Reviews

a fun quick watch

the idea of an entire group playing in a bl together was very intriguing from the get go but makes perfect sense seeing as OnlyOneOf are known for their open support of the LGBTQ+ community

i read the webtoon and watched the drama now and i think they adapted it well considering the time and budget restraints! while some parts might seem rushed (as they so often do in these short bls) i very much prefer that to how drawn out many things were in the original webtoon, especially the hyunbin storyline

this drama has a lot of very typical bl tropes like fake dating, misunderstandings (that luckily get cleared up quickly), jealous exes,... don't go into this expecting a revolutionary masterpiece. but if you just want a quick and sweet romance that's exactly what you'll get!

the two main actors have been playing couples for group related projects for a long time now so their on screen chemistry is really good and according to them there was little to no awkwardness while shooting despite them being in the same group! i think this gave them an advantage for their first real acting job

since the entire group was cast i expected at least some of them to be very bad actors but i think they all did a great job, sure they aren't on a professional actor level (although mill, who plays eden, stood out to me as especially talented) but they were all at least decent and since they're all close in real life they never felt awkward with each other and i was surprised how often i forgot i was watching an idol group act, they really pulled me into the story

all the actors including the group have a certain over the top acting style though since the drama is going for a lighthearted romantic comedy kinda vibe, if you don't like that style of acting you might not be able to enjoy this drama

to sum it up: it's a short and sweet romcom about two idols who fall in love after fake dating, the acting was good considering this is their first real acting job and it is really new and interesting to see an entire group act in a bl! the ost is also really catchy, i kept singing the title song (evergreen) all day after watching the drama!

if you like silly little webdramas you will probably have a good time with this

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Cute Little Romance Comedy Which Never Dissoppoints To The End

It's really funny and all charactaers are fun to watch. Even bad guy's laugh is so funny that his bad acting still makes you enjoy it. Maybe leading man is a bit wrong casting, he seems to not has enough charisma to be a fiancee of a supermodel. All other actors are giving their best and so ggod in their roles. Daraneenute Pasutanavin's acting especially in her episode 6 is outstanding, that she shows off her talents and comedy skills beatifully.

And Yaya demonstrates the improvement in her acting since she started. She is incredibely good, her acting is so sharp and direct. A big force in every scene she is in, you can clearly see why she is so special. I guess this is the first production her name comes first in the credits and she helms perfectly her tomboy character.

There is solid writing some really funny scenes begining to the end, all provides a satisfactory watching. Even the second copule's love story is very exciting. Despite some bad directing here and there and a bit unsolved bad guys situation, I loved every minute of this lakorn.

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It gets better, give it a chance

When they say this drama has no plot, I scratch the back of my head wondering how so. The story was a full circle. 500 years ago, peace was achieved by all the states when their ancestors fought demons but then something started brewing and demons start to attack again. In his journey of finding the red stone, Xiaoxuan met Huzi and Xintong. And back in the capital, they met Yuqian. Their friendship developed quite naturally in my opinion. They fought demons together, and has always been on each other's side when another character pick on one of them. Alone in the capital, they have no one else. Meeting each other meant having someone and they started to cherish that.

The plot was slow at the start but the pacing was just right for me. Mystery after another, and Xiaoxuan and his friends begins to unravel each, uncovering a part of the whole plot. And finally in the end, achieved the whole truth. The plot twists had me gasping. I couldn't predict what will happen next. I have a problem of dropping cdramas but this was not the case. It gets better the more I watch it. I wasn't expecting to watch until the end but I got attached with the characters and most especially got me curious on what will happen next. There were a lot of scenes that really struck me to be very memorable.

I really liked the costumes. They didn't look cheap. The characters looked really great in it. The cgi was okay. I actually didn't have any complains about it. The fight scenes are chefs kiss. I don't know if my standard is just low but the I loved watching the fight scenes. The choreo and camera angles were great.

Something that also surprised me about this drama was how they made me despise some characters but ended up loving them later. I got my blood boiling at the early episodes but then the writers gave depth to these characters. I didn't expect their redemption arc could make me care to these characters I originally wanted to have nasty deaths. And those who didn't deserve redemption arc got their downfall in the most satisfying way.

