Reviews

How Would You Rate Me Out Of 10?

The Actors:
Ha Ji Won's tears: 10/10
Ju Ji Hoon's angry eyes: 9/10
Nana's beauty: 10/10
Nana's underacting: 3/10
Cha Joo Young's beauty: 20/10
Cha Joo Young's overacting: -5/10

The Plot:
ML not having a military backstory (unexpected): 6/10
Using revenge porn not once, but twice as a plot point (without legal consequences ever brought up): -99/10
Killing off through murder the three (I'm counting the movie) WLW relationships (is this some kind of subliminal): -100/10
Pretending sexual assault emotionally only affects women (because apparently men are fine being subject to it if it can advance their career): -50/10
Not ever uttering the word gay or lesbian as if that wasn't a whole dimension of the drama and pretending a full on lesbian movie featuring one of the most prominent actresses as lead in a NSFW sex scene would even see the light of day in SK: 7/10 (added points for the positive wishful thinking)
Encouraging sympathy for the ML when he: sexually assaulted his wife, created and used revenge porn for personal gain, manipulated a poor woman into doing his dirty work and knowgingly let TWO innocent men go to prison: 1/10 (male mediocrity forgiveness in kdrama is getting tiring)

The Music:
Playing the OST everytime anything dramatic ever happens (every 10 minutes): 3/10

The Re-Watch Value:
I'm not even sure there is a watch value there: 0/10


TLDR; If the endless twists and turns of human evil scheming, the unprobable lack of legal consequences for public criminal activity and the tears of pretty women are for you, then watch any thriller kdrama. No, you are not special, Climax.

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bodyguard, mafia, cohabitation, BDSM, he’s a monster but he’s my monster

Adapted from a Y-novel and with real rough beginnings in terms of switching production houses, funding, and distribution which showed in a shaky point of view, weak script, and poorly distributed of couple weight and pacing. By about 3 episodes in I just got pissed off at this show, it was largely inconsistent in all ways which I think is all production issues. It should have been better. It should at least have been as good as everyone else seemed to think.

However at 50% car porn 50% actual porn I was game. (That said I got no chemistry from KimChay - I think it was a BIG mistake to switch out Gameplay, and had real issues with several of KinnPorsche’s sex scenes.) The fight sequences were excellent and Kinn’s eyebrows are like seriously aggressive caterpillars - I was half afraid they’re going to strike out on their own, take up the rainbow flag and join the march in Not Me. There’s also a lot of Fighter-inspired shirts (Why R U?) in this show. I suppose mafia DOES have a long tradition of chest forward narrative.

VegasPete were in one drama; KimChay were in another; KinnPorsche were in each of those randomly but then sometimes in their own extremely slapstick cheese-fest alt-reality + Tankhun. There were clearly 2 directors with 2 distinct and conflicting points of view, who apparently never had a single conversation with each other. Was this show good? Nope. Was it absorbing as fuck? Sure. Was it well acted, absolutely. Were the sex scenes great? Yes. We the fight scenes awesome? Actually yeah (special props to Jeff for the hand-to-hand stuff). Did I enjoy the kinky bits? Certainly. But all that said: the VegasPete universe of KP was the only universe I really enjoyed and would like to revisit, and I only got that 1/5 of the time. Mathematics is working against this one, for me personally. So I guess I, at least, am still waiting for the perfect mafia BL. I think it might be up to Japan at this juncture. As a result of fan fervor meets my own hearty indifference, I don’t really know how to judge this show but I have to go with my heart, and KP didn’t win it. No full review, enough people have weighed in on this one, you don’t need my thoughts too.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

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Pure Entertainment!!

I am not usually a wuxia fan and have not many shows so the entire review is from my personal enjoyment of the show. No major spoilers as such but may have some minor ones. My motivation to start this was pure Lee Jae Wook tbh. I had seen him in WWW and the moment he came to the screen I was drawn to him the entire time.

Watching the initial episodes, I was half heartedly expecting this show to be a political scheming war between a destined king (Jang Uk) Vs Wannabe King (CP) Vs Actual king who is soon dying, with some magical elements. Yeah I had my biases going in but I was wrong. The setup was beautiful and I was actually drawn to the story for about 4-5 episodes. The show had some cool cliffhangers which make me crave for the next episode. The CGI elements were dope and whenever Naksu drew her sword made me major goosebumps.

