Reviews

I started this drama on a whim and ended up loving it. It's one of the better romance drama that I've watched in recent years.

The plot is very simple. It is about a teenager crush that evolves into a beautiful relationship once reciprocated. While it is simple, I think the show did a good job overall in portraying the different stages of the relationship. There is no unnecessary angst and the tone remains light and fluffy throughout.

The only thing that makes me rate the story lower is the lack of scenes showcasing ML thoughts. The drama could have used an extra episode to flesh out ML character more. His background story is way too short and he changed from brotherly affection to full on loving the FL so quickly that I find it a bit abrupt. It would be better if there are more scenes showcasing his hesitation and motivation. The novel did a much better job fleshing out his character imo.

The casts are definitely the highlight for me. Everyone fits their role so well and the acting feels quite natural. I love all the 3 leads, though I am most impressed with Chen Zheyuan. His eyes deliver so much emotion! The chemistry between the 3 leads are amazing. I definitely will be checking out their future projects.
I also really like the OST because they fit and added so much to the scenes.

Overall I really like this drama. It is well produced and I could tell a lot of thought and effort went into it. It was good from beginning to the end. Although I feel like they could use 1 or 2 more episodes, but overall I'm very satisfied with the series.

I would recommend this drama for anyone that likes romance, slice of life, and something simple in general. This drama has been my happy pill after a long tiring day at work for the past 2 weeks, so I would definitely missed it.

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fun premise but… why are the ex’s family STILL here??

This show had so much potential but the biggest problem is 100% the ex’s family hanging around way past the first act. Like… why are they still in every conflict? Why do they get THIS much screentime?? People keep saying the leads lack chemistry but honestly they don’t; the show just wastes all their moments by stuffing in secondary characters who don’t matter to the actual romance. Every time the leads start building momentum, boom: unnecessary side drama. It could’ve been a tight, cute romcom, but the pacing drags because we’re stuck watching plotlines that should’ve ended 10 episodes earlier.

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In Amazement!!

I thought this drama was perfect! I am in amazement at how many reviews have missed the whole story line and decided to focus mainly on the acting skills of the ML and FL. Living in North America, it is fascinating for me to learn about other country technologies and their perspectives as they apply to the world market. I certainly won't take anything away from Dylan Wang and Bai Lu as they both are exceptional actors. It is refreshing to see Dylan Wang accomplish a more serious modern day role and how he brings a mature level to his acting. I have seen Bai Lu in many dramas and her acting gives a "real" feel to her roles. I would definitely rewatch this drama again.

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I watch a lot of dramas. Why? Well, lots of reasons but one is because my work is some heavy shit and sometimes I need something that is pure distraction. And this drama delivers on that.

So this is not the drama to watch if you want to think deeply about the world or be moved by something new or profound. It IS the drama to watch if you just had surgery and you need something to keep your mind off the pain while you recover, or if you are that combo of bored and distracted that means you can't keep track of complicated plotting, or if you're feeling sad generally and want to watch an angst-light bickering couple be adorable at each other for a while.

One point I thought worth making is that the premise of forced marriage and subsequent escape/chase as the base of a romantic relationship is tricky to handle well. The show does a great job of balancing the characters and the romantic development so that it doesn't feel like the female lead is intimidated into love or suffering from Stockholm syndrome or something. His intentions towards her aren't creepy, and while she's attracted to him early on, she doesn't fall for him until much later when the power balance between them is much more equal (side note: I would hesitate to call this a "historical".... it's thoroughly modern in terms of the ideas that the characters have about love and morality).

There's a lot of reviews already so rather than describe the show again, I'll respond to two of the major flaws that have bothered other people: plot, and the female lead's character.

Plot: This feels adapted from a web novel, and so rather than a straight plot that carries us from beginning to end, there are definite arcs: The Island Arc, the Escape/Chase Arc, the The Black Gang Arc, and the White Jade Arc. We drop some characters along these arcs and move to new locations where new characters come in, so the beginning of each arc is a bit like starting a new show, with some ramp up time before the story gets going again. The transitions to the Black Gang arc and the White Jade arc are a bit choppy, so our gang of heroes ends up talking about goals for a while and the audience is like "huh? Explosion? What? Coverup? How did we get here?"

