Our Unwritten Seoul

This one is for the lonely souls.

A very kind and thoughtful stranger recommended Our Unwritten Seoul to me last year, but like so many other dramas, it sat on my PTW list collecting dust until I eventually forgot all about it. Then, during the 2025 MDL challenge, I kept seeing it mentioned again and again. That piqued my interest and got me wondering, did I actually miss out on a gem of a story? Out of curiosity, I decided to take it out of its cold prison and make it my first kdrama of 2026 — and what a fantastic choice that was. This is a story for the burnouts, the aimless wanderers, the dreamers, the brokenhearted, and the lonely souls.

You need an exceptionally capable cast in order to bring a character-driven drama like this to life — and this production delivered exactly that. Every single actor gave an outstanding performance, but Park Bo-young was in a league of her own. She was essentially playing four different roles all at once: Miji, Mirae, Miji cosplaying as Mirae, and Mirae pretending to be Miji. Some of the other characters might have had difficulty telling the sisters apart, but as a viewer, I always knew who was who because each version was convincingly distinct. Miji carried an insecurity hidden behind a wall of defensive fire and Mirae possessed a quiet exhaustion that made it feel as though she was suffocating under the crushing weight of her life’s burdens. Park Bo-young's ability to create chemistry with every single one of her costars? Chef's kiss. She had to sell two different love stories as two different characters and she was so good that she made both feel equally important. This woman deserves her flowers, and then so much more.

Healing and self-discovery were the heart of the story, but the bond of love and family was what truly gave it a pulse. Our Unwritten Seoul doesn't just rely on the typical family structure that many of us are familiar with in kdramas — a man, a woman, and their child — it goes above and beyond. It shows us that sometimes family is a widow and her son clinging onto each other in the aftermath of loss. Sometimes it is just a woman taking her daughter away from a toxic and abusive household because that is the only way to protect them both. Sometimes it's two sisters refusing to let go of each other's hand even if it means they both fall. Sometimes it is two women creating a life together despite societal norms. The drama's exploration into unconventional yet vital family dynamics is what makes this story so brilliant. As the drama put me in the characters' shoes, I became an accomplice to their mischievous schemes and ended up on an intimate journey through their lives. Each character and relationship felt as beautifully written and complex as the next.

What could've been just a cliché identity-swapping trope turned into a deep dive on how different people react to hardship. Do you walk away to avoid the sting of failure like Miji? Do you bottle it all inside like Mirae? Do you fake it until you make it like Hosu? Do you hide behind humor like Sejin? Do you wear harshness as a shield like Ok-hui? Do you turn your pain into wisdom for others like Wol-sun? Or do you ignore your troubles entirely in fear of making things worse like Ro-sa? I love that this drama never judges the choices the characters make. In a world where we are afraid of how society perceives us — something our protagonists Miji and Mirae understand all too well — the writers gently remind us "it’s okay." It’s okay to hide when you are feeling overwhelmed. It’s okay to start over if life isn't what it is supposed to be. It’s okay to start later than never starting at all. It’s okay to try, and fail, and try again. Our fate isn't set in stone; it is unwritten. And Grandma Wol-sun said it best: "No matter how pathetic or messy it looks, anything you do to survive is brave."

I adore this drama to pieces and there are only two drawbacks if I am to nitpick. For starters, the episodes are quite long — about 80 to 90 minutes each — making it more emotionally draining to sit through than it needs to be. Each time I completed an episode, instead of hopping onto the next, I had to take a break to recharge my energy. The upside to this is my time never felt wasted. For those who have the patience to stay with the characters from beginning until end, the drama generously rewards them with heartfelt moments (that feel wholesome and earned!) My other minor gripe was the cinematography. I read so many praises for it, but for me, it was nothing special. Just okay. Although, I will give it credit for the way certain scenes were shot based on their locations. For instance, Seoul — the place that caused Mirae's depression — looked and felt sterile and cold; meanwhile Miji and Mirae's hometown — the place where their loved ones are — was bathed in warmth and coziness. It was a nice touch.

