Reviews

Oddly paced and turned out to be more disappointing than the first.

It took me a longer time than usual to get through the second season.

The show retains its light and wholesome vibes, with much of the plot remaining fairly innocent. But with 12 episodes (the same as the first season), I was slightly bored by the meandering storyline and lack of progress in the intimacy between Shin and Minato.

What was initially a cute awkward relationship between a nervous older man and a relentless teenager unfortunately started getting on my nerves in the sequel.

It is unrealistic that Minato and Shintaro seemed to be the exact same people they were in the first installment. Shouldn’t all relationships evolve with time?

In the last few episodes, the show finally shows its hand with a surprising turn of events. I only wish the show had done so earlier because it would have provided a decent premise for the sequel instead of rushing through it at the end.

Full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/10/26/minato-shouji-coin-laundry-season-2-2023-oddly-paced-frankly-disappointing-sequel/

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I guess I'm one of the few people who can't share the excitement for the show. The first hint for me, that a show won't catch me, is, if my concentration starts to suck. I had a hard time finding into the drama, because everything else was more interesting then watching the show. In episode 3 I tried to get my sh*t together and get fast through it. Wasn't that easy. The show is imho pretty boring.

We switch from Ye Guang, whose parents sucks, to Qi Zhang, who has at least a lovely, caring Mom and some nice bandmembers, to Ray and Ah Jian, who are suddenly close to each other and back again - on repeat. (Like ??? I don't even understand why Ray and Ah Jian like each other. What happened? I don't know.

There's no seeable development. They just present things as a fact, skipping all the development they could show us, without telling the story of the whole relationships, so we just have to deal with it as given.) In the beginning there were like two scenes with a little tension, which could've been used to build up more closeness for the outcoming relationship of the leads, but they dropped it right away and just went with: we don't show you any development. We just present the finished product.

There isn't really a storyline. We just see the different people living their life. Ye Guang is either with Qi Zhang, or his parents, who constantly tell him that he's a disappointment. Sometimes we see him with Ray. But nothing exciting happens. The part mentioning in the synopsis just takes a little little little spot in the story.

The acting is okay, but that's it. Nothing more. It's okay to watch. But it doesn't make me feel anything. I just sit through the show and did wait to be finally finished, lol. I felt zero chemistry between anyone. So underwhelming.

My fave character is Qi Zhang's mom, because she's really heartwarming. But the rest? I couldn't care less. I watched the trailer before and expected a cute story with some hardships, but good chemistry and I got nothing. Guess this show is for me what Ye Guang is for his parents. :'D

The music is quite fun. But.. having a sidecharacter as fave and the music being the only thing to enjoy, is a bit too little to have fun with a show. Especially if the same song is played over and over again. Made me a little tired of it.

I wouldn't even recommend it, because it was just so boring to watch, if you can't care about the characters, because you literally don't get to know them. They have no personality. I know literally one thing about each character and that's it. Nothing more to build on. Geez. How should I connect with characters when I don't get to know anything about them, expect one stereotypically characteristic?

After episode 6 I just wanted to drop it so badly, but having only 2 more episodes left, made me sit through it...

There were a few scenes I actually enjoyed, because the actors are really pretty and seeing them kissing each other is still fun, even when the rest of the show was just exhaustingly boring to me. Overall it was more a flop for me.

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One of the best series i have ever watched!

I really enjoyed watching like in the movies because it wasn't like in a lot of bl's so happy-clappy everyone is going to accept that I'm gay and no one cares. Everyone in the lgbt community will be able to relate to the struggles and dysphoria Karl was going through. I was so amazed by this series, it was so much b better than I ever imagined. To my friends who are new to watching Bl, this is probably one of the first ones I will recommend them to watch. It even is a great family movie. The two characters had so much chemistry, they were made for each other. It was funny but also had some deep and beautiful moments. What kinda spoiled it for me was that they didn't end up together, but that's just my opinion :) Overall I can really recommend watching it, I'm sure you'll love it!

