Chibi

Actually, I felt the school/ college looks visually very similar to Meteor Garden 2018 (china)...[with the stepped lecture halls].... and looks quite realistic like a present-day college.

I too absolutely loved the FL from what I saw. She fits the manga description. Bonus points because I glimpsed her with longer hair (which she is supposed to have before chopping it off due to bullying)

As far as I recall, the 'roof scene' was a Taiwanese-drama addition (with the slap x kiss)... and was adapted into 2018-version, and wasn't part of the manga :/

This is the ONLY Tsukasa who looks scary in the beginning and a fluff-ball in the latter-half. All prev. adaptations had actors who looked more of either (to be fair, the character's duality is REALLY difficult to portray). Looking forward to Bright in this one! :D

As a self-proclaimed HanaDan puritan, here is why I am *beyond* pumped for this adaptation:
1. LIVING for Tsukasa flaunting his wealth.
2. LIVING for Tsukasa being borderline scary.
3. Potential for an excellent redemption arc for Tsukasa.
4. The emotionally raw, dark & menacing vibes from 1st part of the trailer.
5. Potential for Tsukasa's family turning REALLY gangsta on Makino's family (oof!) because that's how the Thai do dramas! :D
6. Following & relating to Makino's dilemma& conflict (from detesting Tsukasa to accepting her feelings for him & from being infatuated with Rui to friend-zoning him).
7. Social media as part of LEGIT bullying (and not some fluffed-out version of it... bridge challenge, like seriously?)
8. Angst & feels x100000

This better be epic and deliver everything promised to us in the trailer!...Go f4:Thailand! <3

spot on analysis!... ^^

absolutely agreed!....and I thought I was the only one to see the similarity with CLOY (similar 'feel-good' vibes). Also, ugly cried as much, in both these shows!...glad to find a fellow passenger on the same boat! <3

While I am personally a fan of strong woman, and not quite of DoTs & Goblin...I do think the ratings dropped because a LOT more people are watching these dramas (which are kinda old). The new ratings MUST be considerably lower. All 3 shows have added about 10k viewers recently, even if all of them rate it around a 7.5 to 8, the overall ratings WILL drop down by 0.2/ 0.3. I am sad about it, but its certainly NOT because MDL has zero credibility! :/ :/ :/

Nope, it isn't melo. It isn't even sad. 18 again has beautifully poignant moments sprinkled throughout the show, that makes you teary-eyed. Tons of solid life-messages, without *ever* getting preachy. A drama need not be 'traditionally sad' to make you cry. A good example would be Go Back Couple (by the same production team) which you rated very highly. A lot of us cried there too, but it wasn't sad/ melo.
While you may have already guessed the ending, the journey that leads you upto the finale is beautiful.... Your watchlist/ ratings indicates you have a GOOD chance of liking it :D

Absolutely agreed to whoever recommended 18again. Same director as GBC. The same fluffy kind of moments sprinkled with poignant heartfelt flashback scenes that would make you cry. Your apprciation of ‘wholesome’ shows (in your watchlist) tells me you’ll def like it :) also heavily features the themes of early marriage, rediscovering love and 2nd chances!

Dramas that make me cry are also the highest rated on my watch list. Says a lot about me! ?

Thank you for also curating all these lovely one-liners and food-for-thought quotes from the series! Such a wholesome show! As i continue to watch the drama, your article seems even more well-written :)

Ditto! That was my cue as well to pick up the Kleenex. My heart went out to Dae Young who tried his best to be a good dad to his twins, and a good husband to his wife, but *just* couldn’t be. LDH’s acting as a helpless, teen/young dad was mindblowingly good. Most young actors would shy away from the role because of their ‘inexperience’, but the fact that a first-time teen dad IS inexperienced....he brings that out SO well!
Never thought a Hollywood movie could actually have so much potential in terms of incredibly *real* & layered characters.

