We Are All Trying Here

Trying and succeeding

This was an absolutely wonderful season of television. I feel like it took a few episodes to fully get into the swing of things, but when it did, it just completely drew me in. I was always looking forward to the new episodes every weekend, and I'm a bit bummed that it's over.

I absolutely adored the performances and chemistry between Koo Kyo-hwan as Hwang Dong-man and Go Youn-jung as Byeon Eun-ah. It was a very unconventional relationship, and I loved the direction they went with it. The entire rest of the cast knocked it out of the park too.

Pretty much every episode made me laugh and cry multiple times. It made me really invested in all of the characters, and I liked where pretty much all of them ended up by the end. I'm really glad I decided to check it out. It will definitely be one of my favorite seasons of TV this year.

Favorite Episodes:
Episodes 6, 8, 9, 11 & 12

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A Masterpiece That Arrived at Just the Right Time (10/10)

It has been a very long time since I experienced a viewing experience like this: being able to laugh freely, feel moved, be happy, sad, and instinctively applaud in front of the screen. Out of the dozens of drama titles I've watched recently, not a single one has managed to evoke this level of emotional resonance. On average, the dramas I watch score between 6 and 8, but for We Are All Trying Here, I can unhesitatingly give a perfect score of 10/10.

Honestly, this drama had been sitting on my wishlist for quite a while. I kept postponing it because I assumed the plot would be heavy and gloomy. However, that wait paid off completely. This experience made me realize how important mood readiness is before watching a work. When your mindset and mood are just right, the right drama feels extraordinary—and this drama proved it.

There are three main reasons why this drama feels so special to me:

1. Relatable Script & Story:
The story is not only conceptually great, but it also feels incredibly close to life and vivid. The characters' struggles are conveyed honestly without feeling forced.

2. Exceptional Acting & Casting:
The entire cast executes their roles brilliantly. Koo Kyo-hwan as Hwang Dong-man proves his class—this role feels tailor-made specifically for him. Furthermore, Kang Mal-geum playing Ko Hye-jin is a total scene-stealer. Her character and performance are deeply admirable.

3. A Soulful Ballad OST:
At a time when other drama OSTs lately feel bland and forgettable, the OST in this drama feels completely fitting and emotional. Vocals from renowned singers like Taeyeon, Choi Yu Ree, and Paul Kim successfully enhance every scene and revive my love for ballad music.

We Are All Trying Here is not just entertainment; it is an emotional experience that arrived at the exact right moment.

Note: This is my first time writing and publishing a drama review.

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Give it a chance

The story was amazing from beginning to end. All the relationships felt real and the drama did a good job of showing “you never know what a person is thinking.” I heard a lot of people say they dislike the ML personality, which is understandable, but like my headline “give it a chance” you will grow to love him. The only problem I truly had was that it had a couple of drawn-out, short moments. Ex: A scene of just silence, with a character seated, would be 20 seconds long. Which I know was for emphasis just didn’t really like it.


I thought I wouldn’t like it because I didn’t really like My Liberation Notes, but I really enjoyed it

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A rare gem!

This drama is incredibly well done, with surprisingly complex and layered characters. I’ll be honest — the male lead starts off so obnoxious that I questioned why I should even care about this story. But once the show settles in, you begin to see the multi‑layered people underneath the surface, each carrying their own issues, insecurities, and quiet battles.

As the episodes unfold, the characters become deeply relatable, unexpectedly humorous, and emotionally grounded. The show explores real issues with sincerity, and while the romance isn’t the typical kissy, fluffy, cheesy kind, the emotional connection and care between the leads is exceptional.

This isn’t a drama where everyone is impossibly beautiful or where a damsel waits to be rescued. It’s about real people dealing with real struggles, doing the best they can with the hand they’ve been dealt. That honesty — that rawness — is what makes it shine.

I loved the realism and the persistent spirit of trying, failing, and trying again. The entire cast delivers strong performances, and I enjoyed it all the way through.

9.5 stars — a quietly powerful gem.

