Just relax and enjoy it
Yeo Mi Ran (Kim Ok Bin) is a lawyer by day and a street fighter. She has no interest in dating and is very competitive among men. Nam Kang Ho (Yoo Teo) is a movie star who doesn't have much faith in women. In his new role, he needs coaching to fight naturally, and Mi Ran gets to train him through them agreeing on a fake dating relationships. Despite their shared disbelief in love, their relationships grow as they spend more time together.This is short, light, and has a lot of funny scenes throughout the ten episodes! A fake dating plot that fit perfectly with the enemies-to-lovers trope. The romance was nicely developed and gave a lot sweet and swoon-worthy moments. The friendships are fun to watch. Good job to all actor for their natural acting. They carried the show together, no one is more dominant than the others.
It’s nice that the drama also focused on some problems in society regarding the patriarchal beliefs about women. Even though Mi Ran was a feminist, the story was not at all anti women/men, they made it entertaining while still delivering their messages. Overall, delightful from beginning to end, filled with chemistry with some cute and sexy moments, and just a tiny bit of angst.
Mar 2024, Yovita
me on Instagram: @kdramajudge
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Honestly, a breath of fresh air, funny, satirical and realistic
I had high hopes going into this drama, after seeing the trailers and the actors and actresses set to appear in Love to Hate you.There are a lot of corny and overdramatized romantic comedies out there today and I thought that Love to Hate you did an excellent job subverting those expectations. It gave us a legitimately funny and heartwarming show. It was a realistic depiction of an adult romance.
Our female lead is is played perfectly by Kim Ok Bin. She is a strong-willed woman who will not let herself be defined by the standards of society. She even says herself, she is not the “damsel in distress” waiting for the hero to save her. This is obviously a refreshing character arc for a female lead in Korean dramas. She is totally hilarious and leans into her role as the life of the party. If you’re looking for a strong female lead who not only competes in a male-dominated space, but excels in it, she’s here.
Her opposite Yoo Teo, also plays a believable, vulnerable man, who is weary of women. He is likeable, down-to-earth and easy to root for.
I honestly don’t want to go into it and spoil too much, as Kim Ji Woon and Go Won Hee, also play fantastic roles. Furthermore, the cast is filled with supporting characters that have their own stories and don’t detract from the main plot. I felt that this show was keenly aware of the usual tropes that romantic comedies fall into and used that for comedic effect. I thought it was also provided interesting commentary of the toxicity of the celebrity fandom, netizens and the internet. Nevertheless, Love to Hate you is short mini-series and an easy watch.
I can’t recommend this show enough. If you liked Business Proposal, I feel that you would enjoy this too. It’s fun, lighthearted and will definitely bring you back to the time when you first found someone you fell in love with. Watch this show!
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A Woman who Hates Men with A Man who Hates Women
It's a light romantic comedy with a goofy oddball FL lawyer who is a talented vigilante street fighter and a ML who is a famous romance KDrama celebrity actor repulsed by women. At ten episodes, the storytellers kept it long enough to get your fill of RomCom with the build up of the romance but short enough you don't get bored with filler junk. The story isn't complicated and is fairly simple; its main focus is on the antics of the FL, the romance, celebrity culture, and the friendships. It's not groundbreaking but it has a FL who doesn't fit neatly into the conservative Asian female norms. The FL's character is structured in a way that takes a sly swipe at S. Korean gender politics. There's also quite a bit of bromance between the ML and his SML manager with some staged playful situations between the two. The SML manager and the ex-girlfriend of the ML were both in Money Heist.The FL and ML start off as enemies, she becomes one of his lawyers and they start collaborating in a contractual relationship and of course they have to fall in love. The build up of relationship was done well highlights are the scenes with her "training" him on how to fight for his new role. The FL breaks conventional conservative Asian feminine stereotypes. While she conforms to the East Asian expectations of beauty (she's pale, pretty, and skinny), she doesn't with her actions, thoughts, and behavior. Rather than being symbol of innocent female purity, she takes her revenge on cheating scoundrels by hooking up with some of them and dumping them whether it be one night stands or where she cheats on them while they are in a relationship. She has a mistrust of men and she dumps every man she's been with. She is also a vigilante street fighter who intervenes to help victims by beating the crap out of the perpetrator. The ML is a popular romance KDrama actor who is nothing like the roles he plays. He doesn't like women, has some anger issues with them, and has to take meds in order to quell his repulsion to get through his romantic scenes with kissing the leading ladies.
