julwa

A very good drama that I can wholeheartedly recommend. I had a great time watching it - it was genuinely enjoyable. I absolutely loved the female lead: she was strong-willed, confident, refused to let anyone walk over her, and was fully devoted to love. Of course, she did have one flaw - during conflicts, she couldn’t bring herself to listen to the other side. I also loved the relationship between the main characters. Her initial love that turned into hatred, his realization of who she really was, and his fight for a second chance - it was all very engaging to watch. I also liked that obstacles kept being thrown in their way, yet they always managed to overcome them.

The secondary couple’s storyline was just as interesting. It’s a shame that toward the end, it became quite underdeveloped, because I definitely saw potential for much more there. The same goes for the plot about releasing their game. Since the drama’s main story revolved around it, I really missed seeing the final touches before its release, as well as the actual moment it came out. It would’ve been nice to see that they truly made a big impact on China’s gaming scene and created something innovative. After all, throughout most of the show, we were told it would be the first game of its kind in China - yet in the end, all we got was a short celebration of millions of downloads. That didn’t feel satisfying to me.

One more thing about Su Zheng. At one point in the series, I got the impression that he wasn’t actually in love with her and was just trying to provoke Gu Xun - which would’ve been both funnier and more interesting. This feeling came from episode 15, during the cake scene, when he approached the main couple looking like he was trying not to laugh - but in the end, it turned out differently :(

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This was a wonderful series, and I really regret that I stopped watching it earlier. The plot pulled me in completely, and I wasn’t disappointed even a little. The relationship and chemistry between Do Do-hee and Jeong Gu-won were amazing and addictive, and I would love to see even more episodes of their story — obviously the happy part. Their personalities and his character development (in a positive direction) throughout their relationship were portrayed very well.
On top of that, all the side characters were well written and clearly distinct from one another. We had mentally disturbed characters (mainly Noh Seok-min and Noh Do-gyeong), who were brilliantly acted — interesting and terrifying at the same time. Their close ones, who suffered because of those disorders, were also portrayed well, showing the consequences and how it affected them during and after. There were also lighter, comedic characters that added humor to the show and briefly pulled it out of its seriousness (like the “Wild Dogs” gang or the relationship between Shin Da-jeong and Park Bok-kyu).

I found only two downsides, which didn’t really affect my overall rating anyway. First, I’m curious why Noh Seok-min became such a monster. Did he have any reasons that led him to develop mental illness — just like his son did because of him? One could assume not, since the series never gave us an answer.
The second issue is the lack of development of Ki Kwang-chol’s character — more specifically, why he was also manipulated by Noh Seok-min and involved in that sick situation.

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I really liked the series. I was very intrigued by the main character, and their relationship in high school was wonderful to me. I also really liked the main heroine, especially her determination. The beating seemed a bit absurd to me, though, because he was thinking a few steps ahead, and that was thoughtless. I cursed the main character’s parents (especially the mother) a lot, because in my opinion, sometimes they went way too far—for example, wanting to decide about their daughter’s relationship when she was already an adult and had her life settled. Not to mention that after she was diagnosed with depression, they still wanted to send her abroad as soon as possible and only thought about that. The character Gao—no character has annoyed me so much in a long time (respect to the actor, though). I couldn’t stand his insecure personality, always looking for problems around him when he himself was the problem. For most of the series, I prayed for him to disappear from the screen—I suffered terribly and what was it all for? Just so that in the end he faced no consequences and built a happy life?

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Overall, I watched this series a long time ago and honestly got a bit scared by the opinions, because back then I really liked it.

It was a show I watched with great pleasure, and I couldn’t wait to start the next episodes and learn more about the characters’ past and future. The relationship between them is very enjoyable, and the chemistry practically jumps off the screen (plus lots of sweet scenes — I’m in love). The characters are very well developed, and I appreciated how the series shows problems faced not only by the main couple. I really liked how childhood trauma can affect adult life. On top of that, the side couples’ storylines were interesting — for me, the best one outside the main couple was definitely Kim Ji-a and Go Gwi-nam. From the very beginning, I was rooting for them to end up together…

SPOILER!!!!
And thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed. Well, maybe just a little, because I would have liked to see a lot more of them on screen after they got together, but I can survive that — the most important thing is that they ended up together in the end. The only thing that really annoyed me was that the male lead initially allowed her to get close to his brother, even though he knew it wasn’t his brother who was kidnapped with her, but him. I figured it was due to his trauma and, as I later learned, also because he pretended in front of his family that he didn’t remember it — but it was still idiotic to me. Not enough to lower my rating, though, because I’m simply in love with this series.

