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! ❤️
Since you said you might end up writing a Miles Wei appreciation post instead, why don't you write an Ultra Fan…
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.
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
the Matron who wanted to position her son (from a different bloodline) to inherit the sweet-shop business, from…
agreed!.. though I was still waiting for some mind-blowing, elaborate revenge plan from Sakura... but I guess, not?! On the other hand, the Matron's plan seemed more well-thought out. And I liked her redemption bit at the end! Beautiful! <3
1. japanese (movies & dramas) undoubtedly do 'raw' & 'dark' very well, humanizing even the most-questionable of behaviors, and often leaving you with 'food for thought'
2. their production values are very un-assuming & not pretentious at all. returning to j-drama-land after a decade, and I can see the filters & the grainy-ness hasn't changed much. But that is the artistic vibe behind it, and might require some getting used to, esp if one is coming from glitzy productions from other countries.
3. j-dramas are anything but formulaic. the fast-pace & tight plot development will more than make up for what is lacking cinematography-wise.
4. most of the actors also work in voice-acting for anime/ animated movies. which means, sometimes, the 'anime' acting might get carried over to live-drama adaptations....these dramas also have that 'distinct' exaggerated vibes that one needs to prepare for! <3
Too bad we thought the revenge-story's MVP was Nao/ Sakura. Just realized, the real revenge actually was .......
the Matron who wanted to position her son (from a different bloodline) to inherit the sweet-shop business, from the cheating husband and a father-in-law who failed her! What a twisted character, and what messed-up motivations! o.O definitely deserving of her own spin-off! <3
Because This is My First Life (Korean) is almost exactly the same, except a little less fluffy - contract marriage…
agreed....BTIMFL also has 2 more side couples with similar dynamics, the professional boss-lady who is being pursued by the besotted guy (aka BFF of the FML) and the cute friend in a relationship with the college classmate of the FFL... :) :) BTIMFL is a much serious version of this though, but the similarity is very clear! :D
I definitely liked the Weight Lifting Fairy Couple. I just finished "The Story of Yanxi Palace" and want to see…
They have an upcoming drama by the same production house called the Royal Feast.... https://kisskh.at/51215-shang-shi hopefully, they are endgame in this one! :D
Kris Wu is a popular idol (who the character is a fan of, i presume)...her best friend tricked her with a choice between the ML and her favourite star...and she accidentally picked the prof! ^^ No love triangle, so far! :)
1 
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! ❤️
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.
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
The progression is quite similar and I relate! yay! :P
2. their production values are very un-assuming & not pretentious at all. returning to j-drama-land after a decade, and I can see the filters & the grainy-ness hasn't changed much. But that is the artistic vibe behind it, and might require some getting used to, esp if one is coming from glitzy productions from other countries.
3. j-dramas are anything but formulaic. the fast-pace & tight plot development will more than make up for what is lacking cinematography-wise.
4. most of the actors also work in voice-acting for anime/ animated movies. which means, sometimes, the 'anime' acting might get carried over to live-drama adaptations....these dramas also have that 'distinct' exaggerated vibes that one needs to prepare for! <3
definitely deserving of her own spin-off! <3
BTIMFL is a much serious version of this though, but the similarity is very clear! :D
https://kisskh.at/51215-shang-shi
hopefully, they are endgame in this one! :D
Love both these Unnie-s! <3
No love triangle, so far! :)