A Hundred Memories

More Like A Hundred Disappointments

80s story that could have had potential but ruined by hundred dumb routes. They have promising setting, two female bus conductors at first having their own family burdens, social expectations, and dreams. Their contrast personalities give balance for their character. But the show reduce them to “love rivals” rather than an individual characters who have goals. The writer want to create story about girl friendship complexity but failed, no build up, no progress, no motivation, no solid story message. They wasted it with story being defined and revolved around the male lead and lost the unique identity they supposedly had.

Oh yes, I understand it is romance. But then they didn't show how they develop the relationship, how and why they catch the feelings bit by bit, what push them to change, how they got to be who they are. The story becomes a disconnected events rather than a cohesive journey for the main characters. All of their purposes are pulled into shadow by the romantic entanglement rather than resolved by their own growth. All these forced emotions are craps.
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A Hundred Triangles?

Alas, I find the male lead out of place from the female leads's dynamic. Whereas Yeongrye and Jonghui's opening come from down to earth household, economic hardship and gender expectation; Jaepil comes from the contrasting background. Prince on white horse? His cliche "privileged rich cold boy" introduction failed me to connect with his character in their 80s setting.

Yes, ML owns his emotional wounds, daddy issues, and bankrupt era. But the drama also seems to rely on him being the “object” that the two female leads orbit, rather than giving him enough depth to make the audience care deeply about him as more than just a romantic figure. Even his "aspiring boxer" narrative is scrapped by "heartbreak". He also got no much role for female leads's development. At least other male characters play a significant part in female leads's ambitions plot / Yeongrye asking the brother duos about law as she lacks education but she still revolve the problem on her own / Jonghui with his criminal brother side by side with Ko's siblings.

Once again, the main character's dreams, are scrapped throughout the drama, removed, forgotten, then pulled back in last seconds just for the sake of dumb plot. Titled hundred memories then give us a whole 7 years timeskip with a minimum flashback with majority of dramatic tension still weight heavily on the male lead, who, is not given enough complexity, growth, or... good acting to justify that weight. Romance drama? Well, it is also supposed to be a youth family drama but the series fall back into hundred romance tropes.
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Not Enough A Hundred Memories, But A Hundred Cliches.

Anyway, some parts are great especially when they show Yeongrye's family dynamics and 80s economic straits through the open door bus conflicts and.... well, there isn't much arc in the dorm lmao, what else I can mention? Wait, there is another love triangles plot in the dorm! Rather than showing the fellow conductor's struggles, they chose to add another male-centered side story! Even the side character cant escape from the love triangle, sick how the writer sidelined Jeongbun's struggle and made her story all about cheater character instead of addressing pregnant without marriage issue in 80s. The ending is such a joke too, I would accept the writer's intention to push "friendship" narrative in the last minutes if they focus resolving the main conflict, the stab incident trauma between the girls, but then they pulled this foggy dream light crap and made Yeongrye scream "Jaepiiiill" !!

But really, this drama has some genuine emotional moments, especially during first half in portraying female friendship and societal pressures of eldest daughter, female labor etc.. Though it went down hill, jumped to the cliff latter part, especially with the makjang nonsense.

Overall I am disappointed. I gave it lower rating because I had high expectations with my fave starring here. I have much more to complaint especially the late 80s hair salon background setting and styling post time skip. I expected much more from both Kim Dami and Shin Yeeun. Why the hell did they accept this script? I wished the story prioritized showing the dorm characters's inner lives, ambitions, 80's conflicts, and especially more evenly. It could have been a strong 80s story. If you are looking for that, turn around! Don't get scammed like me~

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IF ALL CHARACTERS CAN BE MASS MURDERED FOR AN UGLY PLOT, THIS SHOW WILL BE THE PRIME EXAMPLE.

I’ll analyse characters with my perspective for you, because there is no plot. Only assassinated characters. This will be my review.

1. YEONG RYE:
uhmmm…. sigh! I liked her so much as the drama began. But I’m telling you she feels like this two-faced green flag wrapped not so green flag. Do you get it? It’s more like, to her, Jeong Hui’s sacrifices never mattered. On the surface she missed her. Inside she didn’t like how JH came back for her friendship and love. I get that YR and Jae Pil have now become closer but she freakin KNEW that her best friend liked him and he liked her as well. You broke the girl code dude. Could’ve not longed for his love when she got to know that they both liked each other or at least, when JH left because of you!!

