best of jihyo

not gonna lie, I started this for jihyo and I wasn't disappointed, finally they gave her a chance to break away from her typecasting.
but that's all the praise I have, the plot is really basic. they're using shallow "touching" stories to show the desperation of people making those wishes but are they really worth it? ironically though the answer seems yes becasue even if the "price" seems high but in the end it's so easy to forget the pain when you reap the reward

one lost his fingers, one lost her memories, one lost her voice, but no one regretted it.. getting a job has more weight than his fingers, seeing her son happy mattered more than her having her personality/identity.. but the one with the voice tbh she was robbed..

on the other hand the mains' connection and stories were just as flat. the

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the writing is a 0

I thought based on the 1st scene this would be scary but I was disappointed.. it wasn't even gory it was eyeroll worthy..

Lee Sung Min is an amazing actor and his scenes with Nam Da Reum were sweet and touching, but that was mainly just based on their acting, the writer/director gave them nothing to work with.. actors need their dialog...

I'm also disappointed at productions labeling anyone a lead. a main lead is someone with a backstory, emotions, thoughts and personality.
the detective was just someone after a killer, he didn't even have common sense. Ae Ran was suddenly revealed to be a ghost they didn't let her show her torment and Cheong Seok though he had the most scenes but again not much personality is labeled as lower in "ranks". when in reality calling Park Jin Soo a main is pushing it.

I wish atleast the characters had more substance!. these days the writers' think "tragic past/connection" is the key for emotinal scenes but it still needs a development for it to work! 10 x 0 is still a 0
for almost an hour and a half no one really talked or even did anything, they just walked, went to eat then walked... and don't get me started on the horror! I can't take horror and I even laughed at a couple of those scenes, creepy eyes and dark clouds are scary.. there was no thrill, no action.. honestly the ending too, they tried to pretend they were "saving" the characters from their torments but it was just another scene..

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that little girl carried this whole movie! jingoo of course did a great job but the little smiles, the pouts and the tears of that baby were so PRECIOUS!
I don't usually applaud the directors but the credit does go to the directors here too. they captured the emotions so well. whenever they zoomed in on her precious little hand trying to find her way, her little precious breathing sounds, the subtle signs of connection between them and the way she gradually opened up and they became a "family", it was all just so beautiful! TT_TT

these kinds of plots happened often. "cold" tortured guy who's after money and the precious lost baby and that can be a cheap plot move, but the vulnerability of them was so loud and clear here
Jae Shik had nothing in his life and Eun Hye had no one, though the money seemed to spark Jae Shik's motivation, from the moment he saw her it was like he saw himself, lost and alone that he couldn't leave her

the journey starts simple, he wants to pretend she's his daughter but the plot moves right away when he finds out she has nothing he can take so he again looks for another option which leads to a different tone of journey when they go to the country side to search for her mother's aunt, and that kinda turns into a cute little camping trip where they meet new people on the way

the movie did end with alot of questions unanswered, I mean he did kinda "kidnap" her, just because she had no one to report her didn't change it.
though they did show that scene with the dad that implied he really didn't want her and was "selling" her away to Jae Shik, I'm even surprised he could walk into the orphanage and give her away when he had no legal right on her.

in the end, with the subtle hints of romance with Yeon Joo and the youtube vid, I like to think their bond touched people and they help them out and they might even start a movement to get her illness more noticed. that scene where the center's principle was so detached on the subject of "she can take classes for deaf and blind courses" and he was like but she can't see or hear! and that lady didn't even try to come up with a solution (or ask when his relationship with her was xD)

this is the most wholesome movie I watched in a long time though❣ I went in with no expectations, I mean movies with kids are usually heartwarming and this was so emotinal TT_TT

all in all, I cried, I smiled and I CRIED at that ending scene ;( I wanted more

that little baby looks so much like Kim Hae Sook xD

my favorite parts were, the rain scene! how sweet was that!, when he grabbed her hand! when she smiled knowing his back home but then pouted when he didn't show her that he's home uwu and her crying scene was 100000%

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men are one sighted and naive..

