Reviews

Lovesick is one of the many movies out there today who doesn't seem like anything special due to its common storyline. Once you actually watch the movie and get into the plot, You'll find yourself falling in love with the movie. What seemed like just another romantic comedy, Will in the end turn out to be a movie of a deeper meaning. With Ariel Lin in the role of Rou Qing falling for a young doctor, acted by Chen Berlin. I will write a spoilerless review.

Liang Ruo Qing was happily in love with her boyfriend, His lifelong dream was always to become famous and so After some chances trying he eventually got recruited as a singer. Due to the wrong timing she entered to see a missleading image of her boyfriend and his manager in a uncomfortable situation, This leading to her belief about her boyfriend cheating on her. Many tears were cried that night, But as time went by she decided she would stop trusting guys. 3 Years has passed since then, And Ruo Qing has grown cold towards men. At her place of working there is a new doctor working, Seemingly perfect. Without a flaw visually, And nice to everybody. Love at first sight makes the situation difficult for Ruo Qing, So she decides to prove to everybody that this doctor Zhe Han isn't anything close to how perfect he seems... However after many tries of finding something bad about him, She only seems to fall for him more and more.
A Story filled with romance you never would have expected. Its not just any story, Its by far worth the watch.

The soundtrack in the movie deserves bragging. The songs that are used are fitting into each of the situations they are used, And they are fittingly choosen for the main cast.

A Story about Love and Heartache, Aswell as the importance of life and happiness.. Recommended for all people who like movies with a message to be told. For everyone who loves a good romantic story.
If you are a fan of either of these, You will love Lovesick.

Leggi di Più

Perfect comic timing and fantastic cast guaranteed to give you hearty laughs!

For me, Thai rom-com dramas have developed their own brand of slapstick antics that mesh well with the plot and character development. Mae Krua Kon Mai is a great example of this. The show provided a good amount of witty and lowbrow humor and physical comedy. It also used timing, rhythm, and music effects to keep things engaging and entertaining from start to finish. I was interested from the get-go, so much so that I watched it without subtitles, and then with subtitles the second time.

This is one rom-com that raised the irony level of life for me. I was not expecting Param, the ML, to fall in love with Dao, the FL, when she was in disguise as a less attractive person of a lower status. I know, it's superficial of me, but I have watched way too many dramas to expect otherwise. So it was a pleasant surprise when this show deviated from the usual clichés. Yes, Param knew about Faidam's true identity, and there were already sparks whenever he met Dao. However, almost all his flashbacks and sweet memories were about her as Faidam. The verbal sparring and the constant one-upping between our leading couple were so fun to watch. One could see Param's curiosity evolving into attraction and ultimately love, as mischievous Faidam constantly challenged him, frustrating him while piquing his interest more and more.

Every time these two were together, the screen lit up, whether they were squabbling, bantering, teasing, staring into each other's eyes, or glaring at each other. August Paisarnkulwong as Param and Namfah Phatrathinchaicherin as Dao/Faidam were amazing together, and they did an excellent job portraying their characters. Namfah can do comedy, and she was really good at playing the dual personalities. August was more subtle, but he emoted so well. He cried so prettily, and whenever he flirted, I had to grab at my chest to calm my heart. I didn't mind the slow burn romance, but I did wish that there were more kissing because they looked comfortable and natural together when they did.

For sure, there were moments where I wanted to yell at one or both of them for being prideful, and I was definitely annoyed at Param for being so ambiguous with Rika. True, he repeatedly reminded her that she was only his fake girlfriend and he could never love her, but man, letting her kiss you and be all touchy-feely was no way to draw the line! Dao can also be irritating as heck with her refusal to talk things through and clarify matters. Still, despite such moments of wanting to tear my hair out, I cannot help but immensely enjoy the show. The best part for me was that Rika, as the nang rai, did enough to bother but never really got away with things. I love the twist towards the end of the show where it was building up to another opportunity for Rika to stir up trouble, but it did not happen the way I had expected it to go down. Ahhh, it is just so satisfying seeing the villain fall flat!

