Reviews

Disappointment

I would describe this show as a big disappointment; I did not have high expectations for this show. The bar was low, and somehow the show manages to go lower than that. As someone who watches a lot of Netflix shows, this is at the bottom of the list. Everything was flipped here; the way Netflix executed this show was horrible. In the first season, we all can agree that Sun Oh had a lot of screen time and Hye Young did not. However, here is the opposite I wouldn't even consider Sun Oh a main character when he had minimum screen time. I went from liking Jo Jo's character to hating her. The whole "spear" situation was just wrong. She goes from installing a shield to using the "spear" to ring Hye Young's love alarm.. and they want us to think that she is sincere and is a way to show Hye Young that she loves him? No, it was stupid and idiotic; why couldn't she be honest for once in her life. I was so happy when it came crumbling down when Hye Young found out. She deserves no one! They tried to make Sun Oh into a villain when we all know we all feel pity for him, at least give him a good ending him crying all the time is not going to give closure to his character. This was poorly developed and horrible written. The only reason why I kept watching it was for the developer's storyline and because Jo Jo's cousin, she was the only interesting character on the show besides the developer(s) and Hye young. Hye Young was a sweetheart, but he deserves better than Jo Jo. I want to say that I am neutral in the whole love triangle situation, but Netflix did a horrible job. First, they make a majority of the viewers in season one like Sun Oh, and with little information about Hye young, expected people to like his character be happy that Jo Jo ended up with him... NO. The ending was no better than season one's ending. Jo Jo was the villain in her own story; she created all the problems herself.

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he won but what did it cost...? everything.

If you're like me and enjoy intense gripping thrillers with well written characters, I promise you, this series will not disappoint. The Worst of Evil is a crime thriller set in the 90s, where a detectives goes undercover in order to take down a dangerous drug trafficking organization only to discover that his wife seems to have a complicated past with the gang's notorious kingpin. The plot is very well written and does a fantastic job exploring themes of moral ambiguity and cynicism. The two male leads, Ji Chang Wook and Wi Ha Joon both deliver phenomenal performances and which really helps engross the audience and allow us to feel what's at stake for our main characters. Also shoutout to Bibi for her stunning performance as Lee Hae Ryeon, absolutely killed it. In conclusion, The Worst of Evil stands as one of the most captivating and well-crafted series in recent memory. From its intense, action-packed plot to its deeply layered characters, the show keeps you on the edge of your seat with every episode. The performances are exceptional, with the cast delivering emotional depth that makes even the most harrowing moments feel personal and meaningful. The writing is sharp, and the pacing strikes a perfect balance, gradually building tension while revealing twists that never feel forced. The Worst of Evil has a rare combination of thrill and heart, making it an absolute must-watch for anyone who loves a gripping, thought-provoking series. This is one of my favorite dramas of all time and I would highly recommend it to any thriller enthusiasts.

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Don't recommend !

I normally don't write reviews but seeing one under this made me specifically want to comment. The comment was stressing that new bl fans were having a problem with this drama because of the stepbrothers and r*pe romanticizing. I've been a fan of bl since 2018 and I've seen many stepbrother plots which is not a problem. I am tired of the trope but it's something that'll probably never change. However, that person justified the r*pe as just a toxic factor within the couple. Romanticizing r*pe within dramas/novels should never be a thing and that's why people have a problem with it. TengTeng and Licheng completely saved the entire drama, I skipped through and ignored the other couple's parts. Not only did Yongjie admit to having sex with Xingsi against his will and getting him drunk on purpose, but he also took a video of it and showed it to his parents. That's sexual harassment. I get the point that person was trying to make but it was a terrible point, r*pe should not be justified as toxicity, it is a real problem in the bl world that people don't talk about. Yongjie being sweet and cute later on does not justify what he put Xingsi and his parents through. The show terribly executes their story and really could've done better. R*pe should not be included ever.

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Cute... but toxic?

Honestly, I was happy when it was announced that we will have a second season of Utsukushii Kare as I really enjoyed the first season. I believe that it is one of the best japanese bl series that we have up until today.

CHARACTERS

In the series we follow the story of Kiyoi and Hira and their relationship. Hira (Hagiwara Riku) is now a senior university student and is still obsessed with Kiyoi, while Kiyoi (Yagi Yusei) is working hard with his acting career and is making small steps towards his goals. Both have the same master/slave relationship. Kiyoi is still shy towards Hira and his only way of coping with those feelings is to talk harshly to the other person (e.g. “You are gross”) or physically hurt him; while Hira is still following Kiyoi everywhere he goes and as the time goes by he is severely obsessed with the other person.

Kazuki (Takano Akira) is also a recurring character in this season who is doing his internship and is also the president at the photography club at the university. We can see that he and Hira have a friendly relationship and Kazuki even helps the other person with getting a part-time job. Even though it seems like Kazuki still has feelings for Hira, he doesn’t make any move on the other person; instead, he takes the role of the supporting friend. Moreover, we are introduced to a new character Anna (Nimura Sawa) who is a popular actress that works in the same company as Kiyoi. She and Kiyoi seem to be getting closer as they are experiencing similar love issues.

PLOT

The main plot of this series is the relationship between Kiyoi and Hira who are now living together. It is not stated in the series, but if we take into account that in the first season Hira was a second year (?) and now, he is a senior in university, they have been in a relationship for 2 or 3 years now. Kiyoi is working hard towards his ultimate goal on becoming an actor. On the other hand, Hira is still following Kiyoi whenever he goes and on his free time, he is watching the drama and special episodes that his boyfriend took part in. However, he is struck by reality when he sees that people around him are getting a job and they are working hard for their dreams.
Overthinking, overanalyzing, and not expressing themselves bring them in a tight spot. In the four episodes we see their attempts to adapt into the new environment and grow in their relationship.

