Reviews

romanticizing toxic relationship for 36 episodes!!

I was rooting for this drama to be good, namely because Arthur Chen is in it. His other projects aren’t watchable for me as I’m waiting for Immortality… but for now I will watch this drama and take my crumbs here and there.

At first the drama was good, then good enough, and now it’s getting hard to watch. Simply because it is too long of a show for the narrative it has. And it’s a shame, because with the story it had potential.

One of the main things that really sends it home is that the main characters aren’t like able. Li Xun, played by Arthur Chen, has a lot of problems and acts rashly and behaves horribly to others around him without any conveniences. And the whole reason why? Well .. there is no explanation. You get half an episode (20 minutes) on his background to explain why he is closed off.. meanwhile you get full few episodes for plot points that don’t advance the story along at all. As for the story it’s hard to tell what it is, but it should’ve been wrapped up sooner.

The whole thing with their coding is hard to watch and boring because I know how coding works. I code, and they language they use may not be the same I do, but the story around the coding isn’t working. Arthur Chen is just good at is, there was no build up or reason why, and Zhu Yun is even worse. He keeps her by her side and she never has a chance to show her being good, she just picks up where he left off etc.

The show is pretty at times, but other than face value it isn’t great. The tonal shifts are so jarring, I don’t know why C-Dramas do this thing where the dynamic between the leads is so toxic but they play it off as charming. Li Xun is not charming, realistically no one would respect him with the way he is acting even if he is good at coding.. he’s got pretty privileged.

Now the kicker for me is the part I’m at where they just now introduce a childhood friend of Zhu Yin’s that took her own life.. and it’s tone deaf. It’s weird to me because they have a character that clearly has things to explain about his upbringing, but Zhu Yun- who has never had any moments building up or any recalling of this friend .. suddenly remembers? She is triggered for the sake of more episodes and I’d be fine with it if they didn’t have Li Xun’s character where they could have time to develop him. And at this point the drama is offensive when she tells another new character that he killed the girl, meanwhile mental issues like that shouldn’t be solely put on one person to blame, she is immature for that and I don’t like her for that. That behavior is so wrong and should’nt be portrayed as righteous. The guy who she pins it on wasn’t perfect, but you never blame someone for anyone’s death unless it’s murder. Mental issues are horribly misunderstood and it’s shameful.

I don’t hate the drama though. I just have issues with it because I’m sick of waiting for Arthur Chen’s Immortality to release because he put a lot of work into that also. This drama for him is on, he gets time to shine and recognition. Other than watching it for him I don’t recommend. Maybe for the hater to lover trope.. honestly watch something else for that. This is taking too long for these two and it can be over shorter and written better overall.


… update… they really are not having any redemption for this drama here. I am really at odds with all the amazing 10/10 reviews.

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Part 1 and Part 2 (updated)

Part 1: Payu and Rain
I have been waiting for this series to come out, and I'm thrilled to say my time was not wasted. MAME has delivered another hit as we've come to expect at this point. The scenery is as gorgeous as our young actors. This production company has a true talent for finding actors who have never been in a series but still deliver work as though they were seasoned actors. Boss and Noeul have amazing chemistry (both on and off screen I might add) and delivered in both the sweet and spicy areas. When you get to EP 4 you might hold your breath, but EP 6 might have you calling emergency services. Though I am saddened that part one of the series is complete, I am looking forward to seeing Fort and Pete light it up in part 2.

Part 2: Pai and Sky
Only the final series episode left before the special episode airs, so I feel comfortable writing my update. The storyline is still good. The music is still good, but the chemistry is a little off. I know given off-screen circumstances, it's unfair to expect FortPete to measure up to BossNouell, but even still it falls slightly flat for me. I will say, Fort is a beautiful crier and pulled heavily at my heart strings. On the other hand, Pete is a fantastic sulker, but not a great crier. They did seem to work well together in their NC-17 scenes, but the "red scenes" were a bit off-putting. That being said, I still love the series and recommend it for all BL fans.