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Did I have a great time watching this drama? YES. Would I watch it again? YES. Do I recommend it? YES — but only to people who enjoy turning their brains off and aren’t bothered by flaws. Very often while watching it, I felt like I was watching premium ReelShorts. The acting from everyone (except Dai Gao Zheng) was, at times, overly exaggerated — which may be the script’s fault — but combined with the occasionally over-the-top action, it created exactly that kind of vibe. Personally, it didn’t bother me.

When it comes to the relationship of the main couple — Bu Yan & He Yu Chen — I think one trigger warning is crucial. At one point, the male lead, in a fit of anger, attempts to se*ually assault her. He does come to his senses and nothing happens, but the very fact alone means this is not a show for everyone. There are also forced kisses, and although her later reaction to a similar attempt by another man suggests that she did want them with He Yu Chen, simply watching those scenes may trigger negative emotions for some viewers. For that reason, I would classify their relationship as dark romance, and personally, I liked it. Both of them would burn the world down to protect each other. Their chemistry was amazing, and their love was clearly visible.

Personally, I like the trope of the “bad,” wounded boy who still has a good heart — and that’s exactly who He Yu Chen was. In my opinion, despite his wrongdoings, he was the most interesting and best-written character. I also liked the fighting storyline itself and was glad that, after many years, he legally returned to it. However, I still wonder about the exact reason why they deliberately destroyed his career in the past, because it was never fully explained (or maybe I just forgot?). Another “premium ReelShorts” element appears in the fight scenes. The color of the blood looked so unrealistic that all the wounds seemed like there was no budget for a makeup artist and a child painted them with watercolors. At least later, during the healing process, they looked natural. On top of that, some fight scenes were highly unrealistic — for example, a guy was beating him with brass knuckles, and he ended up with nothing more than minor wounds and scratches.

On the positive side, their children were adorable. I didn’t check whether the illness and its treatment were medically accurate, but I think the storyline was handled well. That said, we never learned how He Yu Chen managed to find bone marrow for his son when no one else had been able to do so for years.

Regarding the storyline involving her father (Bu Hong Hui), I think the theme of his friendship with He Yu Chen’s father and his “involvement” in his death was handled very shallowly. Technically everything was explained, but to me it felt superficial. The coma storyline itself and everything surrounding it was interesting, but again, there were several “premium ReelShorts” flaws. First, her father’s employee knew perfectly well that he planned to break off his daughter’s engagement to Tang Ze — they literally discussed the consequences while signing the share transfer. Yet later, when he talked to her during her father’s coma, he claimed that her father told him nothing beyond the share transfer. Did he suddenly forget? Especially since he wasn’t a bad character. Second, I was genuinely amused by the fact that they talked about her father waking up any moment, and then suddenly we get a two-month time skip, and only then does he wake up. We heard nothing about any complications during that time, so I’m filing this under my category. Third — what happened to his wife? He Yu Chen kicked her out of the house while the man was in a coma, and we never saw her again. The father went to sleep with a wife, woke up without one, and didn’t care at all. XD
A personal complaint from a different category: the male lead was never even slightly angry that she initially accused him of being involved in what happened to her father. She didn’t even apologize after learning the truth — we just moved on. And who was the female lead’s mother, and what happened to her? Maybe it was mentioned and I forgot?

I’ll dedicate the final segment to annoying characters:
-> Tang Ze — my “favorite,” because no one else raised my blood pressure like he did. A disgusting man who clearly had something wrong with his head. I won’t dwell on it — he was just a psycho with connections. What deserves special mention is his ending, straight from the “premium ReelShorts” category: we see him watching the main couple’s wedding from a distance, then we get white text on a black screen informing us about his fate (he went to prison for many years). I found it comical, but apparently there was no budget to show a police/court/prison scene.

-> Chen Wen Li (Xia Chang Yin?) — ironically, she was the only one in whom I saw any genuine goodness, though it didn’t change my opinion of her, because she annoyed me endlessly from start to finish. For contrast, we see her contact the police herself, but we never learn what happens to her afterward.

-> Bu Jing Yang — finally, we know absolutely nothing. He simply vanished into thin air along with his mother.

