Way Back Love

"Kim Min Ha, the Fairy of Drama and Queen of Broken Hearts"

“Way Back Love"
- A short K-drama with devastating intensity

Once again, Kim Min Ha delivers a breathtaking performance, this time in *Way Back Love*—a drama that’s as brief as it is soul-crushing. She’s like a fairy of emotions, radiant and fragile, yet so powerful in her presence. Every look, every word she utters feels like it was crafted to break you. Whether it’s the script that gives her such poignant lines, or her sheer ability to elevate them, the result is the same: she embodies pain with haunting authenticity.

Opposite her, Gong Myung—an actor I hadn’t encountered before this drama—brings a soft, quiet intensity that perfectly complements hers. Together, they share a chemistry that feels genuine, effortless, and deeply affecting. Though the drama only spans six episodes, it grabs you instantly and leaves a lasting mark.

From the very beginning, *Way Back Love* doesn’t pretend to offer comfort. You know, you *feel*, that a happy ending is unlikely. And yet, you hope. It’s that cruel tension—between love and fate—that makes watching it so emotionally unbearable. You sit there, powerless, aching for characters you can’t save.

What stays with me most are the words spoken by Jung Hui Wan (played by Kim Min Ha):
**“I will remember you. I will keep living. Because for us, loving myself means loving you.”**
It’s a simple sentence, but it carries a staggering weight. A love that survives even in absence.

Kim Min Ha had already made me cry in *Light Shop*, where she portrayed another sorrowful soul, someone for whom happiness seemed unreachable. But in *Way Back Love*, she transcends melancholy. She *becomes* love—pure, painful, and unforgettable.

I wholeheartedly recommend this drama to everyone, but with a heartfelt warning: watch it when you're in a place where you can handle the sadness. This isn’t just entertainment—it’s an emotional experience, a soft wound that lingers long after the final scene.

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Goblin vibe

I don’t know why I feel I watched Goblin. Maybe FL’s vibe maybe Grim Reaper. Kim Min Ha is very talented artist like Kim Go Eun. I think that I cried a lot. She shows character’s pain and sadness.
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It’s exactly a coming-of-age story. You lose a lot of things, including parts of your childhood, your live, your friend, your joy; but you keep going—you have to keep going.
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I wish happy ending. Very very happy ending. But we can say it is also happy ending right? Because a happy ending means something different to everyone.
Ram U’s mother is happy now. It is really relief.

And the music Spring is gone—it’s very nostalgic. When I listened to it, I felt like I went back ten years, maybe even more. I can’t remember exactly whenI listened this song. And other song, If You, 🥺 It is a reason my cried.

I really hope to see Gong Myung in more dramas—he’s such a great actor. Nowadays TVING’s original dramas seem to be more successful compared to dramas from other platforms. It is good for everyone.

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Don't underestimate this drama (even though its 6 eps)

As the headline says don't underestimate this diamond of a drama!! Its short, its beautiful, its bingeworthy and it'll make you tear up for sure. You experience the emotions with the female lead (who is amazing by the way, her emotional scenes just make you feel the pain with her 😩) and the love the male lead has for her. For six episodes you get a lot to unpack and feel!

My favourite lines: (when you watch it for yourself these lines mean so much more with the context and scenes they're from)
"saving yourself is saving me"
"because to us, loving myself means loving you."

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did if you watch it!:)

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not a typical review but more like how i felt watching episodes

17/04/25. just finished ep 3 and my heart hurt n bawled just like Hee wan at the end of the episode. sometimes you just need something like this so you can cry your heart out.
18/04/25. just finished ep 4 and tears wont stop. and the fact when Kim ram Woo's mother realized it was her son in OR that scene hits like a truck.
18/04/25. just finished ep 5. it was so heart warming. writers n directors are playing with our emotion?
18/04/25. finished the series. kind of predicted the ending. bawled like toddler. overall it was self healing. just what you need if you're feeling depressed. as Jung Hee won who lives as Kim Ram Woo says. LIFES GOES ON

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What love is all about

“You told me that… time finally seems to be flowing. That’s enough. Don’t forget that. Keep thinking that way. No. That’s because you’re here. No. You can do it without me, too. We created this week together.”

