Call It Love (2023)

You yearn for the next episodes...

There are some dramas, where you keep watching and tears come out without even you knowing. This was such a melodrama. I have prolonged it to watch it later when I should have watched it when it was ongoing. I have never been so connected to the characters and their sufferings before this. This one takes one's feelings and emotions to the next level. What a great cast! Each one has its own personality and overcomings and that's what makes this drama more special. I would recommend someone a 1000 times to watch this melo. Never expected Lee Sungkyung to take up such a role and weave it into her own "Shim woojoo". Also Kim Youngkwang was brilliant as "Han Dongjin", couldn't have asked anyone else to portray his character so precisely. This drama is going to be on my top 10 list definitely.

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Korean parents or How To Ruin Your Kids' Lives!

If we are to draw conclusions about the korean society from their dramas, I'd say it is the parents who are destroying it by controlling kids under the guise of "it's for YOUR own good (and for MY reputation in the neighbourhood)!" Korea has a very big problem with birth rate which is amongst ,if not THE lowest in the world! Why? Just look how Korean parents suffocate and try to control their children making them utterly miserable and unwilling to procreate by trying hard not to merry or/and have children.

This drama is one glaring testimony of it. The kids are miserable and are forced to suffer and pay for their parents' sins. And why is that? Because the society won't let them do otherwise: everyone is busibody, making judgements on other people's lives and being afraid to be free and live their life the way they want it in order to be happy. In all these dramas, kids are forced to live up to demands and ambitions of the parents. Resulting in a lot of unhappiness and misery. But the appearances are saved and that is what seems to be the most important to parents. The appearances and not their own children's happiness. So sad!

Call It Love talks about three such families.
One is destroyed by a father abandoning them following an affair. The three children were left to fend for themselves and protect their mother. The person really left in charge was the middle child when she was 17, ruining her life, sports career and any feelings of happiness.
The second one is the pharmacist under constant scrutiny from his parents who are demanding of him to get married which he finds more and more difficult to avoid.
The third is a CEO of fair organizers' company whose mother's philandering ways have made him miserable, taciturn and withdrawn.
Their interactions make for the most of this wonderful and beautiful drama.

This is my favourite kind of drama, slow burn, slice of life. While I was watching it, I was constantly reminded of My Mister not because of the plot but because of the overall feeling and the pace of both dramas which are identical. Here the misery overflows. Both main characters are poster children for unhappy, miserable, unsmiling people. Being with each other, gives them an inkling of what happiness might look like. If only, as one of them says so at one point, they were all alone in the world!

But there were not only parents working hard in ruining the kids' lives. There was also an older sister who did her best to ruin further her younger sister's already miserable existence with her jealousy and envy. That one drove me mad: she took out her own insecurities and pounced on her sister when she was the most vulnerable instead of supporting her, she decided, all of a sudden, to act as adult she never was before! And of course she failed miserably but she achieved her goal of making her sister even more unhappy. She tried to make amends later but it was too little to late!

The pace is extremely slow but not for a minute, I found it boring! It flowed, slowly but it moved on forward. This slow pace, made me take notice and really admire cinematography. It was stunning. The colours were all dull, subdued, just like the feeling of the drama. The amazing part was framing of scenes both in technical aspect and literal one. There were some very interesting camera angles: from above and as well cutting the actors practicall off, making them very small and low on the screen and therefore making them almost disappear in the surroundings. There were many travelling shots: camera moving at a constant speed straight left to right to left or zooming in and out. And mostly there were real frames around actors in scenes: windows, walls etc. creating a photo frame !

I know absolutely nothing about cinematography and camera work but I notice things. And this drama is worth watching for this!

The actors were perfect. The music sad as prescribed! It was a perfect slow burn melodrama /slice of life. I was debating with myself whether to give it 9.5 or 10 which almost never happens with me! Since I consider that nothing is ever perfect though this was approaching it!

And then they went on and ruined a perfect slow burn drama with a trope filled last episode. The writers decided to go down the well trodden path of break up and time skip which were both completely unnecessary with the awful sister adding another layer of contempt for her sister by trying to make amends a year too late! Thank god for the youngest brother who seemed to be less affected by grown ups' (i.e. parents'!) problems and decided to act as Cupid.

Misery loves company! And this drama kept me company!

One more word of wisdom from the main character: When I feel down, I look up other people's lives on line and realize I am not that bad off, that there are people much more unhappy than myself.

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A healing journey through the facial expressions of the leads

After watching My Liberation Notes, Summer Strike and Tell Me That You Love Me, I was looking for a drama that would make me feel a certain way - Melo with warmth. Glad that I came across this drama.

