XingBack

slice of life

in 2021 dramas were in a slump, and I was in a deeper slump, but this drama was really fun. it was emotinal, it was layered with great sismnace, women that depended on themselves, and best of all the non existent romance that was better than 90% of romance genres

my favorite part was shipping jena and jaehyuk, whether it sailed or sunk didn't matter cuz that chemistry was FIRE. jena looovved to get on jaehyuk's nerve, and he was so mushy and overreactive despite being "evil" and cold that it was all just too adorable
atleast now I have material for my article about ships ;)

I also really liked the music alot ;) I high key stan KillA the most xD and I wish they'd release all of the songs.

I do admit the trauma and the drama got to penthouse's ridiculous makjang level, like they should've stopped at ep6(?) when jena and hyunji had that greatly acted emotinal breakdown scene

everything after it (and before it) was like SSSAAADDD, oooh light of hope, nope SSSAAAADDDDD, well maybe hope BUT NO..
as a youth slice of life sismance drama about idols, this was great and fun and I NEED hani and shiyang to reunite!

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usually I don't watch jdramas, but even I can tell that this is a beautiful thought provoking story.
I personally don't have kids, but I've heard so many of the same lines used in this drama in real life that it was hard to not relate to this.
people live by other's expectations, they feel weak when they think they're not "following" the pattern, they have a hard time admitting that they are struggling and everyone just lacks empathy. they criticize what they don't personally feel.

there are so many rules of society. "you can't keep your kid happy/quite? you are a bad mom". "you don't cook for your family? you are a bad housewife". "you don't have kids? you've failed as a woman". and there are of course other examples, even directed at men "your wife makes more money than you? then you are not a man". "you want to see a therapist? you've failed as a human". "you want to quit your job and stay at home? that's not what men do"..

who made these rules? why should we force others to live by those rules? does putting others down make you a better person? would showing weakness mean you are not... what? grateful to your life?

everyone struggles with something, but again, you can't just look at people through your experiences.. don't judge people. it's also so easy to misjudge people, so everyone should just communicate more..

anyway this is making me emotional :) basically they did a great job convening the different struggles, the slow growth of the characters was also heartwarming and inspiring.

the ost was nice and I never rewatch stuff, but this does make me want to watch more jdramas ;)

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always choose the 2nd lead!

1st of all I have to say, I'm a huge fan of both SYJ and KKW, but I'm not biased when I say their acting performance was amazing!

I'm not sure if they were purposely "obvious" cuz they just wanted the journey not the shock value, or if it's just as I call it "mystery genres are dead"

I have lost hope in all crime genres and mysteries, it's been atleast 5 years since I thought a twist was shocking or revolutionary so it's nothing new for a twist to not faze me, and indeed I saw through it all but still it was a great watch


now for the story, to be honest, with stories like this there's always 2 options; it's real or it's fake. we've seen so many stories about having visions of the future so it's not that shocking to see her believe it, but I'll say the writer played it too safe by making all the "unfortunate" events around girls and worse, those girls didn't talk

so the only outcome is, memories, ie recalling which shows how a good title can atleast hide the plot, or they never intended to


so basically their plot twist was obvious, they wanted to make us doubt Seon Woo because that's where it usually leads to, the girl who forgets and the killer who pretends to be her husband, Secret Obsession had that plot to T. so even if the 1st time it seems "twisty", I knew they weren't going there..
also, actually the point I liked this was how obviously Seon Woo loved her. though as an actor I know he can pull both the sweet and the dark so I didn't doubt him as a serial killer but it was a nice subtle touch. as if to say "never doubt him"

also the fact that Yeom Hye Ran came and heavily implied that her husband abused her was a clear sign, also the way Seon Woo acted when he finally got caught, as if he was begging Soo Jin to believe his lies..



now the only thing that shocked me was how Ji Hoon was alive xD I thought that was another recalculation leading to the moment she got hurt, but it was wrapped up too fast and I hated how they had to kill Seon Woo cuz you know, he killed before and he's a main so he can't have a happily ever after

so I refuse to acknowledge that ending and will think they both finally fled their misfortunes and lived happily ever after

ok, I'll complain more on how both events would've been "self defense" so they reeeaaalllly didn't need to hide it or even worse bury a live body..

