This review may contain spoilers
I seem to misunderstand korean culture
First, the tl;dr:+ acting was good, characters were mostly believable, the main couple had chemistry, and I love Hae-in's smile and short hair in this.
+ story: I loved seeing a woman my age as MC who dates a younger guy. It's exciting and relatable.
++ the side plot about workplace sexual harassment. <3
+/- depending: the music. You get Bruce Willis crooning save the last dance and C Bruni moaning Stand by your man in every episode. Either it sticks with you in a good way bc you like it or it keeps popping up in your nightmares.
- annoying side characters (mother, brother, stalkerexboyfriend), the only plus was him getting slapped repeatedly and that one coworker with the deeper voice that also didn't understand why them dating openly was an issue. I feel you, girl!
- some scenes felt very very long. Many walks, many hugs, many dinner scenes. Repetitive
Now the longer stuff.
The thing that kept bothering me throughout watching this was how a 35 (?)yo keeps living at home and how the parents and the brother seem to have a say in how and who she dates and how she lives her life. Wtaf? Co-worker-girl there spoke right from my heart when she asked Jin-ah wtf the problem was about dating the guy openly.
In fact, how everyone seems to think it's their concern that the two are dating is kinda mindboggling. It's none of your business, sister, brother, parents, coworkers, it's the couple's business. Period. And watching them all be pissy about being left out and lied to like they're entitled to any knowledge at all is making me angry af.
Which brings me to the thorn in this drama's side: the meddling annoying mother of doom. O. M . G. I started skipping scenes with her bc she made me so incredibly angry as well. You've had your youth, mother, now let your kids have theirs and stop complaining!
The dad was a welcome positive antagonist to thr mom, supporting the MC in his own way. Liked him.
I read a lot reviews that said watching beyond ep 9 isn't rec'ed bc of unnecessary heartbreak and they'll get together eventually anyway so I don't know if I'll ever finish this.
I kept watching for the subplot about workplace sekuhara bc it's a real problem and I really wanted to see it resolved, i.e. have the creeps be fired from the firm.
I came at this straight from Crashlanding bc I liked the main actress and sometimes I wished Jin-ah was more like a tough business woman that let's nobody step over her....ah well...
I have to second other reviews here, watch this until you get bored then just drop it and watch sth else.
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I get the hype for this drama because Koreans love their romance dramas but for me I don't get swayed by just a handsome oppa.
It seemed like they're going for a more American style type of drama, the cinematography I liked but that's about it. The plot is so weak and thin that there's nothing I can hold onto to keep my interest awake.
I dropped this after 5 episodes cause I just can't go on anymore with their cheesiness. The only best thing that happened in this drama is at the end of episode one when she was dancing to 2ne1.
I'm sorry but I couldn't recommend this even to the newbies.
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Great minus the mother character
I dropped this due solely to the mother’s character and the way everyone gives into her abuse and manipulation. It was so over the top for me that I got annoyed and just read episode synopses through the end. This mom was bad enough that if she’d been my mom, I would’ve slapped her then disowned her (if a child can disown a parent), because no one treats me that way, especially not someone claiming they love me. And I never hit people, let alone someone I might care about. It could in part be a cultural thing (I’m American, grew up in New England, and whiter than mayonnaise), because I’ve seen more than a few that would’ve made me cuss my parent out for their bad behavior, but those have been mostly c dramas. And even those I didn’t drop because of it. Again, it might be a cultural/parental thing because I was raised a bit differently being taught that respect is earned, not just freely given, no matter how much older that person is or who they are to you them which is more extreme than most of my New England peers. That being said, the writer and director had other, better options to create the tension they needed to create without making a character be emotionally/psychologically abusive, let alone a parent.I really loved everything else about this show. I was actually upset to drop it because the 2 leads are so amazing together, just the mother was enraging me so much I couldn’t enjoy it anymore. I’m glad I dropped it when I did because the episode synopses showed me I was only going to get more annoyed with her and everyone else around her well before it got any better. If the mom doesn’t bother you or you can at least tolerate her, then this might be a great k drama for you. I might eventually try it again and if I can stomach her on the 2nd try, I will be sure to update this review.
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Dropped it as the female lead was unbearable and stupid
My god I signed up just to give this drama 1 star…am so irritated after watching this tedious and unrealistic drama that I have to vent…coming from an Asian background myself I find the female lead to be the most unrealistic portrayal of a mature working woman…she is supposedly good at her job but makes such monumental mistakes that u want to reach thru the screen and bash her….no woman even one from a so called conservative society would react in such a passive manner…show her to be a doormat at work too then a huge failure because no sane person and I stress no sane person whether man woman or any other gender would be capable of functioning in today’s society…terrible script with unlikely scenarios and decisions thrown in just to create tension and continue the tedious plot line….dropped it for the steaming pile of waste that the writer regurgitated !!! And please no excuses about how conservative Korean society is to make up for the wafer thin plot as I too come from a patriarchal ultra conservative society and know that no career woman from a so called educated urban background would make the harebrained choices that the FL makes ….Baah dropped it out of sheer frustration and a savage desire to beat the living daylights out of the FL…crap and lazy writing shame on the author…minus stars if possibleWas this review helpful to you?
Annoying repeated songs
Love the story. But i cringe every time the same soundtrack plays over and over again "YOU CAN DANCE....."OMG >_<
and the "STAND BY YOUR MAN" song. IF I HEAR "SOMETIMES ITS HARD TO BE A WOMAN" one more time....
Who the heck chose these songs? It could've been just fine with Korean music. The sound tracks alone is just an example of bad taste in music. It's like my grandpa chose 3 songs to repeatedly play in this.
