Marshmallow-Chocoholic

Totally agree with you - I understand that the show would want to begin with showing a transition from Zio being slightly “ benign” to more “ mature”, however, at the minute it just seems like we’re going round in circles with any character progression. Similarly, I get Gu Reum’s “ interest” in Zio being a connection to her past, but, she constantly seems to make the same mistakes every episode around him, either getting hurt herself or hurting someone ( indirectly) else in the process. This sort of shows ( like you said) either the director should have cast younger to play the characters, or it’s just poor story-writing . Let’s just hope that we actually get to see some character progression, otherwise this is going to be a long and dragged-out show.

I get you - the storyline and potential chemistry between the leads is interesting, however, I think it’s important that they give us some time to flesh-out our antagonist Go Geon. Sometimes dramas just don’t focus enough upon the villains , often making them a but one-dimensional. ( Just hope this isn’t the case with this story.)

Not sure what to think yet about this one yet from the first few episodes. It was evident from the get-go that the storyline would have a lot of “ artistic attributes”. (For those who don’t know, “ The Tale of Princess Pyeoyang and The Fool On Dal” is well-known in Korean legend- though they were actual historical figures, the major focus was upon the commoner and foolish On Dal marrying a Princess.) Nevertheless, there does seem to be some interesting ( though predictable) setups in the storyline as well as themes which should be tackled as well ( gender and social inequality as well as political corruption). Kim So Hyun and Ji Soo are undeniably fairly good actors, but it was a strange move by director Sang Ho to cast So Hyun as the mother as well ( I get they want to show “ family resemblance”, but it is a little confusing) in the first episode. Hopefully some of the acting and storyline will get better in later episodes, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

I’m sort of surprised by the good potential of the first episode. It’s early days to claim anything else, but the leads so far are quite likeable without being overly irritating, the acting is fairly good and the plot set-up isn’t “ new”, but it is certainly a refreshing dynamic to have the male lead harbouring a crush. Not bad.

I know where you're coming from with trying to work if a drama is actually good or not from its ratings on here. Don't get me wrong. If a show has about five top ratings saying this is a '' terrible drama'' then the likelihood will be that isn't going to be a masterpiece when you start watching it . On the other hand, I think there's also the opposite problem on here that some drama watchers overestimate or glorify shows because of certain actors/ actresses, a little too much when the show as a whole was average upon acting or storyline. I don't know about you, but I have found that sometimes you've got to watch something yourself before you start looking at reviews. There are times where I have dropped shows like a hot stone and are seriously surprised when other reviewers rant or rave about it, and others times when I can honestly love a show and are surprised by the amount of negative comments. I guess it is really down to opinions and tastes at the end of the day.

Thank you, for reading my review :)!

I’m already liking this drama a lot from what I’ve seen. It does follow some of the stereotypical cliches but both lead characters actually seem to have an element of being “ fleshed out” and the other leads aren’t just cardboard cutouts either. So long as the quality of the story and characterisation is maintained in later episodes , hopefully this will be a good drama to watch.

I know this is an old comment post, but definitely agree with the top comments - everyone has a favourite, but the Japanese is more authentic and underrated for several reasons ( not least the cast) .

I totally agree with you. I have never been a fan of the Korean version for several reasons and whilst everyone seems to gawp over LMH, for me personally, the Japanese cast ( especially Jun Matsumoto ) are better looking for me ;)

Same here - lots of people seem to prefer the Korean, but the Japanese has always found a way in my heart for the story, characters and ideas than other versions ;)

1) Japan ( for me, best chemistry/ cast and characters)
2) Taiwan( old but gold and best changes to plot for culture)
3) China ( takes too much from the other versions for my liking, but really good cast)
4) Korea ( okay cultural changes but the only member of the cast for the Korean version I actually like was Kim Bum, LMH and KHS never felt right for the parts and ending was too much of a drag for me)

I agree with you - it’s too cliche and focused on trying to add spice to the relationships rather than actually portray the characters as individuals. As a fan of the webtoon, it’s sort of hard to watch some of the “ safer” changes they’ve made already and parts of the story - might give this one a couple more eps, then drop it because honestly there are better dramas to watch/ coming out at the minute than this one for me.

