Love for Love's Sake

The meaning is beautiful.

This story genuinely moved me.

As for the plot: It was beautifully executed and had a cute idea behind it. I thoroughly enjoyed the game aspect of it. But past just the game aspect, it's really easy to see past what's going on. so here I am to nerd out about how sweet this drama really is.

When he first starts the game: As a viewer, he makes it seem as though he joined the game to help Yeowoon. he "pitied" him. He is given the mission "Make Yeowoon Happy" with the penalty of death and a timer. This likely represents the human urge to help those around us. it also likely urges towards the idea that Myungha had anxiety. (that part was kind of obvious).
As he goes through the story, he found himself in more and more pain trying to make Yeowoon Happy. It's an awful push-pull game that both of them recognize. Yeowoon eventually calls him out tho, saying "you don't know how to receive love." and that broke Myungha.
So he gives up trying to make Yeowoon Happy, and sacrifices himself. he gives up his life, with his final wish or 'edit to the game' being that Yeowoon is happy.
When he leaves the game, he comes to the void where he faces someone unfamiliar. They discuss what Myungha really wants. Myungha says he wants to live a long life with Yeowoon.

The game notification pops up and changes his mission.

"Make Myungha Happy."

and that moment was what truly broke me. Not once throughout the show was he truthfully worried about himself. He didn't know how to receive love because he didn't love or care for himself.

The MINUTE that the goal changed, he knew what he had to do. He ran to get Yeowoon. This scene almost directly mimics the first episode, showing a rebirth of mentality.

As soon as they see eachother again with the new mission, they are able to happily be together.

Myungha was unable to make Yeowoon Happy because he wasn't truly happy himself. It was only when he realized his happiness was important that he was able to be

happy.

Oh how I love a great show with an even greater meaning.

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Makings of a masterpiece but failed to deliver/be executed properly

I loved this drama. I have not read the webcomic/novel but would still recommend it to any BL lover easily. I just think that it could've been so much better than it was for a number of reasons (below).

The story itself was actually pretty good and innovative for what it offered, a classic school BL romance. I gave the score for story not because of the story itself as I think the events and such were really good in theory. I just believe the issue lies in how it was told. The pacing really throws you off, especially in the latter half. So many critical points in the plot and honestly just cool events get swept away by a rapid-fire of content that gives you no rest or time to process. Many (if not all) of the side/supporting characters were given no love whatsoever, for the most part it just felt like you could put anyone in place of some of the characters and the story would remain unchanged. Several intercharacter dynamics were left hard to grasp, and one of the main characters' personality literally flipped like a switch in such a strange way (I guess you could play this off of the game/system theme/gimmick of the story and its silly tendencies but idk).

Everything else was pretty top notch, and I wanted to give it a 9-10 so bad early on, but I can't with a clear conscience do that since the story carries to most weight to me so 8/10 felt closer to the truth. One thing that sets this series above most others is that the choice of actors and their acting were absolute perfection.

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Surprisingly good?

I wasn't expecting a whole lot but honestly, this show was actually pretty damn good!

I really enjoyed the romance between the two main characters, I enjoyed all of the side characters, and I honestly just enjoyed the show itself. It was much much deeper than I was expecting especially the main character who was on a sort of self-discovery journey without really knowing it. I am not usually super into the video game fantasy sort of idea but this was well executed for sure. This honestly was one of the best KBL's I have ever watched (although the bar is low). I didn't quite get Chun Sang Won but that didn't really detract from the show. I think I was happy enough just looking at him and didn't actually listen to him lol.

If you are looking for a KBL with video-game esque plot and more self-discovery and youth coming of age than expected, this is the show for you.

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Absolutely loved it but only in parts

I nearly missed out on this BL - I had watched the first couple of minutes and didn't like the vibe so switched off. Only after hearing it was one of the top BL's of 2024 I gave it another go and luckily the rest of it wasnt anything like the rest of it.
Certainly for the first 4 or 5 episodes I would give it 10/10 for being a school based BL with a difference with touching moments and fantastic humour that is just well written without being silly and some great one liners.
However as the secoond half went on the writers were trying to be too clever with the story making it messy and at times difficult to follow,

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Practically perfect.

This is one of the most interesting concepts for a BL that I have come across. It took the typical high school setting and flipped it right on its ear with this twist akin to "alternate reality." The idea that Myung Ha could be sucked into a to-be-made game based on a work-in-progress story where he had a few ideas on how to change it was interesting enough. But add to it the subtle (almost hidden) aspect of his depression and the fact that Yeo Woon was based on Myung Ha's life added so much emotional depth to the story. While it may seem like a BL on the surface, underneath it was more like a "learning to love yourself" story.

There were hints from the very beginning, what with Myung Ha said he would change Yeo Woon's story because it was "too much like my own," hinting at the regret he felt for his own personal discontent. Everything the game made him do was a way to validate Yeo Woon's life in a way that Myung Ha thought his own life was lacking. Then the game began to glitch when Yeo Woon was beginning to have romantic feelings toward Myung Ha because the objective was simply to make himself happy and love himself, not necessarily have romantic feelings. But then this is where the fun, BL aspect comes in and I personally think it worked well.

The only downside to this series was the short amount of time they had to tell such an in-depth and complicated story. In the first half of the series, I was impressed with the pacing and thought this series was probably the best I'd seen at making things clear and moving things along at a pace that made sense. (The "likeness meter" was a big help with that.) Then, somewhere around the middle, things were happening where I though to myself, "Did I skip or miss an episode?" And then there were a few things introduced or mentioned that never really were explored that was a shame since they were interesting plot points to me. (Kyung Hoon mentioning his BF and how he was supposedly coming for a visit soon; Sang Won getting into that fight while no one seemed to notice.. to name a couple of examples.)

While I understand and appreciate that they did not try to have a secondary couple with the limited amount of time they had to resolve the main one, I do also wish the two primary side characters got more screentime/storyline because they were done really well, both in writing and acting. I also wish the ending was a bit more clearer (did Myung Ha die and was given a second life or maybe the game was a form of afterlife? Who was Myung Ha's senior, really? )

But, overall, still a very solid series and, minus the few questions left unanswered, it was a satisfying and thought-provoking story. I would definitely watch it again and recommend it to any BL fan.

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