If I had to talk about “Way Back Love” I would compare it to that comma followed by the adverb “too”. “You can do it without me, too.” That comma here takes on a symbolic meaning, becoming, in the very short break it creates in the sentence, an acknowledgement of the pain and the distress Jung Hee Wan who is also Kim Ram Woo is feeling. It also highlights the half-eaten regret voiced by Kim Ram Woo who is also Jung Hee Wan who wished he didn’t have to end his sentences with “too”. The adverb “too” contains their memories, their persevering love, the hole in their hearts that will never close. That “too” embodies how Jung Hee Wan will always miss Kim Ram Woo, will long for him as she tries to keep on living, to remember that that “too” is her strength but also a promise: the time they had won’t disappear, but the time she has now cannot be wasted.

The sentences I quoted in the beginning of this review says so much about the drama itself, but also its characters. Jung Hee Wan, Kim Ram Woo, Yoon Tae Gyeong, Lee Hong Seok, Hee Wan’s and Ram Woo’s family, they all have one thing in common: they love each other in the most genuine way. The love they give is one that pulses with every heartbeat, it’s one as malleable as clay, it transforms as the people they love grow and change. But it remains, always, everlasting. It’s a love that understands and doesn’t judge. It’s a love that brings out the best in people without trying to.

Ram Woo is a character that simply radiates kindness and Gong Yung’s embodied this trait so well with his gazes and his shy smiles. Watching him fall in love with Hee Wan warmed my heart. With only six episodes, Ram Woo and Hee Wan’s romance didn’t feel rushed at all and what a relieve it is to finally watch a drama with relationships that make sense. Their love is not told but shown in the way they look at each other, the way they talk and behave. That’s what I want more of! A simple “I love you” won’t cut it. Make me believe in the love characters share and I will stop complaining (I’ll tone it down at least). When they caught each other’s eyes during classes… Yes, I acted all silly because it was cute. It was innocent and beautiful. Them realising their feelings for each other was beautiful. And what should have become their fondest memories – the moment they voiced out their love to each other – it turned out to be the most tragic day of their lives.

Losing someone close to you is a pain so deep that words fail me. What words can come close to describing the hollow it leaves in your body and soul? When you grow up, go through the different stages of life, and they’re not by your side to live them with you. When time makes no sense to you anymore because the days feel all the same, because you see people whose life has resumed and yours has simply stopped and you don’t get it. There is nothing to understand, however finding a reason to explain what cannot be explained provides the illusion of comfort. Grief is a mystery. It’s both the purest form of love and the greatest sorrow. Kim Min Ha somehow succeeded to make us experience it and she was phenomenal. Her acting has such a rawness to it that whenever she cried, my throat tightened.
Her micro-expressions made the contrast between high-school Hee Wan and college Hee Wan all the more striking. “What happened to you, Kim Ram Woo?” Grief. One word, a thousand realities.

Since this review is a failed attempt to articulate my thoughts around this drama, I’ll simply end with what I adored: the relationship between the different characters.
The friendship between Hee Wan and Tae Gyeong and between Ram Woo and Hong Seok were such a delight to watch. Love that the drama took some time to develop their friendship despite the few episodes. One of my favourite moments in the drama is definitely the talk between Hee Wan and Hong Seok in present time, when Hong Seok gently but firmly states that he, too, did not overcome the void the passing of his best friend caused and that Hee Wan has no right to judge him on the way he lives his life. This scene was a stunning reminder of the complexity of grief and the many faces it can take.
I also loved the moments between Hee Wan and Ram Woo’s mother, Kim Jeong Seok. So often in life, you form bonds with the relatives of your friends and partners and yet when a breakup occurs, you both lose a friend or a partner and the bonds you formed with their family. This loss is rarely talked about. “She’s important to me, too.” Hee Wan’s reunion with Jeong Seok was healing to the both of them and it was beautiful to watch.