I rarely love a show this much. What attracted me the most was how both FL and ML portrayed emotions simply through their facial expressions. The whole drama is so healing and welcoming. It felt as though I was living there, through them, within them.

Revenge can be taken in various ways. Sometimes, an act of revenge can be simply forgiving and understanding. A point to highlight was the maturity of the FL. Instead of being blinded by revenge, she understood who was at fault and who was not. Eventually, her family also comes to understand that.

Definitely worth watching.

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bated breath, lump in throat and shining eyes

Against all expectations, 9.5 stars for keep me the breaths, for the touching musics, the slow acting to underline sads moments. I was a little scared by the slow pace but to my surprise it didn't bother me.
Don't expect an overwhelming and passionate story but rather a soft and touching story like a flower that blooms.

The character of the main woman lead was direct talking, altruistic and protective person. Meanwhile, the main man lead character was a sad person, lonely, pathetic, heavily hurts in feelings and betrayed by everyone.
Shy people who need time to grow their relationship. When the heart says one thing and the head says another.

I apreciated small gestures and I remember certain scenes:
When she wants to talk but he doesn't want to hear and vice versa. Him opening up and smiling again. He's not used to her direct ways but then he appreciates them. The gesture of sewing the button. She who protects him, comforts him and takes care of him. Being torn between what the heart feels and what the head says. Their looks. The fact that his ex dumped him at his favorite place (camping) and ruined it for him and never went back. Knowing that they love each other but give up everything for the family...

I spent half the time with wet eyes and a lump in my throat.

The last two episodes were a little too pathetic and heavy. Why did they waste more than a year to meet theirs? They love each other, the mother agrees, she and her brother have the telephone number? What did they expect, destiny?
My happy ending would be that they worked together at his uncle's campsite and the whole family gathered there, with his brother playing the guitar...

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I enjoyed the silent moments

Slowburns really are the best. It's all about the long stares full of pining, hand gestures, and simply being in each other's presence. These type of dramas don't even need a kiss scene, but when they did kiss? Priceless. I felt so many emotions inside me.

If I tell you I couldn't stop watching a drama you should trust me. That's because I tend to drop a lot of series I'm not interested in anymore. I like character-driven stories; this was EVERYTHING I've wanted in a while. The actress for the fl did such a good job with portraying her character. She absolutely shined in this drama.
Her temper, her somewhat cold attitude while also being warm, her maturity and her character development were all things I LOVED and was interested in. While getting to know the ml she slowly began to show her sweet side. I found it natural the way her loathing turning to pity and then finally love. I also liked her approach to dealing with that woman (I forgot her name). She realized that she turned her hate towards that woman when she should've hated her father, too. Although, she still doesn't forgive her, and rightfully so. They had a crucial talk at the end, and the fl communicated her thoughts well. I know some people would want to let that woman suffer in prison, but that's the point of this drama because the message it gives us is that life is not all about revenge. That's how I interpreted it, anyway.
The gentle, calm nature of the ml was a refreshing change from the usual teasing, charming love interests. We need more of that. He never snapped words out of anger to someone. The one time he did lose his mind was when the fl got hurt.
They're the exact opposite, yet that's why they complement each other so nicely. The fl needed someone who would be patient, accepting and kind. The ml needed someone who would be honest, straightforward and compassionate.

You know it's bad when I was flabbergasted at this drama not having an unnecessary second lead. That's rare, you know? The fl's best friend didn't have a secret crush on her. Instead, he fell for her sister.

The thing I'm disappointed with is the last episode. I didn't really understand their third-act breakup. It didn't make sense. And once they got back together at the final scene I wished for more. We were barely showed cute moments between them. They had great chemistry. I was able to feel their love from miles away. However, it wasn't enough imo. Also, I dislike that the younger brother was being treated like a 15-years old kid. He. Is. A. Grown. Man! I'm glad they focused a bit on the older sister, though.

Bottom line: two sad people falling in love is just my thing

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Starts great … but

Every time, I see a high rating on 16-20 episodes Kdrama lately, I’m always wary about it. And praying that once i start binge watching it wouldn’t disappoint me midway. I was truly enjoying this drama, until midday and my fear come true. Casting was amazing, I just Wished they flushed out most of the characters and made it a solid drama from start to end.

Once the main couple got together; which I thought They could survive no matter what writers had to mess it up by bringing the usual cliches of “sick” mother who will chose some form of revenge instead of their own kid’s happiness. I wish they showed how these siblings worked hard to heal from the trauma, instead of one always being angry, the other relationship jumping and the brother who was still lost in all of it. They could’ve done so much more than fall into the cliches ending.

Overall it was a good series that lost the plot midway.