With that said, I'm so glad I finally gave Our Unwritten Seoul a chance. It is everything that everyone said it would be — relatable, healing, and inspirational. It didn't just consume my time; it occupied my mind, leaving me to ponder how survival is often messy, progress isn't always linear, and growth requires a lot of patience. It made me feel seen in a way I didn't expect, and even though I watched it later than most, I think it found me exactly when I needed it. This story will stay with me for a very long time and that is more than I could ever ask for.

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The idea was great, but the execution..

More often than not, I find myself starting a new drama with an intriguing concept that initially draws attention and builds anticipation about how the plot will unfold. The pilot and just about two episodes after that delievered questions and wonders, leaving room for the story to grow. However, things took a downturn as it soon devolved into a predictable, simple, typical K-romance.
It’s disappointing that the drama’s description doesn’t quite align with what actually unfolds on screen. Many important questions are left unanswered, and this leads to several unrealistic scenes that ultimately detract from the experience. It bored the hell out of me, but I watched it till end.
It is shame, because it could have been a drama with less romance, more curiosity and true life-lesson driven twists.
Kudos to the actors though, especially to Park Bo Young and the mother Jang Young Nam (who continues to impress me, by far underrated).

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Interesting premise with insufferable leads and excessive flash-backs, slow-motion and voice-overs

A good drama follows conventional script-writing but excels in it. A great drama breaks that convention but executes it well. This drama, particularly this director, tries but fails miserably.

Typical dramas have a protagonist, a antagonist, conflict and resolution. This drama has a few antagonists that were not properly setup, nor did they get enough screen time.

The one basic thing 101 in scriptwriting that defines a good drama is "show, don't tell". Well this drama has a lot of telling, in the form of voice-overs. Dialogue is deliberately spoken a lot of times in very slow unrealistic speeds. It would work if the dialogue is engaging and touching, but most of the conversations end up like a poor rendition of poetry - they try to inspire but are bathetic.

Instead of having proper acting and conventional conversations, the drama uses excessive voice-overs to inform the audience what the actors are feeling instead of having the actors act them out. There is no nuance and finesse

The other part of the drama that is excessive is the use of flash-backs to the past. The young Yoo Mi-rae and Lee Ho-soo has so much screen time that they dominated in most of the episodes. Yet these younger actors are obviously only support cast, yet they feel almost like the 2nd female and male lead.

The leads also are not properly defined. The audience knows Park Bo-Young is the lead, but is left wondering whether Yoo Mi-rae or Yoo Mi-ji is the lead.

Yoo Mi-ji propels the drama in the first half as we are drawn into her situation without knowing what happened to her. The audience is left to wonder exactly what happened to Yoo Mi-rae, but , but Yoo Mi-ji instead dominated the screen time.

Lee Ho-soo (acted by Park Jin-young) is the male lead, but his screen time and screen presence relegated him to feeling like the 2nd male lead. His romance with Yoo Mi-rae starts only in the 2nd half of the drama, and even then was neither sweet nor dramatic. His character is one that is the most inconsistent and flips-flops.

He hates his mentor Lee Chung Gu for using underhanded ways to win lawsuits, especially in his use of media and affiliation with the judge for Kim Ro Sa's case, but yet asked him for help with Mi-ji's sexual harassment lawsuit. Right up to episode 9-10, he is a coward for breaking up with Mi-ji, lying about the funeral, and shouting at his mother.

Why do the characters in the show lie without batting an eye-lid, and self-pity, make assumptions and self-blame so much until growth only happens at episode 10-11?

The really only good parts were the first moment when the Yoo Mi-twins hugged and cried, moments between Yoo Mi-rae and her grandmother, and Yoo Mi-rae's conversation with Kim Ro Sa (acted by Won Mi Kyung).

