InspectorMegre

A universal true love story, very funny true rom com - great script and even well done acting

Super cute, realistic, and very funny story of true love. A true rom-com.
>>>> I recommend this drama to anyone - straight or not, young or old, first timers or married for 100 yrs. <<<<<

The drama shows what true love looks like, acts like and thinks like...... It is true love between two very kind nice people.

It is filmed in a really fun and creative way too. The music is fantastic. Camera is so creative. That scene when the water bottle drops from Kurosawa's hand, outside of the restaurant...
SUCH REAL DETAILS, filmed and acted so well, it is so endearing and so funny too

This is a rare jdrama that has good acting :)
The script is great. This is a story of true love as it is in real life, to normal nice people. It is sexy in good taste, it is caring without soapy, it is very very very GENUINE and realistic and HEALTHY. It does not have false prudishness like most straight kdramas have, and it does not have overdone lewdness and twisted sexuality - esp. associating s.x with violence and games - like so many BL dramas have.

This drama is a super cute story of true love. So different than most BL dramas which honestly are too lewd or playing games. This drama too has a very common plot of a convinced gay male who runs into a closeted gay male and kinda shocks him and cajoles him into it, however, it lacks the sexualization and predatory feeling that so many BL dramas have.

This drama is UNIVERSAL, you could play it with straight or any other ppl too.
Kurosaw is so sensitive, caring, attentive, honest, and gentle yet sexy, he is a true love that anyone - straight or gay - could only dream about, as ppl like this are very rare.
The same for Achi, he is so honest, self aware, brave in stating his feelings, and extremely caring and kind too. The two have found each other, the cats of the same kind :) kind honest ppl.

Also, I was thinking, the only way to produce such a great Japanese male lover, so sophisticated, sensitive, caring, considerate, gentle, hot like Kurosawa was to make him gay. If Kurosawa was into women, he might have not been this caring all the time bc it is just not how you treat women in a sexist society.... most likely, it would have been a lot harder to keep the equality between the lovers. Sad but true :)
Also, I was thinking, the only way to produce such a brave shy person like Achi in Japan was to make him gay. If he were a woman, he would probably suffer from inferiority and self repression to some degree. He is free to be brave and to express bc he is male, that is my educated guess.

But - the love between them is portrayed in UNIVERSAL way - love between two PEOPLE. Straight relationships could benefit from this story so much.

The plot is actually a mimic on the common straight plot from kdramas - a popular charmer suave guy falls in love with a clumzy insecure not-popular shy loser chick who is KIND good person. In the straight context, this plot is super sexist. The female is the dumb one and the male is the smart one who runs her life bc she is so incompetent she cannot survive on her own. Such dramas glorify the man as the "higher" one.

In this gay drama, the main protagonist is an insecrure clumzy unpopular shy target of love.
But this drama is a twist on that, and how it is done is so ... well done. The drama does not put anyone down, nor does it make the "more suave" person more "interesting" or "higher" in status. The suave guy who is pursuing him is popular yet genuinely kind, decent, honest person. And the shy guy is not dumb or ignorantly unaware... The shy guy is smart, observant, self reflective, and proactive.
Truely they are equals.

As for acting, Kurosawa is perfect. That actor might be gay or bi in real life. Achi actor is .. hm.. sometimes it is obvious he is pretending. Is the actor a straight person in real life? he was acting scenes with a woman a lot more naturally.

I would encourage everyone to read the review that is on the top o MDL reviews, by TangYang. It says it all :) I just filled in some holes.

This drama reminds me of BL kdrama Heesu from Class 2 which talks about two gay male high schoolers in love and one of them getting out of the closet. Heesu drama also has positive female models and female friends and straight friends and does not portray life as "planet inhabited by gay males" as most BL dramas do. Hessu drama is balanced, just like this drama.

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Amazing fun rather realistic portrayal of "good guys" who are "ordinary" guys, not idols

Wow this is an amazing and so realistic drama with amazing acting and a great plot, very funny yet very serious and realistic.

Yes drama is male oriented and indirectly glorifies men - but it picked some good guys who deserve to be praised. The leads are very capable real life "ordinary" men who DO deserve praise. These are handsome, capable, althetic, strong, healthy,, energetic, RADIANT "ORDINARY" good guys, who work for good causes, who are good husbands, dads, neighbors, friends, who are *giving* to others. THEY ARE OF SERVICE beyond just idolizing their pretty pictures....

These men are not decorative items but live, active, "worker bees", they are lively and active contributors to society.... Also they are healthy, they spend time outdoors and in physical activity, they have male friends, they are great at their jobs and a good neighbors who do CHORES to make sure that everything runs smoothly. These guys make sure everything works well.
And, this drama involves running, physical prowess, outdoors, and the guys are also friendly, charming, fun, and go-getters.

Which of the modern "idols" have ANY of these traits???

The last fight between JDD and Sullivan was the metaphor for this - the rich pretty idol-looking guy was a selfish snowflake...

SO HOW DID WE WENT FROM THE BUNCH OF HEALTHY "HEROES NEXT DOOR" - to this??

----->>> WHY ARE WE GLORIFYING MALE IDOLS WITH THEIR GIRLY FACES AND MAKEUP AND FLYING AROUND IN CHIFFON ROBES GAZING AT EACH OTHERS" EYES??? Those ghosts do not have families nor community, they are isolated in their pretty bubble and USED JUST AS DECORATIVE OBJECTS, fantasy items, essentially dollss for fans.

In modern dramas, it is either these idols or guys who look real, like th ML in Climax, but are totally morally questionable and just elbowing their way forward by any means.
The ultimate is the skinny chabol who went to gym and dieted to give that 10% BMI look, and who grants his chick her every whim and every wish

WTH HAPPENED????? How did we end up with super skinny frail actors who are clearly some couch potatoes and totally lack energy and liveliness?? Who are serious, cannot smile, have no charm, their personality is like cardboard. And are into elbowing their way in the world instead of being helpful...

