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This year's one of the best drama!
Whoa! my reaction when I started to watch this drama, I wasn't sure before how it will turn out but it was amazing thank god I listen to my insticts and watched cause it was pretty amazing.But it's not for anyone I say because you will love or hate it.
The plot was very interesting and addictive and main thing it's originality. I love the character development it was one of the best thing of this drama because you see every character is developing in their own way in every episode and it was refreshing to see. I also love those stories or I can say fairy tales.
Acting was topnotch, and ost was incredible (it's in my fav songs list).
Overall this drama was amazing and worthwatching !!
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This review may contain spoilers
What a waste!
I'm so amused at how I finished this trash, but I did well. And I'm so frustrated at this point. How is this even tagged as romance... there were just bits of pieces of it, which left a bitter taste in my mouth.This tested my patience level every bit... I was waiting for the moment that it would get better. With the character arcs, their decisions, and most ridiculous not needed twists, it almost had nothing good to offer. The main leads were the worst... specially ml, he doesn't have a thing called the backbone, bro can't you just take a stand for once? rather than crying wailing... acting like ahh, I have to do these things for the sake of the greater good, I'm so done with these types of tropes, and the never-ending cycle of amnesias.
The only good thing about it was the side characters... some of them were good and way more interesting than the leads... but no, they were just thrown out of the plot and killed for convenience or I'd say to keep the story going as I don't think they had anything more to offer.
Ju Ying Yi... I'm so tired of seeing her in the same attire, the same makeup in literally everything and the thing is she's not that good of an actor too, to make the matter worst.
The chemistry between leads felt flat, so even with the little sprinkling of some sweet moments, romance was unsatisfying. The flow of the story was inconsistent. They had all the bad cliches of all xianxias I've seen till together I hated what they did with the ending... so in the end everything was for nothing?
Never thought my review after ages would be a rant but here you go... I guess all I needed to relieve my frustration towards it! And you better not watch it for your own good.
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Wanna emotionally torture yourself? Go for it
Firstly the poster is misleading because Zhang Yun Long who is part of that poster is barely in drama, not even in one quarter… so if you are going to watch it because of him then please don't lol you'll end up being disappointed.This was supposed to air 4 years ago… so to this date, it's quite outdated in terms of almost everything. The title is a bit weird and definitely gives melodramatic vibes.. well yeah it's actually a melodrama but leaned towards business and the business politics. Even I'm not in much favor of the original title 佳期如夢之海上繁花 same as the novel having literal meaning "Variety Flowers at Seaside"
Talking about the story… it's just meh, so tropey cliche-filled and absolutely nothing special or extraordinary to offer, though it had some engaging factor in the start that made me give it chance being honest I'll say.. to endure it. The story being okay-ish, it could have been better with proper execution but that never happened. Jumping from one scene to another, uncoordinated time jumps its pace, the development it failed by every means. To be specific, there's one scene that's related to the second leads.. after 8 months time jump happened, and then it was shown that they were talking about the incident that happened 8 months ago as if it happened yesterday… okay so who talks about the relatively insignificant incident that happened a very long time ago lol what's wrong with editing they would have shown it before time jump.
The characters don't have their own identity they just react as the story needs… most of the time they are out of their character behaving totally differently. I'm annoyed by characterization, at the end I stopped caring about anyone coz they behave stupid.. teens know to behave better lol
One of the very few things that can be considered as good was acting, not the best but decent. I didn't notice any song other than the opening so no comment on the soundtrack. It's back from 2016 so don't really expect much from cinematography, styling, or aesthetics.
As this is a hate-to-love trope… where the male lead has a prejudice against the female lead due to one incident.. (the synopsis is wrong, the drama doesn't even include anything about one-night stand) so the hate and misunderstandings in the start seem forced. Now talking about the part that I really liked was the friendship between them it felt natural, easy to watch, and very good in terms of relationship dynamics. I like when friendship is shown before Romance starts as friends talk with each other… but then, of course, there was big trouble in front of them that messed up everything and after that out of nowhere they are in a relationship (I'm not talking abt having feelings for each other but there wasn't any scene that there's the conclusion where they get into the relationship) now that's the worst part, that made me think this even don't deserve Romance as a genre, coz it doesn't exist. Male lead doesn't know there's the thing called communication exists in the world, he does things as he wants without explaining to anyone... I mean what? I'm supposed to endure that nonsense? But yeah as anything can happen coz this is drama he just has to behave cute and clingy for some episodes then everything is fine.
