Reviews

Freenbecky and monmaw are a perfect combo ?10/10

Loyal pin is one of my favorites and it is definitely rewatch worthy coming from a person with a tiktok attention span and don't regularly watch dramas😭. The show has perfect pacing and there is not one moment where the romance feels rushed. Becky as Anin and Freen as Pin is just absolute chef kiss!!! I loved this story so much I read the novel (very worthy of reading) and the writing style was very descriptive but at the same time not that complicated so one who's not that fluent in English could understand. It got me very hooked that I read the other works of Monmaw and say that they didn't disappoint. Idol factory did a good job on choosing this work for freenbecky ^_^ Though, my only complaint is (spoilers for novel & show(?))............

why didn't padmika and arphanumas get a happy ending💔 they were the real doomed yuri and it kills me that pad was probably trying to stop pin bc she saw aninpin as her and arphanumas 😭and she wore the ring for all those years what a yearner

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✨ Perfect Crown — A Royal Masterpiece ??

Perfect Crown pulls you in from the very first scene and never lets go. It’s emotional, beautifully acted, and crafted with such care that every episode feels like a gift. IU and Byeon Woo‑seok deliver performances full of depth, longing, and quiet intensity, and the whole drama flows because every element works perfectly together.

The supporting cast were phenomenal — every character feels alive and meaningful, from loyal friends to scheming nobles. No weak links, just a rich, fully realised ensemble. 🌟🎭
Visually, the drama is breathtaking. Sweeping palace shots, intimate emotional close‑ups, stunning lighting and colour — every frame looks like a painting. 🌅✨

Overall, Perfect Crown was a beautifully crafted drama with standout performances, a flawless supporting cast, gorgeous cinematography, and an unforgettable soundtrack. Heartfelt, addictive, and absolutely worth every minute. 💖🔥

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Worth the try, but I don't know if I would rewatch

So to be brutally honest, I liked the first season better. It lived up to it's name perfectly and delivered exactly what I expected and wanted from something called "Only friends." But we're here to talk about the second season which did disappoint me in some ways, but it was still watchable. (I'll compare these seasons a bit to show what it was missing in my opinion.)
To start with the positive things, the acting was pretty good, especially Mix's. It's visible that he's skilled and knows what he's doing in each scene, he was my favorite in this season. The storyline was also decent, but I think it needed way more messines and spiciness just for the pure fact that this is ONLY FRIENDS, not just any bl. I don't expect a lot of drama or spicy scenes in other bls that perhaps don't need it, but to me Only friends is literally built on these things (and other things of course) and that's what makes Only friends "Only friends."
There was drama for sure, but over childish things (more or less) and not the amount I seeked. I've also had this feeling that some of the characters lacked a certain depth unlike the characters in the first season.
But the biggest problem I had with this was the mischaracterization of Boston. Y'all made him come back just to make him a saint? Back in my days he was an iconic walking mess who made the show so much more interesting to the very end, but now he's the best guy around? No thanks. I know GMM cares about pairings so much that they don't let the characters kiss each other or, godw forbid, more, but ruining Boston's character to fit the shitty pairing rule was lame af. It'd be much more interesting if he was allowed to interfere in somebody's relationship the same way he did in the first season. I'd understand it more if he got some character development in the previous season, but doing it now is just dumb.
The ending was good, but why are we scared of letting one couple separate? Earthmix couple could've absolutely go their separate ways and move on but no. Realistic endings never hurt anybody, not everything has to be perfect. So honestly, this would be much better as a separate show. It's not really "Only friends" worthy.
And since we're getting a third season, let's bring the energy of the first season, shall we? Don't ruin it

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Heartfelt But Uneven Coming-of-Age Drama

The strongest element of Twenty Twenty is undeniably its portrayal of toxic parental relationships. Chae Da Hee's suffocating relationship with her overbearing mother feels painfully real, and the drama handles these moments with a sensitivity that's rare in the youth web drama space.

The pacing is a persistent issue throughout the series. For a show with 20 episodes at around twenty minutes each, you'd expect things to move fairly briskly — but the drama has a frustrating habit of stretching out quieter moments far beyond what they warrant. It got genuinely boring at times, which is a hard problem to forgive in bite-sized episodes.

The romance felt undeveloped — the chemistry between the leads wasn't properly built, and the love triangle came across as half-baked. There's no electric tension, no butterflies — it's all very flat, and that's a fundamental flaw in a youth drama where the love story is supposed to be the heartbeat.

