Doona! A Introspective Review
Doona! felt like a perpendicular line at the moment the lines cross.I think the story was woven amazingly and felt realistic enough compared to other romantic dramas. The ending while sad and unfortunate felt more real. I know a decent size of people watch dramas as a form of escapism, I do to, but the show made me confront some feelings of reality that was hard to ignore.
Ultimately if I could point anyone to a poem that could capture this show I would point towards 'By Chance' by Xu Zhimo. I won't copy it here because that would spoil the show but feel free to read it yourself if you don't mind.
To conclude, I highly recommend you watch the show but if you can, make no real expectations or assumptions, so that the story can be appreciated more.
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Open Ending not a sad Ending
The ending of "Doona" left me emotionally stirred and profoundly moved. As I watched the final moments of the series, tears welled up in my eyes, and I found myself weeping unabashedly. It was a testament to the storytelling's power to evoke genuine emotions and the connection I had developed with the characters.This visceral reaction mirrored the deep empathy I had cultivated for the characters throughout the series. It wasn't merely a drama on a screen; it felt like a part of my own experiences. Their struggles, hopes, and unyielding love resonated with me on a profoundly personal level. I wept not out of sorrow but out of an overwhelming sense of connection and understanding.
The denouement of "Doona," the beloved Korean drama, has sparked spirited debate among fans. Some have lamented what they perceive as a melancholic conclusion, but I submit that the series indeed culminates with an open ending, an artistic choice that leaves the door ajar for myriad possibilities. It invites us to ponder the power of unwavering love and the ongoing journey of the characters.
In this denouement, it is crucial to recognize that the story does not merely come to a close but rather leaves its protagonists at a crossroads, poised to embrace the uncertain but hopeful future. Far from a sad ending, it is a testament to the intricacies of human relationships, where the road ahead is obscured, and the outcome remains hidden, much like life itself.
The central theme of "Doona" is the resilience of love, an enduring emotion that defies temporal constraints. The two main characters are seen diligently striving to be together, reminiscent of the struggles that unfold in real life. The beauty of this open ending lies in its mirroring of the authentic human experience, where the culmination of our journeys is yet to be unveiled. It is a reminder that love is an ongoing, dynamic force, an ever-evolving narrative that continues to unravel with each passing day.
To label this ending as sorrowful would be a myopic assessment, for it captures the essence of the human condition. The uncertainty it encapsulates is not merely a narrative device, but a reflection of life itself. As long as the enduring flame of affection remains ablaze within their hearts, there exists the promise of a future replete with possibilities. Thus, "Doona" concludes not with a finality, but with the ever-present potential for a beautiful, unwritten chapter.
The ending's poignant beauty, with its open and uncertain nature, struck a chord deep within me. It made me realize that life, just like this story, is a mosaic of emotions and experiences, often leaving us teary-eyed, yet profoundly appreciative of the journey. As the credits rolled and my tears flowed, I found solace in the notion that "Doona" had, in its own unique way, mirrored the complex tapestry of existence, leaving me with a heartwarming and tearful reminder of the power of love, hope, and the ongoing nature of our own stories.
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Doona! What did you think??
I thought this was going to be a cute easy watch and it was an easy watch, 9 episodes but there was so much miss communication and even I was confused through quite a lot of it.Very interesting take on the Kpop industry very close to the Nail on certain movements being discussed at the moment..
The actors were great and I loved the other couples in the storyline how they got their happy endings too but I am not sure what the end actually was for the main characters?? some say they are together some say they split it’s very hard to tell! so much miss communication with the audience just as much as between the characters.
At points it was hard to tell how many days had passed and whether something was before or after the last scene or even a back story? I also don’t remember much of the music I think I was more focused on trying to understand the storyline.
Apart from the moments I got lost in the story it was a very easy watch and I watched in one sitting and I would definitely watch these actors / actresses in other dramas for sure but this one just wasn’t for me.
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Don't Watch this if you have read the Webtoon, If Not You are good to go.
As someone who has read the Doona Webtoon I can clearly say this is nowhere near the Original work. The whole freakin story has been changed.But if you watch this as a independent story this is quite good till the last episode.
The Drama is hugely dependent on Suzy and Yang Sejong who did their part of the job brilliantly. You can just watch this drama solely for their chemistry.
Another good Thing about the drama is the Visuals they left no frame incomplete, every frame was like an artwork.
But if you really want to know about Doona and Won Jun just read the Webtoon it's just on an another level of storytelling and characters just make sense.
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Why this drama is one of the best of the year, and it's not an exaggerated thought!
I have never written a review but I felt the need to do this one today. I hope to do fairly well.I think it is the perfect drama for the rainy season that is going on right now.
From my point of view, it makes you meditate, it is simple, but at the same time, it leaves you with a feeling of heaviness in your heart and you can't stop turning it over in your head.
For some reason I have felt comforted myself when I listened to Won-jun speak, and in some way, it has made me reflect as a person because of the character he has.
I think the story is perfect, I would not change anything, because I really liked how they developed it. The only reason this drama is not a 10 for me, is because I would have liked them to delve more into Doona's life before meeting him, otherwise it is perfect.