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This review may contain spoilers
What an emotional ride
This is my fifth time watching this drama and I’m amazed that I still experience a range of emotions. From the unbounded, carefree experience of falling in love; to see two people passionately fall in love with one another is just such a joy to watch. The incredible chemistry between Son Ye Jin and Jung Hae In was so playful and was still very enjoyable.The gut wrenching feeling of a relationship experiencing troubles, to the uneasiness of seeing the person you still have feeling for after a break-up. During the 11th and all the way through the first 50 minutes of the 16th and final episode that sick feeling in my stomach would not leave. Even when there was a small chance everything would work out - that sinking feeling persisted.
While watching the mother display her negative reaction to them dating, to the mothers continued demands that her daughter be with the ‘right’ person, to the constant belittling of Jung Hae In made me have a Visceral contempt for the mother. Even in the final episodes the mother still is demanding Son Ye Jin meet a guy with a good family background, be a successful person with a high-income job, and to have gone to a prestigious school.
I forgot how emotionally devastating and draining this drama is during the last three episodes. At times you may find wetness coming from your eyes without you even noticing them falling. But I consider this drama to be one of the best ever.
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This review may contain spoilers
Showcases how emotionally manipulative parents can be quite well.
They explored not just romance but also workplace harassment, emotional manipulations by parents, a man's reactions to rejection, and so much more.I did enjoy watching Yun Jin A and Seo Jun Hui's together. I did think Seo Jun Hui was bit of hothead at times. I just wish they communicated more. Things would have probably worked out better for them, had they both not just made decisions on their own, especially ones that affected both of them. I'm just glad it worked out.
I read the comments before watching and someone said that Yun Jin A let her mother control her actions and she did. This is what happens when you live in a family who for all intents and purposes seem to have treated you well, of course as long as they are controlling things. So even when you speak up for yourself, you are bound to feel guilty for disrespecting your parents. Yes, even though the child is never respected. The parents expectations become a cage that many get trapped in. In Yun Jin A's mom's case, she cared more about society and what people would thing completely overlooking her daughter's struggle. Her mother saying that if I can't even make this decision for my daughter then i might as well be a stranger. But strangers who had blood relation to your daughter treated her better than you did ma'am. So maybe you should act stranger, that'll make you a little kinder.
The drama again shed light on how workplace harassment is handled, and many time bullying is also handled this way. The offender usually gets together with the company to silence the victims voices or just try to throw everything under the rug so that their company's reputation remains pristine. The execution of this theme was also poorly handled. It turned out to be too confusing.
The ex who turned a stalker and harrased Yun Jin A also got off easy. I don't understand why victims are supposed to show compassion to offenders so that offenders should be able to live a guilt free life. Maybe they should live with the consequences of their actions, learn from them and hold on to those memories to remind them to never do these things again.
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A refreshing change
I enjoyed this drama quite a bit as it does something that is not seen in most dramas. Having an older female lead get chased by a younger man is quite different and refreshing from the usual older man chasing a younger woman, it changes the perspective and shows the worries of that kind of relationship.The acting is done very well to portray the innocence of Joon Hee and Yoon Jin Ah does a very good job of showing the struggles of liking a younger man.
The story is quite similar to most romantic dramas but the role reversal keeps it interesting and makes you want to keep on watching to see what happens in this adorable relationship.
If you do not want to stray too far from the usual rom-com but also want a slight change this would be perfect for you :)
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I thought very useful the plot about sexual harassment. The way how they told with so much true really made me think. I never get tired of this kind of theme because I see as a way of the show to other people something there is real. And the closer was also as expected... No spoilers.
About the cast, I like to say that Jung Hae-in is my regular oppa. If we talking about "adult dramas" this is the actor. I love this man, my gosh. I really think his performance deep and believable. I met Son Ye-jin with "Personal taste", and after that on"Crashing land on you", but I think her pretty good in this drama. I thought the chemistry between them amazing. They are so cute! I get myself smiling a lot during the episodes. The story goes slow but you can be involved if you like this kind of show. I get a little upset when I saw how tough some topics are in Korea, maybe because here things are pretty different. But I think dramas like this are a changing in some minds out there (hope so)!
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Love romance.
I thoroughly enjoyed this drama. Son Ye Jin is one of my favorite actresses that I follow. But I actually started to watch this drama because of Jung Hae In. I did feel some anxiety throughout the drama because these characters went thru so much. Jung Hae In was just so adorable in this role. Just his facial expressions and that smile.I felt his pain thru his acting and kept hoping that the couple would end up together, since I am a romanticist. Thank you for such a great drama. Keep that beautiful smile going.
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I totally fell in love with Jung Hae In and Son Ye Jin. Man, can we just say his smile is just so beautiful? I'm totally in love with his character.
The story could have been better since I felt like there were a lot of unnecessary and repetitive conflicts. I felt like as the episodes go on they have little character development to give us besides the hugging and kissing that we've seen so much of already. There was a huge built up to their relationship, but as episodes go on their relationship becomes 2 dimensional. Not really fully fleshed out. I feel like this drama didn't know what it wanted to be in the end. The first half had me really going then it just went downhill. Good acting and nice cinematography can't save the whole show if the characters start feeling boring or the story is not being very smart.
I also love the songs played, it added so much more feels to the scenes.
Also, I've been totally out of the Korean drama loop for a while since none seem to interest me anymore, so this is my first comeback in a while haha.
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Apartment
I have a question please why didn’t the girlfriend tell him she got a apartment? That seems to be the start of the fraction.I have watched this so many times it lingers with you a slow burning affair both actors and cast gave it their all, I didn’t like the parents and the controlling issues.. The age difference wasn’t a big issue but I wonder how it would be like in real life women mature faster then men that’s a known,but they also burn out faster, some will argue but it’s true.
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