A-Teen worked because it balanced emotional weight with genuine fun — the characters felt like real teenagers who laughed, bickered, and goofed around. Twenty Twenty almost entirely abandons that lightness. Everyone is remarkably serious, all the time. The one character who attempts to inject some humor feels less like comic relief and more like a caricature — the jokes don't land as clever or even charming slapstick; they come across as clownish in a way that's more awkward than entertaining.

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A lovely finale

I was going to watch this drama only when it had completed airing or during the week of the release of ep 11–12. However, I was tempted to watch it out of curiosity as it kept appearing in my reels. I binge-watched ep 1–8 and had to wait for the weekly updates for ep 9–12. The finale was sweet, but I feel that this series could have been made with longer episodes, maybe 14–16 ep to elaborate more on the details. E.g. what happened to Lee Wan’s mother, who died in the accident, who tampered with Huiju’s car (it could be the Queen’s mother’s dad, but it wasn’t explained thoroughly), etc.

Since the title of the drama is Perfect Crown, it would be great to see Lee Wan manage the nation as the new king and Huiju as the queen. However, it’s also great to see them abolishing the monarchy system as it’s kinda sad that Lee Wan’s wish was for Huiju to call him by his real name since he was bound to the royal family and no one ever called him by that name. I just wish there were scenes where Lee Wan spends time with his nephew after abolishing the monarchy.

Anyways, all the casts did well to bring the characters to life 🎉
Gonna miss wanseong alot 😭
Bye wanseong, hi post drama syndrome 🙃

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Why so American?

Felt more like a Disney adaptation of a Korean story than an original Korean story….. if I wanted an American story I would go for Hollywood…. Overall, I felt like I watched some dubbed version of a weak American PG13 Hallmark movie…. Someone else had posted in this section that the villains don’t have proper motive…. I agree. The villains were hollow. I like romance, don’t get me wrong. I always have. I liked the romance. If there was going to be politics, it should have been more logical. Arbitrarily placed rules that pop up without sequencing or logic.

Loophole: If I An was a reagent, wouldn’t that mean he was also part of the so called cabinet? Wouldn’t he be head of the so called royal council/family? But he was supposedly the most sought after person in the kingdom. There is no sense to this.
If the Grand Prince is the opposition to the royal council, then he should have close ties with the cabinet members even without the PM. At least, he should have had money. But he is dependent on the cabinet to approve his expenses. He is either the most powerful person or just a puppet. Can’t be both at the same time.

I could find many others if I gave enough time. This was clearly a romance genre meant for 13 year old girls produced by mentally teenage Americans. Sorry to have wasted 12 hours of my time on this. It banked too much on nostalgia.

Scene: IU in the same hospital room as Son Hyejin. Byeon Wooseok running in a similar fashion to Hyun Bin. Many of the actors were also part of the CLOY cast. It felt nostalgic, but did nothing to enhance the current story.

What happened to Huiju’s talented board members? They play no role in the plot. They could have been very useful. What exactly was the royal FIL wanting to achieve by killing a reagent? Democracy? His own sovereignty? Not clear. Why exactly did the king have to abolish monarchy? It already looked like a watered down monarchy with the king as a decoration rather than tool. So what purpose did that serve? Wouldn’t it have been better to punish all the wrongdoers?

Clearly, the political side of this drama is ********. I liked the romance, but it was not enough to cover for the very American plot. Someone dm me when the Kdrama scene becomes better. I’ll try not to watch any more till this ridiculous Americanisation persists🥲🥹😢😢😢

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Missing the Forest for the Trees

God, was this a disaster of epic proportions (and not in an entertaining way)!

If I had to summarize its problems in just one sentence, I would say that they went for what was obvious and advantageous rather than what was challenging.

S1 of Only Friends was messy (intentionally), but there was more to it than that. It didn't just point the camera at its possessive, broken protagonist hitting on someone and then shove a cheeky third party in the picture. Through its leads and their problems and mistakes (romantic and not), they thoughtfully weaved a narrative about second chances. How you can't always tell whether they were deserved or not. How some people change, and some never change. Time is what reveals it.

Only Friends: Dream On seemed to look at the success of Only Friends and miss the core of it: This is about hook-ups and flirting in front of a crowd! It wanted the messiness without challenging views or casting any of its actors in a bad light as their characters. Likely because of changes in the crew and the creators wanting to make sure their fixed pairs didn't appear blurred, if you ask me. Which, if you're making a second season of Only Friends, should not be one of your priorities!