I’m not saying that just because JH has done so many sacrifices, now YR must be grateful to her till eternity and clean her feet or something, but YR could’ve really chosen not to still harbour feelings for her best friend’s boyfriend. Her own feelings were more important than anyone else’s. She said goodbye to her first love, but never truly did. On the surface she sacrificed, but never really did. Felt like a show. And I think there are many such things like that. MISS KOREA!!! It was your friend’s dream all along. You knew it. No, the scholarship excuse doesn’t suffice.

YR’s character felt so shallow. I felt like she is something, but was portrayed to look like something else. Just because she is the FL the writers wanted her to look nice at the end, so they made JH the bish. But to me, YR felt like the real problem here. The writers just forcefully tried to install that she is the HERO. But it felt like a hollow well.

2. JEONG HUI:
What is she? God’s most unfavourite child or something? Like bro… is she even human at this point? Sacrificing her most important life choices left and right as if she is Jesus or smthg. Didn’t girl start off as someone who has a backbone? Now the writers don’t want her to become a bigger emotional ride on people’s minds cuz she is not the FL, so they turn her arc and make her the villain? What in the world??? SHE EFFIN DESERVES HAPPINESS!!! Tell me one character in this huge ahh casted drama that would choose JH over everyone else? Girl is like STRONG STRONG to choose these people over and over. She DESERVES the best…. away from all these people and drama. And gorforsaken for once she blurted her trauma, she is made to look like the villain? Everyone blames her and looks at her like she is guilty? Ew… they were never her people and she gave away everything she had for these very people. SAD.

3. JAEP PIL:
He is not the red flag. Sure. But definitely someone who feels things just for the sake of feeling things. All the bond that he shared with JH meant nothing to him. He was fully aware that she she still liked him before she had to leave everything and go. So now no feelings, bye???? Then YR. He wants her because he wants to pay back for what she has done to him and his family. More like repayment of loan with interest than love. It’s like he ticked boxes. We are compatible because I don’t eat tomato, she takes mine. Okay. She took care of my father. Okay. She loved me first. Okay. All boxes ticked. And then, oh competition! I must win. So let’s repay and win??? If this is real life, I swear they’ll get separated sooner or later because there was never love from his side. When the repayment is enough, there will be nothing left. I felt bad for YR in this thing because she deserved love. Not a conditional clause.

4. JEONG HYUN:
??? What happened to my Mr. Cool? His character had so much potential. But because he was not casted for the main lead, he shall suffer. No other reason. Character development what? This is character deterioration. Man had seven years to get closer to YR. He went away? Why? I understand JH for being away for seven years, but what reason did this man have? He loved her but didn’t put the effort at the right time. Anyway, his character felt like he was being reduced just because he is not the male lead.

5. YEONG SIK:
Consitently the only good guy. Bro doesn’t lift a finger tho. Never goes and puts efforts to get the girl. He just waits until she gets exhausted and comes to him. IDK if I had to feel good for him waiting and helping her when no one is there or bad because he never actively took the stand to show his love. He is just there in the background eating popcorn. He’s like- “Tell me when all of this drama is over. Things will fall in their places. I don’t have to do anything.” What in the ‘Eat Five Star and Do Nothing’ is this??? But I can never hate him. I felt like he was the only consistently been character out of the plethora of them. I only wished that he got involved a bit more.

6. MA SEONG CHEOL:
Play that ‘Eh? Eh? Ehhhhhh??? Ehhhhhhhhh!!!’ sound please. So much happened with this guy, but no one knows why it happened because it was never shown. I loved his character in the first half, it brought all the fun. But again, bro was sidelined. Then they came up with a new story for him. And no fly was convinced. How did he go from loving one woman to the other? It was only iterated that he likes taking care of the child so now he wants to take care of the child’s mom. The end??

SUMMING UP:
Worst plot. All characters are assassinated for the leads to get their ending- a story which doesn’t make sense. Waste of a beautiful cast and potential packed actors. Love you Dami and Shin Ye Eun. This drama can’t overpower my love for you. lol. This drama is more frustrating than healing. Didn’t expect this ridiculousness from a writer like her.I would rate it lower if not for the actors working hard and doing their job and the first half of the drama where the friendship between YR and JH was actually celebrated unlike the second half where all essence of the drama is lost for Hero making rubbish plot. I finished it just because I began watching it. Sick ride. Never recommend.

