Because This Is My First Life

UNDERRATED & BINGE WORTHY, WILL TOUCH YOUR HEART DRAMA

I recently finished binging this drama on Netflix and I loved almost every second of it. This is NOT your typical korean rom-com drama. It is one that is meant to highlight the emotions and feelings one may have while being in love, being in a relationship, being in a marriage, and going through a breakup. It does a good job at depicting that love isn't always sunshine and rainbows but that it's painful - and you have the choice to choose whether that love is worth the pain.

The story line and character developments has a very natural growth to it; though it seems slow pace - I actually thought it was perfect.

If you are someone who gets emotional easily or is easily influenced by words and how they are conveyed, this drama will get you! I cried so many times watching this, the phrases that the characters said in this drama stuck out to me a lot and I can't stop thinking about it.

Overall, I have nothing bad to say about it besides that it is a feel good drama that is PURE and makes me believe that a love like this can exist. I will definitely be rewatching this in the future.

Every coupley moment between the main characters are SO FREAKING CUTE AND PURE. I teared up even at the happy moments, it is one of my favorite k-dramas I've watched in a while.

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"Because this is my first life" Unusual storyline. Thought provoking

For me, this series was mainly about the way human beings find it difficult to communicate in relationships as well as the dating versus marriage conundrum. It was interesting to see how S Korean society is adjusting (or not) to declining birth rates and an eye opener for me about a lot of other pressures playing out on women. I thought all the cast were good and all the main male and female players had interesting roles.
If I have one thought for others watching, it would be that it looked to me as though Lee Min-Ki was directed to act as someone with a diagnosis such as social anxiety disorder or OCD. This so affected his character's ability to converse with female lead Jung So-min that most of their episodes were barely producing an improvement in their "no touch marriage". So be warned that you will not automatically warm to these characters. I thought the script and direction gave a very hard task to the lead couple and I applaud them.
Would I recommend? 100% yes.

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Truly in love!

I really really love this show!

One of my favorite, my comfort drama all the time!
I can rewatch this drama for nth times and still not getting bored of it!

Acting -
The main leads
Lee MinKi-Jung So Min
What should i say? I’m soooooo in love with them! I love everything about them! The way they talked, the way the bowed to each other whenever they meet aaaaaa *im dying inside* watching them!

Ceo Ma&Sooji , WonSeok&Horang,
Big claps to them too! Ceo Ma so gentlemen ! Sooji really a badass woman!

Story -
The dialogue I’m so impressed!!! It’s so good! The life lesson!
Thank you so much writer for creating this masterpiece!
I will waiting for your next project!
I love the director too!

Overall, I’m so satisfied with this drama! Thank you because this is my first life team!

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Great premise, likeable male lead, disappointing ending

I want to start by saying that I really loved the first 3/4 or so of the show -- it had an interesting premise, with a very socially awkward (but in a cute way!)/extremely frugal male lead (Nam SeHee played by Lee Min Ki), and an unusual female lead (Jiho played by Jung So Min) who is an aspiring drama writer. I liked how the writers poked fun at product placement and cliche drama tropes while we saw the female lead write some of her own original drama scripts. It was also interesting to see them interact with the supporting cast. I actually binge watched the first 10-ish episodes in the span of 2 days because they were so good. The male lead is a great actor, and for the most part, the female lead was tolerable. However, towards the end, her lack of expression when acting became increasingly off-putting, maybe also because her character's personality weirdly becomes increasingly off-putting in the final episodes. I would have given this drama a much higher rating, but the last 3 episodes made no sense unfortunately. I was very disappointed in the female lead basically causing own drama herself and not being direct with communication. I feel like a lot of problems could have been solved easily if she just spoke with the Se-Hee plainly instead of beating around the bush and stating weird vague statements. As the show went on, I found myself skipping over parts because I couldn't stand Jiho constantly reciting lines from a weird book about "Room 19".

Overall, I would recommend viewers watch with caution -- the first episodes will be great, but the ending I can almost guarantee will disappoint. That being said, I hadn't seen any dramas with Lee Min Ki (who plays the male lead, Nam Se Hee) before, but now am a fan!

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An underrated gem

I really believe this to be an underrated gem. I think it's probably aimed at a more mature audience so if you like cliche romcoms that don't really have much plot rather than boy meets girl and they fall in love, you probably won't enjoy the mature themes in this drama.

I found this to be a great healing drama. The character of Nam Se-hee seems a bit eccentric and unbelievable when you first start it. He wants a clean, non-smoker, non-noisy roommate to feed his cat and do the recycling etc. He even tells his boss at one point that he can't work any overtime because his previously roommate moved out and he needed to go home and feed his cat. Enter Yoon Ji-ho. After a mix-up, she is the perfect solution to being his tenant. She is clean, she feeds his cat, she recycles and goes above and beyond in keeping the apartment clean and even cooking meals for Se-hee. They enter into a marriage contract where she gets to stay at his house as a tenant while helping him pay off his mortgage and it's only meant to be for two years (?) Obliviously, they fall in love and things get really complicated. Se-hee has a painful past and he is has closed himself off to love. But their love story between the two leads is so beautiful and their kisses are some of the best I've ever seen.

