It was all about second chances and living life to the fullest
Let me start this off by saying that this adaptation is by far my favourite one ! I cried, laughed, raged, ranted and enjoyed every second of this.
I've read the manhwa and watched the kdrama before this. I don't want to compare too much to the other adaptations but I was slightly disappointed with the kdrama so I went into this skeptical of it's execution. However I was pleasantly suprised and might even consider this as one of the top dramas of the year.
Let's start with the many positives:
1. A well written adaptation- The writers cleverly understood the plot holes and the missing gaps in the original work and kdrama. The scenes ebbbed and flowed smoothly and there weren't any space for us to question anything. There were some changes to the story but the original essence and story direction stayed the same. The changes made sense and just elevated the story even more.
2. Great casting and acting- The cast and acting direction were perfect. The facial expressions to the dialogue delivery, everything was done realistically with no unnecessary exaggeration. The chemistry between the actors was also great and I was feeling the emotions with them.
3. Cinematography and dialogue- You could really feel what the producers wanted to convey through the cinematography. Even though the story has dark elements, the overall lighting and coloring stayed warm and bright. The dialogues were also written very well. They were believable and realistic so I stayed invested in the story.
4. The overall message- The manhwa adaptation had a more comedic and dramatic tone. The kdrama had a more dark, exaggerated and dramatic tone, almost similar to a soap opera. However, this adaptation had a more hopeful and uplifting message which I really liked and related to.
5. No unnecessary drama or characters- The biggest reason why I was disappointed with the kdrama was the unnecessary dramatic plot twists and new characters. There is already enough side characters and plot twists in the source work so adding too many things made it feel forced and heavy. But here, they took away some side characters, stuck to the original storyline and even made it better by filling in plot holes.
Now, there are some minor cons:
1. Scarcity of romantic scenes- The leads had so much chemistry and romantic tension that I was waiting for them to get together to see their passionate relationship. They did have one awesome kiss scene but right after that, they acted like an old married couple. I get that they are older and mature, but I wanted some goofy cuteness and passion.
2. Some dramatic scenes- Though the writing and dialogue was better, there were some scenes which were just too dramatic to be believable. Since most of the drama was done in a natural way, the dramatic scenes stood out too much in a bad way.
Other than that, I have no other complaints because this drama was genuinely that good. Everything was perfect and this is definitely going to rank higher in my charts.
The kdrama had some negatives like the unnecessary new characters, out of the blue plot twists which didn't make any sense and the lead actress' overpowering presence which kind of overshadowed the rest of the cast and plot. But this adaptation took notes and worked on filling the plot holes, made the cast perform in harmony and actually delivered a good message that can be comforting to a lot of people.
Overall, I hope everyone gives this drama a chance because this just proved that the curse of the exaggerated jdramas with bad acting can be broken.
I've read the manhwa and watched the kdrama before this. I don't want to compare too much to the other adaptations but I was slightly disappointed with the kdrama so I went into this skeptical of it's execution. However I was pleasantly suprised and might even consider this as one of the top dramas of the year.
Let's start with the many positives:
1. A well written adaptation- The writers cleverly understood the plot holes and the missing gaps in the original work and kdrama. The scenes ebbbed and flowed smoothly and there weren't any space for us to question anything. There were some changes to the story but the original essence and story direction stayed the same. The changes made sense and just elevated the story even more.
2. Great casting and acting- The cast and acting direction were perfect. The facial expressions to the dialogue delivery, everything was done realistically with no unnecessary exaggeration. The chemistry between the actors was also great and I was feeling the emotions with them.
3. Cinematography and dialogue- You could really feel what the producers wanted to convey through the cinematography. Even though the story has dark elements, the overall lighting and coloring stayed warm and bright. The dialogues were also written very well. They were believable and realistic so I stayed invested in the story.
4. The overall message- The manhwa adaptation had a more comedic and dramatic tone. The kdrama had a more dark, exaggerated and dramatic tone, almost similar to a soap opera. However, this adaptation had a more hopeful and uplifting message which I really liked and related to.
5. No unnecessary drama or characters- The biggest reason why I was disappointed with the kdrama was the unnecessary dramatic plot twists and new characters. There is already enough side characters and plot twists in the source work so adding too many things made it feel forced and heavy. But here, they took away some side characters, stuck to the original storyline and even made it better by filling in plot holes.
Now, there are some minor cons:
1. Scarcity of romantic scenes- The leads had so much chemistry and romantic tension that I was waiting for them to get together to see their passionate relationship. They did have one awesome kiss scene but right after that, they acted like an old married couple. I get that they are older and mature, but I wanted some goofy cuteness and passion.
2. Some dramatic scenes- Though the writing and dialogue was better, there were some scenes which were just too dramatic to be believable. Since most of the drama was done in a natural way, the dramatic scenes stood out too much in a bad way.
Other than that, I have no other complaints because this drama was genuinely that good. Everything was perfect and this is definitely going to rank higher in my charts.
The kdrama had some negatives like the unnecessary new characters, out of the blue plot twists which didn't make any sense and the lead actress' overpowering presence which kind of overshadowed the rest of the cast and plot. But this adaptation took notes and worked on filling the plot holes, made the cast perform in harmony and actually delivered a good message that can be comforting to a lot of people.
Overall, I hope everyone gives this drama a chance because this just proved that the curse of the exaggerated jdramas with bad acting can be broken.
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