MY OPINION

Honestly, this is a drama that is worth watching. It is a good continuation of the first season. However, if I must admit as I was watching the series, I was thinking that their relationship is toxic. Since they are together for some years now, I thought they would have already grown and become more confident in their relationship but in the drama, we see that Hira still considers himself lower than Kiyoi. I don’t know… I think that I am not fond with this approach.

I am not against when we see them act jealous and shy towards each other though. For example, in the first episode we see Kiyoi getting jealous when a girl hits on Hira. We have seen something similar on season 1 with Kazuki and Hira, but now Kiyoi stood his ground and showed to Hira his jealous side. I am onboard with this type of behavior. It’s cute. Kiyoi is self-aware that he likes Hira and is not afraid to act jealous in front of him.
My issue comes with Hira. I think that he hasn’t grown at all while they were together, and his life revolves only around Kiyoi. I do understand that Hira believes that there is a huge difference between them and that’s why he still addresses Kiyoi as a “King”, but shouldn’t he grow out of it?

Moreover, even though Hira tries to play the victim all the time by bringing this high wall between him and Kiyoi, I still feel that the one who has it worse is Kiyoi. Hira’s misunderstandings and misinterpretation of Kiyoi’s feelings and actions are very painful for Kiyoi. Even in season 1, even though he doesn’t say it verbally, I got the feeling that Kiyoi liked Hira more than Hira liked Kiyoi. Even though we are always seeing Hira going after Kiyoi, I still think that the one who feels more in this relationship is Kiyoi.

I don’t know how to explain it simpler or if you get what I mean. But, in episode 3 when the two people were talking about Hira’s parents, you could clearly see the fear, anxiousness, and nervousness of Kiyoi – but Hira, instead of making the other person in front of him feel more relaxed, said that Kiyoi will never meet his parents so there is no reason to worry about it. I just feel that Hira’s stupidness hurts Kiyoi a lot. He did the same thing in season 1. Instead of working together with Kiyoi, Hira still stays behind him and whenever Kiyoi wants to take a step forward Hira holds them back. When Kiyoi said “You prefer unrequired love, right? Then just stay there (…) I’m sorry that I like you”, I felt sad… Hira isn’t worthy of Kiyoi’s love.

But don’t get me wrong… It takes two to tango… Hira is not the only at fault! Kiyoi is at fault as well. The dynamics of this couple is not good. In one hand we have Hira who misunderstands everything and who believes that if he Kiyoi’s wishes would come true then the other person will never leave him. While, on the other hand we have Kiyoi who doesn’t speak his mind but at the same time is seeking his forever from Hira. How did they even manage to be together? Communication is key for every relationship and in this case, it doesn’t exist… However, we see Kiyoi making small steps and expressing his feelings to the other person, but Hira doesn’t receive the message and we have Kiyoi being sad and mad by himself…

Am I thinking too much regarding the relationship of two fictional characters? Yes, yes I am! What are your opinions? Is Hira’s behavior expected after all these years?

Anyway, this is a good drama to watch, SO WATCH IT! BYE!

P.S. In both seasons we have only seen a jealous Kiyoi. I would love to see a jealous Hira as well. But not from Hira the Fan, but rather from Hira the Boyfriend. I am assuming that as things are right now Hira will never get jealous of Kiyoi – not because he doesn’t like him, but because he would think that he is not a place to be jealous of Kiyoi. I hope that in the movie we will see an actively jealous Hira the Boyfriend and claim his boyfriend from the predators 😊

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It Had Its Moments

I think, overall, my main issue with this show was that what I thought it was going to be, based off the trailers and such, was not what it actually was. Was it a bad show? No, definitely not. Was it an important show? Yes, absolutely! Was it what I wanted it to be?

No.

I loved the premise of the show— a boy pretending to be his twin brother and joining a gang to find out what happened to him, and then ultimately falling for the gang member his brother hates the most. But the premise got lost quickly in the political lectures and long-winded justifications for the gang's actions, and although I think the love story was done well, I don't think the rest of it really was.

Black and White get, maybe, three meaningful scenes together throughout the whole show. In the end, their mystical twin connection was a pointless addition to the show to— what? Give the parents a reason to pull a "Parent Trap" and separate them for years? Hell, half the time after Black woke up he was just gone, doing stuff off-screen that we never got to see. In the end, his whole character was practically unnecessary. Just a means to an end to get White into the gang. White seems to forget quite often why he was even there, and just allowed himself to get swept into the gang's plots without actually doing anything to figure out who hurt Black. In the end, he doesn't even figure out who did it! He has to be told, because he literally just stopped trying.

I can see what they wanted to do with this show— the messages they wanted to get across and, in general, what they wanted to say about the current political climate in Thailand. But, especially in the first half of the show, it felt so heavy-handed and spoon-fed to the audience. Half the episodes were us listening to law students debate rule of law or the gang explaining why their country's justice system sucks. What they were saying was important, but it clogged the story down so much and was honestly quite boring. It picked up around the midpoint-ish (more like episode 9 or 10), when there was actually plot instead of long-winded lectures every five minutes. There were many other ways I think they could have formulated scenes to show us what they wanted us to know without just telling us outright, and I wish they'd tried more to do that.

I also disliked how much time was spent on justifying the gang's missions and the work they were trying to do. I get it, they wanted us to root for the gang and to see them as vigilantes who are trying to take down the bad guys and do good, rather than seeing them as criminals. To be quite honest, the trailer (especially the initial one) made it look more like illegal gang activities than activism, and I wanted that more. I was ready to root for some anti-heroes, so the justifications felt boring and unneeded to me.

I do feel like the ending wrapped up too easily, and again had them just writing off Black and White not really caring at all (???), but ultimately the last four or five episodes of the show were much better than the rest.

Acting-wise, though, this show was AMAZING! Every actor in this show impressed me at some point. Gun— of course we knew he would kill at this, but the duality between White and Black was so perfect and insane to see. Especially in the (few) scenes with both of them, it was so distinct on who was who. Beautiful job. First, as well, knocked it right out of the park. He's always been a showstopping actor in my opinion, but he really just shined in this role. (Also his chemistry with Fluke??? Unmatched.) Off did a really good job in his role as Sean— I went in not knowing how I'd feel about him in this type of role, but he really delivered!

