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Almost made it to 9 stars**
This review is purely based on romance genres.What an absolute hidden gem this was till ep. 9.
After that it becomes the country's marketing appeal to their 1billion plus population to relish life, slow down, find beauty in your passion and be comfortable in your own skin rather than a designer-chosen animal epidermis.
PROS:
*Delightful bickering and slow burn romance.
What a breath of fresh air to see modern, smart, independent women, dressed not in crotch-revealing skirts and bone breaking stilettoes but comfortable/fashionable attire, speaking in adult tones rather than the squeaky, baby whining sexist tones.
*This lead pair has been around for over 10-years, unfortunately I have not seen them before. They are both excellent actors, great chemistry, sizzling retorts and finally, finally they smooch.
*Can't complain about the hot looks of the ML. His character is wonderful - middle management (not an uptight, irritatingly skinny, 20-something CEO), smart, charming, goofy - the goofiness adds to the allure and reality.
* The female lead is confident, although why they make her say she is not beautiful a few times is boggling.
* The supporting females - except for the sister which we will get to, all the supporting females were excellent. Their characters were very well etched and they portrayed it wonderfully
* Story was great the first half and then there is the zen mantra on how to lead your life better than being dragged by corporate madness
* Production / camera / script - nothing was jarring, which means all is good.
CONS:
* The cousin sister : she consumes almost half the entire show and is portrayed as a selfish, shallow princess. Which is not a problem except that she dominates a show that is not about her at all.
* She has 2 romantic interludes, which are both irritating and have no chemistry, plus she is presumably very beautiful so men are crazy about her. This whole concept did not flow well with the rest of the smart, talented female cast.
I actually enjoyed this modern c-drama, especially since the historical ones put me off and it took me deep digging to find this almost-gem.
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Too tragic for a drama. Made this into a docuseries instead?
Please forgive me, regional folks, this is not meant to disregard or disrespect your history and the tragic horrors behind it.This is more a reminder for me to never watch this again.
If I had read that this was so Tra gic, I would've never watched it.
If truly this particular romance was so tragic, I would've preferred to see the actual people, their real names, careers etc.
In short it could have been a true story or a true documentary which are made very aesthetically now.
To take history, put your own spin on it again is fine.
But to take history, put your own spin on it, heavily load it with beautiful romance and then kill the lead is like pulling the rug from under our feet and bring us crashing down, breaking our teeth, heart and everything else.
Not acceptable for me.
So yes, it was a tremendously beautiful drama - music, cinematography, costumes, hair make up etc of the '80s, and every actor was stupendous.......but sorry, the ending destroyed it.
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Story of an average girl.....seen with rosy glasses
First let's get the white elephant out of the room :: the FL'S beauty.Agreed she is lovely but they take it to nauseating levels here.
I suspect this entire drama is made by someone who is so smitten with her that they focused on her looks and forgot they also had a story to tell.
It gets even more sickening when toward the latter episodes her brother says - in front of his wife and parents - that she is so pretty, had she not been his sister, he would've married her. Yuck!!
She is so great that she Rollerblades like a champ, rides a motorbike long distance, flies small planes but the poor thing can't cook.
Then let's talk about the loser males :
The first relationship was exciting and fun to watch. They break up a few times and finally she calls it quits. BUT the guy keeps reappearing!!
The second guy who she marries- my goodness - you can skip a dozen episodes to get over the poor marital relationship - including a saucy mother in law to boot.
They divorce - BUT the guy keeps reappearing!!
The third guy dies - so we are spared his reappearance, and the fourth guy flies away -into oblivion hopefully.
Honestly it is the smitten folks who made this drama that need to go away and find a life and another story.
But definitely need to call out the other female characters :
The sister in law had a stronger personality and story.
The brother's first gf had a soft side and an iron will.
The FL'S mother was a wonderful character too.
16 to 24 episodes would have made this bearable.......but 38.??
I guess I had nothing to do for 38 evenings and dragged through it.