HOW DID WE END UP WITH FRAIL GIRLY MEN WHO LOOK AND BEHAVE LIKE STILL PICTURE DECORATIVE ITEMS????? The modern idols really look like photographs... and are only good for that... They have personality of cardboard and no impact to real life, like ... taking trash out or taking care of kids. They are androgynous looking and very "off the ground" in the sky pie... I cannot see them fixing your car, carrying your groceries, or for that matter, spending the night in hot pursuit, I think they will collapse from exaustion - and also - that interferes with their beauty sleep and wearing facial masks and skincare...

How did we end up with worshipping pretty male faces - pretty as in "pretty girl" bc their faces are so ... girlish.. androgynous ..... and so skinny... How did we end up witih kdramas that show very despicable self serving characters from start to end - as the leads... ????

I am watching Heroes Next Door in April 2026 and totally enjoying it. It is a great comedy. And, even if you are going to watch some good looking great guys, this is a lot better drama than watching some trash like Pursuit in Jade or Perfect Crown, which are straight forward disgusting, as they portray greedy arrogant peopl in pursuit of more greed and arrogance, without any trace of character growth. Totally totally not kdrama concept.

Ah, but they are rich? The idol guys are rich, that's what it is? A porcelan doll that can take you to the shopping mall and buy you stuff... ? thats what this is all about?

And ..

I am dumbfounded. IS THE MESSAGE THAT ONLY SECRET AGENTS AND SPECIAL FORCES ARE ALTHLETIC, STRONG, CAPABLE *AUTHENTIC* MEN?
and the "popular" men are all into plastic surgery, dieting and makup AND SERVE FOR DECORATIVE PURPOSES ONLY? while thy elbow their way up the social ladder...

HOW DID THIS KIND OF DECORATIVE GIRLY MAN-CHILD DECORATIVE OBJECT become THE standard of popularity for men???? WTH????

First of all, what is wrong with women, to like guys like that??? Why are adult women behaving like little girls who like playing with porcelain dolls???
Yeah these new popular guys ar all like porcelain dolls. Exactly like porcelain dolls, since their faces are so pale, they never outdoors. There is absolutely nothing sexy about them, they look like they will fall down and flip over and faint with exhastion any time.
And when they move, they are not moving to do something good for others, but to advance THEMSELVES.
As usual, women are guilty for creating and upholding awful men, bc they admire stupid awful things. I am DUMBFOUNDED. Those porcelain dolls girly decorative items guys could not exist without 100000 chicks supporting that.

Now to be clear: this drama too is a bait for women :) There are guys in here for every taste :) and the drama is a bait for kids and society in general :)
All the guys listen to their wives :) actually the wives patronize them, JDD's wife called him her eldest son... and acts ah so prude.... the wives behave like their mothers.... :( the typical kdrama bs...
and the guys are great with kids and housework...

They are superheroes, they never got hurt - although the drama is realistic and shows that all heros (except the NIS guy...) have limitations, aches, pains and consequences from fighting and being beaten....
The drama makes the characters quite angelic, their character flaws are not elaborated - but some flaws of some characters are shown and TALKED ABOUT - so we are aware the characters have flaws, but the tone is kept light.... .
And the drama kinda glorifies certain things, eg it is an advertisement for NIS, etc. Yeah NIS and military are gonna go down if they get the idol boys whose stamina exercise is waving a hand at the camera at the photoshoot....
So ... there is never a free lunch :) but at least this is decent enough, there is some content, positive actions, and comedy, and the people are NORMAL people, not skeleton porcelain dolls.

And I am glad that the MiYong's soldier friend, who was ML is utterly violent hopeless meaningless One High School Heroes - I am pretty sure that is him - well I am glad that kiddo got a real man role with some amazing adult male actors and hopefully learned something.
Actors who did the JDD guy and the Hardware Store guys are *amazing actors. JDD Guy actor was sooooo smooth and natural... and such a complex personality... wow.
The Hardware Guy actor was such a personality... It was amazing to see th acting you can do with the attention in the eyes.
I really enjoyed watching the hardware guy, that was some amazing acting with eyes and face, a great comedian. I looked up other dramas and realized I did not recognize him - he was Shoe Park in Typhoon Family... ah another cameleon actor, i.e. a great actor, diferent in every role!

Lady actors didnt get to shine too much bc their roles were too simple, to let the men whine. That was not cool

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Deep dive into the "behind the scene"

Without the cells, it would be a very mediocre romcom about two immature people. BOTH YUMI AND WOONG ARE PATHETIC. The cells make it funny.... and deep. We get to see how immature people think and operate.

Yeah it is very clear they will break up .... they are both soooo immature and do NOT communicate..... and YuMi's Intuition is exiled and all her cells are scared of listening to him... YUMI DOES NOT RESPECT THE DEEPEST PARTS OF HERSELF. ANd it is clearthat Sei Yi is a total total snake, and Woong is a total total immature clueless guy who has the Lustodinosaur... Perfect match for the SeiYi who is 100% skilled 100000% sociopath poisonous TOXIC snake... wow Sei Yi is something else, sooooo evil.... just like Ruby..... and Yu Mi is .... too.... immature and naive good girl - after she found out that Sei Yi picked the necklace and gave yuzu, she should have NOT called Woong, he had to come back crawling to her or else be dumped. It is clear he will cheat, eventually. That snake will snag him as soon as he lowers his guard even 1 milimetar.
And instead of setting clear communication and accountablility, that dumb starved girl runs to him and calls him upstairs... And he... does NOT talk.... the immature moron..... he cannot even say he needs to stop at the restroom. He is a total clutz
Woong goes to date with Sei Yi and hides it from YuMi

Well... she is starving after 3 years of abstinence, but ... at least she should know that he is just a little snack and not take him seriously.

