Reviews

Go in with low expectations and you will be pleasantly surprised. This drama is a relatively light watch that is easy on the eyes and ears.

As someone who hasn’t read the source material I can’t really comment on how this drama lines up. It did well to get so far with a limited amount of plot. At times the writing feels a little awkward but not enough to stop watching.

I liked that compared to the Japanese movie the main couple were closer in age and by the end So Rim was an adult.

The cast were very attractive and did surprisingly well with the script they were given.
I didn’t feel that there was much chemistry between the two leads, fortunately the friendships within the bands and the secondary couple make up for this.

The most enjoyable part of this drama is the music and the relationships between the characters. I found the songs would get stuck in my head for a few days after watching.

All in all a reasonably enjoyable show to watch with catchy tunes.

Leia Mais

Not bad, but why bother?

This film wasn’t bad if taken on its own. But it hewed so closely to the very good Japanese original that it was impossible to avoid making comparisons and that is where it falls far short. In particular:

• The pacing was off. This remake was too slow in places where it should have moved faster and too fast in places where it should have slowed down. The net result was to rest emotional resonance (not that it wasn’t plenty emotional, just not nearly as much as the original).
• That acting (particularly the leads) was noticeably inferior.
• We got a very washed-out version of one of my favorite characters (the FL's best friend).
• The original benefited greatly from being told primarily from the point of view of the FL. In switching much of the attention to the ML, they miss out on some of the best parts of the story,.
• Neither the overall production nor the OST were as good.

But despite all these criticisms, I did enjoy watching this remake as a way to pass the time.

Leia Mais

I don't get all the negativity about the movie...

It reminded me so much of Lure of the Wolves with a clash of the Classic and the old school Korean movies I watched and fell in love with.
The chemistry was amazing and everyone played their part really well...

I guess people who has not seen movies of the early 2000's will not appreciate it as much as I absolutely love it.

You could compare it to Sunny, it had the same emotional pull but a little more fun in the story.

~STORY~
...was really simple. It wasn't complicated at all, no twists and turns. It made me question if what I think was going to happen was really going to happen in some parts but I'm not complaining...it's all fun parts for me.

~ACTING~
LJS needs to be a comedian... he was just hilarious but his actions were also very heartwarming.

The rest were really great too. They were so believable.
KYK was such a heart broken bad ass.
I already knew PBY was great but her cold character without being cutesy is really daebak.
LSY had very few lines but her acting as a~meek~sheep~with~all~the~crazy~inside was believable.
Everyone was amazing and their chemistry was just great.

There's a lot of comments about the cursing but I liked it because it gave the feel of the reality of the era in that area.