That's where my complaint started. It had an interesting setup, Jang Uk born under King's Star and destined for greater things and on the other side deadly assassin Naksu soul swapped as Mu Deok. Their journey to start from scratch to finding about their truths was an intriguing plot for me which despite not being an unique one however if done right makes it interesting. After a point it became a battle of mere words. The storylines being reiterated for God knows how many times. One by one each character got to know the secrets and repeating the same thing made me scream like dude we got the story now move on. The whole Ep 19 was a summary of the story line for the nth time, no kidding.

My highest disappointment with the show is how they underplayed Naksu. They gave us a badass heroine who eventually became nothing but a maid. I get the motive behind it as they wanted to come up with the whole arc of hers but they did a major injustice. Not only hers, infact so many other characters who were supposed to be this great mages protecting the Capital and what not became a meek observer of the plot. They bought 0 contribution to the story which makes you question their purpose. During emergent situation the mages like Yul, Park Jin and even the Crown Prince did nothing making me scream like aren't you suppose to be powerful? Now for the king, I mean they take the most competitive "admission test" to appoint a servant seriously but chose the most stupid person as the king who was the last to find out what was going on. I know they added all this for drama purpose but I can't help laughing at this absurdity.

The cast did justice to their roles and no complaints on the acting front. For the romance aspect honestly I was not interested and majorly skipped all the scenes except the ones with the main couple. It was unnecessary and cringey to some extent. Action scenes were cool but were limited like Jang Uk and Naksu using one only Tansu move whenever they fight. Maybe we will see more in S2 as the setup is different here.

Overall the story was repetitive and was cliched down a lot to attract the crowd however it was still an entertaining watch for me. I am up for S2 and not taking the loopholes of the story tooo seriously.

*Ending Spoiler here*
I wonder how will they bring up Naksu's body which was burnt earlier. I suppose it was Jin's family who saved Mu Deok at the end as the mother was giving instruction to bring her alive, so I think maybe one of them saved her body or something. And Jang Uk rising from the ashes was my favorite scene of the show. Ahh LJW eyes!

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Enjoyable But... I Wish They Gave Us More!

***Disclaimer: This is just my opinion. We don't have to agree and I'm not here to argue with anyone***

(This review is entirely based on the show, I did not read the webtoon and went into this completely blind)

I really loved this drama... I thought the story was interesting, the acting was phenomenal and the OSTs touched my heart. I wish I could rewatch it for the first time and be able to experience and feel all the things I did all over again.

The way this drama had me in a chokehold for weeks needs to be studied! I honestly don't know if this drama would've had the same effect on me had I just binge watched it in one go. From beginning to end you can see the care / effort the writers put into bringing this story to life on screen. I thought the cast was beautifully chosen as the actors captured the essence of their characters so well. The emotions through the drama were raw / real and it was almost palpable through the screen. I heard the webtoon and the drama are different and that writers changed some stuff but idk I think that's the whole point of an adaption it gives the writers creative license and room to explore what the original story didn't have / lacked. Ahn Bo Hyun and Shin Hye Sun were so amazing. I need to see Bo Hyun in more leading roles... perhaps a historical drama next.

Overall, this drama was enjoyable. My only problem with it was that it was too short (12 episodes) and the last couple episodes seemed rushed and like they were trying to tie everything together at the last minute. They could've used the middle episodes to develop the plot further or have Seo Ha find out that Ji Eum was Ju Won's reincarnation earlier as well as her memories from her 1st life and how to break the curse. I found the shaman guy (Min Ki) so annoying. Especially the fact that they let his identity remain a mystery until the last two episodes, it was very underwhelming. They made it seem like he was a lover but as it turns out he was the reason why Ji Eum was cursed to be reborn each time she died. I found the ending of her forgetting everyone while they lived on remembering her very strange / not well thought out but I'm glad everything all worked out in the end and the drama ended on a happy note. I was initially so scared that it would end badly but then again I'm a lover of angst and pain. Either way I think I would've loved this drama bc the storytelling, acting and sequence of events was so entertaining.