Eventually everything makes sense again and it's pretty easy to fill in the gaps, so if you're in it for the cute couple it's not a major detractor. But if you really want a compelling and tight plot, you will definitely hate the transitions and probably not enjoy the show much overall.

Lead Female: She is a bit screetchy at the beginning, and I think the type of character (her backstory) isn't well enough established early on to make sense of some of her actions. However, she's actually a pretty good character once you get her (and the screaming subsides), so here's my take on her: She's a general's daughter who is stubborn, book-smart, and has an intense sense of justice and desire to do good in the world. She's been indulged, but not *specifically* trained. So she's grown up around martial arts and picked up some things, and she knows lots of tricks that she's read about and is decent at putting together traps or thinking her way out of a situation. BUT she's not that great at anything other than slingshot. She's got a lot more courage than experience, so when she starts having experiences, she isn't always prepared for what's happening.

What I liked about her character was that for everything except cooking, what they established that she was good at remained good throughout the show (and the cooking is a really minor exception). So, she has a photographic memory, which is useful even at the end. She's good at tricks and quick thinking. She doesn't use them every possible time, but she doesn't get "dumber" over time as some smart characters tend to; in fact her skills improve. The pirate actually changes to get better at trusting her and acknowledging her strengths, and she learns new skills. It's not *amazing* but it is well done enough to keep their relationship interesting throughout the show, which is great because the romantic arc is such that the show could have suffered from early bed death.

The show was a ton of fun for me. I even loved the cheesy costumes (caterpillar eyebrows!!!!) and props, which offered their own laughs at times. The show never takes itself to seriously, which is what you want for a low-budget comedy low on realism and loose with plot. A high production value would have made the historical inaccuracies and trope-heavy plot unbearable.

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Red flag with a face card is still a red flag. No excuses!

If a guy never listens to you, constantly talks about himself, takes you for granted and is self-centered, would you still stay with him? Without a doubt, the answer should be no. But if he has a charming face, all his bad qualities will vanish into thin air. But that shouldn't be the case, right? We shouldn't be bewitched by someone's looks. The same goes with this TV special.

The k-drama opens with Oh Jin (played by Shin Ye Eun) getting greeted by her boyfriend Cha Min Jae (played by Kang Tae Oh) with passionate kisses the moment she steps into his house. At first, this might seem romantic and sweet but Oh Jin stops kissing Min Jae midway and insists to put away the beer and freshen up first. He didn't even ask how was her day and instead asked why she was late. Min Jae then grabbed her to continue making out but she protested again to which he didn't listen to and wanted to do it his way.

It was pretty obvious from the opening scene that this relationship is doomed to end. Min Jae constantly dismisses Oh Jin's thoughts and feelings and would always point out that she's being too emotional. Oh Jin only realizes this when her boyfriend flicked her forehead too hard after losing in a bet. The finger flick is a wake-up call to Oh Jin that perhaps she deserves better than this. What was once little cracks in their relationship started to develop into a tremor that will make or break their connection.

Shin Ye Eun portayed Oh Jin with naturalism and nuance. We empathized with her as she navigates a breaking point in her relationship. It broke our hearts when she come to realize that her boyfriend is not cherishing and treating her right the way she should be. Ye Eun channels Oh Jin's confusion and ambivalence toward her boyfriend and a budding romance with the PE teacher. Ye Eun's maturity was also shown as the story progresses.

Tae Oh adopts a smug and broody approach to depict a self-centered and insensitive boyfriend. In reality, a possessive and cold-hearted guy turns out not to be hot at all. He constantly turns the tables and puts all the blame to Oh Jin for being too emotional. Thankfully, Oh Jin sticks to her guts and was firm on her decision.

Meanwhile, Hong Kyung plays Koo Won Bin, a PE teacher who is harboring a crush on Oh Jin. He is very soft-spoken and is straightforward about his feelings, a stark contrast to Min Jae's personality. He is sheepish yet has a way with words and it feels as though he is straight out of fiction books.

Overall, this is a quick, nice watch with a compelling storyline. This kdrama is not about getting pissed off over a finger flick, it's highlighting growing out of love and also touches on gaslighting which is a prominent issue nowadays in relationships. Watching this can also be a wake-up call to viewers that loving someone can just be something that is done out of habit without us realizing it. This sounds painful but it is the reality of love. The fact that this special episode was able to narrate a heartbreaking yet light-hearted story in a short amount of time is such a feat and is all the more reason for watching.