~MUSIC~
Brought me back all those Sundays my dad would turn up the radio...nostalgia at it's highest.

~~~~RE-WATCH~~~~
D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y!!!

Watch the movie with an open mind and I suggest not to think too much. It's not the kind of movie that requires you to think but just simply enjoy.

Leia Mais

What I loved:
ACTING: Every single actor, either main, secondary or guest did an excellent job. I don't need to mention that the two main leads, Park Seo Joon, and Ahn Sung Ki were mindblowing. The emotions that they portrayed through their facial expressions, the feeling showing through the eyes, the warm budding relationship of these two characters and every single time they shared the screen, it was magic. I was completely floored by the child actor, Jung Ji Hoon, too.

What I didn't love:

PLOT: Park Seo Joon's character continues to rave and hate God throughout the movie, till the bit before the end where he rushes into the church to yell at God, and yet he is selected to become this harbringer of so-called divine fury because his dad said so? Really? He shows no particular religious feeling, no actual connection with God, and seems to have taken on the role of an exorcist's disciple simply because he somehow chanced upon an exorcism. I suppose the most that you can say about it is that he doesn't like ignoring people who are in pain or who need him, but honestly that wasn't well-developed and I wish the director had pursued that more.

THE HERO: Needed more character development! Everything is rushed; his relationship with his dad and with Father Ahn. He also seems to lack a clear motive, at least in my opinion. He's pretty much lost in his life during the pre-Father Ahn years, but afterwards, what motivates him to suddenly jump into exorcism? Is there a clear reconciliation between him and God? Would he have continued on this path had Father Ahn died? I think what the movie needed was a powerful moment where he witnesses people who lose loved ones and still continue to have faith in God, or who still smile. There was just something missing in this character that I can't seem to put exactly in words.

THE VILLAIN: My biggest disappointment is the fact that the villain is just this bland evil guy who is evil for the sake of it. There's no background, no motives, no depth at all. He just worships his Snake Lord for the sake of immortality but boy, what you gonna do with your eternal life? Party away in that club of yours? Heck, Doctor Faustus had a better motive than you, though he was pretty stupid too. There was just so much potential and room here and it was a big let-down.

THE ENDING: Everybody lives happily ever after. Ew.

Leia Mais

A suuuper long review coming up, brace yourselves... XD

This drama was the biggest disappointment of 2013. I started watching it because of all the hype around it and for the first two episodes, I was actually really excited. However, it soon became evident that this drama was not going to live up to the expectations that I held.

The very first sign of the drama going seriously downhill was LA. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely city but the way Americans were portrayed was just painful. Yeah, I'm sure those kind of people exist in the USA, just like they do everywhere else in this world, but do they really need to rely so heavily on a couple of stereotypes they've picked up from American TV-shows? Ah, you might argue that this all builds up to the story and Kim Tan's character. But it doesn't. When Kim Tan goes back to Korea, he is completely different from his image in the US. He doesn't do drugs or drink or party or have sex with random girls... like seriously, where did that come from?

Plotwise the LA. sequence is also pretty irrelevant. Kim Tan and Chan Eun Sang could have easily met elsewhere and it would have worked just as well. They could have met in China or Japan or in, I don't know... Korea? Had they met in another Asian country, we wouldn't have had to hear that horrible, unrealistic English that was just another pain in the butt while watching. I feel like they included the LA. sequence to emphasize the luxurious lifestyle or coolness or credibility of the "rich kids", but quite frankly it did the exact opposite.

The next thing that had me doubting the show was Cha Eun Sang. She is by far, the worst character that I've ever seen in a Korean drama. I'm not hating on Park Shin Hye, she's just doing what's on the script, which is nothing more or less than crying about everything as if she was the most antagonized person in the world. The only thing she knows how to do is run away when things start going wrong, instead of fighting for herself. The only good part about this character were the short, very rare moments that she had Bona jealous over Chanyoung and somehow managed to turn that into her own advantage. All in all, I don't understand why two guys as hot and rich and popular as Kim Tan and Choi Young Do would ever waste their time courting her.

Kim Tan's character was also disappointing. Pretty much everything he does during the drama falls under one of these categories: 1. Declare your love for Cha Eun Sang 2. Pick a fight with Young Do. 3. Follow your brother around like a lost puppy. There isn't anything specifically wrong about him, but neither is there anything interesting in this character.

With all this being said about the two main characters, it is no wonder that I found myself more interested in their mothers than their own relationship. Tan's mother and Eun Sang's mother portray one of the sweetest friendships that's ever been seen in a drama. They bicker a lot and in the beginning seem to hate each other but it's actually shown in the end that they can't quite manage without each other. Their relationship was heartwarming.

