luca
Spain
This review may contain spoilers
Cute, but dull and with serious problems regarding pacing and the story
To say that this series was a disappointment would be a huge understatement. I had high expectations for it after watching the first episode, and I legitimately thought it would be up there with Our Dating Sim and Semantic Error. It looked fun! Daring! Spicy! (considering it’s a korean series).
The three first episodes were great. The pacing could’ve been better, but we still had a lot of episodes to go, and there was plenty of time to pick up some speed.
However, the following three episodes were a mess. Just. A complete disaster. I don’t know what happened, or why, but they decided to fill 80% of each episode with pointless scenes and dialogue, unnecessary misunderstandings, a love square that didn’t really go anywhere and only took up excessive screen-time, and a whole lot of office meetings that I didn’t (or didn’t care to) understand.
The final episode saved it a little for me. I know many have found it rushed and sloppy, but I think it's cute and engaging in a way that episodes 4-7 weren't. It still doesn't bump it up to an 8, though.
The strong points:
- The visuals. Let’s be honest, the actor playing Choi Jun is a godsend - the man is truly beautiful. That helped me get through most of the episodes. As an artist, I just wanted to draw him.
- (Some of) the dialogue. It can be pretty funny at times. The ‘American style’, the ‘Why is it getting bigger??’, their banter at the restaurant table, etc etc. It’s kind of sad, because it shows that the series had the potential to be hilarious and entertaining all the way through.
- (Some of) the scenes the main leads have together, both when they're flirting and after they have started dating. It takes a while to get there, but once you do, it's kind of fun and daring for a k-drama. It's because of these that the rewatch value is higher.
Where it all comes crashing down:
- The acting. It’s not really that good. For Choi Jun, they relied too heavily on the actor being ‘sexy’ or whatever, and for Lee Jun, on him being cute. There are very few moments where the characters feel three-dimensional or natural, and they mostly feel very stiff and, well, acted. It doesn’t help that both actors have quite a blank expression, and don’t really emote with their face.
- The story!! Wtf was that? Why was Lee and Choi’s relationship explored so little? IT’S THE MAIN POINT OF THE SERIES?? Yet they barely talk about it, they barely interact outside the office. They are meant to be childhood friends who reconnected, yet feel like strangers that just dig each other. The fact that we barely see them together until the last episode is frustrating to me.
- Also, like I said, the love square was really unnecessary. Not only did it take away from the main couple, but it also made me root for the other two more than Choi Jun in their ‘quest’ to get with Lee Jun! I don’t think that’s what’s supposed to happen! And then they get an open ending, when they had me hoping they would get together for real.
- The pacing. The office setting was, in this case, a setback for the enjoyability of the series. They shot super long scenes where they are discussing perfume and brand deals with influencers, and it doesn’t really add to the plot. The same idea could be conveyed with much less screentime. I skipped multiple scenes because of this.
Overall, I would not recommend this series. Or, at least, I would recommend the first three eps and the last, but not the rest. The story is nothing new, and they didn’t do anything interesting with it, like I originally thought they would. This is the type of series where you can just watch an edit on YouTube or a TikTok and you'll be fine.
The three first episodes were great. The pacing could’ve been better, but we still had a lot of episodes to go, and there was plenty of time to pick up some speed.
However, the following three episodes were a mess. Just. A complete disaster. I don’t know what happened, or why, but they decided to fill 80% of each episode with pointless scenes and dialogue, unnecessary misunderstandings, a love square that didn’t really go anywhere and only took up excessive screen-time, and a whole lot of office meetings that I didn’t (or didn’t care to) understand.
The final episode saved it a little for me. I know many have found it rushed and sloppy, but I think it's cute and engaging in a way that episodes 4-7 weren't. It still doesn't bump it up to an 8, though.
The strong points:
- The visuals. Let’s be honest, the actor playing Choi Jun is a godsend - the man is truly beautiful. That helped me get through most of the episodes. As an artist, I just wanted to draw him.
- (Some of) the dialogue. It can be pretty funny at times. The ‘American style’, the ‘Why is it getting bigger??’, their banter at the restaurant table, etc etc. It’s kind of sad, because it shows that the series had the potential to be hilarious and entertaining all the way through.
- (Some of) the scenes the main leads have together, both when they're flirting and after they have started dating. It takes a while to get there, but once you do, it's kind of fun and daring for a k-drama. It's because of these that the rewatch value is higher.
Where it all comes crashing down:
- The acting. It’s not really that good. For Choi Jun, they relied too heavily on the actor being ‘sexy’ or whatever, and for Lee Jun, on him being cute. There are very few moments where the characters feel three-dimensional or natural, and they mostly feel very stiff and, well, acted. It doesn’t help that both actors have quite a blank expression, and don’t really emote with their face.
- The story!! Wtf was that? Why was Lee and Choi’s relationship explored so little? IT’S THE MAIN POINT OF THE SERIES?? Yet they barely talk about it, they barely interact outside the office. They are meant to be childhood friends who reconnected, yet feel like strangers that just dig each other. The fact that we barely see them together until the last episode is frustrating to me.
- Also, like I said, the love square was really unnecessary. Not only did it take away from the main couple, but it also made me root for the other two more than Choi Jun in their ‘quest’ to get with Lee Jun! I don’t think that’s what’s supposed to happen! And then they get an open ending, when they had me hoping they would get together for real.
- The pacing. The office setting was, in this case, a setback for the enjoyability of the series. They shot super long scenes where they are discussing perfume and brand deals with influencers, and it doesn’t really add to the plot. The same idea could be conveyed with much less screentime. I skipped multiple scenes because of this.
Overall, I would not recommend this series. Or, at least, I would recommend the first three eps and the last, but not the rest. The story is nothing new, and they didn’t do anything interesting with it, like I originally thought they would. This is the type of series where you can just watch an edit on YouTube or a TikTok and you'll be fine.
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