I will say, I do think I'm in the minority when it comes to my opinion of the show. If you're thinking of watching the show, I'd say probably just go for it and keep more of an open mind than I was able to as I watched.

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cliched, underwhelming, and accidentally conservative.

it's been long since i have written a review, and this too is going to be more of a rant so bear with me while i try to make sense of my thoughts. i'll try keeping it comprehensive by explaining the three words in the heading.

- Cliched: from the get go, i felt this show was formulaic so i had no major expectations from it, i just wanted it to serve as a lighthearted weekly palette cleanser. (and i do love ong seongwu as an actor so theres that reason too). but man how it derailed! we brought back white truck of doom, can you imagine that? someone on twitter pointed out that the writer only has projects from 2010s before this drama and you can genuinely see that in their writing. childhood connection, heart transplant, someone turning evil because of jealousy, men-focused pick me 2FL, ML's family asking FL to break the relationship, the show has all the 2010 cliches and more. it's so repetitive and uncreative, each episode in the second half tests your patience.

- Underwhelming: everyone is saying the chemistry was underutilised, but i differ from them -- i did not feel any chemistry between the leads. and these are good actors, great cast, so i dont understand how they cooked such a nothingburger with them. another thing, "spooky" in love. the expectation the first few episodes set is that this is going to be a story of the leads working together solving crimes for the victims who lost their lives unfairly. oh you believed that? how could you? this is actually a corporate power struggle show. ghosts? what about them? did you even see them after the first half? oh btw, bet you want a singapore ad instead, dont you?

- Accidentally Conservative: now i dont think thats the message they deliberately wanted to give, but thats how some of the factors played in this drama. because of yeori's, well, condition, she cant hold hands with anyone. so that makes sense, but somehow all the other romantic choices here were very conservative too. they dont date, they just decide they like each other and get engaged instead. they dont even kiss other than one accidental (eyeroll) and one actual one -- even though they know that wont make him see the ghosts. they genuinely keep their distance at all times, and have 'conservative' dates, with straightaway marriage in mind. i find that so bonkers. how are you two so in love? you havent even gotten to know each other when you got engaged, you just had a crush! but suddenly the tone is all "you are the love of my life"?????

also very weird decision to turn the adopted child into the villain, like yes we all sensed that from early on, but what exactly is the takeaway here? adoptive children grow up to eat the hand that fed them? like the one character said?

all in all, i signed up for lighthearted, timepass romcom, and i got disappointed still somehow. that's it. that's the rant.

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Tomorrow seems to be a step behind

One can’t say that they didn’t try. In fact, they tried so so hard. Impressive visuals, from shot composition to visual effects, big, big emotions and genuinely good acting moments, relevant subject matters and an important message- Tomorrow went all out. And yet, I am feeling lukewarm about it.

Let me tell you what I sincerely enjoyed about Tomorrow, and there is plenty because my heart is not made out of stone, believe it or not: This drama balances a thin line between goofy comedy and over-the-top tragedy, that I think, sort of worked a good amount of the time. The silly moments gave the viewer a much-needed break from all the heaviness on screen, without taking away from the seriousness of the topics. That can largely be attributed to the characterization of our leads, who all had great chemistry together. I genuinely loved all our four protagonists and the end had me shedding a few tears.
Episodes two and three had some visually very impressive moments, I am not just talking about the quality of the CGI, there were clearly also very creative ideas and strong aesthetic concepts present, and while I feel like the rest of the drama was not able to live up to the standard these episodes set, it was still appreciated and overall Tomorrow was a stylish show nonetheless.
Eventhough I was not always happy with the resolutions the narrative offered (I will go into more details soon), there were a few episodes, or at least moments, that tucked on my heartstrings. While undeniably cheesy most of the time, Tomorrow offered genuinely bittersweet moments that were bound to move the viewer, and at the end, I couldn’t help but feel at least slightly touched by the hopeful messages this show at least tried to convey.

But I can’t help but think that Tomorrow just fell short on more levels than I can ignore. Suicide is a touchy topic obviously, and it might be too complex and nuanced for this format. This doesn’t mean that you can’t try but you are bound to run into a few problems sooner or later. There are so many factors that can drive a person to end their life, and those don’t need to include those larger-than-life tragedies the drama relied on. I often feel like Korean cinema does too much when it comes to tragic backstories, they just pile tragedy on tragedy to the point where it almost feels comical. This becomes especially troubling in this format, where the concept is to introduce and resolve a complex issue in the same hour. And even when the narrative wasn’t centered around unnaturally huge disasters, the time constraints this drama set itself, weakened its genuine-ness. Sadly, recovery is not a straight line. The right words at the right time might put you on the right track, but the road to betterment will inevitably include a few steps back at points in your journey (wow have I run that metaphor into the ground yet?).
One of my favorite episodes featured a woman battling an eating disorder. The plot didn’t rely on over-the-top tragedy, the dialogue was at its most poignant and genuine and I feel like this episode was probably one of the more relatable, comforting and helpful ones. But by the end, I could not help but think that the problem had been grossly simplified. The character who had been determined to terminate her mental-illness-ridden existence like a week ago is seen smiling and eating again by the end of the episode. And I won’t say that I wasn’t moved by that moment, that it didn’t put a smile on my face, but to someone who has seen the effects of eating disorders firsthand, this conclusion came across as a bit weak. And I get it, the actual nuance of the topic might not have been a satisfying story. It might not have fit the hopeful message this show is so desperate to convey. You want to show the audience that the character is recovering because that is how illness is usually portrayed: as a challenge to be overcome or a war to be won. Illness is a story told in the past tense. But it’s never that simple or pretty. The actual story of illness might have been less feel-good. But it also might have been the more realistic, important story to tell.
Here is the problem of Tomorrow simply put: Depression doesn’t make good television. That sounds harsh but it’s true. Mental illness is not a three-arc story with a satisfying conclusion. It is a never-ending battle that you have to pick up every single day. And that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t get better, or better said, that you don’t get better at fighting, but it means that when your plotline is centered around suicide, you can’t provide your audience with a clean happy ending without coming across at least a bit ingenuine. No deeper issues or the roots of those were discussed. Every problem seemed to only exist at surface level and could be resolved with the right monologue. It felt like at points, Tomorrow was more concerned with giving its leads witty one-liners that save the day, instead of portraying the complexity of the present issues.