The plot of the drama is very plain. When I read the summary for the first time, I was expecting to see some hardcore drama relating to business and possible corruption and political involvement and whatnot because come on, it's called "The Heirs", shouldn't it be a relevant part of the plot? Turns out, that no, no it doesn't. The drama relies on clichés and clichés only. There is the setting of poor girl and rich guy, bullying, teacher-student relationship, wrist grabbing, controlling and money-obsessed father, a "rich bitch", arranged marriage and banishment of the main character. There are too many "emotional" staring moments and not enough action. It's a bad baggage.

The music for the drama was good but I had to dock a few marks off it for a reason that I think everyone can guess. Love is the moment. That line double-ruined so many already ruined moments in the drama for me that I can't read a sentence with the words "The Heirs" and "OST" without cracking up laughing. The song is good, but they abused it and in all the wrong moments.

Now for the reasons that you should watch this drama. There aren't that many. Number 1: cast. Yes, the cast for the drama is great. Lee Min Ho, Park Shin Hye, Kim Woo Bin and Kim Ji Won are all promising young actors although I must say that Lee Min Ho disappointed me here. Maybe it was the character, but he's done better. But Kim Woo Bin and Kim Ji Won are amazing in their roles are Young Do and Rachel. There's Minhyuk, Hyungsik and Krystal representing idols and the ever-so-sexy Kang Ha Neul and Choi Jin Hyuk who make it that much easier to watch. If you're looking for reasons to watch, the cast is one of the only ones.

Other reasons to watch are Choi Young Do and Yoo Rachel. They are the two characters that bring us at least some kind of drama. We all knew this about Woo Bin already but once again he proved that he really is a great actor (much better than Min Ho, sorry). Although the character that he plays is fairly complicating, he captures the dimensions well. Young Do's character was pleasant to follow from the beginning to the end. Ji Won also proved herself for me in this drama. Previously I doubted her skills but as Rachel she was very convincing and actually grew to be my favorite character of the entire drama. Although there is little character development, at least the amount that we see is entertaining and she seems like a believable person.

The final reason to watch this drama are Lee Bona (Krystal) and Yoon Chanyoung (Minhyuk). They are the cutest couple you're going to find. Krystal definitely acts very exaggeratedly but she is cute and fun to watch and her interaction with Chanyoung is just adorable. Bona is also definitely the kindest of the characters, in her own special way. Also, thank you Krystal for saving the English in this drama!

So my final verdict is that The Heirs is not a drama worth watching. Obviously if you're a fan of some of the main actors you should (maybe) give it a go but otherwise, don't waste your time. I give this drama the total of 4/10. 1 point for Bona and Chanyoung, 1 point for Rachel and 2 for Young Do.

Leia Mais

I love Sang Ha, I do, but this was painfully mediocre.

My biggest problem was how Sang Ha's story and the romance were disconnected. They felt like two different shows. We had fun comedy and fluff between main leads, and punches and threats with debt collectors. Both put next to each other just didn't click well, since they almost always were presented separately.

The characters were also quite a mess. Sang Ha and Jin Woo had both half a brain cell that they must have shared. The bad guys told you they will ruin Jin Won's chance to win by throwing water at him? You tell Jin Won about it. It's that simple. It's not like his debt was a secret. They could have easily prevented it from happening, without Sang Ha going after first place (good for him tho). Why did he even cut contact with Jin Won after the marathon? His whole logic for winning and paying the debt was to protect Jin Won and be able to keep running with him (as he "passionately" screamed at his face in the last episode)... but then he just left? LoGiC.

Jin Won with the whole "go buy yourself proper new running shoes" when Sang Ha already told him he is running early mornings to deliver milk, because he ain't got money, but he needs to pay the debt. Something didn't click right in Jin Won's brain I guess. Not to mention that punch in the last episode. WHERE THE HECK IT CAME FROM? Not once they hinted that Jin Won might be a one to react aggressively with physical force. And here he is punching a kid in the face. This is called bad writing, ladies and gentlemen.

The debt storyline was truly the worst part that ruined the whole show for me. Why they couldn't keep it simple with a sweet romance is beyond me. The debt collectors went from punching the kid in the face, to crying when he finally paid it off, giving some bullshit, out of place, emotional reaction. Not to mention, apparently in Korea, when your parents die when you are in middle school, you don't go to an orphanage or foster family. You are left alone to deal with it... Go figure

It had some cute moments, I'm not gonna lie, but instead of watching the whole show, you could watch the highlights on youtube. Even the last scene had to be ruined by making them run in semi formal clothes ON A DATE. We get it, they are runners. Damn the writers... Why?

Get rid of the debt angst story, use the few minutes you gained to develop the relationship a bit more, and it would be easily 9/10 for me.

Leia Mais