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Anti-corruption and justice in a murder mystery, ancient drama

This review is full of spoilers, and this is an exploration of the hidden messages put across the drama. The drama itself invited the viewers to think beyond and interpret it differently, as in the scene when the FL said it was easy to get the meaning of the clue, in which the ML contradicted her, a hint that there were double meanings. Clues from the victim scenes were sayings from the Analect of Confucius, the moral and ethical teachings, as well as the code of conduct.
1. My principal is unified. Found on the body of the captain of the bailiff (polce), propped like a scarecrow on a field. The principal purpose of a bailiff (police) is to uphold the law and fight against corruption. Unifying his team to fight against corruptors was his mission. The theme of the drama is why the bailiff (police) was the first victim, as they are the vanguard against corruption. He failed to do all that was depicted as a scarecrow, which was to scare away birds from feeding the crops. Instead, he was a corrupt officer. the fox in a chicken coup.
2. Six or seven young ones This refers to the fourth scholar of Confucius, who only wants an easy life. Found on the body of the scholar, whose mouth was stuffed with a headless chick and whose head was buried under the sand. A corrupt official can have an easy life with an ostrich attitude of hearing and seeing no evil and doing nothing. with the principal that you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.
3. Standing by the river, the Master said, "Time passes like this." Time passed easily for corrupt officials as they were sitting pretty.
4. Such a person could only get such a disease. A person with no strong moral character can easily be tempted by the disease of corruption.
5. In youth, his vital force was unstable; he should guard against lust. In his youth, it could mean that when he got his post, he was unstable as he was new and had no experience. He should guard against lust for easy money (corruption).
6. Worship the wrong ghost. Worship materialistic things in life.
7. The last clue found hanging on a corpse was ”those who cannot serve the people cannot serve the spirits," which I interpret as the second theme: justice. "What is justice?” Like the coin, which has two sides (head and tail), if one is missing, it is counterfeit. Justice is to expose the guilty AND their crimes; otherwise, it is not justice at all. Power corrupts, as the magistrate became a judge, jury, and executioner, taking the law that serves the people into his own hands and killing murderers without trials. The spirit of justice was not served. Without trials, it was also an injustice to the families of murderers' victims who didn't know about their despicable crimes. It thus became, inadvertently, a cover-up. A cover-up is an ACCOMPLICE to the crime. One of the reasons Judge Song had no closure and felt injustice was because he didn't expose the chief examiner and his incriminating actions against him and his friend. Justice has to expose the guilty and their crimes. Another person, the Ml, used his position in the Yamen (police station) to send his fellow officers on a wild goose chase to allow the murderer to kill the magistrate, who he suspected killed his captain, to get “justice”.
The law was to serve the people, and the guardians were the judge the magistrate, and the bailiff. If they don't get what justice is, then it's like hanging and suffocating justice.

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Could have been brilliant, ended up a mess

This drama had the potential - a slice of life story showing different problems and even controversies through the stories of patients of the hospital and through the eyes of the doctors, seems like a very good premise to say something valuable and to touch upon certain topics that are currently of concern for the modern world and contemporary China most of all.

And for a while, the drama does it - hoax medicine, overworking, corruption in the medical field: all appear in the series, there is also an interesting message of 'don't judge someone's choices without knowing their circumstances' that echoes throughout the episodes and seems to be the lesson that both patients and the doctors have to learn. So far so good. These arcs make the cast shine and many of the side-stories are compelling and thought-provoking, without offering easy solutions and dictating morally correct answers, which is where the 'brilliance' in the title of the review comes from.

Unfortunately, what the drama does not deliver, is consistency. It seems that the idea was to balance out the heavy topics with some light-heartedness stemming from the romantic sub-plot, but this is where the script simply loses itself. The romance is done poorely, to the point that neither people who like it and want to see it, nor people who would prefer to go without (like me) can be satisfied with it. The romantic tension between Bai Zhu and Xiao Yan is practically non-existent, which is all the more surprising considering how good chemistry they have when acting as supportive colleagues, presenting a united front in their fight for the patients' well-being. To make up for that, the script forces them into a number of romantic tropes that do not fit the story at all and what's worse, make the otherwise interesting and well-thought of characters seem unlike themselves and childish in ways that are absolutely not charming. Making a bet over a diagnosis? Taking someone for a motorbike ride to prove your point? Eavesdropping and making unwelcome grand gestures to impress the other? Both Xiao Yan and Bai Zhu do a lot of things that are simply bizarre for their personalities, just to make some basis for their future romance and they do it at very odd times as well, non-organically at all.