Predictable and safe. That's what it was.

Without intending to, they made one of their leads into a painfully oblivious villain, dragging others down and going back on his word, all the while bemoaning slights against him as if they were daggers to the heart. Meanwhile, viewers were meant to sympathize.

I could not find a deeper meaning here, no matter how hard I racked my brain, probably because there wasn't one from the start. If it was supposed to be "wanting someone you shouldn't," based on the conclusion, the drama seemed to disagree with its own messaging.

And what was originally a unique storytelling device: interview-like segments interspersed throughout to get a read on the characters' thoughts, became characters performing for the camera, and ended up feeling like an exaggerated, dragged-out wink and nod to the audience as if to say, "See what we did! It's just like you remember! Aren't we cool?"

Fitting for a story centered around a stage play to feel like bad theatre.

I'm disappointed and in the mood to go rewatch the original Only Friends.

Side Note: Rome and Raffy and Dean were the saving graces of this drama.

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I really looked forward to this drama...however, it still fell short in certain aspects.

I really looked forward to this drama, mainly because of Byeon Wooseok & IU being paired together for a romcom set in an alternate universe where the monarchy still exists. However, it still fell short in certain aspects.

Firstly, I'd like to commend the casting for both the major and support roles; honestly, I couldn't have imagined other actors who would've played the parts. Production was also of high quality, with me going "damn budget!" almost every episode. Not to mention, the OST is great as well.

Now onto the plot: I genuinely appreciated that the narrative written for Huiju's character was a strong, independent woman who doesn't necessarily need a man like a knight and shining armor to "save" her. I like how Huiju & Wan's dynamics balance and complement each other. In addition, sufficient context was given regarding why Huiju is the way she is through the drama. Sadly, I was not able to see the same kind of nuance with the other characters, especially Wan and Jeongwoo. After watching the drama, I still have unanswered questions lingering in my mind: Who tried to sabotage Huiju's car? How did Lord Inpyeong & Jeongwoo conspire? Also, the ending felt a bit rushed...

Not gonna lie, this drama really had the potential to be a 16-episode one, and that would've probably addressed the lingering questions I have. Needless to say, I enjoyed watching the drama for the most part; everybody was just so fun to watch. I just wished more nuance was made to give justice to such a creative plot and the huge budget.

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Wahou wahoo wahoo just wahoo

Perfect Crown wasn’t just a drama to me — it felt like a modern-day fairy tale that completely swept me away. From the very first episode to the finale today, every single moment felt magical. This show became part of my routine, part of my happiness. I rushed home every week just to experience another episode, another heartbeat, another unforgettable scene.
The acting? Absolutely stellar. Every actor poured so much emotion, depth, and sincerity into their roles that it never once felt like fiction. They didn’t just play characters — they made us live and breathe alongside them. The chemistry, the expressions, the quiet moments, the heartbreak, the love… everything was beyond on point.
Perfect Crown made me laugh, ache, dream, and fall in love in a way very few stories ever have. The writing was beautiful, the cinematography felt enchanting, and every episode carried this warmth and emotion that stayed with me long after the credits rolled.
Some shows entertain you for a while. But Perfect Crown became an experience I’ll carry with me forever. It reminded me why stories matter and why Korean dramas have such a special kind of magic. Truly one of the best things that’s happened to me this year.
Thank you, Perfect Crown, for giving us a love story and a world so beautiful that saying goodbye feels impossible.

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It Was Okay

The last episode of this drama was the most “go girl give me nothing” ever. It could have been an email. At first, I was bummed when I saw it’s “only” 73 minutes long, but for what it gave me… the episode was too long. The Prime Minister’s betrayal had zero impact on me because we never saw I-An and the PM BE friends despite the characters insisting on that for whatever reason. The fact that the revelation of the PM’s murderous actions against the Grand Prince brought I-An to tears … why? Lol? We’ve never seen these dudes interact in a friendly manner that suggests genuine comradery, so what are we doing here? The best bit of the last episode was probably when the two secretaries kissed lmao.

Generally speaking, the show is a bit of a let-down. The first half gave me nothing but complaints. I am one of those people that fixated on the terrible press-on nails of the female lead. Not because I am bored, but because the director himself brought them to my attention. Several times. (Even in the last episode he thought “let’s give her one more close-up of her ugly nails <3”). I don’t care if the female lead has “nail picking problems” due to anxiety or something. She’s rich, she likes to flaunt her wealth, she should have enough money to invest in nice nails. An absolute bummer to focus on her hands so much only to have the nails be such an eyesore.