The supporting roles are the worst and very annoying.. almost every character is unlikable and that includes even leads... I wouldn't recommend this at all, this is just pure torture, that'll end up giving you frustration. If you are a diehard fan of Li Qin and Shawn Dou.. that you can endure any nonsense and trash plot for eye candy I won't deny it sure has good-looking leads then you can go for it.
I'm not being any generous towards rating, why should I?
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Arthdal Chronicles Part 1: The Children of Prophecy
24 people found this review helpful
BEGINNING!
The meaning of Chronical which is a Greek word is "annals of time." It's a record of past event, it represents the roots of history. So as it's name suggests "Arthdal Chronicles" it's history and the journey of Arthdals living on the land of Arth. It's not historical it's ancient. It's starting of civilization. Every era has it's own problem own struggles not even one era doesn't have passed that didn't had struggle of power. Though it's mythical story it represents the struggles and greed of power on the land of Arth.This part is just beginning of this journey. We don't explore many things it's like an introduction to all characters and the base of story. It's quite confusing in the first episode because of time laps but we get to know a whole imaginary world with different tribes with different cultures.
The cinematography in the best, it can't be more beautiful than this. Both ML and FL's character are likeable but it's not romance based drama so they don't get more screen time together.
It's very interesting and unique story, the best part is it's originality. I was hooked from the very first episode. Even the last twist of 6th episode wasn't unexpected but still I'm curious what will happen next. I really enjoyed the first season and now looking forward next two seasons. I hope they'll as good as I'm expecting.
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So, in short, I'm not satisfied.... but it's not anyone's fault just I'm too demanding lol as it's already satisfactory sometimes even more than enough. Not only does it manage to provide great romance, but awesome friendship with some really interesting entangled relationships.
I laughed, cried... I cheered. I was glued to the screen finding myself emerge in the race though I knew it's not even real and who's gonna win is predestined. It was the characters' and whole premises that made it feel so real. Not being very familiar with some technical sports terms didn't affect much (not well explained in the drama itself)
Story is nothing ordinary but characters is what makes it more interesting. It's not all-time sport-oriented but it is when it's needed. Romance is a slow burn: it's slow and burning... but very soothing and refreshing, even when they aren't officially together the time they spend with each other is precious with many 'Oh gosh, this is soo sweet' moments. The romantic development, the relationship dynamics are natural and very relatable. The thing is everyone is just so cute here... even the second couple, me who likes to skip the second couple all-time found myself rooting for them and taking interest in their story.
Friendship, sportsmanship, teamwork have big roles. The mother-son, father-daughter, mother-daughter dynamics are cherry on the top, sprinkled with some frenemies. Have to say I love Zheng Yi's dad wasn't a moment where he didn't make me laugh. Comedy is on point: not bland, not over the top, not cringy. There are many comedic peak points. There are some annoying, at a times very annoying characters... but with many likable characters, it gets balanced up.
My first time seeing Song Zu Er but I'm sure it's not last, I'm sold for her performance. Song Zu Er isn't conventional beauty... but she has that unique charm in her. Zheng Yi was tailor-made for her, coz she just perfectly portrayed her liveliness, cutesy, silliness, maturity, breakthrough, her setbacks. Her acting was really natural: she was just like any other 18 year adorable girl. I'm quite familiar Wang An Yu, and he's perfect for such roles.. a confident, sweet, cheerful, little (?) narcist young guy. I can't see Bei Sheng without Wang An Yu.
I absolutely adore Zheng Yi: her spirit, cheerfulness, hard-working nature. How mature she's for her age but same time silly as any teenager. Bei Sheng is the sweetest chocolate boy.. though there is some moments 'Boy why don't you get it but very few. Zheng Yi and Bei Sheng are cute little puppies, they rock even their bickering/fights are enjoyable, they have oozing chemistry with overflowed cuteness, it's THE couple where cringy moments aren't cringy... cliche isn't cliche as they just create such refreshing environment. There's only one little rough patch between them but apart from it... it's the healthiest relationship.