There are a few more problems with Tomorrow, the episode centered around a suicidal dog felt laughable, ridiculously out of place, and almost sort of insulting to me, considering the heaviness of other discussed topics. The episode around a veteran was so oozing with patriotism and propaganda, that it was almost difficult to stomach. The main conflict between Ryeon and Joong-gil could, in theory, have been resolved at any given point in the story, so it felt like a plot point dragged along for drama’s sake. The actual rules the suicide-prevention-team has to follow, are incredibly unclear and seem to only matter when the narrative relies on them, there were multiple moments where the cheesiness of this drama got unbearable for me et cetera et cetera. But compared to my main issue with the show, these criticisms seem minor.

When I look at Tomorrow, I see a drama that is desperate to make me feel better. I see a country, that has one of the highest suicide rates in the world and doesn’t seem to understand why. I see a team of people that genuinely tried. I see a story that failed to understand its own nuances.

You can call me bitter; you can look at my review and say that I simply didn’t get it. That the point all this time solely laid in the show’s hopeful conclusions. That it never tried or had to be gritty or complex. That there is no shame in a clean happy ending if it provides someone out there in the world comfort. And you would 100% be correct. If Tomorrow gave just a single person out there hope, it probably did its job. I don’t have to get something, for it to have worth. Maybe this drama simply wasn’t made for me. But all this doesn’t change how I feel. Tomorrow represents a big swing and a miss for me. But maybe I just need to be thankful that it attempted to swing big in the first place.

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✨Mischievous Besties, Multiverse Madness & Cheng Lei’s Weaponized Eye Smolder✨

This has been sitting on my PTW list for what feels like a geological era.

The visuals? Visualing. Relentlessly. Every frame looks like it went through a “make it extra” committee and got unanimous approval. I love how the drama pays tribute to the donghua adaptation while still carving out its own identity. It doesn’t feel derivative — it feels celebratory. CL and WCR absolutely understood the assignment.
The overall energy is very much “mischievous besties accidentally causing chaos while low-key saving the country,” and I am having tons of fun.

At its core, we’re dealing with a transmigration story — but not the basic, single-layer kind. This one plays with multiple levels of reality, and the plot unfolds in a way that feels deceptively light at first. It starts off playful and unserious, almost familiar… and then gradually reveals more complexity and emotional layering. Gotta love that.

The chemistry between the leads? As expected: chef’s kiss. CL and WCR bring so much texture to their roles. And yes, we get Cheng Lei’s signature eye-smolder-and-suffer-in-silence package deal. His portrayal of the “mad tyrant” is magnetic — intense, wounded, slightly unhinged, but deeply human. Add the fact that he fell first and harder? That’s the good stuff. That’s the premium subscription tier of romance angst.

That said, I do feel some frustration in the middle stretch. There were moments where the leads seemed to drift into supporting-character territory due to limited screen time, which slightly disrupted the emotional momentum for me.

I’m currently on episode 20 and genuinely enjoying the ride.

But I still can’t say this drama is giving me butterflies.

It’s nice. It’s charming. It’s the kind of show I’ll happily watch instead of working on my papers… but not the kind that hijacks my entire nervous system. I’m invested, just not unwell about it.

Maybe not every drama has to rearrange my brain chemistry. Some can just be… good company.

We’ll see if it eventually decides to emotionally attack me..

Now, about the ending. Given that this is technically a transmigration drama, censorship realities limit the possible conclusions. We’ve already had subtle hints suggesting “maybe we’re fictional characters who transmigrated into a story,” which introduces a double — maybe triple? — layered reality situation. Are we in a story inside a story inside a story? Is this narrative inception? Who knows. I’m cautiously predicting an ADWAD-style resolution, but I’m really hoping they commit to a satisfying and emotionally coherent finale.

I’ll be back with a full verdict once I finish.

Cheers.

✨UPDATE✨

Finished it — overall, a decent and fairly engaging watch.

The leads were adorable and emotionally mature. No dragged-out breakups. Just communication and loyalty, which was refreshing.

The tragic deaths hit as expected. The SFL was a highlight and deserves more roles.

I was invested, but no butterflies. The romance occasionally felt diluted by side plots I wasn’t interested in, which flattened the emotional impact for me.

The ending went full ADWAD — triple-layered reality confirmed. Inside the book world, the leads get a satisfying conclusion. In the modern world? A last-minute reunion.

Sir.

For this genre, we technically got more closure than LGIEF gave us, so I’ll acknowledge that. But I cannot pretend I didn’t want more. Show me the reunion properly. Show me the conversations. Show me the emotional unpacking. Especially from ML’s perspective. He returned a decade earlier than FL. A whole decade. I need answers. How did he track her down? What was he thinking all those years? What did it feel like to remember everything alone? The narrative potential was right there. Maybe censorship made extended modern resolution too sensitive territory — maybe not. Hard to say. But it does feel like we only got the appetizer of what could have been a very satisfying epilogue.

Overall, 8 - 8.25 for me. Strong performances and visuals, ambitious concept — just occasionally flat for my personal taste.

Still, a triple-reality transmigration romance with stable leads and a confirmed reunion is a small victory in this genre.

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It's boring!!!!