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So why was Jae Pil here? - An entertaining failure...

The drama that initially presents itself as a story of female friendship, that's how it sets up the plot, that's who they introduce as main characters, that's how the synopsis is written… and yet the way they went about it and told the story got people hating either female leads and fighting who is worse of a friend. There is no real message, there is no clear vision. There are just things happening and a lot of frustration. It was fun, but at the end felt cheap. Like eating fast food - you might enjoy the taste as you eat, but later you suffer from indigestion.

Personally I think there are 3 major flaws in the show that truly could ruin a viewing experience and almost ruined it for me.

First of all - the hard cut that happened with the time jump. By all means you will basically watch 2 completely different shows. All the character development happens behind the scenes and we never witness it, hence who you saw in the first half is not who you follow in the second half. The transition was poorly planned and delivered. They needed to reintroduce all the characters since they are in a completely different point of their lives which, with how many plotlines the drama had anyway, feels like a waste of time. Even though I prefer linear storytelling, I do believe in this case mixing the two timelines throughout the show would be a better way to present the story and make it feel more balanced.

The time jump leads me to the second issue - Yeong Rae and Jae Pil’s relationship. First of all, no it’s not like I disliked them because I wanted him with Jong Hui (I was full on Jong Hui and Yeong Sik shipper). I disliked them, because the way their story was directed and presented was just trash planning that took away all the things that should make me feel things. Sadly they literally skipped all the butterflies inducing moments, all the build up, falling in love, the moments that made them appreciate each other more. We got none of that - just a short one minute flashback. This is NOT how you write romance. Romance is all about feelings. You cannot just tell me he fell in love with her, because she supported him. You need to show me that journey, I need to experience it with the characters. Otherwise I won’t give a shit. And so I did not give a shit about them. Were they cute when they started to date? Sure. Did I care? No really. I guess I didn’t even dislike them, I just did not care at all.

There was literally zero set up for their romance, at least on Jae Pil’s side. He was completely not interested in her in the first half. There were zero romantic feelings. No attraction. So for their romance the whole first half was useless. Young Rae’s story of falling in love was “love from first sight” that could be done in just one episode. And then after the time jump we are told by all the characters around Jae Pil that there is more between them. Everyone is convinced they will date. Everyone tells him to look into his feelings. And I’m sitting in front of the laptop and think: how the fuck did this happen? When? What exactly made him fall for her? Was it gradual? Was it a specific moment that made him see her in a different light? Why aren’t they showing us THAT? And the way they just wanted to cover it all up with a short flashback montage was a pathetic circus of writing.

Going back to the topic of lack of balance - what was the writer thinking when they decided to put all the pain and misfortune on Jong Hui while surrounding Young Rae with all the love and happiness? What kind of sick trauma porn was it? When yet another bad thing happened to Jong Hui, at some point I just started to laugh, because it was purely ridiculous. While for Young Rae the bad things that happened led to better outcomes long term, even if Jong Hui received something good, it then led to more pain. For example - Yeong Rae got fired from work in an unjust way? Right away she got a new better job with far more opportunities. Jong Hui saved someone from attempted suicide and thought she found a new family and home? The mother turns out to be abusive and manipulative. It was just exhausting to see her get slapped in the face by life over and over again, when by all means she did nothing wrong.

I’m just struggling to grasp and understand what this drama is about. What is the message? Because the last minute happy ending cannot erase all that happened for the remaining 11… Personally life lessons I’ve got from it were:

Life is not fair, deal with it no one cares.
Don’t help people, you get screwed in the process - whenever intentionally or not.
Be selfish - at the end of the day your needs should matter the most.
You cannot escape abuse, life be like: out of the frying pan into the fire.
Also abusers are not really bad people, they are REALLY DEEP INSIDE and you just have to apologize to them.
Even if you find someone that cares for you, they most likely care for someone else more.
There is no real female friendship if a guy is involved as a third party - only more trauma can bring you back together, communication is overrated.
Being ignorant about other people’s suffering will make your life easier.