I was emotionally invested in characters as their stories never felt superficial.. apart from leads, leads relationships with other characters, subplots were interesting enough.
to sum up you get everything: Romance, comedy, friendship, a little slice of life, family, excitement, and the cutest couple that you want more and more...
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How on the earth I must believe that Gu Xi Xi is a fashion designer when even she doesn't have good dressing sense lol, it's not terrible but it's unbelievable. She's shown to be a smart, witty girl in the prior episodes, but if our FL doesn't become dumb at the right moment how can knight save her in shining armor lol... so yes she just loses her brain when it's needed.
Yi Si Chen is he any different. hell NO. He's cold and obnoxious.. and CEO (This is a must for contract marriages lol). 'Love changes everything' if it doesn't follow this, is it even a drama? as by the rule, due for sake of his love... he's not cold anymore, ah but it comes with possessiveness and jealousy. He does seem to be a workaholic in pilot episodes... a hardworking businessman but when he's in love, how can he be the same.... a looot of free time to wander around.
Mo Zi Xin our 'perfect' SML, seems unemployed coz he doesn't have anything to do other than following oops helping FL around. Did I forget to mention... he loved her for years, you know what? the main problem with these SMLs is timing. See he knew her way before, he liked her way before but ofc he can't get girl coz he's not icy-cold CEO... he can be ge-ge or senior. In course of time our goody perfect boy becomes a stalker... time to wear off SLS lol
Zhong Li Li... here comes I-wanna-slap-that-bitch, am I being too harsh? No! the purpose of her life is plotting against our lead couple, she seems to own some company but she legit has nothing else to do other than make plans to destroy FL, she definitely can be considered one of the most annoying SFLs even existed. Her personality qualify for being in makjang for sure.
The second couple is boring as hell, they don't have story-chemistry or anything that can stop me from pressing the FF button,
We have our perfectly-made-for-contract-marriage characters.... do we need a story? I mean first, our leads will fight with each other over the nonsense thing, then boom something comes up they need to marry... staying together makes them attracted to each other, then we have SML to create some jealousy and tension... SFL who have nothing else to do creates problems.. hence after overcoming everything happily ever after, Done!... Wow, I guess I should also try to write a plot someday... I don't think anyone needs something called creativity or uniqueness lol, just repeat some cliches and old tropes, word done.
Despite having a looot to rant about with dozens of things bothering me, the chemistry between Wang Yu Wen and Wang Zi Qi is on fire, first, they just look great together... second ah they are so adorable. So I did enjoy their time together.. the only thing that kept me invested till the end.
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Being sad enough and giving heartache still, lefts a smile on your face and also teaches the value of our life. Loved her supportive friends. Kiritani absolutely my favorite character along with Rino. You can see the growth of both these two characters becoming more mature and responsible.
It was indeed an emotional roller coaster but definitely recommend watching unless you can't handle the sadness or heartbreak.
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Nothing special here...
I really don't get it, with what mindset it was written. Damn, we live in 2021 and this drama is using concepts of a decade ago. I'm still shocked how did I bring myself to watch 45 episodes without dropping coz it wasn't definitely worth it. The story and its execution were poorly done. In the end, we get nothing more than a typical Cinderella story.CEO ML, naive/innocent FL, bitchy SFL, irritating SML plus unsupportive parents, silly misunderstandings and unnecessary jealousy, plotting against FL, childhood connection, betrayals well WOW I mean how can we have all cliches together in one drama. Okay yeah, I liked FLs character a bit she's talented, hardworking, kind, and lovely still there's something missing. To be honest not a big fan of MLs character here... and not big fan of some of his actions also. Well as I said SML was kinda irritating so there's no chance of getting SLS. None of the characters here realistic. So in the end I found nothing special or admirable here. Though there are some sweet and cute moments still not worthy of 45 episodes
Well if you like the Cinderella trope... a big fan of leads here that you can ignore all these messy things you can watch it still there's a big NO from me.
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Absolutely beautiful and astonishing with being unique!