Worst GMM BL and that's saying something

This review is a personal opinion. It is not meant to sway or discourage anyone from watching this series.

I didn't think GMM could top the travesty that was 2gether...but TonhonCholatee makes 2gether look like it deserved an EMMY.

Who thought this was a great idea to put on the screen? These actors deserve better. I'm beginning to believe what some actors have "shaded" about GMM...how they don't know how to capitalize on some of their actors and instead gives them very little or crappy work.

This was TRASH...

All of the problematic topics were handled like crap. The script was weak, the soundtrack boring, the scenery lacking. There wasn't anything redeeming about this trash show.

Sorry...it's 2021...BLs have to evolve and some fans need to stop accepting these crappy shows.


HOLY SMOKEs...How did I manage to watch this for this long?

Leia Mais

THERES NOTHING PEACHY ABOUT THIS TRAP

We as viewers are trapped, but no theres nothing peachy about it.

First of all, i am confused about the title. Being peachy means being good so does that mean its a good trap or are they being stucked in a good way? Or is it maybe implying something deeper meaning like homosexualilty since its not a concidence that this is a BL drama.

The first episode was rousing and intriguing. 3 seme guys are fighting over the obviously uke Doha. It has the mystery solving vibe to find out who kissed DoHa and who will win his heart. Except it is very obvious from the opening credits and the amount of screentime who will win in the end.

You realized after 3 episodes that this show is just running circles and going nowhere. Doha's charm quickly fizzled as we find out more (or lack thereof) and that he is just a 16 year old stucked in a 27 year old body. Like how conservative is Korea for them to pull this modus on us to make ius believe that this is a 27 year old guy's first kiss, and all these 4 guys are acting as if this is all their first time to date (or pursue someone) ever. The plot is perfect if the setting is in college or high school - but super stupid in the adult world.

I also really dont understand Korea's insistence of pushing a movie-length content and dividing it in 8 short episodes. The weekly wait just makes it annoying and what could have palatable as movie becomes so bland and underdeveloped as a series. Thisi s basically a short story overly stretchd to fit the 8 episode order.

Would i recommend? Not particularly, not unless you have gazillions of free time or if you need some background movie while cooking.
Would i rewatch? Hell no.

i do however think we'd see more of Lee Do Han as a leading man in the future.

Overall the series is a 6.5 for me.

Leia Mais

It's an okay masterpiece

Note: The title needs quotes around the word "masterpiece" but the system wouldn't allow me.

Before deciding to watch this drama, I came here to get an initial feeling of what this drama might be like. To my surprise, most reviews here were calling this a masterpiece and a must watch so I immediately went to watch it. I have just finished it and I have no idea if those revieweres were watching the same drama I did -- it's not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, in my opinion.

The story is really good. The music is good too, it didn't stand out to me as either great or terrible which is good. The cast is really nice too. The cinematography is really well done! Sadly, that's where the positives end.

The direction of this drama is not great. Too many episodes for what it ended up delivering. The characters are almost 2 dimensional as they make decisions that sometime seem random or make no sense. There's romance but sadly I didn't care for it one bit and I was not convinced of how and why the leads loved each other.

This drama could've been at least 8 episodes shorter! There are plenty of wasted "prolonged" scenes of characters just seemingly staring at each other as if the actors were trying to remember the next line. Some scenes were completely useless and added nothing of value; just fodder to pad this show.

The important bits were not given focus -- be it the characters or the political story. I do enjoy a good slow burner, with "good" being the operative word here. This drama overstayed its welcome and to be honest, I was bored for 99% (hyperbole) of the time I was watching it. I could not give it attention as I had the urge to fast forward past the useless scenes. My partner kept me from doing that and while she liked it more than I did, she still found it needlessly padded and slow.

I get the reason it's slow is to immerse people into the world and the characters and that the nature of political events unravelling is usually slow but this was needlessly slow. If there was a criteria for direction, I would've given it a 1.

Want a similar story with a far better pace? Watch Bridal Mask.

Leia Mais

Watching This Drama Truly Is Like Rolling A Stone Down A Hill, Then Being Crushed By It...

Upon paper, screenwriters Jeon Chan Ho ( Fates and Furies) and Lee Jae In ( Fates and Furies) ‘s “Sisyphus The Myth “ is a masterpiece work filled with intriguing ideologies of time, science-fiction and an array of intriguing characters and concepts .However, the series often fell short of logic and characterisation over the course of the
storyline.

Before addressing the issues surrounding the show, it is important to establish that the main cast consisting principally of Cho Seung Woo , Kim Byung Chul, Tae In Ho ( playing Tae Sook’s mysterious friend and co-founder of their group, Eddy Kim) , Chae Jong Hyeop ( performing as the restaurant delivery man Choi Jae Sun who befriends Seo-hae) , Jung Hye Jin ( Kim Seo Jin), Kim Jong Tae ( Seo Hae’s father; Kang Dong Gi ) and Park Shin Hye were fairly good within their performances . On the other hand, questionable dialogue exchanges and the characterisation often demeaned the quality of screenwriting.

