Idol I

Idol I is so much more than just a "star-and-fan" rom-com. It’s a surprisingly dark legal thriller that dissects the toxicity of the industry and the thin line between admiration and obsession.

Maeng Se-na (Choi Soo-young) is a brilliant character. Watching her shift from an implacable "villain's lawyer" in the courtroom to hiding her Gold Boys photocards and stickers whenever her client walks in is hilarious, yet deeply human.

Kim Jae-young delivers an outstanding performance as Do Ra-ik, a broken idol dealing with panic attacks and sasaeng harassment before getting entangled in the murder of his own groupmate. Personally, I believe this is one of the best-acted roles of his career, though, in my eyes, he’s always perfect.

Unlike other idol dramas, the whodunit here keeps you constantly on edge. It makes you question whether we truly know our idols or if we simply love the mask they project.

It’s meta, intense, and features explosive chemistry (at times made awkward by the legal context) between the leads. If you enjoyed The Judge from Hell or legal dramas with a modern twist, this is a 2025/2026 gem you cannot miss.

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This was so good!

Wow, I can’t believe I already finished this drama! I loved it so much and genuinely enjoyed every part of it. Honestly, when I first started watching, I kinda regretted picking it up while it was airing because waiting every week for a new episode was actual torture.

I loved how the story developed, the romance, and OMG—the chemistry between the actors was insane. I would’ve loved an extra episode just focused on their dating era, but I’m still pretty satisfied with what we got in the finale. I adored their moments together and how slowly and naturally they fell in love—especially the ML. And the kisses?! (//ω//) There were only two scenes, but they were absolutely unforgettable, lol.

The romance was very soft and subtle, built through quiet moments, shared silences, and emotional safety rather than big dramatic declarations. It’s in the small, everyday interactions where their bond really shines—lingering looks, gentle teasing, and the way they slowly learn to trust each other. So when we finally get a confession, a kiss, and a compliment, it actually feels earned. Their relationship works because it grows with healing, not despite past trauma, making it feel genuine, comforting, and emotionally satisfying. ♥

I also loved the OST—especially It’s Me by Kim Jae Young. I’ve been playing it nonstop because it’s just so beautiful. And his voice?! Gorgeous. I had no idea he could sing that well. It’s also kind of wild that he’s friends with Byeon Woo Seok and that both of them sing and have dramas where they play idols.

I also enjoyed the mystery surrounding the bandmate’s murder. We were all out here making theories, and in the end, it was such a twist! (At least for me) I did suspect the real culprit for a second, but then everyone (myself included) got distracted by the manager and the CEO. So yeah, I liked the twist—even if the mystery side was a bit weak, as a romance? I’m fully sold.

Overall, I loved this drama. It might not be a masterpiece or the greatest thing ever, but within its genre, it really stands out. I’d 100% recommend it, and I’ll definitely be rewatching it in the future! (･ω･ﾉﾉﾞ

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A drama about Healing & Character Growth - not Fangirling or Crime Investigation

Subjective Gut Rating: 8.25

To fully enjoy “Idol I”, it’s important to set your expectations and know what type of drama this is. Otherwise, you might be disappointed.

What type of drama is “Idol I”?
** To me, it’s a drama about character growth and development, healing and closure for our main leads.

What “Idol I” is not -
- Murder mystery or Crime investigation drama
- Law drama
- Idol or Fangirling drama
These elements are presented in the drama, but they serve as a plot device for us to get to know our leads and to follow their journey to happiness.


What I Like:

1. Do Ra Ik (ML) - It’s nice to see male lead who is not afraid to show his emotions (the good, bad, and ugly). Oftentimes, softer MLs are depicted as naive and innocent and just weak. But Do Ik isn’t like that. He just can’t hide his feelings. Once he’s off the stage, he will show his emotions honestly to everyone. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s played by the very handsome and charismatic Kim Jae Yeong. His acting is fabulous and when he’s suffering, I felt his pain. He might have cried a little too much in the first few episodes, but for good reasons.

2. Acting - Not only is Kim Jae Yeong breaking my heart and making me smile, Choi Soo Young performed equally well. Without their excellent performance, I probably would not have rated this drama as high. The supporting cast is just as impressive. I wanted to see more of Jung Jae Kwang (Prosecutor Kwak) and Choi Hee Jin also did well as the ex-gf. Of course, we have veterans such as Kim Won Hae who never disappoint.

