SojuMoose

This isn't a romcom? Was it also bad for IU when she was cast with Lee Sun Kyun, or Park Eun Bin being cast with Namgoong Min in My Mister and Stove League? The cast looks great and Park Hae Young is one of the best kdrama writers in the past decade. This is 100% better than her being in some dud romcom with someone her age.

Not a huge deal, but it is kind of a bummer that the ML's sleeve isn't actually real. I feel like the perception of tattoos is always so negative and gang affiliated and I was hoping based on the cover that this would subvert that.

Imo its pretty obvious 2ML has feelings for FL, that being said, he has probably been in the mindset that he won't date anyone due to his child (which is a ridiculous cultural norm) and has kept his feelings to himself. I actually don't think he will get super hung up on the FL and will take to the 2FL fairly quickly as he seems like a decent guy and not super antagonistic and he has already begun to see the FL is beginning to like the ML(albeit asking the 2FL to keep their secret wasn't his greatest move) The 2FL is great, likes him and his kid and he probably hasn't even considered the idea of dating anyone and she has opened that reality up to him. Probably will take a few episodes tho.

I'll take a headstrong eccentric fl over the majority of the fl archetypes presented in kdramas.

It was awkward for sure. Not sure about autism, but it is definitely hinted at that he has OCD. It is crazy that he'd think he needs to take responsibility for a drunken kiss though, even if they'd slept together it wouldn't have been a big deal outside of them being superior and subordinate at the time.

There is definitely backstory there I'm sure, but the trope where a younger lead puts significant importance on something in their youth with the lead and then ends up putting them on a pedastal never really works imo. Those characters always seem annoying to me, like instead of being fixated on this person just go be young and carefree.

Assuming its his daughter, which seems way more likely based on the tone. (having a school predator as a past love interest seems quite dark). I kinda prefer Nurse as the 2ML as opposed to the current, younger 2ML who I imagine will have zero depth besides some weird interaction with the FL at a young age which has made him put her on a pedastal. Someone with stability, who is a part of the school seems like a better mirror to the chaos that Ju Ji Hoon randomly showing up has caused her, and makes more sense than random young good suitor also shows up with the
sole purpose of making ML jealous.

I personally like Jung Yu Mi. She hasn't done a lot recently in dramas, but in her younger years she was some pretty iconic dramas such as Que Sera Sera and Discovery of Romance, the latter of which she plays a similarly prickly character. Based on the setup of the drama so far we're on the MLs side since he clearly has feelings and seems levelheaded regarding them, but right now we don't the their full history, why they split, and why she is so avidly against the ML yet.

Only made it to episode 6, but up until this point this drama felt really forced/lacked substance. Occasionally dramas try to push an idea (on top of the general plot) and continue overforce the idea throughout. Felt this way with all the overt feminism in Love to Hate You. As someone who is from a western background and supports women's rights/equality I like idea of introducing more feminism in kdramas and saw it as a general positive, but it just felt awkward like the drama was breaking the fourth wall to really make sure we as the viewer understood that it was taking a stance, and ended up coming off a bit forced. I feel this way about the empath stuff in this drama. They are overtly making such a big deal/constantly forcing the fact that the ML can be empathetic/have feelings and the FL is a strong character who feels a great responsibility to those around her, which its great to see character diversity/breaking stereotypes, but it just feels so forced like its a central thesis to the drama, and it takes away from the natural rom com elements and chemistry. I feel like they could have expressed the ML's vulnerability and the FL's burden much more subtly between the characters as their relationship progressed in a more natural way, but idk maybe its just awkward to watch for me.

ML needs a bit of redemption imo. It is fine that he is noticing his wife now, but I believe in the first two episodes they've only communicated via phone and not through sign. If he hasn't bothered to learn sign language considering her disability/job as an interpreter thats pretty bad. My guess is they'll do a 180 and he does know sign, but hasn't let on, but we'll see. Even for just communicating around the house, considering he is the one who brought her into this relationship it is the least he could do.