The worst part about it is, for me personally, the treatment of Bai Jinguang, Bai Zhu's son, who after his very nicely done and heart-warming arc centered on his illness, is demoted to an annoying match-maker whose only role in the later episodes is to meddle in his father's relationship and to give lectures to both BZ and XY on why they should get together. It also undermines BZ's character, who at the beginning is stated to be a workaholic that only loves his son, and later is shown rejecting his kid's pleas for time and attention to help out or meet up with XY, even if she doesn't want it or need it. Him getting drunk in front of BJG and making the kid worried enough to call other adults is played up for laughs, but considering the way their relationship is shown prior to that, only furthers the feeling that BZ is getting his character arc turned around and is getting progressively less likeable, just to make room for romantic cliches, erasing BJG's character and the father-son relationship almost completely.

It is all the more upsetting, because this is already what the rest of the cast suffers from when a Romantic Moment happens - all of these intelligent young doctors and nurses change into gossipy teenagers who have nothing better to do with their lives than to push two colleagues together, even after Xiao Yan openly states that she does not wish them to - here the script does its job because her reasons for rejecting BZ are well set up and the entire scene gives hopes for them to evolve into something more mature (especially her point about being uncomfortable with gossip about her love life in the workplace), but this idea is quickly abandoned for more unnecessary romantic tropes.

The biggest flaw of these sudden genre switches is making BZ into a man-child who needs care and who is less mature than his own son, which considering the fact that he is arrogant and uncompromising from the very beginning, doesn't endear him to the viewer at all. In fact, with all of my admiration and affection for Bai Yu as an actor, it's a relief when XY rejects him, because he is absolutely an atrocious romantic partner and gets even worse as the drama goes on - his pursuit of XY despite her refusal is probably supposed to be cute, but it does play into 'if you bother her enough, she has to like you' which is an idea that is actually discussed in the series in another subplot, and proven to be a harmful way of thinking. His absolute disregard for her grief, her goals and needs doesn't help at all.

There is also a worrying 'he's been so good to you, you have to accept him' message that reappears in all three romantic sub-plots the show offers, which is not entirely consistent with what the rest of the stories - think for yourself, your life is more important than anyone else's expectations, take care of your health but you are the one who decides what to do with your body and no one else - tries to say. Out of the three, the Director/Nurse Jiang relationship is the most interesting and nuanced one, but it doesn't escape this notion of 'owning affection' either.

Overall, it's almost like some changes were added at the last minute, to make the drama more marketable. Which is a shame because the conflict between 'a hospital is here to help people' and 'it has to make money and be accountable by the public' is engaging enough and would possibly suffice to garner audiences, if it got more time and attention. Here episode 39, with Director Lu giving an interview about media coverage of difficult operations shines in particular - if only there were more episodes like this, dealing with both positive and negative results of difficult calls being publicised and how the media shapes opinions and prejudices of people regarding their own health. The topic of 'what makes a good doctor' is also something that gradually disappears to be replaced by romantic shenanigans.

As it is, 'Thank You Doctor' is not enough of a romance to attract audiences who want to see Xiao Yan and Bai Zhu believably grow into a couple, and it is definitely not committed enough to its serious themes and messages to be something more, without achieving a satisfying balance between the two approaches. The result is a drama with a very good cast that has moments of brilliant social commentary, that are quickly muddled up by frustrating amounts of unfitting tropes.

Not enough to hate it, but too many to love it.

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The two leads form a splendidly unique mixture, providing unique heartbeat and appeal to the story

“The Kidnapping Day” is all about its two great protagonists. I'm tempted to say: it is about the female lead character. The actress is simply wonderful and perfect for this character. Nevertheless, in my opinion, in her eccentric role she comes into her own so brilliantly precisely because her adult counterpart: the Kidnapper, who is just the way he is – as a rather clumsy person, he is practically the antithesis of this cheeky eleven-year-old but highly intelligent know-it-all. Yet, he ist the one who is sort of seeing, liberating and nurturing her usually neglected self, that is hidden underneath her intellectual brilliance: First of all she is just a child with all needs that come along. So, he might be not as smart as the little girl, yet he is actually the true grown up, who is not letting him be mislead by her genius, but watching out for her and intuitively caring for the child she is, too. This splendid mixture provides the unique heartbeat and appeal. So together they form this edgy team, keeping the audience in a good mood.

The plot offers a lot of humor and quite some comicalness of the situation, but there are also serious themes lingering. After all, there is an unsolved murder case. Furthermore, it is nevertheless a case of kidnapping, even if the prefix may change over time. Added to this is the sad fact that health is often a question of money. And ultimately, behind all of this, there is also the issue of abuse. “The Kidnapping Day” is also able to tackle the ever late-breaking topic of “education hype in South Korea” in an original new way, entangling it in an exciting crime thriller.

