AnicsiRoscoe

I agree with you mostly, but I didn't care for best friend meddling with FL and Ml. Why would she tell him that FL goes around kissing people when she's drunk?! If I heard this, I'd rightfully assume that said person didn't attempt to kiss ME because they liked me. So when he goes to talk to FL what he says is basically "your friend explained it to me so there won't be a misunderstanding (about you liking me), so don't worry, I didn't think so anyway". If I heard that in her shoes, I'd be upset, too. It's true though, that she was wrong about not answering his calls and then wondering why he'd stop calling lol
Idk, people have no knack for communication in this it seems.

I binged the first 8 episodes in one night and LOVED it. It's hilarious, keeps you interested, funny character dynamics etc. But idk, episode 9 and especially 10 were a letdown. Barely any progress, with work and ESPECIALLY romance. I love Ko Won, but I think he should've stayed as a friend and not suddenly developed any romantic feelings. At first, ahjumma was like a neighborhood auntie simply giving comfort by hanging out with him. I feel like that's what he actually needed, a motherly figure, not a romantic interest. Even after discovering her secret, it would have been better had they just remained as friends (even if people (aka Investigator Ju) mistake their relationship). That love triangle is pissing me off. I really hope next episodes are bringing everything back in the game, would be a shame if it went downhill from here. We already know who the bad guy is, so I wonder how they're gonna keep the suspense for the remaining 6 episodes.

Also, as a side note, I hate it when people meddle too much, even if they're close. F.e. Ko Won answering FL's phone in her absence is an absolute no-go (and then telling the guy he'd let her know he'd called and then not doing so for a couple of days...). And the best friend lying to ML about how FL goes around kissing everyone when she's drunk, I don't understand that either.... ah man, frustrating episode, really.

I think it's related to Im Sol's fanclub (kidnap Sunjae and run), or in Korean 선재 업고 튀어 (Carry SunJae (on the back) running (away)). And of course if you think about it, she saved his life that way.

Ah, seems like this was created/written by the same person as Strong woman do bong soon. Now it makes sense, I hated that one, too.

What in the world did I just watch? What wasted potential. Even though I didn't love it straight from the start, it was refreshing to see two leads that knew 100% what they wanted and stood up for themselves. But it just started going downhill, and their characters were so inconsistent. SO much cringe in the final two episodes. Noble sacrifice, 2ML tempting with a new life in a foreign land, ML being an ass just to prove a point, FL getting knocked down only to bounce back literally SECONDS later. Ugh, so much didn't make sense. What a terrible, terrible father who cannot see his son's pain, who even tells him 'nobody loves you now' and even rips away the last thing he still has. There was no real foreshadowing as to what a psycho he was. And excuse me, the employees signed a contract, you cannot just fire them from one day to the next without compensation, even if the company has gone 'bankrupt', which is obviously not the case if they have plans to reopen soon. And those mobsters of 2FL (who's delusional btw, if you like him, at least ONCE express your feelings before becoming a jealous b*tch), uhh... call the cops??? WHY would he just take it? I mean, literally NOTHING the ML does make any sense in the final two episodes, he didn't have to marry her, she's just a stupid little girl backed by mobster parents, well, then get protection, talk to the police or whatever, but don't just get roped into it like a fool. Also, how could he not have set aside ANY money, he's rich AF, he knew his father was an asshole, anybody would have set up security funds under his own name (I mean he must've been paid for his position as CEO).... For someone supposedly smart, he's really dumb. And then, and this is what enrages me most, they make up after saying 'I love you' 'Me too', but they didn't talk about ANYTHING that went down over the past week or so, she doesn't know why he 'had no choice' but to marry 2FL, that his father fired him because of her, they have literally no honesty between them. Jesus, this script is so bad, I'm like... dumbfounded this has such good reviews. Even for a comedy, this is just a no-go.
I give it a 5.5/10

You should have continued, because Dr. Kim forbids her from seeing patients due to that very reason of self-harm. They also get a psychological evaluation at some point. Kang Dong Joo's reappearance triggered something in her and led to an episode, but it is mentioned that her mental health had been stable over the past couple of years working there.

Indeed, as I was scrolling through the reviews, it took forever to get past all the negativity. Everyone is entitled their own opinion, but this mass hatred is really unfounded.
Oh well, nothing to do about it, we can just hope other viewers will give it a chance and judge for themselves.
I also don't give perfect scores easily, in fact I only rated three dramas with a 10, and this 'only' got a 9.5, but I absolutely love it and will cherish it for a long time to come. Best wishes to you!