the ost was basic but I appreciated the low volume on the chewing, and I'd actually want to rewatch this but I would want the fire and hospital scene cut xD

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watch until 01:39:00 ONLY!

the poster was misleading, I thought I'd see han jiwan with the precious baby but she was the adult vr ;)
basically the first half, the first hour and a half was beautiful, Park So Yi was SO AMAZING! her crying was on point and her smiles lit up the world!

the story between this unlikely "family" was cliche but so touching that I just loved watching them until suddenly she became a teen then an adult and boom the story lost it's charm ;(



suddenly right after she called him dad the writer made him get into an accident and they lost him for 10 YEARS! then one day she remembers the nickname she gave him (10 years later!) and that's how they found him! sick and locked up in a mental hospital where he couldn't function! and before his accident suddenly had a terminal disease! what ridiculous blood boiling plot move!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

then in the ending credit she was getting married and had him marry her off and called it a happy ending when he didn't even REMEMBER his name let alone talk! how heart breakingly cheap!!!!!!!!!!!

I did hope it'd be sweet and funny for a rewatch but no, just no

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Do You Want Some Cheese With Your Chicken?

Don't be confused. This is not a 7 first kisses sequel, it was not supposed to be an advertisement drama special..

the moment the production decided to add more lines for the product placement than the plot/character development was the moment they threw away the viewers worth.
honestly I don't think I've ever seen a drama so bluntly advertise their sponsored products this much. "I've never found this fried chicken outside of korea", "this makes my skin moist", "this boosts your stamina", "this mask is a best seller" and blah blah blah ;/ if anything they made me want to buy those products even less.

one of their biggest problem was how they show you an event like ep11's over dramatic ending and then the next ep they start from a pre setup and repeat everything again and get to the point only halfway through the ep. (that's not how cliffhangers work)

the lines were so cheesy and cringe worthy it was embarrassing, and the acting from the 2 mains was mediocre and the only reason it was acceptable was becasue everything else sucked.
the romance lacked substance and it was too rushed that it made it seem like taeul only loved yigon's money. they had zero on screen chemistry and no amount of neck kisses (which was just 1) could save their so called love.
speaking of kisses, they start with the cliche open eyed fish kiss, gave 1 neck kiss and went back to "covering their face with a hand or something" so it looks like they're kissing but it was obvious they were not ;D and I don't personally care for kissing scenes since they don't add to the romance but enhance it, and so if the actors feel uncomfortable having more than 1 kiss they shouldn't be forced into it.

the plot was a literal zero. an empty flashy mess of a story. nothing was consistent, nothing made sense and nothing was explained.
this is what happens when the writer gets a deal to make their drama after only writing the 1st couple of eps, it was obvious she only had the start idea and the end (which was a total cheap move full of fan service) so she was lost most of the time.

now the directors all take the other part of the blame. the switching between the 2 worlds was so bad that no one could tell which world they were in until someone's name was mentioned ;/
the audios were always such a mess, the chewing were too loud and every sound felt artificial, like ep11's footsteps. it felt like a zombie apocalypse..

they had so many side plots and characters unrelated to the main plot that it was hard to know who was who and what purpose they held, but worse part was that nothing was explained and thus they were just fillers..
everything big and flashy uncle evil seemed to work towards was pointless. he looked scary and evil but was caught in 1second, they talked big of time stopping but it never became an issue..

so to sum it up we had 1 ep of plot, 14 eps of fillers and angst and 30min of resolution followed by 55min of fan service~
as if the 2 worlds was not confusing enough they had to add time traveling, but alas how else would they have had saved their empty black hole mess of a plot?