Having a storyline without any plot holes, mesmerizing cinematography and CGI, great acting, and almost perfect execution with the most suitable soundtracks and OSTs. 'Rattan' nailed in every aspect giving me pleasure and a smile on my face... till the last minute of the show. Surely made a place among my most favorite once. Being a fan of fantasy and mystery finding such drama is the best thing for me.Story:
Revolves around Si Teng who is from Yi Tribe, in other words, an alien, and Qin Fang who's helping her first unwillingly but not for much time as gradually he starts to know her and also like her. Here's a perfect combination of mystery and romance genre without overlapping each other but side by side complementing each other is another strong point of the drama. Well, it's a female-centered plot so it mainly focuses on Si Teng's story and her journey. The unexpected twists and surprises are the best thing, we can definitely say it's so unpredictable without any typical cliches and overused troops in it.
Characters:
Si Teng being the center of attention, her character is one of the best FLs I've ever encountered. Strong, intelligent, elegant, stunning but still upright and kind (Though she doesn't like to admit it) her character is the soul of the show. Being badass her cuteness and sometimes adorable actions never fail to put a smile on our faces. Qin Fang aww he is just so sweet and adorable, his willingness to help and do anything for Si Teng to any extent is just amazing. They both compliment each other and make a perfect pair for sure! Another character I would like to mention is definitely Yan Fu Rui he is really a show stealer at many points, in the mystery and romance genre he is the one who makes it to comedy too! being super cute he has definitely nailed it.
Cinematography:
One of the most beautiful cinematography I've ever seen, with a mesmerizing scenario, stunning greenery the cinematography becomes the most astonishing aspect of the show, it surely is a feast for the eyes to see such beautiful locations and set.
Other things I would like to point are...
Music and OSTs at the perfect scene and enhancing the beauty of it with it.
The costumes being most beautiful and elegant surely beautifying everything with it.
I would really love to appreciate the child actress who played the role of Si Teng... the role was made for her.
Though ending not be in everyone's like still for me it was the most suitable and perfect ending.
Last not least Wafang didn't get much screentime after the first few episodes but he was such a cutie.
So overall I loved it, and hats of for being so consistently good from the starting to the end.
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No female programmers, just coz one messed up hard in the past... now just think of scenario vise-versa if it was a male programmer, then what? no male programmer rule, I don't think so. And I know this mentality sucks.. as the drama.
One might think...'Cute Programmer' is cute, sweet fluff, but other than having a cute programmer there's nothing cute or even much programming. It's rather more frustrating and torture.
The first thing that got me to take interest in drama was cross-dressing and as a fellow fan of the gender bender trope, but it is merely there like 1/5th part of the drama, and it's not the only reason for my disappointment... it is poorly done as if they didn't even put any efforts... this girl with eye-liner (clearly visible) full makeup disguises as a boy... wow I mean just wear short hair wig and baggy clothes there you go, you're a boy! Which company out there recruites employees without any documentation only on the resume? what a lousy management team from an IT company.
Okay she disguises herself as a boy (even when I'M GIRL is written all over her face), and then she takes the advice on how to behave like a boy... from a friend who is the girl (if you have watched plenty of dramas then you, of course, know what kind of 'advice' leads get from their friends lol xD here the problem was supposedly 21-22-year-old girl don't know how boy behave. I mean she doesn't have any encounter with any boy in her life lol... now on this subject, throughout the whole drama it is almost bombarded female programmer is once in blue moon thing, so I assume she must have the majority of male classmates during her college days... and in those 4 years, of course, she doesn't do anything other than studying right? that's why she doesn't know how boys behave.. #dramalogic
The story is pure trash, and definitely not made for 2021... too old, tropey, and torturous, sometimes even challenges morals. The thing is being sooo stupid and illogical, things just don't make sense wasn't the only problem... I've good endurance illogical or bizarre plots but when characters are messed up then... it's a big NO.
Lu Li other than being smart (only book smart lol) and talented in programming she is no different from our female leads in cdramas super naive, gullible, innocent... sometimes even worse. She doesn't even have self-esteem or confidence. The fact that makes me annoyed by her was for-no-good-reason she's head over heels for our male lead (who isn't even likable let lovable aside) not to forget... she loves him for a long time, now taking consideration of out MLS persona, one might thing... he must be saved her life or did something magnificent that made Lu Li blind in love, pff, no there isn't any blockbuster backstory lol, and her love or obsession towards him doesn't make any sense.. honestly shallow as he has no other qualities than being smart and handsome... I want to scream girl get a life! every time I see her lol
Yi Cheng.. ah what can I say, unbearable? his attitude sucks, even after brain wrecking I couldn't find a single thing that I like about him. He is just so childish, stubborn, rude-arrogant for no reason dude... He gets on my nerves every time he appears on the screen. He is so narrow-minded...if you're sensitive then you might get super irritated by his homophobic behavior in prior episodes.
