Love for Love's Sake

Guilty Pleasure

I’m a hypocrite, and there’s no way around it. If this were any other show or any other actors, I’d probably make it a point to comment on the age gap between the leads and how, just because Myung Ha is in the body of a 19-year-old, that doesn’t actually make him 19. Mentally, he’s still a 29-year-old adult, and you can definitely tell.

But…I liked the setup too much to make a big deal out of it. I liked the actors too much. I liked the chemistry way too much. Hence, I’m a hypocrite.

That said, before diving in, here are a few potential triggers to keep in mind:
✔ Age gap (18-year-old & a 29-year-old in a 19-year-old’s body)
✔ Suicide
✔ Depression & mental health struggles
✔ Themes of self-worth & self-love

The series tackles these themes in varying degrees, with varying success—but we’ll get to that.

I call Love for Love’s Sake a guilty pleasure because despite all its flaws (and there are more than a few), I realized about four or five episodes in that I was just smiling the entire time. That’s the biggest thing I can say about this show: It’s fun. It’s enjoyable. I had a good time. It doesn’t always make sense, and it definitely could have handled certain aspects better, but I was giggling and smiling almost throughout. And sometimes, that’s enough.

Lee Tae Vin absolutely nailed it. He was by far the best part of the show, delivering a performance that was equal parts charming, confident, and emotional. What made him stand out so much was the contrast—imagine all the confidence, assertiveness, and life experience of an adult, but dropped into a world filled with teenagers and young adults. He’s direct, self-assured, jaded, and occasionally arrogant in a way that makes perfect sense for his backstory. At the same time, he’s funny, caring, and genuinely invested in Yeon Woo’s well-being. His humor, one-liners, and warmth made it impossible not to root for him.

Cha Joo Wan also did a great job as Yeon Woo, but his character arc was a bit rushed. Yeon Woo starts off friendless, deeply depressed, and completely aimless, longing to escape his life. Myung Ha’s presence changes him, helping him open up, gain confidence, and ultimately find happiness. It’s a great arc in theory, but in execution, it felt too sudden. One day, he’s drowning in sadness and self-doubt. The next, he’s a golden retriever in love. The shift could have been handled with more nuance—a slower progression instead of what felt like a flip being switched overnight. That said, puppy Yeon Woo was adorable. And while his role wasn’t as heavy or complex as Myung Ha’s, he had several standout acting moments, particularly during his fight with his father and his confession scene.

If you’ve watched enough KBL dramas, you know how it usually goes: stiff line delivery, awkward chemistry, and actors who sometimes look like they’d rather be anywhere else but on set. But Love for Love’s Sake wasn’t like that.

✔ The acting felt natural.
✔ The chemistry felt organic.
✔ The dialogue didn’t sound like a script being recited from memory.

I fully believed Myung Ha was older and more mature. I fully believed Yeon Woo was inexperienced, going through everything for the first time—his first love, first confession, first kiss. Maybe it was the actors. Maybe it was the writing. But it worked.

Here’s where Love for Love’s Sake falters. The concept itself? Fantastic. The execution? Not so much.
The themes of second chances, self-love, and healing through love were well done. I loved the mirror image aspect—how Yeon Woo essentially is a reflection of Myung Ha’s past, and how Myung Ha teaches him to love himself by showing him how much he is worth which, in turn, is supposed to show himself that he's worth it, is supposed to make him love himself more. But the show stumbled hard towards the climax. Episodes 7 & 8 were sort of a disjointed, clunky mess.

It’s not that the answers weren’t there—it’s that they were presented in a confusing, choppy way that left a lot of people scratching their heads. The emotional payoff was still there, but it could have been so much better structured. There were also a couple of plot points that were just..never explained or followed through with. Or I simply didn't understand them.

✔ Why did only one person remember Myung Ha? Why that person?
✔ Why was the stalker necessary?
✔ What IS this world? In the context of dude bro 선배님 being Fate/Angel of Death/some sort of god, why is this other world a game? Is it a game? Is it a novel? Does Yeon Woo exist or is he truly a mirrored image of Myung Ha in which case self love is ..very literal, innit?
Do these questions need an answer? Depends on the person watching. You may want to draw your own conclusions, others might hate that and feel like the plot's incomplete.

Now, let's address the elephant(s) in the room.

The age gap
The show mostly glosses over this issue. It never really questions or discusses the ethical implications of this, but it doesn't fully lean into the romantic aspect either. At least, not right from the start. However, I've never felt like whatever reservations Myung Ha had about a potential romantic relationship between him and Yeon Woo stemmed from the age gap. Instead he was more concerned with the fact that he didn't belong to Yeon Woo's world and, eventually, would have to leave it.
That said, I didn’t mind it as much as I normally would. Probably because:
✔ The chemistry was strong imo.
✔ Myung Ha, despite his age, never comes across as predatory.
✔ In my country, 18 is a legal adult already.
I would have loved for the show to address it somehow and it's one of the reasons I deducted some stars from the rating.