PS. If you were rooting for Kang Tae Oh, there is seriously something wrong with you. I bet you rooted for Song Kang in Nevertheless, too.

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The Kmovie would have been a good queer film if not for the plot. I watched the movie earlier with a friend and am not surprised as to why 1million viewers tried to watch this film within two weeks. How could four-hot-good-looking-irresistible stars not garner these amount of fans?

In this movie, what was really interesting was how each character had their own story to tell. I'm also glad that the director and producer gave the chance for these characters to show their own side of the story. The movie is quite long, with bits of musical pieces in between that I almost thought it was going to be like a broadway musical show up to the end.

Joo Ji-hoon (from Goong and Mawang) who played as Kim Jin Hyeok, Antique's owner was the most complex character in the lot. He had this terrible past which he doesn't have closure with up until he made up the Bake shop. Jin Hyeok do not actually like sweets because of an incident 20 years ago. The only way he could move on from that was to catch the person who inflicted trauma in his past but the story does not only revolve around him. There's more...

Kim Jae-wook (from Coffee Prince) as Min Seon-woo, the gay Patisserie (my favorite character) was VERY queer, charming, hot and definitely devious when it comes to making men; straight or gay fall for him. Only Jin Hyeok is the exception for some certain reason related in the past (again). He is the only guy who is able to resist his charm thoroughly up to the present but there would be some side story between their friendship and how things work out in favor for both of them in the end.

I loved the way Jae-wook presented his character, it seemed so real and not icky to watch all. There were several kissing scenes with a guy in this movie to show how gay his character really was. What fascinated me more was that before I actually watched the movie, I have read several comments from him as to how he was able to portray the character in a realistic manner. During the filming sessions, he admitted that he was having a very hard time internalizing his gay character because in reality he wasn't gay. What's more interesting is how it seemed so natural on screen, you wouldn’t even think he was uncomfortable with the whole process. He was so darn convincing that I would think he was gay if I didn't know any better.

Yoo Ah-in (Sungkyunkwan Scandal) as Patisserie apprentice Yang Ki-beom, a punk kid who wanted to eat cakes and is running away from something. The kid is an insistent worker, stubborn but has a high respect for Seon-woo and would only acknowledge him as the best Patisserie in the whole world. He also has a sweet tooth that he became the official taster for the bake-shop.

Choi Ji-ho as Nam Soo-yeong, the guy who is unbelievably stuck with Jin-hyeok. He is the son of the Kim's house nanny and became Jin-hyeok's body guard in the process. He may be a bit slow, and could have been affected by the charms of Seon-woo but he has a great respect and kin-ship affection (not in a gay kind of way) towards Jin-hyeok. He always sees to it that he will be able to cater the needs of his young master.

There are other characters that have their own roles, but it would be too tedious to mention them one by one. Over all the movie's quirkiness is thanks to these four wonderful guys. They have brought the entire film to the best of its ability that even in its 109 minutes, did not once made me feel it was draggy or boring. The mixture of humor and suspense was perfect, even the soundtrack fit so well with the whole movie. There might be some several graphics that was a bit too exaggerated but the colorful atmosphere and acting took that tiny glitch away.

The movie may not show any love interest between a man and woman, but it would certainly show how people could connect deeply with each other no matter how one is scarred from the past or has a marred future. It only shows that in the end, everyone would be able to cope up with their own personal demons.

A must see movie for those who has a queer eye and a different perspective in life.

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Zero Character Development

I must say that I felt hooked because I was waiting for the main character to finally win and get her revenge--but I wrong for rooting for her because she is stupid. She keeps getting entangled with her husband who was not worthy at all. How I would breakdown the plot:

Episodes 1-4 = pretty much Tae-Ho gaslighting Sun Woo that he is not cheating

Episodes 5-14 = revenge going back and forth, no winner but everyone is a loser; both parents emotionally abusing the kid / Jun Yeong

Episode 15-16 = pure trash; Sun Woo trying to be a saint saving his trash ex

That's pretty much it. A trash I would not recommend because there is no character development. Sun Woo could have been a better character if she was not stupid. She keeps on telling that she wants everything for Jun Yeong but keeps exposing the kid to the wrong environment because she is selfish and have other motives.