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Four Episodes Away of Perfection

I have been watching Park Hae-young’s work for two years now, and honestly, I still do not know how to correctly review it. My Mister humbled me. My Liberation Notes finished the job. And then We Are All Trying Here arrived and did something neither of those managed to do, it made me question whether I had the language for this at all, not just in any of the five languages, but in the one I built specifically for this space. How do you put into words something that was always going to be better experienced than explained? I am genuinely not sure you can. But Park Hae-young did not write this drama for critics. She wrote it for the person sitting alone at midnight, heart still racing twenty minutes after the credits rolled, wondering why they cannot stop thinking about people they have never met. So consider this less a review, and more a letter from someone who got found.

Park Hae-young sits in an SSS tier (mirroring Kiseki’s Bracer’s Guild ranking) of her own making in my book, a designation I do not hand out lightly and have never had reason to revisit. My Mister and My Liberation Notes remain two of the finest dramas I have ever watched, and both earned their place through the same terrifying gift: her ability to create a spectacle out of the mundane, to weaponise silence and negative space until the absence of sound becomes louder than anything a score offers, and to write human beings with a precision making you feel personally targeted. When We Are All Trying Here was announced, my expectations were already set at an altitude most writers never reach. What followed was something I did not anticipate even then: a writer I thought I understood, showing me she had been holding something back all along. Park Hae-young did not repeat her previous language here; she pushed it into new territory. The result is a drama that feels like a step forward in ambition, even if it is slightly constrained by its shorter twelve-episode structure compared to her usual sixteen.

It is not a comfortable watch. It is not an easy watch. It is, however, unmistakably a Park Hae-young work operating at near-peak intent, even when the format occasionally tightens around it.

I need to confess something: the character who almost made me quit this drama is also the reason I ended up loving it. Koo Kyo-hwan plays Hwang Dong-man, our male lead and, in a first for any Park Hae-young drama I have watched, a character who actively repulsed me in the opening episodes. Dong-man is an aspiring film director who has spent nearly two decades failing to debut while his entire social circle, a prestigious industry film club called “The Eight,” has long since surpassed him. He talks too much, he picks fights at dinner tables, and he radiates that desperate, sweaty energy of a man who is trying too hard to prove he still matters. His brother works odd jobs to keep them both afloat, the people around him walk on eggshells to manage his emotions, and he repays all of it with contempt aimed outward. It is much harder to feel compassion for someone cushioned by other people’s love who still chooses to be cruel, and for three episodes I was ready to file a formal complaint with Park Hae-young herself.

But here is the trick Park Hae‑young pulls. She wrote him as repulsive on purpose. Because once you sit with that discomfort, once you stop flinching and start looking, you see the layers underneath. What she did with him afterward belongs in the section below, but here I want to give Koo Kyo-hwan his full due: he plays Dong-man with a raw, almost frightening vulnerability that never feels like acting. There is no visible effort, no actorly plea for sympathy, no performance asking you to notice it. A man in a body that has been at war with itself for twenty years, and Koo Kyo-hwan makes every scene feel like something happening rather than something being performed. He fakes an injury just to have a moment of rest. He climbs a hill and screams his own name into the void so he can feel like he still exists.

Opposite him is Go Youn-jung as Byeon Eun-ah, in a role that finally made me sit up and seriously notice her. Eun-ah is a producer known in the industry as “The Axe” for the precision of her screenplay critiques, and she is the perfect emotional foil and counterbalance to Dong-man. Where he externalises everything, she keeps it all locked inside, speaking in short quiet bursts while carrying her own deep trauma of abandonment. The role demands enormous subtlety, minimal facial expression, and the ability to deliver devastating emotional weight through the smallest possible physical gesture. Go Youn-jung devoured every scene. There is a two-minute sequence in episode two, almost entirely silent, where she does more with a hesitation and a forced smile than most actors manage across an entire series. After this drama, she climbed straight into the same category in my mind as Shin Hae-sun, and I will be watching everything she does next with considerable attention. Byeon Eun-ah was definitely the quintessential Park Hae-young’s experience that I’m familiar with and she dragged me back in, kicking and screaming.