Well, their actions make me want to punch on their face, as both characters are stupider than high school kids. I know there's nothing wrong in having a high IQ with very low EQ or not being street smart even if you are book smart... but at least give them some maturity lol, their mental age and decision-making ability aren't even par to their supposedly high IQ brain.
Where leads were more than enough to annoy me to death... voila! don't forget our bitchy sfl whose life purpose is just to destroy leads relationship, as if she doesn't have any other purpose for her life, not to forget zero consciences. Of course, her action makes you wanna strangle her. Not to forget she gets plenty amount of screen time to make our blood boil.
Even leads are poorly written what can we expect from supporting roles lol, Yi Ming is like stereotype sml flooded with all good qualities.. apart from all the mess I do appreciate the fact they didn't create a love triangle thing with Yi Ming and let him just be a good friend for Lu Li, though I wish him to run away from Zitong every time coz she is just so noisy, annoying and clingy, their story didn't make me interested coz Zitong almost forced herself onto him.
The story sucks, characters suck more... ah now just little expectations from acting. Zhao Lin is a master in such roles coz he's just the same as his past roles before... maybe a little more annoying. So I wouldn't say I've encountered his extraordinary acting skills. Oh gosh it was hard for me to endure Bambi Zhu's acting apart from her silly, poorly written character, she just can't act... even in emotional scenes I can't feel sadness or any kinda feelings from her, I also don't like when she uses weird smile during sad scenes I'm sad inside but wanna show I'm happy scenes, it gives me chills. Acting is on par level... can't save this sinking ship.
In this whole mess who bothers to concentrate on music with being busy in ff lol I didn't even notice any other song other than the intro. The production quality is okayish but the last episode's green screen was meh.
But surprisingly I stuck to it till the end... yeah just for sake of ranting about it, but this ridicules sometimes a bit vibes of makjang, can be entertaining in the purpose of bashing or making fun of it... coz it was a pleasure to write this whole rant xD
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My hate-to-like relationship with drama.
Disclaimer: It's a fictional story and totally unrealistic. 'A reporter becomes anti-fan of superstar and somehow they end up living under the same roof.' It is a summary. Can you imagine this happening in real life? NO. So turn off your brain, be aware of tropes and cliches.Firstly this drama was made back in 2018, so it's been 3 years It's a really long time since taking consideration of the entertainment industry. It might be not up to date or have some technical issue, so take it into consideration.
I guess you might get an idea from the headline of the review that it wasn't a pleasant start for me... to the point I hated it and was on the verge of dropping it, then it suddenly picked up out of nowhere and I actually started to enjoy it.
I'll start with explaining my initial hate towards it. First of all none of the characters were even likable, even leads. ML I didn't like him at all he was a kinda jerk in the start pretentious and mean. Talking about FL there wasn't anything I should dislike but her character was just so pitiful. In the initial episodes, there didn't seem much relationship growth or any unique thing happening with the story...
Then it becomes more interesting and fun. It took time for me to actually like ML, but I ended up adoring him. The chemistry between ML and FL is really great, it happens with me that I lose interest when leads get together but this being an exception here, coz they become totally different, cuties and story dynamics had a change.
Now talking about the second lead of the drama... it's the most annoying part of the drama. Their characters are poorly written and one-dimensional, as SML has no work other than ruining life or plotting against ML, SFL she actually didn't have her own character or personality where she can fit, her decisions were vague and abrupt. Both second leads are just so toxic.
There are some unnecessary parts, characters aren't dimensional, a bit cringe and embarrassing moments (Where I was having second-hand embarrassment)... 1-2 bad/sad episodes, rushed ending, but the story didn't drag, and it's a good thing. I would have liked it more if they had more OSTs.
If you like fluff then give it try, don't think or expect too much... I guarantee it'll sure make you smile.