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I think this series is fine for a one-time watch, but nothing more than that. It wasn’t engaging enough to linger in my mind afterward or make me want to come back to it later. While watching, I had the impression that it had a lot of potential, but that potential was wasted. Many elements of the series felt like filler to me, and even if they weren’t meant to be, the script turned them into such. A lot of potentially interesting topics weren’t developed, and some of the solutions were simply absurd.

Starting with the main culinary storyline, which for most of the series was the most interesting and, in my opinion, the best handled one — toward the end it became full of absurdities. Beginning with the fact that no one at the restaurant knew they had been awarded three stars and only found out from other people or the internet. Then there was the biggest flop, which at the same time had great potential: the cooking battle — how on earth did no one verify the results if it was announced as a win rather than a draw? Why did the guy who was the head of Diamond storm off offended instead of explaining the situation? An absurd situation, topped off by the cherry on the cake: a family breakfast and a mother who suddenly allowed them to run the restaurant, even though she herself hadn’t changed for the better at all. In the end, the restaurant that stole recipes and falsified competition results kept its three stars, and no one tried to do anything about it. The falsification of the results of the first competition was also never explained. I also don’t understand what his mother was planning next. Some new restaurant — but why all these mind games?

As for the main couple — Mo Yeon Ju and Han Beom U — I have very mixed feelings. Individually, I find them interesting characters, especially him. I think he was very well written and acted. It was enjoyable to watch his character development, and you could really see how he changed, began to understand his mistakes, and tried to fix them. The only thing that puzzles me in his case is the storyline about his father, which was either never mentioned or handled so superficially that I don’t even remember it. She was also an interesting character to me. I liked her confidence and feisty personality, although at times I felt it was a bit over the top. However, in her case, the storyline about being abandoned by her parents felt like filler. It had potential and could have been interesting if it had been developed somehow — for example, if she had found her biological parents. When it comes to their relationship, though, my feelings were extremely mixed. Sometimes I liked the chemistry between them, especially from his side. From start to finish, his feelings and chemistry were clearly visible. With her, however, it was inconsistent. This was especially noticeable to me when her ex returned (which was also filler, but more on that later). I had the impression that she smiled more around her ex, was nicer to him, and that the male lead was like a clingy nuisance who was getting in their way. Maybe that’s a misinterpretation, but that’s how it came across to me. What also annoyed me was that the male lead never told her that he wasn’t the one who stole her recipes and that he had tried to prevent it earlier — in fact, he never really told her at all.

Next, I want to expand on the storyline with her ex, which I also consider filler — again, mainly because of the script. First of all, the whole idea of going to Japan with him was stupid. At that point, she was already involved with the male lead; they had been on a date, and she informed him about her departure only by letter. On top of that, she flew there with her ex. She could have gone alone, and she certainly didn’t need to spend all that time with him in Japan — visiting places from the past, shopping together, or cooking together. To me, this shows respect — or rather, a lack of respect — for a new, potential partner. Although this alone wouldn’t yet make it filler. The problem is that after the male lead stopped the merger and they returned to Korea, Le Murir was never mentioned again — not the restaurant, not the chef, not his illness, nothing. The whole topic just vanished into thin air, which is why I consider it filler. On top of that, I really didn’t like how Jeon Min, who harmed the restaurant’s founder’s health by throwing away his medication, faced no consequences whatsoever — on the contrary, he was praised and hugged by him because he supposedly cared so much about Le Murir. In what way? By selling it to a company that would later cause it to go bankrupt? I also still don’t understand why he tried to lure the female lead to Le Murir while simultaneously pushing for a merger that he knew would lead to bankruptcy.

As for other characters, I’ll only mention Jin Myeong Suk and Sin Chun Seung. I liked their conflicts and the way they teased each other. They made me laugh many times, so I consider them a nice addition. Sin Chun Seung’s character development was also interesting, and I’m glad he started doing better, finally proved his worth to his father, and took over the restaurant. The only thing I don’t understand here is the storyline with the actor from “Lovely Jogger.” Did they know each other from school? Maybe I just didn’t catch some of the comedy.

In my opinion, there’s no point in discussing the other characters, as they weren’t interesting enough to really stick in my memory or make me want to write more about them. A few pleasant characters, a few “semi-villains,” and that’s about it.

