Call It Love

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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the art of getting by

a beautiful depiction of two ordinary people with an entangled, complicated history navigating hardship. i particularly found the ML's portrayal of loneliness so well executed and quite relatable in some aspects. screenwriting was BRILLIANT; both main leads truly understood one another with such quiet intensity. docking a star and a half as the satisfaction following their separation sequence doesn't really pay off as much as i would've liked, and i felt as if the FL lost her spark and spunkiness toward the end of the drama, but i HIGHLY recommend this drama to anyone who enjoys a mature, slow-burn romance!

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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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Strong start but dumpster fire ending...

I probably would rate the first half like a 8.5/10, the tension and angst were juicy and everything was choreographed so well, but the second half was unfortunately borderline painful to watch. There's a whole lot of nothing that happens - and it's just sad that a drama with so much potential could fumble this unique love story so badly.

Going on and on about how they can't be together because of something that is literally 0% the MLs fault. I get what happened in the past hurt everyone. I also see that the FL is suffering and her family don't care.

The side couple was weird and forced. Every scene with the FLs witch of an older sister was a hard watch. Oh well. The acting of FL and ML was very good though.

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I don’t think we should call this series love at all, more like deepest regret

I have one word for the series and that is predictable. I’m going to assume that this was a mellow drama because that’s what it felt like as I was watching it. I honestly thought that it was going to be good based on the first episode because the FL character was spunky and she showed how daring she was. That kept me thinking that it was going to be great but after that one event it just went downhill from there. Her character was one that was prayed on portrayed is troubled, sad and and borderline depressed. She did not smile at all throughout the series she just walked around doing things with this sad look on her face. Her tone of voice is never changed she was completely boring. Then we get to the plot itself which should not have been but it was. Do not read below if you do not want to spoiler.

I did not like the plot. It was absolutely predictable by episode two. Females leads dad runs off with the male leads mother when she was in high school. When the dad dies the stepmom takes their property. She then approaches the step mom son with the intent to do something. That was never revealed. Instead she got close to him as an employee and developed mutual feelings for him of some kind which never really went anywhere. He eventually realized who she was and they went their separate ways. It was no major character growth it was just one ridiculously sad series. What made it worse was that the male lead also had some troubles but he was trying. So in the end we had two leads who rarely smiled and never had a real relationship. I can honestly say I don’t know what the point or the plot was.

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Sometimes, slow is slow

The first half of this Drama was 'artfully slow'. I enjoyed its unhurried contemplative approach, a difference from the usual style of revenge Dramas. But somewhere around the halfway mark, the writer obviously decided that if "revenge is a dish best served cold", this Drama should climax just after the heat death of the Universe.

From being unhurried, it dropped to a crawl, painful and tedious and pointless. In my personal watchlist, the vast majority of slower Dramas that I've scored highly are JDramas, but there are some slower K Drama gems too, like One Day Off. This one was just EXCRUCIATING. So much of nothing happening and happening at a pace that makes tectonic shift seem dizzylingly fast.

For a truly outstanding summary of what went wrong with this Drama I recommend MinJi's review


https://kisskh.at/profile/MinJi23/review/269917

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Oh the angst!

This started out really promising, with a heartrending set up, beautiful direction, and gorgeous cinematography—using empty spaces and silences as effective storytelling devices. However as the drama progressed, this began to wear a bit.

The silences and innumerable silent glances became unbearable and continued long after a relationship between the two leads had been established. And the writers kept montaging the same 4-5 bits of dialogue between the 2 main leads to establish connection. I began wondering in the final act what was really connecting these two so strongly together when they hardly ever talked on screen. (Just talk to each other!)

Yes, one could argue that they had a soulful, unspoken connection, but it was perhaps too unspoken. I just would have like to see more substance between the leads and less needless angst.

Also wasn’t a big fan of how Woojoo just crumbled under the weight of her family’s disapproval in the last few episodes. She could’ve fought for their relationship. She was so headstrong and confident in the beginning and I just did not enjoy the trajectory her character took in the last few episodes.

All that said, I really loved the second lead romance. Sung Joon stole every scene he was in, and that romance was just so sweet. Their communication was adorable and was so fulfilling, and it just served to highlight how unfulfilling the interactions between our two silent leads were.

Anyway, I’m glad I watched it, but probably not one I’ll watch again.

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Best love story in 2023

Best love story in 2023!

This is slow-burn love story and heart-touching.
I hope they got happy ending :((((((((
Episode 13 & 14 is so heartbreaking & emotional :((((((
Actor is so good at acting and he forgave her immediately after he knew about everything!!!!
Story is build up slowly. there’s so many reasons to part or break-up in relationships, (not because of third party and money).
I like this drama more than (25-21) drama.
I am not (25-21) drama fans and its story is good because of actress, I didn’t watch the whole episodes.

I like “call it love” drama ending, still feel pain for their love !

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Almost Perfect

Call It Love is easily one of the best melodramas I’ve seen in a while. It’s one of those where I desperately needed a happy ending because the lead couple went through so much pain and heartache along the way.

The story itself isn’t something you’ve never seen before, but it’s told with a creative touch and gives us the POVs of all the main characters in a way that makes everyone feel relatable. There were so many heart-fluttering and endearing moments.

To be honest, in the first couple of episodes, I was worried it might not live up to my expectations. It felt a little too slow-paced, even for someone like me who loves slowburns. But then it started picking up, and I could see how they were gradually caring more and more for each other, how they were falling in love without even realizing it. And oh gosh, I enjoyed those quiet moments sooo much! The first time they held hands, even if it was just for show, for Dongjin's ex to see, it was so heartwarming I was screaming and kicking my feet.

The ML was frustrating at times with how nice he was, letting everyone walk all over him. But then the FL came into his life, started protecting him, and quietly cared for him in every possible way. She could be snappy and inconsistent, but she defended him in subtle ways that he thankfully noticed. Even her blunt words somehow gave him comfort, and watching him slowly change and find happiness because of her was beautiful.

The visuals and scenery were gorgeous, the OST was perfect, and the heartbreak felt so raw it came right through the screen. I was scared we wouldn’t get a happy ending, but we did. Still, it felt a little incomplete. I wish we had seen more of their happiness instead of cutting it short.

If I had to nitpick, the drama could’ve been trimmed down to 12 episodes instead of 16, as there were moments where it dragged. The ending also felt slightly rushed. But overall, I loved it. Their chemistry was amazing, the emotional beats landed perfectly, and it was one of those dramas that stays with you for a while after the credits roll.

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