Speaking of character development, the four mains have it the best. Xiaoxuan is a serious and grumpy type. As they say, his eyebrows has a life of their own lol. Always frowning, serious in his job of being commander. But then, Huzi and his friends melted him. Xintong went to the capital to bring back honor to her family. Among of the four, I really like how she's always rational. A female character that is not annoying. She did more than bring her family's emblem back in that hall, she became the best chief commander. Brick grew up really spoiled, someone that is not good enough to be next in the throne but ended up being a great king to his state. And Huzi, well he was annoying at the start and still is I think but his love for his friends knows no bound. He will protect them with everything he has.

Special mention on Xiaoxuan and Huzi's bromance. The chemistry was fire.

While I understand why others dropped this or find it boring, I'm glad it wasn't the case for me. I really loved and enjoyed it. ??

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Could have been better.

I posted this below but wanted to add my review on here as well. Overall, it wasn't my cup of tea and I found myself cringing due to the acting. They almost had it, if only SK can learn the art of utilizing the amount of time and episodes right. Masterpieces can be made even with short episodes.

Anyways here's my honest review:

It started off cute. I liked that they didn't have a childhood connection as well. I don't know why South Korea likes to fast track their BLs. They go from being complete strangers to Lovers and we never see the build up. Everytime I watch their bls(not all but majority), I find myself asking out loud "but when did you start falling in love?". The assumption that we should know when they started falling in love without so much as a hint in their acting is getting old and boring and irritating and just aaghh. The sad thing is, even with short minute episodes they can give us quality plots and acting.

The acting had it's moments, for the life of me I could not take Jihoon seriously during the plane ride panic attack. I am tempted to make a tiktok but sadly my morals and values have convinced me that it's bullying.

The English was cringe, I'm sorry. The longer they kepy talking the more I wished they would go back to speaking hangul.

Also, Eden mentioned that he was traumatized by his drowning incident as a child and would therefore freakout at the sight of large bodies of water. Tell me why his trauma was down played and basically non existent. For someone with water PTSD he sure looked like he was one with the water. Bro was a water Avatar.

Toxic ex boyfriend trope needs to burn die and never resurrect.

Also, maybe there was a mistake with the translations and I am well aware that the way I think and understand things are not the same for all countries. But Eden gave "Im not gay vibes and homophobic vibes", he literally said how can his first love be a man when he literally silent confessed that he was in love with Jihoon. And then proceeds to say he misunderstood him...Mr Sir, what the hell is wrong with you.

A rushed ending is basically standard procedure for SK. I should be used to it but everytime I am surprised and disappointed.

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IN DEPTH review + alternative endings and where to stop for viewers that dont want open ending

Writing this review freshly after finishing all 9 episodes, everything is very clear in my mind as I binged it all in one sitting. I did not read or even look up the original manhwa or novel (whatever it is called), so I have nothing to compare the drama version to, and I also DID NOT come in with any expectations. Usually when viewers read the novel first they may be more biased since things may be different from the plot in a good or bad way, but I came in with no expectations, just to clarify. Apologize for long review, but I try to be detailed and helpful. It is totally okay to disagree as its just my opinion! Disclaimer: it may seem like im bashing the ending and everything, but I still gave the drama a 7 rating so im not really hating to clarify, rather I am not satisfied. If I were to describe this drama it would be like competing in a race and doing well on the first few laps, then just not completing the last lap. You see, this is a romance drama. Not a healing drama, not a slice of life, not action, not comedy, not historical. Least they could have done was a satisfying romantic ending.

Things I liked:
1. Good romance and kiss scenes. Actually thought they had more and better kisses than most dramas I see nowadays.
2. 9 episodes of like 35-40 minutes (the last 5 minutes are just credits so its not actually 45 min), it can be binged, and even if you dont like it, its a short watch, you dont really 'waste' a lot of time. Also, if you wanted to rewatch for whatever reason, it would be easy.
3. Nothing much going on in the drama other than the romance aspect, which is good as you dont have to give your attention to many subplots. However, the drama is still a bit confusing with plot holes and time skips which I will talk about below.
4. Characters are likable, there's no character I didnt like, and love triangle was not overly annoying. Acting was also good, everyone was pretty good but I just thought the ML acting was okay. Not bad but not good.