Jo Young / Jo Eun Sub and Myung Na Ri / Myung Seung Ah were the highlight of the show for me, both as actors and as characters so I'm incredibly disappointed by the wasted potential. they could've had 2 more couples in this and increased the level of uwu but anyway, the Jos and the Myungs had better chemistry and more believable love lines and though I was happy with their end, I was again disappointed that they didn't really show them together much...

young was such a cold, professional no nonsense kind of a guy but his social life (shown only as laptop sticker -I wonder whose idea was that) and his interactions with both eunsub and their puppy twins showed how much more of a sweet warmhearted person he was. I wish this drama was about him ;(
https://kisskh.at/35039-the-king-the-eternal-monarch#comment-3574531
eunsub was laid back, easy and friendly that people (ie the 2 mains) took advantage of and forgot several times, but his interactions with young was beautiful, they were the only 2 sane unselfish people (beside the Myungs). and in the end I loved his growth to a solid reliable man~
also since I don't want to share spoilers here I'll link my comment https://kisskh.at/35039-the-king-the-eternal-monarch#comment-3565969

the music was a repeat/ripoff of goblin and they did nothing to add to the already non existent mood, and I didn't even want to watch this the 1st time let alone rewatching it (though I have rewatched WDH's scenes alot)

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Will you kill for your kid?

I was watching an insta post about that question, and people were shocked someone would say no
but it's all about the context right?

would you kill for your kid,

as the drama starts, a boy is accused of killing two of his friends, he goes to prison for 10 years and comes out hoping to find the truth and try to live happily with his mom

Sim Bo Yeong's dad, seeing that, got angry, and tried to kill Go Jeong U's mom.. is that revenge? no
as the drama goes by in a spiral of continuous draggyness, Sim Bo Yeong's dad does find out the truth and in a fit of anger goes to shoot that person, is that revenge? yes


Sim Bo Yeong's murderers, in a raging revelation, it turns out she was raped by two of her friends, she falls after the third friend tries to help her cuz he's another guy and she feared more
Choi Na Gyeom walks in, and instead of being scared it’ll happen to her or be fully sick beyond words, she says.
“Hide the body or your future will be ruined”??
The f is that? It’s not even about girl supporting girls but it’s a plain a human protecting humanity?

And they all listen to her? to call their dads, so 3 adults walk in
and protecting their sons’ future is more important than protecting the truth?
Honestly they could’ve been proven innocent anyways cuz yeah humanity sucks and would’ve said it’s consensual and she slipped and died anyways
Cuz a boys future is worth more than a girls

but, she didn't die, so one of the dads kill her cuz they're in too deep now...................
and gang rape and they’re like “she was bound to marry one of them”




Park Da Eun, the snowwhite. she's cheating on Go Jeong U with an older guy, Choi Na Gyeom who's obsessed with Go Jeong U, after witnessing the rape and murder of another girl, stays silent and films the murder of Park Da Eun
becasue once the two girls are out of the picture, Go Jeong U would be hers...............

honestly revealing that Park Da Eun was a cheater was enough.. so yeah all are crazy but Choi Na Gyeom was worse.....

anyway, she stays quiet for 10 years because she didn't think he'll be convicted, but I'm sure she just enjoyed him being so outcasted and out of loop thinking he'll run to her once she shows kindness
she literally also used the second murder to blackmail the murderer's wife to gain a chance at fame....




anyways, if that isn't enough melodrama, Hyun Su O and Hyun Guno are, twins, and each one is involved in 1 of the murders..
guno, in 10 years didn't tell his dad "you crazy old dude covering up for 4 psychos, cuz you thought i was involved for standing there, but i wasn't", he didn't say he wasn't involved, but he had time to go and collect evidence, the evidence that would've proved his innocence and made his dad stand with him....................... agh...........


suo, had a disability, and once he saw the beautiful "snowwhite", Park Da Eun, die. he carries her to his "hideout" and preps her grave...
now literally, no one knew about that hideout? that was on their property.. where he'd go to draw, and the dad never knew about it? but the snowwhite murderer knew







so yeah, even now, writing all of that out, it's so basic, so simple, and that's to say, Go Jeong U and No Sang Cheol, trying so hard to detective, they were so slow and so dumb
they didn't find any clues without guno's confession, they didn't know where to look without someone spoon feeding them
and, it goes to the point, "nobody knows" the whole truth, but the first case had 7 people involved, and the second had 5, so eventho a couple were involved in both cases, it took a whole village to hide the truth, but that was one too many people in on the secret that they had to go spilling it out
it's a surprise it lasted 10 years
if that wasn't enough suo/gunho's dad was cheating with Sim Bo Yeong's mom.................. like "yeah I hid your daughter's 7 murderers. but like you"
and Go Jeong U's dad just happen to die, when the 4 fathers of the real murderers were happy knowing what they did




would you kill for your kid?
even if your kid is the rapist and murderer?