One thing that is missing is how Woong decided to break up. We did not see his thinking at all. The money was not an issue anymore so he could have gotten married, but he decided not to.

I love how real this is, the triangle is 2 women on 1 guy. The real life is almost always like that. Unless the woman is somehow a s.x bomb and/or influential, and used just for mating and/or status.

Excellent acting by FL actress. MLs are decent but nothing special.

=====
season 1 is about ONE guy Woong. but BaBi is lurking in the background posing as YuMi's friend while he is breaking with his ex
Meanwhile Woong has a "second wife" an ex from the past that consistently and openly butts in to get him away from YuMi
finally Woong dumps YuMi and she accepts bc Woong went off the deep end with the bankruptcy of his company and did not say a word about it - Woong is a lame proud arrogant selfish he-man man-child AND a fun boy toy, and she keeps kissing his as# to keep the fun boy toy

season 2 is about BaBI taking over YuMi, genuinely loving her... and once in a blue moon, Woong trying to come back and bailing out fast every time.
But the whole thing is slimey as YuMi got with BaBi not out of love, but to use him as a happy pill and to have him treat her like a princess. So she essentially leeches off him. And as soon as she is far from him, he finds another chick who kisses HIS as# and genuinely loves him. And YuMi stops "loving him" as soon as it is clear he cannot be 100% perfectly serving her 100% of the time.

So the cells makes this interesting. The stories are about flawed ignorant unaware people, and the cells show how these people operate.
Season 2 is so cheesy cringe bc both Woong and BaBi stay single and loyal to Yumi FOREVER although she dumped them.

YuMi is like this worm that just chews through men, using them for s.x, attention, etc.


=====
Season 1 is interesting only bc of the Cells... bc it shows the typical hormone-driven relationships that fall apart, how immature people think, what operates them inside to create those stupid external behaviors - how mismatched immature ppl get together for the sake of s.x and fun and keep it going for a short while until the first problems.

Woong is an arrogant dude and he keeps his "second wife" bc she strokes his ego, and he stays around YuMi only while his ego is stroked and looking grand. So he and YuMi used each other, and YuMi was a lot more giving, in order to keep her fun boy toy.

Season 2 is a study in toxic relationships. YuMi does NOT love BaBi and she gets together with him for convenience, takes him as a happy pill, "loves" him when it is all perfect, and loses any interest as soon as he is less than perfect. He essentially cheated by emotionally attaching himself to another chick, who was kissing his as@ and who genuinely loved him from the start, which YuMi never did. YuMi and BaBi relationship was majorly slimey, and BaBi was a lot more giving. YuMi was there as long as she was THE PRINCESS, and BaBi had to keep kissing her as@ and taking care of her.

The key problem is that YuMi is totally oblivious to her Hunch Cell and her Deep Inner Cell and is fact scared of them, so she keeps operating out of limited / dumb Emotions, Reason, etc

Season 3 is about .... ? hopefully real love for who the people ARE and a real relationship where both give and take and LOVE equally.

But there could be 100000 seasons and NOTHING WILL WORK AS LONG AS THAT HUNCH CELL IS FEARED AND PUT TO LIVE ALONE IN THE DESERT, AND DEEP INNER CELL IS BURRIED IN AN UNDERGROUND PRISON

YuMi is an ordinary clueless ignorant person, living life on automatic pilot. The interesting part is the Cells, we get to see how that all works

====
Season 2 was so soap...
Adult men moping after their woman for YEARS AND DECADES and unwilling and unable to have new relationships - and one woman having at least 2 great guys like that forever dedicated to her - wow what a super disgusting lie soapy cringe trope that shows up on most if not all dramas. So those moping men just do not have s.x all their adult life, or for so many years and decades?
WOW WE FOUND WHY S KOREA HAS THE LOWEST BIRTH RATE IN THE WORLD - and why hostess bars and prostitution are so normal in Asia.
The reality was shown by both Woong and Ba Bi. Woong was keeping his "second wife" at work, and Ba Bi found "second wife" as soon as he moved away. And both those "second wives" had NO problem butting in to steal the man from his official girlfriend. On the other hand, men who were told the girl is taken, backed off immediately. THAT IS THE TYPICAL REALITY

===
Just watched Yumi's Cells season 1 bc of really great review on byrei.ink - indeed it is a great study on how immature ppl get together for fun and then quickly break up. THE CELLS ARE SOOOO EDUCATIONAL AND DEEP!!!! I rated that 10 bc of its uniqueness and insights. I just fast forwarded through the cringe parts showing the external behaviors of two really dumb immature ppl butting heads without any communication.

Season 1 was about puppy young love based on hormones.

Then I watched 14 episodes of Season 2. And I feel very upset after, because it was about two slimey adults. YuMi using BaBi as her happy pill, to have someone kiss her as# and take care of her ALL THE TIME like she was a princess, and YuMi lost any interest and bailed out as soon as the dude could not deliver that all the time. And BaBi - he needs someone to truly love him, and I guess he wants someone to kiss HIS as# too, so he essentially cheated by emotionally attaching to a chick like that - and probably would have proceeded to switch ships at one point, JUST LIKE he was switching ships and jumping on to YuMi while he was breaking up with his ex.

SO SEASON 2 IS A STUDY IN VERY SLIMEY TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS.

And then this cheesy idea of 2 guys being loyal forever to one woman who used them while it was fun and then dumped them... SO unreal soapy!!!!