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Avereage Drama wherein People are Just hyping the Shit Out of it

The Drama was really good at the beginning and deserved all the praise it deserved at first. But after the first few episodes, The writer and the director just got lazy, the production quality dropped and turned out to be an average Romance drama with a Ridiculous plot twist.

The Performance of Seo Ye Ji and Oh Jung Se was really good an was perfect for their characters, but Kim Soo Hyun's performance was just average and nothing more than that. Although all the other side characters did a pretty good job, Kim Soo Hyun's acting became a negative influence on the drama.

The typical push and pull which started from the 7th episode itself even before properly developing the Romance and continuing it upto the episode 14 is also one of the most cliche' things, from wherein the drama started to Disappoint.

Don't even get me started with the plot twist, it was so ridiculous that it completely ruined some characters, Made them inconsistent and also even made the initial interaction of leads into a ridiculous one. What I hated the most about the writing was that not only did they ruin the Second half of the drama, but also the good parts of the drama after the plot twist and saying that it was all her doing. I just can't seem to understand why people are just overlooking over the ridiculous plot twist and inconsistent characters by saying that no drama is perfect. For God sake, the Defining plot twist of the drama is what they ruined and people are just ready to overlook that fact. (Typical Fanbase)

The Second half of the drama is full of Cliche' Romance and typical fan service which could've been nice to watch if the drama was consistent in its tone and Characters. And the Ending, Mental illness is such an easy thing to cure if it's not for our Main Characters. Many of the patients in the hospital were cured (that too offscreen), because why not, nobody cares about the Side characters. Can't believe it is the same drama wherein they used a good amount of screen time in some episodes for us to empathise with side characters.

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What a bullshit script and waste of time watching this...

I have not to tell you that this is a cliché BL with the worst things in it: An alleged rape, abnoxious woman and a story which is so boring and unrealistic that it begs the question: Who did greenlit this project?

I can't fault the actors, they did the best they could with this script. But pardon me: If you - as a brother - think your little brother was raped, you would call the police and then there would be a medical examination and so on - To keep the pretense of a rape for two episodes is the worst I have seen in any BL... Besides you can't rape someone without waking him up if he is not drugged - and he was not. So the premise is bullshit. And there is this annoying girl who got rejected but then suddenly she turns to her best (girl)friend and ends up a lesbian - OMG! How dumb can it be?

And because I was pissed at this, it's a waste of time to get into the gritty details of the rest of the story which was just awful and one cliché after the next. This was drunk writing, I can not explain it any other way. I know the actors need food on their tables, but when you read this script, can you really think that's a good idea to take on the role? I bet it was contractual obligations and they had to do this series.

The only thing I can't fault this series is the production quality which was really good but such a waste of money and effort. If you haven't seen this series yet, just don't. All the high ratings are just fangirls dreaming of cute boys/handsome men and nothing else, because it can't be for the story.

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Could be great, but ultimately quite lackluster

I started this drama with great enthusiasm, but with each new episode I grow more and more disappointed. The show could be really great since the premise itself is interesting, but unfortunately, I feel like it is lackluster. Something is missing, the extra spark just isn't there.

- The acting is only so-so
--> I quite liked Pyo Ye Jin's acting in "Taxi Driver", but I feel like the script for "Moon in the Day" doesn't give her the same space to give a great performance, especially since her character seems washed down from the earlier episodes, she resembles a damsel now
--> I haven't seen anything with Kim Young Dae so far, but I wish he was a little more expressive; I also wish we could have seen goofy Jun Ho a little while longer because I liked KYD's acting in those first 2 episodes but alas... We got some silly Jun Ho back in the last episode, but that didn't last long either.