It's funny, but this is the third drama that I've watched that had Ice Srisevok as the nang rai. It would be a shame if she was typecast.

The acting was great across the board, and there was just so much chemistry between the cast! Between the OTP, the secondary couple (Oab and Pon - absolutely adorable together!), between Faidam and Param's mother, between Faidam and Watsy (adore that guy!!!), Dao's family with each other, and between Buap, Taew, and Faidam. Everyone worked in tandem so well, and I just want to see the behind-the-scenes clips of everyone having fun making this drama. I find it very interesting that multiple actors played characters with hidden agendas or dual personalities. Dao as Faidam, Param with his fake girlfriend, Rika, who pretended to love Param but was actually a gold-digger, Param's mother who was miserly but had a generous heart with the people she loved, and even Max, Dao’s long-term boyfriend but I’ll leave it at that since it is a major spoiler.

There were many negative comments about Dao darkening her skin when she becomes Faidam, and coming from a society that judges by skin tone, I can understand the discontent. However, the show never implied that Faidam was ugly due to her darker skin tone. To me, it was more to ensure that she is even more disguised, although I don't know how she managed to get away with it for so long. To the show's credit, it did not treat us, the audience, as being stupid. At least Dao realized that she would be recognized by the people close to her, just like how Korn did almost instantly, so she did her best to avoid them. I also like that Param was quick on the uptake and found out fairly early on about Dao's disguise.

Music-wise, I liked the two songs that were featured but nothing memorable. Rewatch value is high; I've already watched it twice, but I am tempted to watch it again because I am curious to see when exactly did our OTP transition from hate to love.

Overall, do give this drama a try! The sweetness, the silliness, the laughter, the gorgeous leads, the terrific cast, the lovely ending - there's enough to keep you entertained!

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Great lines and life lessons

So there were definitely a lot of really beautiful life lessons in it; it was really relatable how the different characters were shown — especially how introverts were portrayed. This is a drama that will make you think about life, about how you measure happiness, about family, and more. The cinematography is also just beautiful and it really made me look around me and be more observant of my surroundings and my place in the world.

Out of everyone, the two main leads (Mijeong, Mr. Gu) were undoubtedly my favorite, even though I felt like I didn't exactly feel that romance was necessary.

I do admit that the drama started to drag in the middle; I stilled like Gu and Mijeong scenes, but started to care less about the other two siblings. Gijeong (the other sister) especially started to grate on my nerves from the middle all the way to the end; I felt like her plot was so heavily reliant on a romance that I didn't really like — either she was with the love interest or talking about him — and her character never really developed aside from it.

The ending is something I don't really have strong feelings about; it's not necessarily satisfying and there are some scenes I wish I saw, but for a drama like this I felt like it couldn't have ended any other way. It's just about a bunch of characters learning to be happy. Life goes on.

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I hate melodramas, and at first I only watched this for Ji Sung. I eventually became addicted. Bad things happen in this show, yes, but they work for the plot. I never got bored, although sometimes I was frustrated by the characters.

I was really confused by the reviewer who said the two leads didn't have chemistry. The scenes between them were hot! My love for Ji Sung has only gotten stronger. I know he's married, but let's be realistic, we were probably never going to hook up even if he was single. Okay, I've gotten off topic...



The music was great and the story was solid. One thing I loved was the little touched of comedy. I probably won't rewatch the jail episodes, but I'll revisit this series at some point. I found the first few episodes a little slow and Min Hyuk a little hard to deal with at first, which is why this doesn't get a perfect score.

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Mediocrity with so much potential

I just want to start this review by saying, i think i completed this drama wholly for what it could've been, instead what it actually was. So many of the plot points had good groundwork but they just executed everything in the most uninspiring way. The story had potential, pairing had potential, second leads were okay to a point and SML was wholly unnecessary inclusion with love triangle. I hope writers would actually do some thinking why some tropes work and try and make them work instead of just putting them in the stories without thought.

