MaSuNaRa

As a viewer who have watched and enjoyed the first two seasons it was no brainer to watch the final season (though I have to admit I knew nothing about the original webtoon or how it ends so I had no idea this was supposed to be the final installment to the series, and I have to admit I went into this season with extremely scant recollections of the details of the first 2 seasons’ storyline), but coming from this experience, I have to start by saying that this drama could be enjoyed as stand-alone drama, so even people who have never watched the previous seasons could easily give it a go, especially that there is very few references to the past MLs or their story arcs in this one.

I deeply enjoyed this drama, it drove me to giggle, laugh, swoon, but above all it drew a huge smile on my face a lot of times. I loved all the characters even the annoying or side characters, I especially adored the OTP to pieces, their relationship and how it advanced from cold professional to animosity to interest to attraction to love, the shift was so well portrayed and I personally appreciated the time and story progression the writers gave the first half laying the groundwork to both of their mindsets and gradual attraction, how they both reignited feelings in each other that woke up their dormant cells and sparked a fire in their lives. Her shift from apprehension towards him to attraction may have seemed sudden at first considering how at that point he was still being his rationally cold demeanor all the time, but I liked how even the show admitted that the sudden feelings that were depicted as a bolt from the blue that hit her village, was unexpected and felt more like it came out of a romance novel, it shows how different feelings could switch so easily by just a little gesture or small moment.

The show is a light rom-com, but still has its deep and meaningful undertone through the fun psychological analysis of the characters through their cells, It was super heartwarming to show us the extremities in personality between different people, how they interact with each other, at times attracting other times clashing, at times hurting and other times healing, affecting and being affected by each other, ultimately growing together.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Yumi and SoonRok's villages with their different cells, the animated parts were not just fun to watch but served a very important role to shed light on their inner thoughts and emotions especially the introverted and taciturn SoonRok who felt like a riddle at first, but then we were allowed to peel off the layers of his character and finally be amazed by his true personality at the end. We were reminded of Yumi's quirky, fun, smart, sociable and lovable persona, and I believe fans of the previous installments who had recently re-watched them before going into this season would especially be more appreciative of the obvious emotional growth, maturity and character development that Yumi has achieved through her experiences and over the years building her career.

Yumi our female protagonist is a sociable and successful person, who is funny and cute at heart, and despite maintaining an overall mature personality, her quirky character sometimes rears its head and turns her extremely petty and sometimes downright childish. She has gained social and romantic experiences over the years which have built her mature and cautious character in this season, but at the beginning of this one she has been through a 3 year-long stretch with no romantic involvement, and such a lack of emotional stimulation left her life quiet and uneventful, which for a character like hers could easily feel dull and monotonous .

Then we are greeted with our main male lead SoonRok, whose character was a delightful journey to discover. During the first two episodes the viewer is not shown any glimpses into his mind, which I believe was a deliberate choice by the writers. We were only allowed to see his words and actions through Yumi’s own eyes, leaving us wondering if he was just an awkward extremely introverted person who lacks experience in social interactions and conversational cues, or was there more to him than meets the eye. His dry monosyllable replies, and his aloof behavior could either be his true nature, or a choice he takes to build walls around himself and maintain a level of peacefulness in his life.

Then starting episode 3, we are greeted bit by bit with his inner village and shown glimpses into his personal life and inner struggles, how he has shaped himself into someone who perceives life most of the time in a purely rational way, weighing his relationships and analyzing his boundaries with others through a set of unwavering principles and guidelines that he has put for himself. His inner cells reside in a sleepy quiet village that functions on low energy mode through the daytime; the time when he is forced to mingle with other people causing his energy to drain, during which time the only cell functioning is the rational cell which acts as his prime cell. and then once it is nighttime and he returns home, his homebody side turns on and he starts to charge his social battery, and his different inner cells wake up.
It is partly his choice to depend on his rational self and maintain a strict separation between his private and professional life, and at the same time he is genuinely not people person to begin with, so his few and lacking interactions and awkward behavior make his outer persona seem over calm, composed and somewhat cold almost to a robotic level. This was an interesting visualization of introverted individuals like SoonRok, who might seem awkward and unsociable on the outside and to strangers, but they have their own quirky and fun nature which they only display in front of the people they cherish and open up to.

I also enjoyed the contrast in the character from an age perspective, their age difference might not be huge, but they sure come from different generations with varying levels of life experiences and challenges, and the way they perceive their relationships, their priorities, their pace and their commitment differs, the final two episodes’ animated parts that highlighted the gap in both of their approaches to romantic pacing was downright hilarious. I also noticed how there were certain cells that were acting in the forefront with our female lead, such as emotion, pride, anxiety, and angry piranha fishing cells, while on the other hand we are never shown any pride or anxiety cells in SoonRok’s village, but his hardworking rational cell at the helm, his surgeon love cell, and his straight-path general who guards his tower of principles. The contrast between each one’s primary acting cells that take the lead was rather relatable, females tend to be more emotional-driven and easily swayed by their pride, whilst males in general are rather rational and logical and not easily swayed by their emotions and have the ability to keep them at bay.

I enjoyed the few moments we spent at SoonRok’s village and would have loved to see more of it, hell as my title suggests, I am of the opinion that this drama would have been made better if it was given more time for the relationship to bloom and mature on screen, a 12-episode format would have been just perfect for this story. So, although I loved the drama, the last two episodes felt rushed to me, and despite having to admit this might have been on purpose to highlight the fast pace SoonRok adopted when it came to their relationship’s progression and Yumi’s lingering hesitations towards commitment stemming from her past romantic experiences, but still having more time to enjoy their shift from casual attraction to romantic commitment and their HEA would have made things much better and would have created a better pacing and a better balanced story.

This is a fun and quick rom-com that is a must-watch for viewers of Yumi’s Cells, and if you have yet to watch any season, I would recommend you do, highly innovative fun and original series.