Head over Heels

It's not great!

The Good:
⌲ The high school happenings are above average not annoying.
⌲ Adding to the previous point the teachers are adorable & there is no evil teacher which is almost unheard of in the high school kdrama scene.
⌲ As far as high school romance kdrama representations go this is once again above average, the typical annoyances involving parents are not present.


The Neutral:
⌲ The triangles (considering everything these turned out slightly less annoying than usual)
⌲ The shamanism related basic fantasy setting (At the very least the various shaman characters were fun & interesting, even if it's annoying how this drama is sort of advertising a scamming culture in South Korea)
⌲ The plot in the first half (It's quite silly, but in a tolerable anime-like way.)
⌲ Second ML / friend


The Bad:
⌲ The plot fell apart in the second half (There's so many retcons & rewrites. I'm guessing this drama is another victim of the randomness that is live filming)
⌲ The evil entity
⌲ The evil shaman and her awful semi-redemption ark
⌲ The bully is not very annoying overall, but his personality shift and fast tracked redemption is pretty bad.

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Overall, this drama was actually quite enjoyable to watch. Personally, I never found it boring (although I do think the evil spirit storyline was stretched out a little), and I found the plot itself interesting. However, there were some things that could have been handled a bit better. Certain aspects had some plot holes, and especially the side storylines were often introduced and then simply dropped instead of being developed further.

I’ll start with the main couple - Park Seong A & Bae Gyeon U. First of all, I have to mention that they both became my favorite characters. I absolutely loved how she was so open, crazy, and positive, while he was her complete opposite. My heart melted whenever I saw him start experiencing genuine happiness around her - happiness he truly deserved. One slight negative for me is that we didn’t get to see enough of them during their genuinely happy moments, but their relationship was definitely the most enjoyable part of the drama. On the surface, it was a sweet first love without unnecessary arguments, but they still faced difficulties where both of them genuinely wanted what was best for the other person and wanted them to be happy.

I also want to stay on the subject of Bae Gyeon U for a moment. I think his family storyline could have been developed much better. As far as I remember, there was one really powerful scene where the hatred was shown, but afterward I really missed seeing more of his relationship with his parents. On top of that, he was still attending high school and wasn’t an adult, so how exactly was he living alone after his grandmother died? His grandmother’s death absolutely broke my heart, and I basically jinxed it myself because at the beginning of episode two I said to myself that I was afraid she was going to die - well, I made it to the end of episode two. And then there’s the character of Choi Hui-Na. Her storyline runs throughout the entire drama and honestly had a lot of potential. You know, something along the lines of: something terrible happened to her because of him, so now he puts up with her harassment and doesn’t want to allow himself to be happy. But the final resolution felt absurd to me and turned Bae Gyeon U into a pathetic martyr. If she was the one who caused the fire back then, why did she hate him so much? Why did she wish the worst possible things upon him? Why did he listen to her and keep answering her calls? Was she really doing all of this just because he took the blame for her? How does that make any sense?

Naturally, I have to move on to the Bong-su/Jang Yoon-boo storyline - the evil spirit. At first, I really liked him, and his scenes genuinely made me laugh. Over time, however, I started having mixed feelings about him, and I became increasingly annoyed whenever he wanted to take over Bae Gyeon U’s life. That irritation only became stronger once he actually did it. In the end, I think they stretched this storyline out a little too much and it could have been resolved sooner. Besides that, the storyline itself started losing its logic over time. How did he suddenly move from Bae Gyeon U’s body into Park Seong A’s body and then back into Bae Gyeon U’s body? The second time was supposedly in a dream, but couldn’t we have gotten some deeper explanation for how that worked? Also, if it was really that easy, they could have simply given him someone else’s body and let him live or sacrifice himself. Everyone would have been happy. On top of that, I found his romantic feelings toward Park Seong A slightly disturbing when I remembered that his soul was basically 13 years old.

I also want to stop for a moment and talk about the whole storyline involving spirits, shamanism, etc. I’ll admit that I know absolutely nothing about this subject, and this was the first drama I’ve watched with a plot like this. Personally, I really enjoyed it. Obviously, most of it was presented in a more comedic than dramatic way, but I had a genuinely great time watching it. I also want to give a special mention to Do Ryeong / “Flower Master,” because I absolutely loved his personality.

