Watch it In-between Psychological Angsty Shows
While I do think the show should've focused on Kahoko's personal growth. The should've-could've is not what I want to talk about. I haven't considered it. Rather, I'll be focusing on what it was.It was a cute watch with good chemistry between characters. To me, they felt like family. And I could understand where they were coming from. Even the mother and sister. I didn't hate them at all. I understood (which I might not agree with) where they were coming from. Sometimes, I did feel like they were being annoying. But since I understood them, I couldn't hate them.
Sometimes things weren't outright stated. The bubbled in the background. Like how the father projected himself to be a lion but he certainly wasn't. He wanted to be for his family. But whenever he was, it was either his imagination or he was simply shut down (or the mother speaking). He loves his family,, though, with their perfections and imperfections.
I also like Hajime (ML) and Kahoko's relationship. I wanted them to have more scenes together because, quite honestly, I got a complete whiplash from how fast their relationship moved. Yet I wouldn't say it took me away from their dynamic or the plot. Instead, I just hoped the writers would've focused on their relationship a bit more. But I guess that's a con of the quantity of episodes. I just hope Hajime doesn't turn out to be like Grandpa or Picasso (well, the relationship part). It was especially funny when Kahoko used her eyes to get what she wanted from him. He was really weak against her!
Hajime's character could've easily fallen into the territory of naggy mother and led to a power imbalance. It's a kudos to the actor and the writer who perfectly balanced the weights. The man just seemed perfect for Kahoko. Where he was weak, she was strong and vice versa.
Overall, it's a nice, breezy watch. I especially liked how Kahoko doesn't solve all of their problems. You know problems are going to arise in the future (and it's Kahoko's job to keep them together as a family (cue sigh)), but they'll be alright. At a certain point, certain values did feel archaic, but the show was otherwise pretty feel-good.
P.S.: Kahoko's so cute!
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Scared to Completely Embrace the Bad
WHAT I LIKED:1. Anti-heroine
2. Anti-heroes
3. Platonic relationship between the leads.
4. Storyline
5. OST
6. James (For me, Kim Young Kwang stole the show)
7. The cinematography
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
1. Felt like a tedious watch in the latter half.
2. I wanted more interactions between ML and FL. More of the banters and building of the foundation.
3. I also felt as if the writers weren't fully embracing the moral ambiguity. They seemed to be scared to let the female lead get dirty. She always had an easy way out.
4. The Ending! I knew things wouldn't be fine, and I was ready for it. But I was wrecked, okay?
All in all, a good watch. Nothing I'll write home about.
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...and the story goes on
The biggest criticism of this drama is that it feels incomplete, a.k.a where is the ending? But that's the thing. They haven't been liberated. But not that they've hope that they might be. One day.This drama is poetic that way. It doesn't spoon-feed the viewer. And allows them to walk side by side with the characters. When the characters talk (or to be precise, go about their monologue) it is like you're seated with them, listening to them. And agreeing. Because even if not all, some of their experiences you can certainly relate to. You can feel their pain and frustration just as much as their victories.
By the end of the show, though things jump from A to B to C, leaving you wondering when this happened. There are also other issues with the drama. Like how the side characters seemed multi-dimensional, yet we never get more of them. They just disappeared into the abyss. And others, but I won't get into it.
This show is something the viewer has to experience for themselves. I won't mar the experience by technicalities, etc. The viewer should experience it for themselves. Give it at least one watch to see whether you like it or not. It won't liberete you. Maybe it'll do nothing. But maybe it will.
I'll recommend it because it made me feel warm and cry.
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