This review may contain spoilers
When Love and Hatred Exist together
"I hate you to the core but still i love you the most." This single line perfectly captures the essence of the drama. At its heart, its a story about the toxic yet unbreakable friendship between Eunjeong and Sang Yeon. No matter how destructive their relationship seems, they remain each other’s one constant.Sang Yeon is clearly toxic but i never found myself truly hating her. Maybe its because her backstory was portrayed so convincingly or maybe because deep down, Eunjeong never stopped needing her. Thats what makes their bond so fascinating, it defies simple labels. To call it mere friendship feels inadequate. Its the kind of connection where they shouldnt be together yet they cant exist apart.
Romance and especially the love triangle, was also a big part of the drama. The triangle was complicated, but after finishing drama you couldnt really hate anyone in it. At times you might get angry on characters like Sang Yeon or Sang Hak and at other times you could even understand where they are coming from. In the bigger picture, i dont resent any of them for how the story unfolded. The romance between Eunjeong and Sang Hak was touching but her love-hate bond with Sang Yeon absolutely stole the show.
The drama leans heavily into melodrama and it had me in tears multiple times. The first real breaking point for me was Sang Yeon’s brother’s backstory, which was devastating and then the last two episodes hit just as hard. They were painful to watch, but in the best possible way.
What i liked most was how the drama never painted their relationship in black and white. It didnt glorify Sang Yeon’s behavior but it also didnt make her a complete villain. It showed how love, anger, insecurity, jealousy and dependence can all exist together in one relationship. That made the characters feel very real, even with their flaws.
I personally think that in real life no one should have a friend like Sang Yeon. But in this drama, i dont know maybe its not for me to decide whether a toxic friend like Sang Yeon should stay with Eunjeong or not. What i felt after finishing the drama is that Eunjeong herself needed her. And because of that, i still accept and even approve their toxic friendship within the story.
The drama also had a very strong atmosphere. The music, the pacing and the way side characters were written all added to the heaviness of the story. The subplots didnt feel extra, they actually made the drama deeper and showed how Eunjeong and Sang Yeon’s choices affected everyone around them.
In the end, even with its unusual and heavy storyline, i loved it a lot. For me, its a solid 9.5/10.
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They are friends soulmates enemies and everything in-between....
This show offers a refreshing take on friendship, depicting a relationship far from flawless. It's a complex portrayal, brimming with envy, jealousy, and insecurity the kind where love and hate intertwine, and codependency reigns. These messy, often unhealthy dynamics are realistically explored, making it difficult to look away. The performances, particularly by Kim Go Eun and Park Ji Hyun, are outstanding, capturing the raw, unfiltered essence of the characters. The show doesn't shy away from the gray areas of human nature, and the characters are complex, yet strangely relatable.
While the pacing may be deliberate, the story's impact lingers long after the credits roll. Approach it with an open mind.
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True sense of love
I really loved this drama it depicts the reality where love can't exit without hatred and it depicts friendship in a very unique manner and how parent partiality can last in one's heart till their end wnd the character development is very unique and it depicts the reality not so superficial like in other dramasWas this review helpful to you?
A fantastic note on friendship with all shades of colours!
The story opens with Chae Song Yeon convincing Ryu Eun Jung to accompany her for her final moments. With the whole series spanning their childhood to their late 40s.I found their high school times the most adorable to watch. They're so young yet grappling their embarassments. Chae Song Yeon later reflects how those tiny thoughts really made her the adult she is.
The story moves to their 20s, when they're in college. Kim Song Hak who shares the same first name as Song Yeon's brother and becomes the college sweetheart of Eun Jung. It was frustrating to watch the push and pull between all three of them. How much they do mean to each other, with Song Yeon battling her toughest times.
Moving to their 30s, coincidence brings them back but now we have spiralled from their childish rivalry, the bitterness of their work, pride and kindness swallows the delicate relationship between the girls causing an irreparable drift. The two are way past childish whims, Song Yeon solidified her character with all the setbacks triggering her — the actress acted so well ! My favourite scene had to be when she admitted it outright her grief as made her the borderline obsessive person she is now.
With the previous decades deed, imagine the surprise Eun Jung would have felt now that Song Yeon wants to revisit her. The most remarkable thing about how they depicted the relationship - the two girls had it all: rivalry, jealousy, hatred, loathe, sweetness but their kept coming back because there is Love ! I found the storyline consistent, I enjoyed the two main actress work, especially Go Eun moving. I have my tissues drenched with tears. As someone who knows the pain of losing, the show was not an easy watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
You May like it or may not
To be honest half the story of this drama is so good because evry character is done so well and acting is also done very well but i had major problem with writing of the drama because half of the drama have story until there college years and during that we connect with every character and see that no one is wrong it is just situation and most imortant there is no hint od any three way feelings or love triangle by the end of there college scene in drama it is very well shown that sang yeon is over it even though eun jung and sang hak relationship is not same but it was still not some type of rival thing between female leads but after that i dont know why the writer added this unwanted villian arc for sang yeon because she was clearly good in there college life everyhting was ending on simple note but than writers complicated the things when they enter there work life which i didnt like. but yeah last ten minutes of last episode made me cry because it wa so real, they way eun jung pats sang yeon head and says " you did well" iw ould say great job whoever directed that scene because i ahve personally countless witnessed deaths of including family members this is exactly what most of peole do in those last moments, and yeah rewatch value im giving 1 because of two reason 1st the after mid story of drama which is unwanted and too much emotional ending.Was this review helpful to you?
Perfect Melodrama
This drama is a rare gem, perfectly cast from the child actors to the supporting roles, with a beautifully built storyline that captures each phase of life seamlessly. The OST is outstanding, elevating every scene, and despite its melodramatic tone, not a single episode feels dull. It’s an acting showcase from start to finish, with Kim Goeun standing out as an exceptional actress who brings remarkable depth and authenticity to her role.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
When Narrative Disorder Masquerades as Depth
The idea is great, but not new.We’ve already seen it to exhaustion.
Whenever a drama wants to explore “deep female friendship,”
they almost always throw in terminal illness
as the narrative glue.
The only truly remarkable part here
are the performances of Kim Bo Min and Park Seo Kyung
as the younger versions of the leads.
They deliver the real emotion, much more than the adults.
The real problem is the narrative structure.
That tendency in K-dramas to tell the story all over the place:
they start in one year,
jump back 40 years,
then 10 years forward…
and on top of that, insert another story inside a story.
If it had been told in a linear way —
childhood, youth, adulthood, and finally the blow of cancer —
the impact could have been brutal.
But they chose to fragment it.
There’s no accumulation of tension,
because they show you the consequences
before you even understand the causes.
The difference between narrative complexity and narrative disorder is clear:
this drama seems to believe that fragmenting the timeline is art,
when in reality it’s sacrificing emotion.
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as a woman i know this feeling
i loved everything. It's not just about love and friendship. It's about how sometimes friendship between woman are.i hear this everytime that man's friendship is not toxic like girls.but men are not girls or women.we are generationally suppress our feelings and sometimes we think that acting tough is the best way to deal with own feelings.we hesitate to say things about ourselves and our fanily beacause we think how will they react.sometimes we don’t need reaction we just need someone to listen and not say what to do just listen....female friendships are complicated but once It's goes through everything it just become the unbreakable... i think this is the story.. they got jealous,angry,rage about themselves, laugh and at the end nothing matters except themselves. stand by each other no matter whatWas this review helpful to you?