Park Bo-Young's acting in both her roles were good, but was given way too self-hating and self-pitying roles (Mi-ji) all the way to almost the end of the drama. She is often typed-cast for cute energetic roles, with a bit of a irrelevant personality, and Mi-ji has sort of that vibe. Mi-rae's role was way to gray - even for a person who suffered from office abuse. She is often cast in those roles because of her stature and "cute" face.

Contrast her performance here as Mi-rae to her performance in Concrete Utopia. Both were adult roles in their 30s. Park Bo-Young shines in Conrete Utopia with her mature acting.

Overall, Our Unwritten Seoul is overhyped. Park Bo-Young delivers somewhat, but everything else falters.

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“It’s the unwritten first page of my story.”

Our Unwritten Seoul is a story that will make you reflect on your complex past, face your everchanging present and hope for a beautiful future.

Different paths that present inspiring life lessons ⇢ the characters and their struggles.

As the Korean title states - it’s Miji’s story. Story of her lost dream, fear for the future and overwhelming present. It’s hard to describe in words how perfectly her character was written. How complex and realistic was that portrayal of her anxiety and depression, how longlasting the effects were. How one can look happy, but suffer inside. How healing is a process that at times might feel like it will never end.

I loved how Mi Ji was not this strong and confident woman with no fears. She bravely helped others, while also feeling deeply insecure about her own shortcomings. She stepped up for others, and backed down for herself. But she changed, at her own pace. What the character shows is that there is no time limit for growth, it’s never too late to start over. It’s never too late to start moving forward.

On the other hand Mi Rae was one that did not know how to stop, take a break, hit the pause. From a young age she felt responsible for acting as the backbone of the whole family - feeling the responsibility, not wanting to disappoint. I honestly loved the contrast between the two sisters - one did not know how to move forward to find herself, while the other could not find herself, because she did not know how to stop.

Then we have Ho Su with his fear of being a burden to others. But what interested me more was where it came from - his egocentric thinking that was at least partially caused by guilt. It’s so human to overestimate the effect we have on people, to see every situation from our point of view and not accept there might be different perspectives. With Ho Su everything started with “I” - I don’t want to burden others, without really thinking if he actually is the burden. What I also really liked is how he never truly grew out of that egocentrism, he just learned how to ask questions and listen to people around him instead of making his own theories and conclusions. I appreciate how the characters did not really get rid of their flaws, but rather learned how to cope and make them affect them less.

Sadly I would not say the writing for them was flawless, though the issue lies in the structure overall, and is a problem in all Korean dramas. Noticed how I wrote nothing about Se Jin? That’s because he was painfully underdeveloped compared to other main characters. Why? Because by all means this show does not have four main characters. It has one - Mi Ji. Mi Ji who is the main hero. Then we have Mi Rae and Ho Su who are second lead characters and Se Jin who is just a supporting one. We need to move on from the idea that being a "love interest" to a main character makes you one too. It does not. That said, it’s not a unique issue for this drama - it’s more of a labeling problem. It might give viewers some false expectations though. It did for me. I kept wishing to see more of Se Jin’s story, to understand him as deeply as I did the other three. It never happened.

Hurt people hurt people ⇢ the relationships that highlighted larger issues, but also the glimpses of hope

Starting from Mi Ji and Mi Rae and how uneven parenting can cause trauma. Mi Ji felt ignored - the lack of expectations placed on her made her not even attempt to move forward. Mi Rae who had all the attention on her, feared disappointing others so she just pushed forward, bore the pain in silence. Often dynamics like that cause resentment between siblings (glad it was not a case here) - one being jealous of the love and attention, and the other being jealous of the freedom and what might seem like trust to always manage and take care of themselves.

On a larger scale, the parenting issue did not start with Ok Hui and how she raised Mi Ji and Mi Rae. Dynamics between her and her mother give a good representation of what generational trauma might look like. How can one become a good mother, when they did not experience what good parenting is as they were children? Where one learns from? How to not make the same mistakes our parents made? But also how not to overcompensate which leads to its own issues...