Of course, a Park Hae‑young drama is never just about the two leads. There is a whole ecosystem of side characters, and while I will not list all of them, a few supporting performances absolutely stole the show for me. Oh Jung‑se is, as always, reliably excellent as Park Gyeong‑se, a successful director who is secretly just as insecure as Dong‑man but hides it by lashing out at him. Then there is Kang Mal‑geum as Ko Hye‑jin, who became one of my favorite supporting characters in the entire drama. Hye‑jin owns a small production company with a bar underneath, and that bar serves as the main hub where all the characters gather and where most of the plots evolve. Kang Mal‑geum delivers a standout moment when her character finally snaps and tells Dong‑man the brutal truth about how his behavior affects others. It is the kind of scene that makes you hold your breath.

Another supporting character who charmed me completely was Jung Min‑ah as Park Jeong‑min. She is effortlessly funny and warm, and her character functions as one of the primary pressure release valves of the narrative as Park Gyeong‑se’s co‑writer. Her ability to flip back and forth between comedy and the more melodramatic moments as the plot evolves made me put her firmly on my radar for future works. And finally, I have to include Han Sun‑hwa as Jang Mi‑ran. I first noticed her in Welcome to Samdal‑ri, then accidentally stumbled upon her in Work Later, Drink Now. From romcom to straight comedy to now a dark comedic melodrama, I have started to see her range, and I genuinely look forward to whatever she does next.

We Are All Trying Here marks something of a departure for Park Hae-young in one specific way: it is her first drama to lean meaningfully into comedy, and the tonal balance she maintains between the genuinely funny and the quietly devastating is one of its quieter achievements. The first three episodes tested my trust in her more than anything she has written before. Hwang Dong-man was hard to love. He was, to put it plainly, bleeding other people to fund his own dysfunction, and the empathy contract Park Hae-young has always maintained with her audience felt deliberately fractured. Where her previous leads carried their wounds inward, Dong-man wore his outward and aimed them at the people who loved him most. However, as the narrative progresses, that perception breaks down. Dong-man is revealed as someone constantly drowning in unspoken anxiety. His noise is survival. His cruelty is deflection. His chaos is regulation. I felt guilty for briefly feeling relieved when his friends finally set their boundaries. This guilt, I later understood, was the drama working exactly as intended.

Because what Park Hae-young was building underneath the irritation was this: Dong-man and Eun-ah are distorted mirrors of the same wound. He externalises, she internalises. He creates noise, she creates silence. He fills every room he enters, she empties herself to make space for others. But underneath all of it, both are trying to say the same impossible sentence, help me, and the tragedy is that neither of them has ever learned how. Dong-man talks endlessly because silence feels like drowning. Eun-ah stayed quiet through things that would break most people, including a mother who crossed her off at nine years old and an ex-partner who erased her name from work she co-wrote, because asking for help was never something the people around her made available. Their relationship is not a Kdrama rescue mission. It offers something far more radical: the idea that comfort does not come from someone telling you everything will be fine, but from someone saying “I know why you are like that,” and meaning it without condition. This is a story about people finally willing to ask for help, and discovering it does not diminish their worth.

The OST deserves a mention, because this is a Park Hae-young drama and the music always pulls its weight. Starlight by Lucy anchors the lighter comedic register with exactly the right amount of warmth, and Pieces by TAEYEON is a standout in holding the emotional weight of the heavier sequences. I will admit I was surprised Sondia did not appear on this OST given her near-permanent presence in Park Hae-young’s previous works, but every selection here earns its place with the same quiet precision the writing demands.

Visually, the drama understands negative spaces in a way few others do. Those long silences, the shots of Dong‑man walking alone at night, Eun‑ah sitting in a room full of people and saying nothing. Park Hae‑young has always been a writer who weaponizes what is not said, and here the camera follows her lead.

Here is where my heart genuinely hurts. The real flaw of We Are All Trying Here is the narrative estate. Twelve episodes are simply not enough for Park Hae‑young to tell her story, and that constraint becomes painfully obvious in the final episode. She tried, she really did, and almost every plot point does get closed. But an 80‑minute finale is brutally tight pacing for a writer who usually luxuriates in 16 episodes. Something had to give. And what gives is Eun‑ah’s story with the script. Her conclusion is nowhere near as clean or as satisfying as the rest of the drama, especially when I compare it to Park Hae‑young’s other works. I do not say this lightly, but it left me feeling slightly dirty, like she became the sacrificial lamb because Dong‑man’s story needed more room to land. There is a strange and uncomfortable irony in a drama about a woman who spent her life being made invisible choosing to leave her resolution the least visible of all. I would have understood more if they had sidelined Hwang Ji‑man’s plot line instead, but they did not. And so here I am, sitting with the knowledge that this drama was four episodes away from my third Perfect 10 of the year. I am genuinely grieving those four episodes we should have had. This imbalance does not break the drama, but it does reveal its boundaries. The final stretch feels less like failure and more like a visible ceiling placed on an otherwise expanding emotional architecture.