Pyo Ji Ho is a character who gave me some of the most mixed feelings I’ve had in a long time. On one hand, I liked him. He often brought a lot of humor to the drama and was generally a positive character. Especially when he became Bae Gyeon U’s amulet - I swear, that was one of my favorite moments in the entire drama. But on the other hand, he also had his irritating side: the attention-seeking, pick-me guy who desperately fought for the affection of a girl who had been showing him from the very beginning that she didn’t have feelings for him. Eventually, it just became exhausting (props to the evil spirit, who was literally the only one willing to say it out loud). I was hoping Ji Ho would eventually develop a romantic relationship with Cho Hye Ri, but unfortunately, he was written as a desperate guy until the very end.

Still on the subject of the students, I also have to say that I absolutely loved the Kim Jin Ung and Koo Do Yeon storyline. I’m still disappointed that it wasn’t developed further and that they didn’t get more screen time, because I found it absolutely hilarious how the delinquent started chasing after her because he thought she was the ghost of his dog (although I’m glad they ended up together). Kim Jin Ung himself also had a storyline that was introduced and then never developed - his family. What happened to his father and mother afterward? I know this storyline wasn’t important to the main plot, but if you’re going to introduce something like that, it would be nice to actually develop it later. They did something similar with Mo Beom’s bullying storyline. Why were those guys bullying him? And did they stop after the fight with the others? We have no idea.

The last character I’ll discuss is Yeom Hwa. She isn’t the typical villain that you simply hate. She has enough depth to her character that I often felt sorry for her - even though she pi*sed me off later :D. At the same time, I still think her character could have been developed much more. I would have loved to learn more about her past and, more importantly, what exactly she wanted to gain from the evil spirit. Did she want to bring her child back to life? Did she simply want to see her again? What exactly was her motivation and what was she trying to achieve? Because that actually matters.

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A Strong Motivation of Love

I primarily watched this drama because of the two leads - Choi Yi Hyun, whom I had seen in The Matchmakers and Choo Young Woo of Trauma Code. With the title Head over heels and promo photo, I just thought it was an ordinary young love, but there were so many twists in the whole story.

The Characters:
1. Choi Yi Hyun as the Shaman Seong-A:
She is really cute and could really pass for a high schooler. As an actress, I believe she gave her best, showing different depths of emotion. Her face is very expressive, much more her eyes.
Her character started off as a young person who just carry on a side hustle of a shaman but not too attached to any of her clients until Gyeon-U came. You may say she is obsessed and her desire to save him is because he is her first love. For 10 episodes she is very actively involved with him, but we lost her after taking Bong Su with her. The character has a transformation, a maturity that didn't go to the dark side and kept her mission as what her spirit mom told her.

2. Choo Young Woo as Bae Gyeon U:
He played quite a different role here from Trauma code, and as a high schooler with dark secret. It is good to see him play two different characters which are extremely opposite to one another. Good acting as the melancholic Gyeon U and the playful young Bong Su, that made us guess his age.
Gyeon U thought that he is really doomed forever, and only Seong A was able to give him hope. He needs to find his purpose after his grandma died and that purpose is in archery.

Other characters that really played their parts very well are Seong A's spirit mom and Yeom Hwa. I love the tenacity of the General and the sacrifice she needs to do in order to save Yeom Hwa. And whatever is the future for Yeom Hwa, actually I don't care, at least she left them in peace.

Somehow, I felt the last 2 episodes jumped too fast forward many years without giving a story of Bong Su in Seong A, or what was Yeom Hwa doing within those years if she has already lost the power of a shaman. I had wondered when Bong Su left the body of Gyeon U and followed Seong A, where they went and was surprised later that he is in Seong A already. He is a boy and went in a girl, but acted like a girl? That seemed out of character for Bong Su. They could have made Seong A tomboyish instead if Bong Su is in her.