The suicide
Having it as the 11th hour twist was interesting, but it also meant the the writers had only a 30 something minute episode to try and cram Myung Ha's emotional arc , the reunion with Yeon Woo and the happy ending all in there. Which didn't leave a lot of time to explore Myung Ha's realization of the truth, him coming to terms with it, explanations about the rest of the inhabitants of this "game world". Because of this, the emotional arc of Myung Ha isn't as coherent as you'd want, because there's literally no time to have him properly process everything apart from a 2-3 minute scene.

In conclusion, if you can overlook the age gap, accept some narrative stumbles, messy execution and some rushed character development, you’ll probably find yourself smiling just as much as I did.

Would I rewatch it? Honestly? Yeah.

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Love Supremacy

Interesting plot premise right from the start and the execution was even better. The cast was great, no awkward acting (in fact, Lee Tae Vin knocked it out of the park with his acting), and the storyline had depth and not just fluff. It's about learning how to love and be loved, and a self reflection on what it means to be happy.

However, there were some pacing issues, which I feel was kind of expected with the number of episodes. They probably could have benefited from maybe 1-2 more episodes, but overall, I don't think it detracted too much from the drama, which was still high enjoyable and meaningful. Highly recommend a watch, even if you're not a BL fan.

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It left me wanting more.

The only bad thing about this Korean BL is its length, it left me wanting more. From the beginning it managed to grab me because of its interesting plot, although I think it could have been more exploited.
Although the time we get to know deeply all the characters was short, it was enough for them not to feel like simple fillers, evend the second characters were of value for the development of the plot.
Of the main characters I must mention that I liked their performances, and enjoyed watching them on screen every moment.
But, I repeat, I wish it would have lasted a little longer, so that we as viewers would have understood things a little more and some aspects would have been deepened.
Anyway, it was cozy, cute, interesting and that's why I would highly recommend it.

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an absolutely lovely gem!!!!

boy did I like this drama.
it is very short so I managed to finish it in one session.
this drama is so so so so sweet and I cannot stop smiling after finishing it.

the story , which is very simple, revolves around min (let's call him that way, I am so bad with names) who is meeting a friend in a bar. they talk about the last novel his friend wrote and discuss about what is an happy ending and all things around the concept of happiness.

the friend ask min what he would do to find an happy ending and min gets magically thrown back to his teen ager years.

he meets Cha woo (let's pretend that's the real name), who is the protagonist of the friend's novel.
min's mission is to help Cha woo to find happiness and that's where the action starts.

spoiler: this drama is obviously mainly about love but also about loneliness, hope, desperation and many other themes. everything is handled lightly but not dismissingly.
it is a very sweet and enjoyable drama. you never get a Moment of boredom.

trust me a random stranger on the internet.
if you need to watch something heartwarming just give it a go, you won't regret it.

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This Chemistry is Too Damn Sweet, For Love’s Sake!

Love For Love’s Sake is one of those dramas you’d think wouldn’t see the light of day due to its unusual concept, but here it is.. and it delivered!

Here, the actors delivered an impeccable performance amidst the fictional backdrop of a fresh, somewhat still "foreign" concept / setting in K-drama land— transmigration. I’d have to admit, it’s hard nailing a genre as complex as transmigration where good worldbuilding is absolutely crucial; and truthfully speaking, the plot, in terms of worldbuilding… fell a bit short. Understandably, since LFLS is a short series, I didn’t expect for all the plot holes to he filled. However, we’re still left with some loose ends.

Length-wise, an 8-episode, 30-40 min per episode Korean BL is a real treat! Nowadays, Korean BLs have a running time of 10-20 min per episode. However, the problem with LFLS is how the scriptwriter tried to balance the storyline by making it equal parts "plot" and "character"-driven. Character development was adaquate, but the relationship unfolding between the two leads felt rather rushed. Honestly, this drama would’ve been incredible if it had just a few more episodes solely to polish up the worldbuilding.

Apart from that, the characters are layered, soundtrack was good, and cinematography came out pretty well for a low-budget drama! Also, the two leads had insane chemistry that practically oozes off the screen. I mean, cmon', you’re watching a drama with leads who are eye candy, can act, and can cry-on-cue without it looking forced or unnatural. I also fell in love with the ML, Cha Yeonwoo— he’s such a cutiepie! Cho Joowan’s duality for his character is amazing. Looking at his MDL photo, you’d think the man would be fierce in real life, but the man radiates so much golden retriever energy!

Watch at your own risk— otherwise, you might get attached to the characters (nothing new, though)!

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Couldn't stop watching

I have stumbled upon this one by coincidence and literally finished it in one sitting.