There was real stuff... both guys had "second wives", women who openly catered to them and tried to take them away from the official girlfriend YuMi. That is soooo realistic.
YuMi's male suitors behaved in typical ways of real life and backed off as soon as she said she has a boyfriend.

Overall, YuMi is a very ignorant unaware person and also a coward in many ways because she keeps her Hunch away in the desert and is afraid to listen to him, and also DEep Inner Self is burried in an underground prison.

So Yumi's Cells can have 10000000000 episodes where YuMi keeps using men, chewing them up while they are useful to her and then spitting them out.

In Season 1, YuMi has to kiss as# of Woong, to keep her fun boy toy. He is a moody arrogant man-child and a great boy toy
In Season 2, BaBi has to kiss as# of YuMi and make her feel like a princess, or else she loses interest in him. She gets with him not out of love, but for health reasons, to be treated like a princess, and loses interest as soon as he cannot be that loyal doting SERVANT ALL THE TIME. BaBi sold his soul and then could not resist his need for someone who truly loves him and gives to him, so he essentially chated.
BaBi needs someone who gives to him as much as he gives. BaBi did not have a mother and his father is cement, so BaBi needs real love, to be the center of attention.

Yeah BaBi is slimey too... He jumps ships as soon as it is not productive for him to stay.... As soon as "his woman" is "away" - he starts jumping ships...

So Season 2 is just ... ugly toxic muck bc it is clear these ppl are adults adn SHOULD be thinking...
BASICALLY SEASON 2 SHOWS THAT NOTHING WAS LEARNED FROM SEASON 1
and season 3 looks like the same concept


Season 1 is cute bc it is "starter kit"
but Season 2 is infuriating bc there is no progress whatsoever
the story just repeats
And Season 3 looks the same repeat...

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Masterpiece worth 10 stars IF it did not have 2 minutes long lazy skimpy cheesy ending

If it were not for those last few minutes in ep 16, the very very very end of the drama, this would have been 10 stars drama. It ends badly, in a way that does not make sense. I thought ML Osu was smarter than that. So that is why I cannot give it 10 stars.

I understand that ML Teongsu chose to be the caked frozen Lucifer to the end. That is totally understandable. But Osu made so much progress and became a very wise person, and then... messed up, in the same childish way in the last 2 minutes of episode 16, in the same exact way as 12 yrs ago in episode 1.

Common, Osu!!!! You were supposed to be better than that!!!!! WHY are you the ML in a kdrama if you cannot hold your sh#t for 2 minutes????
Seems like the script writer was just lazy and/or dumb. Or a little Lucifer or YeongCheol... .

I was't sure how Osu would continue with his life ater ep 16 though, bc there was so much strife and grief that the other ML introduced, but I did have a realistic hope that Osu can pull it off...
so I hope that Osu's last mess up was NOT just a LAZY SCRIPT to avoid showing how he continues. Please script writer dont do that.
If Osu ending was inteed an intentional message, then this is 1 star drama, for brainwashing the audience into stupidity.

I watched this 2007 drama in December 2025, because there was not much current dramas that are worthy of watching and some just drove me bananas with bad trashy negative messages.
For example: 2025 kdrama Dynamite Kiss is like going back to 1950 to endorse sexual harassment at work by an overbearing CEO, towering over a stupid dumb weak poor female employee. That drama is SO TRASHY - everything about it - plot, acting, music, the audience, ... everything

So I detoxed with this drama. The title is .. hm... not great but illustrates the point. Someone who thinks they can outdo God and run the show as they want....

I LOVE this drama because the ML Osu is a real character and the actor is not a plastic pretty boy with skinny legs, and the actor ACTS... so well... He is alive, he is that character...

Unfortunately Osu stayed too dumb at the end. He had a chance to make it and did not... Such a waste of script and his life. I am angry at the ... dumb script writer.

THe pretty boy who does not act - the villain - could exist in the drama bc there was contrast and so much aliveness so one dead actor did not make the entire drama boring. The poker face flower boy was not dragging the drama down because the Osu actor was acting so well and in such ALIVE manner. So pretty face in permanent poker style was bearable - but boring :)

Modern kdramas put a pretty boy face as ML, and so many of those cannot act. they cannot even smile... they are some kind of model or something and can show only an arrogant serious face.... SOOOOOO B O R I N G !!!!! and most cannot act and it is stupidly unbearably boring. I am thinking recent drama Would YOu Marry Me - that ML was cute but after like 2 episodes, there was nothing to wach since he had that "let's get over this acting thing and go home already" bored arrogant look.

And most FL are pretty and cannot act - and often the script makes them into total dumbos so the only two faces they need to show is pain OR confusion..... maybe they trepidly smile once in a blue moon...

and these days, actresses are also dangerously skinny. Just seeing those starving children clunking their knotted knees and their O-shape legs out of malnutrition, just makes me scream for some food donations to make them HEALTHY and STRONG they are just ugly unhealthy skinny, no muscles on them.
Men area also forced into that skinny look, I notices their legs look so skinny and they really do not bulk up anywhere. A man should have LOTS of nice muscles, he should be buff enough to haul a deer or fish home... !!!!

The FL in this drama was a delight bc she was not a skinny skeleton like modern kactresses. I enjoyed seeing her butt and chest and a plump heatlhy face.

I loved ML physicality, he looked like .. a soccer player, strong legs and strong arms and body. He was not tall, he was not a pretty flower boy, but he was incredibly handsome and MEMORABLE and FUN to watch, he **** acted **** so well.

I LOVED this drama bc it has actors without a ton of white makeup on their faces. I enjoyed seeing their real skin, acne scars and everything. I LOVED seeing black hair, all shades of black, no bleached brown.
I LOVED the asian eyes and no plastic to make big western eyes

I cannot stand seeing asian actors trying to look white to appease to western audience and western MONEY. Please. Do NOT.