Just don't waste your time watching this.. 🤬
It's so dry and meaningless... Worst plot twisted ending I've seen... It sucks... I wish somebody remakes it and lets Woori and Raphael end up.... Bullshitty ending 🤦‍♀️viewers will get frustrated after watching it... Also Kang Jae's character is super irritating... And you let Woori end up with Kang Jae!!??? 🙂ewww... Just ewww... It's a No-No...
Too Boring... Doesn't deserve even a half star... 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️also... It's like Woori gonna have 2 husbands... Wth.... Greedy???? Hmmhmm... No.... This is so not like a kdrama... This is so fake... So irritating for the viewers... Better make a season 2 and let Woori end up with Raphael.... If not.... Almost everyone is gonna hate it for the tasteless ending....

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Ending Unworthy of a Female Lead with such Fighting Spirit

From the first episode, Hee Do has won our hearts with her quirkiness, her conviction and her fighting spirit. She put everything into her passions, whether it’s her love of fencing or her admiration of the national champion Yu Rim, or her love of her manhwa comics. She never gave up, even when she experienced the painful tragedy of her dad’s passing, she continued on. Despite Yu Rim being such a bitch to her in the beginning, her adoration never wavered.

There are a lot of good things to admire about Hee Do and her bold and dorky characteristics. The friendship between her and Yu Rim is very sweet, it’s stronger than their competitiveness and adversary, and the gossips that try to take them down.
Such unshakable devotion to a friend tells me she’ll also love with the same conviction. Her love for Yi Jin would be just as passionate. She believed in him, she’s understanding and supportive. She wouldn’t give up just because they hit a bump in their relationship. Her competitive spirit wouldn’t let her give up so easily.

The ending was very rushed, all within an episode or two and everything changes. The build-up to the end was steady and we see how their relationship develop and grow. Something that grows on such solid foundation wouldn’t just topple so easily. Him moving to New York is a weak excuse for a break up. It made no sense for Yi Jin to move to New York. That they could grow older and grow apart, sure that’s believable but everything happened so quickly that it’s unbelievable.

Hee Do being who she is wouldn’t give up so easily. She’ll keep on fighting for the man she loves.

If the writer is trying to get across that time and youth is precious, for us to grasp it and take full advantage of it, then the long build-up of Hee Do and Yi Jin’s relationship was somewhat misplaced. Throughout the series, they kept the audience playing the game of Did They or Didn’t They end up together. They keep throwing hints that they didn’t, but we still wait with hope that they did. That kept us going, but the ending never delivered. In the end, it was a wishy washy ending for a strong female lead.

The ending feels forced, a device just to make the audience cry.

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I like this drama so much. I got hooked at the first episode. Its genre was Action/Thriller/Suspense/Medical/Science-Fiction/Fantasy/Romance Drama.
I like its romance although it was slow. This couple never broke up; never heart breaking , ...
They loved each other truly and they supported each other till the end. Their chemistry was sweet.
The plot was very unpredictable. That's why I liked its story. Also the story was full of moral, humanity and most importantly, Blood is brimming with life philosophies. Add to this the other invaluable life lessons that may be culled from the drama. To name a few, faith in God during adversity, compassion or empathy for the sick and dying; fleeting nature of life and vain things like power and money; moral science or the upholding of the ethics and standards of one's profession.
Although Park Ji Sang was a vampire, he proved that he is more human than anyone around.
Its villain was the best one I have ever seen in K-Dramas. He was so bad, really bad and he was so mean and wicked. He kept getting on my nerve in whole drama! :D
Acting was very good too. Although Ahn Jae Hyun acted awkwardly in early episodes, he kept getting better and better episode by episode. And finally he nailed his character! :) It is obvious that he tried hard for this drama. :)
The best actor in this drama is definitely Ji Jin Hee. He acted awesomely and I really hate his character in this drama. :D I truly commend him for his great acting.
Goo Hye Sun was so good too. Her facial expression was very unique in this drama. I praise her for her good acting.
Dialogues in this drama was so meaningful. Like "A hero dies for the person who recognizes that he is a hero.
OSTs were good too. It is really worth to watch and re-watch it again and again.
Lesson: never judge a drama by watching a few episodes or by listening to others' opinion about it.
This is a very different K-Drama with different story. It has no love multi-angel. If you like hot romance with push and pull; if you like predictable story; if you don't like thrill, murder and sadness and tragedy in dramas, DO NOT WATCH THIS DRAMA AND PLEASE DO NOT BASH IT BECAUSE IT DIDN'T END AS YOU PLEASE!!!
Watching this drama needs high comprehending and being meticulous. Because it has lots of nuance.
Oh! seriously, this drama does not deserve to be judge so harsh.
Thanks for reading my review and please forgive me if I make you sad through my words.

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first impression: First two episodes so-so, I was like ok, same goes when I saw the male lead, I was not that interested of him.
if it bores you give this drama a chance up to 4 episodes :)

Story:
it will make you smile like an idiot for an entire episode don't worry it's normal, it will give you butterflies in your stomach,it will make you cringe and giggle for the main couple, it will make you re-watch HIM. yes I'm talking about him, the main character Je SooHo. he is way tooooooooo adorable!
best thing about this drama? Is it will make you think that guys act like girls too when they're in love.
15 to 16 episodes felt like the first two episodes to me though I love how it ended it was beautiful. I would lie If I'd say this drama is perfect, it has it's bumpy road, This is a KOREAN DRAMA so expect it will be cliche. lol. Highly recommended if you're into romcom! recommending it to everyone I mean you are missing a lot of your korean drama journey if if you wouldn't meet the most adorable character/male lead in dramaland.

I cannot guarantee that you'll love this drama but one thing is for sure you will definitely fall in love with the main guy. In my case I simply love it the cast, story, music, everything! :)

Acting/cast:
RJY: At First look he isn't that handsome to me. but lol. there's something about him that as as you get to see more of him you'll get to fall even harder. He is very charming and a great actor, I don't think any actors could pulled off Je SuHoo's character beside him.