As is typical of Park Hae-young’s writing, this is a drama you have to experience yourself. Behind the mundane and deceptively ordinary surface of people simply being people, layers fold into layers, and no summary does them adequate justice. She remains the only writer who has ever made me cry purely from dialogues. No swelling score, no camera tricks, no close-up held a beat too long to cue the emotion. Two people in a room, talking, and somehow I was undone.

For a drama that began with me wanting to remove Hwang Dong-man from the premises entirely, Park Hae-young got me to the point where the two leads’ unconscious cry for help shattered me completely. It is terrifying how thoroughly she dismantled every resistance I brought to this drama: an obnoxious lead, a gimmicky device I dismissed in episode two, a tonal register I did not recognise as hers at first. Because it is one thing to write within a viewer’s established preferences. It is another thing entirely to identify exactly what makes a viewer resistant and then dismantle that resistance so carefully and so precisely that by episode eight I was sitting there thinking she probably could have made me love a love triangle. That is not just good writing. That is a writer operating with complete command of her audience’s emotional interior.

It is, ultimately, a reminder of what Park Hae-young does best, and what she might achieve with even more narrative space. It really is unfortunate that the drama is four episodes short of what it needed. She needs the narrative estate. She deserves it. Give Park Hae-young all the narrative estate she needs, damnit. Hell, give her 20 episodes like Mr. Sunshine. She’d knock that out of the park too.

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The best of reality

Actually when this first came out I wasnt really gonna watch it , I didnt knew why but when I watched it it deeply resonated with me. I am from the music industry. A producer and eventhough unlike Dongman its just five years I still havent released my own songs. And I gave up in that dream and currently surviving life.
Beside that what deeply resonated ith me was in Ep 6. When hs was struggling to save his brother in the bathroom. It reminded me of my childhood, the helplessness, the want to scream loud and ask for help. My mother once tried to take the lives of my sister and me and her all together because of problems, since that day, what I always checked in the morning was both of them were breathing. This is something really personal but I realized watching this drama, so there are actually people suffering just the way I am, and..? Yeah I was a bit relieved. Call me selfish, I acually felt relieved that I wasnt the only one feeling this way, struggling this way. Always trying not to break down cause I dont know till when I could hold on, thats what I thought. But I am still holding on. Dongman actually reminded me of myself. A self that I didnt want to acknowledge. Eventhough I am not as straightforward as him, his character had this unexplainable warmth. A drama that will make you cry but laugh at the same moment.
From acting to production to the OST(ofc melomance is the best in this) I enjoyed every second of this. Every minute. Eventhough I won't step in to the music industry again, I think this is a great drama for those who are still walking without loosing hope, and also giving us the reality of doing it. They showed the reality of friends around us, because none of us are perfect, each have their own toxic trait, and yet they would still show up. Growing Up means having less friends, so yeah we need to cherih them alot. i dont know how else to praise this drama, I will rewatch this and rewatch again.

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Between wounds and softness, we keep trying

We Are All Trying Here is the kind of drama that never tries to impress with huge plot twists or overly dramatic scenes. Instead, the series shines through its sincerity, softness, and deeply human way of portraying emotional wounds, loneliness, and the need to be loved and understood. As the episodes go on, you naturally grow attached to the characters, to the point where it feels like you’re becoming part of their daily lives.

One of the drama’s greatest strengths is obviously the duo formed by Koo Kyo-hwan and Goo Yoon-jung. Their chemistry is simply incredible. Nothing between them ever feels forced: their looks, silences, and small everyday interactions are enough to convey so many emotions. Their relationship develops with a lot of naturalness and tenderness, which makes every scene even more touching. It becomes impossible not to grow attached to Dong Man and Eun A because their story feels so sincere and realistic.