- The script is lacking, the writing is lazy
--> The plot is simply inconsistent and it really frustrated me the more I watched.
>> The male lead is supposed to be a super famous actor, why was he never working lmao. He did one script-reading session, and one session practicing archery and then boom! never on set ever again.
>> Speaking of the male lead's fame. Only when it served the plot, his fame mattered. He could walk around the neighborhood, the hospital with a lame ass cap, the market, the Han River (granted, at night), and no one would recognize him. BUT, if he needed to be recognized for the plot, you can bet the masses would take out their phones and scream "OMG, HAN JUN HO!" (as in: taking off his cap at the hospital and boom! he's recognized? Is he Annabeth Chase? Is his cap an invisibility cap? Where are we??
>> Male lead's black mark. Again, when it serves the plot, it was visible. Otherwise, it was not. Be consistent.
>> Male lead's powers?? He had some powers as a ghost, but he only used them like twice? Again, inconsistent!
>> The female lead's development is tragic. She went from cool and independent to a little damsel. She knew how to fight/how to do self-defense, where did all those skills go (looking at the last episode...). I don't expect her to beat the villain completely on her own, but the way she ran away and stumbled (...) in the woods was giving me cheap horror movie production. I felt a little disrespected on her behalf.
>> The villain is ... boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring. His motives are petty, ut not the good kind of petty, it's just plain stupid. Didn't enjoy it, glad he died.
>> They recycled the same scenes too many times. There was no wow-effect and the revelations were certainly not clever to be honest. It was tiring having to see the same three major scenes pop up again and again. They didn't do it well enough for me to think they had any impact. They weren't illusions or insinuating anything. They simply cut the scenes at the most critical moment, only to show the full thing at a later time. That's not a clever, mind-blowing revelation. It's annoying and badly done.
>> I didn't buy their romance... WHY did they like each other, be it in the past or present?? I don't know.

- The characters are quite frankly very flat
--> What is the purpose of Young Hwa's roommate for example? The actress barely has a place in the drama and only serves as a poor "second female lead" for a romance plot with Jun Ho's manager that no one cares about (the romance, not the manager lol). She pops up every now and then to remind us that she exists, but that's it...
--> I also generally feel like there aren't many memorable characters in the show lol, we got the leads/Min Oh/Seok Cheol Hwan who I guess are the principal characters of the show; for drama purposes we got a boring female antagonist in Yi Seul, Jun Ho's manager and Young Hwa's roommate... they're just kind of there but serve no real purpose. They might as well not exist since they don't advance the plot
>> To that I will add that the secondary characters were useless, and that the actors were underutilized. They felt more like cameos than side charcters, what a shame. Very unbalanced.

- The balance between the historical and modern/present-day plot is basically non-existent...
--> I mean, we're on episode 10 out of 14, and we still barely know anything of Young Hwa's past life
--> Where is the plot going, where are WE, the viewers, going? (edit now that I'm done: we didn't go anywhere.)

To me, the episodes drag although they're only about an hour long, which is not long at all (in my opinion), and I'm just a little disappointed so far that an interesting idea got sort of wasted along the way. It started out fun, but the last couple episodes didn't really offer much information that felt new or important. We'll see how episode 10 will be like, and how the last two weeks will wrap this up... but so far, the show is a bit of a let-down. (edit now that I'm done: The ending is not satisfying at all lol, what was that? I guess they both reincarnated and finally meet again, but for some reason, I don't appreciate the execution, I don't know.)

Overall, I cannot recommend this show, unfortunately. It's inconsistent, underutilizes its actors, doesn't give the leads any room for depth, the writing is lazy and the finished product is plain disappointing. Sorry to anyone who enjoyed this lol.

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Body-Swapping and Missed Opportunities

This drama kicks off with a really intriguing concept: a woman in her twenties transforms into a fifty-year-old during the day. Jung Eun Ji and Lee Jung Eun shine, especially in the hilarious early scenes, but unfortunately, the plot doesn’t quite deliver.

Even with a serial killer and a murder mystery, the pacing feels slow, and the story often seems disjointed. The resolution of the serial killer plot in episode 15 lacks depth and thrill, leaving us wanting much more! The male lead's flashbacks get old pretty fast, and the romance takes forever to blossom, often overshadowed by a complicated body-swapping storyline and an unnecessary breakup.

