1This review may contain spoilers
Myung Soo Hyun, babe, we need to talk about that ending you wrote up cause what the fuc-
There are some people in the comment section who interpret the ending as a happy ending. They're right if you think about it, no one died, the characters all became successful ( all owning real estate they wanted which was the primary theme and focus of the drama) and even the leads met again. But boy oh boy do I have a bone to pick with this "happy ending". This is essentially a rant and not a critique. I will not be eloquent with my words, the ending has left me too frustrated for that.I feel the need to let anyone reading this know how I watched this show. There were two episodes each week and for eight weeks I tuned in first thing in the morning to watch them before doing anything else. This show was a part of my life and routine for 2 months. And I loved it. The show was your standard Kdrama with lots of warmth, love, romance, laughter and in this case lots of pretty houses and many heartfelt insights of home owners living in those varied, beautiful homes. I think I speak for all of us when I say the the numerous cliches used were a bit much sometimes. But a lot of experienced watchers like me who have been watching since before kdramas became more ' refined' and 'palatable' for western/netflix watchers, are very much used to the cheesiness and predictablity of the plot details. I could certainly do without the numerous breakups, misunderstandings, sacrificing love for you friend/ family and all the little chiches in between but I don't hate them. And I certainly won't fault a romcom for being cliched.
SO WHY IN THE FUCK DID THEY NOT TAKE THE CLICHED ROUTE IN THE END????? I can only guess that they wanted the FL to be 'successful' and 'independent' on her own and prove that she did not rely on the ML in anyway for achieveing her dreams. And I suppose they wanted to explain them not ending up together due to their father ( being compulsed I must remind) to run away from paying back the ML 10 years before the leads met. Which the ML understood and acknowledged might I add. Sure, he'll be " reminded of the incident everytime he looks at the FL" but that's how it's supposed to be???? It doesn't mean he'll hate her and treat her badly for her father's mistakes. You can't cut an entire person ( your significant other in this case) just because you don't want to think about it. The show put all this emphasis on " money can't buy happiness" and " House+Love= Home" but at the end completely ignored it at the end. It showed the leads being sad looking loners who live in their big empty houses by themselves with their piles of money and presented it as a 'makeshift happy ending'. It was giving me " See? They can be happy by themselves too!". It's honestly a bit distasteful. These characters were always showed to be hardworking social climbers who always wanted a better llfe for them and their loved ones. And they were shown to be putting a lot of importance on relationships and love for their emotinal fullfilment and happiness. Particularly the ML was shown looking kind of depressed even after three years.
The ending didn't match with the overall theme/vibe of the show at all and was utter bullshit.
If you're going to watch it, go ahead and do until episode 15. I'm sure if you like this genre you'll enjoy it. It was done well and at times REALLY well until the ending. Personally I would like my 16 hours back and a compensations for the emotions I wasted. Thanks.
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Lighthearted, Witty Republican Era Detective Drama (with beautiful costumes)
Overall, great drama - characters, acting, and cases are all very interesting. It's a fun, light-hearted detective drama set in Shanghai during the Republican Era. Highly recommend if you're looking for a drama with a good story and acting that's not too serious. What I really like about this drama is that it has a more mature undertone against the overall lighthearted, fun vibes - the director did a nice job here. I often find that lighthearted dramas sometimes end up being too childish or immature. I just want to smack some reality into those characters. Here, the characters are more mature. Though the Miss S (FL) is flirtatious and witty, she has her life together. Detective Tan (ML) is also a smart, serious, and hardworking professional. Though there is romance, FL and ML are not running around like teenagers obsessed with love. Note - romance is not the main focus of this drama. There are cute scenes, but this is primarily a detective drama. See below for more details and a brief comparison with other detective dramas.Acting
Ma Yi Li (FL) and Gao Wei Guang (ML) are terrific. It's so fun watching their interactions. Ma Yi Li plays the witty, flirtatious, and beautiful Miss S. It took me a few episodes to get used to this character because of her lasting impression as Zi Jun in First Half of My Life. Gao Wei Guang's acting has improved a lot since Ten Miles Peach Blossom, and his more serious personality is a nice contrast to FL's. Second leads are also great. They are cute, less mature, but fun. I'm impressed by the number of extras that they have for this drama.