Best ending goes to Ye Rim. Girl freed herself from stupidity.

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A handsome ML and some satisfying PDA

OK - so the story was full of holes and didn't have much substance - but the chemistry between the actors was terrific, and I appreciated the little twists in the story along the way and at the end. The ML was worth every scene he was in especially because he's gorgeous - but the FL was irritating as hell. Maybe her sister would have been a more fitting FL.

The best part of this production for me was the PDA - real kisses, not those pressed lip fake kisses. Not overdone or shocking - but real and romantic, and that made the series for me and earned a 7.5 rating. That's why I look for ROMANTIC historical stories. If you're looking for something light to watch in between serious drama, this one will do! (And looking at the ML is worth it!)

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I came into this drama expecting nothing at all since I was fairly bored and the first few episodes totally blew my mind. The drama started off with a clear message to the viewers: Dan Oh, a girl who is trapped in a manga world tries to break free and keep herself alive from the unfairness and absurdness of the cruel world while trying to find the meaning behind her life.

However, it started going downhill and the message of the drama started to disappear too. Dan Oh went from trying to change her life to saying " Haru!!" during every single scene she was in, it was cute at the beginning but gets extremely repetitive quickly. At first, the introduction of the character Haru was seemingly interesting for me. Who is he? What is his relation to Dan Oh? Why is he the only one who can change the story? As the drama progresses, we got to know the answer behind the first two of these questions and found out that they were lovers in the previous drama, as for the latter... we still don't know. It seemed as if Haru life revolved only around Dan Oh, we really never got to see him really do anything besides think about Dan Oh, nor do we know what his hobbies are (other than saving Dan Oh). His character became utterly boring and one-dimensional to me. The second male lead: Baek Kyung was just an annoying jerk throughout the series and the writers only redeemed him in the second last episode. Second last episode! All through episode 1 to 14, his only role was to get annoyed at Dan Oh and Haru, shout at everyone and slam the locker. The love triangle was so draggy cause we all know that Dan Oh likes Haru and Baek Kyung was clearly not in the picture. Instead of spending episodes with repetitive scenes such as: Dan Oh & Haru cute moments together with Baek Kyung watching from afar with an annoyed expression, the stage happens and Haru gets jealous seeing Dan Oh with Baek Kyung, the stage ends and DanHaru leaves together but then stops on their tracks because Kyung mentioned something about how "Eun Dan Oh is my fiance!!!" and then cue the amnesia storyline but make it happen twice. The writers could have focused on answering important questions such as: How did this manga world happen? Who is the writer? How did Kyung's brother become self-aware and what is his role? Are all the characters going to be stuck in this loophole forever? What's the weird portal? Why is the comic book stored in the library where everyone could easily find it? Meanwhile, you have another love triangle (yes another one) between Do Hwa, Joo Da, and Nam Joo. Do Hwa is literally the only likable character in this series and shadow Joo Da is just really badass and together they would make a great couple right? Wrong. Joo Da chooses Nam Joo, a character who is only there to calls her "my woman" at every opportunity he gets and because if she leaves him, he won't have anyone to care about him.


The acting was incredible. I was skeptical of Rowoon's acting at first since I've never watched him in a drama before but his acting really amazed me. The rest of the cast's acting was brilliant too.

The OST was good too.

Overall, if you can overlook all the plotholes and the annoying repetitive scenes and the cliches then this drama is for you.

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Wonderful People in a Wonderful World

"In the middle of life's journey, I got lost and wandered. No matter how much time passes,losing someone precious to you will always be lonesome. I will try to keep going. If i keep going, one day the pain will lessen. I hope all those grieving find comfort. I hope the world will be more friendly to those in pain. I hope a beautiful world will come while you overcome your pain."

I never thought a story of revenge and salvation can be this satisfying.

Full on heavy drama shows are never my priority to watch. With so much content nowadays, you have to have a list of priority and this initially wasnt in my top, but i ended up eagerly waiting for each episodes. This series is anxiety-inducing but is also satisfying and inspirational.

The first episode hooks you in. The perfect perfect casting of Kin Nam Joo and Kim Kang Woo as perfect husband and wife Eun Soo Hyun and Hang Soo Ho, and parents who tragically lost their kid due to a an accident. The accident and the justice system's inability to punish the criminals made Soo Hyun take matters in to her hands - destryoing her once perfect life by killing the man responsible for the death of her son. This is the story of her (and her husband's) disappointments, healing, salvation and triumph.