Thank God that I’m not the only one who wasn’t a fan of Extraordinary You. It seems everyone rants and raves about it but after the halfway mark , the show just became too cliche for me and I dropped it. I’m giving True Beauty the benefit of the doubt ( as I sort of liked the webtoon), but the cliches are really getting on my nerves. Might give this one a couple more eps to see if the pace changes, but not sure if this one lives up to my expectations.

Is anyone else a little bit annoyed with this show compared to the webtoon? I know that dramas like to shake things up a bit, but the cliches and glossing over some of the webtoon elements to be more “ universal” is irritating me a lot. I don’t know about anyone else, but I might just try one more ep and give this one up ( it should be good for me, but it’s just too cliche).

I know where you are coming from. I have also read the webtoon version long before the show, but there are just too many changes which I don't agree with ( the father appearing in the family's lives , the cliches and the lack of emphasis upon Su Ho's ancestry so far in order to be '' politically correct'' for Koreans). Ga Young is fairly comical but her portrayal plays too much upon the '' cutesy and cliche '' than a realistic individual ( don't get me started on her crush). Personally, I have always found Eun Woo's acting hit or miss, but he isn't actually bad in this show from what we've seen so far. My problem is that Eun Woo did not really live up to the image that I hoped for Suho, however, this also as much a consequence of bad script writing making him seem ''stiff'' . Hwang In Yeop (for me), was fairly well-cast physically to play Seo Jun. However, the show is already going down that route rather than introducing him in a more distant manner and developing him into the storyline, as the " zealous male lead". I might give it one more episode and return to it just to find out how it ends a bit later, but this show just isn't doing it for me...

CoNeTrIC - Maybe my slight argument would be that Wataya Minato’s friend did jump to his defence when he assumed Masato was a homophobic and for a long time in the show, Adachi was often a little uncomfortable by Yucichi’s thoughts of being together . Apart from that, I can see where you’re coming from with glossing over some issues of homophobia and not including a wider range of problems for the LGBT community. I’m not sure whether you’ve watched it or not, but for all of its cliches and problems , Love With Flaws actually did this pretty well with the issues of homophobia for one of the side couples’ relationship and insecurities as two gay men. Additionally, I do agree with you to some extent about the drama being targeted for female audiences through “cutesy “relationships rather than realism, however, it is some progress for Japan not to be going down the other negative route of oversexualisation as well ( e.g. for yaoi fanatics).

I should probably apply this more to Japan respectfully . In Japanese culture, LGBT rights have always had an awkward relationship with mainstream views . Historically , Japan has always been mildly accepting of homosexuality , however, various governments tried to limit or restrict it. Because of repression and a negative view arising by lack of knowledge of homosexuality in the mainstream , a negative stigma arose by the growing BL genre amongst mangas during the 80s . Yaoi” ( effectively very promiscuous gay porn) has arisen to some stereotypes in Japan of homosexuality leading to men becoming more sexualised. (Whilst slightly off topic, Thailand is another interesting case. Thailand has always been pretty forwards for positive portrayals of same sex couples,but, in the past for westerners , Thailand was notorious for male gay sex workers which in the west , has again created some bad stereotypes). Whilst it’s wrong to claim that all Japanese think this way , we should not ignore this problem . It’s just positive that gay rights are becoming more normalised in Japan.

Maybe I should’ve been clearer; often in fiction same-sex couples often take on certain “ male and female” cliches in dramas or movies ( I.e being effeminate or the “ overdramatic gay”). Whilst in Asia, Thailand ( and increasingly Taiwan) are increasingly becoming advocates for gay rights, there’s always been a more mainstream cliche or negative stigma against homosexuality in some Asian countries in popular culture. It’s just refreshing that some of the more recent Asian dramas we are watching are more positive towards gay rights including this one.

Fingers crossed it will be as good as the webtoon ?!

I’ve been really surprised with just how heartwarming this drama has been. Normally, BL Dramas aren’t my cup of tea because of misrepresentations in Asian Dramas of same-sex couples being “ different” or overly promiscuous, however, a friend’s raving review of the first episode lead me to start watching this a couple of weeks ago. The male coupled have refreshing chemistry without falling into the overemphasised “ gay” cliches and their flaws add a touch of realism to their relationships. Easily one of the best romance dramas of 2020 .