Costumes
AMAZING. FL's outfits are stunning - she has beautiful qi paos (traditional attire) and Western formal wear. Ma Yi Li's outfits are amazing. I don't think I realized how beautiful she is until this drama. ML has sleek attire as well. I would say there not as eye catching as FL's, but then again, Gao Wei Guang looks good in anything.
Story
Interesting overarching story with romance. You learn very early on what the overarching story is and get fed bits and pieces as the drama progresses. The last episode wraps everything up, and I think they did relatively good pacing towards the end. It's a little rushed at the end, but not that bad. Ending is plausible. I wonder if there's a season 2...Regarding the romance mentioned earlier - romance is nicely incorporated but not overpowering either. FL and ML are so fun to watch. I would say that don't watch this drama just for romance. At the end of the day, this is a detective/ crime drama.
Opportunities ("Cons")
- Case complexity: I thought the cases overall tend to be a bit too complex. There was one case that completely did not make sense to me (granted I'm watching raw and Chinese is a 2nd language...). The positive side of complex cases, is that you can't really figure out who the actual criminal is early on. This keeps the case interesting. However, sometimes I find they are unnecessarily overcomplex. It doesn't necessarily give the vibe of 'draggy' but more of unnecessary.
- Music: I found this a bit weird, but most the memorable songs are in English...not sure why this bothers me a little. I give them kudos for finding English singers without an accent. My biggest pet peeve is when they find people to sing English songs but have heavy accents - might as well just use Chinese lyrics instead.
Detective Drama Comparisons (also recommendations if you liked Miss S)
1. My Roommate is a Detective (MRIAD): both are Republic era dramas set in Shanghai. I prefer Miss S 100xs over MRIAD - the only reason I didn't drop MRIAD is because I got really bored during quarantine. Leon Zhang was the saving grace of that drama. FL drove me nuts - she's so immature, noisy, and unreasonable. I almost dropped it because I couldn't stand her bickering. Also, the cases there were too simple. Once you figure out the pattern, you can easily figure out who the criminal is early on. The ending was also too rushed in my opinion.
2. When a Snail Falls in Love (WASFIL): both are detective stories and I think the balance of detective/ crime story vs romance is similar. Romance in both isn't overpowering but a secondary theme. I like both Miss S and WASFIL - hard to choose with is better. WASFIL is more mature than Miss S - I feel like it's a bit heavier, probably because of the types of cases they deal with.
3. Love Me If You Dare (LMIYD): Miss S is much more lighthearted and fun that LMIYD. Don't get me wrong, LMIYD is a really good drama (Wallace Huo is fantastic!). However, it's a bit heavy and has elements of a thriller drama. There are a few parts that are a little disturbing - not to the extend of Criminal Minds, but it's not lighthearted stuff either. Would recommend LMIYD if you're looking for a good detective drama and you know what you're getting yourself into (aka watch the trailer first).
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UHHHH
Ok, so in all honesty I have no idea how I finished this show. It was a struggle, no lie! Watching it on LineTV there's a few spots in each episode that aren't subbed, but I assure you it's not enough to miss out on anything. Moving on... I gave it a shot since most of the cast were new actors and my ratings isn't caused by their acting, but by the awful storyline. The plot was a hot mess! I mean scattered and smothered all over the place. I legit skipped a good portion and I know for a fact I didn't miss much. The ONLY thing that helped me get by were the sex scenes(no shame)and they were few and far between. The actors were attractive af but that only gets you so far. I wish them all luck in their acting careers but I gotta say....My re-watch value is ZERO but I might consider recommending to my enemy.Was this review helpful to you?
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This review may contain spoilers
Great concept, bad execution.
