scenophile

Wholesome and heartwarming

This is the EXACT kind of drama I'd always been looking for — wholesome, friendship, romance, no frustrating evil scheming, and no dumb noble idiocy plot twist.

It's true that the girl is the very typical bubbly, bad-at-school type, while the male lead is smart and popular, but the way they did the roles wasn't cliche at all and they were both super likable. Honestly, the ML went soft for the FL very early on, and the FL tried very hard at school, was strong, independent, righteous, and just downright adorable in her optimism.

Second lead was very likable as well and I was pleasantly surprised at how respectful he was of the FL in the love triangle. It's honestly one of the best-executed love triangles I've ever seen and although I wouldn't say I had SLS, my heart hurt for him.

The second ship was honestly amazing and I was LIVING for it. It's the perfect friends-to-lovers kind that's my favorite trope, and they were adorable from start to end, with the way they teased each other and fought, and yet knew each other so well.

The romance was overall pretty subtle, and I was surprised that they pulled off the "childhood connection" trope so well.

The overall drama is so soft, which I loved, and the pacing of the entire show was really good and there was no unnecessarily dramatic drama. The friendships were really great and I liked how they never fought over dumb things. The only part that kind of tripped this part up for me in the middle was when the other girl returned from abroad and the main leads sort of miscommunicated, and it kind of annoyed me that the two main leads never learned how to deal with their feelings and balance friendship — the lack of ability to get the two girls to co-exist was kind of problematic for me.

But ultimately they resolved things naturally and I really liked how they didn't turn any second lead girl into a terrible person in order to push the romance through and make things angsty. The same could go for any character and it was really refreshing how even the guest characters were pretty good people who might've gone astray sometimes — much more realistic and relatable. Even the families weren't overly frustrating, which has happened a lot in school kdramas.

I definitely felt super nostalgic and cried while watching this — I honestly connected to the characters so much and I will forever be sad that I never grew up in such a tight-knit high school class. This is honestly the kind of drama I'd rewatch over and over again in my free time because it just makes me THAT HAPPY.

And the OST is honestly so good. It took me a while to actually start watching each episode because I'd just replay the opening sequence over and over.

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Better than BOF, but crappy ending

I had watched Boys Over Flowers before this—but none of the other versions, and right off the bat I knew I was going to like this better. ALL the characters were more likable, and that even includes FL's parents.

Of course, there were some things that were so ridiculous—like the parts where a bridge/poker game determined who got to stay in school—but there were dumb scenes in the original story, so I guess I had to let that go.

Compared to BOF, I felt like everything was more dimmed down, from the scariness of the mother to the social situation in school. I liked this, as it definitely felt more realistic.

Meteor Garden does suffer from something a lot of Chinese dramas seem to suffer from—the inability to focus on multiple plotlines at the same time. For the side characters, it felt like we were learning about one ship, and then moving on to another one after it had been wrapped up. Also, I didn't give a crap about Terence.

Sadly, the last few episodes of this show were just kind of a mess. Random drama was added in at the end, there was a sudden musical number, and I was so confused and disappointed that that was the ending we were going to get. Either way, I still quite enjoyed watching this.

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It felt like a majority of me watching this drama was just waiting for things to start happening — the pacing of it is a LOT slower than I expected, and part of that is why I never could full get into it. A lot of people have hated on the ending saying it was chaotic and rushed, but I actually found that I really enjoyed those episodes and the episodes where there were big reveals. Other than that, every one-hour episode felt twenty times as long.

The antagonist that started to be introduced near the middle of the drama was something that REALLY intrigued me, especially given the parallel storylines — but it felt like the character and tension was never really explored fully. It was solved quickly and seemed to be used more as a plot device for separating the main couple.

Speaking of the main couple — I don't think I was ever fully on board with them. The relationship always felt more familial, and age gap aside, I just didn't feel any chemistry between them. I also didn't like the secondary ship as much because the relationship just seemed to lack any content and connection aside from them being fated. Overall the arcs for both ships felt repetitive.

There are a few things that I appreciate about the ending. but other things that I don't like. I'm also a time-skip-hater, but for some reason, I didn't dislike it as much in Goblin, but I'm not sure if it has to do with me not being emotionally invested at all or if it felt more in line with the way the plot was going.

(Full disclosure: I've got some basic philosophical differences with the themes of this show, so that might have to do with me not clicking with it — more specifically, it's the idea of romantic destiny that I kind of scoff at.)

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Vibes but no plot

This review is coming at you from a non-novel reader, just FYI. But it's another one of these beloved dramas that I ended up just not quite clicking with.

