Eye Love You

The premise sounded interesting, about someone who possessed the ability to read other people’s inner thoughts. Don’t we all like to be mind readers sometimes, but the reality of that ever happening would be scary for both parties. With this ability, not only would the listener be overwhelmed with unsolicited thoughts (especially if they’re negative), but they wouldn’t have to make an effort to understand the other person better. For the non-listener, their confidentiality would be violated. I believe that some people should be granted privacy, especially if they have no intention of disclosing their true intentions without filtering them first.

In this drama, Motomiya fortunately used this power mainly to communicate with her voiceless, quadriplegic father. She also used this ability to help her business, and she did not use them against others. Also, because of this talent, she gained a better awareness of other people’s sufferings as she tried to assuage their fears. But her reliance on this ability was tested when she encountered Yoon Tae Oh, who thought in another language that she couldn’t understand.

Motomiya tried to interpret Tae Oh’s internal musings, but she shouldn’t have worried though, because Tae Oh was forthright about his feelings. Whatever that was in Tae Oh’s mind, he voiced them and was sincere about it. Yuri doubted this, because in her experience, what one says aloud doesn’t always reflect their innermost thoughts. She developed some trust issues because she couldn’t believe that some people can be actually that pure-hearted and kind.

I loved Tae Oh’s character specifically because of this innocence about him, that he’s open and that he wears his heart on his sleeve. I also loved the interaction between Motomiya and her father, how their bond was so close despite the tragic accident that befell him. Motomiya could not get over her part in her father’s disability, but she kept forgetting that he would have done anything to protect her, and would not blame her for it.

I wasn’t keen on the other characters though. Even the story-line of the second couple was ho-hum for me. The plot, though simple, was not fully explored, as I would have liked it to be. I would have been interested in the fantastical nature of how she came to possess that ability to hear people’s thoughts. Though the drama made some reference, albeit briefly, it wasn’t enough for me. The saving grace of this drama was truly Chae Jong Hyeop’s portrayal of this mild-mannered, happy-go-lucky man who refused to let his chance at love be consigned to fate.

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Good but not great but the mix of cultures carries it

8/10 is my rating. This is a 2024 Japanese Supernatural Romantic Comedy drama with 10, -45 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Yuri Motomiya (Fumi Nikaido) does not know why an accident years ago gave her a unique telepathic ability. Being able to read the thoughts of others is both a blessing and a curse. She has learned how to use the thoughts she hears to help people. However, she finds it impossible to fall in love with anyone as she inevitably hears unkind thoughts. At 30 she is beautiful and successful as a CEO of her own company. Yoon Tae-O (Chae Jong-Hyeop) is moonlighting as a delivery man while studying to be a biologist. He has a very outgoing and bright personality and is able to break through Motomiya”s social introversion. Because Tae O speaks Japanese as a second language, all his internal thoughts are in Korean. Since Motomiya cannot speak Korean, he is the first person she is unable to read. Which is only part of the reason she is attracted to him. Things chill down when 26 year old Tae O starts an internship at Motomiya’s company. Her co-owner has a strict no mixing business with personal life rule and now Tae O is Motomiya‘s subordinate. She tries to push him to a distance but fate and love have other plans for them.

Review

It is a cute, predictable romantic drama with the cross cultural element adding some additional intrigue. I would watch it again if it was on and would recommend it if someone was looking for a relatively simple plot. It is good and ends happy.

Spoilers

There were a lot of problems with the story. Why and how exactly did she gain the ability tipo hear thoughts? Yes she almost drown but a lot of people nearly drown yet do not develop a supernatural ability. How did her father become so seeverely paralyzed? We know he saved her and was in a coma but neither of those things alone explain his paralysis.why is she a CEO but her friend and partner would be able to fire her.

Two break ups? Really? I dislike one breakup but two was really ridiculous. I seriously dislike the I cannot be with you because someone likes me and I do not want to hurt them trope. If the other person waited until someone else liked you to declare their feelings how deep and genuine are those feelings? In this case he was afraid she would reject him but new guy wasn’t. So that break up was ridiculous. Then they find out some book says if she stays with him he might die and they all buy it? Why? How? It did not even make logical sense they would all believe what it said in a picture book.