Osu actor is incredibly handsome and his very asian eyes are AMAZING, piercing like fire, attentive, alive EYES with INTELLIGENCE, I dont care what color or shape, I just care to see a LIVE INTELLIGENT HUMANE BEING behind those eyes
aka a human being.
I loved that ML Osu had no fancy clothes, and that he looked totally real, with musclular soccer legs, with a funky fashion, with a nerdy hairstyle, and SO REAL, the BOY NEXT DOOR whom you can ask out. He is that real.

I totaly loved the real life quality of this drama

I loved the positive messages of FL and Mr Cha... changing Osu's life... and not having an effect on Lucifer LOL

I did like that FL and Mr. Cha focused on little darling Lucifer and bringing him back.... however, they were too polite and totally skipped the fact that their little darling literally planned and pulled in 5-6 people to kill 5-6 other people and destroyed and used so many people. Little darling Lucifer is a MONSTER.... but nobody is saying it except Osu. The dumb chick FL and Mr. Cha kept giving l the message "oh poor little darling you were so hurt when you were young... and honey i disagree with your decisions since then .... and please just be happy from now on." Nonsense. The "decisions" are KILLING ORDERS. That is monstruous. Mr. Oh is a MONSTER turning other people into monsters and doing massive killings. The fact. So call the spade a spade.

IT SEEMS LIKE THE DRAMA WAS WRITTEN BY SOME DARLING OR WANNA-BE DARLING LUCIFER.

I loved the character growths, th redemption arcs, ... everything so deep and wise. I watch kdramas for stuf like that.

SO it was a huge letown that Osu did not pass the test and got stuck with that gun and doing stupid proud testosterone kind of stuff AGAIN... he grew so much and became someone I truly admired ... and then.. botched it. he did THE SAME THING he did 12 yrs ago and caused all this trouble. THE SAME THING!!!!!!!!

Too bad!!! Hence, a low rating from me. If it were not for those last few minutes in ep 16, the very very very end of the drama, this would have been 10 stars drama.

Also, FL was the typical dumb woman. Not as dumb as some others, but dumb. She fell in love with the QUIET POLITE CONTROLLED GUY IN BUSINESS SUIT, a poker faced guy in a nice white shirt, tie and business suit..... bc he seemed to be more impressive and also less threatening as he seemed "under control" at all times, never showing any emotions. HE WAS A ROBOT IN A BUSINESS SUIT and FL and her mother loved that... . FL skipped Osu because he was so rowdy and emotional and dressed so casually. However, Osu was the wise one. He was free and unpredictable and definitely would be more work, however, he was truly kind and wise and a LOT more fun.

****FL and her mother fell in love with a serial killer bc he was so polished****. And FL knew he had severe problems. Her mother had no clue and pushed the serial killer to date her daughter... STUPID WOMEN is the common theme of kdramas... ...

I also see how this drama was copied into Nine Puzzles, The Glory, etc. But none o them are as good as this one.

This one is good because we do NOT have a pretty boy face who cannot act. We have a REAL person, NO PLASTIC, AND 1000% AMAZING ACTING

The script is so tight, I was not bored at all for 20 episodes

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How much is just westernization and tropes, how much is real? still there is genuinely Japanese

This drama reminded me of Bon Appetit Your Majesty, with all the food preparation videos... I was watching the last several episodes after dinner and I almost wanted to throw up seeing all that food.

That aside... The story yes is pretty much the tropes and a mix/repeat of Tastefully Yours and Bon Appettit. I was thinking - ah, the Western audience on Netflix, just interested in sex and food and some killing... just like 2006 american movie Idiocracy predicted... yeah the usa does live that way...

And then the Asian tropes - the loser FL, anxious, incompetent, unable to live unless some guy protects her, etc etc etc All the scenes where FL agonizes bc her mind is fogged up and her anxiety took over - those are TYPICAL SEXIST SCENES that are the staple plot of most asian dramas... that is suuuuuuuuuuuper disgusting... Just like typical scenes of lewd sexuality of FLs in western shows.... The same disgusting sexist put down, just two different extremes.. In both cases, showing women as brainless, incompetent PAWNS.

Watching this FL for the ENTIRE drama being a clutz, not being able to operate in the world, not able to communicate, and always anxious - SOOOOOO MANY FL IN KDRAMAS AND CDRAMAS LIKE THAT - IT IS DISGUSTING, QUIT IT FINALLY !!!!!!!! IT IS LIKE WATCHING A PATIENT FROM THE PSYHCH WARD!!!!! GET OVER YOUR SOCIETAL SEXISM!!! A woman like that is not cute, she is DUMB. and that is precisely why dramas are like that. They promote dumb women. So that men can rule over them. It is super extra **** disgusting *****

So I started watching this drama with a rather flippant attitude.
I wanted to see what Japanese copied from Koreans, too. Because all Japanese dramas I watched - were not good, except "Only for the married" bc of the main actress, who is PHENOMENAL.

So this j-drama felt a lot like k-drama because acting and plot were stronger and there was warmth, it was totally like a kdrama but in Japanese, with Japanese customs. But still.... it was different than a kdrama.

First, I noticed that the pace was slower and the plot was a lot more simple. Not so much backstabbing and games, more honesty and team work. No rushing around. The conversation was deeper.

The slow plot made it possible to LOOK while you are watching. The deep and rather short, to-the-point conversation forced me to focus.

Male actor was acting like an american actor, which also captured interest because he was showing A LOT of emotion and he also was a lot more thoughtful, expressive and soft than I ever have seen in a Japanese male, young or old. I was perplexed bc I have never seen a Japanese person behave like that. So I was watching wondering WTH is going on. WHAT THE EMOTION??? FYI that is the new slang after the kdrama about working out, based on the main character, a crazy personal trainer. SO instead of WTF or WTH you way WT_____ whatever you are commenting on. In this case - what the emotion?? on a Japanese male???