The premise itself is fairly straightforward; Han Tae-sool (Cho Seung-woo), a brilliant engineer, will invent a time-travel machine in the near future, however, something terrible happened afterwards which caused terrible events to occur .

For time travellers seeking sanction from this dystopian future, they travel back en mass to the era before Tae-Sool invented this revolutionary machine as a “ safe place” .One of those immigrants is Kang Seo-hae (Park Shin-hye), a mysterious girl who seems to have an undeniable link to Tae-Sool, however, Seo-Hae faces her own conflicts in the meantime between being chased after the mysterious “ men in black” of the drama, the DEA -who capture and contain time travellers under the guise working for the government’s “ Immigration Control Unit”. Meanwhile, Tae-Sool becomes interested in the fate of his seemingly deceased brother which leads him down a rabbit hole of danger and mystery as well as leading him to meeting Seo-Hae. As Seo-Hae and Tae-Sool’s lives become more interconnected, the two soon begin to realise their feelings for one another, as they fight against a seemingly inevitable future.

Wherever the show’s dilemmas manifested themselves, the main source of the problem manifested with one thing prominently ; the writing. It is fair to say that “ Sisyphus; The Myth” attempts to have it both ways; an engaging time-travel story with fast-paced action, and a complicated love story between its main protagonists.

Characters were often enforced into scenarios which made little sense within their individual circumstances . For example, illegal future immigrant broker Park Hyeong-do (Sung Dong-il) gets an -out -of character backstory as well as a shocking revelation in the final episode, that was simply illogical. Even our main protagonists Tae-sool and Seo-Hae were often shoehorned into scenarios which made little sense , reducing them to become nothing more than plot mechanisms against their more intriguing individual personalities and intriguing backstories ( which felt fairly underdeveloped).

Whilst the show attempted to rig emotions between the two main protagonists in their sudden epiphany around the halfway point that “ we like one another against all odds of our circumstances”, the cataclysmic writing underpinning their relationship made theirs arguably one of the least convincing and forgettable romantic pairings of recent years .In addition to this, there’s also the other issue regarding the actual laws of time-travel. Sisyphus; The Myth” is independent from its predecessors time-travel takes in Korean film and TV by focusing upon the actual concept of time travel, rather than choosing the wrinkle-in-time concept, in which characters from two different timelines coexist, come up time and again.

However, time-travel stories can soon become a Gordian knot ( pun intended) of tangled logic and interest very quickly, something which soon became prominent in the series . The screenwriters of “Sisyphus” added different rules throughout, only to consistently break them and toss logic out of the window , as well as new technologies or magical drugs which delivered anti-climatic scenarios to seemingly impossible problems.

Admittedly when the drama entered its second-half and introduced viewers to the main antagonist , Sigma (Kim Byung-chul), the show did undeniably shift towards becoming more focalised upon the theme of time-travel, however, as a result of this , the show’s weaknesses overall quickly began to rise to prominence also.
The halfway point resulted in the direction of plot and the ideology of time travel feeling more like a storyline filler and an excuse for for high-budget extravaganza scenes, often with little serving purpose than to make viewers squeal with excitement at eye-popping CGI and distract attention away from more notable flaws .

Admittedly, the series against all odds was fairly engaging within certain sold set pieces and storylines . Park In Hye’s fight scenes helped to make the show entertaining . However, whilst the myriads of goons of the nefarious control centre featured prominently, this scenario soon became repetitive and formulaic; the duo would face a problem, they would be surrounded and Tae-sool’s on-the-spot science to get out of close scrapes (never held up to scrutiny), whilst Seo-Hae’s Laura-Croft-Style combat scenes would help to save the day also.

As the gimmicks became less and less inventive, these concepts soon died off completely and therefore resulting in numerous action scenes being tapered off entirely . Several episodes towards the end of the show featured no set pieces at all and the control centre disappeared completely , with several major characters not featuring in the finale ( with few reasons given) . Additionally , whilst the ending was “ bittersweet”, it felt inherently poorly-written and the epitome of a classic deus ex machina ; a lazing, anticlimactic ending which created hare-brained and problems towards time paradoxes .

Whilst “ Sisyphus; The Myth” had an intriguing premise, a high budget and an ensemble of a talented actors at its disposal, not even top notch actors such as Park Shin Hye and Cho Seung-Woo could truly save the series from its own demise of abandoned logic, poorly-written characters and relationships, as well as the ineffable disappearances of main characters over the course of the series and a lazy ending also.Another classic example of the recent trend of high-budget science-fiction and action throwaway extravaganzas such as “ Alice” and “ RUGAL” with intriguing premises, yet truly lacking well-written and memorable storylines. Worth binge-watching to waste time with little else to do, yet certainly not worth investing genuine time towards.