HJE: I don't understand why others didn't like her, I was like what is wrong with you people she is basically the main reason I started it!

dalnim and the bff of sooho: funny combination and look forward to seeing them they are both hilarious :)

amy and gary: kinda annoying :p at the end my annoyance towards them lessened. xD

Mother of SooHo is really nice and adorable *wink*

re-watched value: LMAO perfect 10. lol. I have no idea how many time I've watched the 4 to 9 episodes and I'm definitely gonna watch the entire episodes for sure. one time viewing isn't enough you know *wink*

Overall this drama is really good! WATCH IT LIKE RIGHT NOW :) Technically I would have rated it 8.5 to 9 but Je Sooho is way too perfect so I ended up giving it 10! someday you'll understand me. mouhahahah.

WARNING: Je SooHo is a one of kind character. you'll miss him for sure especially his pajama moments at night!

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Oh dear lord, where to begin?...

I started watching this drama because the plot read as something that would be right up my alley: dark, twisted, angsty and mature. A master plan to seduce one woman that turns into a terrible cycle of torture and turmoil was what I was hoping for but ended up being incredibly disappointed. I read a comment somewhere about how this drama was horrible because all the characters were so awful. On the contrary, my biggest issue was that the characters weren't horrible enough.

Characters:

Eun Tae Hee: One of the most boring characters in TV history, right up there with Cha Eun Sang from Heirs. Joy's acting was the least of my concerns. The character was two-dimensional, flat, stupid and yet strangely confident which of course made her even more annoying. The most interesting thing about her was her past which also turned out to be a dud. The producers shouldn't be mad at Joy, they should be mad at the writers.

Kwon Shi Hyun: Woo Do Hwan is super hot. That's the only good thing about this character. I wanted to see a hardcore cheating and womanizing douche-bag who sleeps around and doesn't give a shit about any woman's feelings. Instead I got an innocent school boy who was weak willed and far too predictable. He became a lovesick puppy after the first smile <-- this would be hilarious if it wasn't so goddamn infuriating.

Choi Soo Ji: The character with most potential, alongside Se Joo. I really wanted to see how low she's be willing to stoop to to get what she wanted but in the end her efforts felt half-assed. It almost felt like the writers decided to stop trying at some point.

Lee Se Joo: My favorite, and I assume everyone else's, the lover boy. He was the highlight of the show, the little sparkle of light that kept me hoping for something better and made me come back every week. His obsessive love for Soo Ji had the best potential at doing something actually damaging and his family background suggested that maybe we could have gotten some heavier gang stuff into the show but of course my wishes weren't fulfilled this time either.

Plot:

The plot of this drama was the biggest screw up and I have an explanation as to why that was: they tried to fit too much shit into 16 full episodes. The story moved way too fast so that we didn't have time to get emotionally invested in it. Get together, break up, make up. I have no idea how many times the main couple went through this process; it got real dull, real fast.

Tae Hee and Shi Hyun's relationship was all in all so boring I found myself getting distracted all the time while watching them together. Their "steamy" scenes weren't steamy enough and their relationship's highs and lows weren't black and white enough for me to get truly excited about them. There wasn't enough chemistry, nor enough tension. A very flat, predictable and unstimulating combo.

Next problem I have is the lack of maturity. This drama felt like a children's story. No sex, no drugs, barely any violence and nothing actually scandalous that would have made me sit at the edge of my chair wondering what would happen next. The outfits were occasionally childish, the pathetic attempts at dramatic plot twists were downright juvenile and even the colorful sets seriously turned me off. Even the climax of the story felt like a pathetic, undeveloped attempt to whip up together something that could be labeled as the orgasm of the story. Worst climax ever, I didn't feel a thing.

The side story with the main characters' parents was somewhat interesting whilst also being completely pointless. Don't really have much to say about it... Thank you for giving employment to various older actors, I guess.

Why watch?

Now I know what you're thinking; how can you give this drama a six without saying a single nice thing about it. Well, first of all, I find it hard to give any drama I finish a score under five because if things go that bad, I usually just drop the whole thing. And look, it's not a complete disaster. The ingredients for a great drama are all there. Somehow the end result is a mess but I can see why someone might actually enjoy this; hell, even I was able to finish it. In an attempt to be as neutral as possible, I'll also list out some good points.

The trio. Shi Hyun, Se Joo and Soo Ji are a pretty adorable set of friends. They have good chemistry and there are a lot of cute scenes in the beginning of the drama when the three spend the most time together. All of them are solid actors, so I look forward to seeing them more in the future.

Se Joo & Soo Ji are an actually suitable couple who will tear you down with how sad their story is. It's an unrequited love where he showers her with affection and she can't find it in herself to be brave enough to accept him. Honest to god, I finished this drama for these two. You might not, however, so approach with caution.

All in all, this is not worth the watch; not even if you're a fan of Woo Do Hwan. Trust me on this, his character is so horrible you'll just be disappointed. In conclusion the show was a huge disappointment as the array of negative reviews suggests. I will be looking forward to new projects from the main three, especially Kim Min Jae. It's so sad he got screwed over by a horrible writing and production team.

Hence concludes another one of my reviews that was once again supposed to be short but at this point, what do you expect?

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refreshing and incredible.. until the later half

overall, this show was really really good. it was mostly light hearted with lots of mature dialogue, deep characters, beautiful cinematography, and more. for the first half, i was convinced this drama would be in my top three along with vincenzo and healer. up until episode 10, I think id give this show a 10/10. somewhere along the second half it seemed to have lost its spark, but none of the issues im going to discuss are reason enough to not watch this show. overall i recommend it.

as an overview, i love thinking about how much progression we saw over the course of 16 episodes. especially within the FL whom I feel was the main vessel of change, i can see a huge difference in her from the first to the last episode. same goes for the other characters, all of them had some kind of realization or moment at least once in the show, and i really appreciated how different people at different stages of life were all given a moment to have feelings and talk about their trauma, because thats real. There also arent any typical vicious drama villains: the second male lead is accepting, the teacher is actually just quietly in love with hwajeong, everyone feels real and not at all like a typical drama caricature. usually dramas forget everyone that isnt the main character, but not this one. i also really liked the vibe of the show itself, it promises and delivers a mature healing drama full of family and friendships and community and all that good stuff. The themes of second chances, the importance of emotional support, this was also so nice to see on screen. the writing was stellar, until the later episodes ( especially ep 15). The characters are all interesting, the cinematography is great, and even the ost is good, its an almost perfect drama if i ignore the later episodes.