And here’s a thing that made me the most annoyed, frustrated and uncomfortable - I started to dislike Yeong Rae as we got closer to the end of the show. She was in fact a great character - smart, dedicated, brave, driven, caring, adorable, bubbly. She did shine bright. But with how sad and tragic Jong Hui’s life was, I sadly could not enjoy her character. When I knew she was able to lead that life, because Jong Hui protected her in the past. When I knew how bad the aftermath of it was for Jong Hui. How she ended up with no support system, thinking of dying, struggling to survive every day, just to end up in a fake doll house with an abusive adoptive mother… It was hard to be happy for Yeong Rae, when her happiness was unintentionally built on someone else’s suffering. And no, it was not Yeong Rae’s fault at all. It’s not like Jong Hui took the blame for something Yeong Rae did. It’s not like Yeong Rae asked Jong Hui to stab the manager. It was Jong Hui’s choice, but with where it led… There were moments where I wished she did not protect Yeong Rae. And for that feeling I blame the writer. Instead of making me root for both female leads, the writer made me resent one, when she did nothing wrong.

No matter what happened, the story always had to go back and focus on Yeong Rae - she was the forefront of the drama, every main plotline led to her and concluded on her. She was the main character and all the rest were just support. And this is not what I wanted to watch. I wanted to see her and Jong Hui together, as partners, and equals, as individuals with their own stories, that are connected by a close bond.

For the minor issues: unreasonable double standard in terms of abuse. Jong Hui’s mother was justifiably pained in bad light for hitting Jong Hui “and loving her when it fits her, and hitting her when when things don’t go her way”, but Jae Pil’s dad was “misunderstood soul that actually cares deeply for Jae Pil and deserves apology from Jae Pil for misunderstanding him”for years” - excuse me, but what the fuck? No. He was just abusive and trash. He did not deserve the ridiculous redemption and the scene of Jae Pil crying and apologizing made me feel sick.

On the redemption arc - Jong Hui’s brother gets one too. Why? He literally beat her so bad she almost died and was living in fear for years. And now he is not that bad, because he wants to save her? Nope.

What was the point of wasting screentime on Kim Jeong Sik [Bus driver] in the second half? He served his purpose as a dick and created the set-up for romance between Sang Cheol and Jeong Bu with the adorable little family they created. There was literally no real reason for him to show up in the second half - ZERO.

Go Young Sik not having more presence. We truly needed his brain and maturity more amongst that brainless land of lack of communication and stupid decision making.

I do not understand why Noh Sang Sik decided to only get revenge on Jong Hui. Yeong Rae was the one to screw him over first, Jong Hui got involved to help Yeong Rae, Yeong Rae then was the one to blackmail him with what she knew, so he could not step forward and his life got screwed. Don’t get me wrong, if we go by facts his life got screwed because of his own choices only, but from his messed up head perspective, I just do not understand how he did not blame Yeong Rae at all for any of it.

Ko Yeong Rye in the Miss Korea competition made no sense. There was nothing wrong with Ko Yeong Rye, but the girl is not a Miss Korea type. She does not have to be. Her being part of it made no sense in terms of realism.

Moving on to things I actually enjoyed. First of all, the show was somehow both predictable and unpredictable. I feel like the overall big picture was rather obvious. From episode 2 I knew what the end game was, but what the drama delivered was enough ambiguous content that made it possible to dive deep into delulu land with just enough hope for different ships to happen. They were baiting different relationships so skillfully, creating such a good chemistry between different pairings, I believe there is a fun ship for everyone, even if most of them are Titanics.

The friendship between the female leads in the first half was literally the best part of the whole show. Honestly - they were the best ship at first. The level of care and support they had for each other. The fact they both were willing to give up the guy for the other (adorable, but also dumb. Why not have a proper conversation instead of "sacrificing your feelings when no one asked for that?). There were nice messages about standing up for yourself and your friend, amazing vibes of found family trope.

The acting was great. Kim Da Mi did a phenomenal job presenting first the truly innocent and shy young version of her character, and then more mature and confident, but just as bubbly as an adult. Shin Ye Eun aced presenting how hurt Jong Hui was, while hiding her feelings and pretending to be strong. I feel bad for Heo Nam Jun, because Jae Pil was rather a mess. The least cohesive and constant character. That said, Nam Jun did what he could with what he was given. His scene where he confronted his father in front of the mother’s grave? Amazing. All the other actors and actresses did as much of a great job as the main three. Acting wise there was honestly no real weak link.