So then I first noticed that ML had pitch black hair and slightly brownish skin. He also has big eyes and I wasnt sure if that was plastic surgery, like Koreans do, .... but his shiney ***beautiful*** hair was certainly not k-drama trope. Koreans are racist or shall I say, white-$$$$-kissers, and try to put white powder on their face and try to bleach their hair brown, and do plastic surgery, to look as white as possible. Thick lips, big eyes, small noses, ... I am not sure if there is any natural face in kdramas anymore... ? And the good guys in kdramas have brown hair and bad guys have black hair. I cannot stand to see that.

THIS ML WAS NOT TRYING TO LOOK WHITE. His beautuful hair was pitch black and shiney, and just beautiful. Did they put some shine into it? It was SHINY BLACK. ANd his skin and face with some wrinkles was real. This is one really good looking *real* guy.

I LOOKED AT HIS HAIR WITH ADMIRATION, TO ME HIS PITCH BLACK HAIR IS A SIGN OF REBELLION. OF RESISTANCE TO WESTERNIZATION, A SIGN OF STICKING TO JAPANESE, not kissing up to white people.

I am not sure if ML actor is trained in the West though, bc his facial expressions were quite.. ahem.. american, I think. He looks like he is acting in an american drama... I dont think a Japanese person is THAT expressive...

It doesnt matter. His pitch black shiney hair was definitely like carrying a Japanese flag on him, and I totally totally totally ADMIRE that courage to be themselves.

Down with trying to look white. Africans, Arabs, some Indians, and kdramas and c-dramas try to look white, and that is just disgusting.

This ML was a totally beautiful representative of Japan :) He is very handsome. And unusually buff. Other Japanese actors really lack muscle and look like urban people who never exercise. So it was nice to see a male from Japan who is athletic.

Also, the women in this drama were normal looking. Korean actresses can be SO SKINNY that you just want to put them on a feeding tube and send them hunger relief charity packets.... They look like starving kids in Africa, but dressed in nice clothes and put on a pedestal and worshipped as "fashionable." In reality they are just super unhealthy, I was so pleased to see some legs and arms and butts in this drama. Real women. Not skeletons.

But I digress.

So anyways, I kept watching, CURIOUS as to what will happen.

It was very slow for what I am used to and I was in a hurry to get to work, and it was quite tropey, and the female lead with her anxious behavior was the TYPICAL asian drama trope, FL who is just mentally ill and incapable of living her life properly and MUST HAVE A GUY TO BABYSIT HER,
luckily he too had handicaps so he wasnt the typical he-man for incapable chick, and also she was very competent professionally and taking steps to deal with her mental illness, and he was very kind and expressive, so overall... it was not too sexist and disgusting as is many kdramas....
Still it was quite tropey ... Luckily some tropes were skipped, like ... asian families owning their kids, ML did not dominate or order FL around too much, etc.

but there was something that was different than k-dramas.
This drama was simpler and easier to understand... as I have seen in Japanese dramas before - they are too simple, like the audience is little kids, the plot is too obvious...
But ... although some parts were too rosey childish, there was dialogue that was waaaaay too much deeper than a kdrama ...
and the pace that was so slow and everyone TAKING THE TIME to pay attention to each other and CONVERSE IN A MEANINGFUL WAY...
It had the feel of a Zen encounter kinda :)
and also... it was more healing. The conversations were a lot deeper than in a kdrama.
Also, it was real life and some details were not rosey - he offered an umbrella, then took it back LOL she cussed back at him LOL He learned Korean to learn what she was cussing LOL

Where I really started paying attention is when the therapist entered, and very compassionately offered some insights. The gentleness and SANITY o what she was saying, and a helping hand with gentle warm insight, made me really pay attention.

IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE TIMING AND COMMUNICATION PATTERN IN THIS DRAMA WAS ON ANOTHER LEVEL, ON A DEEPER LEVEL THAN I HAVE EVER SEEN IN A KDRAMA.

That's when it hit me that I was watching something slow and hypnotical that sucked me in, bc it was DEEP. It is like looking at a lake, doing nothing, and then falling into very deep "water" into a different gear of your brain.

It was more .... sophisticated and gentle and deeper than a kdrama. I guess we got the best of the Japanese style.

I am not even going to mention cdramas, which imo are very crude and rough and feel like a military drill most of the time, and are super high on "drama" and hype to the point I cannot stand, and also have no humor, no lightness, no real joy, and often look like super cheap fake obvious imitations of the west. Cdramas are just .... like life in China LOL

But this Korean-Japanese mix was something classy... Although this is a raging rom com trash, with all the tropes and product placements, ... stil... it was elegant and wise.

THE CONVERSATION WAS CRISP AND HONEST AND TO THE POINT. I really appreciated that.

Somehow the whole show was elegant. And very warm adn WISE.

As a student of shiatsu, as a lover of coans, haiku, onsens, nature bathing, Zen and Japanese fashion and art, etc etc etc I felt like I finally experienced it in a tv drama.
It was gentle and deep and very considerate.

I still wonder if this is how people really ARE In Japan, and how much of what I have seen is just "asian hollywood" aka fabricated scenes that do NOT match the reality of daily life AT ALL. American movies and tv series are totally totally not like everyday life, Everything in there is made up fantasty to make you "feel good".

In kdramas, I have no idea what people really look like, since everyone got plastic surgery. I have no idea how ppl live, since so much of the drama is written for product placements.

So I still have my doubts about this jk drama too.... How much is real and how much is just a show that esp caters to grabbing $$$$ of the western audience.... The chocolate, the bricks restaurant, the wedding dress, the Catholic church wedding, etc etc etc So much westernization.