im going to discuss stuff i didnt like because when a show is this good, the issues tend to stick out more than usual. Some of these things are very nitpicky, so dont take them as a reflection on the show as a whole.

full review below. SPOILERS

even though this drama covered many important topics such as the hardships women face (with the crazy pervert and the childbirth) and even included a lesbian (!!!), i felt that the way they addressed many of these topics was a little skewed and delivered the wrong message. as for childbirth, i was pleasantly surprised that they were depicting it on screen as well as reinforcing how hard it really is to be a woman. but it was ruined by FL saying how romantic it was when the husband promised to be by the wifes side even though the entire episode talked about how he was a horrible husband that didnt even change his kids diapers and didnt realize that childbirth was difficult. like what ?? and as for the teacher, she just comes and goes throughout the show and i wish she was on screen and talked about herself more (instead of showing up to give yeongguk a motivating speech about apologizing to hwajeong), since lgbtq are not often seen in kdramas. and then i enjoyed how they depicted change with the FL and trauma with ML, but the way his was only delved into in the last episode really sucked since i think that shouldve been a main focus along with FLs personality shift.
It feels like all of the issues I have with this show come down to an unbalance, or a right message gets skewed the wrong way, you’ll see what I mean.


as for the FL, i generally enjoyed her growth. i loved how obvious it was, how realistic it seemed. it was gradual, but there were also specific moments where you can SEE her changes. like in episode 10 where she walks in the rain even though its something she hates, just because she recalls ML saying that she should let herself just exist. i love how open she becomes, with the way she confesses her feelings so openly in ep 10 with no hesitation. when she first came to gongjin she was so artificial, pretending to listen to everyone, smiling and nodding absentmindedly. it was a complete 180 to see her be as genuine and open as she became.

For the ML, his personality was always captivating, and he was an interesting character. here is where my first issue with the show comes in: they shouldve given chief hong more flaws. he doesnt seem to have any besides his trauma, which isnt really a “character flaw”, unlike FL that is judgmental, stubborn, unwilling to change sometimes, etc etc. especially in comparison to the FL, hong is TOO perfect. Plus you’d think someone with that much trauma would seemingly have more issues: maybe trust wise or be cold and angry, but he wasnt any of those things. Up until episode 10 (which I thought were 10 perfect episodes) FL grows as a person thanks to hong which is fantastic character growth and fantastic set up for their relationship, but hong doesn’t change at all. And why would he? He’s kind, helpful, can do everything. They should’ve given him a basic flaw like being stubborn or something so he could change thanks to hyejin as well. But he was the one always calling out her flaws and mistakes while he remained the same, and although he was often justified I was sometimes annoyed at how he wouldn’t mind his own business and tried to change her when it wasnt his place.

The reason I keep saying "up until episode 10" is because after that I feel like the show lost its spark. character wise, the shift between pre-relationship FL and relationship FL was so jarring. She felt like an entirely different person. And yes people are cuter with the person they like of whatever, but they should’ve incorporated some of this into her pre-personality so it wouldn’t come off as so strange when she suddenly started acting this way. I also felt like some of her character development was wiped off after episode 10. in fact, i occasionally felt that the FL was even more unreasonable and unlikeable than in the beginning. In episode 11, she hurt ML physically and emotionally, such as when she asked him to take care of the Second Male Lead, when she has unreasonable requests, when she takes him to see the sunrise at 4 am, when she makes him wear school uniforms to take pictures. especially when she drags him around the mall and he’s clearly saying no to doing things and she pressures him when he constantly says no. And to keep their relationship a secret hyejin hurts dusik throughout the entirety of ep 11. physical violence is never okay, especially not for comedic purposes. the fact that it was done multiple times made me less and less excited to finish that episode. and the fact that her go to reaction when she was surprised was to hurt him really made me dislike her, despite all of the progress that they made on her personality. this also really pushes the narrative that shes full of flaws and he isnt because hes forgiving and understanding.


Back to the ML, he was the one that carried this Big Secret Trauma for a majority of the show which like I said earlier was made out to be his only flaw. we didnt even know what it was until nearly the last two episodes, which I have a few issues with.
i dont appreciate how they approached his trauma as a flaw, because it isnt. everyone has trauma and issues, and not everyone reacts to it the same way. hyejin was hurt by her ex bfs words that caused her to be more materialistic, but she never shares that with ML. yet she expects him to share everything with her? she had a line where she said "im okay with showing you all of me, so why cant you do that for me?" which, just because hes seen you drunk and met your stepmom does not mean he needs to reveal more than hes comfortable with. she pushes him constantly to open up about his trauma (that was much more severe than her ex saying she dresses ugly) and i thought this whole situation and episode were so unreasonable. i understand that she expected more from him and their relationship, she was thinking of their future and he wasnt yet. i empathize, im sure its hard when your S/O isnt where you are and youre feeling anxious about where your relationship is going. but they had only been dating for what, a few weeks at that point? that combined with how much pressure she was putting on someone that was clearly hurting made it hard for me to feel for her.