I found it interesting how each had to learn aspects of each other’s culture and thought it was heart warming she made an effort to learn Korean.

#EyeLoveYou #YuriMotomiya #ChaeJongHyeop

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someone will love you for who you are, quirks and all

I don't know if I've watched any other collaborations between countries aside from this one. If I have, it's not coming to mind, so I will assume this is my first one. I liked it. The story was enjoyable, the leads were cute together, and this series made me really hungry. I liked seeing the sharing of culture and language. Also, I am a huge otter fan, too...very relatable.

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● SHORT REVIEW
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[ --LIKES-- ]

✔ I enjoyed the chemistry and cuteness of the main couple.

✔ The second male lead was also very likable. Genuinely good guy. Adorable how easily he gets drunk.

✔ The dynamic between Mahiro the chef and Gaku the researcher guy was fun and cute to watch as they developed.

✔ I enjoyed the cinematography of the bubbles and the rooftop scenes.


[ --DISLIKES-- ]

✖ For a researcher, I felt like the professor's concern for Tae Oh lacked any real scientific foundation. Maybe it's the illogical part of a parent's fear kicking in, but wanting to break up a couple based on just a children's book and one person's experience is extreme for me.

✖ Not enough otters.


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● IN-DEPTH REVIEW
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[ --STORY/PLOT-- ]

There was a lot of things in this series that I enjoyed and found really cute, otters aside. Our female lead gets hangry whenever she is hungry, which I found cute. It was also cute when our male lead was internally deciding if she was angry with him or not when snapped at him due to being hungry. Our male lead's thoughts and behavior was very cute in general. Very golden retriever energy. I enjoyed the pair's chemistry. From him sharing his food suggestions to their interactions, it was all very cute. The second male lead who got drunk super easily was also cute and funny. I loved the dynamic between the baker and the researcher guy.

Story-wise, my only real criticism is that plot with the storybook. While I understand that parents worry about their kids and that Tae Oh is like a son to the professor, the professor trying to break up the couple due to a storybook is very unlikely/unrealistic behavior. Idk, I guess I just feel like he's a researcher and would want more scientific evidence than one person's experience.

Other than that, I think everything else was either fine or cute. I saw a lot of criticism about the female lead's character but I didn't think she was frustrating at all. Yes, she is hesitant, shy, awkward, indecisive but it didn't really annoy me. A lot of the time, I understood her concerns. Plus, when you have an ability like hers to read mines upon eye contact, it can be scary. It's already scary enough to put your heart out there without the ability, reading thoughts makes it harder. And much more when suddenly, you can't read someone's thoughts because he's thinking in another language. Personally, female lead was very cute and considerate.

[ --ACTING/CAST-- ]

So the over-the-top anime dramatic acting style in romcom is actually pretty common in Japanese series, but it's also present in other countries' romcoms too. Some people like it and some people don't. I don't mind it, but maybe because I am use to seeing it. I don't look at that and think it's bad acting. That's usually a director's choice, usually for dramatics or comedy. So with that said, I very much enjoy the lead actors. They were both very cute. Both also very pretty people. I also enjoyed their chemistry and interactions. The supporting actors also did a good job.


[ --MUSIC/OST-- ]

Not sure if there were other songs, but the only song that I remember is "Omoinotake", which I liked. There really wasn't any scene where I felt any of the music was out of place or anything like that so the only thing I can really say is that there is at least one song that stood out to me, which I just mentioned. Is it something I would add to my own playlist though, not really.

[ --REWATCH VALUE-- ]

I wouldn't rewatch the entire series but I would probably watch like the few beginning episodes again for their cute interactions.

[ --FINAL THOUGHTS-- ]

I hope to see more collaborative works in the future and there may be some already out there I need to check out. I came in not really knowing what to expect and while it didn't blow me away, I still enjoyed the journey. I would say to give this a try. You may like it, you may not. I fall into the group that liked it. Overall, very cute, very funny, very sincere.

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● NOTE
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I'll always conclude my review by saying that ratings and reviews is not really a indicator of whether you may enjoy something. We all have different criteria and standards. Don't let a bad rating, review, or comment discourage you from watching something. My advice will always be to give something a chance if the premise interests you, and only use the ratings/reviews to determine priority if you have a list, or if you're deciding if you want to continue it due to time limitations.