Overall I enjoyed this drama a lot, the plot is unique and it was executed really well. All of the characters were really enjoyable and personally I didn't mind the fact that Sang-won wasn't a 'real' thread for Myung-Ha's and Yeo-woon's relationship. However, I wish Sang-won, Kyung-hoon and Sia would have gotten more background story, especially for Yeo-won and how their relationship developed. A few things that bothered me in the series was how some scenes really just seemed to jump from one scene to another without making sense or some seemed to have no to little actual meaning for the continuous plot of the drama. And also Yeo-Wons sudden change from seemingly 'disliking' or hiding his feeling/being cold towards Myung-ha to kind of acting like a little puppy who cannot get enough love and attention from his owner. The Ending was good but imo I feel like the solution would've been so much easier. But, I guess they gotta make it more complicated and dramatic since it's a drama, right? :D

All in all I really loved the drama and didn't think I would binge-watch it, but I literally could not stop watching at all.
Although the 'gaming'-setting was obviously nothing realistic, the drama itself was still very much based on real-life situations and made realistic and relatable for its watchers, which I really enjoyed.

If you came this far, thank you for reading, I hoped it somewhat helped you and I hope you find your own happiness in this world. <3

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ONE OF THE BEST K-BLs, MUST WATCH!

Its really true, K-BLs are getting better, dang!

I mean, from the storyline to the chemistry of the pairing up to the kissing scenes, ohh.

I am happy that even though its still a short 8 episode series, the amount of mins. per ep isn't that short as what's happening before. You can truly tell that SoKor is starting to invest and give more time in producing quality K-BLs.

The castinggg??!! TOP TIER! Taevin and Joowan's chemistry? Dang, they worked. Taevin's charisma as the funny ganster-ish Myungah and Joowan's duality as the cold turning soft boy Yeowoon, damn, these two played it like a fire. Woongki and Minsu added a great kick to the story, even with a small screentime, they made a cute impact.

THE ACTING?? TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL. I swear, they made me cry with 'that' break up scene.

Honestly talking, as a BL fan in such a long time, since K-BL arise, I find it hard to find a K-BL that would give me 'that kind of feels', you know. BUT THIS? THIS IS IT. MUST WATCH, INDEED.

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great concept, quite good execution

I might have had high expectations based on the comments and reviews here but that's on me.

I loved the concept, however I kept finding little things that kind of annoyed me when watching. All the small time skips between scenes made me feel a bit confused about the passage of time which is probably because of time constriction, deliberate or not. Some of the scenarios felt very unrealistic but that's just some nitpicking on my side.

*SPOILERS*
Sangwon being all jealous was unnecessary in my opinion. The end confused me the most; how does Myungha writing that he wants Yeowoon to be happy remove him from that universe? Did he go back to his universe and died by suicide? And did he then get transported back to Yeowoon's universe after his talk with his senior? I might have missed some clues that would answer all this but as of now I'm left with many questions.

The acting was very nice though! I could definitely feel the emotions the characters were going through. The ost was cute as well!

Overall, I leave a bit disappointed but definitely not regretting watching Love for love's sake!

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Melancholy and cheerfulness

I enjoyed watching this series. I had few expectations at the outset and so was pleasantly surprised.

There are two things, in my opinion, that make the series work - the game concept, which adds an original dimension to the pursuit of the love interest, and the contrast between the two main characters, one cheerful and the other morose. I enjoyed watching how this dynamic shifted as the story progressed. The jealous side character also provided an interesting element.

Some things didn't work for me - the part-time work on the side, who was modelling and for whom, was not that convincing. And while I was okay with how the story developed, like other viewers I found the last two episodes too rushed and underdeveloped.

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great ! but some plot points ..

i thoroughly enjoyed this drama ! i love how unique the plot is , and although i didn't get the meaning at first , watching the whole show helped a ton . really great stuff as it was pretty heart wrenching at many points . however , i feel like a lot of the plot points were not consistent enough for my liking . myungha's missions after "befriend yeowoon" became so strange like .. why save up 3m won ? why make a fanpage for yeowoon ? and they were quickly forgotten about too . they introduced a stalker and after he tried to kill myungha he fell off the face of the earth like why not expand more on that ..? they also mentioned yeowoon's father like twice and myungha's mother 3 times at most . hello ? don't even add it if you're not gonna explain further .
another thing was the roles of kyunghoon and sangwon ; they're shown in the intro with yeowoon and myungha , so you assume they'll have important parts . (shocker : no they don't !) kyunghoon is barely there so he couldn't even have some character development or something .. and sangwon was there to make a love triangle between him , myungha , and yeowoon . they could've fleshed his character out more instead of just making him lowk kind of attention hungry . i wish kyunghoon's relationship with his long distance bf was explored more along with sangwon's sexuality ("i've only liked girls until now") .
next , yeowoon had a very strange character change after the fourth episode . his mysterious demeanour was swapped out for a completely unrecognizable one for his character , and it was so so odd . they could've softened him in a different way instead of making him down horrendous for myungha to the point where i had to go back and see if i missed anything during yeowoon's transition of personalities . super strange and it could've been done much more subtly instead of just suddenly after myungha came to his race .
moving from that , lgbtq+ love and the heavy topics of suicide and abuse/bullying were represented with care ; it's clear that everyone working on the show had pure intentions to make sure that nothing they showed could've been viewed as offensive . they also didn't dumb down any of the characters , and the choices they made felt real and human , almost as if i was the one who made them .
overall , this drama is seriously a great watch . i know i criticized a lot of it , but everything aside from what i mentioned was top tier and you can tell a lot of time , care , and work went into it . the cast get along well too ! happy to see cha woongki again :) if another season is ever decided , i'll definitely tune in . only hope , though , never expect .