I am so happy someone with common sense and obvious literary interest writes a heartfelt and beautiful review such as yours. While I don't particularly care about reviews and bad press, I find it highly frustrating how many mindless people seem to have a need to trash this beautiful drama just because of its popularity, giving 1 or 2 star reviews. I mean, seriously? Yes, it's not entirely perfect, but there is so much thought and detail in the story, which often get overlooked in favor of some minor plot holes. Anyway, I wholeheartedly agree with you and I am rewatching it right now with as many feels as the first time around.

I found an article on the exhibit, and the calligrapher is also mentioned in it. He was called Kim Jeong-Hui (funnily enough he was exiled during the time span Mr. Queen is taking place haha)
https://webzine.museum.go.kr/eng/sub.html?amIdx=15904

I never said it wasn't a harsh sentence, but personally I would have taken it over imprisonment in a holding cell for lifetime (which I think didn't exist back then, so basically exile was equal to a life sentence nowadays). It really depends, I am sure there were cases where people were poisoned to death (in the drama Queen InHyun's man they show that, too), generally though, they lived, but under harsher conditions. Some of them even fell in love with locals and had children in exile. When I was in Jeju a couple of years ago, I visited an exhibition that showcasted works of art and poetry finished by those exiled to Jeju, or that were inspired by life in exile, it was very interesting. I also visited the exile house of a famous calligrapher, whose name I don't remember. The house consisted of several buildings and I remember he had servants that cooked meals and did the housework and such. I don't know if he himself was under house arrest, but in the exhibit it was mentioned that not everyone in exile was confined to their residence.

Yes, indeed. I think things may have gotten lost in translation. I believe the mother lamented that their relationship/and her husband changed so much over the years, that she was yearning for the times of her 'first love', and her daughter confused and thought she was talking about someone else. It is true that the part wasn't very clear.

It is nowhere said that nobody remembered Eun Gyeol. They just naturally didn't connect the Eun Gyeol of the past with the Eun Gyeol of the present. I mean, for us it was just a second between the time frames, but in reality 28 (!) years have passed. So of course they would remember their old band member (who then disappeared to never be heard of again), they just couldn't remember exactly what he looked like back then. What is a bit weird though, is that they had all the fanmerch and stuff, it would have been funny to have one of them dig out the photos from back then and then be like: ey, yi chan, the two eun gyeol's look exactly the same, wth??

Yi Chan in the present figured it out anyway, after finding the demo tape of the song, that Eun Gyeol did speak the truth of being his son. Which is why it's like an 'Eureka' moment when he sees him perform on stage while his bandmates just feel like 'he resembles someone'.

Actually, I think it's mostly practice, too. You are right that it will make speaking more difficult, because it comes out differently from how you're used to 'hearing' yourself talk. But when you lose your hearing as an adult, muscle memory still goes a long way (which is why Yi Chan speaks just fine just after the accident), so technically, if you receive proper coaching/treatment along the way, chances are you can still talk, albeit not exactly the same as before. I assume though, that it was much less advanced in the 90s, and with Cheong Ah being deaf as well, Yi Chan fell into a routine of not vocalising alongside the sing language. I would have liked to actually see a change here between Yi chan before and after time travel - perhaps a way to show him being more confident despite his disability. I also didn't like that they showed him trying to commit suicide on the roof. In the changed timeline, I felt like he had enough support and willpower to see the good. In my opinion a weak point of the last episode. (along with putting soundtrack in the scene where he watches TV and turns up the volume to the max, yet not hearing anything. The scene would have been so much more powerful had they shown us complete silence - like what he was hearing... nothing at all).

I was confused about that as well. She might have wanted to rekindle a flame/start something new, considering her mother did say she had a first love and it sounded to her like she regretted not marrying him. She probably would have thought of a plan to get the two together after figuring out who it was. Possibly via love letters or something similar. But it's true that it was never mentioned and would probably not have worked, considering her mother was attending school across the globe. She did remember though that her mom had rebelled once in senior high after moving to the US, so maybe she had planned to use that incident as a catalyst.
In any case, I thought her story was actually the one that got the least attention and wasn't resolved that well, either. Weak writing on that account.