It's a fun drama to binge watch when you have some down time and want something that isn't serious or too thought provoking.
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Unexpectedly Delightfully
I am a huge Kim Ok Bin fan. The first time I saw her was in The Villainess, and she was brilliant -- a true villainess. And I have since enjoyed her in everything she's done, especially Children of the Lesser God. I have seen her master all kinds of roles, from an assassin to a future foreseeing police officer, to playing Tan Ya in the Arthdal Chronicles series, to a zombie-fighting detective. She is perfect in all of them, and what I love most is that she always plays a strong, badass female lead. Having read the premise of this drama, I wasn't sure if the role of Yeo Mi Ran would suit her, but I needn't have worried. She plays her so naturally that it is almost hard to separate the actor from the character.Yeo Mi Ran is similar to many other female roles Kim Ok Bin has played in many ways. She is tenacious, headstrong, and righteous and does not let any man walk all over her or get too close. She is a lawyer, and by all accounts a very good one, but in her personal life is a true philanderess, never faithful to one man, and it goes back to her home life more than anything until she meets Nam Kang Ho (Yoo Teo), a famous actor in South Korea due to his handsome appearance, intelligence, and kindness. He is sought after to work in romantic movies but doesn't trust women, and he cringes at the mere thought of their touch to the extent that it leads to severe panic attacks controlled only by subscription medication.
Love to Hate You is a romance drama about a woman who detests male chauvinists and meets a borderline misogynist with a prejudice against women who at first hate each other, but as they slowly get to know each other, they are drawn to each other. Before they know it, they fall in love. And in many ways, their difference brings them together to make them the perfect couple. In a way, it's the typical hate-to-love drama, with a twist of a contractual relationship that leads to a full-blown romance. But what's different about Love to Hate You is that it intelligently handles sexism and prejudices against women, whether in the workplace, at home, or in relationships, and how society disguises it as culture or tradition, making it socially acceptable to keep women at a lower social status than men.
But what's intriguing about Love to Hate You is that it not only addresses misogyny but also brings awareness to manizing (women who pursue multiple casual relationships with different men) and the sexual double standard of a patriarchal society that glorifies, rewards, and even praises men for their womanizing way. In contrast, women are derogated and stigmatized for similar behaviors. Love to Hate You doesn't just stop there; it also sheds light on the complex landscape of the cancel culture and how fans are crucial stakeholders in the entertainment industry. Their passion, excitement, and involvement are pivotal in making or breaking the celebrity they have a significant hand in creating. In a way, holding them accountable for their actions, but in some cases, it can be extreme.
Many celebrities deserve to be canceled, mainly if the wrongs they engage in or have engaged in the past reflect their character (sexual assaults, bullying, prostitution, sex trafficking, emotional, mental, or physical harassment, abuse in the workplace or at home, etc.). Other than that, in my opinion, who a celebrity chooses to sleep with, love, marry, spend their time with, or how they live their personal lives is their business. As such, I loved how Love to Hate You addressed Yeo Mi Ran's manizing past and how Nam Kang Ho stands up for his love and doesn't give in to the pressures of his agency or fans. I hope some celebrities similarly and unfairly impacted by the cancel culture could learn a few things from Nam Kang Ho.
It would be a real mistake to assume that Love to Hate You is just another rom-com; it's far from it. Yes, it has some silly and funny moments, but it also has some profound moments that refreshingly push the boundaries in K-drama to question ridiculous, if somewhat offensive acceptable social norms; this elevates the show from your typical, expected rom-com to delightfully unexpected. Aside from the powerful message it sends, Love to Hate You brings some beautiful visuals in actor Kim Ji Hoon as Do Won Joon Nam Kang Ho's agent, protector, and friend; Go Won Hee as Shin Na Eun as Yeo Mi Ran best friend and fierce protector; Lee Joo Bin as Oh Se Na Nam Kang Ho's first love and many others who did a fabulous job portraying their different characters. Highly recommend it.
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Korean take on "She-Hulk: Misandry At Law"
Very overrated, 6.5 overall from me.1. Too much bashing on men. It feels like Western feminist agenda creeped into this kdrama.
2. Unlikable, unrelatable "She-Hulk" of an FL. Her acting in romantic scenes also wasn't very convincing. Or maybe it's because a hard-headed, jaded, misandric character like hers made me question her feelings towards ML until the very end.