Inclusion of love triangle in first episodes and it lasted for almost full drama was so unnecessary, it really didn't bring anything to the drama and made SML so one dimensional that the actor was fully wasted. I don't know why kdrama writers need to include it just seemingly cause it has to have one instead of thinking does it actually need one.

Leads relationship started good, not counting the mentioned love triangle ruining it from the start, it moved kinda fast but that was okay, but at some point it started to feel like FL started to use ML for emotional support and latter part vice versa, it is kinda sad to make half of the drama kinda trauma train and it didn't really fit the sold image of the drama at all.

Secondary couple was so much better than leads but i think writers just didn't know what do with the couple latter episodes and made them go through every cliche known to man. Disappointing on that front too.

Acting was great from everyone, i loved how infuriating the villagers were. No complaints here at all.

Conclusion
Very mediocre drama which had potential if rightly done, but writers showed from the start that they just want to use tropes instead of actually thinking what would work. Acting was great and everyone really worked well together. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone, it was lower end mediocre and i gave it 6/10. If you really like the actors, maybe for those i could recommend, everyone acted great, just the story left lot to be desired.

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Search is a quintessential OCN drama, which means that it's a fast-paced and slickly-edited action drama that pulls you in and keeps you interested - at least until the zombies show up and the bad guy starts smirking.

As far as the genre goes, Search is a pretty good example with excellent performances by the wonderful Jang Dong Yoon as the military dog handler Yong Dong Jin and a strangely (but welcomingly) sombre and cerebral Krystal as the military forensic scientist, Son Ye Rim.

The two used to date - a fact that is utterly superfluous to the plot and could have been jettisoned without us noticing - but end up in a joint operation in the demilitarized zone after there are reports of a disease spreading in the area. Jang Dong Yoon is an amazing up and coming actor who clearly wanted to branch out after his two previous roles (both performances of which were extraordinary) and does very well with the role. Krystal is also good in a natural and understated performance with none of the apparent "I am acting!" quirks and ticks that a lot of Idols seem to pick up.

While the show benefited both from being only 10 episodes and from good casting, direction and production, the script suffered from some usual OCN weaknesses. There was a lot of people in uniforms and identical haircuts running around shooting at each other in the dark and one day somebody will learn this is NOT good television. A lot of good character beats were introduced and then forgotten, like a Chekhov's gun that did not go off (why DID Ye Rim suddenly and unexpectedly break up with Dong Yoon a year ago? And if it's not important why dwell on it so much?). And some of the editing seemed more about fooling the audience or confusing them with time jumps than anything else.

The final episode was unfortunately utterly ridiculous. And while the show successfully walked that fine line between our suspension of disbelief and falling off a cliff for most of its run, it leapt into the chasm at a full jump in episode 10.

So while I enjoyed watching Search quite a lot, I can't declare it great television. But for a bit of mindless fun and quite a good example of a classic OCN drama, it's worth a binge.

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Boring plot yet charming to watch

What an odd series. It was as mundane as can be. I remember when I was watching the first episode and every scene felt so uneventful I was waiting when is something going to happen? And nothing really did. Yet, I wanted to watch more.

It's a story about a family, the parents and three adult siblings living together in the countryside and a new, kinda mysterous drunk neighbor. All of them feel like they are stuck in their life in a way, stuck in a routine or in an addiction or being a very shallow person. And all of them want some sort of change, but honestly? They feel just about the same at the end like the beginning, maybe taking a tiny half step forward throughout the whole time.

I suppose what I liked about it, is the relatability? Trying to fight the mundane everydays, trying to maintain a relationship, survive in a bad workplace, living in a toxic family, etc. Things that so many of average watchers can get behind, yet again, nothing seems to change really by the end. Is that sad? I don't know, it just feels I guess average, realistic. Bittersweet in a way, like what were we really expecting?

What I didn't like though that there was no one trying to stop the alcoholic guy from drinking... pff they actually bought alcohol for him as gifts and such. Like tf? It's something that can actually kill you, no kidding, even if you don't preach against it at least there is no need to support a bad behaviour.

Anyway, even though this whole series sounds kinda boring, it has such a unique charm to it that drew me in, it's interesting. I'd definitely recommend it to young adults.

