Overhyped and Overrated

With the amount of hype this show was getting, I was really curious as to how good this show must be to boast being the highest rated TvN show of all time...but of course as usual it's nothing new. It seems like these days any show with a good looking cast and high budget set and cinematography is enough for people to rate it a 9, completely overlooking the lacking story, plotholes and clichés.

Initially the plot seemed promising, most k-dramas do not start out with the leads already being married. Although, the cold CEO fl and sunshine ml has been done before (ahem My Demon ahem). The hype seems to stem primarily from praise for the actors, cinematography and OST, which are important factors for a good show don't get me wrong but like...does anyone even care for the story? Nobody cares that when Haein awoke from brain surgery (although it was supposed radiation therapy) she looked fabulous? Perfectly normal? Perfect hair, makeup??? Did they even TRY to make it realistic?? Am I supposed to believe she just underwent a major brain surgery?? And oh god they didn't even try to make Park Sung Hoon's character interesting. Just made him an obsessive evil rat with no personality whatsoever, it was such a disappointment considering his character in The Glory, that's what I call a real villain. Everytime he came on screen it was excruciating to watch, but Park Sung Hoon's visuals make it a lot more bareable so there's that. The family is your typical chaebol money hungry ruthless evil family, who turn into a big happy family toward the end to unite against a mutual evil force. The progression in their characters was lackluster and more depth could have been added into Haein and her mother's reconcilation. The story is extremely lackluster and honestly I feel like 12 year olds on Wattpad could do a better job than Park Ji-Eun. Most overhyped show of 2024 fr.

It seems like the writer Park Ji-Eun doesn't know how pacing works, she wasted the initial 5 or 8 episodes making them completely meaningless, plotless, boring which added close to nothing of value or substance to the story, and then rushed a crucial plot point in the SECOND last episode?? AND THE ACCIDENT??? HELLO??? Shock factor does not equate to good storytelling. It just makes for pointless tension. I guess this is what writers had to do to stretch the show to be 16 episodes. I never found it interesting even in the initial episodes, I kept watching because the ml and fl couple were eye-candy and had great chemistry, but if you overlook that, this is nothing but mediocore, maybe even less than mediocore. I kept watching and watching hoping it would get better but nooo oh god. You all need to seriously pick better shows to make popular. It's My Demon all over again. A less than average clichéd show which gets popular because of the cast and high budget set. How superficial. Truly a disappointment. But I must give credit where credit is due and I will admit that the stellar cast did live up to their names by delivering an exceptional performance and the cinematography delivered, truly an eye-candy show. Overall, if you value your time, don't watch it.

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Problematic and detestable.

I have a lot of problems with this show, but I'll start off with the most major one, the age gap. She was a 19 year old girl in HIGH SCHOOL and he was a grown ass middle aged man (939 but whatever he looks 50 in the show). Would it have killed the writers to make the fl a little older?? Or at least choose an older and mature looking actress?? Even the actors themselves had a 10 year age gap in real life I can only imagine how awkward it must have been... I was so uncomfortable watching their so called "romantic" scenes because all I could see was a father-daughter dynamic. She literally calls him "ahjussi" for god's sake. It is so creepy and vile that so many people support this and even more so, ROMANTICIZE IT. How and why are people not seeing a problem with this??

The story is nothing special, I was bored out of my mind and sometimes, I would play a game where I would try and finish the dialogue of what a character was saying or try to predict the next scene or plot point, that's how clichéd, boring and predictable this was. I was bored even while watching this on 2x speed. And of course all the 3 main characters are magically reincarnated with the same faces and personalities and conveniently meet each other again. What was the point of dying if that was going to happen? The constant flashbacks to Kim Shin's life 900 years ago were so boring like bro move on it's been a century ????. The main leads had no chemistry whatsoever, maybe this show would have been a little less detestable if Kim Shin and Ji Eun-tak were father and daughter instead of "lovers". The second lead couple also had no chemistry. Eun tak's character was plain and boring, she is a blank slate with no personality or mind of her own. Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook's visuals and bromance carried the show in all honestly. I genuinely cannot fathom how this hot mess came to be the 4th highest rated TvN show and most popular show on MDL...I honestly see this show as a stain in LDW's career, he has so many hits like A Shop for Killers, Strangers from Hell, etc...I wonder why he chose this show...

I could go on and on, but I think I've said enough. This show is a hot piece of garbage and I regret watching it. Watch this show if you hate yourself and like seeing minors getting groomed.

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Kang Song and Han so-Hee's best.

I initially went into this with no expectations or idea about the plot, I clicked on it simply because I had just finished watching "My name" which starred Han so Hee and I really liked her.

The realisation of what I had just watched hit me right after I finished the final episode, the first 6 episodes were engaging and I didn't feel bored, but I did start getting a little bored of the endless meaningless dialogue and the misunderstanding trope after but then the last episode made up for it.
I think the reason why I'm willing to overlook the flaws in this show is because of the cinematography. It was beautiful, the colours especially blend in with the soundtrack and give you this almost dream-like experience while watching it.
When I think of this show, I think of the two protagonists, colours and soundtrack. I've never watched a k-drama which utilizes colours to its fullest extent to make the viewer feel the emotions of the show allowing them to completely immerse themselves in this dream-like sensation.

That's all I have to say. I'm not very good at writing reviews but I felt I had to get this off my chest.

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A cult classic coming of age story ahead of its time.

I did not expect to like and enjoy this show as much as I did, but here I am. Maybe it's because I'm used to teen shows like Euphoria and Gossip Girl that shows like these seem like a gem in a million. It is a simple yet beautiful coming-of-age story, it is pure and innocent at its core and doesn't aim or aspire to be flashy or edgy like most teen shows. The show captures the true essence of the transition from teenage to youth in an eloquently beautiful way, it is realistic yet has enough components of drama and plot to not make it boring. It delves into several themes in a subtle yet truly impactful way which I found to be its most alluring aspect. The themes of bullying, social anxiety, and friendship, may seem like some of the most common themes explored in various media, however, Nobuta Wo Produce's way of depicting these themes in a not-so-exaggerated yet realistic enough to relate to/or sympathize with is not something which can be replicated so easily. Anyway, I just wanted to ramble on how good this show was since these kinds of shows aren't produced anymore.

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