This show is an example of how to ruin a drama with great concept and potential into a mess. The first 5 episodes really really impressed me to the point where I made my own storyline that could have made more sense than the original show.Acting: I wouldn't say I loved the main character's acting,both dan oh and haru. But lee jae wook, he was extremely good. His character deviates between frustrating and depressing every few episodes, and he showcased that so well. Other than that, I felt absolutely no chemistry, no emotions and no feelings about any character, was dissapointing. April naeun really surprised me though, she acts pretty well and is so beautiful!
Characters: The writer failed in this department. Literally no character has depth, especially haru. He literally has no personality except for ...well.. he like dan oh. Dan Oh's character was bearable for 5 episodes, actually she was cute. But after that I found her lines and expressions extremely cringy. She was trying to sound a little too cheerful, didn't enjoy that. Dan oh starts off as a strong character, then she ends up crying every few episodes, was hard to watch. The other extra characters like the bullies and other classmates were really annoying, they keep doing same shit every day. Every interaction of the main three characters I started to skip by the end of the show, except for juda and lee do hwa scenes( they were cute).
Script: I have actually never seen a drama with so many plot holes,repetitive (even though there is a reason for some of the dialogues being repeated)and extremely cringy dialogues all rolled up into a package so perfectly like this one. After the good 5 episodes, we got into a really bad phase for like 5 episodes and I thought that the show was getting better, but no it ends with nothing.This show explains nothing. We reach nowhere.
Music: The osts of this show are really good though. They had all these idol group like april, stray kids and verivery to sing.
In conclusion this show is extremely frustrating and nothing much to watch. Watch only if you have absolutely nothing to do in life.
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This review may contain spoilers
Would recommend this drama!!! Starts really good. The male lead is a person who seeks for precious gems. He gets into. a car accident and accidentally meets the female lead who is a tribe leader. She takes him in and takes care of him. He finds out she has a precious gem and he wants to take it for himself, so he needs to gain the trust of the female lead. The female lead promise to give it to him only if they get married. He basically teaches her about how to use a phone, eat instant noodle, and take selfies. She has a really good memory. Female lead is a naive, innocent, simple minded girl. The male lead is more dark, cold and mysterious ( he wanted to only use her at first.... but then you know ,... they fall in love) He basically drugs them the night of the wedding and he escapes. ( lol thats the background)
The female lead tries to find him in the city, there she meets the second male lead. lol he wants her to be in a live stream with him( thats his job) The male lead is trying to find the cave were there is a lot of precious gem. Also the evil characters in the show want to find it for themselves. In the process the male lead finds an elder who once had connections about finding the cave/ he had a secret box that he kept with him. They keep trying to open that box to see whats the secret behind it all.
I really liked the male lead's relationship with his two childhood friends. One is a computer genius and the other is knowledgable in gems, they all help to try to open the locked box.
Some parts in the middle was kind of draggy/ a little slow, like the plot was developing it pick up closer to the end. ( dont want to spoil too much )
What really sold me was the female lead. She is so cute, gulliable, innocent but at the same time smart, brave and honest, speaks her mind. She is the ray of sunshine that melts/ heals the male lead's scar.She brings positivity and genuineness. The chemistry between them is alright. I felt the female liked the male more lol , therefore some of the kissing scenes to me didn't strike my heartstrings as much as some in other drama, but in the end i felt the feelings ( lol watch for yourselves). I also liked how each character was able to get some romantic character development. The story was well rounded and had a happy ending. So please go watch :)
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Without spoiling anything I can't say much about it, but you should watch it and be surprised. :)
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This review may contain spoilers
“Misunderstandings” with atypical characters just hit different
Hear me out.While it has all the elements of a cliched contract marriage romcom, the characters’ personalities and values set this story apart from the rest. The male lead is somewhat neuroatypical. He has an almost over-logical way of thinking, and is unable to express himself to others. The female lead is passionate about her career and doesn’t consider marriage an important part in her future plans, which is slightly unconventional in “traditional” Japanese culture. This light romcom when viewed through an atypical lens can make for an easy, yet thought-provoking drama about understanding. The popular song 「Heart」 by Aimyon serves as its theme.