♥ Thanks for reading my review! Feel free to comment or hit me up if you want to discuss anything ♥

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Cute premise, uncomfortable execution

Contains slight spoilers. The premise sounded genuinely adorable, and at first it kind of was. The first couple episodes focus a lot on food and how the FL gets super hangry but always calms down after eating. FL and ML meet after he, a food delivery guy, leaves a note for her about where to get good bibimbap. ML is the ultimate golden retriever who seems like he's just genuinely really excited to share Korean food with someone and it's honestly kind of sweet. Sadly, though, it doesn't last. After the first couple episodes they never mention FL's hangry-ness again, so it just feels like a waste of time when the characters we spent time getting to know don't feel like they stuck around. The story becomes less about food and more about FL stressing over things that really don't warrant stressing over. It's kind of frustrating to watch this FL flounder and flip-flop over the most minor things when she has the most perfect man in the world throwing himself at her over and over again. There comes a point where ML makes a comment to her that he didn't want to be led on anymore, and I honestly found myself rooting for him in that moment. Of course he caved the second FL said she was interested in him, so it didn't feel earned at all. None of this even considers the uncomfortably fetishistic portrayal of the ML. Again, the first few episodes kept it under control, where he had insane golden retriever vibes but still seemed human enough- if a bit overly childish. Very quickly ML devolves into a near brainless NPC that thinks nothing but "gwiyeowo" and "yeppeo" over and over and over and OVER AGAIN. I understand wanting to keep the korean simple so that the viewer could get a general sense of what he was thinking, but it was so unnatural. ML feels more like a pet or a satirical caricature than a human man and it just isn't fun to watch. The whole time I was watching I kept thinking that whatever they were paying that guy, it wasn't nearly enough.

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The story was beautiful cause of Tae Oh

If they manipulated Tae Oh's character even a little bit it wouldn't be this beautiful.
To be honest when I started the episode I just clicked it cause I saw a Korean actor in a Jdrama so it made me curious but then it didn't took me even 10 minutes I mean the way Tae Oh's character met Yuri I instantly got the vibe like "it is" and I'm sure I'm gonna love it and yeah I was right, cause the further it went, the more interesting it was becaming. The cutest series I have seen in the last few months, really glad about the ending, If I have to make a complain or say something negative about this drama would be
"why they didn't give us some more sweet moments, of Tae Oh and Yuri together"

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Cute rom-com

The story is nothing to write home about. It is your run of the mill blessing/curse/forbidden love story, with no surprising twists to speak of.
Still, I binged through it smiling.
It does not take itself too seriously. It sometimes felt like it was making fun of the very cliches it relies on (such as the hilarious misunderstanding involving the second couple).
The secondary characters are hilariously quirky. I laughed out loud at the "Korean culture for the Japanese" youtube bit :) And Yamashita Mizuki's interpretation of 2FL is comedic gold!
While I found FL a bit bland, ML was adorable.

Overall, it is a light-hearted, unpretentious, often hilarious rom-com.

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The story makes you smile and I really enjoyed the mix of some of the best of J and K-dramas story lines put together in one heart warming watch. The drama does contain the typical J-drama sweet/introverted FL with lots of PTSD issues, but she is also a smart CEO, a dedicated daughter and friend and is a strong woman in her own way. The ML Chae Jong Hyeop is ridiculously charming, captivating, all kinds of adorable and sexy when the shirt comes off. It's super romantic with a happy ending, just enough angst to to keep you interested and at 10 episodes, entirely bingeable. I would label this as a light rom-com/slight fantasy, heavy on the romance, with two nice intimate scenes, but the kissing is just pressing mouths together....which is a bit of a bummer. The story brought a tear to my eye a time or two, this drama shows that life can be both bitter and sweet and you have to embrace both to be able to truly appreciate how fragile but glorious love can be. I felt that the support cast were quirky and really added to the value of the drama. The music was nothing memorable, but the scenery....from frosty winter days, night skies full of stars, the rush of the ocean waves and the charm of a city roof top patio.....was just lovely. This drama is like a nice vanilla bean scoop of ice cream.....simple, sweet, comforting, not too complex and sometimes that is exactly what you need when life becomes too chaotic.

