True to Love

Mending a broken heart

It was a little slow in the beginning, the leads had too few scenes together and it was all about Bora and her ex. But then it got so much better after her break up. I understood then that it was a process Bora had to go through. The narrative has a good pace, it's not slow, and that's really good. I was a little afraid of all the relationship talk in this drama but I really liked it in the end. It wasn't shallow and full of corny and cringe phrases, instead I resonated with Bora's views and takes on love and relationships. I like the narration on some scenes, it makes all her suffering and eventual growth more meaningful. It was all very well produced and directed. The OSTs were really good, there wasn't a single bad one for me.

The leads are great together, they have chemistry and are fun together. Liked how they become friends and connect with each other before being together. I think they could've stayed together just a little bit sooner, but the fact that they just become a couple in the last episode didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Her ex was an asshole, I hated him, but I knew he was gonna ask to come back with her. Liked how she stayed firm and never thought of a second chance with him. Also, I think it was a sign of growth how she was the one that confessed first to Suhyeok, he's really slow and she learned her lesson with her ex.

Some side stories were good. In many dramas I feel like the side plots are fillers and shenanigans that are used as a relief from the main story. But it wasn't like this in this drama, the side characters have their own stories and personal dramas going on (at least some of them), and I personally like that. It kinda feels like all characters are deep in a way or just as important.

Since the main theme of the drama is romantic relationships, they explored this not only with the leads but also with the side characters. So we have many couples, the married one, the younger couple, and the divorced.
However, the only side couple that mattered were BOMI/JINHO. They were cute together, loved and trusted each other. Thought they were gonna make her be cruel and distant to him until the last minute, but instead she warmed to him and ended up being a good girlfriend. Although it was too soon, I liked that they married and were gonna have a baby in the end.
YUJEONG/JINWOO were disappointing. I mean, he was not a good husband. She spent the whole drama trying to make him see her but he was just too busy playing videogames to notice her. I understand he needs some alone time but at what cost! They simply stopped having sex and he couldn't be bothered by that. In the end he changed, that was good, but I didn't see that change, it was too rushed.
SANGJIN/WOORI were weird. I couldn't understand where they were taking this couple cuz they don't make sense. That's it. Her voice was a little annoying, she speaks like a kid. And their interactions seemed more like uncle/niece to me. Tbh, why did he accept her feelings for him?! It came out of nowhere.

Overall, I think it was a great drama. The main couple is good and the thoughts on love and relationships are mature. There were some things that annoyed me but I had a great time watching it. Totally reccomend.

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Best comfort drama for a bad break-up

This drama is the ultimate safe space to see yourself at your worst possible mental state. I walked into the drama expecting a sappy rom com but it was so much more than that. It was raw, unfiltered and denoted all the emotions a person goes through during a bad break-up.
The story is well paced, properly written and you won't really get bored till the end. But it also has it's pros and cons. While the pros are the story and the main leads, rest of the actors are mediocre. While some stories were simply fillers, some unnecessary and some completely predictable. It's a good watch for a lonely night when you have nothing else to watch but not as good if you want something exciting and relatable.

Will i watch it again? No.
Will i recommend it to anyone? Probably if they are going through a really bad breakup

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There are countless things to say so I can't find a proper headline. Please enjoy the review.

When I first heard about the drama I thought it would be something classical and boring, but I started it anyway because of the cast, and I don't regret it. Indeed, when I watched the first episode, I really liked the energy the FL gave through her work. Despite the fact that she was a dating coach which I found really weird, it made me curious about how she will break up with her bf and how she will meet the ML, so I was intrigued by the storyline. But when she broke up with her bf and did all those embarrassing things, I would have dropped the drama then if it wasn't for Su-hyuk, the way he comforted her and helped her, their chemistry was near to perfect to the point that got me wondering if would ever find someone to whom I can show my true self. I even asked myself this question : "Can I ever be true to love?". The secondary couples were lovely too: I liked the way the married couple tolerate each other, it was .. Warm. As for Bomi and Jinho, thoe two were very cute and refreshing.
(I wanted to talk about this part separately, that's why I'm writing it in its own paragraph) The last episodes were about how the ending should be, and the way they interpreted love stories' endings was unique : "But our love story is neither a perfect happy ending, nor a sad ending, it's an open ending" (This should be my favourite line in this drama). That's what made the drama end perfectly. Which is rare in dramas to have an ending this satisfying.
I still have a lot to say but It's already long So I hope everyone who has ever watched this drama or wants to watch it will enjoy it, appreciate it, and see the story from all parts.