“Misunderstandings” is probably in my top 5 things I dislike about any drama because most of the time it’s used as an easy way to add conflict in a story and separate the couple for no good reason. But here, it’s used to highlight how the male lead struggles to communicate and understand what most consider to be conventional behaviour and feelings. Most of us take this understanding for granted. Think about it - we can say “I love you” to a best friend to mean platonic love, and say “I like you” to a new acquaintance to mean romantic love. How do you *KNOW* when is which?
Aside from the leads, supporting characters also explore their own version of unconventional “love” and “relationships” — which (in my opinion) Jdramas do best! What does it mean to be married? Is that really the only way to be “happy"? [SPOILER WARNING for side characters] A man wonders why his wife wants to get divorced in order to have a common-law marriage (where you are still lovers/partners in every way except on legal papers), A women who chose her partner not based on love, but to start an “ideal family”. A fangirl devoting her love to an idol. I loved these mini-insights that can easily be overlooked.
WHAT I WOULD HAVE CHANGED:
Of course, any drama has its flaws.
The last three episodes might be frustrating and slow for some, but I still found those episodes to be interesting. If you consider these two people not fitting into the mould of “normal”, there’s a need to explore a relationship that works best for them! Isn’t that the most important thing?
I also understood the reasons for the cliched setup and abundance of misunderstandings but could have done with a few less, especially the meddling love interests. And finally, I felt the leads could have had more build-up and chemistry with each other, and I wanted it to end slightly differently, but overall I was still satisfied with the romance.
TRY IT IF YOU LIKE:
The contract marriage trope, 『Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu』 (Japanese, 2016), "Because This Is My First Life" (Korean, 2017)
It’s not a character study on neurodivergence, but if you watch it with this open mind, you might gain a new perspective. Even if you’re not interested in the atypical angle, there are enough sweet doki-doki moments to keep a romcom fan entertained.
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Kang Tæ - Joo is a suave, unrepentant lady's man who goes about his romantic liaisons with cool practicality. He's your regular joe with high ambitions. He sees the beautiful rich women who fall over themselves for his manly charms and good looks as his ticket to bigger and better things. He’s a realist, with little patience for idealistic folly.
Some people have described him as a jerk, but to me he isn't. He never misleads the women in his life about his intentions nor does he try to hide the fact that he's essentially a gold digger. He's certainly a lady killer, a breaker of hearts, but not a mean spirited one. Women can't help but fall for him, but to Tæ-Joo that's neither his fault nor his business.
I don't always agree with his methods of achieving his goals, but I respect him. I admire his ambition and drive to make something of his life. It’s far better than the laziness, inertia and complacency that grip today's youth. So what happens when a brutal realist and a starry eyed idealist meet and fall in love? Well, chemical waves short circuit and the whole goddamn house burns down.
The show features an intense love quadruple which serves as the main driver of sending your emotions into a tailspin. Normally I hate these type of romance dramas, but this wasn’t bad at all. It kept me anxious but not angry. And as other reviewers have pointed out QSS isn’t your run of the mill kdrama with chaste kisses and secret glances. It’s wild and it's hot and it’s passionate. Sex is not taboo. The characters are age appropriate in their behaviours, if not always in their deeds. I loved it!
What I enjoyed even more, though, were the extremely valuable life lessons imparted:
- Life is a gamble, you can win a fortune or lose everything.
- Opportunities come only once, don’t pass them up.
- By the same token, know that whatever path you choose in life comes with consequences you have to live with.
- Most of the time money doesn't make you happy.
- Love, though fragile and fleeting, is the most important experience of human existence.
- We want what we can’t have, but don’t appreciate what we do have until it’s gone.
It was just amazing. I felt like by the end of the show I learned and grew right along with the characters. This is why I gave the drama an 8, instead of a 7.
The only downside, and why this drama didn’t net a 9, was that I wanted more ‘happy and in love’ screen time with our leads. There was an overabundance of negative angst. Not the exciting, sexually charged type of angst you’ll experience in say … Lovers. I’m fine with negative angst as long as equal amounts of positive angst balance things out.
