historical romcom turned suspense
I started thinking it would be light-hearted and a look into a new dusty world with some romance, kind of like Rookie Historian. But as always, towards the middle and end, it took a turn, and I like it. It's a safe, fun, and suspenseful watch I recommend to anyone just starting to watch sageuks. The only thing is I wish they could have been in love with each other and together throughout instead of towards the end. But it was so well done I had no problem with it in the end. I'm wondering if there's going to be a season two. Not likely but would be fun to watch.Was this review helpful to you?
I was expecting Healer or W and I got bad melodrama Instead
So I came into this expecting to see what the poster promised: a man with blades growing from his body while he sits on top of buildings and wraps himself in bandages, far away from the world, but nope.I got a horrible, immature little boy who is the worst dad in ML kdrama history and who physically assaults his employees without repercussion. The main reason was that I came for action and love, and all I got was teenage-level angst and tons of breakups for no reason that made no sense. A boy is just neglected and used to further the plotline when needed, and powers that they use to further the story when they need it.
They never said where or when his powers came in, or explored it deeply enough. He never fought injustice or really helped anybody. So this wasn't the superhero love story they promised with the poster.
Super disappointed. Hated it. In the end, it became a background show, and the ending was so abrupt and made no sense. Why were you hiding all this time just to show everyone your powers in the end? Made no sense.
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It's okay not to be okay.. rom-com version
I just know I'm going to be rewatching this one because of the ginormous smile it left on my face at the end and how well they wrapped it. At first, I didn't know how to feel because I wasn't expecting him to have powers, and I prefer highly masculine male leads, and though later he fell more into that category, at the beginning, it looked so unsure of his character that I wanted to drop it. So glad I stuck with it. I just breezed right through it. It was the perfect break from my heavy mystery or deep romance dramas.LIKES
-A new industry is always interesting
-His character seemed delightful and I hope it stays that way
-it's everything great about your run-of-the-mill rom-com, over the top, bright, light, and heavy, cute love, and everything in between -it's an office relationship ish
-They showed them in a light fun cutesy aegyo love that I rarely see with main characters and it suits them
-how they didn't do an unnecessary breakup and acknowledged that there's no breaking up(over fixable stuff), just a truce
-She switched between kickass to sweet girly and wasn't just masculine the whole time
-OST was killing it, I'm still bouncing and singing it hours later
DISLIKES
-too much craziness with the editing and comedic timing in the first few 10 minutes of the drama, but I get that this is slapstick over the top comedy, so...
-The ajummas overdo it sometimes
-They tried too hard to make him soft and feminine, so that sometimes it took away his charm and made him look like a whimp... They later fixed it.
So all my issues with the characters in the drama in the story were fixed and the end just was so nicely done with no insane breakups or tragedy that it shot up to a 9 out of 10 for me. With really high rewatchability score.
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Depressing version of Sparkling watermelon
Because of the name and the posters, I came in expecting about 60% romance and 40% mystery. but got 99% Mystery and 0.001% romance. I was disappointed because I'm here for the romance and not so much the mystery. but I stayed for the plot because they did such a great job.LIKES
-the dads young character is just chef's kiss
-ost is awesome and I like the costume designs for the throwback themes.
-the suspense is kind of fun
-the redemptive love of family. Thought-provoking.
DISLIKES
-the first few mins were so confusing, I don't know what I was looking at
-FL: Her voice, her acting, her face, everything about her bothers me and then she was also a really annoying, unlikable character for 80% of the drama.
-no romance at all, not even chemistry
-though its themes are similar to sparkling watermelon it's heavier with easy less joy and no romance and less optimism.
-Feels like the author is playing mind games with use the audience and making everyone suspicious with no real reasoning
Overall, if you like mystery and you're like just beginning and you don't care about plot holes than this would be the thing for you.It's just really good with the suspense.And the twist , but if you care about plus then this is probably not for you. But for me because it was so compelling, produced, the actors did such a great job too. OST was amazing.I can't fathom giving it less than an eight out of ten. So it's a solid watch.