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Up until the final episode, I considered this series to be great. I wasn’t bored for a single moment, and the entire plot kept me genuinely interested in every next episode. The whole moms’ team was fucking awesome, and it was a real pleasure watching them shut up all the doubters and support each other. The chemistry between the main leads — Ko Da Rim & Kong Ji Hyeok — was AMAZING from the very beginning and clearly palpable for the viewer. On top of that, their relationship itself was very enjoyable to watch. Yes, there were many misunderstandings that could have been solved with honesty, but at no point did I feel their relationship was toxic (a so-called red flag). Maybe with one exception — the pool incident, where in my opinion he crossed a line by “forcing” her to jump into the pool even though she couldn’t swim. Other than that, they were an enormous support for each other and would have risked everything for one another. Their moms were also wonderful, and watching their friendship was a delight — especially how, thanks to her mom, his mom started getting back on her feet and decided to fight for her own happiness.

However, the last episode was, in my opinion, tragic on many levels. The idea of his memory loss itself wasn’t bad, but dumping it all into the final episode absolutely was. Because of that, we spent half of the finale watching her pathetic attempts to restore his memory. I find it hard to understand why she didn’t think earlier that a kiss might bring his memory back, considering they had already talked about it once. On top of that, Kang Gyeong Min knew that a kiss was what sparked his friend’s feelings in the first place, so it’s also weird that he didn’t tell her about it. It’s even harder for me to understand why his mother didn’t try to talk to him and explain that Ko Da Rim wasn’t a scammer and that they really were together. He accused everyone else of lying, but he loved and trusted his mother, so he wouldn’t have suspected her.

Then came their one-year separation, during which he still knew nothing — even though he went back to work at the place where they had previously worked together, where a scandal had just happened and which he must have known about. Hell, the media surely published plenty of articles about them dating. Did he seriously think everyone was lying to him? Then there was a random encounter where he suddenly remembered everything, followed by quick music montages of their moments together, half-assed proposals, etc. Overall, the final episode left plot holes, unresolved threads, or storylines that were treated lazily because the creators decided to cram everything into that single episode.

One of those unresolved threads concerned Ko Da Rim. She flew to Jeju Island to find her sister, but instead she met Kong Ji Hyeok, they kissed, and suddenly the sister plot completely disappeared. We don’t know whether she found her or what came out of their conversation — and I consider that storyline quite important. After all, it was because of her sister that the main leads met in the first place, and also because of her that Ko Da Rim looked for a job and ended up working for him.

Now let’s talk about the second main “couple”: Yoo Ha Yeong & Kim Seon U. In the first episode, I was convinced Yoo Ha Yeong would be an annoying character impossible to like, sabotaging the main couple. Turns out — she became one of my favorite characters in the entire series. Very warm and kind, yet persistent and fighting for what she wanted. Her relationship with his son was wonderful and genuinely moving at times (the school performance). Because of that, as the series went on, I felt more and more sorry for her.

I probably differ from many people here, but personally, I didn’t see a happy ending for them — at least not at that time. She completely fell for him, but from his side those feelings were never there. Even the scene where he tended to her wounds while she slept didn’t come from romantic feelings in my opinion — it came from him simply being a good person. So I had no issue with him. From the beginning, he clearly defined where they stood and rejected her instead of giving her false hope. However, I do have a major issue with the scene of their meeting years later, which suggested that “maybe” something could happen. Not the fact that the meeting happened — I don’t deny that after years they could meet again and feelings might develop on his side once he healed from his past love — but personally, I didn’t like that scene. It portrayed her somewhat as a desperate woman approaching him after five years while he was talking to another woman and saying they might be together in the future.

Now let’s move on to the most important antagonists.

I’ll start with the one person I developed a tiny bit of sympathy for — Kong Ji Hye. Did I hate her throughout the entire series? YES. Did I change my mind at the end? NO. BUT that doesn’t change the fact that I understood her in a twisted way and felt sorry for her in some aspects. Since childhood, she carried the label of “the mistress’s daughter.” Her father took her in only to silence his own guilt. She worked hard, but her father was never going to appreciate her anyway. The man she loved constantly manipulated her and treated her like trash. Does that excuse her actions? No. But it makes her more than a one-dimensional villain — she’s someone who never experienced love. In the end, she even turned that piece of shit over to the police, which earned her the only plus point from me out of the whole trio. Maybe I’m naive, but I saw a hidden potential in her to become a good person and hoped someone would help her get there. That didn’t happen — or at least it wasn’t shown. In her case, we also have two unresolved issues: first, what happened to her after she left the company and moved out? Second, she never found out that Yoo Tae Yeong was manipulating her again and actually wanted to use her to buy her father’s company.