3. Romance - The romance might not be front and center, and there aren’t many cute and fluffy scenes compared to a normal rom-com, but the chemistry is evident. Even though romance doesn’t start till later, there are plenty of scenes of the leads together for them to get to know each other. The romance feels naturally developed and though few, the kisses are fabulous. I won’t lie, I wish there are more hot kisses and a few more cute scenes. But I am satisfied.

4. OST - I love all the songs in the drama. I don’t really have much to say, but whenever a song played, I thought to myself, “this song is lovely”. I’m happy to see that Kim Jae Young actually sang the song “It’s Me”. It has a very Japanese feel to it and his voice is nice. I also like the title song “Echoes of You”. It’s the perfect song to be sung in concerts with fans singing along. It’s a happy, fangirling song. There are a few slower, beautiful ballads as well, such as “Stay Closely”.


What I have Mixed Feelings:

1. Plot - Despite liking the healing and character growth of the drama, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that the law/crime investigation storylines are not integrated well into the drama. I wanted to see more bickering and trash talking between the two attorneys, FL and Prosecutor Kwak. I was hoping for some court scenes and see them fight, because they have really good chemistry with the few scenes together. The drama also didn’t do much in the crime investigation either. The last episode is unable to really tie all the loose ends. The drama tries, but it feels rushed and incomplete, especially in regards to the real murderer, the management company and ML’s mother.

2. Murderer - On the one hand, I was surprised to find out who the murderer is. So, that’s a positive for me. Unfortunately, the real reason for the murder is very anti-climatic. The aftermath was glossed over because it has nothing to do with ML anymore. With such a big part focusing on the death of the team member, this feels like a let down.

3. Re-trial - The pursuit of the re-trial is going to happen, and I have no doubt about. That is a big part of FL’s story. However, how it was presented and executed did not make it seem important at all. I would have liked to see the drama slowly integrate elements of FL’s father story, instead of just a few flashbacks of him claiming innocence. Maybe I was asking for too much, since as I said, the focus of the drama is not crime investigation.


Despite my criticisms, I had a great time binging the drama. I really enjoy watching the leads growth story and healing of each other. I like their acting, their characters and their journeys. This is the primary reason why I am rating it an 8.25 and not less than 8.0. If I am a serious investigation/crime fanatic, this would be an absolute disappointment.


Completed: 2/6/2026 Review #665

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IDOL I THE KDRAMA OF 2025-2026!

oh my goodness this show was perfection, it was bittersweet, sad, cute, suspenseful.. who woulda thought Like was HER FRICKING SECRETARY OR WHATEVER? and on top of that, the kissing scenes? Chefs kiss. I usually rank every kdrama I watch above a 8-10 because I’m polite, but if I could exceed 10 this and a few others would definitely take the spot. I don’t get some of the hate because this show is seriously realistic coming from a kpop fan themselves, maybe the people who don’t like it need to humble themselves. anyway IDOL I WAS AMAZING DONT CARE WHAT THE HATERS SAYYY

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Watch it!! - no regrets :)

I absolutely adored!! It had it had cuteness. It had romance. It had drama. It had mystery thriller. It had tension. It basically had everything!!

I love a series that pulls together and has a nice balance of everything and that’s exactly what this series had not only that but it also brought a light. The fact of truth that K-pop stars have to go through. Hopefully fans have watched this and they’re gonna reflect on their behaviour and be more like the fans at the end respecting privacy and protect protecting the idols privacy 👀👏🙏

I’d kind of figured out that it was the ex she just got so suspicious by the end but at the same time I’m so glad it wasn’t someone unexpected that you’d grown to love! The music was addicting and the way the main characters grew together was so wholesome and cute!! I’m definitely going to look at series with these actors and actresses in because they were all great and I would definitely watch a drama from this director again!

There was found family there was tension there were suspicion. I’d like to know whether the mum went to the concert. I’m hoping she did but I feel like she solved the ticket… and the ex manager/owner of golden boys the way he was almost like a father figure and he apologised for his behaviour so reflection tick tick! (I do love the actor who played the manager/owner of Golden boys I’ve seen him in quite a few things and he’s acting is incredible! Same goes for the male lead apart from that I don’t think I recognised many in this series but I will be looking them up for recommendations of other ones to watch now!

Overall, an amazing series really enjoyable really captivating and fun to watch!