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"they shouldn't date" plot

they started saying they shouldn't date at like ep 3 or smth like this and it frustrated me bc they didn't say anything and tried to kept you without knowing the goddamn true until ep 9, almost 10

i haven't actually finished the drama lmao i have one episode left but i do wanna say that i don't like when they say shit like "we can't be together", "it's wrong", "i love you, so i'm leaving you" and then go cry about breaking up with them ??? i know it's a drama but i think there's no need to do that?? idk, above all if they would act like it nothing happened getting back to eo💀

anyways, anything else about this drama was quite okay, i could say even the plot (the fact that she can read people's minds) and jonghyeop did a great job, he was so cute towards the fl <3

BUT I DO HAVE A COMPLAIN bc motomiya, at least until ep 9, never talked properly about knowing taeo knows and she just suddenly decided to break up with him. taeo only knew she knew because he asked her through his mind. they never talked about it and they have should

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Very Light-Hearted Cross-Culture Drama

I was very intrigued by the concept of cross-culture of my two most favourite type of dramas, korean and japanese, that was also mixed in with whimsical fantasy plot.

Though I must say that the fantasy part wasn't explored much and the story behind the power of why and how the FL got it. (Of course it was because of the incident, but the "why" part is not shown) So if you were looking for some heavy fantasy plot, this drama wouldn't be a good choice to watch.

But, the romance did not disappoint! The overload of cuteness and cheesy lines and sweet moments between the main couple made me want to watch it and never end haha!
Of course, for me or for anyone who giggles for cute and cheesy and emotional scenes of main couples would love this.
It's not too heavy emotionally but if you enjoy light-hearted and cute shy japanese and bold korean couples, this is for you.

I really liked the cross-culture concept mixed with the can-read-minds-but-can't-understand-the-language fantasy. I feel like it enhanced the sweetness and emotion of the romance plot and how the couple deals with what felt like a "dangerous" or "bad omen" for them.

Of course, that is very very cliché but I liked it.

I would love to see more cross-culture jdramas especially for japanese and korean dramas like this one.
I loved that the FL didn't know what the ML was thinking in korean and that we also didn't get to understand what he thought so that we can at least understand how she felt (Though of course I do understand a lil bit of korean HEHEH).
It is SUCH a cute concept and i wished they had made it a little bit more high-stakes so that it would increase the emotional tension between the main couple. But at this point I don't really care cuz they are just so cute!!

The ending wasn't the best and it felt a bit awkward that the way we find out that the mind-reading power wasn't even that threatening.
That part made me a little disappointed because it didn't make sense that Min Ha Na didn't even know why her boyfriend died.. I mean shouldn't she have found out about that already since she was his girlfriend? So yeah that was a tiny bit weird for me.

Regardless, I very much enjoyed the romance between the main couple. The meet-cute, tension, blushes, love confessions were all lovely and very well done by the actors.
Sweet to watch if you love light-hearted dramas with not a lot of heavy plot but still entertaining and fun.

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It was a weird one, but I enjoyed it.

I don’t have much experience with j-dramas, so it might have some impact on my review. As many of you, I started to watch this one because of ML - Chae Jong Hyeop

This guy is always a BIG GREEN FLAG in every drama I watch, and this one is no different.

What is probably the main disadvantage that people will see in this drama?
Absolutely stupid FL! And yes, She is. I think I haven’t seen more stupid one before, ever. BUT! The whole concept of this show is a bit like movies class B for me… So bad that it’s funny! You can especially see that with the second couple plot. It’s bizarre… but, it’s the best part of the show!
So if you like something that’s weird and cringy funny - watch it. If you’re looking for a serious romantic comedy - that’s not for you.

That’s why, it’s not easy to rate this drama: for me it was a real fun, but I know it was not a very good drama… So it really depends on what you like and looking for.

For the fans of Chae Jong Hyeop - you should be satisfied :) He’s a charm as always. And most of the stupid FL behaviours are somehow explained so you can actually enjoy the bond between them

So yes, not for all, but can be a real fun for some of us :)

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