A good concept ruined by poor storytelling
Drama started so well but went downhill by the last few eps.--This drama could have done so well and shown a mentally broken person with DID healing from past scars but they turned it into a total romantic past lover reunion melodrama bullshit.
--Even Shin Hye Sun's acting and Truck kun won't be able to save this one.
--KJY's character is here to suffer. Major Second Lead Syndrome incoming.
--JHJ's character has no character development and is only there for gag.
--LJW needs to go to acting school.
The leads especially the male lead is a huge miscast. His role needed a guy who can act well with his eyes and even show the subtle emotions well but all we get is a bland and blank LJW who is so crappy with his acting. He was decent is Bulgasal but was horrible in this one. Shin Hye Sun and Kang Ju Yeon did so well with their roles but sadly the story writing was so poor that their amazing acting can't save this drama. SHS always nails her roles no matter the genre and even this time she was phenomenal.
Story writing is the biggest drawback of this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
There has never been a male lead that has pissed me off so baddddddddd
Hye Sun acting is spectacular and that was what peeked my interest into this show.The ML irked me so much in this series, I don’t know why they made her hung up on him for 12 years. I don’t see any thing special about their bond. Given the disgrace and the nonsense he told her, it’s obvious she is clinging onto him so bad cause of the amount of time she spent with him and working in the same office didn’t help at all.
They keep doing this push and pull shit that annoys me so much. Let this ML gooooo, their bond isn’t special even during the throw backs it always felt she was begging for his love. I would rather her be sick and be with the SML than be herself with the ML tbh. The amount of times I skipped watching the ML. I can’t stand hearing him talk or his face especially when he is with her. After episode 10, I have honestly lost interest in watching it and won’t recommend to friends cause that’s how shot it is. The writers and directors honestly did a terrible job with this one I can’t lie
Was this review helpful to you?
Annoying drama so far
Such a useless movie wastage of time, going back with her ex who is selfish and emotional abuser. I thought the storyline would be better by changing herself into new relationship and stay happy with Kang but uffff the end is not happy ending according to me it's so unsatisfied and annoying to see her getting back with the selfish exWas this review helpful to you?
And somehow I think some are just being one-sided because of the actor’s past just like some comments when he acted in Voice S2. Anyway, everyone is entitled with their own opinion.
I’m team Ex since, that’s how it should be. They found healing in each other, rooting for SL is somehow a nah since he’s inlove with the other persona of her. The final/ good breakup says it all. She said that he’s inlove with the person that is not her. So why still root him for her? Eventhough there are lot’s of negative reviews maybe some people should still try watching this w/o being bias to the actors. I still love Shin Hae Sun that’s why I finished this.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
When you finish your first draft and only rewrite the first act ...
Dear Hyeri started off interesting, but after several episodes, it became unstable and misaligned. Events were piled up for convenience rather than evolution, so the plot became less logical. Eun Ho's character caught my interest in learning more about that disorder.Her interaction with her ex, Hyeon O, was a pass. In spite of eight years of being together, Hyeon O was a selfish, toxic individual who dropped Eun Ho very easily. The alter ego/personality of Eun Ho, Hyeri, seemed to counterbalance her trauma. The show tried to beautify her final choice of her ex with soft filters, music, and slow-motion sequences, but it was not convincing. Especially after her illness goes cold turkey at the most convenient time.
It was only after Ju Yeon (2nd male lead) informed Hyeon O of Eun Ho's illness that he realized he was in love with her again...really? In Episode 12, the show appears to make an attempt to make the audience empathize with Hyeon O after he was almost killed by a drunken fool. (Please like him now; he’s not such a selfish guy as the first act portrays.) ….right. Overall, the screenwriter failed to fully develop the events leading up to a decent logical conclusion.
Shin Hyen Sun is a good actress, but she should choose better-developed roles or characters or just select a better story period.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
them having their "happily ever after" in the forest where her sister disappeared is horrible
I have a lot of criticisms; the romanticization of the toxic relationship, saying that a mental illness is "cured" with love, and completely leaving aside the story about the disappearance of her sister Hyeri.---
ML was selfish, he was with her for 8 years and could never be honest with her about his family situation, we can also see how manipulative he was and of course FL is emotionally dependent on him which makes the situation worse and the fact that she met his family 12 YEARS LATER is just a red flag, FL should have been left alone and managed to heal her pain because she didn't heal anything, she just went back to where she suffered and with marriage everything is resolved.
---
Mental health here is a joke, FL was depressed, she hated herself and after getting back with her ex she is happy, smiling and excited to go back to her job where she was treated horribly.
A disconcerting personality disorder is not cured just because you found love, and the fact that FL said she wants Hyeri back would make her happy is like... for that to happen she has to be emotionally unwell..