That is one more reason why I loved the pitch black hair of ML. At least his hair was somewhat real :) He had black hair and it was not hidden.

Even though ML was acting americanized and I wondered WOULD a real japanese male act like him?
I suspect he is someone trained in Holywood or by Holywood or spent some time in the USA but is really Japanese -
Why do I think that? bc he cannot smile LOL it is clear smiling is not something he does often LOL Also, he has not straightened or whitened his teeth That is very Asian too. Also, drinking tea or big city water stains teeth. That is very Asian too.

So I do not know how much of this drama is just a japanese version of a western fantasy ...

But the little snippets that got put in the drama have Something that is definitely a Japanese contribution and definitely a gift for all of us.

A little bit of WISDOM, in a very quiet deep way

I really appreciate that thoughtful, considerate, warm, meditative, deep feeling of Japan, that certain elegance and "Zen" feeling

That ability to be super deep in a very simple and elegant way
No drama
Just efficient warm handling of things in a considerate and honest way

very Japanese at its best

I love it

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Masterpiece in the making. The communication and teamwork is amazing

This drama is not soapy at all... I love it.
I love the communication between ML and FL, e.g. start of ep 3. Everything is said, and it is said in a ... polite and sophisticated way, to the point. They are both smart and observant

This drama started so fluffy, flaunting the good looks of ML, but it turned into ... well.. how to call it? psychological melodrama or psychological thriller is not the right word ... there is no sticky feeling in this drama... ... This drama has a HEALTHY vibe ....

This drama is about ppl communicating honestly, using the communication to learn something about the other and about themselves! being self observant and realizing how they feel and think, and saying it and acting on it

it turned into an extremely deep drama about how people communicate and grow

I love ep 3 it is so meaningful and so deep, the script is great, and acting is stellar.

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Ok but unfortunately not a masterpiece

Nice to Not Meet You is kinda fun but it is not a masterpiece. I am sad about it. I am a fan of FL actress, she acts so well. She is a perfect nerdy reporter in this drama.

But the drama tries to showcase the ML actor, who is OK but too much of his character on the screen ruins the drama by imbalancing it, imo. Also, ML actor's acting abilities are limited, he does not seem able to relate to many situations and emotions to be able to act them out properly. He can be a great comedian, I totally loved his dodging of the Evil Actress trying to kiss him while filming Kang Pil Gu LOL He is also great in being a smooth player. But he cannot act vulnerability, honesty, etc He stays on the surface.

And the script is just .. not great. ML is a whiney snowflake diva, and FL is a love-clueless nerd, and the two just never interact enough and properly to advance themselves and their love.. and their misunderstandings are just NOT fun for so long.

The show is ending in 2 episodes and things have not moved forward enough yet.

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Totally delightful, a true treat, a true HEALING ART

This drama is one of those classic masterpieces, 10 star drama with significant impact. Super great script, acting, camera, music, messages, everything.

=====written after ep 9 =======
This drama is not about two ppl who quickly fell in love and jumped on each other

This drama is about two wounded ppl who ran into each other bc of work, and then started collaborating and helping each other, HEALING, and slowly falling in love.
SO THIS IS SLOW BURN EMOTIONAL WORKOUT
LIKE IN REAL LIFE

YOU SEE THE RELATIONSHIP PROGRESS

So.... This drama has no official dating and relationship, no steamy scenes YET
ML and FL are hanging out in a very close friendship, helping each heal, and slowly falling for each other...
and at this point they got so far that they are already known to the public as "dating" and dedicated to each other and liking each other.
He is already sure he likes her romantically and is already dreaming about it and flirting to self advertise...
She has some issues that perhaps prevent her from dedicating herself but she acts as his advocate and tells ppl she sees something in him...

But they never said I LOVE YOU or kissed yet or spent time in a private place just 2 of them.
BUT it is slowly getting there :)
THE WHOLE DRAMA IS ABOUT GETTING THERE

SO YES THIS IS A SLOW BURN ROM-COM AND PSYCH DRAMA AND EVEN THRILLER ALL ROLLED INTO ONE

====written after ep 1====
I am writing this after ep 1 because the summary writeup in MDL top page and the earlier MDL article for the drama does NOTHNG to convey what this drama is like.
This is absolutely delightful!

What a masterpiece! such a great story and acting, and filming. So creative.

Gods prevented me from bailing out on this drama by sending me an Angel user who wrote that the script writer for this drama also wrote My Mister, which is one of my top favs.

Based on the writeup in the MDL preview article long time ago, I thought this would be a gloomy psychological melodrama - no thanks!!!!!... - but heck no! There is humor, there is depression and hunger and loan sharks, and there is sunlight and fields of flowers and new experiences and love.

Totally charming and delightful. A real art piece :) Very deep, compassionate, painful, funny, such a treat!
I give Thanks to the Great Creator and drama production team that made this kdrama possible.
I trust that this will continue in all episodes :)
Helelujah baby we got a real kdrama to watch!!!!!!!
This is an event to be celebrated - we will be watching a masterpiece being born for the next 6 weeks. Also we will be watching transformation and rebirth of ML and FL, and hopefully all the commercially oriented 8 and their entourage.

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Well done!!! ML should get an award for this role. FL is great too

Ji Sung acting style is to exaggerate ... He acts the inner hidden feelings of his character, he shows what a normal person WOULD behave like if there were no limits, i.e. how they would LIKE to behave if they could, but they cannot so they restrain themselves to honor the social norms... He behaves to show the inner emotional state, so it is always amplified over the top acting and it creates comedy

for example:
I will always remember him sitting on the sofa next to his evil fatjher in law and fidgeting and rolling his eyes in fear... LMAO

====WRITTEN AFTER EP 2: ====
ML is an amazing actor and has lots of time on the screen. He should get an award for this role. FL is written very well and the actress is amazing too. I am looking forward to seeing more of her. So far she was very secondary although her influence was critical.