1st love, especially at 11-13, or even waiting for "love" is like online shopping. you look at the picture, you imagine yourself wearing that dress, you are in love so you order it but it's international shipping so you need to wait atleast 2 weeks so you anticipate it daily.
then it arrives, you feel happy, open the package and try it on, it is indeed beautiful. but that's it, you take it off and put it in the closest. the "love" was that journey alone.

with 1st love, you are in love with the image. there's no guaranty you can live with the same outfit you saw once online! I mean, you can't be sure the person of your imagination is a real enough person to connect with.
Young Ho had no control in his life so he grabbed at the only thing that made him happy, that one random encounter when he was 12.
he knew atleast he could "control" that, he could take the steps to find her, she'd be his happiness and light.

and when he did find her, they talked, but he also met an actual living existence in front of him. someone real he could talk eye to eye, someone who'd answer back right away, someone who liked him 1st but he didn't know if he'd like her back when he already had the sure set "1st love" talking to him.
kang sora was that consent insta dress ad that keeps following you around. it looks beautiful but would it make you happy as the one you already ordered?


now, honestly if I thought Young Ho was annoying wait to hear about So Hee. she gets a letter, her sister says no I don't know him. she writes back as the sister and tells her sister every reply. the sister is in love, or well she has "excitement", the chance to choose from the ads, So Hee keeps fulling it and fools her sister

but time skip and stupid move #1 (yes non of the above were the stupid part). she too waits for the same dress as her sister. she sets a date to pick that dress.. she had every chance to go meet that dress! but she just doesn't and Young Ho waits for 9 freaking years for his dress to come! who the heck made "when it rains" a rule? she was not bound by anything to that stupid silly promise.. it's like she said "when it snows in summer" and waits for global warming..
waiting for paper love is not waiting for love! the real waiting here would've been if sujin x youngho happened. that'd have been her waiting for real love. he was waiting for someone he met once as 12, he would've even recognize her as an adult..

yep and it gets wore. they reveal that the 1st love was indeed So Hee not her sister as both he and her sister assumed. so not only did she just had to lie once to her sister, 2 she could've met him separately, or better yet make up a lie about a different guy, 3 she didn't lie to him per say only her name, but 4 for a while he thought she was dead! and he still waited! lol it gets more stupid as I recall the events xD
SHE MADE HIM THINK SHE'S DEAD! and he ran to meet her despite this huge confusion. I don't care for happy endings I prefer to think they never met and they all live independent loveless lives until someone new comes in..



basically there were 3 women, he knew one from his childhood memory, he met one in his 20s and the last was someone he met on paper.
kang sora always gives me sls xD I really don't think many fls gave me sls like her.
kang hanuel needs to stop this repetitive bumpkin character too

well korean writers are fixated with 1st love too much and think it's unique heart wrenching melo

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romcom fantasy done right

90% of the reason this worked out was Lee Dam, 9% of it was the mythical creature ML that was civil and sweet and 1% was for the age gap done right
Lee Dam is my ideal type of FLs, she was realistic, she had low tolerance for bs, she thought on her own, she went after what she wanted, she trusted with her whole heart but she didn't let others take advantage and best of all she was HILARIOUS! and also fashionable❣ and so so cute ❤o❤

these things sound so simple yet romcom writers 99% of the time ruin their fls, but Lee Dam was the perfect representation of gen z, she was believable as a person and that helped this fantasy drama feel realistic as far as fantasy goes


on the other hand as a mythical creature oh so amazing out of everyone's reach ML, Woo Yeo was again done right. he smiled when he had to, he talked and interacted with people though he never cared for their presence, he was imperfect, sometimes rash disguised as wisdom in his eyes -ie he'd leave cuz it's the "best" choice- but he was also weak infront of his own decisions, he was emotionless but he changed with Lee Dam (she didn't "change" him, he just reacted to her presence), he was curios because of her, he was happy because of her and he opened up his heart to his lost dream of family and love because of her


another point I really loved was the friendships, the 2FL was not a jealous evil character that was desperately in love with the ML, they were friends, they were siblings and they were each other's home.
Hye Sun is confident, poised, elegant but kinda sloppy and though her relationship with Woo Yeo felt like tom and jerry she cared for him and she ended up becoming friends with lee dam as well~

