This review may contain spoilers
Not your usual revenge or rags to riches story! (MIND-TWISTING DRAMA)
My expectations were really high after watching the first episode. Though I have not read its webtoon, this drama really was unique and cinematic in every sense. I loved the acting, the dialogues, the design, the conceptualization and the OSTs. The actors really portrayed their characters to the best and successfully evoked the emotions out of the viewers. The intensity and the darkness, the manipulation and the subtle intentions, are clearly evident and is the jewel of the whole series. The psychology of the human mind, along with sociology, is strongly depicted.Overall, the beginning was great, the characters' build up was great, like you would want to decode the whole episode, the things you missed in the bg and will wait keenly for the next episode. The drama is very different when it comes to liking or revenge themes. To my understanding, there are many characters throughout that are playing vital roles. The timelines at beginning changed very abruptly back and forth, so it was difficult to keep up. You need a lot of effort and decoding, better be a psychology student, to see through the character's act and intentions.
I never felt empathy towards a single person throughout the whole show. It was just too dark and deep in the bg. It does tell a lot about the society and the harsh reality, fame and power, besides the psyche of an ASD person. The drama is fun to watch, it may give you adrenaline rush and many WHAT moments, and I know it is unsettlingly emotional throughout. Earlier it was fun, like 'WOW' moments, then it became unsettling, then concerning and conflicting, and lastly I just wanted it to end quickly.
A very good drama, writing wise obviously and its adaptation here. Like the visuals, the actors' choice and the the bgm, is just awesome, to binge watch on a big screen. You need to watch it multiple times to uncover its hidden layers. It can be called a masterpiece but there are things I personally feel are lacking or bring down the drama rewatch value.
I am really disappointed with the ending. I didn't expect a cliffhanger or wait for Season 2 at all. (though I have not read the original version) I really felt bad at the end when she didn't die. Like it would have been a perfect ending for me. I couldn't understand her husband, I lost the plot there in last 2 episodes. Baek Ah Jin's emotions were very well controlled throughout and well portrayed by the actress, that kept the drama going for me. I wanted to see more of some characters. There were some scenes that were very frustrating writing wise and some scenes I felt needed more explanation. Or like more dialogues in the bg for viewer's understanding or at least writer's cut.
It was like we were alone throughout the whole journey of watching this drama, like we are embarking on our own personal fears and lessons, and its totally upto us in which direction we want to steer it towards. So a very collaborative but mentally pressurizing drama. To conclude, I liked watching this drama, like it was something new after a long time, and was well directed and acted, the main reason of continuing this drama till the end. The story could be worked upon and more evident justifications, to make it a lighter and smoother watch journey. It is fun, mind twisting and exciting.
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Disclaimer: Not for soft hearted people!!!
This drama is setting a mark for extremely dark dramas. If you are looking for morale in characters, or perhaps have ignited a hope that things will turn better and everything will be all sundry then extinguish that hope. Here are only characters with no morale or sense of justice and the rest of the good souls will only be manipulated to meet a very deadly end. So if you are more into that sort of things then this might not be your cup of tea because its characters are outright EVIL.I have watched FL in many dramas where she had played badas*s characters, bubbly characters or the ones where she is extremely kind hearted one. This one is something else altogether. I am sure it is gonna be one of the best dramas of her life.
I am not saying such dramas haven't been made before or such characters have not been conceptualised before ( The Glory, Penthouse, The Mouse are few such examples) but it is extremely different in a sense that all the other characters are as hopeless as the FL. In simple words- with no morale or principles. How unhinged a human being could be? This drama's FL will surely set a mark for that one for sure.
The intro was more than enough to set the tone and few minutes in and I was taken aback by pure chaos that happened in the first four episodes. The music adds to the whole chaotic plot but the acting of every side character including the main characters are worth your time. This could have been a great drama if they hadn't deviated so much from the original webtoon storyline. Plus the ending which ultimately plummeted its ratings. They could have done so much better if they really wanted to go with different ending than the original. Unnecessary death in the name of sacrifice, looked nothing but stupid which brought nothing to the FL's arc.