The concept is fantastic. I love a good time travel / isekai type story à la Scarlet Heart Ryeo or Romance of Tiger and Rose. The acting is sometimes good and sometimes a little awkward.

I feel like my main issue with this drama is that so much of it feels unearned and aimless.

There's a sort of "mystery" subplot surrounding a conspiracy reveal that appears for maybe three episodes, and it's all played out so fast from the moment it's first mentioned to the final reveal. We never really follow the story; we just know it's happening in the background, and then the big reveal happens and the story just ends.

The romance, which is the biggest part of the story, gives me much of the same feeling. I am absolutely a hater of insta-love and "destined love," and here it really does show my biggest problem with it. I'm just not understanding why or when they fell in love with each other, and we're given these romantic moments when I feel like they should still be getting to know each other better. It's weird because the potential is definitely there — the massage scene, for example, is A+ — but it would've been even better if it felt earned.

It also feels aimless in the sense of Jom's time travelling not being explained. It's explored at the start when he's so frazzled and trying to figure out what's happening, but he gradually just starts living a normal life. His situation is only addressed when he's forcibly confronted with it, and it leaves a lot of questions by the end. I constantly wished the drama went deeper into this aspect and upped the stakes. I think this is where the conspiracy subplot could've been used, because it could've given Jom a goal, and a "oh, THIS is why I came back" moment.

Ultimately, the ending also feels quite rushed. I know there's a sequel though, so maybe it'll help. Nevertheless, I think the vibes are still there, and I know the novel probably explains more, but from a drama-only perspective, that's what I felt.

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Just fine

I felt like this drama had a really strong start — the female lead's spunkiness made her really likeable, the mystery was intriguing, and the time travel also made for really interesting parallels.

As the drama went on, I felt like it a lost a lot of its spark, opting for either humor or a modern-only plot, leaving the saeguk mystery and time travel element both really neglected until the last episode and not really tying the two timelines together well enough. It didn't make much sense what Yeon-woo's time travel had to do with the modern storyline, or why those parallels even existed. I think the stakes weren't established well enough for me to feel emotionally invested: I paid painstaking attention to the modern day characters to figure out how they were tied to their past lives, but by the end it felt like the modern day characters were the far more important ones. I really think this drama could've used a full 16 episodes to balance out the modern and historical plotlines and add some explanation for the time travel.

Other than that, I felt like the side characters were fine and occasionally funny but pretty unimportant to the plot, and the main romance was also fun but generally a cookie-cutter ship. It's a fun watch but for me, not very memorable.

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Fun little extra but not a lot of Totono

The first half was a rehash of the first episode so it was nothing new, and the second half was a new case which was a pretty cute watch and a fun addition, especially since I absolutely loved the original drama. But there actually wasn't a lot of Totono in it.

The case introduces a new character — Sagara Ren, who was bubbly and fun and had a really adorable relationship with Totono. I loved the two of them together and I hope we get to see Sagara again.

The case itself was fine, but the detective work was actually done mostly by Sagara and the other characters, and it just didn't have the same endearing awkwardness that situations usually have when Totono is front and center.

Overall, this is definitely not a necessary watch, but it's light-hearted and low stakes. I can see why it was split off into a special and if anyone wants to see Totono again it's still worth tuning in for.

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Great chemistry, odd pace

I wish so much that this drama was longer because the pace was way too fast and all I kept thinking was that I loved the chemistry and I loved the main leads together and wanted the development of enemies-to-lovers to be more slow. I probably could've done without the side characters getting so much screentime, and even more without the string of misunderstandings at the end (even though I know the drama is setting up a season 2). The chemistry is great, the OST is catchy, the acting is pretty good, and the dialogue is beautiful — sometimes it's just a little confusing how the characters got to where they were because we didn't have time to show the "in-between" moments.

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A comforting tearjerker

"Comforting tearjerker" might sound like an oxymoron but that's exactly what this is. I loved the relationships we saw in this drama — between family members, between friends, between classmates, etc. and the little hint of romance was so adorable and heart-warming. I loved how subtle the character development is, and the lines are so profound and thought-provoking.

There's really not much more to say and I don't really. have any criticisms about this show. The only thing is that I maybe wish it was a little longer as there were some little time jumps that took me by surprise at first and I would've loved to see even more day-to-day scenes. But maybe that's just me being greedy and not getting enough of this entire cast and how beautiful this drama was.

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Light-hearted and low-stakes

This was a really wholesome and comforting drama — there never really felt like there was a huge conflict or overarching plot, it was just about several people in a little village town dealing with life and its issues. While I enjoy the light-heartedness of it all, I felt like it was hard to understand the point or the general direction of the drama — meaning that character development was a little sparse for most of the characters.