Am not really loving it. I only finished it to see if they were able to be free from being possessed. I don't usually watch stories of ghosts, with the exception of The Master's Sun. I wonder if Shamans are still existing in modern day Korea. I watched this because I was after redemption and the love story. I don't think I will rewatch the whole drama, perhaps just pick a few episodes that will bring joy to my heart.

What do you think?

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Great premise but very ragebaity

The acting was great, especially loved the ML's ability to switch between Gyeon oo and Bong su, it was very fun to watch. The female lead was also able to strike the perfect balance between cutesy and naive (necessary for her role as a lovestruck teenager to be convincing) all while being brave and daring enough to protect her loved ones without being annoying. Too many times these female leads come off as lowkey annoying in their pursuit to come off as strong, but that was NOT an issue here. In this aspect, the show was a 10/10. HOWEVERRRRR, the Yeom-Hwa thing irritated me to no end (10/10 acting by the actress). It just made no sense to me. I got the point that she was a grieving mother and was the spirit daughter of the General which explained why she was allowed to get away with so much but I literally do not understand what the motive of the writers and directors was with her character. Like, she was literally SADISTIC at the start of the show towards the male lead who was a LITERAL KID, had no qualms about manipulating the lives and spirits of people in order to achieve her goals or just be nasty just BECAUSE, literally caused her spirit mother to DIE and I'm supposed to just be cool with her getting away with it all because "Well, she regrets it now"?? Screw that! I was so bewildered by how unbothered they all seemed by her despite the amount of evil she was doing. She literally manipulated the spirit of a fallen child soldier, turning him into an evil spirit who ended up possessing the body of the human child she tortured and they just CASUALLY HAD HER IN THE HOUSE WITH SAID BOY WHO SHE TORTURED? Make it make sense! The General was upsetting me too because yeah, I get it, she's your spirit daughter. But at the end of the day, she is HARMING people and spirits and you KNOW about it. So why aren't you doing more to stop her?? While watching the last episode, I was just begging them to let her character *poof* because it made zero sense to me that she was able to just go on and live her life after all the harm she had done. If it wasn't for this absurdity, I'd give the show a rough 8/10 (1 mark docked for the rushed ending). But yeah, good watch but very rage baitey.

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The middle part is the best part

==Breakdown==
Background plot - 45%
Romance - 35%
Misc comedy - 20%

Background plot -Good
Romantic chemistry - Good/Sweet
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Good

This was a good drama and worth watching. Definitely on the sweeter side. No substantive complaints. My favorite character was the second male lead; he seemed the most realistic and had the best lines.

A few quibbles:
1. The FL had better romantic chemistry with the male actor when he was possessed by the ghost, which was odd. to realize and watch.
2. The spirit sister was THE WORST and I was left unsatisfied with her ending.
3. The ending dragged and then was suddenly rushed with no resolution regarding what happened with the ML's family. It's strange to me that none of his family stuff was at all addressed or resolved.
4. As I mentioned, it just sorta ends, leaving no time for us to know how the main characters lived their lives.

Overall, not perfect, but definitely enjoyable and worth the time spent watching it.

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Good but drags for too long

The initial plotline of this drama is quite intriguing – a young shaman tasked with helping a cursed boy survive until his next birthday. The series features plenty of fun quests and shenanigans, with a new threat introduced in each episode, making it fast paced and entertaining. However, the plot takes a turn when the ‘final boss’, Bongsu, appears.


Instead of culminating in an 'epic' battle, the story veers into a comedic direction that drags on for too long. By the time the final episodes arrived, I was eager for the series to wrap up – I had lost interest. While Bongsu's backstory was fascinating, it felt unnecessary in addition to the already established plot, ultimately making the narrative feel prolonged.


Now, regarding the romance – was it really necessary? I'm not sure.


I believe Cho Yi Hyun and Choo Young Woo had good chemistry, but their character arcs didn't work in their favour. The love story between Park Seong A and Bae Gyeon U often seemed like an afterthought; it became more relevant once Bongsu was introduced, but the relationship lacked the challenges or dynamics needed to make it compelling. Moreover, I think that if the romance were removed, the story could still develop nicely and would still be worth watching. Thus, I wasn't particularly concerned about whether or not they ended up together.


Overall, the drama is enjoyable but not essential viewing; you can easily watch it, but it won't keep you on the edge of your seat with its content.