It is definitely not the ending I was expecting especially the way they started the show. It was one chaotic drama that fizzled out due to weak writing towards the end. To conclude -You will be left unsatisfied with only bitter taste.
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Kim Yoo Jung Masterclass
I've seen a ton of Kim Yoo Jung's work since she's my favorite drama actress and people will call this biased, but I am absolutely floored by her acting skills in this show. If she keep this level of performance throughout this series, I wouldn't be surprised if she won best actress at the year end awards.You know that I wasn't going to leave out my boy from No Pain No Love, Kim Young Dae, I did not know he had this level of dark in him. His performance in the pilot episode was *chef's kiss* chills at the end.
I was sat there thinking at episode 4 that the casting of this show was near perfect because each of the actors and actresses knew how to play their role perfectly.
I am now seated every week to watch these episodes as soon as they come out.
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and yeah, i feel bad for the people she manipulated, but let’s be real: she didn’t kill them. she wasn’t walking around with intent to murder people. she was a broken kid who got chewed up by her parents, by the people around her, by literally everyone who should’ve protected her. she didn’t get love, she got survival instincts dressed up as personality. that’s why she’s one of the most complicated female characters out there. i’m not saying what she did was right... she messed up a lot—but when you try to sit in her pain for even one second, you get it.
and then that moment she prayed for the grandma to live? GOD. that was the crack in the armor. that was the moment where you see she’s not just this monster people want her to be. there’s something inside her still fighting, still wanting to exist without hurting people. but life doesn’t care about intentions. it will grab you by the throat and squeeze until there’s nothing left.
and jae-oh… that man. his loyalty? it wasn’t cute, it wasn’t romantic, it was DEVASTATING. he was her one safe place, the only person she could collapse into. and the way he stayed with her until the very end… it hurts. it genuinely hurts. because he would’ve died for her without even thinking. and honestly? he kinda did.
then there’s junseo. all I can really say is… he’s a loser next to ajin. he just is. no depth, no strength, nothing compared to the storm she is.
++ and i don’t hate the actor who played junseo, this is not about him as a person. but some of his acting? yeah, it didn’t hit. his expressions felt off, like he wasn’t fully connecting to the emotion of the scene. it just didn’t land for me, yk?
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this series is for the people that get it get it
just gotta say people who dont like this dont like women being in men field. i support every women's right and wrongdoings 🙂↕️the acting is top-notch i dont have any doubt in kim yoojung's acting. give all those damn awards to her alread she deserves it!
what i dislike in this series is just the ending cz doohyuk deserved to be killed by ahjin. aint no way he didnt get any punishment. need s2 so ahjin can kill him with her own hands this time and make her more psychotic and cruel like she got no mercy for him.
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This review may contain spoilers
Best Drama Released this year
The webtoon was great and I thought the adaptation wouldn't be great but man was I wrong. This drama had me in the edge of my seat. I got excited every week. The story is about a sociopathic girl and while the story makes you want to root for her, it also shows that not everything is black and white. All her choices is rooted in her wanting to live a normal life. That was up until she framed her boss for killing her dad and she became an actress. After that you could see she wanted to be at the top because she believed by being at the top no one would be able to touch her. I love everything about this story. I would definitely recommend 10/10 from me.Was this review helpful to you?
I've never seen a character like Baek Ahjin in the whole industry
Ya'll can't blame her for doing all of these harsh things. She had the psychological predisposition, and all the situations of her childhood worked together to make Baek Ahjin this psychotic. In Gang's character was written as fragile, because of his bad luck he got played by Beak Ahjin so easily. Kim Jaeoh was so dependent to Ahjin, they both had family issues and traumas in common but he didn't deserve his ending poor him:(( although that was his choice. The most questionable thing is how did Moon Dohyeok find out about Ahjin's childhood and background??? stalker??? nah he was more than a stalker completely insane.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This drama successfully made me hate her to the core.