Leggi di Più

The second part of Along With the Gods is even better than the first.
Even though lots of things are happening the movie manages to give every aspects enough room and time to manifest in front of our eyes. The story cast light on the guardians and doesn't waste time on things that were already established in the first movie.
All the cast are skilled in their craft and manage to conveye the emotiongs to the audience. Their acting works both in the funny and sad moments of the movie.
The production value, the costumes and the sets are fitting and the CGI is great in creating the fantasy world. While I was at parts overwhelmed by some stylistic choices and the fast pace in the first movie, here I truly enjoyed them.
While I truly enjoyed the story and also the superb acting that made those character come to life, I wonder how this movie appears to people who haven't seen the first installment. Therefore my overall rating is 9.5.

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A beautiful story about a woman’s growth journey of love and life

This drama tells the story of a villainous type female lead who, due to her love obsession, ends up causing the death of her family. Before her seemingly final breath of life, she loses consciousness, only to suddenly wake up two years prior to all events that had happened. Convinced she is living a second life, she decides to do everything in her power to fix her mistakes and change her family’s fate.

The drama is not a love story but about the female lead’s growth journey as she learns valuable lessons about life and love. A strong message about unconditional love is shown in this drama as well as how every person could be good or bad, depending on the perspective. There are three love interests. No kiss scenes however the intense, fire chemistry between the main leads makes up for it.

POSITIVE:
- All characters are morally grey. No one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes and learns their lessons.
- Well written perspective for each character. At every moment the viewer clearly understands everyone’s motives (good or bad) which makes the drama very human and realistic.
- No predictable, draggy parts or cliche plot lines.
- No love triangles. Even though there are three love interests there is no typical love rivery and cliche jealousy shown.
- Conflicts are resolved quickly. Mystery aspects are done well and the audience learns everything alongside the female lead.
- All characters are well-developed and fleshed out, nobody does stupid things without a reason.
- Fantastic execution of seeing the flashbacks of the female lead’s first life that are parallel to the second life. We clearly get to see how she is acting differently and changing things in the second life.
- Beautiful message about unconditional love at the end of the drama.

NEGATIVE:
- I would have loved it if there were more romantic scenes between the male and female lead.
- Second male lead (who is the husband) does get quite a lot of screen time at the start compared to the male lead which can annoy some people.

LOVE INTERESTS:
- Male lead - a Lord, who secretly loves the female lead.
- Second male lead - female lead’s husband and the man she is obsessed with at the start of the drama.
- Third male lead - an orphan who the female lead helps and later becomes her loyal guard.

OVERALL:
If you are looking for a mature, slow paced, historical drama about a woman’s growth journey related to love, with morally grey characters (no one is just good or bad) and beautiful messages about all types of love (unconditional love, selfless love and self-love), this drama is for you.

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The movie sucked out tears wherever it could. I thought it would be a light-hearted type of movie but it evolved quickly into something emotionally tense. You get to see the complete asshole character of Jo Jungsuk at the beginning and I honestly thought they didn't leave enough transparency for the viewer to see possible future concern coming from the older brother. But his character surprisingly evolved quickly enough for us to see some brotherly love. There were a lot of tragic circumstances that accumulated and the viewer didn't get a break from carrying a heavy heart while the movie progressed. Even though the comedy side of the movie was outweighed, individual scenes succeeded into tickling a good amount of laughter out of me.

I was quite pleased by the acting and the actors/actresses really pulled on my heartstrings. I honestly believe this was one of Kyungsoos best acting accomplishments. There were instances where it bothered me that Jo Jungsuks character treated his brother rough - even after they started opening up to each other I still couldn't get used to him screaming sometimes and showing his type of "manly" love. But this was only a trivial negative aspect of the movie - all in all I was somehow pleasantly surprised how deep the movie turned out to be.

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A step backwards for OffGun..

I love OffGun and watch everything they are in, whether it’s together or their solo projects, but I really have a soft spot for them, as they are one of the 1st BL couples that I fell in love with, in both dramas and reality shows.