My review is repetitive but what this drama showed the viewers was nothing but beautiful. The heartfelt script allowed for complex topics to be addressed without judgement. The characters were all there to support each other. Ram Woo’s loss was a tragedy and, paradoxically, him coming back, allowing Hee Wan to starts her grieving, made her see that people might look like they have moved on but the hurt lingers. And that’s okay. Nothing will fill the void Ram Woo left in the lives of the people who loved him and this is proof of how loved he was and will always be. However, this love that started in high school, the kindness shared, the memories formed, the resolved misunderstandings, the pain experienced, Hee Wan is now able to live with it. She was always able to but Ram Woo brought the reassurance she needed. “You’re Jung Hee Wan and also Kim Ram Woo.” That kindness is something Hee Wan holds within too and it’s a flower Ram Woo wishes to see grow, even without him. “Because to us, loving myself means loving you.” Hee Wan, with her way with words, her paintings, her joy and sorrows, is someone to be treasured, by herself most importantly. This is exactly how I envision love: a feeling that, when received, helps you grow and when gone, remains a warmth in the pit of your stomach that reminds you that you are worth it and that you can do it on your own, too.

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Such a beautiful story!

God where do I start with this show... I feel so empty but complete at the same time. I love the storyline and how beautifully written it is and the actors did an amazing job at bringing the story to life (The chemistry between the actors definitely helped in this category.) I've seen some people complain about the length of the shows but I personally loved the length; It was not too long but also not short enough where I'm left questioning things or wanting more. Not only did the length of the show aid in this but also the creators of the show did an amazing job at leaving things solid and gave viewers so much closure. Although some may disagree, I think the ending was perfect, beautiful, and also made me feel the love the characters had for each other.

Overall this kdrama was so so so good and I recommend everyone to watch! This is definitely one of my favorites dramas of the year and will be rewatching when I want to feel something :3

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Bittersweet and Beautiful

If you’re a fan of fantasy K-dramas with a nostalgic high school backdrop, Way Back Love hits all the right notes. After watching the first four episodes, I’m completely immersed in its premise, beautiful storytelling, stellar casting, and good soundtrack. The cinematography deserves a special shoutout too.

This is my first time watching Gong Myung, and I must say, he’s a revelation. His charm and performance have truly swept me off my feet. Kim Min Ha, as always, proves her versatility and emotional depth, effortlessly drawing viewers into her character’s inner world.

With only six episodes in total and the finale airing next week, I'm both excited and anxious. There's so much left to unravel, how are they going to tie it all together in just two episodes?

The narrative’s back and forth between past and present adds an emotional layer to the storytelling, even if it gets slightly jarring at times. Still, it serves the plot well, especially in exploring the tragic yet poetic fate of Jung Hui Wan and Kim Ram Woo. One has already met his end and become a grim reaper, while the other has just a week left to live. How can they possibly find a happy ending in a world ruled by fate?

Way Back Love is a touching reminder that even in the face of doom, love can bloom and sometimes, it might just rewrite destiny.

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Not Afraid to Deliver the Needed Ending

In this brief six episode story a young woman, extroverted, outgoing, and with an impish love of pranks develops an odd relationship with the new nerdish guy in her homeroom by cajoling him into exchanging names with her as part of a school April Fool’s Day prank. This name change becomes a running connection in their ever closer friendship. They have feelings for each other but for fear of rejection can’t get the couple connection going.

He dies and she is devastated realizing that he was the love of her life. She loses the will to live. Then one day four years later her dead love-of-her life appears in front of her. He’s now a grim reaper and he tells her she dies in one week and he plans to spend that week with her.

The six episodes focus on that week with frequent flashbacks filling in their lives’ details. As far as the why and how of grim reapers there’s not much in the way of exposition. The little we do see is an obvious foreshadowing of a key plot twist like a pilot warning passengers to buckle up because of looming turbulence.

Beautiful stories that grab you emotionally don’t always have happy endings. He’s dead and a grim reaper and she’s alive so the prospects for a happy ending aren’t all that rosy.

Despite the grim reaper supernatural element the story doesn’t try to scare nor does it have a focus on the supernatural, but instead plays it straight setting up situations and letting characters and viewers deal with emotional impact.

Can a grim reaper somehow prevent a scheduled death from occurring? What are the repercussions? Grim reaper stories are often about life and not death, about the living struggling with regrets and loss. And sometimes they’re about the dead being given a voice in the story to confront losses they regret from when alive. If you could come back from death to help someone you deeply love, how much would you be willing to sacrifice?

A more timid screenwriter would feel compelled to deliver a pat happy ending. They might warn of horrible outcomes but then by some unlikely twist deliver what most people want and not what the story demands. WBL doesn’t shy away from the needed ending.