I will still say Dear X is a successful drama, because they clearly wanted the audience to hate the female lead, and we did — completely and intensely. Ah Jin didn’t receive love in her childhood; she grew up emotionally abandoned and already damaged, so from the very beginning, I never expected real improvement or healing from her. In fact, it would have been incredibly cliché if she had simply moved on and lived happily with Junseo, because she was never written to live a happy life at all.The drama showed again and again how every character around her was attracted to her beauty, and in a way, that was their own fault too. These were not innocent boys; they were grown men, fully aware of their choices, yet they willingly got manipulated by her. They loved her. She used them. They were blind — especially Junseo, who stood by her from the very first moment and gave her endless loyalty, only to be treated with the deepest kind of emotional cruelty until the very end. His kindness, to me, crossed the line into stupidity, and the same can be said for Jae Oh, who also chose illusion over reality.
While many other reviewers say they didn’t like the ending, calling it disappointing or unfulfilling, I honestly think they misunderstood the entire purpose of the drama. Dear X was never supposed to be a comfort drama or a happy ending story. It was written as a confrontation — with trauma, obsession, manipulation, and moral decay.
The final conclusion I came to is that the sinners were judging the sinner for sinning: yes, Ah Jin was a sinner, but the people surrounding her were also sinners, just wearing more socially acceptable masks. In the end, Dear X doesn’t offer peace or closure — it holds up a mirror, and that reflection is ugly, unsettling, and brutally honest.
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1This review may contain spoilers
If you see a man being manipulated, don't do anything…sometimes he's exactly where he wants to be.
I think everyone can agree that this is a type of a drama that catches you right away. All characters are interesting and the plot is intriguing since the beginning.Our main characters Ah Jin, Junseo and Jae Oh, are broken characters. Ah Jin is the only one with true plans for the future while Junseo’s and Jae Oh’s motivations is helping Ah Jin to get what she wants. Ah Jin takes advantage of their loyalty and feelings towards her by manipulating them directly and indirectly but the interesting thing here is that they are not fool, they know they're being manipulated, and that's where the toxicity of their relationship comes from.
Baek Ah Jin is a complex character. In the beginning it’s easy to be on her side when we get to know her story and what she went through. Also the people she's taking revenge on “deserved” the bad things they suffered. But when she shows herself to be extremely cold and manipulative with people who did nothing wrong, our moral compass is put on test and we're left torn between continuing to support all her actions or question them. I think the script is also very good in making her character seems pitiful everytime she makes or say something bad lol It’s like they’re also trying to manipulate us. In general she’s a character that we will like and sometimes not so much.
Junseo is a character I felt sorry for a lot. Yes, he was on her side because he wanted to be, he knew her deeply, but she also manipulated and used his feelings. Sometimes she even made him believe he was the one to be blame. I can understand why later he thought he should be the one to stop her. Although, I question myself if he acted that way because he truly thought she should be stopped or because he knew she would never be with him romantically and never “change”. I wonder…would he still expose her if she was related to him romantically? I also don’t know how to feel about the expose. I felt like Ah Jin was put 100% on blame when things weren’t exactly black and white and Junseo knew that.
Jae Oh was a sweetheart in the entire drama. Friendly, cute, courageous and loyal. I hated his ending but I think it made sense to his character, to sacrifice himself. And although Junseo knew Ah Jin deeply, to me, Jae Oh was the one who understood her deeply. He deserved better in the end. Not for Ah Jin, but for himself. He was the best character.