Characters, on the other hand, were very three dimensional and human, all having their negative and positive attributes. I have to continuously commend the Koreans for writing such layered characters who I didn't see regularly before my foray into Asian entertainment.
Of the four main ones I felt like the female lead Eun Soo was the weakest link, mainly due to how she was acted by Jung Yu Mi. First of all, the actress looked like an underaged teenager and was much too childlike in her portrayal. As the drama progressed she matured a little and you realize she isn’t completely a pushover, but that she’s written as the stereotypical ‘strong’ Korean female lead afflicted with misplaced pride, noble stupidity; defiant, stubborn, obtuse … for totally idiotic, nonsensical reasons to the very end. Don’t get me wrong she remained a sympathetic figure throughout the show, but there were moments when certain behaviours of hers raised my ire.
Eric Mun as Kang Tæ-Joo was absolutely divine. Eye candy and talent, for a voracious cinephile like me it doesn’t get any better. And you could tell he’s Korean - American too because the guy has mad swag. I was swooning! This is the first time I’m seeing Mun in anything and I can understand why everyone says this is his best role. I can not imagine who else could play this character better than him.
But while Eric swept me off my feet and impressed me, the true stand out was actually Lee Kyu Han who I had recently seen in Smile, You and did not like! I thought his character was useless and a pest, but here wow … he played the ruthless, lonely, misunderstood, vulnerable businessman to a T. I sympathized a great deal with him even when I was supposed to hate him, especially toward the end. Finally, Yoon Ji Hye did great as the desperate, insecure rich girl.
Everyone pretty much threw themselves into their roles to create a truly engaging watch.I wanted a bit more from the ending, but was still satisfied with what we got. This was gooddrama, folks. Romance done right. It’s crazy and a little far-fetched as only Korean dramas can be, but totally worth it. If you don’t already have Que Sera Sera on your list, add it now.
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I LIKE IT SO MUCH! will rewatch tomorrow! SO WORTH IT
this is actually a healing movie and all the song is SO CRAZY like it’s SO GOOD my favorite is “sky full of stars” one it’s unforgettable and I got goosebumps. I THOUGHT the lead actor was a vocalist but I just found out he’s a rapper on his group for 9 years?? 😭 HE SINGS SO WELL ngl and his voice range?? GOD he can play any genre and he’s so good with instruments. I love the actor’s acting, they deliver the message and play the role so well, their chemistry 👌 After watching this I wonder do I have a box, and if yes, what is it.....Was this review helpful to you?
If you are not very patient (like me), you could skip a few episodes in front and still be aware of the entire story line even towards the later half of the drama. As Eun Jae/Sohee carries out her revenge, you will see that it is related to the past events that has already happened in the earlier half of the drama which in my opinion, was too long (but not draggy, yet) for me.
Story 9/10
The story is a kind of cliche faithful wife who serves her husband's family despite their ill treatment... you kind of get the drift. But the excitement kicks in when Eun Jae/Sohee makes up her mind to return with a new identity for revenge after Gyo Bin pulled a failed attempt to murder her and her baby (only the baby is dead, but Gyo Bin doesn't know). Every single episode has you on the edge of your seat, relishing those moments where Ae Ri goes crazy as Gyo Bin cheats on her with his supposedly dead wife.
Acting/Cast 9/10
I deducted a point because of Ae Ri and the real Min Sohee. I simply cannot stand their characters and at some point I wish the scriptwriter will just kill them already. Then again, this goes to show how well every character portrays their role to have me as the viewer feel so much for them. Besides, all the awards that the actors swept due to this drama are enough to certify their skills.
Music 10/10
Can you not love the music? Enough said, every song has me hooked and I find myself replaying the songs even after I finished this drama. Can you believe it, I'm still not tired of the music after 129 episodes of it!
Rewatch Value 7/10
If you're asking me to rewatch episode 1 to 129... My answer would be a no, 129 episodes is simply too long. But I'll definitely be willing to revisit some episodes that were exciting for me.
Overall 9/10
If you have plenty of time on your hands (or if you simply crave some bad woman action), be sure to check out Temptation of Wife. It brings you through the most dramatic marriage life ever through Eun Jae's experiences and you simply cannot help but to feel sorry for her.
