Reviews

Interesting premise. Lots of unlikable side character though.

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2024 South Korean romantic comedy drama with 16, 62-74 minute episodes.

First I provide a Unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Han So-jin (Jung In-sun) is unlucky in love. Multiple ex boyfriends cheated on her during their relationship. As a genetic research scientist, she normally anlalyzes her partners for a whole range of genetic propensities and has even narrowed down a cheater gene. She has tried romance the traditional way only to be disappointed when they once again cheat. Now she is determined to use her genetic knowledge to pick her perfect other half. Shim Yeon-woo (Choi Si-won) loves women. He is a skilled obstetrician and gynecologist who goes above and beyond to ensure the best health outcome for his patients. Which is why part of his standard practice is to run genetic tests to identify genetics concerns in advance. The primary genetists working with his hospital is So-jin the same woman who drunkenly attacked him for dumping a female associate. Yeon-woo is handsome and wealthy and has his pick of female companions. But he has never felt any connection with any of them. So-jin is not at all Yeon-woo’s type but, on a cellular level they seem to have a connection. Despite trying to stay awy from the DNA obsessed science nerd, So-jin, Yeon-woo finds they are connected socially as well. Seo Kang-hoon (Lee Tae-jwan) has been So-jin’s friend and protector for many years and also happens to be friends with Yeon-woo. So they are connected through work as well as in their social circles. When So-jin finds out Yeon-woo has multiple copies of the cheater gene will that be the end of their groing interest in each other? Seo Kang-soon realizes he has feelings for the woman he thought of only as his noona/friend when Yeon-woo gets close to So-jin. Is Kang-soon, who has always been there for her, her perfect match?

Review

I liked so much about this series It had an interesting premise, a great cast and a nice blend of comedy, romance and suspense. I have liked so many things Siwon has been in and the type of character(s) he tends to play that noticing him in any series is an immediate lure for me. I enjoyed this the whole way through despite what I felt were sme problems with how certain things were written. I may watch it again if someone else was watching it and I recommend it to to anyone that likes the actors, is a fan of romance, or finds the premise interesting. it is definitely worth the watch

Spoilers

This ends happy in that Sojin and Yeon woo reunite and it seems they are going to be back together as a couple. So if the desired outcome was for those two to be together, then it is a happy ending. I thought it was a bit uncertain in that he was working as a small town doctor and she was still working as a geneticist in the city. So it wasn’t clear how they would resolve working in two different places. He did finally say he loved Sojin.

Part of the issue I had with Yeon woo the entire time is I thought he was selfish and it really bothered me that he deceived her with pretending to be her DNA lover and trying to trick her with her telepathy. She had such a strong belief in those things that him ridiculing made him seem less geniune and serious with her. Plus he told Jang Mi-eun (Jeong Eu-Gene) the truth about the DNA mix up which gave Mi-eun ammunition against Sojin as a romantic rival. People do not change a lot. At least not their core personality. So, I never felt like Yeon woo would be right for Sojin because he was so emotionally damaged himself that he was stingy with affection. But, women in reality make the same flawed choice and are, for some reason, drawn to the broken ones.

Sojin’s family was just horrible Yoo Myung-hee (Seo Ji-young), her mother said the most unforgivable thing about her innocent child. She deplored carrying her and equated her with a demon or something like that. When the father was alive she seemed to treat her okay but after Sojin’s father died any warmth she had shown her daughter went with him. She said the most horrible things about Sojin to some random woman she decided to claim as a daughter, Jang Mi-eun, and I disliked Mi-eun for listening to all that and encouraging the mother. You would have to be a little bit of an abuser yourself to listen to al that emotionally abusive language from a mother about her own child and being okay taking that abused daughter’s place in her mother’s cold heart. I didn’t care later whe she had cancer and Sojin had been nearly murderd that she acted like she wanted a relationship. She was just a horrible person. The sister was no better. She said horrible things about her sister to others.