And honestly, Koo Kyo-hwan delivers an exceptional performance here. His acting is subtle, nuanced, and deeply emotional. He manages to portray his character’s pain, emotional exhaustion, and vulnerability with disarming simplicity. On the other hand, Goo Yoon-jung brings so much softness and sensitivity to the drama. Together, they completely carry the series and make every moment memorable.

The supporting cast also deserves a lot of praise. No character feels useless or poorly written. Every relationship adds something meaningful to the story, whether it’s lightheartedness, comfort, or more melancholic moments. The drama truly takes its time developing the supporting characters, which makes the world feel even more alive and immersive.

The OST is also beautiful. The music perfectly supports the emotions of each scene without ever feeling overwhelming. Some songs make the romantic moments even more intense, while others strengthen the melancholic and comforting atmosphere of the series. It’s definitely the kind of soundtrack you keep listening to long after finishing the drama because it leaves such a strong impression.

As for the ending, I have mixed feelings about it. Even though it stays consistent with the realistic and melancholic tone of the drama, I found it slightly frustrating. After becoming so emotionally attached to the characters, I expected a conclusion that felt a little stronger emotionally and more satisfying for certain storylines. The ending intentionally leaves a feeling of emptiness, which may deeply affect some viewers, while for others it may feel somewhat incomplete.

Despite that, We Are All Trying Here remains a deeply human and comforting drama, carried by an exceptional cast, incredible chemistry between the leads, and an emotional atmosphere that stays with you long after the final episode. It’s the kind of soft and melancholic series that manages to touch your heart without ever falling into exaggeration.

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A drama that cuts deep but heals at the same time

For a show that is characterized by the loud tantrums and bickering between each of its characters, I wonder how much of the creation of those characters was done in quiet contemplation followed by the echoes of the click-clacking of the writer's keyboard. Park Hae Young, the writer of this show , has undoubtedly outdone herself this time but it's no surprise once you realize she has also given us similarly spectacular works such as My Liberation Notes and My Mister.

Particularly, I found the 'emotion watch' to be an excellent narrative device that gave way to the complex portrayal of each of the characters insecurities, worries and hopes. It features performances and writing so strong, that at times it made me wonder whether the creators of the show could see me through my screen and were talking to me directly. If you are not depressed, watch this show. If you are depressed, you MUST watch this show. Despite being a (sort of) meta-commentary on the film industry from the perspective of the writer, the dialogue pulls no punches and is happy to deliver potent doses of a wide range of emotions again and again and again.

If I had a dollar for every time I was spellbound when watching this show, I would have about 10. Which is not a lot, but it's surprising that it can happen to me when I'm 200+ shows deep into Kdrama viewing. Aside from a rushed ending, I believe this show is excellent and deserves all the praise it is getting and more.

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People are masses of emotion

We Are All Trying Here is my favorite K-drama in a few years. It’s from the same writer as My Mister and My Liberation Notes. Park Hae-young may be my favorite writer. As an introvert, I always relate to the characters she writes. It feels like looking at my own reflection. They are always so deeply expressive but take you on a story that makes you feel.

This drama is really what the title is saying: we are all trying. We may find someone annoying, angry, rude, jealous, or any other emotion you can think of, but really they are battling their own thoughts every day and are trying their best.

Hwang Dong-man is the type of character you just want to have soju with and talk for hours about emotions that bring sadness, but also joy and dreams. I wanted to hug this character throughout the entire drama. I think it was in the first few episodes, but there was a scene where Dong-man talked about how surprised and happy he was that Eun-ah spoke to him at the train tracks. He said that he talks too much because sometimes all he hears is his own voice, and it makes him feel less lonely.

I felt connected to him because I also sometimes feel misunderstood. I tell stories and put on a mask to fit in. No one wants to be the melancholy melody in the room. He has some of the best sayings and quotes in this drama. One of my favorites is:

“I’m going to pull up the shiny truth from the very depths of my worthlessness. Look forward to my shiny story.”

What I like most about Dong-man is that he never gives up on being a screenwriter. Even in his 40s, he continues pursuing his dream and eventually succeeds. I feel that in this generation, if you fail or quit at something by 30, people often write you off. This story was really inspiring. It was even more inspiring that he stayed positive while dealing with the trauma of finding his brother attempting to take his own life twice.