3. Cliche, brooding ML with tropey mental trauma, which of course only FL was able to "cure" 🙄. And since she's so special somehow out of the blue, of course he immediately falls in love with her. A bit better acting than FL, but still pretty meh overall, wasn't getting top star vibes from him.
4. Additional baggage from their family experiences also was offputting - every other family has issues like that, it's nothing special, and children don't become an exaggerated mess like these two. The way they tried so hard to shoehorn all of their problematic behaviour to bad, but rather trivial experiences of the past still makes me wish that they would just go see a therapist or something.
5. The plot itself also was nothing to write home about. A typical rom-com, if a bit outlandish (mostly because of FL) and cringey (ML's delulu ex contribution).
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Very entertaining
This drama is entertaining from start to finish. No cliches. The actors portrayed their roles greatly.If You need that off screen actors life and also the power girl life you need to watch this drama. It has comedy, romance and suspence packed in it.
The male lead is scared of women due to his emotional condition. He's got a mother who married for money and not love. The female lead is out to discipline men as who are not treating women well. She's got a father that is a sexist. She works smart
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F4- Funny, Fluffy, Fulfilling and Fabulous
I started this drama thinking I would drop this before I reach the mid, but to my surprise I LOVED IT to that extent I didn't wanted it to finish this quickly. It's been a while since I watched something this wholesome.So before judging the series by someone's review/comment, check this out yourself. ML-FL and SML-SFL's chemistry were lovely. Combining romance, comedy with speed and diversity in script, in a 10 ep rom-com isn't a joke. The story will keep your eyes pasted on the screen throughout the episodes and by the time an episode finishes you'll click the next episode like a speed of a tornado. I mean THEY REALLY DID A GREAT JOB! This series is great mood changer if you're looking for something funny and fulfilling. You don't believe me, just go run your fingers fast and start binge watching this right NOW!
OMG no one's gonna talk about KIM OK BIN?! SHE'S SPONTANEOUSLY CHARMING! She's like a fighter goddess. She's literally the perfect match for the character Miran. I became a fan of her.
NGL KIM JI HOON and YOO TEO made my heart flutter like crazy ❤️
I'll re-watch this for their fabulous chemistry again and again
9/10
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A backhanded compliment
It's amazing how insidious misogyny actually is. At first sight, this might be perceived as a drama about strong and progressive women, a feminist one, even. It couldn't be farther from the truth."She's not like other girls" is taken to another level by making the ML physically repulsed by all other women because he was hurt by his first love. While FL is telling us that women shouldn't be seen as the damsels in distress, ML is pilling all other women into airhead gold diggers. This does more of a disservice to women than anything else. We need to be extraordinary to be considered as human.
Even the director had a one dimensional idea of women. He changes the story once he figures out that ONE extraordinary woman exists. He, somehow, is inspired by this new breed of woman he never seen before, even if there was a woman doing the stunts before.
FL's mother made me so sad. The mother is happy her daughter is respected by her significant other. She said if she would be respected by her husband, she wouldn't have to write the book she did. Why didn't she get a divorce instead. Why show her daughter she has to endure disrespect. Instead of crying for her daughter not suffering the same fate, she could take her fate into her own hands. But only Mi Ran is an extraordinary woman, as we know these misogynistic dramas disguised as progressive only have space for one extraordinary woman, or we would all be just women with a multitude within ourselves that made us more than just stereotypes misogynistic men think all women are.
It sounds so bad talking about women as gold-diggers in a country like South Korea where, until very recently, women weren't even allowed to own property. [South Korean law decreeing women’s rights to equal inheritance came into effect on January 13, 1990 - YES, FUCKING 1990!!!!] That's mostly an incel trope, spread by men who don't even own anything worth taking. Most women who enter relationships with rich men are financially abused and controlled and a lot of them, the ones who believe the men will take care of them because they love them and bear their children, end up in either a situation of domestic violence or end up broke with children to care for.
This drama seems to try to slyly push misogynistic rhetoric that has the whole world descend into fascism, while cosplaying as representation for badass women. The writer should check his biases.
The second leads aren't any better. Her friend falls for a guy only based on his looks. She's portrayed as a shallow, defenceless woman who always gets used by men. How is the SML out of her league? He's just a player and she has low self-esteem. We all know you can't "fix" a player.
It only takes being in love to adhere to romantic stereotypes. Stereotypes exist for a reason but they're also the ones upholding the gender inequality that harms all of us and puts so many women's lives at risk.