Seo Kang- hoon was the perfect man for basically anybody. He freely gave his time and affection to Sojin and was always there for her. I often get second lead syndrome, like everyone else, but in this case he was so perfect for her it was hard to accept her choice of Yeon woo. Even more disappointing was it seemed he had a relationship going with Mi-eun who I did not like for multiple reasons.

What is it with some of the recent dramas and having a character who is “polyamorous”? I have seen it in several series lately. It made me wonder if this was something that was becoming widespread in South Korea and everything I read indicates it is not. South Korean’s do not approve of polyamory at any higher level of acceptence than do Americans. Which was a relief to me because one of the reasons I prefer South Korean shows over USA series and others is the more moral and wholesome content. I did not like Mi-eun for any of the male characters because she proclaimed she was polyamorous. I detest that notion. It is like saying I am going to tie up someone’s hear but want the option to cheat if I feel like it. There must have been some recognition of this because one of Mi-eun’s boyfriends broke it off with her when she was openly flirting at a dinner with Yeon-woo. It is just wrong think in my opion that results in a lot of people being emotionally hurt. I hope they quit with the putting polyamorous characters in dramas because it detracts from the story.

#DNALover. #JungInSun #ChoiSiWon #LeeTaeJwan #SeoJiYoung

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Best historical Kdrama ever made. Absolutely amazing!

An epic story with great cast, music and cinematography…never get tired rewatching this drama. This is definitely in my top 5 historical dramas! This K-dramas is the kind you never get tired of watching more than once or 5 times.

The whole drama never veered from the storyline, nor did the actors! This drama series' portrayal never let my desire to watch down. . Every episode was a visual & emotional feast, a true enjoyment!

An excellent historical drama that emotionally tugs at your heart while sprinkling it with a bit of humor here and there. K-dramas are no longer made this way and it's too bad because now we have to resort to watching the older ones such as Jumong! Love the main cast!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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Thrive Alone, Flourish Together, Blossom Forever

#Blossom is a historical drama that focus on rebirth plot. The story navigates through the female lead's independence and self-reliance, along with a mutually supportive and healing relationship between her and the male lead. All other elements, such as court politics, and the male protagonist's quest to seek revenge serve the main storyline without deviating from it. Is it different from bunch of rebirth Chinese drama like SOKP, or TPR? yes. it is very different in the point where our FL and ML didn’t have a converged story line in there first life like in most of rebirth. Their faith intertwined on a fateful snowy night at last moment of that life. They both ended of dead and the FL experience her first life as a dream. What so good about this drama?

#Rebirth sequence. I could say that it is the best rebirth sequence I've ever watched. She didn’t died and relive again like in a time loop or time reversal. The scene was spectacular and uniquely portrayed, also visually pleasing and emotionally captured. Watched it and you’ll believed me.

Character development. After Dou Zhao's rebirth, her goal in life isn't revenge or tormenting scumbags. Instead, it's about getting over the misfortune of her previous life and living well in the current one. She took all the measures necessary to change her first life. She tried to prevented her mother's death but she changed nothing. In her previous life, she was slowly poisoned which caused her chronic lung disease. But this time around she took the poison herself when she heard them talking about poisoning her. That led to her paternal grandmother taking her out of the family manor and and raised her in countryside. She engaged herself in a business, train her maids and got a knowledgeable man as her tutor. Smart indeed. For the male lead his life childhood exactly go as his previous life since he doesn’t have the knowledge of what happened.

Script was good though I was reluctant to continue through episode 2 as it felt like a short drama, since I'm not fan of that so called short drama. Every episodes felt like a single movie while some having a cliffhanger that you immediately clicked the next episode, pretty interesting.

Directing and cinematography. Not a single issue in that department, well done. All the shots are very exhilarating especially that episode 1, was perfect. I've watched some Ming dynasty dramas but I've never been a fan of their costume til now. LLTG and TSOM made me liked Han dynasty Song dynasty respectively. I like Ming dynasty because of Blossom. The decency, style, fashion of the costume made more ancient and that got me really into world setting. The themes and background tracks are really a fit for this type of setting, it was relaxing and mind refreshing.