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Bittersweet Reality ✨
Coming into this thinking it's just a little fantasy and just tons of romance with a bit of sageuk and I was so wrong.It was heavy fantasy, and sageuk heavy, but the story and the production itself were so well done, their acting and range here were impressive.
LIKES
-When they finally fell in love in this modern timeline
-or course his devotion towards her
-Their acting and production were just top-tier
DISLIKES
- The fantasy was darker than what I usually like. Ghost and spirits creep me out. Not into it.
-The ending felt too open and unresolved. Not as clear as I would have liked it
-They focused on their love as an original couple too much for me. I would have liked the modern couple to have had more time to love each other instead of just seeing it in dreams
-More than them falling in love again, like I thought or expected, it was plot-focused.
Overall even if it wasn't what I was expecting or came in for, it still delivered a compelling love sorry that even though it didn't how I thought or wanted I still find myself liking.
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Great Chemistry directed/presented badly
Their chemistry was just off the hook. That first kiss oh my gosh... BUT there was a big problem. The way they edited, and presented the story was just the worst. The transitions from one scene to the other were choppy at best and made no sense. They would just cut conflicts in the middle and go to another scene, especially after leaving us on a cliffhanger in the last episode.They kept putting touching scenes that would have been important at the moment to be shown as memories later on. But then, at the time, they didn't show us, the viewers, that it had happened and just chopped it to a different scene. So we were left wondering whether the situation was fixed or not.
Things that should have been drawn out like a panic attack the Main Leads we're having would just abruptly cut to them waking up the next day as if nothing happened. Also, not only chopping the scenes but chipping full episodes into these 30-minute chunks just ruined it for me and made it feel tiring.
I generally like when they get over conflicts quickly and don't linger in them, but this drama made conflicts into a joke by making them irrelevant and like they never happened 30 minutes later.
The only reason I gave it a 6.5 and not a 5 or 4 was because they really did show tons of couple time. Tons of times of them being together and loving each other and progressively changing. The end left a smile on their face and I was happy for them. But the director or whoever chose to present this story this way did a horrible job.
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20 episode long some
There's nothing I hate more then anticipating something for 20 episodes and literally get the last 10 minutes to enjoy the fruits of what we waited for. It was hilarious, over the top and just chock full of comedians. the ost was different and fashion w as all over the place.I really liked the story at first but they just took too long for such little payoff. By episode 15 I could barely stand anymore. the "breakup" before even dating thing has to stop. and the reasons for the conflict made zero sense. im just too frustrated with it to give it a higher rating. this could have been on the level of 1% of something but all it did was make me wanna rematch it instead, since i just git bored with the teasing of a resolution.
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90%Murder 7% longing 3%dating and loving
Based on the poster and synopsis, I was expecting it to be mostly romance, which is usually what I sign up for with K-dramas, served with a side of whatever else, but this was purely a murder mystery with a bit of romance on the side, way later in the game. Their chemistry sometimes felt awkward or forced, even though their longing and love for each other were clearly present, and it's what got us through the waiting. Just to be disappointed once we're there.They did make up for all the murder stuff, and it left a smile on my face in the end. That's why it wasn't a 6 out of 10, but still, if they'd had a better connection, I think this could have been amazing.
I will say I've never witness such beautiful bortherly and sisterly love before in all the almost 200 kdramas I've watched. There should also be a reward for best mother character ever and then she should be named a saint because this mother was unlike any other that I've ever seen before. I fell for the characters which made it fun to watch and helped me to relate to them more.
So if you're here for a murder mystery, you're in the right place with these horrific villains that really deserve the worst. But if you're a romance lover like me, the beginning might be a drag, and if you love clean, cute love, then stay and you'll have a ton of that later.
I enjoyed it, don't know if I'd watch it again because of the 32-episode format, which made it feel so much longer than it needed to be, but I'm not mad I watched it. It was fun.
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Delightful slice of airport Love with suspense
This was surprisingly amazing to watch and completely bingeable for me. The concept was fresh, the love was through the roof. And it was so generous with a couple of scenes. They were just doing their jobs while silently loving each other. You fall for both characters and the extras as you get to know a bit about everyone. It feels like a cross between a slow-burn office romance and Are You Human Too?LIKES
-his sweet nature and silent devotion to her are just so cute.