What really frustrated me was how the female lead cracked the body-swapping mystery. After 15.5 episodes of build-up, it just gets resolved in a dream? Seriously?!

Despite the talented cast and the promising premise, the plot falls a bit flat and feels underwhelming. It’s a shame because there was definitely potential for a fantastic story!

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A Hollow Follow-up Lacking Depth, Stakes, and Emotion

To be honest, I found this second season disappointing. What set the first season apart from typical, formulaic action dramas was its emotional depth.

In season one, we were introduced to characters united by tragedy, all carrying emotional scars and trauma. It felt raw and compelling. In contrast, this season lacks that emotional weight. The characters simply move from one case to another with a sluggish, detached pace. Rather than evolving, they become more exaggerated and superficial, resembling the over-the-top, predictable action dramas I was hoping this series would avoid.

I expected something grittier and darker, something that would leave me on the edge of my seat, but it fell flat.

The antagonist barely has any screen time, sometimes appearing in just one or two scenes per episode, or not at all, even after being revealed. The story also lacked intensity; the protagonists handled obstacles too easily, making the plot feel predictable and unchallenging.

There was a noticeable increase in comedic elements, along with excessive product placements, which further diluted the tension.

Overall, this season felt easy, predictable, and uninspired. It didn’t build on the depth of the first season. When the premiere ended with a mysterious sniper, I was excited, expecting a gripping storyline. But in the end, that plot point didn’t amount to much, and the characters showed no real growth. Even the club storyline, which initially seemed promising, turned out to be dull, the antagonists were oblivious to their enemies, making the conflict feel lifeless and uneventful.

It was a letdown. I don’t know if the show’s popularity made the creators complacent, but I expected more effort. That said, not everything was bad the action sequences and production quality, especially the stunts, were well-executed.

If there’s a third season, I hope for a return to the depth and intensity of the first. But given the show’s success, I have a feeling they’ll lean even further into the cheesy humor and lighthearted tone.

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ABSOLUTELY MIND-BLOWING & MUST-WATCH!

so i’ve never written a review on here before, in-fact i just got into kdramas within the last month and have only watched a handful so forgive me if this isn’t the most “together” or intellectual review but all i have to say is WOW.

STORY — i can’t speak highly enough about the story. the fact that this was written and directed by women!! heck yes!! i typically get bored with things extremely quickly and tend to go on my phone and this didn’t happen once with this drama. every single scene meant something. there was nothing added just to fill up time. everything was important. everyone was important. every single character was vital to what went down throughout the sixteen episodes each in their own unique and intriguing way. the way the writing, directing, and acting showcased everything perfectly is absolutely mesmerizing. there wasn’t a single weak point in the show. i also liked how even though there were subplots with side/supporting characters, as i said, they weren’t there to just fill up time, but ending up playing a huge part into the overall story in the end. the parallels that ended up coming together in the episodes (especially the first few episodes versus the ending) were MIND-BLOWING.

ACTING — i could go on and on and on about the acting in this show everyone did phenomenal but there were four people who specifically stood out to to me:

shin ha kyun: as i said im new to kdramas but did this man blow my mind??? oh my goodness. the emotions he portrayed as such a tortured man dealing with so much. he delivered every line perfectly. AND THE SMILE. you know the smile. insane. i heard he got nominated for a big award. so deserved.

yeo jin goo: another mesmerizing performance by the other lead character. absolutely phenomenal i loved to see how much his character evolved as the story went on and how different circumstances changed the way he ultimately ended up. his acting in the last 3/4ish episodes some of my favorite in the entire drama. he killed it.

choi dae hoon: i’ve watched this actor in CLOY and FOE and if i’m being honest he didn’t stand out in those to me - i barely noticed him if im being honest. however, in BE he blew my mind. genuinely one of the best performances of the show. he had so much he had to do and the role was such a heavy one and the way he portrayed a character dealing with all of the emotions he was and making you sympathize with him was so crazy and he deserves all the praise!!

choi sung eun: she was phenomenal. another actress i’ve never seen before but her whole demeanor was amazing. i loved her character a ton and i want to say its all thanks to the actress. each emotion came across perfectly and i felt like i could somehow relate and understand every single one of her actions. i hope to see her in more projects!

special mention to lee do hyun he was great in his few scenes and as a fan of his, it was nice seeing a familiar face!