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Way Back Love’s emotional touchstones reminded me of another story also centered around using grim reapers to talk about life, a dark comedy called Dead Like Me (2003-2004) 29 episodes over two seasons. The main character is a 18 year old college dropout, Georgia aka George, who dies and is drafted into a local team of grim reapers. George has a hard time adjusting to the daily bloody violent deaths and she rebels. Complicating her transition to an afterlife career as a reaper is that she reaps within walking distance from her still living and grieving family. Her death hits her family hard causing the parents to divorce and her younger 11 year old sister, Reggie, to act out. George rebels against the reaper system dictating non interference with the living by surreptitiously helping Reggie who realizes that as impossible as it might seem her dead older sister is still around.

On the surface DLM is a comedy but there are some deeper emotions and issues running throughout. But the same question so important in WBL confronts the undead DLM reapers (not only George but her boss, Rube, too) as to how far can a reaper push against the rules and their unseen power, Death, that dictates their reaps.

In early episodes Rube is loudly and aggressively demanding that George follow the rules and stay away from her family. But George hides her meddling with the living. And sometimes she openly rebels. There’s a touching early few scenes in which George in defiance against the big boss, Death, and her reaper boss Rube goes to her family’s front door (not on Halloween) and is confronted by her mother who of course can’t recognize her. To prove her identity George attempts to convey a cherished memory that only the two of them share, but her words come out garbled and her mother chases her away. Later sitting with Rube in a diner she sheepishly confesses her breaking the rules and he uncharacteristically tenderly asks if she can remember that cherished memory. She can’t. And Rube explains that whenever a reaper attempts to use a shared memory to talk to someone they knew when alive, that memory is lost forever. The more the undead try to connect with the living from their former life, the more of that life they lose. Rube says to her that all reapers get to keep from their lives is their memories.

In WBL limited by six episodes the story focuses tightly on the relationship between the two main characters in a romantic dynamic. In DLM with 29 episodes there’s more branching out and while the focus is on George and her family, there a parallel story line that follows Rube and what happened to him and his family some eighty years prior.

Rube died during the Great Depression when to help his wife and daughter (about five years old at the time) he robs a bank and ends up dead, and then is drafted to become a grim reaper. He, like George, breaks the rules and tries to help his family sending an anonymous letter with cash to them. Eighty years later in present day he gets a notice from the US Post Office there’s a letter for him, it’s the letter he had sent and forgotten so long ago. Death that operates on a time scale and with goals beyond human comprehension sidelined that letter and delivered it back to him in the present (to a different return address no less). That his attempt to help his family failed triggers something in good soldier Rube and he rebels himself and covertly finds his now aged daughter. When he arrives at his daughter’s nursing home just before she dies we learn she’s been waiting for and recognizes him (which means she interacted with him after he died and before he sent the letter).

DLM has 29 episodes to work with. There’s an interesting character that we know about only by its manipulations, Death. Rube some eighty years prior was placed near his family and something happened back then that made him into an obedient reaper staying away from his family. Normally reapers are only placed far away from where they lived. One woman on the team died in the state of Georgia, another man in the UK. Then out of blue young George is placed with Rube’s team near her living family. Death returning the letter to Rube triggers a radical change that leads him to a final reconciliation with his now elderly daughter at her death. Why might have been explained in a third season.

By the end of the second season George has become a good soldier, a capable reaper who no longer feels compelled to contact her family and Rube has finally found some peace of mind after having carried personal regrets and perhaps a bitter grudge against God those eighty years. We aren’t allowed to listen in as to what he said to his daughter before she died and after when she passed into the hereafter, but it had a profound impact on Rube.

In DLM reapers look as they did when alive to each other and to ghosts, but to the living they look totally different except on one day and night of each year, Halloween. At that time only people who knew them when alive can see them again in their living appearance. George often visits her own grave and in a key final scene of the second season Reggie on Halloween night sleeps on George’s grave and in the morning dawn light wakes to see her older dead sister standing near her confirming the impossible that her sister is around in a very physical way. When George and Reggie see each other, George turns and walks away*.

Both DLM and WBL are stories in which the dead and the living can interact and deal with those regrets left unspoken. If you liked WBL you’ll probably appreciate DLM.