Casting and acting. Meng ziyi is no newcomer in a Chinese drama, even if you didn’t ever watch her in a drama where she was the female lead you might came across her in a big budget drama as a second lead or a support. I've always been a fan of her since Ever Night. I clicked blossom only because of her. She portrayed Dou Zhao perfectly, I couldn’t asked for more. She embodied spirited, resilient, and self dependent Dou Zhao that you wouldn’t said that she doesn’t fit in that period but rather 21st century girl. You remember that look during competition when they tried to made her falk but she made one falled! I love it. Those her big eyes made me wonder is she really of Han descent? Li Yunrui, saw him first in LLTG, he was good there. But here, he totally shined as rebellious Yan tang and chivalrous general Song Mo, I want to see him more in that grey hair, but seeing him in that indicates that he is already poisoned! The chemistry is giving. I don’t mind them just showing them looking at each other for good 10 minutes. That scene in the ship when she recognized him as the masked man is the proof. What are you still waiting? Start blossom now, you won't regret it.

If the story didn't crashed, I would definitely give it 10/10. But hey! Its a Chinese drama, anything could happen. I have a good hunch it would definitely maintain its flow!

“Nine-layered wild flower can thrive on its own. But I believe with a little support, it can grow even more stronger”, she thrives alone and now they're flourishing together, I do hope their lives would #blossom forever!

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An ok drama, did not exceed expectations

A pretty decent WuXia/Historical drama, nothing much that makes it stand out. I started this drama because of Xu Kai, I watched another one of his dramas "Falling into your Smile"(Highly recommend) and his acting was great. Upon watching this drama, it was a mess and didn't really meet the standard I was looking for.

Story :
To start things off, the story was ok. It had nothing really special and it's a basic plot line. Main character, all powerful and strong with a purpose of revenge but understanding the bigger picture, a evil demon who is trying to take over the world with it's evil disciples, love triangle, second lead becomes evil, you get the gist. It was decently ok but towards the middle of the drama and the end was a bit rushed and got boring. The main female lead( Yu Jingqiu) figuring out her past and how she's all powerful but barely gets to use her mighty power because producers decided she was going to be a weak character and rely on the main lead. The main lead becomes all strong through series of unfortunate events but ends up beating the demon lord. The side characters were what made the drama most interesting and allowed me to finish instead of dropping. What really pissed me off was the death of so many unnecessary characters. Like why kill of so many people??!

CGI:
The CGI was decent, it looked really pretty and some parts were really well executed, especially when the characters would use their "special ability" with the animations of what it's called on the screen making it look like a comic book but in video form. The outfits were also really pretty, I loved the main female and second female leads clothing. The clothing for the main leads at the end of the show was beautiful, the black and the gold and how the main leads matched outfits. That really saved the show in my opinion.

Music :
The OST was amazing and it really helped pack a punch for the drama. Great way to start the drama off. The music throughout the drama was also well executed, having different music for different situations. Very well done in this department.

Acting:
The main leads acting was pretty good, the male lead was really good with his emotions, but of course Xu Kai is a veteran in the acting community so you won't get boring monotone acting from him. The main female lead was ok, some parts did seem fake but overall was still good. The side characters fun and bubbly personalities were well executed given these new actors/actresses don't act much as I have never really heard of them in the acting community. The main lead's chemistry was really good, the fact that the female lead was willing to give up her divine power just to be with him showed the sacrifice of true love. The side characters relationship was my favorite and it was really cute. I love how the second female lead didn't go for revenge when finding out the main male lead likes someone else but she decided to move on. Which was very refreshing to see as in most Wu Xia dramas, the second female lead turns evil... but in this case it was the second male lead(not surprising)

Ending:
The ending wasn't anything special. It was ok. The rush towards the end of the show really irritated me. I hate when directors and producers drag the first half of the show and giving so much context and background just to throw it away towards the end. The ending was nothing special but it did make me cry because of the deaths of so many characters. They really did not need to die but because it's Wu Xia and it's the finale battle, it wasn't surprising when certain characters got killed. The ending was pretty cute, we got to see peace between the world which was pretty good. Thank you so much for letting the main leads to have a good ending despite going through all that. It definitely made the drama worth it.