And for the detractors of the ending, I have to say that I think that what they wanted to tell and how they did it, was phenomenal. If you remember, Doona explained to him that only when her career stabilized could she be with him and he knew that for society to "accept" him he had to be an "adult", that is, graduate, settle down and get a job, as it is dictate on the standard that exists in society. That is why I think the ending has accurately captured how they have fought and achieved the "requirements" to be able to love each other.
I also want to emphasize that both the cinematography and the soundtrack of this drama are exceptional.
We must also talk about the level of the performances of both Bae Suzy and Yang Se Jong. She has never seemed like a bad actress to me, but I think she nailed it this time. And what can I say about him, I have been eagerly awaiting his return.
I hope this simple, although a bit short, review helps you.
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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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Fallen star done right
This is another one of those dramas that just draws you in and before you know it it is over...To be honest we have seen this type of story before in several dramas, all rated highly by me, and all loved in their own little way. This drama does not have a lot to add to the lot of dramas of this type story wise even if it does have a slightly different angle and has the star fall a bit deeper than most other dramas do.
HOWEVER it does have Suzys amazing acting, singing and all round awesomeness.
It also has really beautiful cinematography a bunch of lovely friendships and extreamly few moments of annoying.
The biggest downside of this drama is it leaving me wanting more, as well as the high age of the actors supposed to play 21 yearolds (not very believable, sorry). However the acting, chemistry, kissing, emotions are all spot on and I loved pretty much every second of watching the interactions between the leads and the second female lead.
Definitely a drama worth watching for all those who can appreciate watching falling star dramas and can handle some darkness and spunk.
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Where is this hot and toxic?
There were so much reviews Like " oh wow, toxic hot powerful, Drama" - so i gave it a try.And it was...
Quite average.
The main leads chemistry
was just not there, felt flat.
Doona was like "a baddie", but not really, if you watch the show you know what i mean.
The love story... I don't know- was just not something that blew my mind away, with acting, connection or originality.
The kpop thing was cool, but the potential was quite wasted, as the relationships between the characters, this topic was not shown in depth.
The ending was okay. I think it suited the flat relationship of the main characters and it is the most realistic ending, under this circumstances i guess.
The visuals and doona were pretty, music was okay.
Side couples were mediocre.
All in all - pretty average, would not watch again.
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The Ache Between the Lines
This one didn’t crash into me. It crept in quietly — no fanfare, no high drama — and then stayed. Long after the screen went dark, I found myself sitting in the silence it left behind, not really sure where to put everything it stirred up.Doona! wasn’t about big movements. It was about the moments in between. The waiting. The misreading. The longing held just behind the eyes. There was a kind of stillness to it that felt honest in a way most love stories don’t dare attempt. It didn’t try to dazzle. It just sat with the ache. And I sat with it.
Bae Suzy absolutely wrecked me. Not with tears or theatrics, but with restraint — that bone-deep loneliness she wore like second skin. Her Doona wasn’t tragic in the performative sense. She was just… lost. And tired of pretending she wasn’t. Watching her try to navigate intimacy without performance, to be seen without being consumed — it was brutal, and real, and painfully tender.
And then there’s Yang Se-jong as Won-jun — who could’ve so easily been forgettable, the “nice guy” archetype played straight. But no. His softness didn’t feel passive. It felt chosen. Intentional. He held space for her even when he didn’t know how. And that hit me hard. Because not every love burns bright. Some flicker quietly, stubbornly, in the dark.
Their relationship wasn’t tidy. It wasn’t designed for swooning. It was built on unsaid things, mismatched timing, fear wrapped in desire. There were so many pauses — not filler, but meaning held in suspension. And maybe that’s what I loved most. It trusted me to feel what wasn’t being said.
Sure, the plot moved slowly. Some would say not much happened. But it did. Everything happened — in glances, in silences, in the way someone reaches for a door and then doesn’t open it. That emotional tension, the restraint, the inevitability of goodbye even as everything in them wanted to stay — it unraveled me.
The ending wasn’t what I hoped for. But it made sense. It honored who they were, not who I wanted them to be. And that hurt more than a tragic twist ever could. It felt honest — like love that meant something, even if it couldn’t survive the timing.
I didn’t expect Doona! to leave a mark. But it did. A quiet one. The kind that lingers in the chest long after, soft and unfinished.
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Ending
LOVED the plot but the ending was too bland. I wished it turned another way. Won-Jun deserved better than to date her in silence, having to wait for her all the time. That dropped the rating very much for me. Before watching the end of the last episode named “Doona!” (as the drama is itself) my rating was at a high 8 stars, but as soon as I watched the ending it was quite upsetting to me. Lee Doo-na’s actions were understood to me, but it was extremely unfair. Also Lee Won-Jun’s apology scene was a bit pathetic and could’ve been much better.Was this review helpful to you?
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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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Only for people who choose realistic ending
The drama is about a retired idol and a ordinary living boy who shifts upstairs in a home sharing. As the male lead helps the female lead when she is sick, there's the story starts giving butterflies. The female lead is unstable in both life and career but the male lead this hard and maintains his ethics so it was no way that he would've called for such person but, he did in spite of having a long one-sided love.In the course of time, the drama portraits sadness and the story ends with disappointments in viewers eyes by choosing realistic ending.
P. S : There are wonderful kiss scenes and lots butterflies.
Hope you add in your list.
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