What initially starts as kidnapping quickly takes a completely different direction. The victim becomes the mastermind. The police, or at least one of the investigators, dares to think twice and appropriately take unusual paths according this unusual case. Good and evil, black and white, its blurred. Yet, there are still unscrupulous villains. We are also stumbling over complex enmeshments, lying way back in the past.

“The Kidnapping Day” knows how to deliver on a variety of levels. Accordingly, the number of viewers has more than doubled over those 12 episodes. The special charm of the two leads also got me and I was happy to stick with them. Mind you, this was basically because of the charming relationship dynamics of the two leads, and how the two shape the kidnapping scenario along the way in a pleasantly witty way, including the solving of the murder case and at last providing a solution .




P.S.
The two protagonists, their particular relationship, THAT is the clever strength and the endearing piquancy. The rest might at times come across rather careless and pallid. Obviously, this is (once more) the product of the new era that has dawned in the KDrama orbit. Numerous new networks are now happily playing along on the market, including ENA, former SKY, which has repositioned itself in 2022 in order to get involved with its own KDrama productions in the top Pay-TV segment. (ENA belongs to Korean Telekom and produced 22 series in 2023 already.)
In general, with Disney, Netflix and others, I´d say KDrama productions feel like having doubled in 2023 (I didn't count, though). But what seems like a blessing at first sight turns out to be a bit of a sham, too. Where are all the original ideas supposed to continuously come from? And if there is a promising plot idea, it is yet far from being thoroughly worked through... Quantity rarely automatically goes hand in hand with quality. And it doesn't work the other way around either. Accordingly, “The Kidnapping Day” also suffers from the ravages of time: negligence can be observed here and there. However, the main strength and driving force of this story - the strangely lovingly developing relationship of the two unconventional leads - luckily is awesome enough to carry and equilibrate.

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There's always an other way to handle problems

This was a realistic take on what actually LGBT+ people go through in society. I was enjoying the drama until the moment I saw the three characters on the same bed. When Meiko proposed to be the surrogate mother for their child, they should have talked about the aftermath and whatever that's related to the pregnancy BEFORE FINALISING. But no, it was a rash decision followed by another naive decision to have a threesome. I couldn't understand that if they slept together once , then what was that misunderstanding about whose child is it. And if there was a difference then, they didn't sleep together just once. Just because they had to convince his father. They didn't even talk about this with Eiji's parents before sleeping together. How more fucked up decision could they make? That's so sick. I was liking Eiji's character until he totally didn't care about Makki at all. I understand taking care of the pregnant mother was necessary but that doesn't mean you can ignore the feelings of the person you are doing all this to be with. And what? He fell in love with her afterwards? He was literally gay? Was marriage the only way? He didn't even try looking for him for should I say he gave no effort for being with Makki at all. Rather he was thinking about how to go on once he leaves. About Meiko, she thought she was helping but it turns out she was one of the reason for their breakup. She should have talked it out with Makki if he truly wanted it or not. No matter how much I liked her character, she turned out to be very selfish character. I pity Makki a lot. He was loyal to his boyfriend, he even rejected Meiko's feelings, who he cared about the most just because of his love for Eiji. I kinda understand why he bailed out at the last moment. Asato and Makki's story needed more episodes though. It felt like Asato was helping Makki slowly put all his broken pieces together. Anyways, it was hard to watch but what can I say, it's just how complicated it is to be a part of this society. Always trying to fit in, and in the process of it, some people lose themselves completely.

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A good gangsters vs cops dramas in an old Hong Kong movie style.

This is typically the type of story you used to find in old Hong Kong crime movies with men and brothers fighting each other in a story of cops, crime syndicate, mafias, and undercover operations. It was usually very romanticized, violent, and dark and in the ends, the outcome left no one unhurt. This drama totally follows this path.

1/ STORY
The story is rather simple. A cop accepts to do an undercover operation for a very personal reason. This leads him into a world of gangsters where bad guys also have their values and laws which make them not so bad and good guys are not always so good but have deviant behaviors and make questionable choices. He navigates in this and meets a local boss, and they develop an understanding and a friendly bond throughout time. The problem is that two women enters the scene, and they will make the two men question themselves, who they are and who and what they want and love. The result in the end is a terrible outcome for everyone.