Beautiful drama with flaws. This show is a lot of things rolled into one: music, slice-of life, drama, romance. I binged it in two days and cheered and cried with all the characters. I don't think it'll become a rewatch favorite, but it's a beautiful and sweet teenage time-travel drama. I cannot help but compare with Lovely Runner, also a time-travel drama with hints of mystery/drama. The biggest 'flaw' for Twinkling Watermelon in my opinion is that many things seemed 'too easy', most of all the music. I get that the two main leads were supposed to be geniuses, but forming an entirely new band with a frontman who knows next to nothing about music, to composing their own song(s), delivering a flawless performance etc., all within a month, seems highly unrealistic. They were too good, too fast, and it didn't help that Yi Chan's vocals didn't seem to match his character. I actually tried finding out if Choi Hyun Wook sang the songs for watermelon sugar himself, but I couldn't find any sources. I mean the recorded versions, obviously, not the ones where he practices acoustic. Lovely Runner showed a much more realistic approach with live vocals and a the ML with slight stage fright the first time he steps on stage. Byeon Woo Seok received voice coaching for more than 3 months prior to filming the drama and sang all the songs himself. So despite not being 100 percent perfect (pretty close anyway), each and every song just feels raw and real, and I miss that with Watermelon Sugar. Their songs are catchy, no doubt, but they're just too perfect and obviously lip-synched. (And if Choi Hyun Wook really is the vocalist, it was just poorly produced).
Secondly, FLs trauma being unable to play the cello was left mostly unresolved, the ending rushed. There were some more lose ends that I would have loved to see on screen.

Even so, this is just me nitpicking. Overall it's a beautiful drama with memorable lessons and characters that take life into their own hands on second try. The friendships, bromance (or father-son-mance?) and pure romance was really sweet. 8.5 from me for many sparkling moments!

Hmm, well actually during Joseon era it was very common for officials that turned into criminals or their families to be exiled. Like what was supposed to happen to CP grandfather, had he not been killed. Sometimes they were not allowed to leave their residences, but at least it was better than prison (and they often had several buildings and servants that would bring food and stuff, although it wasn't as luxurious). And I think those exiled to Jeju could roam freely, because it was almost impossible to escape from there, it being an island very far away from the mainland. So yeah, I think that would've been an adequate sentence perhaps.

Yeah, I mean I didn't really want death for the both, but not a happily ever after. They did too much harm to deserve it. Feel sorry for their child though.

hmm, yeah I think we have to agree to disagree on that one, then. You're right in that she lost her 'feisty' attitude from the beginning, but generally I think the tone of the drama got darker and the situation was very grim. She never intended to follow her father's wishes, though. After finding out about his evil deeds, she condemned him and told him she wouldn't be able to forgive him. She knew that being openly rebellious would only make it worse and she wouldn't be able to win against him, so she lied to him that she was at a temple all the while treating the king. When the wedding date came closer, she planned to escape to her maternal family. The only reason why she did not go, was because the king woke up and she trusted the CP that he would find a way together with the king to make sure the wedding wouldn't happen. How could she have openly spoken up during the wedding ceremony, with all the officials present? Not obeying the royal command/bridal selection in itself would have meant treason. So she couldn't do anything but hope and pray that the CP and king would be on time. I saw her tears in that moment as an embodiment of everything so utterly wrong with the situation itself, as all the tragedy that had led to that point, not primarily her being afraid of marrying the GP:

You're right about the prophecy, it really was meaningless, and very disappointing.

I know what you mean about the 'buildup', because there's not a whole lot of push and pull and 'should I really?' I actually thought it was refreshing, though, I liked how naturally they progressed from 'bad first impression' to 'I'm curious about them' to 'I think I actually like you'. That's how it usually goes in RL, too, you'll rarely fall in love on first sight. They also didn't dramatize the boss-employee bit too much, like in a lot of other dramas (at least not in the beginning and not from their end). It wasn't really that he randomly started to like her, though, at first it's her genuine smile, her outspokenness and her compassion and vision for her job. I felt that quite clearly. But as you said, to each their own, there are other dramas where people are raving about main couple's chemistry and i'm like: where?? lol

Just dropping in again to say that Ro Woon is the greenest of all green flags, and I want one for myself. I mean, he's just so wholesome without being overbearing. Never pressuring, just silently supporting in a way that makes him so lovable and dependable. Guys like him probably mostly exist in dramaland, but still... Dreamy.