I definitely would rewatch this drama sometime in the future. I think the key to enjoying this drama is just to go in blindly without any preconceived notions from the webtoon or constantly comparing it to it. As a reader myself it's just a fact that no adaptation can ever really live up to what you imagined in your head.

With that said I give this drama an 8/10.

Thanks for reading & happy watching!

❤️

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This drama was absolutely amazing.

I started watching this drama because a friend had told me so much about it. She knew I was a sucker for romance, and thought I'd enjoy this drama.

The music was mesmerizing, and fantasically helps display the different emotions portrayed in the drama. The cast was perfect. The two leading roles had sizzling chemistry. :D

The plot was very interesting. It kept me watching episode by episode...I didn't skip any parts!!

I especially loved how the plot of this super amazing drama makes the viewers think if there is a "fated" or "destined" person out in the world for them (if you watch the drama, you'll understand what I mean).

I honestly recommend this drama for viewers who are looking for a romantic, historical-modern, and comedic drama. Or, for viewers who are looking for dramas that could help the time past. This is also the perfect drama to cry and laugh to.

Also, in terms of the rewatch value, I gave it a 10, because the drama captures so much detail. The filiming was beautifully captured. :)

"The Rooftop Prince" is definitely one of my favourite dramas ever!! I finished this drama in three days. That's how great this is!

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The kind that nibbles at your heart until theres nothing left

Reality is sometimes far from ideal. It can be sad. Disappointing. Frustrating. Daunting. Painful. I found all these in Si Yu, Zi Zi and Xiao Ling's life as depicted here.

We saw the rosy moments. The happy and content times, often fleeting or even underappreciated. But often they had to face so much struggles that life throws at them. In this aspect, the writer does not shy off from showing us the ugly.

The issue in SY and YM's relationship or the cracks in ZZ's marriage. They were very real. Sometimes its not cookie cutter clear who is in the wrong. The relationship stalled at this point from the contribution of both parties. In SY and YM's aspects, they werent on the same page at that time in their lives. I found this to be all the more painful because they love each other but not enough to stay together and be happy.

Often i get upset when watching so i caution those with a feeble heart. But yet 41episodes watch and cried, I'm still here eagerly waiting everyday for new episodes to watch my very flawed male and female leads. As much as it pains me to see them falter, and grope in the dark as they refind themselves. I want to cheer for them. For ZZ to gain independence and confidence. For SY to understand what truly matters and stand back on her feet. I want to witness when they would find back their true selves, and their way to happiness.

The acting here is amazing. The leads are so flawed and imperfect, sometimes weak and sometimes they frustrate the hell out of me, but i cant hate them, i pity them and still want to root for them. Zhu Yi Long (this guy's eye acting and micro expressions are so on point), Liu Si Si and Han Zing Zhi all had their shining moments. Lastly i love the girls' friendship, they are there and supportive but never stiffling or condescending even though they all are so different and have different ambition and dreams.

* I have amended by rating and review upon finishing. This is the first time there's a huge discrepancy during "currently watching" to "completed". The conclusion continues its sarcastically cold reality- except the plot outcome for some of the characters to deliver the ultimatum ended up unrealistic in my opinion. We are suppose to receive the climax and send off our characters but the writing didn't deliver. After diligently shouldering the frustration and watch the humbling problems the girls faced for so long, you asked for a little reward and felt cheated. Watch something else unless you don't mind cruel reality and unfulfilled epilogue.

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Rather Bizarre Ending

Believe in Love is a partly xianxia, partly non xianxia drama. The xianxia elements are not pronounced throughout the story, as most of the characters are all normal humans living an earthly life, until towards the end when some elements of xianxia come to light. This is another story revolving around cuisines and food, and it is my fourth one in a row. Despite the tag that says “comedy”, there is very little comedy here, or comedies that don't make people laugh. Nonetheless, it’s quite an enjoyable light watch with some “angsts” for some viewers.