OST — im quite new to this but i loved the soundtrack. i loved the whole vibe and it fit extremely well. left me unsettled and intrigued as if i was one of the characters.

REWATCH VALUE — i can guarantee once this has sat for a little bit i will be rewatching. the plot-twists were great and i can’t imagine how cool it will be knowing everything ahead of time. i might have to make someone watch this with me and then i watch their reactions for the first time because i was a mess on multiple occasions.

OVERALL: i’ll put it simply. if you are on the fence about watching this - WATCH IT YOU WONT REGRET IT!

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I thought we were moving past the era of male leads who are violent towards their partners

Watching how abusive he is is making me feel sick to my stomach. I don’t understand why it gets such high ratings. Is it supposed to be funny that he conks her on the head twice? I don’t blame the performers. I have no idea why the writers think we should want these people to be together. I want her to escape immediately and I’m frustrated that it’s supposed to be funny that no one will help her. I’m also frustrated that she gives up so quickly, when being around him is making my skin crawl.

The show gets such high reviews I thought he must redeem himself somehow and stuck with it until the end. I wish I had dropped it, there is no character growth. If you are like me and don’t like watching verbal, mental and emotional abuse, even from an exceptionally beautiful man, then you should skip it. Obviously, a lot of people feel differently, but I wish I had seen a review like this before I started.

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Everyone is Fighting with Their Own Worthlessness

I wasn’t planning on writing a review for this one but after finishing it, I’m almost in awe. I haven’t cried this much when watching a drama in a long time.

The writing and the storytelling are so beautiful. It makes you think, it makes you feel and it makes you empathize. The characters are flawed; at times they are cool, at times they are pathetic but mostly, they are just humans. They have their good, bad, best and worst moments. No one is a saint or purely evil, they are just trying - trying to live their life in the way they best know how. And its titles really capture the essence of this drama.

Hwang Dongman is an eccentric character. He is not very likable at first, second or even third glance. It’s almost understandable why everyone dislikes him. But is it? The more you know him, the more you understand why he is like that. He is like a mirror who reflects other’s feelings and actions towards him and amplifies them. The more people drive him into a corner, the harder he fights back, and the more people try to make him smaller, the louder he becomes. It’s as if he’s trapped into a vicious loop of negatively fueled by his own worthlessness and other’s contempt until he meets Euna who finally breaks that cycle.

Byun Euna is also someone trapped in her own trauma. She is a person full of brilliance and light but is scared to shine because she can’t let go of the people who hurt her. She lives with one foot in her past and every time someone hurts her, she is pushed back into the time when she was alone and helpless. She traps all her emotions - her pain, her hatred and hurt inside her until it grows out of control and hurts herself. Euna calls that emotion self-destruction while Dongman calls it a cry for help and slowly, she learns to fight back and channel her emotions outside instead of letting it fester inside her.

Dongman and Euna's relationship is heartfelt and raw. They found each other like a lifeboat at a time when they were both drowning. They gave each other a moment to breathe and to gather the strength to swim again. For once, they felt seen, they felt heard and found comfort in someone else’s presence.

Park Gyeongse and Ko Hyejin are characters I honestly didn't expect to like but ended up loving so much. Ko Hyejin is such a strong and amazing woman. She isn’t perfect but she has her priorities straight and sees people for who they are without the sugar-coating or being unfair. Park Gyeongse is, in all honesty pathetic but just so real. His writing is beautifully layered and executed so well that you can’t help but empathize with him. The same goes for the rest of the characters too. All of them are flawed but really, they are just struggling too.