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A kaleidoskope of failed relationships

This drama is a kaleidoscope of failed relationships and call me a cynic but I'm not seeing a bright future for most of this drama's couples:
-Yu Jung and her lazy ass husband finally talked it out and have delved into role playing games to spice things up, but watch them get bored in a couple of years again. The husband will be the first because he is just lazy by nature and takes his wife for granted. And the wife needs constant affirmation of their love.

-FL's spoiled brat of a sister just didn't give me the vibe that she truly loves the guy, she just goes with the flow in life. A NEET and a minimal wage worker, they are a staple divorce statistics example, so often stories such as these happen. Since they don't even know each other well or what they want to do with their life I think in a couple of years she's gonna start blaming the guy for ruining her life and gonna end up a divorcee with two kids, continuing living off of her relatives. If I were FL I would have given her an earful and kicked her out of the "bird's nest" long ago to get a taste of real life. Or at the very least made her pay rent. I really dislike lazy loafers like these, have seen them in real life and they just never learn to live on their own due to continued coddling.

-U-Ri and CEO...just why and how the ef? I don't even think CEO really fell in love with U-Ri, no chemistry whatsoever. He just didn't want to end up alone in his age and used her puppy love to his benefit. Too bad his ex wife didn't want to get back together with him, would have been a better fit. I don't know what else to say besides it being cringe.

-That bitchy bride friend of FL's is gonna get divorced in a couple of years as well. Pressured an unready guy into marriage, yeah, that's gonna end well.

-The chicken sh*it of an ex his current gf - not gonna happen. At this rate the guy is going to end up forever alone, he really needs to dial himself down by a lot.

-ML's ex and her husband - not really seeing it either. She clearly didn't know what she wanted and gonna question and beat herself up until her husband will get sick of it.

-ML and FL...they will probably be ok? ML kinda half-assed his confession, but FL considerately gave him slack. ML really struggled to convey his feelings until the very last, but judging by his behaviour in the end he seemed to have overcome it, he became all lovey dovey with her. They were quite cute in the end. And FL is not going to ditch ML, because where else will she find a guy who likes her no matter all the embarassing stuff she constantly gets herself into. Personally, I think the lead couple was the most natural in development and healthiest of all of this drama's relationships. Their bonding through similar ordeal allowed them to really get to know and understand each other, which I can't say for many of the other couples of this drama.

Overall, a 7/10 from me. I really loved YIN's performance, she really carried the show and managed to pull off various aspects of her character, ranging from really embarassing ones to very mature ones, with effortless grace. I can imagine it must have been difficult though, because her character had to stay likeable while being very flawed.
And some of the show's dialogues were real gems, full of witty banter and meaningful one liners.
But still:
-1 point for cringey U-Ri and CEO couple.
-1 point for trainwreck of a shotgun couple.
-1 point for too much screen time and tears wasted on Mr. Trash.

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Healing Journey w/ Comedic Value

Bo Ra! Deborah is a drama that focused on the different stages of relationships. While it is not perfect, people got hooked on it because it actually makes a lot of sense.

The storyline is ingenious, to be honest. It focused on the personal growth of not just one character but almost all of them.

I most especially appreciated the growth of Bo Ra, initially, she tried too hard to cloak her real self to fill the mold of what her previous partner preferred. It was maddening because it seemed like she had no real personality and was living in a Barbie world. The breakup while it wrecked her, also helped her in the end to be the best version of herself or try to be. Plus, while the portrayal of her wreckage was very cringe-worthy it was still part of the healing journey and was very real- I mean, let's be honest, most people really do insane things when brokenhearted, it's just that her actions seemed over the top.

I also appreciate the moment Soo Hyuk entered Bo Ra's life. They helped each other in more ways than one. They became each other's pillar and at the same time, they learned more about each other in the realest way than the other couples. I really appreciate how they saw each other in their lowest stage and became friends and each other's support system. I also liked how Bo Ra didn't push Soo Hyuk to be the person he isn't, she helped him overcome his difficulties in communication by meeting him halfway and allowing him to digest his feelings without rushing him. I also loved the part wherein Soo Hyuk said that "Whatever you do, nothing can make me stop liking you." Because from the very start that's what Bo Ra needed, someone to accept her as she is. And that admission is also what Soo Hyuk needed, a person who'll make him finally break the dam that prevents him from accepting his feelings.

My only qualm is that while we saw both Soo Hyuk and Bo Ra grow and get over their previous failed relationships, the drama lacked in showing how they are outside of that bubble. Like what will Bo Ra and Soo Hyuk be into now that they're together? How is their dynamic as a couple? What are the things they do together that they both enjoy? I think those little things would make so much more impact on their storyline. Either way, they still gave them an impactful story.