2/ WHAT I LIKED
- The bonding between the two male leads and the bromance despite an uneasy personal situation in connection with the FL.
- The individual character development of the ML and of the SML. As I said, they are very romanticized but there is a clear beginning, a transition and an ending that is well told.
- The action and violence. I would have liked a little more of them.
- The ML and SFL. Their interplay was endearing. Cop guy and gangster girl trying to handle each other.


3 /WHAT I DID NOT LIKE
- The schemes were not so well made. I questioned some events that looked a little bit too simple or unrealistic.
- A little too much of "Who has the bigger balls". But I guess that's inevitable in a gangster's vs cops story.
- The last 3 eps were a bit underwhelming with some plot holes and far-fetched events that make them look rushed and inconsistent.

4/ CHARACTER - ACTORS
- Joo Mo: a simple and dutiful guy who becomes a gangster to bust a drug ring but he makes encounters that change him, his values and vision of thing and make him question his job. I liked the character and JCW was good portraying him.
- Ki Chul: simple guy with big dreams but a romantic who will question himself and try to change things for the best or the worst? Endearing despite his bad actions. WHJ was convincing too.
- Eui Jung: Some say she is useless in the drama. On the contrary. What she does or do not do triggers most of the tragic events. She is the main cause of everything. Im Se Mi. Second time I see here after True Beauty. Totally different. Good acting.
- Lee Hae Ryeon: the crazy and fun character who reveals herself not as hardened as expected. Superb job from the actress.
- Hwang Min Gu: The brute cop. Too much screen time for him and his antics. But his demise was fun.
Not a lot of noticeable characters beside these.

5/ OST: I enjoyed it bit nothing memorable.

6/ REWATCH VALUE: Probably rewatchable but a little too dark.

7/OVERALL
It is darker and sadder and more violent that expected. The schemes and counter schemes kind of drag the plot at times but overall, it is a good story. I would say the mafia and crime thing is not the most impressing or the most important. It is the personal situation and development of each of the main characters. From their point of view, it is a tragedy. A well told one. I totally recommend this drama. 9/10 . I do not give 10 because of the few telling flaws of the last eps but It is a good drama.

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A real good series to watch

I accidently found this series on Netflix, while watching an ongoing Korean drama.. i watched episode 1 and then continued watched the rest in two days. This was a real, refresing series to watch. The two main leada with opposite characters, Haru and Gaku, were really fascinating to follow. The two actors did a great job.
Each episode brought a new surprise, a new twist or shocking revelation on who is.playing games on whom. Both sides, the start-up and the conglomerate company were greedy and willing to do anything to crush their rival. I could imagine that such rivary, with all its sly moves, ambitious plans, and agressive competition, exist in the real world.
The only part I didn't quite like was forcing a romantic encounter towards the end, which I found unnecesaary.

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Lighthearted and Entertaining

I read a lot of people complaining that this drama is very low budget. They complained about how bad the CGI, clothes, even how bad the hair styles are.

I started watching just to see how bad it would be. To be honest, I don't know what those people are on about. I enjoy watching the drama unfold. It's funny, well acted and seriously the CGI wasn't that bad. It's not like every drama can be high budget. Can't we just enjoy the acting and plot?

Blooming has the same vibes as Jiu Liu Overload (with Bai Lu and Allen Fang was 2ML). It's a lighthearted drama to make you smile/laugh. Some scenes are silly and exaggerated, to make you laugh. As long as we know it's a comedy then we won't take things so seriously. If you are looking for a heavier storyline then this is definitely not for you.

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2nd Couple takes the lead!

You know how show tend to focus way too much on main couple? This show isn't like this

It is very well-balanced, I really love all the casts (apart from the bandits lol). Not to mention, the music! One of the best OST that really brings out emotions and play at right timing. Till today, I still feel a lot when I heard the OST playing!

I am a fan of SJK character here, but not so much the 1st FL. While I don't dislike her, I won't say I really like her. I prefer the 2nd FL way better. What's interesting is the 2nd FL is actually the one that has the rank, status, etc, yet the 1st FL is the one who acts more spoilt. I don't appreciate how she, more than one time, acted almighty about doctor saving life and solider killing people. Yet, she is the one who NEEDS to be SAVED more than one time. So much talk about soldier killing life! What a hypocrite. That's what makes me lose my respect for 1st FL, and what takes away that 0.5 point from this show! Also, her crying seems to be just filled with tears, without REAL emotions felt

2nd FL on other hand is really strong minded. She also is such a great actress that when she cries, I always cry because I truly feel her. I also love 2nd ML. Overall, I prefer 2nd couple way better and I feel they save the show, especially on the romance side of thing

But to me, SJK remains the star, I am biased, I know but his acting is just so good.