Cooking Crush is not a bad BL, it is a rom-com BL, heavy on goofiness and comedy, but very light on storyline and character development.

My beef is mostly with GMMTV, for using veteran BL couples who have proven their worth- starting their careers with several lesser roles on several so-so series, and have now worked their way up to a certain level of stardom and credibility.

I feel like their apex was definitely hit with last year’s Not Me. Not only was it worthy of OffGun, it had substance, serious subject matter, and was thoughtfully executed by these the entire amazing cast.

I thought “great! now that everyone has seen them at their best, they won’t have to do high school or college roles anymore.” SMH 🤦‍♀️

GMMTV has such a huge catalog of teen- early 20’s actors that could have easily slipped into these Cooking Crush roles.

IMHO, it’s a waste of OffGun’s talent to put them in these types of series that they have already done many times and now can do in their sleep.

Just one fan’s opinion..🤷🏻‍♀️

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Ryan Ding was the best part of the drama, Screenwriter's love of Incel Stalkers--terrible.

I figured someone may want a more balanced review that isn't, "This is all crap" and "this is the best ever" First I have to establish that I go mostly by talent of the actors/crew. I don't really do the whole mooning over actors thing. Not my jam. I don't automatically upvote a drama because the actor is "hot" or whatever. I go by how the drama is or isn't. I go by if the art is good or bad.

For those of you that are planning on reading the book, read the book second and watch the drama first. The drama first is OK and regular and kind of middle of the road. The book is excellent, though lacking in details, so you should be helped by doing it in this order. I should warn that the second half of the drama is nothing like the book.

For comparison, this drama is better than Longest Promise which had some of the worst writing I've witnessed in a drama. This drama, though suffers mostly from an unconfident writer who isn't sure how to do anything from the book.

If you are going to watch the drama, you're likely watching fro Ding Yuxi and the production values.

The best lifetimes are in order (for the drama):
The animal lifetime (Hilarious and voiced very well)
The Demon lifetime (mostly for Ryan Ding living the role--and changing his mannerisms in every single way playing it).
The Sect lifetime Almost 1 for 1, but then went off the rails a bit towards the end.
The flashback couple lifetime (Cang hai)
Prime Minister's daughter
Princess/General This was cut in half from the original, so didn't have the gravitas, but I understand they had to cut it likely because of censorship.

The character I hated the most was Xiu Ming. I hated his ending too, especially since he's split off from the original character who was a stalker in the book. He literally stalked the female main character across lifetimes. *Stop redeeming stalker characters~~* And yes, I can fight you on this. When someone is trying to "rescue" you without your consent, and follow after you for *lifetimes* then yeah, that's called stalking.

I mostly skipped (10 second skip) through the whole banished clan thing--it didn't belong in the drama and I lost about nothing. The acting wasn't that great to begin with. And I didn't care that much about the Zihui storyline at all, which felt disjointed from the rest of the drama anyway.

In order the best parts of the drama:
1. Ding Yuxi

-hands down the best part of the drama. The director let him do *mostly* what he wanted, though there were a few times I felt like he was limited by the director. *ahh* Ding Yuxi playing mischievous is something I really like because it's in his wheelhouse--but the director cut him off? I said this consistently since the beginning. If you want to watch the drama only for him, it's not a bad pick.

2. Production values: These are the costumes, music, CGI. The CGI was the best in Heavenly realm. I'm guessing the writer had to set more things in the heavenly realm to save on costs. I'm not against that. (Costs more to rent a space than build a set sometimes) That said, I wouldn't have minded if they saved on production costs and gotten better actors. The production team went all out. The only person that probably should have paid attention more is the sound guy. He missed a few sounds he should have put in. I feel like they couldn't pay all the actors all the way through due to the production values being high.