As for the other couples, I think that their storyline is done in a way that's a middle point between acceptable and needs to be improved or fixed.

San Jin's storyline. I actually appreciated the first part of his story a lot more than I realized. The story about his divorce and how they both failed as partners was perfectly portrayed. It highlighted how failing to communicate as partners will eventually lead to the failure of the relationship. But sadly, the appreciation of his story ends there. Sang Jin's new love interest is a mess, not only do they have nothing in common and have no chemistry at all, the progression of their storyline also makes zero sense. I'm left wondering if he gave in because she gave him exactly what he was looking for; whether it be attention or the youthful and innocent portrayal of her admiration. I really don't know or understand.

Then there's Yu Jung and Jin Woo. The married couple seemed like they were only roommates. I honestly don't understand this couple or the resolution they gave about their marriage problems in the end. It's clear that Yu Jung would always need validation regarding Jin Woo's love, which might be because she was the one who proposed to him, and there'll always be a lingering insecurity there. I think that Jin Woo on his part really needs to show value to Yu Jung. I'm not looking for over-the-top showering of attention and all, just any small action on his part just to show his love and appreciation for her would be nice. Them meeting halfway on each other's interest would be nice too. The ending they gave, which is to dive into foreplay is not actually a real solution to their problems but just a patch to the hole.

Lastly, the young love of Bo Mi and Jin Ho. Oh my. I think that the ending they gave this couple is the weakest one in the whole series, and their storyline had such great potential! This couple needed to learn more about themselves and their place in society at first, and they know and have discussed this. Seeing them grow into the people they're meant to be while still choosing each other would've been great. Instead, they shocked us by impregnating Bo Mi early on giving them no chance to grow at all. Bo Mi just became dependent on both Bo Ra and Jin Ho without having the chance to know what she wants for herself. Also, can we also note the fact that we know little to nothing about Jin Ho other than him being instantly in love and attracted to Bo Mi. What is he going to do to support Bo Mi and their twins in the end? Oh well... I guess this part of the story refers to the youth today and how unstable things are in this generation.

Overall, Bo Ra! Deborah is such a great drama to watch with healing and growth as its main point. The romance between the main leads while lacking airtime is still something to look forward to on every episode.

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bora debora, foi um drama bom eu particularmente esperava mais sabe aksjsjw

no final, ali nos dois ultimos... na vdd 4 ultimos ele cagaram, queria q os protas fosses desenvolvidos melhores cara, conversasem, sabe.... tinha tudp pra ser um dorama 10000, mas por questao disso nao gostei tanto foi um drama normal, nada muito aaaaaa, eles ficam juntos oq é bom mas eles ficam apenas no final dps q a bora dar corda pro ex, deps q ele ler o livro e toma uma posição... o casal de amigos eles tbm, plmds eles tinham q conversar né.... ficaram naquele lenga lenga pra no fim, nao ser nada de mais a questao, pobri da bomi ela gravida, tipo asssim, os dois nem tem estabilidade, ele uma pobi coitada sem nada pra fazer e ele arrecem vai viver

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Goes downhill along the way

This show started out pretty good, the story line was interesting. It wasn't anything new tbh but it had some nice realistic elements. There were some unnecessary incidents happening, especially ones that included humiliating the female lead SO much throughout the show. The last 2 episodes are what ruined it for honestly, it was very rushed and most of it didn't even make much. The last episode where they all somehow fixed their life in a few moments was a bit cliche and underwhelming. Overall, I don't think I would recommend this show even though it had a nice cast with good dialogue at times but the story plummeted somewhat which is a shame.

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It's a bit funny how in the drama 'Touch Your Heart' Inna was basically playing actress Oh Yeon Seo, someone who has been criticized for her bad acting a lot over the years. In this drama however Inna has a very similar character that Oh Yeon Seo herself portrayed before in the same author's work 'Mad for Each Other & Oh Yeon Seo was a much better fit for this I think, so we have kind of gone full circle in a sense.. Don't misunderstand she has done a decent enough job, but it's just a bit weird and ill fitting. Of course -unlike Yoo Inna- Hwang Chan Sung was a massive weak link in the drama overall. So to summarize, the drama is AT BEST average in the acting department.