That 2 couples aside, I also love every other cast. There are so many life lessons to learn from each person, whether it's those who died, almost die, and everyone else

I rarely rewatch a show, but i've rewathed this a few times now. And the more. I rewatch, the more I like the 2nd couple.

Despite what I said about the main FL, I still would say this show is very well done. You might just like the main FL, she is just not really my liking as I feel she gets in the way of the ML a lot of times, which is a typical stereotype KDrama!

Again, I feel 2nd FL should be the norm for FL, not the typical " I need to be saved FL!"

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A cliche love story about your “not so typical” girl next door & the ordinary boy she falls for.

***DISCLAIMER: This is just my opinion, we don’t have to agree and I’m not here to argue with anyone. This review is kind of long so please bare with me.***

A/N: I went into this drama blind without reading the webtoon or having any preconceived ideas.

Tropes: girl next door, grumpy/sunshine, friends to lovers.

General Overview:

I kind of liked this drama because it is really nostalgic and takes you back. The cinematography is beautiful and it seems like it was meant to be a documentary or memoir of sorts recounting Doona and Won Jun’s experiences and how they crossed paths and essentially changed the trajectory of each others lives forever.

An ordinary guy and a superstar girl – that’s a cliche if I’ve ever seen one. I found it kind of tricky getting into this drama because the first 2 episodes are slow and you’re not really sure what exactly is going on because theres not much context but as you keep on watching and bridge the gap between episodes 2 & 3 and really delve into episode 4 & 5 things start heating up and becoming more interesting. I like the relationship between Doona and Won Jun because it shows us what a new adult / young love is and how at times it can be messy especially when there’s a lot of miscommunication thrown into the mix.

Their love story is by no means perfect but it’s also realistic in the way that other people watching can definitely relate to it and look back on their own past relationships / first loves and be reminiscent of a similar time / experience in their lives. Even if you have never experienced something like there are a lot of important life lessons to be learned.

I honestly feel like this drama lacked depth and they could’ve done so much more to better capture the struggle between wanting to live a normal life with your love and choosing to chase/ follow your dreams and be an idol. The ending sucked big time but again, I had already predicted it would be a sad/open ending by episode 5.

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A More Detailed Review (spoilers ahead):

Doona opens with Doona submerging herself in a pool of water and seemingly sinking to the bottom of it and drowning… I believe this is a reflection of how she truly feels on the inside.

The drama follows Dream Sweet Doona, a kpop idol who has fallen from grace and has taken a hiatus from being an idol due to an on-stage accident in which she stated she could no longer sing. We see her smoking profusely in a lot of the shots... we're not sure what's going through her head. Doona appears forlorn and despondent, as if she is fighting to find her place in the world while being neglected by the individuals she most badly wants to hear from. The number one person is P (her agent), who does not respond to any of her texts or phone calls.

As the story progresses we see Doona meet Won Jun and a love/hate dynamic develops between them. She can’t believe Won Jun doesn’t know who she is and that he’s not a fan as she sees him sporting a sweet dream hoodie. Anyways a uncanny dynamic develops between them and Doona finds herself annoying him and asking him out to eat for the fun of it. Won Jun thinks she’s only teasing him and is not actually serious. They get into a spat one night as Won Jun says something that hurts her feelings and sends her over the edge.

From there they make up and you see them hanging out and Doona giving Won Jun advice on love as Won Jun still seems to have feelings for this girl (Jin Ju) from his past. It seems they were almost high school sweethearts and did like each other but in the end things did not work out. Now a year later, Jin Ju has re-entered his life and Won Jun wants to obviously be more just friends but they keep missing the timing. I think this is essential to the plot because Jin Ju is a symbol of the past… and past memories while Doona is a symbol of Won Jun’s present and future. Back then, Won Jun was weak timid and was not able to confess to the girl he liked and win her over. This past Won Jun seemingly no longer exists as he is intrigued by Doona. He enters unfamiliar territory when he is with her and so she seems enthralling and fun to hang around. Even though Jin Ju and Won Jun have all the history and memories, it shows you can only hold onto a person for so much and no more. This was demonstrated when Jin Ju finally starts showing interest in Won Jun and was able to confess her feelings, he had already mentally moved on and was now interested in pursuing Doona.

