Freespirit1221

Kahoko and Hajime are really cute, but I don't like the concept of family in this drama

The only two things I love in this series are Kahoko and Hajime, and them as a couple is the cutest thing ever! Unfortunately, they didn't get enough screentime, as this is a family drama, and that's what I dislike about this drama.

Except for those two, I find all of other characters so annoying, especially Kahoko's mom. I couldn't stand her and there were too many scenes of her!

I don't like the concept of "family is family, we should stick together no matter what". As a person who grew up in a dysfunctional family, I think it's not really that necessary to stick to your family members if they hurt you, and it's totally fine to cut off with toxic blood-related family members.

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Silly plot and illegal romance

I gave this 5.5 out of 10, because I love the main cast. Also, most of the supporting characters are quite good and enjoyable people, except for the Geisha lady and the cheating husband. I specially like the grandmother and the male housekeeper, and the female employee who is close to the female lead.

I’m okay with the 10 year age gap but please at least make the male lead 1 or 2 years older. He’s underage and immature. The romance in this series is illegal lol. If anyone disliked them and reported them to the police, the female lead would be arrested. Also, the plot is dumb and annoying too.

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A litter bit disappointing, but the couple is still adorable

The only good thing I want to see is the interaction between Buchou and Hotaru as a lovey-dovey newly married couple, and I believe other viewers watch the movie because of that too.

However, the movie’s main focus is around some kind of a stranger woman that I don’t even bother to remember her name, and couldn’t care less about her story. She and also all other characters are annoying, and she is the worst, and the plot is weird and stupid. The movie is supposed to be their honeymoon trip, but then it’s ruined for someone not important and not relevant at all. It would be okay for me if they put the woman's story as a very side plot, not playin a big role in the plot like how it is. It just doesn't make sense.

I still give it 6 out of 10 just because of the moments between Hotaru and Buchou. They are still sweet, adorable and funny as before. It's finally a happy ending for their love story, although I expect to learn more after that. I want to see their baby!!

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Great chemistry but a few things feel unrealistic

In general, it's a great love story. The chemistry of the main couple is no joke. I can feel love all in the air when the two are together. And the boy is just so adorable. ^^

However, there are a few things that feel unrealistic in this series. For examples:

1. The female lead seems too talented and confident to exist. How can she just attend a company as an ordinary employee and get promoted so fast to a manager within only 2 years, when she's a single mom and her son even has a heart disease? It means she would have to worry about him, take care of him and stay at the hospital all day every now and then. Of course she can ask her neighbor doctor to take care of him but that's the thing that feels not real. Doctors are busy all day and have no fixed fee time, and as a mom, she would worry a lot about his son when she's sick. Heart disease is definitely not a joke.

2. The serious heart disease doesn't feel so serious. The male lead can drink some beer, run around all day with the female lead, while running is tiring even for a normal person.

3. The kids at the kindergarten were so mean to the son of the couple and his teachers did nothing to protect him. When he had a big heart surgery, instead of cheering him up, the kids called him a monster and bullied him, while the teachers just ignored it, and the female lead also did nothing to protect his son. As a mother, the female lead also didn't protect him in some other cases. It doesn’t feel right to me.

Also, the supporting couples feel a bit forced, and I don't feel any chemistry between their characters. One couple is just about physical intimacy, and the other has a better story (the doctor and the ballerina) and quite entertaining, but it still feels a bit forced.

Besides, about the brother of the dead mutual friend of the main couple, he's not a kid anymore, yet immediately wrongly blamed the female lead for his sister's death just by listening to the passengers of the bus who were all traumatized in the accident? And he blamed a passenger instead of the bus driver? Normally people usually blame the bus driver first before everyone else in similar cases.

There are a few more things that are on my nerves but I'll stop it here. As I enjoy watching the main couple together and the boy is adorable, I still like this series. :)

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A supposedly great drama was badly ruined

Watched it while it was on-air. I really loved it in the first half. It really had potential to be a masterpiece, if they kept the original plot as the webtoon, which was already very popular at that time.

But they ruined the series in the worst way. They changed the original plot and without asking the author and cut Park Hae Jin (the male lead) out of the series and replaced his scenes with the unknown second male lead's, while Park Hae Jin was the reason why a lot of people watched this series when no-one else in the cast was well-known back then.

The author and the series's fans got so angry back then, including Park Hae Jin who was also a big fan of the webtoon. But I can't rate it 1 at least for Park Hae Jin's efforts. Then to make up, the author asked Park Hae Jin to remake the webtoon into a movie version. But it's not the same. So sad for a supposedly great drama.

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A beautiful masterpiece - Best Kdrama of 2025 so far

"When Life Gives You Tangerines" is a beautiful heart-warming series. It touches different aspects of life and implies beautiful messages in each episode throughout the series. It's also a powerful feminist Kdrama. I can see myself, my mother's and my grandmother's life in this series. I am forever grateful to all the women in previous generations. They have been through a lot of hardships and battles so that we can live in a world that we are today. It's also a beautiful tribute to our grandparents' lives who have sacrificed a lot for a better life for their future generations.