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It’s like sunshine on my soul and rainbow skies with fluffy bunny clouds.
If a television show could be a child on a rainy day playing with a dollhouse and making up a story in their imaginative, marshmallow head while drinking hot chocolate and getting hugs from their puppy then this would be that show.
I could devote part of this review to its pacing problems, its thin plot, its treatment of its minor characters, and some of the questionable decisions the writers made in the name of a humour that was at times a little broad. But when you smile for 16 episodes straight and a chicken regularly wanders through, who cares?
The music is wonderful, the cinematography is at times spectacular and the writers have fun - loads of fun - recreating visual odes to films, especially horror films. Show is fun and show has heart and that's really all you need from a rom-com in the end.
Shin Hye-sun is delightful as Woo Seo-ri, the 17-year-old girl who comes out of a 13-year coma to find she's suddenly 30. Yang Se-jong is delightful as Gong Woo-jin, the man who hides his guilt over the accident with a misanthropic grumpiness. And Ahn Hyo-seop is delightful as Yoo Chan, Woo-jin's nephew who is 19 and just on the verge of adulthood. In fact, I'd love to think of another synonym for 'delightful' right now but that describes almost every character in this show - major or minor.
The main trio is rounded out by the robotic, classics-quoting housekeeper, Jennifer (Ye Ji-won) whose rote delivery and deadpan randomness is... delightful.
Every one of these characters is delightful but what I really love is the show’s underlying message about control and our ultimate lack thereof. It's not actually about trauma so much as the fact that growing up means reconciling your dreams with the reality of life and your own limitations. You can't control your physical limits any more than you can control whether a bus crashes.
As you grow older, doors in your life close. But if you have the patience to wait through the intermission, a window will open and the amazing second act can begin.
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I must say that I found it a few days ago by coincidence.
I was randomly looking for good and interesting Dramas to watch when I found out about this one. The plot seemed really interesting. I don´t know the reason but somehow it drew me kind of to watch it.
I was shocked.Deeply shocked...But not because it was bad, it was because of the low rating it had.I saw it when I was updating my episodes.I watched all 11 episode in about two days.Please I want to say beforehand that some people tend to say it wouldn´t be"that good"when it´s already so old.Well I must admit I thought so at first.Because it´s the first time I watched a Drama from 2000.But that was predjudice and I corrected my mind about that now!
The time I watched it I never skipped one part and I thought many times about giving it a 10.But I didn.´t.And do you want to know the reason??
Because it isn´t one Drama which you can judge fast.I thought four days about the rating I would give it.In the end I gave it a almost perfect 9 because I didn´t like ......that about TWO mysterys weren´t solved in the end.So for ME it wasn´t the perfect ending.In short it is a almsost 10:DD
The music: The intro was important for the feeling you get in the whole Drama.When at first I didn´t pay attention to it,it made me watch the second and third and fourtz episode..etc.Only because of the intro in the beginning.It´s like a mental preparation for these partly horrible,exciting and lovely scenes.But in all I didn´t notice other outstanding music while watching the episodes.Mostly only in the beginning and ending of the episode.Still I don´t stink it was important for the whole thing so I didn´t mind.MAybe it would have even destroyed some special scenes.At leat it was great without it.
The cast: There was only one main.role and it was my absolute favorite.It´s stunning how he managed to play both-the twins-so convincing!!!They were totally the opposite and still I was deeply moved by both of them(lol at first I only felt hatred to one of them though).The main-roles were really good too.But not all of them. Still I gave it a 9 because of the exceptional main-role and the other supporting roles.The Drama was like that:The more important the better the actor/actress.Yes that´s fitting.
The Story: It was one part I thought about giving a 10 and yes you could say I was snapped but there were a few aspects in the story developement in the end I didn´t like.Still the whole plot was amazing. I was stunned about it.It was simple but amazing.Probably because of the great actors who played it!