They also managed to throw in there the trope that men are bad but NOT ALL MEN. "Don't lump me up with all the others who treated you badly just because I knowingly treat women as if they're disposable". She clearly has low self-esteem and ended up with yet another manipulator disguised and a changed good guy.
The whole drama is full of misogynistic tropes. It's almost impossible to stumble into a scene without one. Such a waste of a good soundtrack.
About the last episode, asking her to marry him in public without discussing it with her is the ultimate misogynistic move and it happened twice in this very short drama. Asking someone out or asking to marry them in public is a way of pressuring someone you know might not accept into a relationship without giving them the grace of denying it with all the freedom they should have, without feeling pressured.
Breaking up in front of the whole press is something else, that was a very predictable and unnecessary ending. Being a slut was, somehow, too much, she was doing it for the justice. That's, again, misogyny. It should be OK if she was a slut, it would be her decision and it doesn't affect her value as a person at all. Men don't band like that to defend women, like they show her co-workers doing, much less a woman's "reputation". They only do it for their bros. It felt like a "backhanded compliment" anyway. She was now worthy of dating a "good" man.
It's very disappointing to get promised a strong, badass woman and spend the whole drama showing us how she's not like other girls and ending it with the prospect of her being tamed. She said she doesn't want to get married and have children because she doesn't like the marriage culture in South Korea yet they hint she will be tamed. EVERYWHERE I LOOK THERE'S MISOGYNY! It's OK for women to not want to get married and have kids, for whatever reason or even no reason at all. This is just another attempt at seLling us the control of women as something cute and desirable. IT IS NOT!
On another note, South Korea also needs to work on their parasocial relationships. It's not normal for fans to control the private lives of actors and idols. Everyone should be entitled to their privacy and to do whatever the fuck they want with their lives, so long they're not hurting anyone.
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Cute and Lightweight romcom
So, I just finished binge watched it. Here’s my review:Cast:
I decided to watch this mini series because of the “Male Cast” Teo Yoo and Kim Ji Hun. Both are hot af
The chemistry between the Main Lead seem natural to me, But TEO YOO!!! He’s great at leading the their “lovey dovey” scenes, the way he talks and body language throughout the series are natural. Their overflowing chemistry during their romantic scenes got me screaming and giggling because of how cute it was. Because holy moly they’re really cuteeeee!!
Teo Yoo the ML is always look down on girls due to his past. He thinks that girls are weak, only care about guys money, but then he meet the FL which he have never meet any girls who’s like her, she’s the opposite of how she think of girls are
Kim Ok Vin, I think she’s great for portraying her Independent, Brave, No Bullshit character. the FM hates men and always doubtful of men intention towards women because of how her dad treat her mom (patriarchy). Tbh, I was rooting for her in early episodes when she’s so cool with sleeping around, acting nonchalant to men. Because sleeping around is identically MEN thing, but our FL proof them wrong. She can sleep around without catching any feelings.
But I cringed at first how drastically she changed when she’s finally in a relationship with ML. Love can make you do cringy things you’ve never done before. I’m talking about the aegyo lol, it’s cringed but I feel relate because people know her as a badass woman and she don’t need no man, but god knows that all the independent women out there is actually waiting for a man like the ML.
I don’t have any complain about the Cast acting, although I wish Kim Ji Hun was paired with his co-star from Money Heist (which is not) and a pity, The FL best friend’s cool but I’ve always don’t like her in almost all of her dramas. But I still couldn’t get over when Kim Seon Ho is her love interest in Strongest Delivery Man.
the STORYLINE/PLOT is lightweight
I love the Leads characters and their BFF relationship. It’s a fast-paced drama but towards the end they kinda rush it so they can complete it in 10 eps. Since I love hate to love trope, I’d give this a 8/10 for the hate-to love trope. I feel like if they could make this to 12-16 eps, it’ll be more fun and more in-depth the characters are. I feel like we only see the glimpse of their characters. I mean they could dig deeper of the characters. Because I like the theme “feminist and the patriarchal storyline”
Also the BFF love storyline is unnecessary for me, IMO it’s a bit forced.
BUT I’M QUITE SATISFIED WITH THE DRAMA, I’d rewatch it again for sure when I’m sad or need something to cheer me up when I feel like my love life is empty, or a mess because I feel bit relate with the FM character.