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Nothing special...
Well for me it was just okay drama, which isn't a must-watch or isn't even a waste of time it's just something regular/average. As you won't get anything special or I would say don't expect that. It's office romance and as it's shown that there's an age difference so actually FL is just 1 year older than ML but its difference isn't in age it's more about the experience and also maturity. It's a typical love story filled with typical K-drama cliches. So don't have any high expectations from it.But it has a really bad first impression of ML. Though his character is shown to be very different/perfect in further episodes if you judge on the first impression then it's definitely arrogant, rude, and interfering in others' personal space ML. Can call it a jerk thought it was just for the first few sides and then he became cute, understanding, enduring or I would say perfect ML for everyone. For me I really didn't get at what point FL Song Ah started to like our perfect ML for me it was out of nowhere but it's my opinion though.
Okay so the characters which I really liked Ha Eun this child's character is most well written and I really loved her every scene she showed stealer for me and her mom Yun Seung ah her character was beautiful still I felt very bad for her.... and I loved the secondary couple cute and bubbly. Though SML and SFL were both meh for me. I'm not a big fan of both leads but they were just likable for me.
I wasn't that satisfied with this at some point I was frustrated by it... still bothered by many things but it does have a happy ending well if you are a sucker for happy endings then you won't be disappointed as for some ending is more important than a journey which is not my case.
Overall it was average drama...
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Unavoidable Fate which is tangled with a Human being and The God of Destiny
I love surprises and this one... having zero expectations from anything but then you start to love it, definitely counts as a surprise, right?This drama surely has the feel of Goblin from the poster to the very first scene of the drama, but still, it's not like Goblin though that's what I felt, for me one of the best short dramas I've seen so far especially it's made for binging. Now let's talk about the story. As I wrote in the title 'Unavoidable Fate which is tangled with a Human being and The God of Destiny.' I'll say it's cleverly written nothing feels draggy or unnecessary still we have some unanswered questions in the end.
The execution was done properly, I won't say we get the best acting here but surely not bad. It's cliche and cringes.... um very cringe (Who would have thought I would like cringe someday) but it's so enjoyable and funny and you enjoy every bit of it without getting bored. We get a well-made story and character in just 10 episodes who fairly are just 24-30 minutes. It's beautiful, the scenery and cinematography are the souls of the show. The music it's brilliant it goes with every scene I'll say it's the key point which absolutely makes the drama more special.
Overall it was full-pack drama best to binge! Fun, sweet, fantasy, romance, bromance, and little fluff.
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Short and sweet!
It's was good and I liked the fact that they also used pandemic in story so it was interesting. It's just 6 ep and 10-12 minutes ep so it's like a short movie and I enjoyed it. I liked the chemistry between leads and I would have liked it more if there were more episodes but still it's good and worth watching.. give it a try you're not investing too much time. Actually I'm little bit confused about ending I really didn't get whole thing what happened but it's okay.It was cute, sweet and light made my mind at ease..
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The best of best!!
I have no words to describe this drama. Totally amazing wonderful journey that will make you laugh, cry, you will be surprised and shocked but in the end you will be satisfied and there will be smile on your face I assure you.I would say this is most underrated drama having so much potential in it, but you just need patience because you won't understand the story until you finish episode 6. The best thing about this drama is it's originality it's plot is amazing and very well written without any plot holes which makes it perfect. It's like solving puzzle all pieces joined together perfectly. I usually skip boring scenes but I didn't skip any of it.
The acting was amazing all actors played their rolls perfectly. The ost was amazing so the soundtrack is also thing which made this drama special.
So this is story between three friends. Actually their are two stories one is in present and the other is in the past. I usually prefer modern dramas I don't like 19s aura but I would say I love the story of their there past more than the present I waited eagerly in every episode for the glance of past. It made me sad also because it was very heartbreaking to see I cried very much but it was worth it and I got huge second lead syndrome I never have felt this much for second lead before, but let me tell you it's not at all typical love triangle like usual dramas that's what I loved most and it also don't have k-drama cliches. Talking about ending it was happy ending but it was kind of open ending but it was satisfactory. This drama was best. The only thing I regret is I discovered it late...
Must watch....but have some patience!!
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