Jae Jin is the soft naive uwu type of character, he again was like a brother to lee dam, he always protected her and sometimes he needed the protection and again it's great to not only see the FL have friends but to see normal male characters that love and respect the fl in a non romantic way is always welcome (special shoutout to sunbae Jung Suk who was also a great normal friend to lee dam)

Sun Woo was the cute type of typical jerk ml but he was kidna overboard by the end, but he was still cute, I hope to see more of the actor~

I did also love lee dam's friendship with Soo Kyung but I'm kinda sad they made her too comedic even more than lee dam.



another great part of this drama was the comedy, I've not laughed this much since Birthcare Center, it was exactly my type~ like the drama never tried to take itself seriously, it was a fantasy after all there was no need for life threatening "I love you but you'll keep getting chased by the truck of doom cuz of our love" randomness.
it did have the star cross lovers that started too soon and took too much time, but as a long term webtoon it did need more than one conflict so I forgive them

also, my FAVORITE part was the no past connection! I think this is the 1st romcom, and fantasy with no past 1st love fate bs. and that made their love so much more endearing.
they met, had a accidental tie down, lived together, saw each other's true selves and they fell in love, how normal and sweet is that?❤❤❤❤
in the webtoon they seemed to imply a lee dam's brother x sunwoo's sister and I think that'd be hilarious and sad for them to make the 2ml her brother in law xD

I didn't like some of the guys' reactions, their possessiveness, their tears, their clingyness, or the way jaejin x hyesun happened and also the way lee dam felt the need to apologize while Woo Yeo stayed quiet as if she needed to apologize, but overall the perfection of lee dam and the cuteness of Woo Yeo smiling when he didn't go through the writers "we can't be together" brooding mood, everything was perfect~

tbh I hated all of the breakups and near deaths, I wish it was more like 49 days (minus the ending) where they had to collect tears of love
so like they could've done more things to make him feel human. I was more touched at Hye Sun's tears over Woo Yeo's return than anything
though I was happy with the subtle change in his personality, like he got more carefree and dorky and my girl lee dam was always rational about it

I like the ost enough and I actually rewatched some scenes for my article so I'll say I'll rewatch lee dam's hilarious comedies and the cute dates ;p

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12 thirty min eps, sounds short but it was torture

I always say different people different taste but I don't get how they liked this mess.
The fl was cruel. Even worse than jerk mls. She was a tyrant. She manipulated the ml with her broken phone so he works for her. She didn't even let him take a break or go to the bathroom which is a human right. And she was "surprised" he was naive enough to not give up then worse only wanted him when she thought he likes her and made a sense when she again made up stories that he liked someone else. THEN claimed him just because she wanted someone to love her.....


The ml was also worse than naive fls. He allowed her when she controlled his breaks, even kids go to the bathroom if their teacher says no... it's basic nature. Then he finds out she lied to him. But he fell for her cuz what. She's poor cynical and hardworking? While he's rich spoiled and happy?.... and he was even happy with her marking him when she just said she selfishly didn't like him but the idea of him...


She also steals, she was upset and hyungmin taking mls shoes. Not because she cared for the ml but she thought she's the only one allowed to threatened people. Then she sells it and takes the half as if she has any right to that money. She should've atleast returned it to the ml. Just cuz she sells something doesn't mean she owns it...