One relationship I wished to see more was Ho Su and Chung Gu - there was so much more meat here, potential, depth to be explored. The way the characters mirrored each other, but also were a complete contrast. Their interactions, but also the relationship between Mi Ji and Ho Su presented a clear lesson - take your own advice, care for yourself like you care for others, don’t see the traits you appreciate in other people as your flaws. The way we as humans often have way higher standards for ourselves than we have for others - instead of being our own best friends, we turn into our own enemies.

There are different types of love ⇢ romance driven dramas can be more.

Our Unwritten Seoul is for sure leaning more towards the Life over Romance genre. Don’t get me wrong - there is plenty of romance, but it’s never the core of the drama. Romance? No, but love for sure is: love between parents and their children, step parents and their step children, siblings, friends, colleagues. The variety of human interactions, how acts of kindness can change someone’s life.

I loved how they did not segregate the characters into pairings that should only interact with each other. I loved how Ho Su was an important part of Mi Rae’s life. I appreciate how Mi Ji interacted with Se Jin completely outside of his connection to Mi Rae. Everyone was one way or another connected to each other, it did not feel like different plotlines living their own lives never crossing the paths.

Personally, I like that some of my favorite relationships were not romantic ones. Friendship between Kim Ok Hui and Yeom Bun Hong? Amazing. Mentorship between Ho Su and Lee Chung Gu? Food for thought. Kim Ro Sa with Mi Ji and Ho Su - heartwarming. Even Mi Ji and Mi Rae’s interactions with Gyeong Gu and Park Ji Yun were interesting to watch.

What’s more, one has to appreciate the lgbtq representation Gyeong Gu as the clear one, and Ro Sa and Sang Wol a vague (not so vague) one. Personally I think it was clear they were in love with each other and were living as partners not "roommates"...

Bringing the character to life ⇢ acting that never disappoints.

Can Park Bo Young chill a bit? How is she so good? The way she portrayed two characters in a way I had no issue differentiating between them, without making them caricatures of contracting traits? The way Mi Ji and Mi Rae were so different, yet so alike in many aspects. The way she presented complete heartbreak, but also silent pain. The way I could see the boldness, but also hesitation. The way each scene seemed so natural. I have to give props to the whole production team - be it writing, directing, acting or editing, they managed to bring these two characters alive on screen and it did feel like two real people interacting with each other.

Then we have Park Jin Young and I’m amazed with the level of vulnerability he was able to present as Lee Ho Su. Ryu Kyung Soo managed to bring comedy as Han Se Jin, without turning the character into just a comic relief - his character, as funny as he was, was also clearly one of the more mature and wise ones and it showed.

Beauty in simplicity ⇢ production value that compliments, but does not impress.

Here’s the thing - I’m not even mad this show does not stand out in terms of its aesthetics. It’s your typical high value production kdrama with some pretty shots, good lighting, great set design, clean camera work. It works, it compliments the story without being distracting. The writing was so strong you do not need some innovative and creative editing to make it better. Was I especially impressed by any shot? Not really. Sure, I did take a number of screenshots, I did whisper “that’s pretty” a few times as I watched the episodes, but if someone asks me in a month, or even in a week to describe any scene that visually sticked in my mind - I won’t be able to name any.

Perfection does not exists ⇢ what I did not like

I already wrote how unbalanced this drama felt in terms of development, depth and care put into presenting what they claimed were four main characters. It just made me want more and sadly feel a bit disappointed when I did not get it.

The “vague” bit of lgbtq representation. Personally, I do not understand why they could not be more straightforward with it.

The main romance between Mi Ji and Ho Su. Here’s the thing - I really liked their teen romance phase, and I like where they ended. They were losing me a bit during the “misunderstanding” phase of the plot when Mi Ji was pretending to be Mi Rae. On one hand I understand why it was important for them to go about it the way they did, on the other, it was frustrating to watch and a bit inconsistent with how Ho Su was written.

Justice for Se Jin. Did Park Bo Young have it in the contract she can only kiss one male lead? Did they fear viewers might seem uncomfortable with her kissing both, even though she was playing to different characters? We've got an amazing hug, but damn I was waiting for that kiss in the last episode.