Insights:

Doona lacks emotional intelligence because she has never led a typical/normal life. She also has trouble controlling her emotions, which I believe is related to her lack of emotional awareness. As someone once said, you have to be good with yourself before you can be good for other people. I think Doona needs to take care of herself and prioritize her mental health. It was very saddening watching her go through these psychotic breaks and moments of weakness completely alone. If “being in a room of crowded people and still feeling alone” was a person, that would be Doona.

Given that Donna appeared to have been groomed from the age of 13 or 14 until her early 20s, my heart ached for her. Doona became codependent on her agent as he effectively made her into an idol. It's obvious that the agent did not view her as a real person, but rather as a product or item. He was a manipulative man who only valued her when she was complying with his wishes. Her agent was simply emotionally absent and only doing his job but Doona misinterpreted it for love and concern. In essence, he exploited her as a tool as Doona only piqued his interest when she brought in big bucks and advanced his career. The moment the flip switched in her head and she told him she could no longer handle the idol life he became very cold and distant. It just showed that his affection for her was conditional on her performing and acting a certain way.

It's clear that Doona is a complex individual who has led a very one-dimensional existence. She had a one-track mind because her life was always regimented and linear. Her walls and fences gradually started to come down when her celebrity faded and she had some alone time without others chasing her, revealing the shell of a girl who genuinely needed to repair her inner child. Her mom dropped her off and was too busy coning others out of their money, so only her grandmother took care of her. She did not regard Doona as her daughter or child, but rather as a paycheck. She seemed more liberated and at ease when she spent time with Won Jun. I feel like hanging out with Won Jun made Doona feel free and ordinary. In a way he came into her life as a blessing.

Likes:

I enjoyed the cinematography and the setting. It was a very cozy and fitting drama to watch in the fall!

I liked Se Jong’s performance as Won Jun. It was refreshing to see a very emotionally intelligent man grace the screen. He literally was such a green flag and gave off the impression of a man who was ready to open his heart to someone who didn't appear to deserve him. Se Jong portrayed his innocence and naivety to perfection. It was endearing, but it also demonstrates how males are capable of feeling emotions and having strong feelings for the person they love. I can understand why he was only able to see the best in Doona because love is blind and gives people rose-colored lenses.

The chemistry between Won Jun and Doona was off the charts, if that's what you were mainly watching for. Warning if you are currently single this drama will definitely make you feel even more so. I felt like a third wheel or like I was intruding when watching some of their scenes because it was a bit intense and caught me off guard.

I thought Ha Young’s portrayal of Jin Ju was endearing. Her character brought so much light even in darkness and was one of the best to come out of this drama. Ha Young is seriously so charming on screen and has one of the best smiles I’ve ever seen. Her story was so tragic and she smiled and pretended to be happy on the outside to conceal the fact that she was actually breaking inside. She has strict parents which I’m sure people on here can relate to however the emotional and physical abuse she faced daily was so uncalled for. I liked how Jin Ju handled it with grace and eventually left her home situation. I was lowkey rooting for her and Won Jun in the beginning because she seemed like the of ray of sunshine he needed in his life. To me their personalities seemed more compatible than Won Jun and Doona but they took too long to confess how they felt. Even though her and Won Jun did not work out I am glad they are still friends… and you never know they might have missed their timing now but they could always reconnect years from now.

I also enjoyed the performances of the supporting cast. I-Ra and Jung Hoon were cute and I am happy they got together in the end. The friendship dynamic between everyone was refreshing and I’m glad they still met up to hang out and drink together rather than the friendship being lost after everyone moved out of the building.

Dislikes:

I must admit that Suzy's performance was not the best; I feel like she could have put more effort into truly selling the role. She mostly just posed in the scenes and kept on smoking and sighing which got really repetitive. She seemed to be in unfamiliar territory and did not have a similar experience to channel when playing Doona (a pop star fallen from grace) This led me to believe that she had never really had a had first-hand experience with despair, mental health concerns, and depression / loneliness as an idol. This role was clearly daunting for her and it showed.