There are also two other side couples which interesting storylines. I really like how this drama focused on the different struggles and expectations each couple had while being in their 30s. Like I said early, this drama is definitely pitched for a more mature audience so it might not be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would watch it again. The acting was good, the story moved at a good pace. There were no boring filler episodes or dragged out storylines.

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Was going good until the last 2 episodes

I fell in love with this show. I was about to call it the best drama ever until the last 2 episodes. Jiho and Sehee develop such an amazing relationship. I personally hate the fake dating trope, but this show pulled it off extremely well.

The show killed it by bringing back Sehee's ex and suddenly making Jiho anxious when she was the one with Sehee and his ex said they harbored no feelings for him anymore and Jiho knew he liked her so why? She was a strong level headed person up until that moment in which she turned extremely OOC, left Sehee and came back sometime later when they tried to make 'character development' because Sehee sold his apartment and took the small rooftop house Horang and Wonseok owned. I'm sorry but that all made no sense when compared to the plot prior to that issue.

Best couple was Sanggoo and Suji. Their relationship was the main reason I didn't drop the show after episode 13. Forget about Horang and Wonseok. Horang got super annoying real quick and I was actually rooting for Wonseok to get with the coworker after they broke up. Basically, the ending was a pretty big cluster f*ck, but if you just ignore the last few episodes you'd have a really good drama in your hands.

Music was pretty forgettable to me hence the low rating.

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Oldie but Goodie

Because this is my First Life - 16 Episodes 2017

In short, this is a story of a young writer named Yun Ji Ho (Jung So Min), who quit her job and is in need of new living accommodations. She meets Nam Se Hui who is need of a roommate and source of rental income. They both come to an agreement through the use of a marriage use as a contractual tool that fits both their needs.

This was an interesting story from start to finish. The hook of the story is Nam Se Hui (Lee Min Ki) who plays an emotionless character much like Spock of Star Trek or Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. Both enter the contract with no personal feelings for one another. But over the course of the program, they both fall for each other.

Some reflective and self narrating scenes were on the verge of being too long. But luckily that line was never crossed. There were many scenes that were exceptionally well performed. Jung So Min performed several scenes in which she had to show sorrow or other emotions that were very impactful. So much so that I felt her performance rivelled many other award winning productions.

The pacing of Lee Min Ki's character was perfect. He possessed a number of emotional and social barriers the were the essence of his character. The writers were careful to remove those barriers brick by brick in a suspenseful and meaningful manner, making it so much more interesting and rewarding.

There were two other side stories involving the main lead's friends. Their stories held up in their own right. Interesting and very well played out. If given a chance, those stories and actors could have been another series in and of itself.

There was just enough humor and twists to keep the interest for each episode. Many of which had a ending leaving you wanting to see the next episode immediately. Spoiler : One such example is that the first kiss actually happens at the end of the first episode. How is that for a hook?

This is just one of a few series that I have viewed with Jung So Min. And she has yet to disappoint me. I believe she possesses so much star-power that is often overlooked. Performances in Alchemy of Souls and Love Next Door just to name a few.

OST had some really good songs that fit the shows perfectly. Very lite and upbeat. However, I have only selected one to add to my current playlist.

I recommend this series and rate it a 8.5 out of 10.

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SLOWWWWW burn

another couple fallen victim to the misunderstanding trope cuz THEY DONT COMMUNICATE!!!!!!!!!!! ugh i hate when they just swallow all their problems where there are SO MANY opportunities to just talk to each other!!!!!! i watched this for jung somin but her acting got a bit repetitive; i don't think i like this role where she's very timid and shy. also her kissing is not that great in this.
lee minki is very funny! despite his character being very closed off he is very lovable and he grew on me. the side couples were very cute as well and overall the story is pretty progressive for 2017.

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Because this is my first time writing a review !