The script is tight and there are so many nuances, it is worth rewatching this. Let us hope it continues for 14 episodes!
====

This drama (TJR) might look similar to Again My Life (AML) or Lawless Lawyer (LL) or Devil Judge (DJ) dramas , but it is very different.

AML, LL, and DJ are about always-good MLs chasing bad guys.
TJR is about a guy who was both good and bad... He is an ordinary "good" guy who willingly became a bad guy, caused death and destruction, his conscience nagged him, he willingly turned good and went against his former accomplices.
The common thing in all 3 dramas is that a woman helps the ML.

>>>> Again My Life and Lawless Lawyer are revenge dramas about low status, righteous lawyer/prosecutor without power connections, going against high ranking officials who run crime to keep climbing up to the top government positions.
In AML, ML is naive, and he is given a chance to try it again. In LL, he is not naive LOL he was raised by thugs and uses all kinds of dirty tricks to revenge his mother.
TJR resembles AML bc an inherently good person has a chance to come back to life with all memories intact and do it right the second time around; and resembles LL bc this "good person" uses dirty tricks to win.

But:
TJR ML intentionally became a high ranking government official - a judge - who helped major evil do significant damages, so he is a deep, self-made crook. AML and LL heroes are always good guys. They use dirty tricks but never too dirty, they never were crooks, never did major bad stuff, never harmed anyone; they are just slightly mean
You can say that all three male leads somewhat resemble each other after TJR ep 2 :) But TJR hero is a LOT meaner and more criminal LOL if the running over the criminal at the end of ep 2 is not a fantasy. AML and LL heroes would never do that. They resolve everything legally.

>>>>Devil Judge is a thriller about fighting and exposing a well-camouflaged evil elite who is loved by the public but runs a crime ring and has grandiose evil goals about seizing control (like the villains in Lawless Lawyer and Again My Life, who are sooo well camouflaged sociopaths/psychopaths, it is chilling to meet them on the screen. Judge Cha and assemblyman are sooo creepy, esp. Judge Cha is a villain whom you will remember... !!!!! totally horrifying yet always 100% polite).

In comparison, TJR ML is an amateur... he tries to look good but his corruption is very obvious and known by everyone for a long time...... .... You can say that TJR ML resembles LL and AML villains in ep 1 bc he pretends to be good but is doing bad :) but TJR ML has conscience and is a lot smaller scale crook that those three.

>>>>The Judge Returns drama is about cleaning up bad karma, about the redemption arc of a basically good ordinary person who succumbed to greed and INTENTIONALLY AND WILLINGLY became the slave of the corrupt power circles. His only intent was to gain a cushy life, but it came with a price he was not willing to pay.... As he climbed high and went far .... too far... .... did sooooooooooo much bad... he WILLINGLY experienced remorse and WILLINGLY started anew in good way .... but he was naive... and was given a chance to came back to fix his misdeeds and do the good stuff.

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Ah what a treat!!!! A real script with real acting!!!!

I love this!!!! so real... !!!! I give 10 to the stay-at-mom story, 5 to blunt sister and maybe 6 to the third one?
This is such an interesting script, complex characters, and such interesting ACTING by female actors embodying those COMPLEX characters
IT IS SUCH A TREAT TO WATCH THESE AMAZING ACTRESSES BRING THESE COMPLEX CHARACTERS TO LIFE!!!! FINALLY!!!! ABLE TO SEE GREAT FEMALE ACTING!!!!

such a nice RELIEF from the typical dramas esp rom coms with anxious weak snowflakey young women who are so boringly FLAT - always anxious or worried or sad, ... soooo flat... boring... the only interesting scenes are flirting with cute guys but there is practically nothing related to interesting character, good acting or interesting plot

YAY this drama is a gem!!!!

And also it is nice to see true friendship between women. That is the adult part :)

And unfortunately we also get to see women stabbing each other. That is the reality :(

I am sorry to say that their men are such doozies... from ep 1, I am 99.99999% sure one is either gay or cheating, the other one is very likely cheating, and the young one is definitely cheating - all confirmed in ep 2...

But I think it is put in here to show that men have not caught up to the female equality and it is not easy for women to find and maintain loyal husbands. So I am looking forward to see how the drama will resolve it.
All the pairs lack communication... and effort ......

The women in this drama have to change too.... . Honestly, those two married ones are not doing much to maintain their marriage and I myself would leave them if I were their husband, and the third woman is just liking a gigolo so of course she will never find a real man.

Thinking about it... A Dream Life of Mr Kim is actually a continuation of this drama.. what would happen with those married women IF they stayed with their no-good husbands.... I hope this drama resolves their issues so that Dream Life of Mr. Kim never happens to them :) THe wife in that drama wasted like 30 years on a very bad marriage...

Seems like these women are going to resolve their lives quite soon :)

So this looks like a very promising drama to address the issue of new era relationships and marraige. I totally love the scenes with lots of kids, that was soooo cute!!!! the kids of one of the women are too spoiled, seems like, it is clear their father did not help much. A woman who lies to her mother about her marriage and lets her husband skip her bday is a woman who is having a bad marriage and a bad life... Let's see how she solves it!!!!

The one with the impotent husband is so aggressive, and he plays her like a kid with his mommy.... I am not sure WHICH man could do well in bed with her, she is just scary nasty.... nothing appealing about that... and the third one loves to be in control and own her man, and wants only fun, so finding an equal man will be interesting.

All three have potential and ideas and I am sure they will work it out!!! I am looking forward to it!

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