Leia Mais

The Third Charm wasn't that bad. In fact I find this genuinely refreshing and an eye opener at some instances. This drama is easy to be misunderstood because you'll need to take a closer look to the characters and the messages it want to convey before totally understanding them. What separates Young Jae and Joon Young was their differences. During each other's absense, that's when they started understanding each other, they met again everytime they've come to that realization. The ending was left open and that was one of the kind of endings viewers hate but if we'll take a wider look, that's actually how "The Third Charm" works. Young Jae and Joon Young finally understand each other, them walking the same paths at the ending represents it. This drama had many symbolisms and if ignored, will cause more misunderstanding of its intention. I find the ending amusing, because Joon Young ends up being successful in his career (which is Young Jae's dream) and Young Jae ends up working on a local salon near her loved ones (representing how Joon Young originally wanted to live a normal and quiet life).

I also find the representation of the four seasons in our leads' life very effective. SPRING which is the beginning, SUMMER, a joyous and active season, AUTUMN, the transition and closer approach to end, and WINTER, the season where it's the coldest and we seek comfort and warmth to others, also where we prepare to start again.

There are some instances where the characters' motives and decisions were questionable and confusing, particularly Young Jae. That's one of the downhills of the drama, you'll have to sit through and wait a week after feeling frustrated and confused. This drama is probably better to binge-watch. The music pieces were also brilliant and the songs were catchy. Mature and outstanding performances to all the casts, especially our leads Seo Kang Joon and Esom. Overall, I believe this is a well-thought and well-written drama, but is very easy to misunderstood given that the setting and ending is quite different from your typical Kdramas.

Leia Mais

unexpectedly dark for a lighthearted romcom

Overall: I was okay with this as a 'turn your brain off' romcom, but then there was an extremely dark plot line (also zero consequences for a trash character?!?) and the plot ran around in circles (definitely could have been 8 episodes instead of 12). I'm rating this more harshly because GMMTV has the money and experience to make an excellent series. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed with this one. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube channel. Later re-aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40373c-a-boss-and-a-babe

Content Warnings: past rape for 3 years involving a child/step parent, past suicide, mental health struggles, non con/dub con touching, homophobia, fight/beaten up, non con picture taking/posting, unwanted public outing

What I Liked
- good friendship dynamics (and that they raised the difficulty of the boss/employee romantic dynamic)
- Yacht with his blue hair
- the established couple is adorable (but they didn't get enough screen time nor a plot)
- addressing mental health struggles (except that Cher should not have talked about Jack without Jack's prior approval and they also made it seem like everyone was happy that Jack stopped taking medication when in reality as I understand it medication is something to be taken as a management strategy, it's not a long term cure)
- a supportive ex
- neutral, comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- this was oddly very dark, I think they still could have had some serious parts (focusing on the mental health struggles as an example), but it almost felt disrespectful to have the rest be a light romcom, I'm not sure how to explain this but I didn't like the combo of extremely serious plot with silly plot
- lack of consequences for a trash character and instant forgiveness for the mom
- Thup, there are things that even if your loved one says you should keep secret that you don't keep secret and tell the authorities/school personnel and what was going on was one of those things. Thup wasn't a young child, he should have been around 12 to 15 when this was happening and then afterwards to let rumors circulate about Cher, he did not seek justice for his sibling and he had the gall to blame Cher....ugh
- paper thin plot that went around in circles
- cliche poor communication with fully grown adults, Cher's totally stupid "plan" in episode 11
- consent problems: there were some things they did really well but there was also poor consent including Cher ignoring Gun's physical boundaries in the beginning, Gun locking Cher in his car, "if you don't let me touch you I'll kiss you instead"
- I realize they were going for comedy, but many jokes didn't make me laugh
- Gun letting Cher be jealous for his own entertainment instead of clearing up the miscommunication
- nonsense things (we won't get into the hr headache this would be in reality), Cher is never shown to be doing anything with his ASMR channel, we barely see him gaming
- the cringey title

Leia Mais

Melodramatic and cliché-ridden