I can’t decide who my favorite character was because I was also so attached to Byeon Eun-ah. She embodies so many of my emotions. There was a sadness to her that I felt completely synchronized with while watching every scene she was in.

She was desperately lonely. She only had her step grandmother and no one who truly listened to her or understood her. Everyone made assumptions because she didn’t talk much. They saw her as self-centered and rude, but really she was just trying to survive her trauma. When she was a little girl, her mother left her and her father passed away not long afterward. The feeling that no one was coming home to her, combined with that abandonment, left her with severe emotional wounds.

She would get nosebleeds whenever she felt attacked, afraid, or angry. Those moments felt like cries for help. Throughout the story, Eun-ah and Dong-man try to understand their emotions. They receive watches from a doctor that monitor their emotional states, helping them work through their trauma and uncover the roots of their pain.

They needed each other. They saved each other.

One thing I really enjoyed was that you could clearly feel the love they had for each other, but there were no kiss scenes. Somehow that made the relationship feel even more intimate.

Park Gyeong-se and Ko Hye-jin were two other characters I really enjoyed. At the beginning, I thought they were being too harsh on Dong-man, but eventually I realized they were struggling with their own problems.

Gyeong-se is constantly competing with Dong-man and feels worthless because he believes his dramas and creativity will never match Dong-man’s. They had a great friendship when they were younger because they were on equal in success. His first successful film was actually inspired by a dream Dong-man once shared, which left Gyeong-se feeling like it wasn’t truly his own story. But in reality, we need other people because they often inspire our ideas and creativity.

Hye-jin is Gyeong-se’s wife. I found their story very touching. She quit her job as a reporter because she wanted to be involved in the film industry. She read one of Gyeong-se’s scripts and fell in love with both the story and the man who wrote it. Together they rose through the industry as Hye-jin kept believing and supporting Gyeong-se.

As the drama progresses, however, their relationship begins to fall apart. Hye-jin fell in love with Gyeong-se’s creativity and imagination, but he falls into a creative slump. Later, he starts enjoying writing again while working with his female assistant writer. Hye-jin notices that spark returning and believes he may be developing feelings for the assistant in the same way he once developed feelings for her. She ultimately asks for a divorce, telling him that if writing makes him feel alive again, he should do whatever it takes to succeed.

Hwang Jin-man—how I cried for this man.

From what I understood, his daughter went missing. He used to be a poet, but now he spends his days drinking, attempting to take his own life, and working as a welder. Every word that comes out of his mouth hits you deeply.

His brother, Eun-ah, and Jang Mi-ran eventually help find his daughter through a social media post. It felt like he could finally release the trauma that had trapped him for so many years. His daughter was his whole heart.


Jang Mi-ran was another character I really enjoyed. She is the stepdaughter of Eun-ah’s mother. I loved seeing how two daughters could have completely different relationships with the same woman.

I also appreciated how both respected each other’s feelings toward their mother. Eun-ah chose to keep her distance while still working through years of abandonment issues, while Mi-ran viewed her stepmother as her hero and wanted to care for her no matter what.

I loved the relationship between Mi-ran and Eun-ah. They understood each other and truly listened. Sometimes just spending a night sharing a drink and listening to someone’s pain can make them feel less alone. Both women were lonely for different reasons, but they found comfort and light in each other.

There were many great characters in this drama, but the ones above were my favorites.

At the end, everyone watches Dong-man’s drama and breaks down in tears because they genuinely feel the story. The series concludes with everyone drinking together, dancing, laughing, and reconnecting. Friends happy for each other.

When we’re failing, it’s easy to become jealous of what other people have. But those same people may also be barely surviving themselves. We look at everything like a door and not a window.

Each character carried their own trauma and loneliness, but somehow this drama made me feel less burdened by both of those things.


Remember, we are all trying here. Check on the people you love, but also listen to those who hear nothing but their own echoes. Sometimes being heard can make all the difference.