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A delightful and refreshing surprise
I was really not planning on watching this since I'm usually not into rom coms or shows with Sex and the City-type vibes, but I checked it out on a friend's strong recommendation and it was such a delightful and refreshing surprise! I found myself laughing out loud a lot, the FL is so ridiculously kick-ass, the friendships between the FL and ML and their respective best friends are really wonderful, and the romance is surprisingly sweet given how it all began. I also love how the ML's respect for the FL stems from who she is as a person, with no judgment about her past, and how he stands by her despite the misguided moral high horse of public opinion. I also just came off watching the 2ML again in Flower of Evil (purely coincidental) so it's also quite fun to see Kim Jihoon in such a completely different role.This is a really easy and fun binge. I only wished it was longer just so I could spend more time with these great characters.
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Enemies to Lovers in what world??
This drama wasn't enemies to lovers but more like fake dating to real dating.Before we get into it, keep in mind that this is my opinion and I don't mean to offend anyone!!
The Good:
I liked her attitude throughout the show. She taught herself every fighting technique she could to avoid being the damsel in distress and I liked that.
I also thought it was a nice reality check to reporters out there who have no problems ruining someone's life for a buck. It was also like a reality check for fans out there who are more like stalkers than genuine fans. Some fans out there really believe that they own their idols and get the final say on their relationships. It's sad to see that fans can't even be happy for a guy if they don't deem the female "worthy" of him.
The Bad:
It wasn't enemies to lovers at all. She thought he was a predator and hated him for that (valid). But when she found out he wasn't (like two episodes later), not only did she not hate him, she saw him as an angel. As if not being a pedophile makes you an amazing guy. That shouldn't even be a thought, that's not even the bare minimum-- that should be a given.
Also, he didn't hate her at any point. I can't stand when people call a relationship enemies to lovers when only one of the two hates the other. He actually liked her from the start. He wanted the fake relationship in hopes of it becoming a real thing. In what world is that enemies?
I also felt like their reasonings for hating the entire opposite gender didn't really stand. She hated all men because out of all the men she's been with, they've been horrible. But she only ever surrounded herself with bad men. Obviously if you surround yourself around bad people, they are going to do bad things-- that's also a given. Then they make it seem like he was the best guy ever when he was just acting like a normal guy in a relationship. She was down bad simply because he wasn't like all the horrible guys she chose to be around. I kind of wish she had a valid reason for hating men. Even when she got cheated on in school, she didn't seem to care. I get her not wanting to get married because of her dad but even that's kind of just choosing the wrong man. I wish he'd have been a good partner before they got married then did a 180 when they got married. That would make more sense for why she didn't want to get married.
As for the guy, his mom was a gold digger and so now he assumes every other women is like that..? He hated all women but it was more like he couldn't stand entitled actresses (which makes sense). I don't know why they were both around horrible people and assume the whole gender is like that. Then when they meet each other their like "Maybe all women/men aren't so bad" which was like DUH!!
Then this anxiety thing that didn't make sense. He got nauseous around all woman because one girl broke up with him and called him a stalker like 10 years ago. bsfr. And how come she was the only one who didn't give him anxiety? that fact was kind of thrown in and it didn't even make much sense. They should've just said that he likes tough, independent women and called it a day. Him brushing his teeth and gagging after the kiss was something else. he did not have to do all that lolll.
Did anyone else feel like the hatred to the other gender was random? It didn't really add anything to the storyline. Yeah the girl made it seem like he was gay but that just ties in to the anxiety thing. I thought they would've hated each other as they reflected everything they thought they hated in the gender but actually ended up liking each other. OR SOMETHING.
Then my next issue, there was no antagonist or anything that gave this series life. I only finished this show because it was 10 episodes long and I was playing games on my phone at the same time. There was nothing that really made this show interesting. Maybe it would've been better if they actually hated each other but were forced into a fake relationship or something! Instead it was just two people in a fake relationship slowly fall in love. Which was nice but boring.
I also didn't get why Won Joon liked Na Eun even though she was just a regular girl. None of the characters stood out so it didn't make sense that the guy who was surrounded by a bunch of girls couldn't stop thinking about another regular girl. Like she acted just like the rest of the girls so what about her made him stop and change everything? Same with him. Neither of them stood out (actions wise) so why fall for each other?
Final Thoughts:
Like I said this show was okay. It had more problems than good things and that brought it down a bunch. I liked her bad b personality but that was mostly it. There was nothing in the show that added life and that also made it a struggle to watch. I liked the actors but that was also about it. They should've changed the name and not make it seem like two people who hate each other are forced into a fake relationship and make it seem like how it is: two people in a fake relationship falling in love.
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