3. Red Thread Master and Yang Chaoyue

Contrary to popular belief, Yang Chaoyue was better in the second half of the drama. I thought she wasn't that good at the beginning, but she grew into the character more. Slight downgrade for the whining bits, but I think that's more down to writing and directing choices, than personal choices. I also, really liked the choices of the Red Thread Master, which surprised me. The dynamic between the two acors felt more natural. She definitely picked up a few things during the course of the drama and became less stiff and emotionless. It's not top of the line such that Yang Chaoyue was pushing Ryan Ding, but it wasn't terrible either. If you want to see actresses that pushed Ryan Ding, then there is Romance of the Tiger and Rose. And I'd also say Moonlight with Esther Yu--who also pushed him quite a bit. While she wasn't terrible ^^ I still would have chosen a top line actress and sacrificed some of the production values like the 3D printing of crowns to try to get a better actress as lead. Guan Xiao Tong would have been my natural pick since she can play the range.

4. Director. Some of the blocking was off, particularly on Ryan Ding--I don't blame Ryan Ding for this--that's on the director's head to run through the scene and let the actors play it out a few times. And a few directing choices I disliked entirely, though these are minor.

5. The writing. The writing was meh for me--I mean if you take it separate from the book it's running 3-4. It's really, really creepy that the screenwriter wants *so hard* to redeem incel stalkers this much. I mean, WTF. Trying so hard to redeem incel stalker from the book, and then try to redeem them in the drama, but no one wants that. What I felt from the screenwriter throughout was that they were constrained a bit by budget, but also they lacked confidence to make the bolder decisions. For that reason the drama feels like a fanficiton version of the book rather than an improvement. This isn't to slam fan fiction, BTW, but to say, it feels more copying cookie cutter. And BTW, I'm not one of those, the book is always better. I go wherever the story is best.

6. The Nepotism adds

Occasionally, in order to make a production, the financing asks that you add characters--there were quite a few and a few characters that should never been downgraded were downgraded for the drama. Usually in regular production, adding characters means more budget. The only exception is nepotism adds where there is a contingency. This is why I think a few of the actors who were added, but not in the book were solely added for budget reasons, not storyline reasons. Zihui should not have been split into Xiu Ming and Zihui. This by far, weighed down the drama and you didn't get the tighter plotting that the book had. The whole of the Muluo tribe--Uhhgghhh no. OK, the demon bit was good. But still.

BTW, I still want to yeet Xiu Ming off this drama.

BTW, I'd so watch a movie version that actually followed the novel more 1 for 1.

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Disappointing

This was very disappointing - I was especialy looking forward to this series, and by the latter part of the series I just wanted it to be over.

The acting in this is excellent. Up as Gene, Bruce as Aoey, and Kenji as Hin were great. The production quality was very high.

But the writing is terrible. The central problem is that Gene is merely the writer inserting herself into the story as a self-indulgent fantasy where she gets the man of her dreams. Because of that, Gene doesn't really have a character, and almost no agency. Things just happen to him - whatever is necessary for the plot, or for a particular "moment" the writer wanted.

Sib is even worse, because his only purpose as a character is to be a hot guy that wants the writer and will do anything to get her - so there is absolutely nothing to his character except for his desire for Gene.

If the point was not clear to any viewers, the actual writer appears in the last episode to literally insert herself as Gene, and Gene & Sib indulge in insipid and stereotypical fantasies (although there's one that's dark but funny).

Gene's father has a small but important role, and Nu's performance was perfect - but his character's motivation was so baffling and stupid that it was a waste of a fine actor.

Aoey was the only person who acted like a real human being. A damaged and complicated human being, but at least a realistic person. Bruce deserves credit for breathing life and even some sympathy into what could have been a cardboard-cutout antagonist.

The plot is incoherent. In nearly the first half of the series, Sib hides who he really is for absolutely no reason whatsoever, because if he'd just told the truth he would have been extremely well-received. Gene's reaction when he discovers the deception is so OTT given how trivial it is, and if his reaction was that negative, he sure gets over it incredibly fast.