Overall, everything in this drama just works. The production is incredible, the writing and the storytelling are beautiful, the acting is phenomenal, the osts are fitting, the comedy delivers and the emotions are felt. We Are All Trying Here is one of those dramas that lingers and stays with you long after you finished watching it and personally, it’s the best kdrama I have watched this year.

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i will be the odd one out... this much ado about nothing

will start off with a basic fact, i think ballroom dancing is repetitive & boring. when u 1st see a competition it's glamorous cause of how they r dressed (especially the women) & the moves r cool, but the more u watch - it's basically the same moves in each dance, performed the same by all the couples on the floor. yeah others might enjoy this, to me this not entertaing after the novelty wears off.
& ironically or not, i found this BL to be much the same. i aint faulting the actors (that brought their A game) - but the plot - where did it take us?!? the culmination wasn't even the 10 dance competition - which this freakin movies is titled after & the illusion of an open end, was a farce.

1st off my favorite character here was Tajima Aki (Suzuki Shinya's dance partner) i liked her personality & even though she & Yagami Fusako were treated like a prop - like marionette's to use when needed & then tossed aside, cause they weren't the mains, Tajima was still very visible to me. Yagami just made me feel sad.

the mains, was this even a love story?!? & NO i don't need sex or even a kiss (mentioning the kisses OMG but it felt like they weren't insync even there) for it to indicate this a romance. yeah Suzuki fell hard & fast, even showed signs of jealously, frustration & yearning. while Sugiki had eyes only for the dance, even if he ran after Suzuki, kissed him & then offered him the last dance. what he really offer of himself?!?
when Suzuki wanted to get closer he pushed him, saying they were enemies. after every woman Sugiki encountered, told him that the one thing he lacked was 'love'. so when he finally had a chance to open up & give of himself - he put up a wall & pushed Suzuki away.
so the end, where he came to Suzuki & requested he accompany him on the dance floor, to me that was his way of getting Suzuki back into the 10 dance competition (which he had no intention of being a part off) after the way Sugiki rejected him. the fact Suzuki smiled, means he is as deluded as some of the comments i read - thinking Sugiki is now ready for them to be together. heck from what we had in this movie, was there even a grand anything or just intense psychical attraction that could amount to nothing more, then a one night stand?!??? the writer's gave us nothing to draw from IMO.

2 plus hrs & i didn't see any growth in Sugiki, not one that would indicate he is ready to put another human above his ambition's to win or above the dance. maybe i am being to harsh, but i don't get the hype, yeah great looking guys & they had good chemistry, but does that amount to a great movie? meeh - this was just ok...

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I started watching this drama due to great ratings and great reviews, but I soon came to regret my decision. I couldn't come to terms with wasting my time with the first 5 episodes, so I decided it might become better along the way, but boy was I wrong!
It was painful to watch the main actress, she made a mess of her role, and I must say Jin Ho was really shallow with his portraying of this particular character, and I must say I have enjoyed his talent and adaptability with his other roles as well. Moreover, I found the script messy, quite lacking and very artificial.
The funny moments were seldom, but the were indeed nice to watch, but honestly, feeling a pain in my stomach because I had just watched a 40 something minute long drama for only 10 enjoyable minutes was not my cup of tea.
I guess personal taste does play a major role in watching this drama. 3/10 from me, and that's putting it mild.

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Endless Intrigue and Cunningness

I am writing this review during the dramas half point and I must say it started low, but it has certainly increased in value to a drama I will endlessly recommend! If you’re struggling with the first few episodes just pull through it will likely go down depending on the end as one of my favorites of the year! This drama really has a perfectly fitting name so if you want a drama where both Zhang Linghe and Bai Lu play characters slightly different than the usual roles they play, both showcasing how talented they are. Also the entire casting did a spendid job in my opinion playing their respective roles. As of episode 20 this drama is definitely meeting all my expectations that I have been patiently waiting for since April when I longingly awaited its release only for it to be held back at the last minute. I will update this at the end when I have completed it to let you all know if it held up until the end!