The writing & the pacing of the script are objectively bad. There is no way around this, there really are a lot of problems & some astonishingly bad lines in the earlier episodes. Although I suppose the drama's saving grace are also lines, because here and there there was some brilliant dialog that really resonated with me. (a very smart intern writer's work perhaps?) Looking at the plot delivery It's not hard to see why it's more than a little bad. The first 5 episodes are completely about FL's mental breakdown/breakup, after that we get a relatively average, but serviceable romcom & then following that there is a rushed weird mess in the final two episodes that culminate in a 15 minute long, substance-less happy ending.
The characterization is also a hit and miss. Bora and Lee Soo Hyuk's characters are okay, but there are quite a few side characters that are just horrible, weird or just extremely two dimensional. (Uri, Yu Jung etc..)
Also the obsession with confessions is a weird theme for a drama to have, I don't really know what to think about this..

Can Love Triangle haters watch this? Maybe, though the previous love interests do stick around..

People like bashing the drama for that one admittedly very insensitive Auschwitz comment. While this is fair, I think it's more of an ill researched analogy that came from ignorance rather than anything else.

Overall the drama is a weird amalgamation of multiple genres. I don't really understand who the target audience is suppose to be. Sad-melo enjoyers will like the first 5 episodes, but will probably be very disappointed with what comes after, romcom lovers might not even hold out long enough to reach the 5-7 romcom episodes & then either of those groups would be at least somewhat disappointed due to the final two episodes.
Maybe the problem is just me, since the 10/10 reviews just keep on coming..

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Best Rom-Com of 2023.

I loved every bit of this drama. Generally, dramas shows breakups as painful but the leads try to act cool. But this showed the true nature of breakup. When breaking up, you get to see the lowest of the person you once loved and lose yourself as a person.
We have seen how she tried the hardest to being loved and when breaking up, we saw her breaking apart and let go of her perfect image in front of the world. Similarly, we also saw her grow as a person and su hyeok standing by her side and being with her at her worst. The ex was trash until the end and his ending was hilarious lol.
I loved how they showed the beautiful ending for all the couples. It was the best rom com with lots of laughter and hilarious moments. It's funny, sweet and makes feel grow as a person as well.

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Painful to watch

never written a review on mdl before but then again I've never hated a kdrama more than this. Bora finds her shitty bf cheating on her and then begs him to take her back?? not just once, but multiple times! painful to watch. she sobs uncontrollably for days/weeks about their breakup. also, the show approvingly quotes Donald Trump which is laughable. none of the characters feel like real people! the best friend is mad at her husband for something serious and he buys her a purse and suddenly she wasn't mad anymore?? it's like a parody of how women behave. I went into this show very excited and it just completely makes no sense

Edit: i will also say that it wasn't clear that Bora even liked her boyfriend at the beginning, she just wanted to marry someone and this guy "had it all." so i thought once she realized "oh wait, maybe i didn't even like him, i just wanted to marry someone who looked good on paper" that she would get over him and move on. but through 7 episodes, that never happened. she continued to sob over him! the show seemingly hates Bora because after all of the mess with her ex bf, she is then a victim of a phishing scam, which scammed her and her friends out of a lot of money. there was very little going right in her life which made it hard to watch and not entertaining. the side characters also didn't interest me very much. The publisher guy seemingly being attracted to the young temp was also weird and creepy to me. im not sure if thats where the show went with that plot line because i stopped watching but it creeped me out to watch their flirting. Bora's friend seems to be in a horrible marriage but doesn't seem to realize it. i dont even know if the show realizes how bad their marriage is! having a "hideout" place from your spouse is not a good thing! again, i really wanted to like this show and i kept watching it, thinking it'd get better and it never did.

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Watchable Rom Com Falls Prey to 11th Hour Problems

Having Yoo In-na and Yoon Hyun-min spearheading this was a major incentive to jump on the bandwagon. Especially Yoo In-na who is so much at home in rom coms. So after skipping ahead for a sneak peek, I decided that this might be fluff worth wasting time over. I was sold after watching Episode 3 and my heart went out to a very humiliated (and devastated) Bo-ra who was being mercilessly gaslighted by her ex and social media.

This show covers plenty of subjects close to my heart — the complexities of courtship, marriage as well as differences between the sexes. Not everything works for me but there are nuggets of gold everywhere and the gleam of gems even when episodes don’t light up. What’s become evident is that Kdrama rom coms are gradually turning into parodies of the genre which would account for the histrionics, hijinx and odd foray into toilet humour. This accounts for why the genre that catapulted SK dramas to international glory have become very hit and miss. Here there’s a dual purpose in that because the show needs Yoon Hyun-min’s character Lee Su-hyeok to see the very worst of Bo-ra and still somehow manage to fall in love with her. Why? Because everyone defaults to hiding behind masks and facades in public. In a society where status and respectability holds incalculable currency, one’s public face may bear little or no resemblance to one’s private realities. This fact has ramifications for how dating and marriage is viewed in the wider population.