The main male lead’s father (he doesn’t deserve to be called a dad) — Kong Chang Ho. There wasn’t a single redeeming quality in this man that could inspire even a shred of sympathy. A man completely blinded by career and money. So much so that he stripped his wife of all happiness and freedom, driving her into depression and anxiety, then blamed her for her condition — and later for fighting back. He treated his children no better. His son was nearly dying in the hospital, and he was worried about his position. He took his daughter in only to appease his guilt. I watched his downfall with great pleasure — losing everything and everyone around him. In the end, he was left alone with nothing — a happy ending.

The final character is Yoo Tae Yeong. No matter how you look at it, he was mentally ill, and I’m honestly surprised he ended up in prison instead of a psychiatric hospital. The actor played him brilliantly — the madness was visible in his eyes from the very beginning. His facial expressions alone showed his manipulative nature. Still, I feel that, just like Kong Ji Hye, he wasn’t evil by nature. His madness was influenced by his father, who also treated his children like shit and constantly belittled him by comparing him to the main lead. Of course, that doesn’t excuse his actions, but it could have added more depth to his character. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed watching his plan fall apart and seeing him end up in prison, where he got beaten by other inmates and completely abandoned by his family — a happy ending.

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I had a really great time watching this drama. Above all, it’s heavily exaggerated in many aspects, which often made me laugh, but in contrast to that it also tackled more difficult topics such as the female lead’s struggles with self-acceptance, bullying, and unhealthy family relationships. A huge strength of this series is also its cast of characters. Everyone felt different and interesting, which also applies to the couples and potential couples. I watched almost all of them with genuine interest, and in the end I feel a sense of dissatisfaction that some storylines weren’t further developed, because they had enormous potential for spin-offs centered entirely around them.

Starting with the first main couple - Song U Yeon and Nam Gi Jeong. They were complete opposites. She was introverted, withdrawn, and struggled with self-acceptance. He was overly confident, energetic, and didn’t think about the future, living entirely in the moment (his character was strongly exaggerated and made me laugh many times). Through each other, they both began to change for the better. She slowly opened up, gained confidence, and started to accept herself, while he began thinking about another person and about his own future. This is a first-love, high school relationship, and it shows - which isn’t a flaw. They experience their first kiss, holding hands, but also their first conflicts. In reality, they’re both learning how to be in a relationship. However, I did have one issue with them. I understand the female lead. I know how hard it is to deal with self-acceptance issues and how that can affect relationships, BUT I didn’t like that she was portrayed as innocent in these situations. It was always the male lead who apologized and took the blame every time. The same thing happened in the Ahn Ye Rim situation - she didn’t trust him and instead trusted a girl she had seen for the second time in her life, yet the drama still tried to portray her as the victim.

A perfect contrast to them was the second main couple - Koo Seon Ho and Nam Geu Rin. It was clear that they were older, and as a result their relationship felt more mature, though obviously not fully. This also fit well with the fact that they were both in college - for example, their argument stemming from poor communication. Here we had a long-standing friendship and “sudden” feelings that the female lead tried to resist.

For both of these couples, I would have loved to see what happened next. Dramas are rarely continued, but in this case I see huge potential. The first couple, where she goes to college and he develops his acting/modeling career, and the second couple, where she starts working and he goes off to the military. In my head, it all looks very promising.

On top of that, there were two more potential couples, and I really regret that their stories weren’t developed further. Ko Taeng Ja (Black) and Kwon Hyeok (Khaki) - there was a specific vibe between them that I personally found intriguing. And Byeon Tae Seon and Yeom Se Ra - her departure complicated things, and I’m insanely curious how their story unfolded after her return (in my head they’re together, but I would’ve loved to see it on screen).

Now let’s move on to the family aspect. First, the female lead’s brothers. The younger brother - a genius - whom I really grew to like and who, alongside the female lead, was the character I felt the most sympathy for. That’s why I was happy watching his budding friendship with Moon Bong Gu, because he was finally starting to discover that he, too, could be happy. The older brother was less developed, but I’m mentioning him because his character also intrigued me, and I would’ve gladly learned more about his story.