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It's been a while since I have felt so much hate for a main character. Arrogant male leads in Korean dramas are everywhere and generaly I don't mind them, I quiet like them actually, because most of the time in the end their "arrogant" attitude is exagerated and underneath all of that, they're good people. But the description of this drama really isn't lying "Se-Gun is handsome and confident, but very vain and shallow".

The STORY here, of course, isn't anything original but it just screams fun! Comedy, romance and a cliche moral about beauty is really all we need to relax after a hard day and it really kind of had all that, but...

The CHARACTERS, especially the main male lead, were unlikable and that's an understatement in some cases. Se Gun is a shallow douche that only cares about looks. He's fine with everything about a girl as long as she's pretty. Sure, by the end he falls in love with the "ugly" (NOT!) girl and magically becomes a better person and a better character with some sappy development driven by, of course, a sad past. Now to begin with Se Gun's character isn't exactly the worst, they just handeled this type of male lead very badly, exagerating his flaws to the maximum and making him seem like the vainest person ever. Were this a full lenght drama I would have dropped it solely because of him. The female lead wasn't exactly a treat either. Her motivation for liking the main lead was the same - she claims to like beautiful things. The difference is that she just wasn't really a bitch about it...I don't know if that makes it okay though. Not to mention the fact that she had little to no self respect which I can kind of overlook as just a character trait but be warned.

90% of the cute moments in this drama were torture, because they were fake! While Nan Hee had her ring on, everytime something nice happened it was extremely bitter sweet because the writers just had to make sure that you know that Se Gun is only dating her because of her looks! I just could not overlook it, especially when the second love interest for our female lead was 10 times better than this jerk.

Sure the ending was cute as hell and I'm very into this "inner beauty matters the most" moral that I could almost overlook everything that's bad about this drama but I just can't, I won't even let myself! As a woman I respect myself too much to see such chararter as Se Gun be romanticised and justified. He even blamed everything on Nan Hee...*sigh* I just can't

Didn't notice anything horrible about the acting. Not a fan of So Hee's acting though. Happy that Seul Gi finally got a main role, sad that it had to be this drama. Don't remember anything about the music. The cinematography was as unintresting as ever.

There is absolutely nothing about this drama that's worth your time, you can look at a screenshot of the beauty that is Hyo Seop and you would have seen everyting good about this drama. Maybe...maybe if you're easily pleased then you will enjoy it but I really don't recommend it.

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Riddled With Stereotypes & Misrepresentations

Before I delve into this super long diatribe about Extraordinary Attorney Woo, it’s important to note that I myself am not autistic. Also, I normally hesitate to watch media portrayals depicting the autistic experience because most of my family members are autistic. While I don't have an insider perspective as an autistic individual, I am tangentially familiar enough that the inaccuracies either exhaust me with how potentially damaging they are or I just cannot relate to the characters and the experiences they portray.

TV has so much power in shaping worldviews and perspectives. It's easy to brush a drama off and say it's just a fantasy, but television is instrumental for visualizing/introducing things that are unfamiliar to us—there's a ton of potential power and responsibility residing within that fact. You could read about a topic or examine a picture, but a video (i.e. movies/tv) will always be the most immersive way to be introduced to unfamiliar concepts you haven't experienced or personally witnessed. Just throwing out a small example: it is now on my bucket-list to visit Slovenia. Why? ...Dear My Friends (one of my all-time favorite dramas) was partially filmed there and it looked absolutely stunning. I live nearly 6,000 miles (about 9,500 km) away from Slovenia and no one in my social circle has ever mentioned wanting to go—watching a drama changed that for me.

