This review may contain spoilers
Guilty Pleasure
I’m a hypocrite, and there’s no way around it. If this were any other show or any other actors, I’d probably make it a point to comment on the age gap between the leads and how, just because Myung Ha is in the body of a 19-year-old, that doesn’t actually make him 19. Mentally, he’s still a 29-year-old adult, and you can definitely tell.
But…I liked the setup too much to make a big deal out of it. I liked the actors too much. I liked the chemistry way too much. Hence, I’m a hypocrite.
That said, before diving in, here are a few potential triggers to keep in mind:
✔ Age gap (18-year-old & a 29-year-old in a 19-year-old’s body)
✔ Suicide
✔ Depression & mental health struggles
✔ Themes of self-worth & self-love
The series tackles these themes in varying degrees, with varying success—but we’ll get to that.
I call Love for Love’s Sake a guilty pleasure because despite all its flaws (and there are more than a few), I realized about four or five episodes in that I was just smiling the entire time. That’s the biggest thing I can say about this show: It’s fun. It’s enjoyable. I had a good time. It doesn’t always make sense, and it definitely could have handled certain aspects better, but I was giggling and smiling almost throughout. And sometimes, that’s enough.
Lee Tae Vin absolutely nailed it. He was by far the best part of the show, delivering a performance that was equal parts charming, confident, and emotional. What made him stand out so much was the contrast—imagine all the confidence, assertiveness, and life experience of an adult, but dropped into a world filled with teenagers and young adults. He’s direct, self-assured, jaded, and occasionally arrogant in a way that makes perfect sense for his backstory. At the same time, he’s funny, caring, and genuinely invested in Yeon Woo’s well-being. His humor, one-liners, and warmth made it impossible not to root for him.
Cha Joo Wan also did a great job as Yeon Woo, but his character arc was a bit rushed. Yeon Woo starts off friendless, deeply depressed, and completely aimless, longing to escape his life. Myung Ha’s presence changes him, helping him open up, gain confidence, and ultimately find happiness. It’s a great arc in theory, but in execution, it felt too sudden. One day, he’s drowning in sadness and self-doubt. The next, he’s a golden retriever in love. The shift could have been handled with more nuance—a slower progression instead of what felt like a flip being switched overnight. That said, puppy Yeon Woo was adorable. And while his role wasn’t as heavy or complex as Myung Ha’s, he had several standout acting moments, particularly during his fight with his father and his confession scene.
If you’ve watched enough KBL dramas, you know how it usually goes: stiff line delivery, awkward chemistry, and actors who sometimes look like they’d rather be anywhere else but on set. But Love for Love’s Sake wasn’t like that.
✔ The acting felt natural.
✔ The chemistry felt organic.
✔ The dialogue didn’t sound like a script being recited from memory.
I fully believed Myung Ha was older and more mature. I fully believed Yeon Woo was inexperienced, going through everything for the first time—his first love, first confession, first kiss. Maybe it was the actors. Maybe it was the writing. But it worked.
Here’s where Love for Love’s Sake falters. The concept itself? Fantastic. The execution? Not so much.
The themes of second chances, self-love, and healing through love were well done. I loved the mirror image aspect—how Yeon Woo essentially is a reflection of Myung Ha’s past, and how Myung Ha teaches him to love himself by showing him how much he is worth which, in turn, is supposed to show himself that he's worth it, is supposed to make him love himself more. But the show stumbled hard towards the climax. Episodes 7 & 8 were sort of a disjointed, clunky mess.
It’s not that the answers weren’t there—it’s that they were presented in a confusing, choppy way that left a lot of people scratching their heads. The emotional payoff was still there, but it could have been so much better structured. There were also a couple of plot points that were just..never explained or followed through with. Or I simply didn't understand them.
✔ Why did only one person remember Myung Ha? Why that person?
✔ Why was the stalker necessary?
✔ What IS this world? In the context of dude bro 선배님 being Fate/Angel of Death/some sort of god, why is this other world a game? Is it a game? Is it a novel? Does Yeon Woo exist or is he truly a mirrored image of Myung Ha in which case self love is ..very literal, innit?
Do these questions need an answer? Depends on the person watching. You may want to draw your own conclusions, others might hate that and feel like the plot's incomplete.
Now, let's address the elephant(s) in the room.
The age gap
The show mostly glosses over this issue. It never really questions or discusses the ethical implications of this, but it doesn't fully lean into the romantic aspect either. At least, not right from the start. However, I've never felt like whatever reservations Myung Ha had about a potential romantic relationship between him and Yeon Woo stemmed from the age gap. Instead he was more concerned with the fact that he didn't belong to Yeon Woo's world and, eventually, would have to leave it.
That said, I didn’t mind it as much as I normally would. Probably because:
✔ The chemistry was strong imo.
✔ Myung Ha, despite his age, never comes across as predatory.
✔ In my country, 18 is a legal adult already.
I would have loved for the show to address it somehow and it's one of the reasons I deducted some stars from the rating.
The suicide
Having it as the 11th hour twist was interesting, but it also meant the the writers had only a 30 something minute episode to try and cram Myung Ha's emotional arc , the reunion with Yeon Woo and the happy ending all in there. Which didn't leave a lot of time to explore Myung Ha's realization of the truth, him coming to terms with it, explanations about the rest of the inhabitants of this "game world". Because of this, the emotional arc of Myung Ha isn't as coherent as you'd want, because there's literally no time to have him properly process everything apart from a 2-3 minute scene.