Then we have the styling - perfection. While I loved the wardrobe of Jong Hui in the second half, I want to focus on how all the characters had their own style that fitted their personalities and their lifestyle.

Any and all drinking scenes of Jae Pil, Jeong Hyeon and Yeong Sik. You know what I need? I need them to go back in time and reshoot the show so they can add the aftercredit scenes that last for like 5 minutes of these three chilling and drinking after every episode. Or better, give me a spin off focused on their growing friendship.

Just Ko Yeong Sik. God bless him.

Overall… What a ride. Props for evoking so many feelings in me and making me care so much. Too bad they were mostly negative feelings and they made me care about the wrong things that just made the show more frustrating.

PS. Justice for Jeong Hyeon.

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What happened?

Youngrye and Jonghee’s relationship had so much hope in the beginning. But then Jaepil exists so we don’t actually see the progression of YR’s and JH’s relationship entirely during the timeskip. Also YR is the most boring character I have ever watched. Talk about a Mary Sue trope. She can do no wrong, she’s always there to save the day, she has no emotional depth except for when it comes to a man and a friendship that existed 7 yrs ago instead of what is currently going on between the two. What’s the point of JH’s brother trying to do good at the end of all he does is end up in the hospital bed?? Just to alert JP? JP is the most boring male lead too. They tried to add depth with his character but the actor’s stiff and awkward facial expressions just take me out of the scene. Also disappointed with the fact that JH and Yeongsik never had a truly romantic scene together. Only a hand hold and a quick glance at the end of the last episode. Honestly they had better chemistry than JP and YR. JH deserved better. Shin Yeeun and Kim Dami deserved a better script. This was my first Kim Dami kdrama and honestly I’m disappointed after hearing all the hype surrounding her. I only started it because Shin Yeeun was in it.

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START AS A WONDERFULL AND DIFFRENT DRAMA BUT END AS CLICHE AS ALL KDRAMAS

This drama had somuch potential but the second half was ruined. They start as a beautiful friendship but then make it as a love triangle. I hate the ending too. at some point JH and JP were dating and noe JP and YR dating. What's that a sw**** party. I find that really weird cuz at some point this is your friens ex honeyyyyyy!!!!! I wish that would be no romantic relationship between the 3 leads. Surely that could be one sided love in the younger times like YR loved JP and JP loved JH but those just childish love stories but end up they were all had different partner like that .

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coming of age minus any of the hard parts

A story that is supposed to be centered around female friendship and coming of age is instead shadowed by a luke warm love story and nonexistent plot. The story did begin with the beautiful growth of two female friends and I do really love their friendship, loyalty, compassion, and tenacity not only toward each other but toward other women around them. The two lead ladies are so likable and pleasant to watch and root for. But then just as things really begin to get hard and our characters face their biggest obstacle the story decides to skip right over it and pick up in a place that makes the characters we previously met seem like completely different people.

Massive time jumps rarely work out well for story tellers and often just feel like a lazy way of getting out of writing hard scenes. Here the time jump was 7 years and it completely skipped over all the aftermath and depression the characters needed to go through following a life altering point in their lives. It was an easy way for the writer to just skim the hard part of coming of age following set backs and misfortunes that lead to character growth and maturity. Instead the narrative just jumps to these completely different characters that we no longer are familiar with nor understand how some of the characters even ended up where they did based on the understanding we previously had of them. All the important information that needed to be gained from seeing the characters experience things was instead just told to us in nonchalant snippets making the show feel like two completely different ones. Everything that would have been difficult for the characters to overcome or experience was completely skipped over. Yeong Rae and company finding new jobs, Jeong Bun being a single mother, Jea Pil's family actually going through the bankruptcy and him going to med school, etc. Every important development is played off screen cheapening the experiences.

My other major complaint is that almost every character spends the majority of the story pining for someone. And they were secretly in love for years without saying anything. One or two characters I can handle but the whole main cast was spending their early twenties just pining for one person but never saying or doing anything. Do none of these characters have backbone or courage?

Examples of unanswered questions: Why would Jong Hui run but not call? Was that not clearly self defense? What kind of trouble would have actually happened if she had stayed? But instead she just runs with nothing and doesn't look back? Han Jea Pil had such strong feelings for Jong Hui that he seems to have spent those 7 years pining for her and she is the reason he quit boxing but then the writers want us to believe that he actually loves Yeong Rae after 7 years and a ton of meddling from everyone around them? Why is everyone living with Yeong Rae's family? Why did Yeong Sik wait that long to make a move when he had known her forever? Why are Sang Cheol and Jea Pil still close to Yeong Rae after Jong Hui left?