Was gonna give up on this drama, but thank god the ending was ok which made the lengthy process of 40 episodes worth it.

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Mindless entertainment

This is the type of drama where you have to turn off your brain, values and pretty much all sense of... well everything and just let it go and let the stupidity lead you to that next episode. In this highly bingable low quality high entertainment drama.

While many dramas will ave you dreading the inevitable brek-up before reconciliation this one had me cheering for the misunderstandings to pile up so that the female lead would finally dump the male lead and settle for a cat, a goat or some cute playboy (or girls) far, far away...

It is also a drama that even with brain power off still had me wondering, if the male lead knows he cant control himself after drinking two drops of alcohol, why does he still drink alcohol?

Why does the male lead look like a dog trying to dominate another dog when he kisses the female lead?

And why do all the kisses look either fake no lips attached or like they are trying to take a bite out of the other persons lips?

It also offers some of the worst cross dressing out there... But I do believe I did spot a lesbian confession somewhere around the end along side a lesson in girls can also be programmers. So between the toxic, the lack of communication, the bad, the landscape of red flags and more or less sexual dominance/assault... and the double standards there seems to be som kind of a women can agenda as well...

Making me wonder what the ***** the writer, producer and censorship officer where thinking when they made/passed this drama, but I also want to thank them all for this mindless entertainment I so desperately needed thus rating it an 8 .

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Love or Obsession? Unpacking the Complexities of "Drama When Phone Rings"

"Drama When Phone Rings" delves into the haunting dynamics of a marriage where love—if it can even be called that—lurks in silence for years, only to surface under extreme and desperate circumstances. The drama portrays a husband who claims to have loved his wife all along but failed to express it for three years, leaving viewers to question whether his so-called love is genuine or merely an unhealthy obsession.

True love involves action, care, and a willingness to nurture a relationship. The husband’s three years of indifference show none of these qualities. Despite his alleged feelings, he made no effort to communicate, to make his wife feel valued, or to work on their marriage. This lack of effort and engagement suggests that his "love" might not be as pure as it seems. Genuine love inspires vulnerability and a desire to connect, but his behavior implies emotional apathy—or worse, a controlling mindset where he doesn’t feel the need to prove or share his affection.

When his wife pretends to be a kidnapper, it is a desperate act of seeking validation in a marriage that has emotionally starved her. His sudden change of heart and willingness to show affection only after this dramatic plea feels reactive and superficial. It raises an unsettling question: is this really love, or is it his obsession with possession, control, or the idea of his wife, rather than her as a person?

Obsession often masquerades as love, but it is fundamentally self-centered. It is more about holding onto someone than genuinely caring for their happiness or well-being. The husband’s years of emotional neglect, coupled with his delayed response only when provoked, make it hard to see his feelings as anything more than a possessive obsession. His actions don’t stem from a realization of her worth but from the fear of losing her—a response driven by his ego rather than true affection.

The wife’s decision to stay or accept his newfound love is equally complicated. Should she trust that his feelings are real, or should she recognize that his "love" is contingent on her begging for it? The drama challenges viewers to grapple with these dilemmas, ultimately leaving a sour aftertaste. It underscores the painful reality of relationships built on unbalanced emotional investments and the danger of confusing obsession with love.

In the end, "Drama When Phone Rings" serves as a cautionary tale about the need for communication, emotional honesty, and mutual effort in love. It leaves viewers questioning the husband’s motives, the wife’s choice, and whether a relationship like this is even worth saving.

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If you’re not watching it now, then when will you???