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The female lead......wow
Finally finally finally.......what a pleasure to see this smart, chirpy, fantastically emotive female lead. And whoever created her wardrobe and hair and makeup deserves an award!! So underplayed yet stand out.I've been struggling to rate female actors and this one absolutely tops the list right now.
I tried looking up her rating on MDL - however not many people have voted for her. So I hope this review piques everyone's interest.
Interesting story, the chemistry is sizzling and the intimate scenes are off the charts!
The intimate scenes are so classically done - heart fluttering.
Go Taiwanese dramas!!!
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Excellent
What a pleasure to see smart beautiful adult women who are so well dressed and successful in their careers. Tired of seeing cutie pie actresses wearing tiny skirts and behaving like 12-year olds. This is really a great story with great relationship between the 3 women.And the steamy kisses are really hot. Please - directors - read the reviews and make dramas like these intead of creating your own version of plastic stories.
Please stop making dramas more than 12-16 episodes and have a solid story. Not just playing video games and living in fantasy worlds.
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Bring a chair, a rope……
I gave this a rating of 1 because of the happy ending, otherwise this drama would have been a minus 10 for me.It is excccccrrrruuuciatingly depressing, miserably wretched, sad, gloomy, draggy….to the point you are beginning to drag your dining chair to a room with a ceiling fan, searching for a strong rope and then climbing onto the chair all ready to hang yourself in morbidity.
The FL has a gorgeous smile as seen in other dramas, here she is a wet soggy mop with overgrown bangs on her head.
Enough said - this is just to protect other happy viewers from falling into the dark sink hole of this drama. Phew!!!
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Is this what is popular in this region???
I seriously am perplexed at this drama.Firstly these short lengths - is it being made for a particular sect of audience that commutes to work in public transport and needs to watch something desperately for 15 mins?
Why do c dramas have so many of them? They are terribly annoying.
Secondly the story - I guess to hook this 15-mins quickie audience, you need to produce an audacious plot, even if it means that we leave our brains at home and go to work.
Thirdly the eroticism - wow - it's needed to make this formula work.
So the only ones making money are the producers who can make a killing with advertisements - since they don't have to pay scriptwriters for yanking out trash, use one studio setting for a few days, and rent some costumes.
C dramas have improved so much on the full side yet these short skits are mind boggling.
The only reason I gave this a 5 is for the hot male lead.
Not only is his chemistry sizzling but his expressions in the other scenes are wicked too!!
The poor female lead had a lot of potential - but was treated like a rag doll in this show.
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What was this all about?
Was there a message in this short drama?Something like you can dream about film stars but in reality you can fall in love with a regular man?
And did they mean to portray Lee Minho as the average man who is a travel writer and has a probable chance of kissing the FL?
Well - let's just stop right there - Lee Minho is not your average man - period.
So this rubbish story with a clueless FL takes us for a dizzying spin.
And not sure what the director had on the other 6 top male leads to make them perform in this ridiculous trope.
Why why why did you waste all this energy making this???
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The most unromantic romance
This story had a promising beginning, some interesting and different side streams and could have ended up with an 8 or even 9 star.But Alas......
I think the script writer was trying to convince us that love is really blind.......that despite not being able to recognize faces, it's the inner soul that eventually wins the long lost love race.
And in thus trying to make the FL s soul shine, the script writer forgot to clean up the exterior - and viola we now have a scruffy looking FL who looks like she kept awake all night in her college dorm, trying to cram for an exam, then woke up the next morning, didn't brush her teeth, shower or comb her hair, wore mismatched socks under ill fitting pants and ran to the exam hall.
And on the flip side we have a ML who just steps out of a GQmagazine, looks dreamy enough to have a million weeping females, dresses impeccably - almost like he's going to step on the fashion runway.........
And now we have to watch 16 hours of how these two totally miscast characters find everlasting love!
God help us🧑🎤
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Messy and ill-fitting female lead
It began very interestingly with a view into the intense education demands of the country.Characters looked different and intriguing too. The teenagers are all lovely and their friendships/ relationships were very refreshing. The female lead's brother was wonderful - very touching to watch him.