Things I didn't like: (SPOILERS AHEAD, but I really think people should read this before watching)
STAR: I am fine with open or sad endings but for this specific drama I can think of more reasons of why they couldve/shouldve been together than not, which is why im so frustrated (see #4). I would also like to point out that this drama really has no plot other than 1. Doona going back to her career and 2. romance. There are only 2 overarching plots, yet they couldn't even make it clear and things were very confusing to me as a viewer (see #2 & 3). There were details left out, no explanations, time skips, some things just dont make sense.

1. Open ending. Obviously not every drama will have a good ending. But we (or at least me personally) watch dramas to escape from reality... why would I as a viewer want to spend my free time to watch a 'bittersweet' ending when they can just give a happy ending for romance, as its literally the only plot. Also, many others argue that it was a 'realistic' ending, but realistically they would and should have ended up together as Doona literally explains they can date after 2 years, which have passed, and they both still have feelings for each other. Correlates with my fourth point.

2. Many plot holes. Like we still dont even know clearly why Doona even left the group, we just know it's somewhere along the lines of being overwhelmed, but we dont know clearly. We dont know if she really couldn't sing or if she faked it (she sings perfectly well in ep8 and also debuts again as a singer) We dont know if Mr. Park (the manager dude) is a good or bad character and his relationship with her. He is such a grey character, and obviously his role is big as he is the one that sends her to the house alone, but we dont even know really if he has a good or bad intent. ML and FL family is not even talked about, which I dont mind but still it counts as a plot hole... like what sickness does the ML's sister have where he has to take care of her. Is Doona being an idol to help her mom out of debt? Did her mom pay back the debt? Also ML's best friend is literally Doona's biggest fan, but he doesn't even know ML and her dated???

3. Time skips (especially in ep8 and 9). As a viewer I often got confused in the later episodes of when events started happening. It's not very clear if it's a time skip to the future or past or present. And this is related to the plot holes, as literally we go from them dating to suddenly being split apart in ep8. Very confusing and it is not really shown when they leave each other. One moment they are in bed together, then the next moment she is already at the idol building, no goodbye no telling each other nothing. In other simpler words: Doona is edited weirdly, it's very oddly spliced. As someone said: "All events move forward in a non-linear pattern, with the story constantly moving back and forth." It would have been better to give better explanations and more straightforward storytelling so the reader is not left to presume or assume or guess on anything. Directors could have used 1 hour episodes or just made it 10 or 12 episodes instead of 9 to not rush things and skip explanations or events. This was a Netflix kdrama, the directors definitely could have changed the length...

4. The ending along with the romance is probably the most important thing, and what I dont understand is in the end, when Doona becomes an idol, she still wanted to secretly meetup and date. The ML has feelings for her obviously, but I dont understand why he doesn't want to. We are not given any reason why either. Okay, whatever, I can look past that... BUT
2 years pass, (Doona literally says they can date after 2 years when she's in a more stable position), the ML is back from the military, they meet again... but they still dont date???? And in the second to last scene, the FL goes to ML's house and they finally talk and hug and say they miss each other and cry. They also could have gotten back together here for a happy and realistic ending??? But no, the last scene they are back to strangers walking past each other in public. You didnt need to add scenes, and im fine with a 'realistic' sad (quote on quote realistic since in the drama Doona says she as an idol CAN date after she is stable as an idol, although in real life idols probably cant date) or happy ending rather than an open confusing ending.

Alternative Endings:
1. If you want sad ending, just stop in ep9 when won jun says he is going to the army and Doona leaves for the train. This is a realistic and sad ending for those that dont care about happy ending. Realistically she is now back to being an idol and cant date, like real life Kpop idols with restrictions on dating.
2. If you want happy ending, stop in ep9 where they hug and say they miss each other. If you end here, it will be like they got back together finally. They are back to dating and the end.
3. Open ending just finish the whole thing, then go back and watch the opening scene of episodes 1,2,6,7,8,9. They meet again at the railroad tracks. And in episodes 8 and 9 they go on a date. You can interpret this as they are secretly seeing each other despite being an idol. OR, the other open ending is that you see in the last scene where they walk past each other but dont say a word but Doona looks back at Won Jun. This can also be interpreted as they have broken up and are chose to prioritize their own careers over love. Either way, they have succeeded in their careers, and isn't necessarily a bad ending. People have heartbreaks in real life too, and not every partner is a marriage partner!