It was honestly difficult to rate this drama. On the one hand acting performances were top tier and the cinematography was wonderful. On the other hand the script and plot devices were frustratingly poor and predictable. So, I'll start with recalling some of the positives about "First Love." I have to give credit to the amazing acting of the female lead actress Mitsushima Hikari. She plays the adult version of the character Yae and I thought her performance was very convincing and well done. She acted with her eyes and facial expressions without needing a word of dialogue to convey what her character was thinking and going through. A highlight is the scene where Yae gives her son away and is crying on the road. That scene broke me and felt so real. Another great acting performance was that of the young Harumichi played by Kido Taisei. I thought the actor stole every scene he was in. He was very charismatic and multifaceted. He brought a teen and young adult Harumichi to life. Another plus, was frankly how this drama was beautiful to look at. The way color, lighting, and scenic details were used made for a pleasing experience to the eyes.

Now on to the things that made me rate this drama a 6.5.
To start, I could understand that this drama is based on a ballad "First Love" from 1999 and is clearly inspired by the melodrama romances of that era including Majo no Jouken, which interestingly enough used the song First love as it's theme. Also, I see the Taiwanese drama Autumn's Concerto as a possible influence as well. That's all fine and good, except First love 2022 incorporates all the hair splitting frustrating cliches of that bygone time and combines it into a mess of inconsistencies and plot driven narratives. And like a lot of 90s-00s melodramas, First Love starts off with promise and leaves viewers hooked only to fall flat on its face midway through. Like some reviews already covered, the tired old amnesia cliche is used as a plot device to separate our main leads. We also have the villain parent(s) that purposely keeps the young lovebirds apart, ruining their lives in the process. Very annoying! Yae gets amnesia and conveniently doesn't remember Harumichi at all. Her friend visits and even mentions him to her yet Yae never looks him up or investigates further. Yae's mother sees how her daughter is suffering for years and never tells her the truth. There were several moments that the mom made me want to punch my fist in a wall. The perfect time for Yae's mom to tell her the truth was when Yae gave up her son to her divorced husband. At this point the marriage and rich lifestyle the mother wanted for her daughter had failed so why not confess to Yae about her lost first love? In fact why was anyone keeping Yae's past from her, including the adult Harumichi? All these poor writing choices found in the worst melodramas like this one is to keep the main couple apart for as long as possible and make unnecessary events come between them. It's supposed to make for a powerful epic reunion of the lovers, but often it just results in an anticlimactic ending where viewers like myself forget to care.

Some bonus nit picks and wtfs:
*5th episode sex scene. Graphic and ill fitting for a romantic love story. Ml has sex with a random, has another scene where he gets physical with a gf, and Yae gets no intimate scenes at all. Did she have an immaculate conception or what lol.
*Harumichi's sister randomly tells Yae that her brother breastfed until 3rd grade and was addicted to pornos spending a whopping amount on AV tapes. Later in the timeline, Harumichi offers some of these porno tapes to Yae's 14 yr old son, yikes!
*Episode 8 where Harumichi just up and leaves Yae permanently and moves out of the country. Yae confessed that she loved him and he had already broke up with his fiancee. So wtf. Again, the show threw sense out the window for an "epic" reunion.
*Adult Harumichi cheated with his fiancee by kissing and flirting with Yae. What a swell guy.
*The time line issue. The first past timeline is supposed to be in the late 90s but things don't add up, such as "First love" the album and song came out April 1999. The CD is seen on display at a music store at the end of the first episode as if it's just been released making the year 99. Yet, teen Yae and Harumichi go to the theater to watch Titanic, came out in 1997 or Armageddon, which came out in 1998. I doubt these movies were still playing in Japanese theaters in 1999. Also, the CD player and earbuds used in the show look like a later model than what existed in the late 90s. Several other time period inaccuracies are present if you notice them.

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Promising premise but struggles to deliver on its potential.

Marry My Husband tried to juggle three major themes: revenge, romance, and extramarital affairs.

It had a solid premise, with a compelling reason for revenge and an intriguing time-travel setup. Unfortunately, it was anchored by a protagonist who never truly embodied the weight of her second chance. After being cheated on, betrayed, and murdered, you'd expect her return to be driven by burning conviction, but that fire never really came through. There was very little conviction in her act. Her confrontations with the main antagonist lacked impact and often felt juvenile, stripping the narrative of the emotional tension needed for a good revenge arc. As a result, it was hard to empathise with her or feel genuinely invested in her journey. Her eventual "victory" felt more like a technicality than a satisfying payoff.

What's more telling is how Park Min Young’s character, despite enduring nearly every misfortune imaginable, seemed to lack the urgency and passion you would expect. Meanwhile, BoA’s character, who enters much later, reacted with extreme intensity over relatively smaller grievances, creating a jarring emotional imbalance. That contrast alone kind of sums up the show’s problem: strong concept, weak execution.