---
FL developed another personality because of the trauma of her missing sister and that story had no closure, the writer forgot about that halfway through the drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I want my hours back
I saw that I had my favorite actress and I ended up getting interested in the plot because it's the first time I've seen a drama talk about DlD.I kind of knew the story would go down a path I wouldn't like, but it was worse than I thought. The plot was supposed to be about Eunho and Hyeri, but it was more about the HO than about Hyeri herself, and that bothers me. I think they should have shown more about Hyeri and her dependence on Eunho; it was very superficial.
I don't think it had to be about a novel that drama; they focused a lot on who Eunho would stay, instead of focusing on her own health.
I don't like HO. He broke up with Eunho, but spent four years bothering her, doing things she didn't ask for. He always made things about him, and the fact that he didn't care about her health, and the fact that she was going to stay with him, shows that he's toxic. They stayed eight years, but he didn't even think about introducing Eunho to his own family.
I know Jun Yeon isn't the most amazing person either; he made mistakes, and it wasn't a few, but I felt sorry for him. I've been through what he's been through. My grandmother had cancer, and I know what it's like to see someone dying to the point of not even recognizing you. I cried in most of his shit. I know how scary it is to think that at any moment that person will disappear.
He had a great dependence on Hyeri and he wanted someone by his side urgently, and out of nowhere Hyeri appeared. She made the day, which was dull, interesting. When you're at the bottom of the well, it's like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; it's the light he's been looking for. That's why he clung so much to this false illusion of love and fell in love with a part of Eunho. I'm not flirting with the things he did and told Eunho, but in a way I understand him.
I hated that you made it clear that he's staying with the woman who works with him. He never liked her, and now he cares about her feelings?
Eunho was wrong to come back with the HO and I feel like every time she changed her identity it was because of the HO; it was all about him, and it pisses me off. She should have focused on herself and stayed away from him. The relationship will never work until she stops having emotional dependence. If he thinks about breaking up with her, maybe Hyeri will come back.
The way he treated her, even in the beginning, is ridiculous. They'd set up a meeting and the guy comes back after six months without a single explanation, like nothing happened, and she forgives him? Really? He treated her like she was nothing for the last four years, made a lot of messes, lied, and she forgives him? He never thought about how she'd feel every time he gave her work, about how people would talk, because, like it or not, he was her fucking ex. He didn't think about her feelings and her confused signs. The way he blamed her for worrying about her is so toxic, manipulative and narcissistic.
Don't waste your time watching this here.
Was this review helpful to you?
However, the series encounters challenges in its final four episodes. The storytelling becomes muddled, with several plot lines introduced but not fully developed. Character arcs that initially held promise feel rushed or unresolved, leaving viewers yearning for more depth. The emotional intensity built throughout the earlier episodes starts to wane, leading to a lackluster conclusion that doesn’t do justice to the character journeys established earlier.
Due to these narrative issues, I wouldn't recommend "Dear Hyeri" to others. While the performances and music are noteworthy, the lack of a cohesive and satisfying story undermines the overall experience. It’s a reminder that even with strong elements, a compelling narrative is crucial for a K-drama to leave a lasting impression.
Was this review helpful to you?
Dear Hyeri, you deserved better
There’s no other way to describe this show other than wasted potential.I went through most of it thinking it would be one of the best dramas of the year, but the last couple of episodes came and it suddenly turned into one of the worst ones.
This is one of the few drama plots that I think could’ve done with more episodes; you could exclude all the nonsensical secondary characters and all the “let’s try to redeem this ass*hole of a ML by showing his trauma” and still be left with so much to unpack from Eun Ho’s story alone, but instead, it felt like they suddenly had to cut the story short and chose the cheapest, most ridiculous ending possible for it.
It’s like the last two last episodes were completely separate from all the rest. The intended message might’ve been that “love heals all” but in reality, nothing is healed, the “love” is simply toxic and all that’s left is Eun Ho’s unresolved traumas and bunch of complex storylines that were never fully explored.
Was this review helpful to you?
refund my time
yeah no i couldn't take it anymore. tried finishing but i just can't. anymore of this and I would have started hating the actors.script fraud - that's what this drama is. like even SHS' acting in the last two episodes irritated me. now that's an achievement, one I thought was impossible. i guess even she gave up by the end.
sure, I thought the writing went down entirely at episode 10 but 11 & 12 crossed the exceptionally awful barrier. it's like they replaced the writer entirely lol. i even wondered if they shot the drama backwards because even the characters felt different suddenly!
what a waste of time, acting, investment, great direction and cinematography. started very promising ended up being the worst drama i have ever watched. not a single redeeming quality.