Speaking of which, I've never been a huge fan of ensemble dramas for the reason that I never care for everyone equally, and this drama was no different. I loved the badminton teams (both male and the female teams) and how they grew together throughout the episodes, both on and off the court. There was one character who had an arc as they joined the team after not getting along with them and he turned out to be my favorite character because the development was so strong and clear.

On the other hand, the subplots of everyone else who just lived in the village were not really interesting to me, especially because their interactions with the main teams felt peripheral.

Overall, I think this was a pretty fun drama to watch (slowly, a few episodes here and there) but it's not really a binge type of drama or something I felt very invested in.

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Half a movie

I felt like the entire mood and atmosphere of this movie was really great — I loved the quiet darkness of the town, the tension and scariness of the school setting, and this overall anticipation that was building up from beginning to end of the movie.

With that being said, I felt like this movie focused on the wrong main character; starting out following the ML and learning about the FL's reputation through his eyes was great (and really different from what I've usually seen) but it started to become clear that the FL's story was more interesting, especially as we saw her character develop.

Furthermore, I feel like this movie ended right when I thought it was hitting the climax, or its most important moments. I understand that since we're following the ML's perspective, an open and unresolved ending just makes sense, but this is when I really wished the story could have switched its point of view and continued forwards.

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Beautiful and un-cliche

It's been a long time since I enjoyed a serious movie this much; going into this I had been worried that it would be pretentious and boring, but that wasn't the case at all.

In fact, I felt like the plot never stopped moving, the story's pacing was great, and the movie actually took me by surprise in many scenes. I thought that something was going to happen and the movie was going to go the cliche route, but they didn't and instead I watched something that felt much more realistic and emotionally-charged, rather than needlessly dramatic.

We're given just enough information about every character and situation to make us emotionally invested — it really feels like we're given a intimate peek into the tensions between family members.

Cinematography was beautiful as well; overall, the tone of this movie is so nostalgic and warm. I was surprised that there were some parts that were truly funny, albeit a little bittersweet. I won't lie — it stressed me out a lot in many places, but that was partly due to my misplaced expectations. Go into this without any preconceived notions and you'll find yourself in love with it, I promise.

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Great beginning

So it pains me to give this such a low rating because I was absolutely in love with the episodes that took place in high school and the hate-love relationship between the leads. Both characters had unique personalities and could clearly hold their own, but their banter was just so FUN to watch.

Past those six or seven episodes, however, the story just gets messy. They use a bunch of tropes but it's like they never buy fully into it, with characters either being underdeveloped or shifting in wayward directions. By this I mean the characters have flawed logic again and again just to make the story move forwards, and there was just too much noble idiocy in this for it to be enjoyable.

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Light-hearted

This was cliche but cute, non-toxic, light-hearted, and just downright wholesome. I really appreciated the relationship between the lead characters — there was just so much trust and understanding between them, and the drama did a really good job of showing how two people can accept the different parts of each other. They also did a good job with the childhood connection trope; it made sense and played a huge part in the story and didn't feel thrown in haphazardly.

One issue I have with a lot of these kinds of dramas though is that they always try to incorporate some deeper traumatic backstory, but for the sake of maintaining a light-hearted mood, it's like they don't dare to go into the details. The same goes for the side characters, who are funny and endearing but have cookie-cutter personalities and no deeper character development.

There were other parts of the plot that were very cliche and used common tropes but nevertheless, for a light-hearted drama this is a really good go-to.

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Takes time to love

This was a drama that really had to grow on me, because I started out hating every single character except for the main male lead, who was the most straightforward and righteous one of them all. As the drama went on, the characters really grew in subtle yet obvious ways, and it was really nice to see. This goes especially for the two teens still in high school, who grew to be really lovable and relatable for me.

The biggest plot point that I hated was the goddamn AMNESIA, which really annoyed me because he was the only character that I cared about and we essentially had to start from scratch for no good reason. It also led to a bout of noble idiocy, which didn't end up terribly but is still one of my least favorite tropes.

I'm also a sucker for the little tidbits of fantasy that are in this screenwriter's dramas (dreams in WYWS, hiccups in Pinocchio, mind-reading in IHYV) and this was no different, but I kind of wish he was more involved in the different cases, like going on investigations. It's understandable he wasn't because he was still in school, but I felt like there was a lot you could do with the mind-reading and it was all confined to him passively reacting to things around him.

Another thing that annoyed me about the mind-reading was just how it was filmed, with frame holds on random faces and voiceover. It made the production value of the drama seem very cheap and took me out of every single thing where that happened. I understand that it's hard to depict something so internal, but still.

Finally: No SLS here. I never liked the second lead.

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