In the beginning, I found it hard to like IU’s character. All she did was yell at her employees or glare at them. That’s not badass or girlboss, it’s annoying. Especially in the beginning, her little chuckle was so annoying… I don’t care if it was meant to be pretentious or whatever, I did not like it. Throughout the whole show I actually wondered why I-An and Hui Ju even like each other to be honest. He was a bit bland and well she was hot tempered, I guess. It got better in the second half, and I started enjoying the show from episode 7-11. Despite the script maybe not being the best, and certain things not making that much sense, I appreciated the added political intrigue and drama taking the center of the stage because the romance did not give me much. Or the comedy. (This changed as the show went on, it was just in the beginning that the comedy didn’t do much for me)

The styling was also eh. I wasn’t the biggest fan of some of Hui Ju’s clothes, although the wardrobe improved as the show went on. In the first episode, apart from the color, I didn’t quite get the frenzy over the suit combo she wore (More than that, I hated the shoes?? They looked terrible and ruined the outfit for me). The biggest let-down for me was the proposal scene. It was so anticipated, but fell flat in the end. For one, Hui Ju’s dress was beautiful and I liked everything but the color. It was too pale and washed her out in my opinion. On the other hand, the Queen Mother’s dress was stunning. It looked like the midnight sky on her, with the gems sparkling like the stars… just stunning. Both dresses had a nice shape and were elegant, I just took issue with the color of Hui Ju’s. Next came the waltz. Was the dialogue between HJ and IA meant to excuse the lack of actual refinery, or was the choreography of that whole scene meant to be… kind of bad? Okay, they both never liked those dance lessons, but that’s not an excuse for whatever they were doing. The concept of that scene was nice; the PM and Queen Mother switching partners to dance with HJ and the Grand Prince respectively was a nice idea! It should have added some tension as each character had their own agenda, but … eh. I wasn’t that impressed. It lacked the whimsy and magic I had been looking for since the beginning of the show.

One thing I begrudged in the beginning, which actually got better in the second half, was COLOR. I feel like the show was so bland and bleak at first. The end of episode 5 was visually stunning; for once we had vibrant colors such as green and pink actually POP with life. The editing was choppy at times, especially in episode 11. It shouldn’t be that way since the show had a considerate budget.

The best character in the whole show was probably the boy king. He was just a cutie patootie.

Anyway, the show is somewhat worth watching. The styling is okay; the OST has some beautiful instrumentals; the political stuff is interesting (except the last episode) although one should not expect to see much of on-screen scheming from the villains because apparently the scriptwriter didn’t care. I enjoyed the show as a no-brainer-end-of-the-day kind of show the best and had a good time from ep7-11. The first half was okay, the second half was better (minus the last episode). I personally think the show is overhyped; people attribute depth and nuance, attention to detail and layered storytelling to it when there really isn’t any. It is a worthwhile show to watch in-between, but I don’t think it’s a highlight in any of the actors’ portfolios. Good for them for the successful airing time, but this is not representative of IU’s acting talent or characterization for example. It was nice while it lasted!

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Another cute Classic!

If you‘ve been enjoyed Falling into your smile or O2O then this must be your next watch!

Allthough the romance only really starts towards the end, it‘s worth the wait. With a strong female character that stands up for herself and a love shy but popular male lead, this cute Cdrama will definitely capture your heart.

SPOILER ALERT
I love how the female lead develops as a character. Even if the rejection towards the start came as a shock it was nesesarry. I especially love how the characters shift. First she is pursuing him afterwards it‘s him persuing her. Aswell as the fact that they become neighbors, which adds a lot of tension. However I do think the side characters lacked personality.

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Before I get started, I want to say that I am A SUCKER for constitutional monarchy tropes. I don't know what it is, but it always catches my attention. So coupled with this trope, BWS and IU, I knew I was going to be waiting up twice every week for a new episode to drop. At first, I thought it was great for what it had been advertised as, a romantic comedy with typical kdrama clichés and a somewhat cliché storyline. THAT WAS FINE. Because I KNEW WHAT I WAS GOING TO BE WATCHING, and if I am going to be honest, I was amused, and I had a good time with the show.