An enormous fan of Yoo Yeon Seok, I heard this drama was about to air. So, I just casually decided to watch it without even knowing the plot or checking the trailer. Boy, I decided the right thing. This drama keeps you engaged right after it starts. Chae Soobin often keeps low profile in her dramas. But here, ufff the chemistry between the leads is so hot and interesting. Soobin just keeps getting better and better. The story is very interesting with unpredictable characters and the cinematography is so aesthetically pleasing. After each episode, you are only left with one line- When is the next episode coming, I can’t wait. ❤️

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Absolutely amazing

An amazing watch! The story ties everything together seamlessly, with every detail connected to the main plot, yet it never feels overwhelming or overly complex. Character development makes perfect sense, and nothing feels abrupt or out of place. Usually, when the FL is portrayed as strong, they turn her into someone remarkable, a genius scholar or martial artist —nothing wrong with that, but it's not the only way. This FL is naive, feminine, and sometimes powerless, but still strong in her own way. The fairy makes pivotal decisions on her own, not "strong" in the conventional sense, but certainly not your typical pure-hearted damsel in distress either. It's so refreshing to see a female lead who is both influential and strong without losing her pure, angelic vibe. If you're looking for a story with love, family bonds, friendships, and a gripping mix of war and politics, all with a dash of humor, don't miss this one!

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Short n sweet ;)

This series is sooo short, it's among the shortest dramas I've watched!

This is also one of my main complaints: I wish this series was longer :(

But overall, I liked the format of the series, although the game aspect of looking back at their past felt a bit gimmicky to me and I wish that they'd showed more of their relationship in the past as it truly was because it also made me a bit confused.
Anywho, the production really made good use of the limited amount of time they had making the series have a good balanced ending but with a bit more time I know they could've gotten a bit more potential out of it.
I still liked the series because the acting was excellent and the colours of the series were super pretty.

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Brewing frustration

This is such a poorly written show. It's hard to believe that, with an experience cast and crew, the show producers and writers made made such a mess in setting the show narrative tone.

The main storylines are incoherent and intertwined with some off the most basic humor that i saw this year. The suport characters are completely hollow. They just shout and make weird faces. One or two ahjummas are also on Virtuous Business and they were good in this show, because the writers and director created scenes that show their humanity and personality. They are not just screaming cardboard cutouts. 

There's also the feeling that something feels off with the main characters due to the erratic story progression but mainly because on some scenes the actors don't have anything to hang on. Sejeong in the "action scenes" does not seem to be in character but just performing some stunt like in some variety show showing her physical prowess. It's a shame to see actors wasting their talent with such shallow roles.

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Watchable once -- but barely

The show is about Haruta, a 33-year old real-estate salesman, and the multiple people chasing him. His boss, his colleague + roommate, his childhood friend, and another colleague.

First of all, I thought this was BL when I started, and did not like the older character's presence (the boss). I understand that old people can of course love, and age doesn't matter, , but, to quote from the show itself, "love is not always pretty" and the director's obsession with his subordinate was not pretty.

I found the 2 leads having severe lack of confidence. To me, if you don't trust your own love to be valuable to the other person (like Maki), your love is not that sincere. Haruta also, with his going along with everyone who courted him and his shouting and screaming, was far from watchable.

The plot dragged a bit here and there, and I am not a fan of suspense until the last 25% of the last episode. The acting was cringy from the director and Haruta, but the others did well.

If you are looking for chemistry, there is none from Haruta towards any of his suitors.
Overall ok, but not re-watchable.
Oh, and I found Maki, the director's wife, the childhood friend, and the tall young man who courted the Director's wife very good-looking.

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Mediocre

Two people are struggling to find their way and overcome their troubled pasts. One leaves home, while the other leaves the city. To distract themselves from their unpleasant pasts, they immerse themselves in work. Eventually, their paths cross, and they begin to enjoy each other's company, feeling happy, serene, and at peace. However, an incident occurs, and they work together to solve the mystery surrounding it. Surprisingly, the incident is linked to one of them. In the end, they live happily ever after.

This is a glimpse of the story.

The acting was good, but the story may not hold your attention due to the many dull subplots. Additionally, there is no romance between the main leads, which might leave some viewers disappointed.

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