Hua Yinan (Huang Shengchi) and Lu Yue’er (Zheng He Hui Zi) were lovers in their previous life as General Mu Yuan and Xiao Man. Mu Yuan died and Xiao Man perished while trying to save him. Thousands of years later, they meet again living on an island -- Hua Yinan as the son of the owner of the island and Lu Yue’er as the daughter of the owner of a small noodle shop. With mysteries and unexplained circumstances, Hua Yinan is told to marry Lu Yue’er in his father’s will before he can inherit his father’s legacy as the rightful owner of the island and all his properties, including the biggest and best restaurant on the island. Hua Yinan is reluctant to marry Lu Yue’er as he doesn’t like her and the feelings are mutual. Through various encounters that make them save each other’s life, Hua Yinan begins to fall in love with Lu Yue’er. So when she agrees to marry him, Hua Yinan is overjoy. He inherits everything the will promises he will. Comes our antagonist who was the antagonist in their previous life as well. What follows become a test of their true love for each other.

The whole cast is new to me including the main leads. Huang Shengchi is good looking and despite having acted in many dramas, this is my first drama of him. His portrayal of Hua Yinan is convincing with a mild demeanor and a soft romance towards his love. Likewise, I have never watched any of Zheng He Hui Zi’s dramas, and her portrayal here is equally convincing as the naïve Lu Yue’er or the arrogant Tang Yingying. Her outfit is rather unconventional with bared shoulders, accentuating her narrow frame, making her looking like a little girl. Their dynamics together are sweet and authentic with a lot of intimate scenes. The antagonist is vile and hateful, and Xiao Kaizhong's portrayal is very convincing. The second couple, Su Tang (Zhu Rong Jun) and Du Ruo (Hou Dong), is quite a joy to watch, and the stepmom and step sister are so horrible that you want to slap them. These supporting actors are great in their respective roles.

My Verdict

This drama is not great nor very bad. It’s easy watching though it can be rather slow pace as there is a prolong romance play which can be welcoming for some romance buffs, but boring for others. The last episode turns into a love triangle with a xianxia fight with superpower. The endings have multiple plot holes and questions not answered. It's rather bizarre. Overall, watch it for light entertainment and don't be too bothered with the details.

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While watching Secret Love, I was initially sucked in because this felt so different from the rest of the kdramas out there. I use to be a big fan of the genre, but then I realized that almost all of them followed the same formula, so I stopped.

I'm slowly getting back to kdramas, so I picked this one up and at first I was all in. I loved every moment of this show. The acting was top notch and the story, at least in the beginning, was complex and unique.

I loved it!

So why the 7?

Well, what I loved about the show was the complexity of everything and how everyone was flawed. As the show progressed and more secrets were revealed, I thought that it would continue to add to the depth of the characters, instead I got the same kdrama. Rich guy falls in love with poor girl. Poor girl has a guy that likes her and the rich guy has a girl that likes him. Drama ensues.

I can accept that. What I couldn't accept was this love story. Min Hyuk and Yoo Jeong just didn't make any sense as lovers. Min Hyuk had some reverse Stockholm Syndrome where he fell in love with the person he was tormenting. It came about from obsession and then he loves her. It made sense. But for Yoo Jeong to love him back all of a sudden? No. That never made sense and never felt authentic to me. After five years of being harassed and tormented, you don't just suddenly say "I love you too."

I also felt like the story dropped the ball with Do Hoon, who was the most interesting character on the show. He's been brought up in a family that expects him to be the best, but still keep his morals intact. That all changes when he allows Yoo Jeong to take the fall for him. Him getting close to Min Hyuk and trying to destroy him seemed to be his ways of making amends, but in the end I really didn't know what he was doing.

I enjoyed my time watching this and was eagerly waiting for the next episode to appear so I could watch it, but now that everything is said and done, was this really all that different from the rest of the kdramas out there? Kind of, but not really. There's a lot of plot holes and the ending was rushed. I just wasn't satisfied when it was done.

I am in the minority with this, so if you think this might be something you'd like then check it out, but if you are looking for something new in the kdrama world then I don't think you'll find it here.

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There is just something about this movie that made me absolutely love it!

The actors are absolutely fantastic as well as the original and quite absurd story.
I was surprised at the humour and jokes, being a little more mature than usual movies, but it was not excessive or out of place.

It is rare for me to give out 10, but be it because of the amazing performance, the cute moments, the amazing kisses and even such an absurd coincidental love, this movie had me clicking "replay" from the first time I watched it!