In the 3rd act conflict when Doona saw her ex (the agent) and dropped Won Jun’s hand not once but TWICE I was pissed. Like that was an immediate red flag! And then she legit got in the car with the ex and didn’t like that he wasn’t reassuring her and saying all the things she wanted to hear then she opened the door, threw herself out of the car and hurt her foot?! That was absolutely psychotic and batshit crazy. Then she wants to come crawling back to Won Jun and playing the victim?! LOL this was so toxic and messy but at the same time realistic portrayal of young (blind) love. But more seriously, in those moments I questioned if Doona actually had any care or sympathy for Won Jun or his feelings. She was saying one thing but her actions always consistently proved otherwise. I guess this is what people would call a contradictory character but to me it was apparent she needed to work on herself because her behavior was deplorable.

The miscommunication between the leads was absolutely unnecessary and they could have fixed their issues with a simple and honest conversation. When Won Jun asked her if she’s back bc her agent didn’t want her I was like damn! Get her again for me. Being the other person, who appears to be someone's fallback or backup plan in case they can't get the main person they're seeking, is a tragic situation. The exchange between Doona and Won Jun eloquently encapsulated how awful it is.

I was irritated by the agent's attempt to minimize Won Jun's significance. He pretended to be concerned about Doona's welfare, but his true motivation was to use her as a means of generating income for himself. He presents himself as superior to everyone else and shows pretends like he has no concern for those so-called "kids." Mind you he's in their business 25/8 and suggested they break up immediately. In my opinion, the agent acts like a whiny boy who gets upset when he doesn't get his way in a situation.

9 episodes seemed too short but also too long because if you think about it this drama could’ve easily just been a 2 hour movie lmao… there’s so much unnecessary dragging out of the plot.

As I reviewed my episode ratings, I realized that I only ever gave one episode an 8 out of 10, while the others received ratings between 6 and 7. In my opinion this drama suffers from a severe lack of depth and overcompensates by focusing too much on ridiculous relationship drama. It does far more showing than actually telling. Then again, there is only so much they could fit into 9 episodes. Realistically speaking this drama only needed to be about 5 or 6 episodes long, after that it became tedious and started to drag on.

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Quotes I liked:

"Of course we won’t always know everyones story entirely because we all have a version of ourselves that we want to hide from the world."

“You once said to me that you and I come from two completely different worlds. That you never could’ve imagined we would ever cross paths. So to find ourselves sitting side by side was purely by chance. Or maybe even an act of destiny.”

“You may be right that we met by chance. But I’m still happy you were the one I met.”

“But do you know what’s really hard? It’s not the people who were never there to begin with. But it’s when you lose the people that were always there from the start. That’s enough to drive you really insane.”

“You’re selfish and unstable and you hurt me without even thinking twice about it.”

“You came and totally flipped my world upside down! But still I’m feeling crazy because I want to be the one that you want.”

“Blaming the winner when you lose is really only going to make you look a lot more pathetic. It’s a bad look.”

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Final Thoughts:

Overall this drama is the definition of a friends to lovers, toxic love story with miscommunication at the forefront. It was comforting and nostalgic in the way that sometimes you need a soft drama which you can relax and watch without focusing too much on a heavily plot driven story.

Should people should watch it or not? I have no idea, it depends on your taste and if you enjoy cliche and predictable dramas or not. It seems like a drama for persons who enjoyed Nevertheless. As I said it's difficult getting into the drama because of the slow pace and I'm not sure how many people would actually stick around to see their relationship "progress." Their relationship is chaotic and toxic so if you do decide to watch brace yourself!

In my opinion, people encounter stories like these on a daily basis, but most of them romanticize the toxicity and fail to highlight the difficulties that come with relationships and the desire to be wanted or chosen in the same capacity / way that you pour love and care into your partner.

What broke my heart while watching was the fact that both characters had their short comings but Won Jun was willing to overlook all that and give Doona a chance but she was not emotionally available / mature and just carelessly played with his feelings because what she needed at the time was his attention and comfort. Even though Doona knew they wouldn't last in the long run, she effectively used Won Jun as a stand-in in her life. Doona is a real emotional wreck, and I was struck and annoyed the entire time I was watching.

Nevertheless, I believe there are many valuable things that both younger and older individuals may learn. Cease the moment, learn to be emotionally intelligent, go after what / who you want before it’s too late. Some people believe Won Jun and Doona ended up together but I believe they met each other at a time in their lives where they both needed each other. Simply put, not everything is meant to last forever and if you ever want to find happiness, you have to learn to be okay with that.

With all that being said I gave this drama a 6.5 but after assessing everything I rounded it down to a 6/10.

Anyways that’s my two cents, you can watch it and see for yourself!

(Ty to those who read this far!)

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