-his performance as a weird cyborg who wants to be normal was awesome.
-The OST was surprisingly so good.
-I'm all the way to episode 5(aka ep 10) in one go and I have not been bored for a second.
-love the slow reveal of their stories and the subplots that came along.
-The subplots never overshadowed their love. from 1 to 10 The balance was beautiful because they did everything together while slowly loving each other and learning lessons
-how forward he was, no games just confessions
-Their chemistry was insane. So good.
-Their love was way deeper than I expected
-There were tons of rewarding romantic scenes, and it made the wait feel worth it.
DISLIKES (SPOILER ish)
-Around episode 10 (aka19) or so, I started to skip because I was so invested in their love, yet they kept slowing it down to try to show the other uninteresting characters. They also started focusing on the office work WAYYY too much for my liking. I only came for the love. They lost me a bit there because the pacing was a bit weird.
-ending was Sooo rushed. I felt the resolution with the bad guys was too anticlimactic in how they were apprehended and how everything was resolved. Felt like they could have cut it off clean, but didn't due to time constraints, maybe.
-Also, no reveal of his face when he came back? Just his back made it feel a tiny bit incomplete, like they kicked him off set and had a get a body double
- They kept coming together and pulling apart and coming back together. So much back and forth. And no prolonged time, just loving each other and being a real couple. But this is not that kind of drama, so it's okay.
-We didn't really get to see them together like the cherry on top or the bow on the present, like most complete dramas I've watched that go full circle and leave no questions. It was one of the quick 2-second reunions after a long trip ending, which I usually despise, but this one made sense, so I gave it a pass.
Overall, it was a pleasant surprise. Coming into this, ChatGPT said I'd be giving it a 6.5 out of 10. They said the love was too light and the payoff was small. I have to say I completely disagree and absolutely adore this drama. The concept, the actors, the OST, fashion, and production. It was so well done. I only rated it lower because of the rushed ending and the lagging when they started to show too much office stuff I didn't care about when the love story was so good.
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beginning of a drama
I loved the actors in this, and I felt the balance between subplots and the main plot was well done. They even had time to add in second love interests to spike up the conflict but everything went so fast I had no idea it was done till the end. I thought it was just begging we'd get to see them face their world and everything and grow in love, but nope, this was just a bit of a letdown because I thought they were going to go deeper.My favorite part was when the writers put her through exactly what she put him through. I was laughing but also so sad for her cause I know I would have cried if that happened to me.
Even in the end, we didn't get enough couples together time, and that's why it was so low for me. The rewatch value is higher because it was an enjoyable watch, but everything was resolved too quickly; the end was too quick. She found out too quickly, and it just felt like I just watched an extra-long movie that I thought was going to be a show.
The OST was okay. The fashion was good but nothing I feel I needed to copy or was struck by like they usually are.
Overall this was just a good story with not enough time to developed or not enough time given to the proper issues.
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Love letter about grief
so I enjoyed the fresh take and concept of this drama. the OST was okay, the actors did amazing. The chemistry was insane at the bigginging. I've never seen hand holding scene made more intimate than a kiss, but it happened here.LIKES:
-the time they spent together getting to fall in love through the whole thing and it wasn't just abrupt. It was a slow process that we got to witness.
-how they made him realistic. It's fresh and new and feels kind of like a depressing slice of life.
-how he just boldly and shamelessly likes her and hugs her and does whatever he wants
-i like how they slowly revealed the story and everything happened unraveled like a little mystery
- I love how devoted she was and how smart they made her. she always realized when he was just being petty.
DISLIKES:
-
-going through 3 episode long breakup without dating? They haven't even dated at all. They gave us 10mins of cuteness to tear it away with 3hrs of heartache over nothing. So annoying.
-im on ep 13 and they're still not getting as much sweet and swoony moments like in the begining.
-the greif part is just taking over the love story
-some of the accident scenes just started feeling way over used in the middle.
-how depressing it is that almost everyone broke up and there were almost no redemption for the second lead couples that were struggling.