The series also introduced us to Gwon Seon Yul. A man-child seeking revenge to those who have destryoed his family - with a surprise casting of Cha Eun Woo. The character needed the depth of someone who has lost everything in life - someone you are supposed to despise but is too good looking to hate. He fits the bill perfectly and I am pleasantly surprised with how well he acted in this series - i never thought Id say this but with the right direction he has finally proven something and has indeed become an Actor here.

Fanatics beware this is the part were i say some things you might hate. The story, to be quite honest, is not really unique - in fact a lot of times it verges on the typical melodrama soap opera. The overall plot is predictable and we can see from a mile away who the real culprit is. The attempt to make Seon Yul's character the fadeaway villain is also not convincing - like I said in the last pharagraph Cha Eun Woo is just too good looking to hate and you know all their efforts for a fakeout is not believable. Also, I am sorry to say but for me, the pacing too can sometimes be a little slow (I watched most of it in 1.25 speed) with a lot of emphasis on quiet, thinking scenes.

With all that said, this is still a very satisfying and inspirational series and the series finale was executed beautifully - tieing up Soo Hyun and Seon Yul's storeis perfectly and leaving viewers with a feeling of hope that no matter how dire their cumstances are, good things are still bound to happen and that no matter how hard life is, thare are still wonderful people and this is still a wonderful world to live in.

Maybe a hard sell for a rewatch, but seeing it one time is enough to send its message. Overall its a 9.5, especially for the acting and direction. A show most reccommendable to watch.

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All that glitters is not gold!

This drama had everything going for it. From stunning sets, dramatic costumes, popular cast and a trailer that promised intrigue, romance and political drama. Unfortunately, it turns out that lavish wardrobes and good-looking actors in them can't save the day.

The most glaring issue here was the writing. The drama just can't seem to decide what it wants to be till the very end.
Was it a royal romance? A musical drama? A political thriller? A princess diary fanfic BL version? There were too many storylines crammed in here. Instead of choosing one and committing, it tries to do all and ends up doing none well.
Let's start with tonal whiplash. One moment, you are dealing with serious political protests and in the very next scene, Khanin suddenly bursts into song with a piano playing softly in the background. I understand singing during protests is nothing new and it's a time-honoured form of resistance, but this was Broadway theatrical in a way that totally undermined the gravity of that scene and took all seriousness out of it.

Coming to the main couple, they definitely look good on paper, but felt like paper in execution. Khanin is both the crown prince and somehow the least interesting person in most of the scenes. He starts as an interesting character, a normal boy adapting to palace culture in a foreign land, but quickly develops into this lovesick puppy whose only job is to pine, pose and moon over Charan.
Charan, on the other hand, is a man of few words and fewer expressions.
He was stiff, stoic and emotionally blank for most of the drama. He definitely had an air of nobility, and we were shown a few glimpses of inner turmoil that could have been fleshed out more to give us something, but I never got a sense of what drives him. Was it a sense of justice or his duty? He was just the "dependable one" and that's about it. Also the amount of filters on Zee's face was a baffling choice. He is already handsome. There was no need to smooth out every trace of expression. We know his age and there is nothing wrong with showing it. Why try to hide what already works!!??

I felt their relationship developed too fast. They have chemistry and I don't deny that, but just not enough development for me to root for them. They were very bland. Even the infamous NC scene looked like a fever dream you would expect from a Wattpad fanfic. It felt overdramatic and oddly timed.

Meanwhile, the second couple, Ramil and Paytai, sitting on the bench at the side, actually had a compelling dynamics but barely got any screen time. They had something emotionally raw brewing, trauma bonding, guilt, co-dependence. We were served crumbs of them but that’s the only part I ended up caring about.

Then there’s Ava. I was genuinely curious to see how the writers would handle her arc and they disappointed me exactly as expected. They made her stand up just to knock her back down again whenever it suited the plot (or their mood apparently). So much potential, so little effort.
I will not even talk about Calvin and Jay because they got so little screen time. They were written in but weren't written for. All the side characters had a better story in my humble opinion.