The romance… was dead. Dry. Lifeless. Bro, get this, our female lead had three love interests, and yet I felt zero chemistry. None. Nada. Missing in action. Both Park Min Young and Na In Woo came across like people who weren’t even interested in being in love for most of the show; which was fine at first, until the plot suddenly decided it wanted to focus on romance again.

The male lead just wasn’t it. His character was one-dimensional, sluggish, and painfully predictable every time he appeared. Watching him was a chore. His stoic demeanor, paired with the FL’s reserved personality, created no spark. Not even with time. If she had been laser-focused on revenge, I could’ve excused the lack of romance, but even that fire was missing.

When the drama suddenly pivoted to their “romance” in the second half, it felt like they were doing speed dating. Forced and sparkless. The one guy who looked like he could have been something, the charming chef, was friend-zoned almost immediately so she could go running back to her boring boss. Disappointing.

The affairs were probably the only aspect handled decently well, but even that, sadistically speaking, lacked the usual thrill the genre is known for. Most of the cheating happened out in the open or with full knowledge due to the plot structure, which seriously dulled the tension. But that’s exactly what makes an affair drama addictive. The secrecy, the sneaking around, the close calls, the mounting suspicions, and that delicious build-up to the inevitable “caught in the act” moment. Without that edge, it just felt tame and uninspired. Where was the scandalous thrill?

So what was Marry My Husband even trying to deliver? It felt frustratingly average across all three of its main themes: revenge, romance, and affairs. With so many lacklustre elements, I found it genuinely hard to stay engaged or emotionally invested. And then came episode 12… where everything truly unravelled. I’m serious... the truck didn’t just crash into Na In-woo. I was in that car too. The secondhand embarrassment I felt from watching that scene was unreal. From that point on, the drama went full cliche mode. Every single K-drama trope you can think of? It's there. Count them. Better yet, turn it into a bingo game, it might actually make those episodes bearable.

The show’s attempt to spice things up with a last-minute, cliche ridden final arc, led by a new but shallow antagonist, felt like a desperate move to create artificial stakes. All just to push the ML and FL through some "great adversity" and earn their fairytale ending. But it wasn’t earned. It was lazy, and it cheapened the entire show. Poor, poor writing there. Bleh.

I see a lot of viewers giving high scores for the music (ost)…what music bro..? Come on...

There’s been a lot of praise online for Park Min Young’s dedication to physically look the part in this drama, and sure, that effort is commendable. But for me, Marry My Husband only reinforced the fact that she’s still stuck in her typecast. This was supposed to be a revenge story about a woman given a second chance to rewrite her fate after being betrayed and murdered. But instead of embodying a revenger on a mission, PMY defaulted to the character she’s always played best: being that soft, delicate girlfriend that every guy wants to be overprotective of. Don’t get me wrong, she does that well, but this role demanded more. This could’ve been her "The Glory" moment, just like Song Hye Kyo, who shattered expectations and redefined her image with her performance. Sadly, PMY didn’t break out. She stayed safe, and the role suffered for it.

If we're talking true MVPs of Marry My Husband, look no further than Song Ha Yoon (the crazy BFF) and Lee Yi Kyung (the useless bum). Especially the former, she carried the show on her back. She was the only one who actually felt alive and kept the narrative moving. Her transformation throughout the drama was brilliantly executed, and she brought the intensity, suspense, and raw emotion that the lead sorely lacked. Song Ha Yoon absolutely ate that familiar toxic, gaslighting queen role; she delivered it with such conviction and chaos that I couldn’t look away. A truly 미친년 performance in the best way possible. She’s the main reason I stuck it out till the end.

Special shoutouts to Choi Gyu Ri (the sunshine sister), Gong Min Jung (quiet lady manager), and Ha Do Gwon (CEO's PA). Each of them brought something memorable and grounded to their roles. Minor characters done right.

All in all, Marry My Husband started with a promising premise but quickly fell into predictability. As the episodes went on, I found myself losing interest. It lacked the intensity, suspense, and emotional grip you'd expect from a revenge plot. While there were some solid individual performances, the overall lack of chemistry and emotional depth fell short, especially considering the heavy themes of grief, love, betrayal, and revenge. Nothing truly stood out or took command of the story. In the end, MMH felt average across the board. It became one of those dramas I continued watching simply to finish what I started, not because I was genuinely invested in where it was going.

Kudos to the final two episodes; they did have a tiny redemption arc by tying up loose ends neatly and giving what the viewers the closure they probably wanted. It was a somewhat decent finish, although it was predictable and felt cheap due to how the final arc played out.

(Writers, directors: for the love of God can we please stop it with the big truck/lorry crash into coma-will you wake up please I actually love you scenes anymore…..it’s 2024 there is more than 1 way to kill someone and send their other half into agony T.T)

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