oree
This review may contain spoilers
Should have made NGNL 2 episodes longer instead
All I can say about this is that you'll enjoy it if you were really rooting for the second couple in No Gain, No Love. I wasn't that much into them by the end of the original, but I was curious about this supposedly "spicy" short spin-off of a drama that I found to be an overall good time. At the very least, I thought it would give me more insight into why Ja-yeon fell for Gyu-hyun despite all he did in the main drama.
What I got was nearly 2 hours of nothing really. Somehow, Ja-yeon had more chemistry with the guy who originally played Ha-jun than she did with Gyu-hyun. I'm not sure if it was a directorial decision or from the writing, but once Gyu-hyun became the male lead, all the sexiness and charm went out the window, and that is quite a feat because I find the actor very sexy and charming. Most of the time he looked like he was pleading for her attention.
I also was a bit confused by the writing. Not the "writing" of the story within a story itself — as the synopsis states, the drama is an isekai, where Ja-yeon gets transported into her own novel and becomes the female lead, and I found her writing to be pretty realistic in its tropey-ness and ridiculousness (you'll understand if you're a frequent reader of web novels) — but the mechanics of the drama.
Why did the male lead of the drama have to change? It's not like Gyu-hyun was transported into the novel with her. And why did the male lead's secretary become the former Ha-jun? Why did she keep seeing the convenience store owner everywhere? And most importantly, how does this all inform her sudden crush on Gyu-hyun back in NGNL? I suppose this spin-off is just meant to be a cutesy diversion from the main drama.
And despite how it's been advertised, there's really not much spice to be found, especially when Gyu-hyun becomes the male lead. It definitely didn't help with their (lack of) chemistry here.
Again, I think this will be appealing to anyone who enjoyed NGNL's second couple and wants to see more of them. Unfortunately I wasn't in that camp, so it really wasn't for me. Some highlights were seeing Hui-seong again; I really wish she'd been given a more fleshed-out storyline in NGNL, she was cool.
What I got was nearly 2 hours of nothing really. Somehow, Ja-yeon had more chemistry with the guy who originally played Ha-jun than she did with Gyu-hyun. I'm not sure if it was a directorial decision or from the writing, but once Gyu-hyun became the male lead, all the sexiness and charm went out the window, and that is quite a feat because I find the actor very sexy and charming. Most of the time he looked like he was pleading for her attention.
I also was a bit confused by the writing. Not the "writing" of the story within a story itself — as the synopsis states, the drama is an isekai, where Ja-yeon gets transported into her own novel and becomes the female lead, and I found her writing to be pretty realistic in its tropey-ness and ridiculousness (you'll understand if you're a frequent reader of web novels) — but the mechanics of the drama.
Why did the male lead of the drama have to change? It's not like Gyu-hyun was transported into the novel with her. And why did the male lead's secretary become the former Ha-jun? Why did she keep seeing the convenience store owner everywhere? And most importantly, how does this all inform her sudden crush on Gyu-hyun back in NGNL? I suppose this spin-off is just meant to be a cutesy diversion from the main drama.
And despite how it's been advertised, there's really not much spice to be found, especially when Gyu-hyun becomes the male lead. It definitely didn't help with their (lack of) chemistry here.
Again, I think this will be appealing to anyone who enjoyed NGNL's second couple and wants to see more of them. Unfortunately I wasn't in that camp, so it really wasn't for me. Some highlights were seeing Hui-seong again; I really wish she'd been given a more fleshed-out storyline in NGNL, she was cool.
Was this review helpful to you?