I recommend it to all those that enjoy love stories with a hint of mature jokes and some sexy concepts: trust me, you won't be disappointed!

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I started watching this drama, because of the main couple. I watched them in Secret, so I wanted to watch something else related to them.
My first impression that this drama left on me was good.
The storyline is amazing. The writers did a great job. They really knew how to mess with a viewers mind. With this drama you will laugh and cry in the same time, and you won't be bored at all.
Well, for the acting it was good. I can surely say that, Ji Sung mastered this role, he played a high school girl, I mean even if I am a girl I couldn't do that like he did. Amazing!!!!
Hwang Jung Eum was good, I really like her, but the only thing that I didn't like is her yelling and screaming, it was a bit annoying.
I really like their chemistry in this drama. It was cute and romantic.
Oh, and the OST was amazing. Especially, Auditory Hallucination. That OST has a great power to cause outburst of emotion in the viewer.
I really miss all of the characters. They really growth on my heart.
I recommend this to everyone. Even if you are having some doubts, start it, maybe you will end up liking it. :D

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The panelists were the only saving grace!

I have seen all the previous seasons so got a bit used to the show. Many areas felt same so it didn't interest me that much. However I feel even if I had watched it for the first time, I wouldn't have enjoyed it because it was too boring.

The couple lacked lustre and conversations were boring. The games were same from the previous seasons so no surprise there.
The contestants were okay-ish. As one can read on any review and the same applies to me as well that it felt they focused too much on Sian love interests. The girl prepared for the show and deserved to win it but it wasn't that exciting. I skipped her many scenes because it was evident she was doing it for the show. No judgements just got 0 entertainment watching it. Liked Ji-yeon and Min-seol for some parts but again lost interest.

The only parts i enjoyed were the panelist's commentary on the situation!

My recommendation- watch s1 or s2 if you haven't. Overall a complete skip~

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coming of age/slow burn

Overall: this could have been a 10/10 except for a fatal flaw. It is adapted from the book "Mou Mou" by Mu Su Li; however, I reviewed the series based on its own merits. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each, 2 episodes per week. There is an extra scene after the initial end credits in some episodes. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4661/the-on1y-one-2024-e01 ; Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40680c-the-on1y-one ; iQIYI https://www.iq.com/album/the-on1y-one-2024-2ge4shuunbp?lang=en_us ; WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/album/3om6e76t014bzqy and Netflix https://www.netflix.com/mo-en/title/81907297

Content Warnings: non con kiss, fight, past child abuse, past death, kidnapping, threatened violence

What I Liked
- the lead characters and their dynamic (the tension, chemistry, micro expressions)
- sweet/protect moments
- many familiar faces (Zach Lu from HIStory 2: Crossing The Line (teacher), JN Yu from Be Loved In House I Do (quirky friend), Jed Chung from Light (classmate), Stan Huang from VIP Only (PE teacher)
- family interactions felt realistic
- symbolism with the closet
- color symbolism orange and blue
- multiple platform international release

Room For Improvement
- what stopped me from giving this a 9.5 or 10/10 was the fact that the director/writer made a very risky bet on a season 2, in order to do this they made the story drag with side plots/characters I didn't care about (like the female teacher and that random kidnapping???) and ended it in an unsatisfactory way, there has only be 1 Taiwanese series to get a season 2 (We Best Love), because it was a China/Taiwan collaboration a sequel feels even less likely given censorship and how even censored BL has been mostly shelved for the past few years
- ep 1 voice over with incorrect statistics (we don't meet 1,000 different people every day)
- actors who viewers have seen play adult characters played high school characters
- too many flashbacks
- the NSFW scene was odd compared to an earlier dead fish lip press
- the animated intro didn't match the overall vibe

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The Chang'an Crate

A Chinese update of Sungkyungkwan Scandal (2010) with a dose of Hwarang (2016), how good is that. Not to mention a flower boy cast and the star from Novoland Castle in The Sky 2.