Talking about the acting now, all actors really surprised me! I already knew Yoojung was good but she was INSANE here. She gave everything to this character and I really hope she gets a nomination for best actress! Yougdae also proved himself by showing that he can act really well, as some people were doubting before. Kim Do Hoon was also good. Hwang Inyeop also nailed the emotional’s scenes of his character. Jonghyun too! Although I think he could have been more shown as the character was really interesting…I expected more of his relationship with Ah Jin as her husband. The chemistry between the characters were also amazing! Yoojung had chemistry with everyone and it reached to a point that we almost wished for a poly romance lol
Now talking about the ending: What was the point of killing both Junseo and Jae Oh and leaving her alive? And in a such open scenario where we don't even know what will actually happen to her character. I felt that the screenwriter wanted to end the drama with a grandiose scene of her character escaping death but I think her dying with Junseo would be more symbolic. Junseo also had the most ridiculous death in the drama omg. He planned everything to end up being the only one to die in the car accident and then be abandoned again by her. I enjoyed the drama overall but I thought the ending was rushed and didn't need to be that open towards her character. Technically we know her life is over as she lost everything but I don’t get why make her alive if she lost everything she fighted for? Maybe this was her divine punishment right…
In general it’s a good drama with interesting characters and plot. The last episodes were rushed and the ending was unnecessary open but still is a good drama! I think it was one of the most interesting k-dramas I saw this year. Really wishing for nominations on Baeksang for the actors!
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E, no fim, o drama é sobre controle masculino
Um dos dramas mais complexos com personagens mais tridimensionais que já vi.No começo minha crítica era sobre como o drama me pareceu didático a já na primeira cena afirmar que a Ah Jin era sociopata, mas gostei de ser surpreendida quando mostraram que aquela era uma narrativa enviesada de um documentário com fins de destruir sua carreira de atriz anos depois.
Muito interessante perceber que as ações da protagonista, antes facilmente colocadas na sua condição de sociopata, ao fim ganham um novo prisma. E se na verdade, ela se aproveitou de um controle por parte de todos os homens de sua vida?
Para o colega de classe de família desestruturada e sem senso de valor, Ah Jin era um instrumento para tornar-se valioso; para o ator depressivo, Ah Jin era o modelo de esposa perfeita para seus sonhos de margarina, mesmo sem consultá-la sobre quais seriam os sonhos dela; para o jogador de beisebol aposentado, Ah Jin era mais uma maneira de se perceber como benfeitor mesmo após a perda de seu sonho; para seu marido psicopata, Ah Jin era o entretenimento, o objeto de mhlher forte pronta para ser quebrada para caber no próprio controle; para seu pai, seu maior algoz, ah jin era a galinha dos ovos de ouro e, ao fim, a pessoa que possivelmente Ah Jin mais amava, seu melhor amigo desde a infância, com quem passou por todas as fases, Song Jeo, só queria que ela coubesse na sua utopia de normalidade e ficasse refém da própria idealização e desejo de ser salvador de sua alma.
todos os personagens homens ao seu modo tinham um desejo de controle por uma mulher bonita, aparentemente frágil. Para sobreviver, para ter um vislumbre de alívio do próprio sofrimento, Ah Jin se aproveitou de suas sedes de controle pelo seu corpo e alma para sobreviver... Até restar, quebrada, sem ninguém ao lado, viva, mas nunca feliz.
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Interesting
Many of the dramas lately have had similar stories but this one is refreshing and intriguing. Some people may not like the ending, but that's alright. After all, not everything ends as expected, especially with a sociopath involved. However, the drama is not boring at all, even if you're not a fan of it. Overall, it's a good watch.Was this review helpful to you?
such an addictive show
I'd say that Dear X was THE kdrama of 2025. It was such a rollercoaster.The acting? Impeccable.
The storyline? Masterpiece.
The suspense? Through the roof.
Hotel? Trivago.
Anyways, the actors, especially Kim You-Jung, was insane for this work. I've seen her in couple of her other dramas but this one? Insanity. I truly loved how they showed the different psychopathic and sociopathic traits in Baek Ah-Jin. Even the show kind of manipulated the viewer's POV. I think the show was so well-built and every loose end was tied into a knot. Definitely will watch it again, was so worth watching. 10/10.
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