-the affair
I started to lose interest because I thought the love story would be more important than the grieving and sadness or the business but in the middle it started to take precisence over the love story and I just got bored for a bit that's why the rewatch value is so low for me.
Overall if it wasn't for the main couples love I wouldn't have watched this because the grieving and the business did not interest me at all. It's a nice deep dive into loss and love and how those things can change you. Gives you hope to fight to see another day.
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comedy with some romantic teasers
I got into this thinking the main charact rs would fall in love and date but I was so wrong. don't get me wrong I did an all nighter to finish it cause it was that fun to watch, but if you're here for the romance just know it's just a buildup and nothing else really.LIKES
-the main actors did fantastic. I watched mostly for him.
-how funny it was. had me screaming at 5am
-how short they kept it because it wouldn't have made it to 16 eps
-the balance between the main story and the subplots and how we slowly got to know the bandmates
-they OST was Sooo good.
DISLIKES
- SPOILER ISH!! they never actually get together or date (super disappointed at that) that's why the rating so low.
-the band mates' love story was longer than the main leads
-they bandmates' lives too precisence over the main leads towards the end. the end should have been reserved for them to get closer and have a proper epilogue.
-their time together in the end felt like a few seconds.
-hared her character cause she was so flaky and kept hurting him towards the end before the resolution and even afterwards
overall, if you want a good laugh and a tiny itty bit of angsty romance than go for it. if you're here for the main actors also go for it. it was a nice little watch but if you're here for romance you might wanna reconsider SPOILERISH unless you don't mind the whole just being a buildup to a potential relationship some day that you never get to see.
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10/10 production and concept 4/10 love and chemistry
I used Chatgpt to get my recommendations for drama that match my expectations and my currentood and it usually never fails me. it kept pestering me about watching this, it was always in my top 5 recommended dramas to watch next and I have to say I'm sooo disappointed.I came here for the deep love, the healing and of course the fashion and suspense. aside from the fashion and OST all of it fell short.
The love just felt so forced that I started skipping them towards the end just to finish the drama because I genuinely didn't care anymore and I'm someone who watches SOLELY for the love story.
LIKES:
-they slowly revealed the story to us and the things that happen to make them the way they are
-i loved her character as a whole until ep 26. I liked Her sweet kind and forgiving personality. just made her so likable to me. I love my FL with a bit of naivety
-i like how hard it was to know who the real culprit was
-no distracting subplots. all the subplots were supporting the main story which is always a plus.
DISLIKES:
-bumd breakup and hiatus that could have been fixed with a press conference.
-started to get bored around ep 16 because their romance was close to nothing. Not even enough to call it a some. It was at first and then since episode 7 or 8 they just never got closer to falling for each other. It was just moments of admiration really.
- he was just stuck in the friendzone or slowly falling for way too many episodes. For the pace of the suspense and the things that accured the romance should have been way faster or included more swoony scenes -it just felt completely flat the love was not there I was literally way more excited to look at the fashion, the cars, and production over them being together towards the end. It fell flat. It felt like there was a wall between them and it felt like she was not genuine in her love for him. Her character alsokept failing him and did not keep any of her promises.
- for all the hyping of that villain in all those episodes when it came to showing how scary the villain was, that also fell flat. the resolution was too quick and I wasn't scared of him and I didn't hate him either.
-The ending was too abrupt. What question was he going to ask? Was he going to ask her to marry him? Was he going to ask her about her work? like I'm just so confused as to why they ended it like that.
At the end this came from a potential 9 or 10 to a 4 or 5. It was so highly anticipated, it was supposed to match everything I was looking for in terms of ride or die love from either character, longing for each other, swoony scenes and awesome suspense that made you quake and heart wrenching story of their love. I wanted all that. just to get a regular rom com dressed as that. so disappointed. it's not a bad lot story but their love is more fit for a light fluffy drama than this heavy setting where we expect sparks to be flying out of the screen between the characters.
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she fell first he fell the hardest and stayed that way ?