All in all it just felt like this story had no real direction or centered plot and left me as a viewer feeling like the whole thing was pointless by the end.

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May their future be just as bright as beautiful memories they share.

My darling Kim Da Mi is back with yet another challenging role. In the beginning, I added this drama to my list purely because of her. If it were any other actress, I wouldn't have found anything about this drama to be as exciting.

Initially, I wasn't planning to watch while it was ongoing and wanted to wait until all the episodes were out, to save myself some heartache that I believe this drama is likely to serve, but I couldn't stop myself from watching it now.

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It is impossible to not adore the relationship between Ko Yeong Rye and Seo Jong Hui. Them supporting each other is what i want to see for the entirety of this drama.

Yeong Rye's crush on the guy is understandable especially since he showed up like a superhero to save her so many times already. But on his end, that's all it is to him. He eyes are on Jong Hui and I can't blame him. You like who you like, things cannot be forced. As much as I hate to see Yeong Rye hurting, I am glad that she has a good head on her shoulder and wants things to work our for Jong Hui.

I can't blame Han Jae Pil for liking Jong Hui for another set of reasons, to have someone understand what's going on and stand up for him at a very vulnerable time, who could resist that? Jong Hui seems to be running from a past that haunting her, so her liking him back also makes sense. I feel the time is right for them.

Aiyo! That timeskip was completely not what I was expecting. I don't like the direction this is venturing in, I liked the past story.
I don't want them to skip so much and give us the leads in love. Whatever happened to the journey. (yeah yeah, i am being impatient.)

Just finished episode 8, well the timeskip is not that bad. The besties are back together without much heartache. I'm hoping that Jong Hui ends up with Yeong Sik, because he seemed to be waiting for her. And for dear Yeong Rye, I'm leaning more towards Jeong Hyeon than Jae Pil. Because everyone apart from his mother thinks Jae Pil is out of her league. There's just something about Jeong Hyeon that despite his childishness wants to make me root for him.
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At first I thought that Jong Hui was being a bit selfish deciding to push herself in between people who have some feelings for each other. But then again, if Jae Pil keeps wavering between the two, is he even worth the hassle. I also forgot that both Yeong Rye and Jong Hui have each taken a step back from their feelings for Jae Pil when they realized that the other liked him too. First it was Yeong Rye swallowing up her one-sided feelings and then it was Jong Hui breaking up with him. I do admit that I was rooting for Yeong Rye to end up with Jeong Hyeon because he seemed like a better choice. What I was afraid of did happen, this is replay of Itaewon class, Kim Dami's character being besotted with the male lead to have him treat like a option for years only to suddenly realize that he loved her all along. Finally, Jong Hui spoke her mind, no matter how she felt, she needed to talk to Yeong Rye about it long time ago instead of bottling it up. Here's to hoping that this drama doesn't end in a tragedy. (I am afraid coz her brother is on loose along with the man she stabbed.)

Was I the only one who didn't like the final episode at all? I almost wish it had ended in a tragedy.

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Girls, be ambitious! Or not so much...

The fact that this series is currently rated 5.2 with just one episode out is insane!! Ignore the rating, watch and form your own opinion.

For me this was an excellent first episode it introduced the cast brilliantly!! Kim Dami as Young rye is ridiculously adorable, Shin Yeeun as Seo Jong Hui is so admirable, the ultimate girl crush!! and although the casting Heo Nam Jun at 32 years old as a Highschooler is weird, I liked him very much.

The story seems to be leaning towards a love triangle which is not the best, I don't usually mind it much and I hope it doesn't become the centre of it all.

Coming back after watching the second episode I'm loving the series even more a d I'm so happy to see the rating rise a bit although it should be at least at an 8. I love how the friendship between the girls is developing and I hope that it doesn't get ruined by a stupid love triangle.

Oh My!! this drama just keeps getting better, it is for sure my favorite ongoing drama. The love triangle is far more complicated than what I had envisioned with Snagcheol and Jeon Hyeon both crushing on Yeongrye and in my humble opinion either one of them is a better choice than Jaepil, but the heart wants what it wants I guess.