Something I noticed, not a judgement, just something I noticed:
The opening always has some scene where it can be interpreted as an open ending, but I went back to every episode just to see it. They just walk to the railroad crossing, in earlier episodes they are wearing black (keep in mind). In the later episodes we see them cross the railroad and walk to each other. But this time the ML is not wearing black, he is wearing tan suit (arguably this would mean a different day, or maybe they just didnt pay attention to outfit detail and accidentally wore wrong outfit) In the last episode, the opening scene the FL is wearing a cap and different outfit. (this outfit is NOT the same as her ending scene outfit, but the ML is wearing his ending scene outfit. I guess the opening scene would be telling the viewer that they meetup and go on a date. However, you would have to piece every opening scene together to visualize it, which is very hard to notice and do.

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Do not hesitate to watch

I was pushing away this drama for years thinking it is nothing I would like. It sounded so boring to watch ordinary people who struggle in life and moved from friends to lovers….blah..
I am so glad I gave it a try, finally, and currently is in my top 10 SK dramas!
It is still a story about an ordinary people, but it conveys so many messages and fill your chest with inspiration and courage!
Yes, they all struggle, but for a first time it didn’t seemed suffocating to watch how poor and unsuccessful they are (at the beginning). They all were constantly growing and developing through the entire series.
What else? Awesome comedy, Nice story, Villain who is believable, Friendship, some drama and so much more!

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short and sweet

it was actually very cute. I was expecting choppy plot and worse acting. the plot was OK. I read the manga before so I knew what to expect. and Japanese dramas tend to have that manga-esk plot where bunch of little scenes make up the overall plot. so I got what I expected.

but the the acting by the leads so very much a surprise! I like both the actor and actress. but I really liked the actress. she portrayed the cunningness with a hint of cuteness characterization of the FL from the Manga. her acting seemed very natural. exactly like how a teenager would behave. I will see her other work in the future for sure!

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Just average

Pretty standard romantic drama, the two main leads meet and don’t get along at first. Then they find they actually like each other, but don’t start anything romantic at first. ML an ordinary college student and FL is a Kpop idol who doesn’t want to be an idol anymore. FL is also a troubling girl who's got a mix of PTSD and borderline.

This drama goes into deep emotions and mental issues. Also second female lead syndrome hit me hard while watching this. She was ultimately the better choice for the ML imo they were perfect, but because of their situation and the multiple times they held themselves back led them to not being together.

The ending could've been done better. I was just expecting too much from this drama and ended up being very disappointing. Cast is great, but I don't see myself watching this again.

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Living lie detector? Hell yeah I'm here for it

Love the idea about hearing lie and make money from that, THAT'S PURE GENIUS. I always love this kind of fantasy, sumn like Bongsoon or Girl Who See Smell. Interesting checked✅️

THIS IS WHERE THINGS GOT HEATED

Love Sohyun's acting, don't know if I'm being biased or sumn because I love her since forever. But Minhyun's acting is a mild no. Not good but not that bad actually but clearly needs more acting classes. Chemistry? 404 not found. Chemistry between the handsome fans and Syaon are way way much greater, would love to see those two in another drama.

Storyline...hmm...pretty understandable, the flow is enjoyable, and contains an unpredictable shocking plot twist. But the moment I finished it, I don't remember much of the story. I feel the "what was that again?" moment after watching this.

Do I want to rewatch it? Yes, but only the scenes where Sohyun did her job as lie detector, it's fascinating to see. Rewatching whole drama? No, I'm good watched it once.

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A disappointment.

This show is so disappointing. for start, I had liked the pilot, especially the activist plot that the side couple seemed to have, and the final product ended up being anything but what the pilot offered.

the acting are meh the ost is meh the story is all over the place and doesn't seem to be cohesive at all.

The relationship between Zo and Joke started with good communication and then it didn't because they needed drama between them. (at least they have chemistry, but a what cost?)

The side couple is the most painful thing about this show, criminally wasted potential, they went from having what seemed to be a promising subplot about a public and activist couple to the trope of a closeted soccer player and their screentime was nonexistent, so sad.

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All of this marketing advertising for this ?

If the story plot as advertised seem interesting and the cast with Bae Suzy seem to have a lot of potential, it is not worth it.

First of all, scenes are long. Short spoiler, the main character encounter each other very fast, but you wait about more than 15 mns to have them interact. So far it seems ok but when nothing interesting happens in 15 mns it’s long. 15 mns where sequences aren’t that beautiful, song is not engaging or silence not necessary or things characters do have nothing interesting for the overall story… it’s a waste of time. and this happens again and again.