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types of love

This drama is my absolute favorite. I don’t even know where to start talking about what I love about it. I guess I should begin with the cinematography because it's stunning. The color tone of the show changes depending on the weight of the story, making you feel like you're under a never-ending rain. Each scene gives you these amazing photographic moments that really enhance the viewing experience.

This drama is pretty heavy and slow, but it’s definitely not boring. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters because I feel completely different from them, but they delivered such great performances that it felt natural, like they were really being themselves. So even though I didn’t agree with their choices, I understood why they did what they did.


I haven’t watched a drama that elevates emotions like this in a long time. In this story, everyone is lost, lonely, and trying to find their way.

Three siblings experience deep trauma after their father leaves them for another woman (though it's true that the brother wasn’t really affected by it since he was very young at the time). After their father's death, they are kicked out of the home where they were raised by their stepmother. Shin Woo, whose life was ruined because of his father, makes a plan for revenge. He gets a job at the company of the son of the woman his father ran away with. His goal is to take revenge on the woman who brought pain to his family by using her son. However, the man turns out to be nothing like he expected, and over time, Shin Woo finds himself developing feelings he can't control.

Yes, I know it sounds cliché! But it’s not; the way the story is presented is so natural and unique that eventually you find yourself just praying for everything to work out.

One thing you can't overlook in this drama is the supporting characters. Ah, they’re all unique and different. They’re connected to the main characters but also have their own distinct arcs…


Oh, yes, that was pretty praise-heavy, but it’s not exaggerated. Watching them understand and accept their love without drowning in each other's loneliness and traumas was truly beautiful. We know it was really hard for both of them.

My only negative critique of this drama is that the ending should have given us more. No, it’s not an ambiguous ending (which we know we don’t like, and we’re justified in that). But after spending 16 episodes feeling their pain and tension, we deserved more time for the final scene.

Anyway, for those who are about to start watching, I can just say: please don’t underestimate the natural flow of life and give it a chance. We need stories like this!

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LLike a warm and nostalgic cuppa

I don't know why but when I had initially tried watching this show, I couldn't. When I tried the second time, I realized that with each episode I wanted to know more about the story of SWJ and HDJ. The story for me felt like a warm yet nostalgic cuppa. It's a melodrama so expecting to instantly like or get hooked on the 1st episode is not a good idea. I liked the development of the main characters. They were both flawed yet at the core, both of them were good, I think DongJin and Woojoo were the best for each other because he was initially a pushover and needed someone to not pity him but show him what he was doing not entirely right, and someone needed to make Woojoo realize that taking revenge wouldn't make everything go back to normal. I would, however, want the reunion to be a bit longer, but it aligned well with the rest of the episode. The filter, the back and forth of the times, and the prologues at the beginning of some episodes made the show interesting. However, it would have been better if it was 12 episodes rather than 16. But I would say this is worth watching because you will see how a broken girl could be strong enough to protect the right people.

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haya

An exciting series that touched every fiber of my soul, but at the same time so that you know what awaits you, I must mention that there is a lot of silence, deep sighs, serious faces and everything is so slow. Still, what is there in this series that despite all these I really liked and was able to watch without skipping ahead? More than that, I couldn't stop watching... sorrow, betrayal, revenge, friendship, loyalty alongside compassion and forgiveness, family and love, a great and touching soundtrack and one happy smile. I recommend watching with a lot of patience

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"You Gave Me Everything"

At the beginning of the show, the drama was relatable because of the terrible father the female main lead, and her siblings, had. I thought, despite being interested in the story, it would be difficult to watch. However, I was able to put my own experiences to the side and fully immerse myself in the story unfolding before my eyes. The drama does an amazing job at bringing to life one of my favorites tropes: two broken souls finding and being able to comfort each other despite the darkness of their past traumas.

The acting was phenomenal. Kim Young Kwang’s portrayal of Han Dong Jin, an empathetic soul who touches and crosses the line into loser territory, had my whole heart. Meanwhile, Lee Sung Kyung as Sim Woo Joo, a jaded and sometimes bitter soul who still manages to find compassion resonated with me deeply. Her apparent apathy for life and others, sometimes mirrored my own feelings. There were times, to my own surprise, that I found myself crying because of the excellent portrayal of the main leads. The supporting cast were not left behind as they also had their own stories and their own trauma to address. And there were some truly hateful characters, which speaks to how well these actors portrayed their characters. For a moment, I thought one of my most hated tropes, the obsessive second male lead, would rear its ugly head, but, thankfully, these were unfounded fears. It was really an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end.

The drama had a great script, performances, and cinematography accompanied by a moving and fitting OST.

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