In conclusion, if you can overlook the age gap, accept some narrative stumbles, messy execution and some rushed character development, you’ll probably find yourself smiling just as much as I did.
Would I rewatch it? Honestly? Yeah.
But…I liked the setup too much to make a big deal out of it. I liked the actors too much. I liked the chemistry way too much. Hence, I’m a hypocrite.
That said, before diving in, here are a few potential triggers to keep in mind:
✔ Age gap (18-year-old & a 29-year-old in a 19-year-old’s body)
✔ Suicide
✔ Depression & mental health struggles
✔ Themes of self-worth & self-love
The series tackles these themes in varying degrees, with varying success—but we’ll get to that.
I call Love for Love’s Sake a guilty pleasure because despite all its flaws (and there are more than a few), I realized about four or five episodes in that I was just smiling the entire time. That’s the biggest thing I can say about this show: It’s fun. It’s enjoyable. I had a good time. It doesn’t always make sense, and it definitely could have handled certain aspects better, but I was giggling and smiling almost throughout. And sometimes, that’s enough.
Lee Tae Vin absolutely nailed it. He was by far the best part of the show, delivering a performance that was equal parts charming, confident, and emotional. What made him stand out so much was the contrast—imagine all the confidence, assertiveness, and life experience of an adult, but dropped into a world filled with teenagers and young adults. He’s direct, self-assured, jaded, and occasionally arrogant in a way that makes perfect sense for his backstory. At the same time, he’s funny, caring, and genuinely invested in Yeon Woo’s well-being. His humor, one-liners, and warmth made it impossible not to root for him.
Cha Joo Wan also did a great job as Yeon Woo, but his character arc was a bit rushed. Yeon Woo starts off friendless, deeply depressed, and completely aimless, longing to escape his life. Myung Ha’s presence changes him, helping him open up, gain confidence, and ultimately find happiness. It’s a great arc in theory, but in execution, it felt too sudden. One day, he’s drowning in sadness and self-doubt. The next, he’s a golden retriever in love. The shift could have been handled with more nuance—a slower progression instead of what felt like a flip being switched overnight. That said, puppy Yeon Woo was adorable. And while his role wasn’t as heavy or complex as Myung Ha’s, he had several standout acting moments, particularly during his fight with his father and his confession scene.
If you’ve watched enough KBL dramas, you know how it usually goes: stiff line delivery, awkward chemistry, and actors who sometimes look like they’d rather be anywhere else but on set. But Love for Love’s Sake wasn’t like that.
✔ The acting felt natural.
✔ The chemistry felt organic.
✔ The dialogue didn’t sound like a script being recited from memory.
I fully believed Myung Ha was older and more mature. I fully believed Yeon Woo was inexperienced, going through everything for the first time—his first love, first confession, first kiss. Maybe it was the actors. Maybe it was the writing. But it worked.
Here’s where Love for Love’s Sake falters. The concept itself? Fantastic. The execution? Not so much.
The themes of second chances, self-love, and healing through love were well done. I loved the mirror image aspect—how Yeon Woo essentially is a reflection of Myung Ha’s past, and how Myung Ha teaches him to love himself by showing him how much he is worth which, in turn, is supposed to show himself that he's worth it, is supposed to make him love himself more. But the show stumbled hard towards the climax. Episodes 7 & 8 were sort of a disjointed, clunky mess.
It’s not that the answers weren’t there—it’s that they were presented in a confusing, choppy way that left a lot of people scratching their heads. The emotional payoff was still there, but it could have been so much better structured. There were also a couple of plot points that were just..never explained or followed through with. Or I simply didn't understand them.
✔ Why did only one person remember Myung Ha? Why that person?
✔ Why was the stalker necessary?
✔ What IS this world? In the context of dude bro 선배님 being Fate/Angel of Death/some sort of god, why is this other world a game? Is it a game? Is it a novel? Does Yeon Woo exist or is he truly a mirrored image of Myung Ha in which case self love is ..very literal, innit?
Do these questions need an answer? Depends on the person watching. You may want to draw your own conclusions, others might hate that and feel like the plot's incomplete.
Now, let's address the elephant(s) in the room.
The age gap
The show mostly glosses over this issue. It never really questions or discusses the ethical implications of this, but it doesn't fully lean into the romantic aspect either. At least, not right from the start. However, I've never felt like whatever reservations Myung Ha had about a potential romantic relationship between him and Yeon Woo stemmed from the age gap. Instead he was more concerned with the fact that he didn't belong to Yeon Woo's world and, eventually, would have to leave it.
That said, I didn’t mind it as much as I normally would. Probably because:
✔ The chemistry was strong imo.
✔ Myung Ha, despite his age, never comes across as predatory.
✔ In my country, 18 is a legal adult already.
I would have loved for the show to address it somehow and it's one of the reasons I deducted some stars from the rating.
The suicide
Having it as the 11th hour twist was interesting, but it also meant the the writers had only a 30 something minute episode to try and cram Myung Ha's emotional arc , the reunion with Yeon Woo and the happy ending all in there. Which didn't leave a lot of time to explore Myung Ha's realization of the truth, him coming to terms with it, explanations about the rest of the inhabitants of this "game world". Because of this, the emotional arc of Myung Ha isn't as coherent as you'd want, because there's literally no time to have him properly process everything apart from a 2-3 minute scene.
In conclusion, if you can overlook the age gap, accept some narrative stumbles, messy execution and some rushed character development, you’ll probably find yourself smiling just as much as I did.
Would I rewatch it? Honestly? Yeah.
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