Childish infatuation turned into beautiful everlasting love with stupid mess in the middle, is how I would explain the main characters' love story in this.They made me think I was going to get second lead syndrome and masterfully fixed with how deeply in love the main lead became and how much he changed. you couldn't help but root for them.
things I liked:
-the deep love and just slowly watching him fall for her just go full speed with no break.
-how he just turns so sweet with her.
-theyre chemistry was just amazing and I loved watch them get closer.
-how naive she was and how insult just roll right off her back and she was so forgiving and understanding. I never once hated her or thought of her as a bleeppp word.
-full circle ending the couples living happily ever after is always a huge plus in my book.
What I disliked:
-episode 15 onto 19 just trash
-how wishy washy they were with the skinship and getting close to each other after finally being able to "get the girl". he was hot and cold. he had his reasons but I felt they could have executed it better.
-all the subplots that didn't sign up to watch with the ajummas
OST was a mess. the hilarious oh no no no sound killed me every time. the fashion was on point.
At first I thought this is a drama that is well written, and well done because I never thought it was going to go the direction in which it went. a well balanced medium heaviness drama that was going to find humor even in things like loss, grieving and cancer. they had struck a really great balance, in a fun respectful way... until they got to episode 15 when I feel like the drama went under new management and the person had no idea what they were doing.
overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the first half with the friends and watching him slowly come to the realization that he cares for her and then the friend getting in the middle. until episode 15 like what were they thinking with this turn of events that turned something great into a complete joke, it went from a possible 8 or 9 to 5 for me. Afterwards they sure made up for it but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Also with all the extra characters no one cared about so the rating couldnt go over a 7 for me.
I don't get why writers and directors don't get that we come to watch the MAIN character's lives and see them fall in love and go through troubles. not to watch a bunch of irellavent filler foil characters' lives. NO ONE CARES. like seriously. so stop putting effort into other characters stories over the main ones.
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slow burn romance through the stages of life
they started off so boring in the first two episode I couldn't keep my eyes open. Then they took off halfway through episode 2 and I love it till episode 14 when the FL became an absolute idiot and a just a complete b word.I loved the fresh new take on contract marriages with no one being wealthy and just too regular people falling in love through a fake marriage. It felt similar to because this is my first life a lot in the middle. I liked the mix of suspense and how sweet and pure their love was. How awkward they were and how ride or die she became. Now I'm loving how ride or die he is when she is flaking.
I don't like how the writers would make her character so kind and naive and then to cruel and shrewd. I also didn't like all the stupid independent woman stuff in the first few episodes. All that stuff to her boss about not looking down at women with small cars or how hard it is for girls in soul to drive. It was too preachy and in our faces.
They so badly wanted us to believe that she was a girl boss when she was everything but that. She gave up on her "girlbossing" the moment the right guy came along. Which I loved for her because I reality thats what most of us want.
I loved the love story and it was strong enough concept and actors to show more of it and not have a thousand filler subplots to try to extend the show. So I found myself skipping A LOT to get to the couple. Rewatch value for this would have been through the roof if they focused on the couple like 1% of something did.
By epi 20 I was screaming for an end to this.
though this story covers Love that trancends through many stages of the lives of the characters and how they made it work and compromised, I believe 24 episodes was overkill. If they removed all the useless subplots they could have a stronger story and rewatchable drama at maybe even 12 episodes of mostly the couple instead of all the filler work, useless family and cringy country bumpkin subplots I had to skip.
If it wasn't for ride or die she was at the start and then how oh Jak Doo picked up the baton after she dropped it, I would be able to continue with this drama. But they're love was so nice to watch I just had to see it through though.
the FL's character took a nosedive from epi 14 to 19 Because they had so many more things to figure out I forgot how much I hated her and it made up for it.
as for the OST the first half was so quiet with no music that I was wondering what they were thinking but they fixed it by the second half.
The main actors especial Kim Kang woo killed their rolls. they were able to portray the weird awkward vibe of two people who haven't had any experience in dating for years if not at all.
Overall it was a crazy ride I don't think I'll be getting in anytime soon. I devoured the love story, just wish there was less filler crap to skip through to get to main story and the reason we were all watching in the first place.
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