plus, when SHE decided they need a break, she kept rubbing it in his face saying “we are on break- BUt why arent you saying anything to me? im giving you time- BUT why wont you tell me your secrets?!? we’re on break-BUT-here i am at your house even though i suggested the break!” and then she ends the break when she feels like it- even though initially it was supposed to be FOR him to heal. this was why, despite me being understanding of how hurt she was about ML not being open about his past, i just couldnt be on her side. This was one of the moments where again, I felt that her character development was setback.
the way this led to people blaming hong when he was trying to deal with TRAUMA was just so ?? disgusting to me. no one knows what hes dealing with, but they keep pushing him. It is never anyones place to push someone to speak about their trauma or disclose aspects of their personal life if they are not ready to do so.
And hwajeong tells FL that she should give it time, which had a nice sentiment, but then she told FL to be MLs rock. Again, taking a lovely scene with a good script and turning it into something that isnt necessarily a great message. If someone isn’t in the same place emotionally where you are then you dont need to wait for them. this is another reason i couldnt entirely be on FLs side, if hong isnt where she is and he doesnt want the future she wants, she cant just force him into it. even though i loved them as a couple, they shouldve just had them break up then instead of depicting their relationship how they did. you should never push someone when they arent ready, and you dont need to wait by that person either. if you want a future, and your partner just isnt sure, then you dont need to be with them. The result of this situation was as I mentioned, FL constantly pushing ML and reminding him that she is giving him the HONOR of her patience, while he struggles to deal with his internal conflicts. The way this whole episode was handled was a big no from me.

as for ML’s actual trauma, they dragged it on for SO long. and im not saying it wasnt worth the wait, but I was underwhelmed. Maybe the trauma they gave him would’ve panned out better had they disclosed it earlier and had him work on himself for the remaining episodes, but they chose to build suspense and shove it on us at the very end. Which, okay fine, but this didnt work for me. Despite the big suspense, he wasnt a murderer or anything, he blamed himself for a situation that was unfortunate but not at all his fault. Some people hypothesized that he was in a car accident with his wife and child which i think wouldve been better to fulfill the suspense than what actually happened, which was that he was there for the death of his best friend and dohas father became paralyzed (which had NOTHING to do with hong and was entirely the fault of the father who made a reckless decision). but the show treated him like a murderer which is pointless for several reasons. for one, when doha calls him a murderer, no one in gongjin actually thinks he is one so theres no outer conflict. we are never under the impression that he is either because he has proven over and over again that he is kind and good natured, so its more annoying than anything else that the show treats him this way. that leads into two, we are watching this pan out as an audience. we KNOW none of it is his fault, so watching this poor guy blame himself since childhood for his parents and grandfathers death, and then those related to the adult deaths blame him for those, it just sucked. its just not great to watch someone get beaten down over and over again, especially since this is a made up "healing" story and the writers can do whatever they want with it, and they chose to leave the actual healing for the very last minute. in real life, yeah there are probably people like hong. but this is a drama and watching his internal conflict pan out just doesnt make sense when its entirely in his mind and he didnt actually DO anything wrong. so its just annoying and unsatisfactory when for 15 episodes youve been like WHAT is this trauma and that answer is: another accidental death that has nothing to do with hong and everything to do with everyone else. i guess in a sense its realistic that he might get blamed by those that are hurting, but i just felt like i was watching this perfect guy who has lived a shitty life get blamed over and over again, and even now when he is supposed to be forgiving himself, the wife of his friend refused to apologize and doha tells him he shouldve taken better care of his father. what poor writing, there should be a balance between the tragedy and how much shit this poor guy gets and the healing (not to mention gamri dying in the same episode??). how many times do we need to see him apologize for things out of his control and get hurt? i think his healing shouldve been a main focus, maybe cutting into the time of all of the unnecessary misunderstandings and filler moments or even into FLs personality change. because although her arc was important, we watched her change throughout the entire show and he only got the last episode.


All of this happens in the second half of the show, which like I said lost its spark. The scenes felt a little more childish, with more misunderstandings to brace us for the couples upcoming conflict, and more happy go lucky filler to brace us for the reveal of the Big Trauma. the trauma itself wasnt handled well either. honestly, i kind of lost interest and had a hard time sitting through the episodes, while before id open netflix the second the episode was up and watch it immediately. i still really appreciated the show, but it didnt give me the same feelings as before.

Also in the second half, we see less of the other characters and focus more on the main relationship. I thought this was a big mistake because initially the magic of the show was the family feel and the environment, but that dwindles away to give focus to how the main relationship develops and has misunderstandings. the other characters only seem to come in to give motivational speeches or to make minor commentary (like in ep 15 when hongs trauma is revealed and they sit there for two seconds and take turns saying they are worried about him) or to help add to the drama (like in ep 14 when doha punches hong, everyone in gongjin is there to add to the dramatic feel). I wish we focused more on everyones individual lives ad relationship at that point, instead of making way for silly misunderstandings or filler or the Big Trauma. like the scene with yijoon and his parents getting back together was so heartfelt, and i think we shouldve gotten more of that with each character.Like I said, a solution to this wouldve been disclosing the trauma earlier and gradually working on it, which wouldve given more time for hong to actually get over it (because I can’t believe that in the span of an episode his years long trauma disappears) and the other characters could’ve had more screen time.


i think the shows flaws come down to one thing: an unbalance. an unbalance within flaws, an unbalance with the pacing, an unbalance with the characters personality. There was even an unbalance of storytelling and mood: the whole drama was mature but then we have the childhood connection, really? That didnt even add anything to the story so why was it even in there? plus the way everyone was connected?? PD is related to the wife of hongs best friend and PDs editor is the son of he guy who worked at hongs company and PD went to school with hyejin and they all meet up in this one small town i mean ?? really ?? It felt unfitting for a show that was otherwise serious and realistic. And where was miseon, FLs best friend, for half of the show? In some episodes she just wasnt home, or she just isnt mentioned. She only starts showing up for relationship issues in the later half of the show. I loved their friendship, so I wouldve loved to see more of them. I also wouldve loved to see more interactions between the gongjin citizens and hyejin after her personality shift. these are just little things that could’ve been changed to greatly improve the show.

Of course I dont expect perfection, but some of these flaws were so avoidable. Just taking away the line about hyejin romanticizing the poor relationship between the market owner and the hardware owner or just leaving the line from hwajeong at “ wait for him to open up” instead of saying be his rock, all of this wouldve fixed what I think of as a flaw. Overall, I do think this show was really really good. But because I had such high expectations for it, how some of the scenes were handled really set it back.

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