The same concept of visualization/understanding can be applied to communities of people. Watching a lot of kdramas has made me more aware of certain aspects of Korean culture than the average person in my country—from birthday customs to drinking etiquette, to even recognizing the language being spoken around me. I'm more aware and my worldview has expanded because I regularly watch dramas. A broader example of introductions to a community (or shifts in perspective) is the greater influx in the past couple decades of media portrayals depicting LGBTQ+ people. It's easier to empathize and understand a community's experiences when you can either relate to or visualize their life—TV has the power to reel you in with all of your emotions and world-build something completely different from what you experience in your everyday life.

This is why misrepresentations in media depictions of a community can potentially be harmful, or at the very least, exhausting/not fun to watch for people belonging to or people familiar with that community. If we don't have ongoing experiences with that community in our real life, there's a lot of flexibility in what we might think is accurate/realistic—whereas if we're extremely familiar with or if we belong to that community, each misrepresentation/inaccuracy is like a blaring horn. Depending on the severity of the misrepresentation, sometimes it's possible to ignore those horn blasts and enjoy all the other aspects of the drama. I unfortunately cannot do that with Extraordinary Attorney Woo—it was too damn exhausting to sit happily through.

Media portrayals always seem to limit the autistic experience to either oscillating between a portrayal of nonverbal/uncommunicative isolation, or they're an amazing genius-like savant that is used as a problem-solving tool. These two archetypes of the autistic experience are not reflective of the community at large. My entire family speaks and expresses their thoughts; they're also nowhere close to qualifying as savant geniuses. I understand why these minority autistic experiences are used in TV shows—it can propel plot (i.e. be a unique problem-solving tool) and/or tug on the emotions of viewers (a parent failing to get their child to speak to them). It's just exhausting when NONE of the portrayals reflect reality back at you, and then out in the real world people are surprised if an autistic individual speaks or lives independently, can't quickly calculate math, and/or doesn't memorize entire books in their free time. Even worse, they might try to deny the autistic individual disability services/accommodations or question the legitimacy of their diagnosis because their disability doesn't match common media portrayals of autistic life.

Woo Young Woo is an amalgamation of every autistic stereotype, but the actress (and likely the directing team behind her) chose to cutesify her voice, mannerisms, and her colleagues’ and clients' reactions to her autistic traits—she was infantilized to the max and always had an 'innocent' outward expression attached to the character. This is an inaccurate and harmful misrepresentation of autism, and my suspicion is it was done for a 'heartwarming' effect and to sanitize the autistic experience (without rocking the boat too much). There was no growth in WYW learning her limitations and implementing strategies/coping mechanisms (aside from I guess that rhythm can be hard for her with revolving doors). There was a brief interlude about independence and living on her own, but it was quickly shut down and not explored. There was no philosophizing about how much she might have to rely on neurotypicals to exist in a neurotypical world and how exhausting/frustrating that can be. Instead, everyone encircled her and coddled her as if she was the office mascot or pet. It’s worth emphasizing that the infantilization with this portrayal of autism was STRONG. There were no discussions about masking or coping mechanisms, and her only feelings of overwhelm seemed to come from loud noises. There's bits and pieces of her characterization that you could attach to a large portion of autistic people: a tendency to over-explain, an inability to stray too far from literal meanings, and failing to accurately navigate social situations. But again, none of it was too disruptive or alarming to the neurotypical people around her. The drama stayed in its super cutesy and unrealistic realm. The assertion seemed to be that WYW’s sheer presence (full of stereotypes and what can only be described as cutesy quirks) was their ‘we’ve arrived’ moment deserving of heaps of praise. Which I guess they got, this is a super popular drama.

I like that the drama utilized a female character—autistic stories are usually limited solely to men. But a more accurate characterization might have been showing how difficult it is for women to even receive an autism diagnosis, or the unfortunate likelihood of a woman not receiving one until much later in her life (compared to young boys). Also, I don’t have any set opinions about WYW’s love interest. Though it is quite rare to see an autistic character get a love story, so perhaps that’s something I can place in the positive column? I really struggled with this drama; I understand why it’s popular, but I honestly think its overall impact will be harmful.

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