Random thoughts to close the review:
Ryu Kyung Soo looked especially hot in his “rich boy in suit doing business” takes.

Overall, what a journey. I feel like I honestly wrote down maybe 20% of my thoughts and feelings about the drama. What it teaches you is, it’s never too late to learn from your past. It’s never too late to improve in the present and it’s never too late to work on your future.

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REALLY GOOD IN ACTING

(SORRY for my english)

A profoundly human experience, between identity, invisible bonds, and unfulfilled tenderness.

I discovered Unwritten Seoul when this month's dramas were announced, and I was quickly drawn in when I started it. This K-drama deeply touched me with its sincere and almost modest look at human emotions, complicated relationships, and the loneliness we sometimes feel even when surrounded by others.

What struck me most was Park Bo Young's performance, absolutely remarkable in her dual role as twin sisters. She succeeds in portraying two women who are both close and different, each with their own experiences, their wounds, their silences. Even if their personalities overlap at times, we feel that they are two separate beings, and that's precisely what I found intelligent and true: the drama doesn't treat them as a single entity, but rather as two women, with their own ways of feeling, loving, and struggling. I also really enjoyed the romance, while retaining a slight hint of regret: the second love story, softer and more implicit, particularly touched me. Perhaps because it doesn't end the way I would have liked... but that's precisely why it makes the experience more realistic, more poignant.

Another aspect I found very powerful is the way one of the twins learns to stand up for herself, inspired by the strength of the other. Through this bond, the drama addresses powerful themes like gender-based harassment, without ever falling into pathos or overreaction. It's handled with great respect, and above all, with a message of mutual aid and sisterhood that really resonated with me.

Overall, I would say that Unwritten Seoul reminded me of series like Tangerines, which gently address real, powerful issues, not to mention the slice-of-life aspect. It's not an action drama or a fireworks display of twists and turns: it's a work that you watch with your eyes open, but above all with your heart wide open. Unwritten Seoul is a delicate, human K-drama, driven by a moving actress and sincere themes. It speaks of duality, love, resilience, and above all, the richness of existing fully as an individual, even when connected to someone else. Babi (Park Jin Young's nickname) deeply touched me with his wounds and his hearing loss. He once again played his role perfectly. For me, this drama is a success. As for the cast, there are some very beautiful ballads as well, and the romance, the kisses, were convincing!

I wasn't far from a favorite, but it's highly recommended. 7,5/10 !

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Depressing - keep your meds ready so you don't sink into a black hole

Folks - don't get mad. As I've mentioned previously, 1% dramas are excellent, 10% are really poor. The remaining 89% are average and tepid, but since I don't relate to them, I do not review them.
This drama would have made it to the mid-range 89% except for one thing - the Female Lead, and Lordy, there are two of them (groan)!

It's not the actor who is the problem, it is the characters she is portraying, both of whom have no distinction except for blonde hair in the beginning.
She has a couple of constant expressions throughout - and both are competing with each other to be more depressing - and the misery is that she is in almost every frame of the film!

What really triggered this 1-star rating is her hair - the BANGS!!!!
Ohmygoodnesssssss - did they even know that bangs were fashionable in 1960's?
It's not just the bangs -it is the length of the bangs that fully cover her eyebrows and go down to her eyelashes. So assuming she was selected because of her incredible talent, I'm assuming we have to judge her acting chops with 2/3rd of her face only, because the other part is fully under hair.

And here is the issue with the remaining 2/3rds of her face that is visible - she has a couple of constant depressing expressions throughout. So picture this : her face is an "O", her forehead and eyebrows are invisible, so then when she dares open her eyes under the weight of her hair and looks tragic, her eyes are 2 "O"s. The nose is barely visible, then next comes the pouting, sulking mouth which is another "O".