Rewatch value:I am not sure if I ever want to experience these exciting and partly annoying acts of this Drama.You should have watched it at least ONE time and the rest everyone should decide for themselves. You learn by watching this Drama and depending on how much "you want to review" ,I would say you should watch this Drama again.
Well I for myself have enough of the Drama!!It may appear weird but I am somehow fed up and than in the end just relieved and happy that I finished to watch this Drama here.
Now I wrote much.I am sorry about it but I just thought everyone should have the chance to know the value of this Drama here.
That´s the reason why I wrote a review to it.Sure that I loved the Drama and wanted to show it to others....was a reason for it as well(:
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This review may contain spoilers
i cried for like 30 minutes and i never cry for movies/drama
I finished youth of may about 25 minutes ago and I just need to write a real review to let this off my chest.I loved it so much. I genuinely love every thing about this drama. There's not one single thing I wanna complain about. Of course there are things that hurt, and that annoyed me, but that's the whole point.
The fact that Myeong Hee dies, the character who literally caused the least trouble and who just wanted to study in Germany and heal people, is just so painful but also so real. The fact that so many people around her survived and she couldn't , breaks me. I genuinely got so attached to her character, the way that she was with others, her humour, her outfits, her smile, i fell in love with all of her character and then she died... all alone, on the ground, bleeding out with no one beside her.
I also love how this drama taught me how quickly you can love someone. They only knew each other for a few weeks but they loved each other in such a pure, innocent way. I just loved seeing them together, they simply make sense.
It's a historical drama, so I never expected a happy ending. Honestly, I would've been almost mad if they had given us a happy ending cause this is something that truly happened, and sugar coating it by making all of the main characters live happily would just be... disrespectful to me?I don't know but i definitely liked it. Truth is she probably wouldn't regret dying, because she did manage to save her brother (who btw, must have horrible abandonment issues since both his father and sister said they would "come back", just to save him).
There are small things that were so well written, like the way Hwang Hee Tae's little brother gets shot in the leg (indirectly by his father i guess we can say), like his father literally taking his son's dreams away of running. We first see him with his fancy shoes making Myeong Hee's brother jealous, and now here he is, bleeding on the ground to save his sister (wearing those shoes).
Soo Ryeon's brother also realises just how stupid he's been for trying to hold his sister back. She had empathy and understood altruism from the start but some people, like her family, need to be thrown into the real world to understand that they're living on a cloud while everyone is in pain. Indirectly because of them and their actions.
Even the fact that Hwang Hee tae's father never truly gets punished is good writing to me. Sure he gets his position taken away and loses his family but he never lives through as much pain as the people he hurt with his own two hands. He's a monster who, in a way, gets away with it. Just like in real life.
Hwang Hee tae watching the music competition on the tv, crying in the cafe while handing out missing person flyers was so painful. He would have been on that stage if he had never met Myeong hee. Then in the graveyard, he looks up at a plane, just like Myeong hee might've gotten on a plane to Germany if she had never met him. Her father wouldn't have died either probably. yet so many other people would have died instead, because they saved them in the hospital.
I'm also proud of Hwang Hee Tae for partly keeping myeong hee alive by becoming a brave doctor, the same way she was a brave nurse. She's the one who pushed him to get over his fear of hurting people. And the parallel of him helping the nurse just like when he first saw myung hee.. it stung. then again everything in this drama did.
I also love how they switched the actors at the end, the way that the writers knew that seeing the older actors crying wouldn't hurt as much. Seeing young doctor hwang hee tae finding out that her body has been found was the peak of my crying session.
Anyway this was so so so unorganized sorry, it's more of a rant than a review. But i truly just love this drama, and I don't think I'll ever forget it. It was so beautifully written, the actors did an amazing job, the scenery was beautiful (the spring 1980s vibe made me feel warm and fuzzy), the OST was beautiful as well (my personal favourite is Starry night, thank god they didn't play it at the end cause i would've cried even more i think).
i started watching the drama right when the first episode aired (i was excited cause lee do hyun is my favourite actor) and i've been so attached to it since then. I'm sad it's over and I'll miss the characters a lot.
thank you for making me sob. I'll watch it again when I've healed.
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