First of all I would like to say how pretty our FL is.she throughout nailed the show, l became a fan of somin because of this show.
The story is 👍 for me.The FL role is so heartwarming.she just needs a room where she can sleep soundly, the night when she was wrongly treated by her co-worker her words speaks a lot.the long tunnel walk scene was awesome.
the friendship of the 3 characters is great, they were there when they needed.
The introverted ML with kitty(woori) is handsome. our woori got some acting skills tho🐈🐈.
Regarding acting there's no doubt the entire cast did a great job.
The music is so soothing expecially I liked "This life" song by moon sung nam.my fav kdrama ost so far.
I re-watch this show atleast twice in a year.
At last as i said this is my first time writing a review my words should be short and sweet like JSM 😅🤗.
your faithfully 😉,
FL's fan🥰❣️
and I forgot about mentioning about the quotes of this show. they are like heart of the show.
"Words are born from people's mouth....and die in their ears"
"but some words don't die they go into people's heart and survive"..................like BTIMFL kdrama.Always in our hearts❣️

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Melancholy and the infinite sadness

This series was good enough that I watched the whole thing (although I did start skipping scenes after episode 10). It had a happy ending and there were some fun and funny moments. I also think the acting was really good.

However, the overall feeling of the whole series was really depressing.

The ML had a subdued, but interesting personality. The FL was just boring, demure and seemed depressed the whole series. Her choices puzzled me and yet she was as intriguing as a cup of sugar and just as bland. On paper they made sense as a couple, but the chemistry was seriously lacking.

All 3 female characters in the story were in depressing situations of their own making, yet it seemed that the implication was that their woes was a result of the year they were born in and the fact that they are female. As a woman who worked in a male dominated field, I personally have higher expectations from my fellow women than to just blame the patriarchy and or economy. When my great-grandparents went through the Great Depression they didn't bemoan their lives and how unfair it was that they didn't have what their parents had - they pulled up their socks and got to work and made the best of the situation.

My biggest pet peeve was however the character that went to work without a bra while wearing see-through shirts. I understand bra's can be really uncomfortable for some women, but she could wear a vest or a crop top. I would be uncomfortable if I worked with a man who wore see-through shirts. She flashed her nipples and yet couldn't understand her male co-workers attitude towards her?

So the story wanted to make a social commentary, but didn't. A society that devalues women can only happen if mothers don't teach their sons to respect women. It's not all on the shoulders of men.

Would I re-watch it? No. Would I recommend it to other people? Only if you like the drama in kdrama. This wasn't fun to watch (baring a few scenes) and dragged on for ever.

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Funny and quirky

I was so pleasantly surprised by this after watching a string of bad k-dramas. This show deals with some interesting topics and sometimes they do take some storylines a bit too far but as long as you don’t take things too seriously, you’ll have a good time.

What worked:

1. Main storyline. It was so bizarre in a good way that everything else kinda fell into places without rocking your sense of logic too much. I think the overall flow of the story stayed within the confines of the world they created. They didn’t rely on (not too much anyways) crazy logic jumps to push the story forward. I hate that so much!
2. Main characters. Definitely one of the main reasons why this show worked. I really liked Ji-ho and Se-hee. I did find Se-hee a bit weird at first but he grew on me. I really liked Ji-ho’s journey and where she ended up at. I also loved her constantly surprised look on her face.
3. Challenging traditional Korean men/women values. Like I said, some storylines were taken too far to keep up with the established characters and their behaviors but they mostly succeeded in getting people to at least think about things.
4. CEO Ma was great. He was a great character. Caring for his best friend and standing up for his girlfriend (would be) even though they both treated him badly at first.
5. Ho-rang. Not everything about her made sense but she was relatable and the actress did a great job portraying her. She’s upbeat (when she’s not crying) and had a goal. I just wish she didn’t get back with the loser. Sigh...
6. The ending. I really like the way they handled the inevitable “temporary” break up. Ji-Ho had a plan, albeit only she knew about it but she stuck to it. Good for her!

What didn’t work:

1. Soo-ji. She was made to fulfill the strong, independent career woman type. Did not work at all for me. Maybe her storyline or maybe it’s the actress. Well, both but I really couldn’t stand the actress.
2. Ho-rang’s boyfriend. How big of a loser can you be? It’s one thing to chase your dream and struggle in the beginning but he has an understanding of a 5 yr old when it comes to life in general. He also looks like he’s about 5, too.
3. A lot of these characters are supposed to be in their early 30’s but they behaviors/ lack of knowledge of life in general made them seem like they’re just starting out in life.
4. Inevitable relational conflicts. Kidnapper story was so dumb and it just came and went. They started the obligatory love triangle which was bad enough but decided to sprinkle in kidnapper elements, too!!! And after all that, Se-hee once had a lover/wife and she was the reason why he’s the way he is!!! What???
5. Se-hee’s ex. It’s really not the character but the way they introduced the storyline and the character really went nowhere. I think it could’ve been anybody off the street.
6. Challenging traditional Korean men/women values. I know I put this as one of the pros but like I mentioned, the writer had a certain narrative she wanted to tackle and either went too far or stuck with it even though it didn’t make sense/ didn’t work within the given storyline.

All in all, I really enjoyed the show. Like I said, it probably helped that I watched it after seeing some horrendous shows. I feel so attached to the main characters. I wish I could stop by to check in on their life here and there. Sigh.

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