Sheesh
Gosh darn it all - FL is yet ANOTHER moping mumble-bunny and a completely uninteresting person. She has a couple of lash out moments, but they don't make up for her general "almost as interesting as cold, stale porridge" acting ability. ML is easy on the eyes, but he is not a good actor in this one. I thought he was better in Sweet Home, but that may have been a result of a more action oriented plot. OTOH, most secondary characters were well acted, but we really didn't get enough of those scenes to improve the overall plot.The story really did not merit this many long, crushingly boring scenes. While some people may find it different with the whole "with benefits" aspect, the fact is, most romance movies and shows are already "with benefits" -- not a lot of dating or other more normal together times, so this show isn't as special as the promos want you to think it is.
The music was repetitive and annoying. You couldn't pay me enough to watch it again.
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Real, beautiful, atmospheric, a little slow
This drama seems to trigger a lot of negative emotions in people. Specifically, the character of Jae Eon seems to be people's canvas to project all their negative feelings towards past dates on, which makes them dislike the drama as a whole.The word "toxic" gets thrown around a lot when people talk about Jae Eon. I don't see him as toxic, though. Na Bi knew from the beginning that he doesn't want a relationship. She knew what she was getting into and then caught feelings. Yes, he was acting pretty stupid, once he started catching feelings, too. But I guess that's understandable in some way, when you promised yourself not to catch feelings for someone and then don't know how to handle them. He should've communicated more and better and I don't get why he never clarified that Sol Ah isn't his current girlfriend, but I wouldn't call him toxic.
I absolutely loved the first episode. The camera work was brillitant - it made the viewer feel like we are getting seduced at the same time as Na Bi. The chemistry between Song Kang and Han So Hee was tangible and the tension continued throughout the whole drama. I think it portrayed falling for someone very well - the glances and stares, the back and forth between being happy and unsure whether the other person feels the same, the unjustified jealousy, when they talk to someone else, when you're not even dating,...
The story being set in the art department made for a beautiful picture and great metaphors - although sometimes the butterfly metaphors were a bit too on the nose. Everyone was talking about how great the OST is though, so I was kind of disappointed by how mediocre it was - none of the songs stood out to me or made me feel anything.
In the middle, there were a few episodes that dragged a bit too much. It is definitely a slow, atmospheric drama. But all the quirky side characters made up for when the main story was moving too slow. The only character I disliked was Do Hyuk. I don't understand why everyone likes potato boy so much. It must be that they simply hate Jae Eon so much, that they like ANY alternative for Na Bi. Because honestly, Do Hyuk must be the most boring character I've ever seen. I usually root for the second lead and am heartbroken when he doesn't get the girl. But to be honest, I just wanted to never see his boring sorry self again.
So all in all, it was beautiful and atmospheric, real and raw - but a little draggy, with a boring second lead and not a good OST.
(Also, I'm not really a Song Kang girl but damn, his shoulders are broad. Like, how??)
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One of the worst kdramas I have watched
The show started out great. It was refreshing to see an adult relationship treated realistically rather than like two teenagers trying to figure out their first kiss like so many kdramas. After the initial "Wow, they are really doing it", it went downhill though. The female lead late in the series called herself pathetic in a voiceover and she was. I get the heart is going to do what the heart wants and she was obviously in lust with the male lead but she just showed no common sense. Obviously I don't know all of the psychology events the female lead has gone through in her life to get to this point in the story but to me, it seemed she was looking to be loved, to be part of a warm, loving relationship but her actions were always the opposite. She had just gotten out of one bad relationship and immediately jumped into another worse relationship taking no time to process her feelings. She spent most of the episodes looking miserable. You could tell she did not want to be in a friends with benefits relationship but her character was weak and continually let herself be drawn back in by the male lead even though it made her unhappy. Her actions were just not something that I could relate too.I know some people just fall under the spell of another and cannot help themselves but the scene in the rain should have been a big red flag to the female lead when the male lead showed his true colors. He physically assaulted her by twisting her arm, forcing her to drop the umbrella and he showed how cruel and manipulative he was but yet she ignored all of that in the end. That is when I truly felt she was just pathic and I lost interest in her character.
The whole second male lead part of the story could have been dropped because I knew she would not choose him in the end. She never showed one bit of affection towards the second male lead. She never held his hand, took his arm, hugged him or even thought of kissing him while she continually slept with the first male lead. The writer could have at least made it seemed as if she thought of the second male lead as more than just a friend and there was a possibility of them getting together in the end but I never got that feeling. She never gave the second male lead a chance so there was never a doubt that the second male lead was going to lose out even though he was offering her the type of loving relationship she wanted. It was just a waste of time, just filler.