* PS I liked the two seasons of DLM so much I wrote two novels - season 3 and season 4. If you watch the TV show you might find the novels worth checking out. These are posted at a website called archiveofourown dot org. The first is titled Dead Like Me 2013 and the sequel Dead Like Me 2014.

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A six-episode journey that somehow managed to feel rushed and dragged out at the same time

A beautiful premise wasted on weak pacing, underdeveloped characters, and a finale that forgot to earn its own tears.

Disclaimer: This review is 100% my opinion — I’m not here to hate, just to share my thoughts! Also, SPOILERS AHEAD, so proceed with caution if you haven’t watched yet. Watch it, come back and let’s see if you agree. Let’s keep the discussion respectful and fun! 💕

The Good
A Strong, Twisted Premise
The core idea of this drama is actually really solid: the person whose death she’s never recovered from suddenly returns only to tell her she’s going to die in a week. Almost brilliant.

No Magical Resurrection Nonsense
As messed up as it sounds, I appreciated that they didn’t try to force a fairytale ending. Ram Woo stays dead and while it’s bittersweet, Hee Wan finds healing and chooses life. Sometimes, a beautiful ending is just one where someone chooses to keep going.


The Bad
Too Short For Its Own Good
I never thought I’d say this, but this drama was too short. There wasn’t enough time to flesh out the storyline or characters, making everything feel rushed. She supposedly isolated herself, pushed friends away, and even dated Hong Suk to cope, but where was that in the show? In moments like her reunion with Hong Suk or final days, it felt like she was closing a chapter the audience barely got to read. So when she said her goodbyes, I wasn’t emotionally invested. I barely knew the characters she was leaving behind.
Then we had Yeong Hyun, who was randomly thrown in with supernatural abilities where she could see ghosts, predict how people would die, and apparently pinpoint exact locations. How? Why? No explanation.
Too much was crammed into the story, with not enough time to develop it properly.

The Underwhelming Death
Okay but… was anyone else underwhelmed by how Ram Woo died? They built it up like the name-switching was going to be this massive, tragic twist. I genuinely thought he died because of some fatal name mix-up—like he was mistaken for Hee Wan, or died protecting her. But no. It was just a freak accident at an observatory after she gave him a ticket. And look—I get that guilt doesn’t have to be logical. People blame themselves for things all the time. But if Hee Wan’s been unable to move on for four years, you’d think there’d be a stronger link between her and his death. Even his mother managed to heal. Meanwhile, Hee Wan was stuck in this guilt-box she built for herself and the trigger was… giving him a gift that went sideways?

He Died… and Then Was Erased
This isn’t necessarily bad, but I wish Ram Woo hadn’t disappeared forever. The show establishes that if a Grim Reaper prevents a death, they cease to exist entirely… and yet somehow, Ram Woo was included in this rule. While I get that he helped Hee Wan realize she wanted to live, her choice to live was ultimately hers. A better ending? He doesn’t cease to exist, but instead, she can no longer see him. That way, the final scene could have shown him watching over her, quietly letting her go, before quitting his reaper job and moving on to the afterlife.

Storyline was meh.
This storyline had so much potential and it just didn’t deliver. It’s supposed to be about a girl who’s ready to die but finds reasons to live by checking off a bucket list with her first love, who’s now a grim reaper. Sounds poetic, right?
But we barely got that. Ram Woo’s list? Completed in like an episode and a half. Her list? Knocked out in half an episode. After that, it’s just her saying goodbye to people we barely got to know. The emotional beats fell flat because the buildup wasn’t there. Even the flashbacks dragged. I wanted more from the present, more growth, more tension. Not recycled memories that told us what we already knew.

I Wanted to Feel Her Pain… But Didn’t
This kinda ties into what I mentioned above as well as the pacing issues and the lack of depth, so I’ll keep it quick: I never truly felt her pain. She was supposedly trapped in guilt, haunted by his death, but aside from a few panic attacks, there wasn’t enough to showcase her emotional torment. Throughout the episodes, there was no gradual shift in her mindset—no subtle evolution from wanting to die to fighting to live.
Maybe it was because the pacing was off, but the transition just didn’t hit. Especially since, in the end, she was still ready to jump anyway. And to make matters worse, she literally says she’ll live for both of them in one scene, then heads to the roof the next. It undercuts everything the story tried to build.
The emotional impact would have landed better had we seen her initial relief that her time had come, slowly shifting into genuine devastation that it was actually over. The way a character’s subtle change in wanting to live makes the final moments so much heavier.