god shs is usually my favourite actress, last two episodes kinda ruined a bit of that for me sadly. eunho changed from a character i felt sympathy and was rooting for to a character whose slightest of gestures became irritable in the last two. what a switch up. imagine rooting for the main character to be happy and successful only to have all of it feel so unearned and forced and feeling incredulous almost disgusted. they even changed the genre at the end lol.
easiest cure for DID in the world. what use is extensive therapies and treatments when all you need is a man who didn't share anything with you for 12 years, and a toxic extremely co dependent relationship. where a month of isolation in the cabin and a kiss when he didn't even search for her until then heals everything.
the dumb ones are us, the viewers.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
What more could be said.......A LOT
The writer absolutley knows nothing about mental health issues.The FL's character was misinformation personified, and was astonishing given the Genre and Tags for Dear Hyeri.The writer absolutley knows nothing about Narcissism, which is also a mental health disorder. Or maybe she does, and it's why she wrote......
The ML as a Narcissist who follows the standard narcissist handbook. The character is the most vile of ANY dramas MLs I've ever watched.
The writer for Dear Hyeri, apparently, believes a woman's happiness revolves around a man to give them the only healing they need. Psychiatry sessions were a filler and weren't needed.
The writer abandoned, not only the title of her drama, but the real Hye Ri, the D.I.D. personality Hye Ri, and Ju Eun Ho too. Not to mention, the relationship between the D.I.D. personality Hye Ri and the SML. Nothing was resolved in these areas. The last Ep gave the customary hit 'n miss to each character.
The writer expected the viewers to not remember info in earlier episodes were rewritten in later episodes, as if we were stupid.
The writer waited too long to include the ML and FL's initial 'relationship' from their first meeting to them living together. The man had red flags blowing for any viewer to see, from the beginning. There was more than one interlude before they cohabitated. The 1st being 4 months after, then the 2nd being 6 months; 10 months total of manipulation by the ML.
The writer EXPECTED the viewers to not remember why the ML broke off an 8 year cohabitation with a simple "Goodbye".
The writer EXPECTED the viewers to not remember the ML was the cause of the FL developing D.I.D. Yes, she had family issues that contributed, but the ML was the driver.
The writer EXPECTED viewers to be believe her gaslighting in ALL of the mid episodes forward. There were too many scenes to list them here.
The writer couldn't use the largest salvage vessel in the world for her drama after Ep 6/7.
And yes, I'm outraged the writer's script was such a blatant misrepresentation of what a good, or even great, relationship truly is between a man and woman. It's no wonder why young women and men are floundering. The thought that even 1 woman would see this as something to strive for hurts my brain, and my heart.
I thought a few other dramas which were released this year (2024) were pretty bad, but Dear Hyeri's writing surpassed ALL poorly written dramas in the last few years.
Casting was too heavy. With a convoluted storyline, too much emphasis was placed on characters that didn't add anything, such as the grannies and the office workers. Maybe that's why a few characters kinda sorta disappeared with no word of why.
The cinematography, the direction, the acting, and the OST were good. The storyline itself could have been great in another writer's hands. Or I would like to believe it could.
My 1 rating overall is for Shin Hye Sun ONLY. The Acting/Cast 9 rating was for Shun Hye Sun ONLY. She carried the drama. Her acting was impeccable, as usual.
The majority of viewers apparently have never encountered a Narcissist who is the complete opposite of a normal human being, nor have any idea what co-dependency actually means. A true Narcissist is not common among normal people (even if it's becoming less so nowadays).
Finally, I wouldn't recommend this for even the real Narcissists that I've had a personal relationship with. They do tend to pick up new tactics from any source.
Was this review helpful to you?
Realistic love story and no mental illness stigma!
Bravo. Shin Hye-sun and Lee Jin-wook are amazing and they delivered a beautiful and intimate performance, pairing wonderfully together.The show did a great job depicting the different sides of love, good and bad- tough decisions trying to balance family and romantic love, things not working out, stubborn stances, pride and letting go of it, allowing yourself to love and be loved... As in life, no character was without faults and without making regretable choices. I liked how instead of dwelling on blame, they moved forward to where they should be in a sincere and loving way.
Some criticize the DID depiction. DID is multifaceted and very different for each person it affects. Much of it is internal and so it is hard for physicians, friends, and families to grasp, let alone portray on a show. Kudos for bringing it up and for not having the characters and audience treat a person with DID in a pathetic, assylum oriented, or pitiful way. Eun Ho/ Hyeri didn't feel like a product of an illness. As a friend of someone with DID and who was treated as a specimen rather than himself, I truly appreciate that.
Loved the cast, cinematography, story line, messages, etc. Great balance between main/side stories and present/flashbacks. I am very glad I watched it and recommend it!
Was this review helpful to you?