The female lead seemed to despise the life her mother was leading, going from relationship to relationship but that is exactly the path the female lead was following. There is no way I could see her relationship with the male lead lasting. Even when the male lead was supposedly missing the female lead and wanting to change for her, he still picked up that woman in the bar, asking if she wanted to see his butterflies. The way that women flocked to the male lead, it was just a matter of time before some new, interesting woman came into his life and he would go back to his old ways.
Overall, who wants to spend hours watching a pitiful character be miserable and never learning, never changing and knowing that her life will be a train wreck.
P.S. Don't get me started on how ugly the art was. I know I am not sophisticated when it comes to art but what was the thing with the rail road ties? It look like it was just a fence. And the female leads sculpture was not much better.
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Disappointed
What to say about this ending? They romanticized a toxic and abusive relationship. They romanticized that a woman is indeed a repair shop for men. I feel shame and pity for Na-bi because in that conversation where they return their relationship, it is evident how emotionally dependent she is on him. She knew what he was like, what he put her through, and yet she threw herself into his arms again. I am disappointed! Fortunately the secondary couples - Sol and Jiwan, Bit-Na and Kyuhyun, Min Young and Kyung Jun - saved that story.They could have made Na-bi discover female empowerment. They could have made her realize with Jae-eon that no one deserves to go through an abusive relationship. What about Jae-eon saying he fell in love with her at first sight? This was never a crush because if he really had fallen in love with her, he would have had intentions of getting into a serious relationship with her from the start. And not just after losing her. What starts wrong will never work. Except in Nevertheless, history made people think everything that happened was normal.
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A mixed bag!
Okay so I did read the negative reviews before watching this but honestly I don't think it is as bad as people claim it to be.The story is pretty cliche and weak but kinda realistic ( atleast for me). The first half started very strong with romance and hesitation but towards the end it was just same old jealous ML drama all together.
I wish we could got more depth into ML character. His connection to butterflies was poetically portrayed but the depth in his character development was missing.
The acting by both the leads were phenomenal. The frustration, the romance ,the pain of loosing someone was portrayed by both of them exceptionally.
The OST was amazing ! Like it just enhanced the watching experience.
Overall a mixed bag for me. I definitely don't dislike it though.
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Don't lie, in our 20's we've all dated at least one guy like the male lead!
Those who wrote a review, and had only watched the first 2 episodes, will probably have a different opinion than those who watched the first 5 episodes. Both characters are pushing and pulling out of fear, not just the male lead (read the synopsis).I think the direction that Korean script writers and dramas are heading towards is realism meets romance. I think this drama would be liked more by western viewers as opposed to South Koreans. However, I could be wrong. I usually dislike dramas in which there is an overflow of toxicity within the storyline or for a character, and if the toxicity is not needed in order to tell the story. However, with this drama it's different because there's a true purpose behind this story, the toxic traits behind both the female and male lead characters show us something. I think a lot of South Koreans tend to like the aegyo style romance (judging by the reviews on kisskh), but it doesn't make them asexual. I think westerners and Asians are both sexual beings but westerners tend to be more upfront with it. As a person who doesn't like overly sexualized movies or dramas, I think this drama is shining the light on the fact that Korean men, are no different than western men when it comes to dating; some men have good intentions, some men have bad intentions. Side note: The male lead actor is hot, as well as the second male lead (wheeeew)!
Dear readers,
PLEASE PRACTICE SAFE SEX, ESPECIALLY IF THE PERSON YOUR WITH IS PROMISCUOUS.
-XOXO From Your Private Parts
Dear readers,
You're single until your married.
-XOXO From TalkingWithYou
Dear readers,
If you have to guess where you stand with a guy, he's really not that into you. Move on, or stay and get your feelings hurt!
-XOXO From middle aged women, who have been there and done that
Dear readers,
I hope that everyone who reads this review will heal from childhood trauma, and any trauma acquired over the years before they consider dating someone else and or sleeping with someone else. If you do not, you may end up ruining someone else's life because you chose not to get rid of your toxic traits ahead of time. Thanks in advance!