Net effect = "OOO"s (the FLs face looks like 3 Os and appears in many many frames)
Net rating = 000 (3 zeros)

The pity is that this drama had a bunch of very interesting characters - the ML, the special needs lawyer, the MLs mother who raised him as her child despite not being related, the gay friend, the strawberry farmer......... but they all drowned into the deep Os.

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Mostly exaggeration yet still enjoyable

This is my first review, a rant actually. I'm writing it to get this off of my chest even though I might get hate comments or whatever.

To start with, I never liked workplace bullying/harrassment stories. I'm not born privileged and am also from Asia but I never believed that there are such bullying/harrassment in workplace, let alone anyone would tolerate such bullying/harrassment (and rather choose to commit suicide) than to leave the company.

The story started somewhat good and with a lot of expectations but it quickly went downhill. While I have a soft spot for stories/characters with "disabilities" or "health issues", I felt like it was used more as an excuse here.

I am at episode 10 and am not sure if I will finish it. So, I might have wrong assumption about things as they may get corrected in later episodes.

"I" do not see any meaningful changes in their life, specially Miji. It felt a little dramatic. She holed up in her room for 3 years? How is that even possible? And only because she can't run anymore? It probably would have made more sense if she hadn't met Ho Su. She was already familiar with disabilities and was supposedly supporting Ho Su all along. And when it came to her own turn, how can she be so pathetic? And if I have to make comparison, Ho Su's condition is much worse than hers. It's not that she lost a leg, she just can't run. And she's only in high/middle school at that age? It might be life changing but not something destroying one's entire life. Not everyone's the top in their class or has grades that get them job in top companies in the country. And what, Miji and Ho Su never tried to talk about that "small" misunderstanding during the entire 10 years? Yet everyone around them knew? It all seemed like exaggeration up on exaggeration, just to drag the story along.

Re Mirae, I really didn't like any part about her story. To me, it seemed like she really didn't put any effort on anything beside studying. And her relationship with the strawberry farm owner was just too weird, fast-forwarded. How can someone who is so wary of gossips easily spend night with the same person people are gossipping about?

Re Ho Su, nothing much. Though, I coulnd't understand his worries about his mom. If he cares, why is he leaving her? How does he have the impression that his mum's not comfortable when she spent her life raising him? I liked Ho Su's mom's side of story. I really felt sorry for her.

Re Kim Sora, it was Ok at first but I don't know, the story kept dragging and all. It lost its charms along the way.

To me, all the relationship in the drama seem weird and not "real" at all.

Overall, it's enjoyable while you watch but not something I would recommend to anyone. Some emotional parts/actings are commendable though.

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I couldn't stop watching, even though I was cringing

Overall, I enjoyed this, mostly because of Park Bo-young's acting as the Mi-ji character, but they didn't know when to stop with the tear-jerking sentimentality. Just the right amount makes something moving and powerful, but when you cross the line like this show did, then it becomes cringey and embarrassing. On top of that, the fact that so much of the plot is driven by misunderstandings and people being dishonest and secretive and withholding information for the lamest reasons makes for a lot of frustration. And I didn't care for the Mi-rae character. So much of her behavior made no sense. She's the epitome of the Korean word "babo." It's too bad, because after the first episode, the show had a lot of promise. They set up some interesting situations early on, but the writers got lazy and ran out of ideas, and things just kind of fizzled.

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Don’t believe the hype

The good: The concept of twins switching roles when one gets burned out. The evolution of the friendship between the ML’s and FL’s mothers and their discovery of their common past experiences. The first few episodes that establish the differences between the twins over the years.

The bad: the twins are not consistently portrayed by PBY (whose work I usually love) and they each become whiny cowards until the last episode. Mi-Rae’s love interest-what in the world? And 1000 fragments of the story that just don’t make logical sense. Why does the ML have burn scars? What was Mi-Rae’s childhood illness and how did it disappear? Why is the ML losing his hearing in his healthy ear if his hearing loss was caused in an accident? There are so many whys and what did I just see.

What started as an intelligent, compelling drama descended into mediocrity and disappointment for me.

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