There is something so beautifully heartbreaking to see LDH portray a helpless young/teen father to his twins, and not being good enough, despite trying his best! T_T His acting here was mindblowing.

i. relate. to. every. little. sentiment. here. ❤️

Just casually trawling the comment section to find folks who went through as much Kleenex as me! :) never knew a drama could be so ‘beautifully sad’, much less a Hollywood remake! ?

The epilogues are making me cry like the ones in Crash Landing on You! T_T

I guess because it hasn’t got the top-billed / top-tiered, a-lister stars in the cast! :(

Hello Cryssy Anne!
Thank you for writing this article! I was experiencing a drama-slump recently, and was thinking to try 18 again.

First of all, having loved the Hollywood movie, I was already on-board for a k-drama remake, though wasn’t quite sold to sit down for a 16hour watch.

Must say, its hitting the sweet spot for me. The premise is could be quite jovial and light as a rom-com, but I love how they sprinkled heartwarming/ tender moments throughout. I LOVE how they leave us with a profound message (about life, family, second chances, etc) without being pretentiously preachy. And to my surprise, it has some beautiful moments that has brought an occasional tear to my eye. I am amazed how this has gone from ‘innocent fluff’ to actually making us think about some hard stuff (in a good way, that doesnt feel loke a waste of time)

Trust k-dramas to take ‘basic’ Hollywood, and elevate it to absolute GOLD.
Thank you once again for this article, it honestly gave me the push to take the plunge, and I couldn’t be happier! Loving it! ❤️

aww, thank you so much for your encouragement & guidance! <3 i'd definitely do it, once I can clear up my schedule a teeny bit! Also, i absolutely *ADORE* the series you have coming along with MDL writers, such a treat for newbies like us, who missed out on such great articles!...keep 'em coming! :)

1. MILES WEI (i know, i know)...what a revelation! He is full-on Male Lead material. Wonder why he never got such a project before! To add insult to injury, he is SO good-looking, and his recent projects as SML styled him *so bad*! (typical of a sml though!) T_T
He looks spectacular with those glasses and that mop of a hair, and I want to petition for him to keep it!! ^^
2. The lead actress: She actually reminds me a lot of the goddess NiNi (like a child-version of her) minus the supermodel vibes. I loved her delivery of the character, which I think was challenging because its written in a way, she can come off as an airhead, dumb and annoying, but instead its her naivety and guile-lessness, that she portrayed so aptly and conveyed her innocence! Also, the actress's sketching talent is *mindblowing* (yes, i know she is an animation major)
3.The plot: Is setup with quite a cringey premise (cohab & contract marriage) with similar character dynamics (cold ML-warm FL) as some other cringe-worthy classics like the Playful Kiss/ ItaKiss franchise. I am SO happy they didnt make the characters act like caricature-versions of themselves. It struck the perfect balance of mellow 'fluff & sweet' without anime-style exaggeration. (no kabedon, hehe)
4. Tropes: This is one of those rare example where the show does every possible imaginable trope/ cliche from the trope-universe, but executes it minus the cringe. A dash of real-ness & humanity in the characters also helps...

Bonus points: Liked the side-characters. Even the side-love interests/ rivals aren't the evil kind. There is no grand noble-idiocy or OTT gestures. Overall, PnC is an easy watch, (with the lead actors being more than easy on the eye.) Even though the 'teal/ sea-green' colour palette is a tad overdone, but I love that shade of blue-green, and thus forgive it.

Some of the highlights of this show for me was:

Hey Cho Na!...
Beautiful article, I do hope this has convinced atleast a few to pick this up. I was quite pleasantly surprised how PnC turned out to be such a gem of a watch! <3 I wanted to do this write-up too, but I knew it'd end up being a Miles Wei appreciation post instead. (Actually, would you mind doing one on him, pretty please?!) :D

To those of you here who LIKED P&C quite a bit, I urge y'all to give a k-drama called 'Because this is my first life' a try. (The 3 couples here are quite similar, and the writing appears to be a more 'grown-up', 'indie' and 'slice-of-life' version of this.) You will love it, I promise <3