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Lack of Everything

Premise: I’m not into heavy, highly realistic, plot-driven dramas, so I chose this one because I knew it would be cozy (or at least I thought so).
However, I think it’s much lighter than it’s supposed to be.
How can a murder suspect have time to flirt with his lawyer?
Why, at the very beginning, does the autopsy doctor say that the wounds were too perfect not to have been planned in advance, while at the end of the drama it turns out to be an accidental murder?
I usually hate angst, but this time it was actually needed.
Despite the very good acting, the plot is weak and pointless.

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Worth the watch

Idol I is a quiet, emotionally grounded drama that succeeds by choosing restraint over spectacle.

At its core, the story is less about idol glamour and more about vindication, trust, and identity. It strips fame down to its most fragile parts; solation, public judgment, and the way power distorts truth. Ra-ik’s journey is painful but human: a man forced to confront betrayal, loss, and the slow rebuilding of self-worth when the world decides he’s disposable.

Se-na is the drama’s emotional anchor. As both a fangirl and a lawyer, she could’ve easily fallen into cliché, but instead she’s written with integrity. Her belief in Ra-ik is never blind or performative; it’s principled. She chooses him not out of fantasy, but out of conviction, and that choice shapes the drama’s moral backbone.

The romance unfolds gently, built on quiet moments, shared silence, and emotional safety rather than grand declarations. When affection finally surfaces in a confession, a kiss and a compliment, it feels earned. Their relationship works because it grows alongside healing, not in spite of trauma.
What truly elevates Idol I is its refusal to simplify its characters. Even figures like Woo-seong are treated with nuance, while the reveal of Hye-joo as the killer delivers a chilling reminder that not all harm comes from misunderstanding and that some comes from entitlement without remorse.
Overall, Idol I is a slow-burn drama that rewards patience. It’s thoughtful, sincere, and emotionally resonant , a story about choosing truth, standing firm against power, and finding comfort in being truly seen.

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More Than Just an Idol Romance

Idol I struck a nice balance between romance and murder mystery, with just enough lighthearted moments to keep it from getting too heavy. The FL's fangirl side added some humor early on, even if it became an issue later on in the story. Where the drama really stood out for me, though, was in its exploration of fandom and parasocial relationships.

Some of my favorite moments were early on, when we see the ML dealing with the more uncomfortable sides of fame and parasocial fan behavior, and later, when he talks about the two versions of himself: the idol persona versus who he really is. I also appreciated the way the drama showed more normal fandom behavior through the FL. The ticket-buying scene near the end was especially funny, but also totally accurate!

I’ve seen some criticism online about the romance, particularly concerns that it feeds parasocial fantasies since the idol ultimately ends up with a fan. I understand where that worry comes from, but at the same time, that outcome was inevitable from the start. The drama, however, made an effort to show that this wasn’t just an idol-fan fantasy. Their shared history and emotional connection added depth to their relationship. And while I don’t usually love the “we knew each other when we were younger” trope, in this case, it worked for me...I actually wish the show had spent more time exploring it.

Overall, I liked the main couple and found the ending mostly satisfying. My one lingering frustration is that the show never fully tied up the storyline surrounding her father’s retrial, which felt like a missed opportunity for closure. Still, Idol I offered a thoughtful take on fandom, identity, and romance, and it was a genuinely fun and enjoyable watch.

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Idol & Inconsistency

Good chemistry. Fake premise. A lawyer drama that forgot the law, a murder mystery that ran in circles, and a finale that wasted its last shot. The romance carried this harder than it should have had to.

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I signed up for the ultimate Seong-deok fanfic, saving your bias from a murder charge. The cards were on the table. Se-na is an ace attorney. Ra-ik is an idol in handcuffs. Idol I did not bait and switch me. It promised a lawyer with a murder to solve and then spent eleven episodes refusing to actually show her being a lawyer. Every single beat of potential legal tension evaporates into nothing. Her profession is decorative, it is a typo, it is a fanfic device to justify proximity to her crush. You could have swapped her law background for a barista apron or florist shears or a sushi chef hat or walking dogs and nothing would have changed. Same scenes. Same dialogue. Same total absence of stakes. The script treats her profession like it was a typo that slipped past casting. Watching her do literally anything legal is like staring into an empty room waiting for fireworks. Nothing happens. Court scnes? nah?. Not an investigation she drives. Not a clever legal pivot. Nothing. Nada. Ugh.