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A Story about Loneliness, Familial Loss, Suicide, and Self-Love...all in a Dating Sim!

(Old review draft that I finally decided to post at least a year post-watch)

If there's one thing to take away from this show, it's the importance of having your own back, and understanding that you are all you can ever truly rely on. I really enjoyed the story, it felt unique and fresh by BL standards. The story gets to a point in the second half of the season where it is supposed to feel kind of psychological and 'scary', which I think the show did to a decent effect. I have never read the manhwa, so idrk what kind of ideas they did or didn't get to explore in comparison. However, I found myself often wishing that certain points would have been elaborated on, but due to the runtime limit for each episode, I feel that certain things weren't as impactful as they could be. Although, I didn't quite feel confused at any point necessarily, I did feel that certain things did not meet their full potential. I honestly mostly wish that this series got even more experimental in it's thriller/horror elements. In the moments where the main character was glitching through the game, it felt very unsettling. The ending was really excellent as well, I felt it wasn't terribly rushed, and was mostly satisfying. But as I said, a lot of things could have been expanded upon more to make that final moment all the more impactful. The side characters were fine, but they were not developed very well, and didn't really have their own plots or anything, they are just kind of there to support the main characters. But I suppose that's justified considering they were basically literal npcs. which by the way, whenever I felt myself getting really emotionally invested, I just kinda thought to myself "what makes this even more f*cked up is that none of these people are real (in the story) other than the main character. (until the plot twist at the end of course which implies that this is all just in Myung-Ha's head and the love interest is kind of just a representation of himself). I think that this story is also heavily open to interpretation as to the meaning, feels more personal that way. This was also definitely another classic case of a much more profound storyline disguising itself as a "BL". I went into this expecting a cheesy high school BL, but I came out of it not even feeling like I watched a BL at all (despite the few kiss scenes here and there). Overall, I was thoroughly invested the whole time, and I honestly really liked the deeper elements that you kind of have to cut through the layers to get to. Also the casting was awesome, the actor for Yeo-Woon is a cutie pie!

Edit: I've been reading around and I don't like the theory that Myung-Ha got a second chance at life after he woke up. I'm thinking of it more as the video game being like a purgatory type of place, and that when he wakes up after disappearing in the final episode and he's still in the video game world—but it's not acting like a video game anymore—I think he's basically ended up in his own version of 'heaven'. (cuz like the 'game master' guy must represent like either the grim reaper or god from how I see it). (Also I feel like him getting a literal second chance at life would kind of defeat the purpose of the story).
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Rewatch review: Just rewatched this after a little over a year or something and just wanted to update since my first review was a 7.5/10. Upon rewatch, this show is a lot better than I remember and I think I appreciate it a little more now for what it is. Everything I said before is pretty much the same, but I guess I just enjoyed it more this time around. I definitely stand with what I said about this not even feeling like I watched a BL—this feels like it has so much more to offer than the average cheesy BL series. But anyway, that is all, update complete! 8/10

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Great start, bad ending.

The premise of the show was really something different. I was excited to know how it would end, and how things would unfold. At the 6th episode, sadly, I realized that it was not going anywhere.

The plot become confusing, and I still don't get why he was in the game, who put him there and for what reason.

Another thing that pissed me off was the fact that the game was malfunctioning, and at no point was it clear why this was happening. I also thought that the secondary characters were poorly developed, and that a lot could have been added. The main characters are great, but their relationships are poorly developed. We briefly see that one of them has an abusive father, but that isn't properly developed either. We also barely know anything about the characters' lives, and everything that is presented is done in a vague manner. What started as a relationship with little affection, in my opinion, changed format quickly, where the writers allowed one of them to fall intensely in love in a short time (even though one episode before he still hated the other).

I have to admit that I love Korean BLS, because of the different rhythm they have. But this one disappointed me deeply. I didn't expect to be so frustrated.

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