It had the tag of romance - which is the only genre I watch - so was looking forward to a different kind of story.
However the zero chemistry romance fizzled, the appeal went flat, the genre decided to embark on its own path.
The female lead was so ill-fitting in her role that it soured the whole drama. She may be considered some kind of hero in her country, but she was the least appealing. Grandmother outfits, greasy hair, bony hands of an older person pretending to be young. If she is considered a great actor then please give her intense roles. Not romcoms where she destroys the sentiment of romance.
Even the nasty mother's club had more appropriate actors.
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Terribly mediocre......
You manage to snag a hot shot ML and then you do what??Get him a frigid FL along with a terribly boring story line, an overkill of exes obsessing over their previous loves, silly sideline romances...........just pay for a better screenplay writer please!!
There's no story here, no romance - just a mish mash of characters boiled together.
Why would you take an intensely romantic male lead and pair him with an iceberg?
The female lead was either afraid of his stardom, too nervous, or just plain didn't like him. She stood like a wax statue every time he kissed her.
Aaaarrrggg....... What a terrible drama.
I watched it only for the ML - but even he could only do so much to breathe oxygen into a flaggering object.
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Yawn………use this instead of a pill to put you to sleep
So tiring, boring, long drawn……It’s more about the parents’ 40 year old friendships and their growth and reconciliations.
Could’ve just called it “Next Door”……… the Love part was so tiring.
Two brilliant leads couldn’t salvage a mediocre story.
The romance between the second couple was so promising, but they dragged it out and made it boring too.
It almost feels like a drama from the nineties…….. a mother still beating her 34 year old daughter because she quit her job and returned home……..seriously …….. move on with the times please!
I think the main problem is classifying the genre of the drama.
If they had classified it as a neighborhood slice-of-life story about middle aged friendships, then people like me would not watch it because that is not my chosen genre.
However if you classify it as Romance and dish out other nonsense, then I’m sorry- you give us no choice but to drop the ratings.
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What a drag….
In my 4 years of watching Asian dramas, I’ve realized that in a year, there will be just 1% that hit the A+ mark. There will be about 10%that are really crappy and poorly done. The remaining 89% of dramas are just run of the mill, boring, draggy, not inspired. These are made by tired exhausted people for viewers who are tired and exhausted'!!!This drama has nothing going on. The relationship is boring, no excitement, no chemistry, not even a change in expression!
The corporate cut throat race is also played out before.
So I’ve decided to give these 89% boring dramas a rating of 6 for the effort of making it. But it’s a red flag for myself - run far far away from these dramas and the monotony they bring to life.
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A poetry in motion.........
I haven't read the book, yet this drama clearly indicates that if you pick a good book and follow it to it's minute details, you end up with a classic drama. As compared to the screenplays that are hashing out clichéd crap just to meet deadlines and make a quick buck,This drama takes the c industry to the next level. It's absolute poetry, smooth, delicate, yet hard core feminist.
Sometimes feminist dramas trample on males, but here it is a sheer sense of admiration and respect for the ML.
And add to that the sizzling chemistry, heart fluttering relationship, beautiful landscapes, wonderful supporting cast.......
This drama is a gem.......
I had stopped watching c dramas because it was embarrassing to watch female leads speak like a baby, act like a teenager and wear crotch revealing outfits.
But wow.....the last 4-5 c dramas have beaten the so-called popular k dramas of 2023-24.
Way to go.......congratulations to the full team!!
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Zero star for the depressing female lead
I watched 5 episodes in bits and pieces for 2 years - and then completed the rest quickly.How?
By forwarding every scene with the depressing female lead who has about two sorry expressions throughout and just drags the drama and every other character down with her.
So why not just dump the drama?
Because of all the stellar supporting cast and their interesting melodramas.
The poor ML.- of course his looks are off the charts, but he is so mismatched with the FL that even his noona's have more chemistry with him.
The storyline had some intriguing scenes - all well played by all the other actors.
But sadly too much emphasis on an ill-fitting female lead made this drama disappointing.
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