I won’t touch on the father, since he was absent for most of the series - but the MOTHER. This is the second drama I’ve seen where this actress plays a mother, and for the second time I hated her with all my heart. A mother who failed in life and pours her frustration and incompetence onto her children, forcing them to study and denying them any personal interests. Yes, by the end we get her “redemption” and a tearful backstory from years ago, but that didn’t change how I felt. Throughout the entire series, she was the worst kind of mother imaginable, and that can’t be erased with a single scene.

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In my opinion, the drama was interesting and very enjoyable to watch. I really liked the focus on botany and animals (especially birds). I’m not usually interested in that kind of thing, nor have I watched any dramas with a similar theme, so it definitely felt fresh and intriguing. I liked how we gradually got to see the male lead’s perception of Yu Mei Ren change over time. The chemistry between the main couple was absolutely wonderful. As the drama went on, I was worried that this chemistry would go to waste - there hadn’t been a single kiss for so long that I started thinking maybe one of the actors had refused to do those scenes. Thankfully, we finally got the kiss scenes, and they were beautiful. I also liked the contrast between the leads - he was calm and composed, while she was more wild and full of life. Over time, though, he learned to embrace a bit of her “craziness,” while she learned to be calmer and listen to others. I was also really happy when, at the end, we saw the main heroine’s brother meet a girl who could become his love interest. Those kinds of details are often skipped, and such characters usually end up alone - so I really appreciated that addition.
Another huge plus for me was the parents. There’s not much to say about the heroine’s parents - they were wonderful, and I watched every scene with them with a smile on my face. But the male lead’s family was a pleasant surprise. Usually, wealthy parents in dramas are portrayed as cold and calculating, caring only about social status or benefits from a relationship. But in this case, his mother turned out to be a genuinely kind person who, instead of opposing their relationship, was actually nice to the female lead and even thanked her.

Now, let’s move on to the secondary couple. I’m a bit conflicted about them. At first, their relationship was interesting to me, but as the story went on, something started to fade. I stopped feeling the same spark between them, and I think the writers lost some of the potential that was there in the beginning. In my opinion, the storyline about the male character losing his leg was unnecessary - it felt forced, as if it was added just to create a reason for their reconciliation.

Aside from that, there were a few other things that didn’t work for me or felt like flaws:
→ The male lead leaving for a year to the U.S. without even saying goodbye to the heroine was just stupid. On top of that, he didn’t contact her at all during that entire time. Saying that he didn’t do it because she blocked him is a ridiculous excuse. He could’ve done anything to explain himself - written her a letter, asked a mutual friend to talk to her, or called/texted her from someone else’s phone. But he did absolutely nothing.
→ The lack of communication between the main couple. Too many secrets, too many things they didn’t talk about - and when the truth finally came out, they tended to brush it off instead of actually addressing it.
→ The lack of confrontation with Xiao Fang. She was the heroine’s assistant but turned against her because she convinced herself that Mei Ren caused her to get fired (once again, lack of communication). It all ended up feeling like filler material to give Xiao Xue more room for her schemes, but I really wanted to see Xiao Fang’s reaction when she learned the truth.

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Overall, I really enjoyed watching this series. The character development across the board was excellent. It did a great job showing a difficult childhood and how it affected adult life. Another big plus was the main couple’s relationship — once they got together, there were no pointless arguments added just to create “drama” for the sake of the plot.

Of course, I also watched the original — the Chinese version — but I actually preferred the Korean adaptation, for several reasons:
- They got rid of the weird love triangle between the main heroine and the two brothers, which made it much more pleasant to watch. Because of that, the brothers also seemed more bonded — for example, they both knew about his return.
- The main heroine’s best friend didn’t fall for Kim San-ha, which in the Chinese version felt extremely forced. Plus, here she got a happy ending with Kang Hae-joon.
- They didn’t try to convince me that Kim San-ha cured depression and anxiety with herbal medicine — though that’s kind of a weak plus, because in this version his issues were almost completely brushed aside.
- Kim San-ha actually asked Yoon Joo-won about their relationship — something I really missed in the original.

However, I also found a few downsides compared to the Chinese version:
- Kim San-ha’s problems were completely ignored. He went through hell with his mother for ten years, yet he never once brought it up with Yoon Joo-won. She saw the scars on his arms, and later they even slept together — but she somehow didn’t notice his burn marks? I really missed seeing them talk about such a serious topic.
- Kang Hae-joon’s relationship with his biological father was underdeveloped. We know his father abandoned him again after his child was born, but this was barely addressed. The same goes for the accidental death of his mother — it was brought up and then completely dropped.