Sam was the only cute person yet he was always mistreated even by the writers saying he's dumb. And minnie was the only normal person but she was also too clingy


The comedy was meh and the only good scenes were with that cute baby and puppy.
I thought this was short but after watching 6eps while playing on my phone I don't even want to see their romance. The random drug mystery or the fact that the ml is a rich American actress's son...

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this is like the TKEM of makjang, and LBY/KHS were the WDH of the show

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Lee Bo Young, Kim Seo Hyung and even Ok Ja Yeon did a great job, before I go to the buts I have to applaud these women for carrying this show on their own, this show had no plot just amazing acting.
whether this was a sismance between Seo Hee Soo and Jeong Seo Hyun, or if it was a starcrossed lovers (which would've been a better plot twist), their relationship and love for each other was the highlight of this show

The writer did an amazing job with Woman Of Dignity so where did this go wrong? when she decided to follow the ONE big mystery format? when she thought crazy family makjang would distract the people from the fact that this show had zero plot line?

This show has one "murderous night" that gets revealed peace by peace each ep while the rest of the show is about the over complicated lives of rich people.
long story short, everyone had a kid that wasn't theirs. one loved him as her own. one took care of him and raised him with everything he needs, and one hated him which resulted in the biggest makjang of all

but does that justifies his actions? I think we've seen enough "mistress's kid", "abusive dad" in rich guy/poor girl romcoms that this does not look like the fault of the horrible parents, he was just a psychopath.
now I can't remember if the step mom faked the "1st love's" death or if Ji Yong told her to do it, but overall the starting point of this makjang was moot.
he wanted his kid to have what he didn't, he married and perfected the fake ideal husband that everyone was happy but his crazy self went ahead and brought the real mom around becasue he wanted both women to give double the love and care to his son
when he remembers how horrible his own mom was. so instead of appreciating Seo Hee Soo, he goes and brings chaos to his house then cry about the 2 women not wanting to be manipulated.. way to go genius psychopath...




soooo that's it. that was the whole plot, everything else was a filler and a "what happened", then they kept showing multiple scenarios as if the 1st thing they showed didn't reveal the whole thing... tbh even before their "big reveals" I knew what will happen right after the 2 women realized who the really enemy was
even when they kept showing different truths, the 1st truth was obvious..

the funny thing was, they only finally revealed everything at the end, and it was another WOD knockoff. in WOD I thought it was genius, but that just shows, you can't use the same plot move and expect the same result. I wish the killer was heeso's assistant xD

now on to the maid and the rich dude. penthouse really ruined that one. sure knetz are suckers for that but the fact that that move got so hyped in penthouse writer's think everyone wants that..

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so slow so pointless

is this the result of "fangirls only care for the male lead so the fl is ignored as a human"?
she's so obsessed with him, she's practically a saesang. she idolizes him so much but worse she belittles herself more. "he's too good for me", "there's no way he would like a lowly person like me", "he's a star that I dared to sit next to" like girl chiiillllll

in skip beat, Kyoko idolizes Ren as an actor not as a person, and when she thinks "how dare I like him" it's becasue she has issues with love in general. she didn't want it to change her so she was more reluctant to like him.

here, this is just a mess done for fangirls. your oppa is hot and everyone love him.. I mean yes, my oppa is hot, jun was the best part, after he started to chill and show his cute side that is.

again, who even stans a cold jerk? I personally like my idols because they're humble, sweet, sometimes awkward and dorky, on the screen of course, they might be calm and chill with their friends, but in front of the camera and worse in front of the staff they all need to show their "respectful" side

there was an older idol maybe from suju that said if you don't greet the staff with kindness you won't make it long in the industry


but in dramas they always like to show idols as jerks, and worse the 2nd fls are obsessed with a guy that clearly is not interested. girl you deserve better!!!

