — the disabled characters. I loved MS's best friend SO much, and I loved Sang-Man even more — he was a big reason I cried in the last episode, and he was the most adorable character. The way every character was fleshed out in some way really made it feel like I knew them all, and I became emotionally invested in everyone's stories. The only person who I might have wanted to know more about was the best friend's love interest.

This drama just felt really REALISTIC, all around, and despite it having common kdrama tropes, it didn't bother me at all and it was executed to perfection.

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One surprise after another

This is a really different genre from the dramas I usually watch, so I was surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did. However, I did have mixed feelings about how this drama ended. Honestly, I think the ending was very fitting and in line with the rest of the drama’s vibe, and I’m glad we didn’t go through with the miracle deus ex machina. On the other hand, though, I’m kind of unsatisfied with the antagonist plotline — President Oh was such a huge part of the beginning and his storyline just sort of dropped off and was left open-ended. I appreciated the more natural, internal obstacles though.

I was also not a huge fan of that epilogue style ending — I felt like some scenes for it like the second ship and Nam’s father could have progressed more naturally within the drama’s regular timeline instead of tacking it on at the end. For the main plot with Anthony + Writer Lee though, I was okay with it and I liked how it was neither tragic nor overly cotton-candy.

Overall though, I still really enjoyed watching this one! Anthony was undoubtedly frustrating at times but he definitely grew on me, and I really liked the main female lead. The ship grew on me as well. A really enjoyable watch nevertheless, and the best part was the way the drama flipped so many cliches on us and yet went ahead with some really common drama tropes, so we never knew what to expect.

I will also say that the OST was much more of a bop than I expected :)

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It's a lot of eye candy, which I'm sure we all appreciate, and I really liked how the little stories went and how the drama started to make fun of kdrama tropes in some of them — but there's really no overall plot. I was kind of waiting to see how it would play out at the end, but it was really only given a few minutes.

I might've been asking too much from an AD, but I was hoping to see one of those things where the main female lead realizes that there had been someone beside her all along, but all we got was another one of those random guys without any explanation as to "why this guy out of all of them?".

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