The first 7 episodes are a mixed bag. Some segments contain sparkles of brilliance and insight into the fallen state of humanity while others leave behind the sour aftertaste of second-hand embarrassment. The lifeline during those moments are the leads’ banter which is always a delight to behold. Whatever the show’s flaws there’s no doubting the quality of the dialogue. But from Episode 8 onwards when Bo-ra finally bids the duplicitous ex-boyfriend farewell and the leads share an intimate moment in a karaoke booth, a switch in the show’s engine is turned on.

By about the third or fourth episode it becomes clear that this show is about endings. The end of a relationship doesn’t have to be the death knell to one’s existence. It can be the beginning of something else. Perhaps something better than what came before. Out with the old, in with the new. Hence the jalopy vs Mercedes analogy that is referenced in Episode 11. The very best part of this show is reserved for the leads and rightly so. From the first they are set up with parallel journeys and in walking together, groping around for answers, their eyes are opened to what’s been there all this time. The ending of a relationship doesn’t have to be a tragedy regardless of how it ended.

It occurs to me that this story really begins with the exes — Ju-hwan and Yu-ri. The leads are going on their merry way more or less maintaining the status quo. Bo-ra who is the talk show queen of dating and author of three books on the subject gets mugged by a rude shock when she finds out that not only was Ju-hwan messing around with a close family friend on his busy days, he had long since given up on their relationship. In his words, he felt smothered by Bo-ra but I’m inclined to think that in his case there’s a lot more than that. Yu-ri on the other hand was fed up with Su-hyeok’s reticence and was already looking elsewhere for security and solace.

Infidelity, an immoral act, is usually an expression of a much deeper problem that hasn’t yet been laid bare. It’s also a case of wanting your cake and eating it. A lack of communication is often blamed for break-ups and no doubt that plays a integral part. However, it goes much deeper than that. The death knell of a relationship is the consequence of unspoken, unmet expectations much of which are unrealistic.

The show swims along nicely for about 5 episodes and then it falls apart with the last two which are almost a reversal of what transpired in the two preceding episodes.

Do I really want to know what was in the kimbap or fried chicken in the writers’ room when ideas were being pitched for Episodes 13 and 14 of Bo Ra! Deborah / True to Love? I was fervently hoping that they wouldn’t screw up the resolution but alas they just couldn’t help themselves. Episode 13 in particular aroused something in me that few dramas are capable of doing. It made me want to punch the screen. What the show did to Su-hyeok’s arc in particular was sloppy and asinine. All in service of a push and pull that had to be until about 10 minutes before the end. It was a resolution in search of a conflict… and a villain. And even now I’m puzzling over who that might be.

Is it the insufferable Ju-hwan — the pompous egotistical ex who was caught red-handed cheating on Bo-ra? He seems to be the front runner. The classic bad guy and the quintessential obstacle to true love and happiness. The guy has no shame and the show is shameless in exploiting the very worst aspects of his personality. Or is it the gutless wonder that is the male lead who somehow loses his nerve when the destable Ju-hwan confesses on public radio that he wants another chance with Bo-ra. So what does Su-hyeok do. He caves. Accordingly Su-hyeok backs down from a fight because he says during a drunken stupor that he “doesn’t want to be the bad guy in somebody else’s romance”. It’s easy to believe that someone else wrote Episode 13 because the Su-hyeok in the last two episodes underwent a brain or personality transplant. He became a different man. In my exploding head I can just hear Jeremy Northam’s Mr Knightley saying to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Emma. “Badly done, Emma, badly done.”

Another candidate for villain here might be Bo-mi who sinks to new lows in terms of churlishness and stupidity. Gee “Sister, thy name is gaslighting” was out in full force. I’ve never liked Bo-mi who has never been much of a presence in this drama but all that defensive tantrum throwing in the final episodes is very hard to watch.

In a way I’m glad that I didn’t invest weeks on this show only to be left feeling vaguely defrauded by the production. To put a positive spin on this I can see how the show runners who are tethered to the ratings system are terrified of the leads coming together too early because the complaint has traditionally been “oh the show is not interesting once the leads come together.” This kind of thinking has incentivized bad endings more times than I can count with two hands and ten toes. A moderately good show can’t have a clunky ending because a clunky ending has a detrimental effect on the entire shape of the narrative.

Adapted from two posts from my personal blog.

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