I reiterate I couldn't care less who ends up with whom I just want the girls to be friends and love each other no matter what. I wish I had waited to binge the whole thing but for now I'll be patient and update this review once the drama ends.

I wasn't planning on updating until the show finished airing, but I was so surprised by the time Jump! Thank God! no more old man Jae Pil in highschool uniform, now we can really focus on how handsome he is. I'm full of curiosity about what happened in those 7 years.

I'm so excited for the second half!!!

I am sitting down now to watch the last two episodes with extreme disappointment, Girls be ambitious is a quote from the first episode that really touched me, it made me believe that this would be a women supporting women drama, women with great ambitions, for growth and empowerment, I thought this would be friendship centered with a slight romance a little triangle to stir things up, but no!! What started as a beautiful friendship between 2 girls that happened to like the same guy has become a literal competitor! I am amazed at the extreme nose dive this one took.

I'll be back to write my final thoughts after I'm done and adjust the rating accordingly.

I am done watching and instead of editing my review I will leave it as is, so whoever has the patience to read all this can experience my joy and eventual disappointment as the story progressed.

My final thoughts;

I might have been the most active supporter of this drama from day one, but it ultimately ended up disappointing me. The series is gorgeous and wonderfully acted it got me hooked up to episode 10 when it all went down the drain and it became just another predictable love triangle. The final episode wasn't as bad as I expected it to be, so I'll at least give that. For me it's a fine one time watch and I'm not sure if it merits recommendation.

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Strong start, but ended so terribly.

Ep 11 & 12 would have been fine closing episodes for a different drama. Not sure why the writers took the story to this palace of cliches that they seemed to want to avoid for the first 9ish episodes. The stabbing and the coma tidied up and erased everyone's emotional damage neatly for a happily ever after.

Viewers would have been satisfied with the explanation given about the bus company's boss. Jonghui's brother and bus company boss were not needed as returning characters. The main cast' lives had plenty of human drama without needing to add "thriller" aspect with two attempted murders. There would have been ample space for the main character development for the story to remain consistent to the first 9ish episodes so that any love story that emerges from the love triangle(s) feel somewhat understandable and relatable at a human level.

I enjoyed this drama up to episode 9 and it turned into what it turned into. All the actors did an amazing job though, too bad the 2nd half was mid at best.

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Inconsistent Narrative, Sloppy Writing

I was excited at first knowing it's from the same writer as Crash Course in Romance, which i loved. imagine my shock and disbelief when the story kept going south. after the time skip, the character behaviours, present, their motivations heck even the characters themselves hardly made any sense.

I loved the first ep so was hopeful for a good show, plus was excited to watch Kim Junghyun on screen. well, atleast one of them was worth spending my time on this show. Daddy Long Legs you were a great character! wish we had a bit more of him after the time skip too!


Although I was at unconvinced this was from the same writer as CCIR, the final episodes and the devolvement into murders and revenges and almost thriller confirmed it for me lol. CCIR had that exact same issue, but atleast there it was set up a bit better and the main characters were more likeable.

For AHM, it was supposed to a story of friendship (?) or was that wrong promotion. shoulda promoted it more as a romcom with a side of female friendship and love triangle, though the friendship narrative was nowhere to be seen after the time skip. The writer probably set out to achieve some complex character study, but unfortunately she isn't too skilled at her craft for that, yet.

This one, felt more like a wish fulfilment where the writer wanted to put the main female lead in the shoes of a typical kdrama second lead -- but who actually gets the love interest this time. It wasn't convincing, but atleast Youngrye and Jaepil were really cute by the end of it and it's visible the actors gave it their best.

As for the female friendship tho, the writer achieved just the opposite what she should have (or maybe this is exactly what the writer wanted idk). Instead of showing a friendship, though rocked by tumultuous waves, stays solid -- which should have had the audience rooting for it -- instead had the audience divided into two, fans biased, forced to pick one among the two. Ultimately, pitting women against eachother. Both onscreen and off.

The friendship aspect was just a promotional tool for the writer. when YR was at the hospital, not a single scene with JH. Even the person who called her back to life was her ultimate love Jaepil. reconciliation and every other narrative between the two so called best friends happens off screen! 🤷‍♀️

Show not tell was a concept long forgotten.

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