ALSO, THE WORST part, the car accident.. she was just STANDING there, she was not in danger, she was not kissing someone else, she was just there, what a dramatic waste of time.. then her overreaction in the hospital, like again girl chill

the only things I liked were jun's smiles, the 2 members who supported him and Ri Ah's potential love interest Jae Woo (?). atleast that girl knows self worth and she cares about her dream, plus the guy is sweet from the start and he's cutely awkward when he's trying to show interest


and that's the button line, a guy mistreating you, yelling at you and judge you "for your own good" is not a love interest, that's the horrible misconception of idolized male leads and the hallyu wave..

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I miss EXO, I love EXO ;)

kyungsoo really came back and wrecked everyone's bias list xD it was so so short, though the last ep being 20min is basically like having 7eps
the last ep was the best xD
it's so funny, they're only missing a few members but their empty spots are so huge! I miss jongdae's WAE and laughter, suho getting caught in their mischiefs, and well even Lay all confused. this makes me so nostalgic

the games were too short, they recorded all of this in one setting so it makes sense, they really just wanted to gift EXOLs one last variety before baek and chan enlisted, time flies by. kyungsoo and xiumin are already back but baek and channy left so fast. and then time doesn't move like where are jongdae and suho already ;(

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This vs Sweet Home

there's no need for comparison, but I'll do it anyways~
for the plot, this was a flat mess, they had too many characters with zero emotinal attachment...

the main reason I stayed was Kim Ok Bin. I've only seen her before in The Villainess and briefly in Children of a Lesser God. I can't remember her in the 1st one though I briefly remember the plot and I dropped the later cuz of her (and the ML's) high pitched tone, so here I actually really appreciated her beautiful calm voice and persona. as a cop I approve

in sweet home, they had so many characters but each of them felt real, from the sweet church boi to the horrible wife beater, each were a piece in the big puzzle

here, they had the cop, the ex cop, the kid (added for cheap emotinal grab), the teen (added for cheap sad lonely misfit), the teacher (that was connected to the teen for cheap revenge plot), the doctor (for cheap last minute conflict), the shaman and her annoying inferiority complex, the creepy self centered human monsters, another kid, another teacher, a police dude and his pregnant wife, and basically my point was, everyone was a piece of a puzzle cut in a square just to make the picture bigger (ie more ep count) and easy skippable plotlines


this was one of those cases "less ep cuz they knew they couldn't drag it out too much"


the ost is beautiful and I never rewatch stuff

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break your box

a simple beautiful message done is a pleasingly sweet musical style. everyone has a box, a worry that traps them
also everyone needs atleast 1 person to stay by their side and trust in them and here we got a sweet journey of friendship, food and music

each step was a lesson that ended in the big finally, Min Soo didn't want jihoon to relay on him 100% though ironically I saw the contract termination as a sign of trust and letting him "go" so he can peruse music as a passion not an obligation xD but jihoon could've seen it as abandonment

chanyeol honestly is such an amazing singer, rock, rap, ballad, trot, jazz, he can do it all! the only problem I had was the 1st idol generation hair xD
and maybe the lack of more in depth friendships, and ultimately "love", though I also appreciated how everything wasn't solved just cuz of that, but hints of love would've been cute

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Trying too hard

this just tried too hard to be sad, the stories felt too convenient and after watching the same sob stories it kinda makes it less moving.
the whole dynamic of the cold guy, the dysfunctional family to the "guardian" that needs to change thing happens way too often, even the whole life full of misfortune that makes the ML jaded thing

but I have to say, lee je hoon's acting was amazing, he played the sad soul to the hopeful soft soul really well. a little too well cuz everyone else seemed basic.
Lee Jae Wook and the whole meeting with LJH had more depth than the story though the ending again was just another move for the tears so it felt meh, but his acting was great too
and Ji Jin Hee as well, he did the perfect father role really well


the story about Jung Woo finding the baby, and the slow building love from Sang Gu were the best parts. I also liked Choi Soo Young, I wish she had a bigger role

the ost was basic and I never rewatch stuff.