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its pretty depressing and the mc is crazy

not my cup of tea

the show is very very realistic in the sense that there's a lot of misery and just full of sad, unfortunate moments that reflect a lot of people's lives. honestly imo i don't think this show is for me cuz there's so little upsides and moments of relief. like its just sad/unlucky/depressing moments one after another and it feels like there's no light at the end of the tunnel yk-- which ofc is realistic ik but if you're looking for a drama that gives you that "escape", this is def not for you.

the mc is pretty insane. like he's a crazy man loll and i can see that its supposed to bring that "relief" aspect in the form of humor but imo its pretty awkward and like idk cringe?? idk but his character is not my cup of tea.

the relationship between him and eun-a is also idk like ig its nice to watch but its kinda confusing?? idk and there's a lot of plot holes aka side plots that don't feel finished and idk it just feels rushed towards the end.

the friend group is weird too like he badmouths every single one of them for like idk 10 years straight and everyone feels bad for him despite all of that like okay i get it if it hasn't been that long but like how did they take it for so long?? and when the mc finally got his breakthrough everyone was happy for him after everything he's done to them? like ok if it was just said to the friendgroup idc (ig? idk) but like he went around saying that at like public settings and with like the whole production team? idk...

anyways this type of mc just isn't for me... as for this type of drama loll but i'm giving it an 8 cuz i can see why its good

the acting from the whole cast was really good, the ost was sooo good, but the story? um not for me lol

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What exactly is the bridge between storytelling and life?

We Are All Trying Here (2026) 🎥

I did enjoy Eun-a's story, but honestly, her mother's subplot was easily the least interesting for me. Otherwise, I am reminded of what I really enjoy about Park Hae-young's works, her ability to craft complex characters and show how life is never as straightforward as we want it to be. There is no one way to solve something, and we have push and pulls that make these stories, our cries to say that we exist humourously, happily, pitifully, and everything else. The emotion watches were a rather provocative tool, and they were used in a way that allowed the characters to still exist and learn to deal with their greatest mental setbacks. Eun-a and Dong-man bonded over the unknown emotional pattern flashing red, and learned to address the feeling rather than repress it. Specifically, the main thing here is how they know when they feel it and the reason why they cannot feel as in touch with their emotions.

I really got to know and understand these characters as human beings, and maybe learned a lot about why stories are ingrained into our lives, where I sympathized with these creatives, who, above all, are people, criticized their actions often, and sat back without saying a word, watching this. I need to probably rewatch some episodes and reflect a bit more, but this was still a fascinating drama. Sometimes the pacing was not to my standard, but I still think I will take their words with me every time I choose to create anything; those simple reminders will help me. Dong-man is very flawed, but he has heart and chooses stories to achieve a lighthearted approach that is not consumed by anxiety and envy at its best. I did not feel bad about how people chose to respond towards him because he is just not the hero you can root for; he can maybe write those heroes, but with grit and honesty, as with the stories he tells his friends. Eun-a mostly relied on facial expressions to craft her story, but she was also the perfect balance for all the relationships encompassed. She got to understand the root of her trauma and grab it while she still can.

Ko Hye-jin was someone who also stole the spotlight, and she was equally intriguing and complex, someone you would want to root for in the film business, too. I enjoyed seeing Jang Mi-ran, too, and Hwang Jin-man for his insights but felt his ending was rather rushed, besides the other directors in this drama. Choi Dong-heon of Choi Film was also a businessman who invests in films, but that doesn't make him completely unlikable, besides his treatment of Eun-a. Eun-a, changing her name from Si-on, reminded me of My Mister, quoted by Lee Ji-an, where she says she wants to live as a new person, change her name, and move to a place where no one knows her.

Highly recommended, and I would say that the character writing of Dong-man exceeds the work in My Mister and My Liberation Notes. But just take your time with it and don't take long breaks in between episodes either.

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"You’re a human, but you’re not humane. Isn’t that peak incompetence?”

Even though dongman is quite annoying at first but he respon what the other deserve. Being a kind only apply to those who deserve it, that dongman. He do the mirroring action and this refreshing to see that ML is not perfect but not fake. It feel more humane

Eun ha looked tough and sometimes fragile but she really strong.
They complement each other in a good ways.
This what that they saying, when your time comes it yours. If not, go through the life and be contented with what you have.

Dongman is just dongman he good but the other treat him like useless lead to he keep talking trash about others and Eunha the only one really hear everything he said without complain anything. She know what kind of dong man in person .

This writer is Soo good, I really like the script and the headline is my most favourite one.

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