The polished cinematography, sparkling costumes and wide shots of castles and palaces screamed high budget. But honestly, it felt like a hollow chocolate wrapped in gold foil. Pretty to look at but kind of pointless when you are left with nothing to chew on. And also, I wished they were a bit subtle about the product placement.
And I wasn't particularly impressed with any of the acting performances, especially of the leads. I don't know if it was the writing or what, but NO.

Overall, this was a disappointment for me, not the fun kind which you can laugh about. I am not sure if the team thought aesthetics could do all the heavy lifting. I will not recommend this.

P.S.- This review is not meant to discourage anyone from watching the drama. If you are interested, absolutely give it a try. :) And this isn’t also a jab at the actors either. My disappointment comes from a place of a viewer who was genuinely excited for the series. You might wonder why I didn’t drop it midway, well you can thank my NDD for that.

But if you enjoyed the show, please take this review with a grain of salt and as one person’s perspective among many.
Thank you for reading my review and I hope you have a lovely day. <3

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Will it be the best drama of the year?

This series has a sophisticated atmospheric magic blended with real life traumas and believable characters. Every person in the drama is flawed, but relatable and likeable (except the ML’s sister, about who I'll rant below). As opposed to recent “Queen of Tears” where every character was also flawed, but none of them were likeable (perhaps the exception being the aunt).

In “The Atypical Family” story as well as character development expands with an atmosphere – the colour tones, the music scores as well as sound design, and the easily flowing caesural pauses allowing the viewers to take in the vastness of the scene settings, the seriousness of the situations. One could almost compare this drama with the poetry. Actors and their characters are allowed pauses to think, not to say that they’re slow, on the contrary, it makes them and their choices more believable. The script and most chosen actors are spectacular in their roles….. except one minor detail.

The rant (at ep. 4):
To me it seems that in Korea there are no plus size actors. I’d bet anything it’s not the truth, but the industry is hellbent on trying to prove to the world that there’s either no obese people in Korea or no “fat” actors. Whenever the creators need to have a heavier character in the show, they just find the skinnies actress and put her in a costume. (To be fair it is impressive, what a film crew can do nowadays, and it does look somewhat realistic, however, it also gives “uncanny valley” vibes, because the actor trying to act is not actually fat.) Not to mention, the creators make that particular character as unpleasant visually and in personality as possible. Around the world there are plenty of big and heavy people, who are wonderful, who do not care for their weight, and even have a sense of fashion. But noooo, let’s vilify the fatness. I would not wish it but, I’d guess the plan for Bok Dong-Hee is to lose all the weight, so she could fly again. I would prefer, if she could accept herself as she is and still could regain flying, because that power should not depend on her actual weight, it is after all a Super.Power.
End of the rant.

All in all, I find the story refreshing and interesting, the clashing of one dysfunctional family with a fake united one, the deadpan comedy, the pain of trauma and not managing to let go of the past.

This drama for me might even be the best of the year.

Second rant (at ep. 10):
At ep. 10 Bok Dong-Hee becomes slim, just like that. Boom. We see each episode that she is becoming slimmer, but that amount... just took me out. I generally skip a lot of her scenes because her personality is too childish for me and grinds on my nerves about the whole "get back the cheating man" by losing weight. Ughhh. Bish, if he doesn't want you fat, he will not want you slim.
The only, ONLY redeeming point about the whole lost weight thing is that she still can not fly! Thank you! Because it's not the weight that was holding her down!!! It. Is. A. Super. Power!
End of the rant.

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YWCFTS is a perfect blend of romance, comedy, and melodrama. I love the underlying theme of why humans live diligently when we are all going to die eventually anyway. The writer provided a complete story. I didn't feel the holes that are so common when sci fi, time travel, body switch, etc. stories are attempted. I'm not a fan of romantic comedy, but this was so well done and included enough melo to keep me interested.

Why isn't Jun Ji Hyun in more dramas? I absolutely adore her. She made Song Yi so real to me. I will watch anything she plans to do in the future. Honestly, I'm not much of a fan of Kim Soo Hyun. However, he played Min Joon very well. To me his character was a good blend of controlled emotion with feeling. Park Hae Jin and Yoo In Na as well as the other characters were also good.

The music is pretty.

I will probably rewatch this at some point.

I think everyone would enjoy this drama.

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