However, the moment I finished, I felt unfulfilled, and upon reflecting, I feel like the show could have done slightly better and before I go into my reflection and perspective, I want to emphasize the amazing cast and acting done by Kim Eun Ho and Gong Seong Yeon. Truly, it was amazing, and the comedic timing of Lee Jae Won and Chae Seo An really tied the show together.

But now for the negatives and parts that left me slightly confused. I felt as though a lot of the transitions were awkwardly cut. It made the setup of the next scene difficult. However, at the same time, I found the two main characters played by IU and BWS. I-an and Huiju constantly flip-flop, to the point it was unnecessary and what I mean by this is their "promises" to be a pillar and defend one another. When ANY sort of issue arose, they were threatened with separation- and just as that separation was about to be fulfilled, they would run back to one another and make the SAME promise again. When it was used for the first couple of times, I thought it was cute, but it just kept happening AGAIN and AGAIN, which really took away from the story.

On top of that, I found Prime Minister Min's shifting loyalties to be quite abrupt. One thing I really did not understand was if he did all of this for SEONG HUIJI, then why did he become her enemy so EASILY? Towards the end of that specific storyline, she wasn't EVEN mentioned. It was as if he forgot her and only cared about his intentions towards I-an. In addition to this, I found the abandonment of his faith to be quite inaccurate, especially considering just how strongly he previously believed. For a person to have such faith, it is somewhat unlikely to simply forget everything he believed in and stood for.

Now, for Lord Inpyeong, I found his character to be so confusing, at first he was this background character that was tied to Yi-rang, and then he became a MAIN antagonist, and while I IMMENSELY enjoyed watching him get his ass beat by I-An. I thought it was so silly that he simply forgot and took no action against I-an other than his original plan.

I feel like there were so many missed opportunities, and if anything, especially the abolishment plotline, could have been extended and really dived deeper into, much like many other interesting ones. Instead, I feel as though everyone's talent was wasted.

And finally, though this is not my last grievance, just the last one I am willing to type out. The costumes? THE COSTUMES FOR IU AND BWS WERE ASS. So so so so so bad.

All in all, I enjoyed Perfect Crown, but if you are looking for something more complex, then I suggest looking elsewhere.

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Pobmek, Solar and the ray of Sun ☼

Sometimes in the rush of being an adult, we often exclaim how great it would be to be a child again, carefree and happy. But maybe as adults we do tend to romanticize aspects we don't really recall or don't want to recall. And then we realise that that child had just as much to deal with as an adult self does, and maybe it's not so bad that the only thing we remember is the happy image of that kid. Wouldn't hurt to emulate them at times either.
I did not expect it to get that philosophical or emotional, but I'll be honest, the series did take me on some strange kind of discovery journey, even if I didn't want it to.

Emotional revelations aside, it's weird when a drama surprises you in the aspects you expected it to disappoint, but then ends up dissapointing you in other aspects anyways. No, I'm not going to pretend the constant switch between an adult man and a seven year old child did not freak me out, from minute one to the last second, it absolutely did. But honestly, what should've been the worst part of the show was one thing that was handled decently. Not great, but decent.

From the outset, this was a strange concept for me. Your boyfriend reverting to a younger age but constantly switching between his two identities is something that needs to be handled with care and sensitivity, especially since with the implications of something traumatic underlying all this. For that part, they handled it well. It was never a one and done deal - because Solar constantly reverting to Sun, and Pobmek's reaction to all of it was a huge part of the story.
Even their romance was well done - mostly restricted to the audience seeing flashbacks of how they met and fell in love, because the present is mostly scenes of Pobmek with Sun.

The series talks about a lot of things besides Solar's past and Sun's identity, delving in Pobmek's past and his relationship with his mom, adult friendships, hardships of being a teacher, the difficulties in relating to children, even pressure that children face. So much, they discuss and bring up so many things and it's both wonderful and part of the problem with this series.

When you talk about so much in the span of ten episodes, you can hardly dedicate a good portion of screentime to each individual topic. They come and go so fast that they never stick, each time an issue is brought up, it's resolved within the episode (rather unrealistically as well). And while much appreciated, I wish they would've done more with it.

But overall? This was actually a very decent series. I liked a lot of things they talked about, and most of how they handled difficult conversations. The cast worked really well together, every single character was extremely likeable and Perth and Santa's chemistry, as always, was incredible.

I would recommend this, it's a very nice, feel good show that is short enough to not feel tiring and is very easily bingeable. So give it a try, I'd say it's worth a watch :)

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