There's the usual Ep 11 drama, which is totally artificial, makes no sense, and has viritually no importance to the story, as there's a 4-month time-jump and it's more or less hand-waved away for the finale, instead of showing us the consequences of the drama and how the characters process it. But again, because Gene is just the writer inserting herself, and Sib is only there to want her, she has no interest in that. Sib relentlessly pursued Gene, until he didn't, until he did. There's no consistency to the character. I can't give away details, but you will say "WTF?" when the final episode starts. The plot crawled along at a snail's pace for the entire series, then a huge amount happens between the penultimate and last episodes, and we get to see none of it - we have no idea what any of the characters were doing that whole time, especially Sib.

The 11th ep drama itself is completely ridiculous. All they need to do in the situation presented is tell the truth about how they know each other, and it explains everything and would have satisfied everyone. Instead they do something totally unnecessary that makes no sense.

Also there are no stakes. Gene is extremely wealthy (Gene is 25 and he owns two residences, one of which is a large house. His parents live in a giant mansion that has an entrance so grand you're not sure if it's a hotel or a house.) Sib is even more wealthy. So both of them could be blacklisted by the BL industry and the worst thing that would happen to them is they'd have to choose which of their mansions to retire to to sulk. So the entire plot is meaningless. Whatever they do, they're set for life. I know Gene wants to be self-reliant, but he's already a successful author and he'll still be able to write. Sib is a college student and can go into any career he wants.

There are many, many characters that serve no purpose in the plot and just chew up time. Among these are Tum and Tiffy, who at first are intriguing, but quickly become tiresome (although I'm totally obsessed with Ken, who plays Tum), and there's never any resolution. Mork seems to have an intriguing history with one of the main characters, but it's never explored and then he disappears. Gene's brother has a mysterious conversation with Sib's brother, but nothing happens with that either (I love Poppy, but his character was a waste of time).

Even if you love this series, I don't think you'll like the ending - you may even be upset by it.

Finally, the show pretends to examine some of the darker aspects of the BL industry, but it doesn't. The tiny bit present (fanatical shippers of the real-life people) is merely a plot device, and when it has served its purpose, it's never mentioned again. Real BL actors need the money and have no choice but to go along with the machine. Sib doesn't, and doesn't even care about being an actor, so nothing matters, and Gene isn't an actor to begin with, so again, none of it matters.

Despite it's purported critique, the series is utterly formulaic & predictable and loaded with tropes. Gene is an extreme uke, totally useless without a seme to guide and protect him. Sib is an extreme Seme, who guides and protects Gene 24/7. He even has the power to teleport to whever Gene is to save him whenever the plot calls for it.

The first couple of eps are so loaded with silly sound effects that I had to turn off the volume and just read the subtitles. Fortunately, it stops after the first couple of eps. I think that was supposed to be parody, but it was just intensely annoying.

I think it's time to retire the expedient of adapting mediocre and formulaic novels, or at least there's a need for more skillful adaptation of the written medium into the visual. In any case, this was a missed opportunity for what could have been a great series. I wouldn't watch it again, but a lot of people liked it, and maybe you will too, so I have no recommendation. Just be aware that it starts as a comedy and ends as a very standard drama-romance.

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PLOT: Old-school and well-presented, but ultimately unengaging
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Let me start by saying that I struggled to watch this drama as it aired, though I paced myself as best I could. This drama was weird to experience for me. Although I finished it the day the last episode came out, I did so without any joy (much to my disappointment).

On paper, the show should've been right up my alley. You get three strong female leads, supported by male leads who never steal their limelight, up against a threatening enemy who really hurt two of our protagonists... Yet, the story fell flat for me. I found myself easily distracted. As a result, one-hour episodes took me almost three hours to finish.

Technically speaking, the main plot was well structured even if predictable and most questions were properly answered. Of course, there were also some subplots introduced at odd places and dealt with a bit offhandedly (like the bullying, for example) which we can mark as flaws.

However, it was evident from the start, that this show required effort and patience for me to sit through. I found the humor a bit too silly and the plot a bit too boring. I thought I'd get into it as the story progressed, but I was wrong. I felt the show couldn't commit to a tone and therefore I didn't find my footing as an audience.

Perhaps I watched this show when I was simply not in the mood for this type of drama? Or maybe this type of drama is simply not for me? At any rate, one thing is for sure, if you aren't enjoying this show by episode 3 or 4, chances are that --like me-- you won't enjoy the rest.