As soon as I followed the story I discovered my comparison was just a first impression. The Chang'an Youth is stuffed with different story arcs. The heroine is Shen Yiyi ( Wang Yu Wen ) an ordinary girl who gets 'adopted' in her youth by a sweet rich girl. She's treated like family. Unfortunately this rich girl dies, just before her marriage, leaving a mystery behind about her pedigree and heritage. To do some research Shen Yiyi agrees to substitute for her friend in marriage and travels to the girl's intended, Tang Jiu Hua (Xie Bin Bin) in Chang'An. She travels in disguise of a gentleman. On the road she meets Yang Zi'an (Caesar Wu), the son of a magistrate carrying out orders from the King. She also meets the sweet second prince Li Xinyuan (Qi Peixin), and stark swordsman Dugu Muxue (Liu Yichang). This Chang'an Youth Gang is full of personal secrets, but eventually they end up as friends at the local academy. Apart from their exciting school life they learn to work and trust each other, meanwhile facing a mysterious case and corrupt officials.

Acting/Cast

Wang Yu Wen is a good choice for the role as crossdressed Yiyi, she combines a lean, boyish body with strong facial features. She also has great chemistry with Xie Bin Bin, her supposed fiancé Tang Tang. Xie Bin Bin is known for totally different characters, but he's so funny here, I suspect he enjoyed this role himself.
Such a pity Xie Bin Bin isn't the romantic interest, that honor goes to Caesar Wu. Agreed, that guy is Flower Boy- In -The-Flesh, but he's more the kind of flower that's already been pressed between the pages of a book. Doesn't fade, doesn't wrinkle, doesn't impress.
Another failure is the miscast of poor Liu Yichang. He convinces as the good-hearted rascal Zhao Cuo in I've Fallen For You (2020), but he can't hold a candle to Korean actor Yoo Ah In, who played the silent swordsman to a T in Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Put together with robot-like Qi Peixin they didn't float my boat. I also missed the necessary humor, the student twins excluded.

Rewatch Value

What can I say? It started out so well, but I lost interest midway the series. My guess is the writers put too much story lines together making a mess of the plot. This proofs that just combining elements that are based on audience statistics doesn't work. Really, Less is More. If only this could be a love story between totally different characters, or the coming of age story of an ambitious scholar girl in a world dominated by males, but this... ain't it. I won't rewatch this again.

Overall

Tastes differ however. So, if you like your sandwich filled to the brim with every possible ingredient, this is for you. The Chang'an Youth is a crate full of tags, just pick the things you like, and forget the rest.

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I actually enjoyed watching this drama and I was tuned in every week. The story wasn't that strong but the perspective of life was great. Dealing with people, relationships and stuff. A lot of that comes with certain feelings according to certain circumstances, such as love, hate, jealousy, anger and happiness. We can't always get what we want in life and sometimes we just have to accept things the way they are. You can try to change it but if it doesn't work out for the better then it wasn't meant to be.

I was reading comments on DF where everyone was saying how inappropriate the relationship was between PSH and KRW's character, having a student teacher relationship. They were still complaining about it even after the characters grew. I saw nothing wrong with it. It's not like they did anything out of line. Yes, they were really close, more close than a student and teacher would normally be. But so what? I shipped it so hard after they met again, because they seriously had great chemistry.

I'd say this drama could have been cut to 16 episodes but I still watched all 20 episodes without skipping anything. I enjoyed the drama more because of Kim Rae Won. The man is just so incredible. His character was cute and humble. Always smiling and it made me smile all the time. I absolutely love Shin Hye in this drama. I was sick of seeing her with the roles of being a damsel in distress because I knew she could do something even more amazing. It was refreshing to see her doing something new and awesome. It was great to see Ji Soo. He's such a hottie~ >w< I wanted to hug Kim Min Suk and just baby him. He's too precious. I liked his character a lot. He slayed his emotional scene. It was so strong that it made me cry along with him. Lee Sung Kyung is so pretty. I love her eyes. She's good at her job. At first I thought her character was a b*tch but she was just suffering inside with her own family problems as well as dealing with things from her past that affected her presently. Yoon Do's uncle, Lee Sun Ho was just too adorable.

I loved the music. Every song was a perfect setting for the mood. I actually found myself singing along to a few of those songs. ^^

I'd rewatch this again, mostly for Kim Rae Won, just so I can see his cute self smiling so brightly. ^^

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