Another thing that makes this series so special is that it's inspired by a real life story. Gwan-sik and Sun-ae's love story really exists in this world. It gives me hope and strengthens my trust in love and humanity. This series also raises my standards higher and encourages me to love myself more and to follow my dreams. It encourages me to stop torturing myself and let go of something that's hurt me so much for a long time, even though I've wanted it and liked it a lot. There is a stage of my life that I need to end so that I can move forwards into a new stage.

I love how the series is divided into 4 volumes, like how a person's life is divided into 4 stages. We all live in a cycle of 4 seasons in our life: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. We experience both great joy and deep sorrow. Everything in our life happens for a reason and each season teaches us a lesson we need to learn. Afterall, we will live, no matter what. This beautiful message really touches my soul, as there were times I really wanted to end my life, but now I'm grateful that I'm still alive and able to breathe.

I really enjoyed the loving daughter-father relationship between Gwan-sik and Geum-myeong. I am not lucky enough to have a great father like Gwan-sik to Geum-myeong. My Asian father chose to be a good son, while my father's mother and siblings hate and look down on my mom for being a little poorer than them. Although my mother has done a lot of things for her in-law's family, they take it for granted and torture her a lot. My father is quite an absent father, and he looks down on me and my mom because we are women. Now I have a very awkward relationship with him. Everytime I watch or read a story with a loving husband and father like in this series, there is a very indescribable feeling rising in my heart.

I think of my grandmother (my mother's mother) a lot while watching this series. At her funeral, when others were praising her about how great she was as a devoted mother and grandmother, I thought her life was so miserable and cried. She was devoted to her husband and children all her life, and she was a mother whose 4 children passed away at young ages. Her husband passed away many years before her too. She never wanted to hold any celebrations when she reached 70, 80, and even 90 or didn't want to receive any rewards. My mom said she blamed herself for the death of her children, thinking that she could live a long lifetime because she stole her children's years of life. I couldn't imagine how much pain she had to endure when she was alive. My heart aches everytime I think of her life, and my mother's life too. My grandmother was a wonderful woman. My mom told me she was the most talented daughter in her family, and so did my mom. Both of them were the breadwinner of their family and also great at a lot of things. My mom expects me to be great too, and I used to feel so stressed comparing myself to them, but at the same time I swore to myself to never live like them. I also told my mom that, like how Geum-myeong told Ae Sun in a scene in episode 4. However, also thanks to that scene, now I think of my grandmother and mother's life in a more positive way, when Ae Sun told Geum-myeong: "You're right. Don't live the life I lived. But you know, I found happiness in my own way. There was sunshine in my life too. I've had so many picture-perfect moments. I just want you to acknowledge that my life was worthwhile too." I'm still trying to break the cycle of generational trauma, but I will never underestimate their lives again.

I can see myself in Geum-myeong in her relationship with her mother. I bicker a lot with my mom. There is a big age gap and generation gap between us, so we have different perspectives about life. There are times we hurt each other with words, but we also have great moments together, and there were times my mom used the whole world to me. My mom also told me she used to bicker a lot with my grandmother too, and she was also considered quite a rebellious daughter when she was young, like me. So basically my mom gave birth to a daughter who is exactly like her. Children are the mirrors of their parents. This message is perfectly portrayed throughout the series. Just like how Ae Sun’s mom and Ae Sun herself try their best to improve their daughter's life, I understand that my mom also tries to improve my life. I'm going to live a happy life so that my mom can be proud, and so that my future daughter can live a better life too.

I'm definitely going to re-watch "When Life Gives You Tangerines" with my mom! I think she will think of her mother a lot too. I'm sure she will cry a lot but it's going to be a good cry.

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My new comfort show, with great romance and strong found family concept

My new comfort show. It has great messages about women empowerment and great supportive bonding between women. Its concept of found family among the ladies is very strong and amazing. It's always great to see women supporting women, especially in an Asian drama.

Also, the romance between the leads is beautiful. They have a slow burn and genuinely healthy relationship, with great chemistry. Their love grows gradually and they treat each other with care and respect. Other side couples are enjoyable too.

I love most of the characters in this series, except for a very few male characters. Besides the leads, my 2 most favorite characters are the fifth prince and his wife. The guy is so funny and has a pure heart of gold, and his romance story is fun to watch as well. :)

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A beautiful and heartwarming love story

9.5 out of 10 for a beautiful, heartwarming series that has warmed my heart in this winter.

It was on my watchlist for a long time and finally I was able to finish it. I discovered this series because of its ost song performed by my favorite artist Suda Masaki. I have been listening to this song for years. I was so excited that he also did a cameo appearance in the series.

Anyway, I love the series very much. I've watched the movie first and already loved it, although it felt rushed. Both 2 versions have their own beauty, and for me, the series feels much deeper, heavier, more serious and realistic, and also more dramatic compared to the movie.

The story in this series is very beautiful and well-performed. I like almost every character, except for the nurse. She's annoying. Other characters may also cause different difficulties and misunderstandings for the main couple, but I find their behaviors understandable, but the nurse's behaviors don't make much sense to me. She treated the female lead badly as if she was a criminal for loving the male lead, hurt her feelings and manipulated the female lead several times. That's the only thing that I don't like in this series. The story would feel better and more complete if they didn't did her so dirty, in my opinion.

To sum up, Perfect World is a heartwarming series that has strengthened my belief in love and the beauty of life, and appreciate more little things and live more in the moment. I'm grateful to this series.

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