MAIN CHARACTERS: Not very deep
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Although I appreciated this show focused on three female leads, they were still not fleshed-out enough for me to perceive them as more than a caricature. Don't get me wrong, there were moments where I thought I'd empathized with them (and I should've!) but there was a disconnect for me between what I was being shown and the acting. That meant that when characters cried, I wasn't moved.

Baek Chan Mi: She's a badass lady who is obsessed with her job and, within that, revenge. While I appreciated all the badass fighting scenes she starred in, I often found myself distracted by her acting. Partly because my brain kept telling me there was something strange with her face (surgery, I supposed) but mostly because I simply couldn't connect with her in any scene.

Im Ye Eun: She's the team's rookie, a single mom without a family who struggles to step up to the plate and help out her teammates. I liked her character but felt she lacked dimension. She was nice and smart, but she wasn't memorable. I expected her to grow even more confident, but I don't think she did at all.

Hwang Mi Soon: she's the oldest of the team, the breadwinner of her family who has to pretend she has a regular job. Although she was often used as comic relief, her acting stood out to me. I found myself feeling a bit bad during her moments of vulnerability. Unfortunately, her issues were a very small part of the plot.

SUPPORT CHARACTERS: forgettable
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The support characters were forgettable, really. The only one I found charming was Byun Woo Suk, the ML's secretary. He got a bit of development towards the end of the show and those flashbacks made me wished we'd gotten more scenes between him and Yoon Suk Ho (the ML).

PORTRAYAL OF ROMANCE: childish, but a bit toxic
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There are three romantic relationships depicted in the drama, each pertaining to one of our leading ladies.

Baek Chan Mi X Yoon Suk Ho: their relationship relied on their childhood connection. Chan Mi used to be Suk Ho's tutor and childhood friend. This relationship has the most screentime and development, mostly through flashbacks provided through the epilogues. Although the romance is mostly sweet, I found it a bit boring. Towards the end, however, there are some questionable scenes where Suk Ho takes control of the relationship which didn't settle all that well with me. Let's just say possessiveness shouldn't be confused with confidence, less so with love.

Im Ye Eun x Gang Woo Won: take the following with a grain of salt, as this relationship was popular based on the comment section of the show at the time this aired. That said, I didn't like it. Woo Won can be described as a man child, one who often gaslighted and manipulated Ye Eun to get her to do his bidding. I'm not a fan of characters who are incapable of accepting their emotions (emotionally incompetent, if you will), and even less of those who push their emotions on someone else. Though I'd hope Woo Won would grow as a character, the truth is... he didn't. But then again, none of the characters really grew, so no surprise there.

Hwang Mi Soon x Nam Bong Man (I had to look up his name, and I'm assuming I'm right and this guy was Mi Soon's husband. Please correct me if I'm wrong). Anyhow, this relationship was depicted as realistic but... problematic. Mi Soon never seemed happy to be with her husband and when he started to suspect she may be having an affair, the entire thing was treated as a joke. So, naturally, I disliked that the issue was never really brought up or talked about.

OVERALL: On the fence...
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This is the first time that I struggle with putting my thoughts on paper. I opted to write a review rather than leave a comment so I could try, as much as I could, to give a snapshot of how I feel about this show.

Though I didn't like it, I can't easily encourage you to skip it. Based on the comment section, I may be in the minority (and trapped in the twilight zone) when it comes to this drama. I can safely say I didn't hate it... but I also didn't enjoy watching it (from the first episode to the last, my indifference remained).

Why did I continue to watch, you may ask? Because I WANTED to like it, given so few dramas have more than one female character in their roasters, let alone acting as their leads! I gave this show a chance and I don't regret it, though a month from now, I'll probably not even remember this story, the characters or the acting.

So my best and only advice would be to watch the first 3-4 episodes and see if you liked them. If you're engaged by then, you'll probably enjoy the rest of the show. If, however, you found them boring or found the humor lacking, then you may be better off skipping this one.

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