Also the plot is jumping from one thing to another soo rashly… as a viewer you don’t have time to either grasp the situation or have compassion for the character.

About the acting…. it’s far from being Bae Suzy best performance. and for Yang Se Jong I first thought it was bad acting but I thing the overall is just bad directing. When interacting with the female lead he acts like a extremely dumb person. If that was his personality… alright. but it is only when interacting with her. and it’s not about “shy” type or weird type but truly like you would talk to an autistic person.

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I don’t know what to say

So I usually love a story with a glittering beautiful heroine with issues and her love story with someone who is a commoner or not the same level as her. Some of my most iconic ones are Roman Holiday (Audrey Hepburn), Notting Hill (Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant), Indian Woh Lamhe (she is a damaged star just like Doona and this is a tragedy). To summarise many of these stories do not have a happy ending but for Notting Hill, and I like in this genre, tragedies, comedies and melodramas too.
If I compare this to woh lamhe, that was so raw, the heroine in that was so damaged and did so many things but the male lead also equally matched her.
Here in this drama, it was just showcasing the female lead and if you read MDL comments, you realise many just watched this drama because she looks great. That’s exactly what should not have happened, this should have shown the damage. Also the male lead is such an amazing actor usually but here he was so flat. Even if you compare with queens gambit for instance and Anya Taylor is very beautiful in real life, in none of the scenes was her looks highlights so much as her emotional trauma and her love for chess.
I just fast forwarded this drama. Again woh lamhe I watched first in 2007 I think and I still remember it shot by shot. This is not memorable to me, and bogged down with poor acting (male lead), poor direction too since the director chose to focus on the female lead without brining out the best in everyone else.

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"What's It Like to Date a Walking Red Flag"

That's what this title should be called...

I watched the animated version, (The Girl Downstairs) and now having watched the live version, my opinion hasn't changed. I was very surprised when I heard that they were making a live version of this because IMO, it really wasn't worth it. While the storyline vastly differed from each other (webtoon vs live action), the main characters were the same. This is probably one of the shallowest k-drama I've ever watched. Usually, you might see some immature ones like you find with some high school genres but this one certainly had no real, true depth.

The FL was a huge, walking, waving RED FLAG right from the beginning. She had no charming traits to her at all. A smoker, a drinker and basically a hothead. She obviously had some serious mental issues and was very unlikeable. The only reason you can think of why the ML falls for her is because of the physical attraction and all the moves she was pulling on him. After finding out the reason why the SFL, Jin-ju, left him in the first place, you sympathize with her and honestly, I was baffled as to why he never chose her. Jin-ju was way better than Doona. You only get glimpses of Doona's life and whatever the ML read about her online but she never once really opens up about herself at all. She just expects the ML to put up with her closed off attitude and he embarrassingly does.

Halfway through this, I was getting sick of watching the ML just get used and abused by the FL. He was constantly apologizing to her and putting up with her tantrums, mood swings and silent treatment for no good reason. He put up with so much of her BS that you lose respect for him early on. By the time EP7 came around, the minute she got into the Manager's car, I basically threw my hands up and gave up on both of them. The ML remains a pushover the entire time. It never stopped right from beginning to end and there was absolutely NO character growth from the FL at all. Four years go by and yet she remained self-centered, obsessive, whiny, and demanding til the very end. She never seeks any professional help. She could've used some serious therapy. In all honesty, it would've been good to see her talking to a therapist or doing some kind of work on herself like meditation. At least then it would've shown some self-reflection or inner work and it would've shown the audience that there's professional help and some options available to those who need it. That even "idols" could use some help.

In regards to the side characters, they contributed almost nothing to the story. The writer just couldn't write anyone having a real, heartfelt conversation. Like why did the FL's mother even bother making an appearance and nevermind the ML's family or best friend? All the side characters were just fillers. All the non-verbal communication was just irritating and frustrating to watch. I didn't even care about all the intimate scenes because I didn't care much for the ML and FL and especially the side characters. At least the side characters showed some changes and personal growth and I didn't even care for them.

It was really strategic and lucky that Netflix dropped all episodes at once as I think it would've been a lot different and worst if we had to wait for 1 or 2 episodes weekly. Overall, a hard pass on this one.

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