The description was wrong
I thought the story was about a girl who refuses to say her first love’s name three times, unable to let go. But… that never happened. Instead, he was the one who had to say her name three times. Then, the descriptions also made it sound like she writes a bucket list early on, and they carry it out together before she dies—which was only half true. She didn’t make a list until the final episode and for most of the story, Ram Woo was the one with unfinished wishes that they completed instead.
It’s not a huge deal, but when the actual plot strays from the advertised premise, it throws you off. Especially when the version we were expecting sounds way more compelling than what we got.


Final Thoughts
In the end, this show was boring. The description set it up to be a soul-crushing, gut-wrenching heartbreak—but instead, it delivered six episodes of nothing. The entire premise revolved around Ram Woo getting Hee Wan to want to live, and yet, in the final moments, she still wanted to die—effectively making the entire journey pointless. So while the concept had potential, the execution completely missed the mark.
The worst part is that there was a beautiful story buried in there somewhere… it just never made it to the screen. And it never will. So If you’re looking for a show to break your heart, don’t even bother. But if you’re looking for a show with drawn-out flashbacks that add little to the story, this is just the show for you.

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What did you think of this drama? I think my problem was that while I was watching it, I was actively thinking of what I’d do (ahead of the story), so when the scenes came, it wasn’t as good as my thoughts (she said as humbly as possible 🤭🤭).

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Agridoce, chorei e continuo chorando...

Não darei muito spoilers sobre a história, mas me coloquei em cada situação da protagonista, porque parece que o roteiro dessa história foi desenhado baseado em mim, assim como muitas pessoas que assistiram/assistirão podem/poderão se sentir. Não, eu não perdi o meu grande amor romântico, mas perdi minha mãe muito cedo.

Eu não sabia o que esperar desse kdrama, sabia que seria bonito por causa da sinopse, mas definitivamente eu não estava preparada para tudo que assisti. Não consigo nem escrever direito porque continuo chorando por mais que já tenha passado 10 minutos que terminei de assistir e tenho respirado fundo desde então.
O primeiro episódio me lembra de todas as noites de insônia que tive e tenho por causa do luto, ansiedade e depressão.
O segundo e o terceiro, vendo ele insistindo em vivenciar as coisas da lista de desejos dela com ela me remeteu a todo o esforço que minha melhor amiga fez e faz por mim todos os dias em que estou triste.
O quarto episódio, sem dúvidas, foi o que mais me engatilhou e me fez chorar tanto quanto o sexto, porque eu me sinto assim toda vez que vejo e ouço uma ambulância se aproximar, mesmo já se passando tantos anos. E me fez lembrar de todas as vezes que a minha ficha caiu de que muitas das minhas angustias era por um luto não sentido "corretamente".
O quinto episódio que mostra tanto o lado dele, a preocupação dele por ela e que ele quebrou as regras de ceifador para salvá-la foi muito bonito. E para finalizar, o sexto episódio, ela mesmo cria sua lista de desejos e quer realizar tudo com ele, mas só lhe restava um dia e ver a veterana correndo contra o tempo para ajudá-la foi muito bonito, mas queria que tivessem explicado melhor o porque dela conseguir ver o Kim, ou eu que não entendi porque estava chorando demais kkkkk

A atuação da Kim Min Ha foi de uma sensibilidade gigantesca, foi extremamente realista e acho que isso é uma unanimidade entre todos os que assistiram o drama. Já o Gong Myung me surpreendeu muito, adorei vê-lo neste papel. Não havia assistido ainda nenhum drama com eles, mas são dois atores fenomenais.
Acredito que este será um daqueles dramas que sempre me visitará nas lembranças por toda a sua produção impecável.
Acho que essa resenha foi mais um desabafo do que um review, mas espero que possa ajudar a compreender quem está com dúvidas se deve ou não assistir, a intensidade e os pontos que esses poucos 6 episódios pegam em nós.

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