Honestly, I think K-Dramas often struggle with the tradition of extending these series over 12 episodes – sometimes, it’s better to finish sooner, especially if there isn't enough strong content to sustain that length.

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A romantic horror-comedy done WELL.

Ep 1- A fresh storyline: a romantic horror-comedy. Seong-ah is a typical bubbly FL and Gyeon-woo is a typical cold ML but I’m all for it. The chemistry is chemistrying👀 Jiho: a new SML- a chill guy who’s besties with the FL😳 The whole high schooler shaman FL saving the high schooler cursed ML is was chaotic- I love it!

Ep 2- Most of this episode is insights into Gyeon-woo’s life. What a pitiful boy. I hope he gets all the love he deserves. I felt so sad when his grandma passed away😔

Ep 3- I’m enjoying seeing a variety of ghosts. The villainess has also just been introduced so I’m curious as to how she ties into the story. I went from crying to giggling in this episode😂

Ep 4- May archer Gyeon-woo thrive! THEIR CHEMISTRY IS SO SO CUTE! I honestly love this pair! Defo gonna watch their other school drama after this!

Ep 5- My eyes welled up when the baby ghost returned to its mother. At first, I thought Gyeon-woo was done with Seong-ah after finding out she’s a shaman, but the library scene gave me hope ONLY FOR IT TO BE CRUSHED WHEN HE DISCARDED THE LIP BALM SHE GAVE HIM!!

Ep 6- Is this a bl or what?! Why is Jiho having 10x more physical contact with Gyeon-woo than Seong-ah?!🤣🤣🤣

Ep 7- Call me crazy but this evil spirit that has entered Gyeon-woo’s body is kinda hot👀 I CANT TAKE HIS RUNNING SERIOUSLY😂😭 Also, he has fabulous chemistry with Seong-ah soooo… Can we keep him?👀

Ep 8- I know what the villainess did to keep her child in existence is spiritually wrong, but I deeply sympathise for her.

Ep 9- I cried when Gyeon-woo won a gold medal, and for the first time, his grandma wasn’t there to congratulate him. I also cried when Yeom-hwa found out her child’s ghost was stuck in a coffin on her back. One minute I’m crying, the next minute I’m laughing. This drama really is something.

Ep 10- Oh, poor Bong-su… I know he has to leave but my heart really hurts for him. However did he become an evil spirit? His heart in his original life seemed so pure.

Ep 11/12- I cried… The ending was expected yet fitting for the story. You will be remembered, Bong-su. Second lead was pitiful but I rooted for the main lead the whole way so I hope he finds happiness in something else.

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This show left me in a tight spot. If you look at the show summary, you can tell the storyline is lame. And it's actually lame, how the heck a student ends up with a shaman? However, they transformed the lame story piece by piece into a beautiful and fun parts. Each part of the story is enjoyable, and it has a generous amount of comedy. The comedy quality is really good and consistent here, thanks to Park Seong A, Pyo Ji Ho, The Flower Master Shaman, and all the casts playing them. Then when you try to think about all of it by connecting each piece of the show into one story you'll start to think it's lame again, especially on the last two episodes. Looks like they've lost it from there.

The casts delivered this story beautifully. Cho Yi Hyun was astonishingly excellent in this show, she played the highschooler and shaman very well and fun. Cha Kang Yoon also did a great job. Choo Young Woo was also good, although I prefer the Bong Su version of him rather than the original Gyeon U.

This show lacks of backstory telling. The backstory of each characters were rarely told, several even left behing. I can't understand why Seong A actual parents left her when she was their "moneymaker". They didn't told us what made Gyeon U family tied so hard to Yeom Hwa, and where's the closure between Gyeon U and his family? Pyo Ji Ho was often left behind, and even had no backstory. His parents didn't even attend his graduation, I wonder why. It looked like he had been put aside especially since Seong A left the school. Yeom Hwa accused General Dong Cheon of resenting her after separating her from her deceased baby, but what kind of "resentment" was never clear.

This show has good music. Overall it's very funny and fun to watch and rewatch, even though the storyline could make you scratch your head.

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