The murder mystery is limp. Toxic substances in Ra-ik’s and his friend’s blood appear and then vanish. Who gave it to them? Why? Was it overlooked by sloppy investigators? Did someone cover it up? The show doesn’t care. Eleven episodes of circling the same evidence, pretending it counts as tension. They even run away to a cabin right after Ra-ik is indicted like being officially charged means nothing. Cozy romantic fantasy replaces stakes. I am furious.

Se-na dating her client? Ethics evaporated. Prosecutor Jung Jae-kwang suddenly grows a conscience after one conversation with Se-na. His father Kim Min-sang is cartoonish. Obstruction of justice is a casual hobby. These are not plot choices, they are insults to anyone who knows how justice works. The whole thing is nonsense. The story pretends consequences exist while actively ignoring them.

Romance is infuriatingly effective. Confessions, letter in the morning, Se-na running out late at night to deliver a hat. Cute, impulsive, human. The lawyer-suspect tension should create stakes, danger, stress, legal fireworks. Instead, it is proximity to justify romance. Chemistry doing the emotional labor the story refuses to do. I am charmed and furious at the same time.

The ML and 2FL conversations are pointless. One episode he’s in love, next episode he’s not. Watching it feels like staring into a void while someone waves their hands. Surface-level, invisible, whatever their contribution is, it is nothing. 2ML, the prosecutor, is vapid, and his one personality pivot is laughable. Watching actors try to make sense of this vacuum is maddening.

Han Do-hee as the ex-girlfriend does good work. She acts bitter, brittle, dangerous. But the writing refuses to earn it. Accidental harm escalates to premeditated murder mechanically. I believed her rage, her resentment, her self-pity wrapped in cruelty. I wish the writing cared as much as her acting.

Kim Jae-young and Sooyoung are the only reason this drama limps along. They give weight, pulse, emotional grounding. Without them, it is rubble. With them, it drags itself to the finish line. They fight the script with everything they have. Watching them is thrilling and enraging because everything else refuses to exist.

Park Chung Jae, played by Kim Hyun-jin, exists to pine and hand over evidence. It is infuriating watching him fight a script that cannot write him a single proper motivation. Side characters barely have motivations. I have seen cardboard targets with more interior life.

Idol/fandom moments land sometimes. Goldys waving flags, obsessive fans, parasocial ugliness, constant pressure, glimpses of real fandom intelligence, morse code in a song that makes me laugh and groan at the same time. It is absurd, ridiculous, but it works in the narrow context of fan energy. Still, it is another reminder of how lazy the rest of the writing is.

The finale is such a waste. Her father’s case barely matters, shoved into a single episode, literally a five-second footnote. Se-na finally functions as a lawyer and it barely matters. Romantic awkwardness happens after the relationship is established, which creates weird timing. The rest of the finale should have been ten minutes tacked onto episode eleven. Everything else is random fan-survival footage.

Idol I flashes brilliance constantly and then immediately smothers it. Se-na could have been a powerhouse lawyer. Ra-ik’s suspense could have carried fire. The investigation could have delivered tension. But the show chooses fanfic logistics over stakes, romance over logic, chemistry over plot, flashes of fandom insight over coherent procedural. It teases you, riles you, makes you believe something might happen, and then refuses to be anything other than padded, sloppy, frustrating nonsense.

It is maddening. It is infuriating. It is exhausting. It could have been sharp, biting, thrilling. Instead, it is chaos wrapped in cute gestures, fan service, and actors refusing to let the nonsense collapse entirely. I am furious and I cannot stop thinking about it.

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“Idols Are Human Too ? | Must-Watch Series Review!”

This series was honestly so refreshing 😍! It really shows what people in the entertainment industry go through especially the ones we call idols. There’s so much behind the scenes backlash, pressure, and expectations and this show really brings it out. Most fans don’t realize what idols face, and this series does a great job showing that 💡. I learned so much about the world of entertainment just by watching it.
Now, the story. Song‑Yong, the lawyer, is a huge fan of the idol Kim Jae‑Yong 💖. Her love and dedication to him actually kept her going through tough times. I think many of us can relate sometimes, someone we admire keeps us moving forward. But imagine being an idol like Kim Jae‑Yong all the pressure, the expectations, and the backlash 😳. This series really shows it all, and it’s done in such a thoughtful way.
If you watch closely, you’ll see that we sometimes treat idols unfairly, forgetting they are human too. This show is a gentle reminder of that 🫶. Honestly, it’s well-paced, emotional, and very interesting. For anyone new trying it, I can tell you you’ll really enjoy it 💕.

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