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always choose the 2nd lead!

1st of all I have to say, I'm a huge fan of both SYJ and KKW, but I'm not biased when I say their acting performance was amazing!

I'm not sure if they were purposely "obvious" cuz they just wanted the journey not the shock value, or if it's just as I call it "mystery genres are dead"

I have lost hope in all crime genres and mysteries, it's been atleast 5 years since I thought a twist was shocking or revolutionary so it's nothing new for a twist to not faze me, and indeed I saw through it all but still it was a great watch


now for the story, to be honest, with stories like this there's always 2 options; it's real or it's fake. we've seen so many stories about having visions of the future so it's not that shocking to see her believe it, but I'll say the writer played it too safe by making all the "unfortunate" events around girls and worse, those girls didn't talk

so the only outcome is, memories, ie recalling which shows how a good title can atleast hide the plot, or they never intended to


so basically their plot twist was obvious, they wanted to make us doubt Seon Woo because that's where it usually leads to, the girl who forgets and the killer who pretends to be her husband, Secret Obsession had that plot to T. so even if the 1st time it seems "twisty", I knew they weren't going there..
also, actually the point I liked this was how obviously Seon Woo loved her. though as an actor I know he can pull both the sweet and the dark so I didn't doubt him as a serial killer but it was a nice subtle touch. as if to say "never doubt him"

also the fact that Yeom Hye Ran came and heavily implied that her husband abused her was a clear sign, also the way Seon Woo acted when he finally got caught, as if he was begging Soo Jin to believe his lies..



now the only thing that shocked me was how Ji Hoon was alive xD I thought that was another recalculation leading to the moment she got hurt, but it was wrapped up too fast and I hated how they had to kill Seon Woo cuz you know, he killed before and he's a main so he can't have a happily ever after

so I refuse to acknowledge that ending and will think they both finally fled their misfortunes and lived happily ever after

ok, I'll complain more on how both events would've been "self defense" so they reeeaaalllly didn't need to hide it or even worse bury a live body..

the ost was basic but I appreciated the low volume on the chewing, and I'd actually want to rewatch this but I would want the fire and hospital scene cut xD

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wash, rinse and repeat

this left a bad after taste... so basically there's goblin right? then hotel del luna was a reverse goblin so yey, then came that nine tail fox which was pushing it with a few other low qualities like the water god, the blade thingy, that time stopping thing and it all led to this


yet another repetition. dying sad lonely girl. immortal self centered cold dude and the dramatic near death truck of doom while dude slows time and tries to help her up, all in which will lead to saving her life in the end


basically it's a big waste on boyoung, she should be a manweol not the sad damsel in distress and SIG is yet again doing the same role, I don't think this would offer anything
this should've been done by "newer" actresses, even a newer actor to atleast give them attention, otherwise both are too good for this teen fantasy borefest


ps, if you don't agree with my 1st ep review go hype the 1st ep 10/10 raters ;)

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uneventful but cute

the story was about 2 people in same yet different struggles, Woo Ram lost his mentor so he lost his hold on his dream, Hyun Ji as a normal graduate was trying to fight against the other candidates to get a job

and in that moment they met, awkwardly yet naturally interacted, he kept going to her workplace and she kept looking forward to his visits and with that love bloomed

I think both did a great job with their characters, they were both soft and careful, as a girl with only a father and as a maknae in a 5 child house hold they both just naturally felt timid

now though if they gave them more depth and time to develop the romance I think Hyun Ji would've shown a cute cheeky side and soon Woo Ram would've lightened up and they'd have had more potential at a sweet romance


now the drawback was the unevenfulness. nothing much happened and soon they were super comfortable with each other and that lost their biggest asset which was the sweetness and the youthfulness of the 2 mains.
the struggles were shallow and the sadness was fleeting but overall for a 1 hour 40min it was a nice breezy watch

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