A minor issue, but I felt sad that Kim San-ha didn’t become a dentist, just because Yoon Joo-won was afraid of going to them :(

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A very pleasant series to watch. It tackles difficult topics like depression and PTSD, but in my opinion, they were handled well. It was wonderful to follow the main characters’ relationship from the very beginning. They met when both had hit rock bottom and gradually became each other’s biggest support during a crisis, despite their earlier “hatred” back in high school. The second couple also stole my heart, and I rooted for them hard. Plus, of course, my favorite — Nam Ba-da. Completely clueless for most of the series, but that’s exactly what won my heart, along with his arguments with his mom. Another big plus is that all the storylines were properly wrapped up. In the end, I wasn’t left with any unanswered questions or plot holes.

However, I did find a few issues that made me lower my rating. Only by one star, though, because I liked the series so much that these didn’t outweigh the positives.
→ The constant alcohol consumption by the main couple. I’m aware that mental health is still a big taboo topic in Korea, but I refuse to believe medicine is that backward. They were both on antidepressants, which absolutely should not be mixed with alcohol — especially that frequently. Not only could they seriously damage their health, but they could also disrupt and prolong the treatment process.
→ The character of Min Gyeong-min. Damn, I think the narrative potential here was huge, and I was disappointed that it was reduced to his death in an accident and later forgiving him. It would have been far more interesting if he had survived and been able to explain his motives in more depth — to show that he truly regretted everything he had done.
→ Infantile behavior. The main couple was theoretically adult (close to thirty?), but in reality their interactions were sometimes extremely sugary and childish. Watching that in real life would honestly make me cringe, but within the series I could at least laugh at it (partly out of second-hand embarrassment, but it still lightened the heavy topics).

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I had a great time watching this series. I really liked how the main characters’ personalities complemented each other. On the surface, the serious Jang Shin-yu clashed with the slightly goofy Lee Hong-jo, and as their love developed, he slowly opened up to the idea that not everything in life has to be taken so seriously. The chemistry between the two of them was amazing, and the kisses were HOT. The supporting characters were also interesting — they didn’t blend into one another but had distinct personalities, ranging from funny for the viewer, to infuriating, to genuinely intriguing. The curse storyline and the spells themselves were also interesting.

One thing worth highlighting because it absolutely cracked me up was how the male lead in some scenes seemed to barely hold back laughter. I don’t know whether it was intentional or if the actor himself just found it funny, but I noticed it, for example, in episode 5, when they were talking on the phone and he heard that she was sitting with some guy.

However, I did find some downsides that made me slightly lower my rating.

1. The characters’ stupidity:
→ The male lead, portrayed as one of the best lawyers, initially believed his girlfriend’s version of events — that the female lead had stolen her boyfriend — even though just seconds earlier he had heard that it was his girlfriend who had apologized to her for the past, not the other way around.

→ Their biggest moment of stupidity was when they were already together and the psycho was stalking her and had just tried to kill her. They arrive together at his apartment, and he sees the psycho’s car in the garage. Instead of staying with her and calling the police, he decides to go down alone after escorting her upstairs to “check it out” (brilliant intelligence), and she doesn’t behave any better. After all that, she sits alone in the apartment and opens the door when someone rings the bell (even though no one is visible on the monitor), while her boyfriend is desperately trying to call her.

→ Another time, she lures the psycho alone to some cave-like place. That might have been acceptable since she informed others and they were supposed to come, but then instead of stalling for time, she confesses everything to the psycho and runs away XD.

2. Events that are absurd and have no grounding in reality.
To be clear, I understand that this series includes spells, curses, and reincarnation, so it has fantasy elements — but the characters are still human. Here, the female lead sprays the psycho with pepper spray from a very close distance. For the first several or even dozens of minutes, he shouldn’t have been able to open his eyes at all; he could have had corneal damage or optic nerve injury — and yet one second later the guy is running after her through the forest as if nothing happened.

3. Unresolved or underdeveloped storylines that I consider important:
→ The spellbook stated that spells could be cast by her and a person designated by her. Who was that person? Everything pointed to Na Jung-beom, but this was never explained.

→ The character of Na Jung-beom himself. He also cast spells — this was shown in the past and implied to be happening in the present as well. In fact, that’s exactly what he was trying to do when he was captured, yet none of this was explained and it was completely brushed aside.