-XOXO From all the singles who healed already
I didn't watch the last 2 episodes so I lowered my rating from a 9.0 to an 8.5. I dropped the drama because I kind of got bored seeing the same thing play out over and over again. Thus, my review is only for the first 8 episodes
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Mature Aged Viewing
This drama was so good in the first half. Then after episode 5/6, I just lost interest on continuing. I fast forwarded so much that I end up only watching about 5-10 minutes each episodes. Very very disappointing.The charm of this drama lies in the super good looking casts and the realistic portrayal of modern love (friends with benefits). The chemistry between the leads are incredibly sizzling (in the first few episodes anyway, before the FL turned nasty to the ML).
This drama reminds me of "Cheese Trap" K-drama.
From episode 5/6, the FL was trying to avoid ML like a plaque. Whenever she sees him, she always gave him the hateful look, which really creeps me out. We're talking about few episodes of that - what a joke!
PS. The butterfly tattoo on the back of Song Kang's neck is soooo totally hot!!!
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I applaud these actors for taking such a bold role!
This drama revolves around a friends with benefits type of relationship. There is skinship and canoodling so be prepared. I appreciated this drama because it showed a more realistic side of life/relationships and I found myself being able to relate in many ways to Na-Bi. I also enjoyed following the side romances in the story. There's even a gay relationship; although, it's not really clearly stated as that.Can we talk about the music? It just made every scene more heartfelt! ^_^
I would have liked to know more about the main characters, like what made Jae-eon that way. It was nice meeting his mom, but it still left so many questions. And what's his and Seol-A's story? Did anyone else immediately think... tramp stamp, when seeing the butterfly tattoo on his neck? HAHA! That pick up line, "would you like to see them" (his butterfly collection) had me shamelessly screaming YES PLEASE at the screen every darn time.
The ending was definitely predictable. And I'm still lost as to what Jae-eon and Na-Bi's spat in the rain was about. It seems like things could have been easily cleared up by Jae-eon just saying he doesn't have a girlfriend, especially because by then he clearly knew he loved Na-Bi. Something about him feeling like she hated him but she only acted cold because she thought he had a girlfriend, right? Or still seeing other girls, which he wasn't. Anyway, there was definitely a lot of unnecessary turmoil.
I immediately fell head over heels for Song Kang in Love Alarm. He's so naturally charming, sinfully alluring, and gorgeous. This might sound crazy, but I felt like this was how Love Alarm should have ended or that maybe this was a continuation to season 1. HA! Although this is my first time watching Han So Hee on screen, she's so beautiful, incredibly talented, and really played her character perfectly. Watch this drama - you won't regret it! I'm looking forward to watching more from Han So Hee and Song Kang! <3
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The story is good but frustrating. Love the music, its the only thing that stands out. And thw ending is so not satisfying. They simply got together, I don't know if it was me or they just they didn't explain it really well, I didnt even know what happen between the ML and that friend of his that said they have a past. IDK if it is true or not. And the FL is so naive, her character is fine as she was inlove but the ML sucks. He was acting like a jerk throughout the series. I was hoping for some character development but I was disappointed. Was this review helpful to you?
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Bruh
This is just one big BRUH moment. I honestly felt zero connection with most of the characters except for the lesbian side couple. They were the only reason I kept watching this boring ass kdrama. This was just the most frustrating watch ever, especially since this story follows a girl whos head over heels over a guy whos CLEARLY an asshole and no he will not change lol, im still pissed they made her end up with him when he showed 0 signs of development and actually changing as a person. All he did was apologise a bit and that was it for her...Potato boy deserved better!! And that ending scene where she longingly looked at him through the window makes me think she might've regretted her choice in the end, which is both satisfiying and also frustrating at the same time.
ALSO I was really looking forward to seeing the GL side couple share a lil cute kiss or a lil more scenes atleast but I'll take what I can get.
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It's a realistic drama for sure but it's too toxic, and I hated the leads so much. If they did follow the webtoon I would have like the drama better and it may have save the drama in its totality.
The actors were just okayish for me as watcher. I'm of course in love with the second male lead again, pretty normal for a korean drama watcher like me.
Webtoon >>>>>>>> Korean Drama
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Not as bad as many claim it to be
One of the first dramas i‘ve ever watched so it has a special place in my heart. I never realized how toxic the ml is until i rewatched but their relationship still seemed realistic considering other dramas nowadays. She knew what kind of person he was but was already to involved to back up. Something tells me that he really wasn‘t just playing around with her, as he keeps thinking about her but he wasn‘t giving her 100% full attention either.The whole atmosphere was beautifully portrayed though. The music, the art and the calm personalities of the mainleads.
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