Very promissing start to the drama. I'm glad they used younger actors to play their high school selves considering both leads are over 40. It is almost always cringe to watch older actors play high schoolers with an emphasis on over-exxagerated fashion/styles for the era, although if the actors are younger/baby faced like Our Beloved Summer it can work. Both young actors were really good and you could feel the chemistry/their connection to their older selves. Second chance/reunited romances are always refreshing for the reason that the leads have a history and share a familiarity with each other instead of being super awkward around each other for half the show. Based on the first ep I'm much more optimistic for this drama than Love Next Door/Welcome to Samdalri which were personal let downs for me based on the actors/hype going in.

Respectfully, the drama has a lot more to offer than Woo Do Hwan. While his character starts off very toxic, making impulsive decisions due to his terminal state, this series resonates with many viewers as it is comedic yet poignant, shows realistic relationship/ex interactions (unlike usual rom coms where the characters are virgins in their 30s and act like high schoolers in their first relationship). Many characters in the drama go through serious character growth, which is pretty rare in dramas these days. Also, at least personally I haven't seen a drama in a couple years that was as emotionally cathartic as this one. The relationship between Lee El and Woo Do's characters was fantastic, and the growth/story of the 2ml and his mother was also a happy one in terms of his character growing out of being a doormat to his mom, and her accepting that.

While comedic at times, Mr. Plankton is quite poignant and serious throughout. Just a fair warning, I definitely wouldn't classify this as a rom com, but more of a drama which features some romance and comedy.

I don't know who wrote the synopsis but it really misses the mark on summarizing the plot/situation with his father.

Tbh, I wish we had more second lead screentime. Their interactions/vibe has been way better than the leads at this point with way less angst. So far the second fl is the best character imo.

I mean I get why he doesn't want to/hasn't told her yet. She is basically his best friend and he believes she loves someone else. On top of being an introvert he doesn't want to risk the friendship/status quo. But he was pretty bitchy this episode, I admit, but on other hand from his perspective, if he isn't going to move forward on his feelings and actually wants to get some closure, he wants space from Seok Ryu who is constantly overstepping boundaries (which is shown as a positive light when he was injured, but her constant intrusiveness is too much for an introvert who is trying to resolve his feelings).

Obviously there are other reasons than money that the fl is looking to have a fake marriage for, but it seems super contradictory that a person who wants to incur no loss is going to pay the money for a sham wedding. Its a drama so it won't make perfect sense, but weddings cost significantly more than the gifts you receive so that whole plotline of doing it to get back money is super non-realistic. Catering alone costs 50-100 dollars per head. Still has a shot to be a decent drama, but it is really hard to buy into that motive as anyone who has been around the planning of a wedding who knows how expensive and how much work it is.

There are plenty of dramas where the ML is more promiscous ie, coffee prince, nevertheless, there are also dramas with where the ml has an ex in the drama and the fl does not like Because this is my first life, Backstreet Rookie, Be Melo the opposite of this drama. I'd agree its probably more common to see a fl with an ex or with another love interest, but its also more common to have a 2x male 1x female love triangle than the other way around since most romance are targeted at women as the primary audience, so that might explain the imbalance.

Not sure I've seen the hate, but there is nothing wrong with being a virgin. Similarly, there is nothing wrong with not being a virgin either. I do think Korea tends to over-romanticize the idea of people, especially in dramas where they knew each other in childhood, being virgins even in their 30s who have zero sexual or dating experience. It is a bit jarring as a western viewer seing the majority of leads in their mid 30s still as virgins. The idea of the perfect ml/fl who has never had time to date and is still "pure" despite being in modern society is super common in dramas, despite the actual average age of people losing virginity in SK being pretty close to 20 and a few years younger than it was 10-15 years ago. Part of this might be that often the writers/tv execs are of an older more conservative generation than the youth's current reality.

Based on what I've seen so far I think this one will likely be quite a bit better than Welcome to Samdalri and Doctor Slump. The chemistry and naturalness of the leads is much more natural in this drama, and the parents so far are much more humanized/understandable than Samdalri where they were super frustrating. But it is early in the game. I agree that the FL on ML violence isn't the best, especially at 30+, but that type of behavior is pretty common in youth for siblings who are quite close, which while they aren't siblings they basically grew up as pseudo siblings.