→ The consequences for Na Jung-beom, Lee Hyeon-seo, Yoon Hak-young, or Yoon Na-yeon. We basically know nothing about what happened to them, even though all of them were significant characters for the overall plot.

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I have mixed feelings after watching this drama.

On one hand, I really enjoyed it - I laughed, cried, and got frustrated along the way. It was an overall pleasant watch, probably because of the music theme, which I personally love.

On the other hand, I’ve been looking for a really good music-themed drama for a while now, and I feel like this one fell a bit short of that title. Mainly for two reasons:

I would describe this drama as something you have to watch with a grain of salt. There are plenty of silly scenes where the adult characters behave like children, and their actions are often exaggerated and unrealistic.

This was the biggest issue for me — the pacing. In the first few episodes, things moved way too fast; we basically learned the entire plot right away. Then the story slowed down, only to suddenly explode in the final episode. Everything was crammed into it, which made each storyline feel shallow. The fate of the guilty characters and those who should have faced consequences (after annoying me the entire show) was glossed over. The main couple’s story felt rushed (not to mention the secondary couple). Kong Jin Gu’s storyline — built up throughout the series, with him pretending to be poor — was left completely undeveloped by the end. Honestly, the stories of all the characters felt watered down, as did the entire band’s development (what even happened to them afterwards — who knows?).

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It was definitely an interesting drama, with a storyline I had never seen before, which made it refreshing for me. The chemistry between the main characters was very good, and Xiao Bao completely stole my heart. On top of that, there were some engaging supporting couples, though one of the relationships wasn’t really explored much. Overall, I had a great time watching, and it never once felt boring—so if I were to rate it purely in terms of entertainment and enjoyment, I’d easily give it a 10/10.

But unfortunately, I also look at things through the lens of how well the storylines are wrapped up, the overall sense of the plot, and the wasted potential—and in that regard, I found a few negatives.

1. The person responsible for the accident involving He Qiao Yan and his family. This storyline could have been developed in a really interesting way, and while watching I even thought of a potentially better twist involving the Lin family—but that never happened. Instead, we suddenly found out about some biggest enemy of the Fe company, who was supposedly such a huge rival, yet had never once been mentioned since the very beginning of the show XD.

2. The Lin family storyline (including the bracelet). We know the bracelet plotline was almost wrapped up, but I still feel like it was lacking a lot. For example, Lin’s parents bribed employees to keep passing on information—but why? What came of it afterward? We never got answers. I was also curious about how the relationship looked later after those employees were taken away, etc. Sadly, we never found out.

3. The Lin Wei storyline. Technically a supporting plot, but still tied to the previous one. It was quite heavily developed for most of the drama, only for us to end up learning nothing about her panic attacks or her relationship with her family in the end.

4.The Yang Ruo Wei family plot. This was also brought up but never properly developed. Why was she so desperate to cut ties? What exactly happened in the past? And how did their relationship look afterward? None of that was answered either.

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I recommend this drama to anyone who wants to watch a comforting and peaceful series. The relationship between the main characters is beautiful and carefree. They are a wonderful support for each other, trust one another completely, and because of that, unnecessary arguments never come between them. The development of their relationship is also amazing—at first, Su Zai Zai seeks contact with him, but soon enough, he wants the same. He slowly begins to open up to her, and she shows him that he, too, is someone special and deserves happiness. What starts as a friendship quickly turns into love, which blossoms in college and continues into adulthood, where their carefree bond and genuine love remain just as visible.

The whole storyline of their friendship as a group of five was also wonderful. Their carefree high school life, the dilemmas connected to university, and later their adult life were all portrayed beautifully. They always stayed together, despite the passing years and separations. On top of that, the relationship between Jiang Jia and Gu Ran was also lovely, and I rooted for them strongly. I was even a little sad that we didn’t get to see more scenes after they became a couple. The only one I truly felt sorry for was Guan Fang, who was the only one in the group not to find happiness, even though he also deserved it (P.S. his grandmother was wonderful).

There weren’t many downsides, although one of them is definitely that the storyline about harassment by the president wasn’t further developed—especially the consequences he faced. Another drawback is that we didn’t get to see Zhang Lu Rang’s parents truly realizing how much harm they had caused their sons (it was only mentioned that they supposedly noticed and changed, but I would have liked to actually see it).

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