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In the world of repetitive korean law dramas, this was unique, heartbreaking, devastating and sickening
The villains were kids and the victims were kids, how more heartbreaking can it get?

The cases tbh I couldn't look at them and if I did I had to keep repeating "it's just acting" cuz my heart can't take that much evilness

The fl was a queen. Eventhough I didn't like her roboticness or the need to add a traumatic past to explain why she's so reserved and cold was unnecessary
But I did love her soft side

The ml was a nice cutie and the silver lining to this bleak world

The 2ml was also a mix of ambition, greed and yet hope
They tried to make 2fl judge the villain just to show she like any other human makes non perfect decisions


And that the point. Not all verdicts were justified. Not all victims were saved. Not all villains were captured. Law is "in the eye of the beholder" cuz there's no real justice
No one knows the whole truth. No one can ever find justice. They can only do their bests. Find evidence. Listen to the hidden stories. And that's a devastating job tbh
Especially with kids. Cuz the real justice would be to reform them. Not all criminals are "born that way" but you can't put an end to it even when you know the problem..



I didn't like the cheating crime.. it's literally just a test, people cheat, people steal answers, people buy grades.
I personally preferred my own results, once upon a time a I actually went to an exam not knowing there was one so I hadn't even studied that subject in weeks and someone offered to help but I shrugged it off and got 7/10 on my own xD
Another time the exam supervisor saw me finish while another kid was suffering and she came to my paper and helped the other kid. Once I tried to help a friend but it was a lost cause so afterwards I'd pretend I didn't study and sit away from people I knew..
This got out of hand but basically cheating is not the end of life. Stealing, murders, rape, kidnapping, even bribery are worse than school cheating...


In the last ep tho I didn't like how they had to make everything extremely connected and I wished for the verdict of that crime cuz it either needs life sentence or execution.... TT_TT


I loved the ost but I'll never rewatch this

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I started this for Jung Gun Joo, I did not want to watch that baseball drama, and I was cleaning my ptw that I came across this. (I think I deleted like 100 shows from there, maybe even more ;p)
anyway, beside the ex's arc being a little frustrating, I really enjoyed the characters, especially Dain (that turned out to be ellie from www). and Jae Yeong who was 2nd guy's right hand man in Nokdu! he has a great voice, and he looks better in modern dramas ;p
the 2ndery couple were cute too, and the whole story was the type of noona romance I look for, it was undramatic and bright~
overall it was a nice slice of life fresh story. it kinda teaches you about letting go and moving on which gave it a feel of realness ;)

my rewatch values are either a 1 or 10, there's no inbetween~

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I'm actually really conflicted on the rating.... I give my 10s easily, but I have this feeling that something was missing..

I feel like this drama just tried to push the limits, and at a certain point they got caught up in their own plan of "how can we make this even more shocking". I kinda started to lose interest by ep12 ish, and I think that's when they tried too hard to add more conflict so the story doesn't end, but they didn't want a rushed ending so they made ep15 seem like a pre conclusion, but then they kept adding conflict after the resolution becasue they had 2 more hours to go.
like the "I'm sorry", "I'll kill you", "let's forget this", "I'll kill you" dance...

for one thing, I'm glad of how they handled Ye Rim and Je Hyuk, but just like the rest of the story I feel like they gave us too much buildup/middle ground and not enough cleanup/closure?

like they never talked about Hyun Seo or In Gyu again. so what? was it suicide? was it not? why did they play us to think it might be Yoon Gi?
and the son running away? then they didn't show his face at the end? why because he looked older or they couldn't film that scene with the real actor? becasue it was a last minute thought?

when Tae Oh tried to kill himself I got the desperation, but it was a slow street, even if the bus/truck hit him he'd have only broke a bone or two. it was not going that fast, but I was emotional when they revealed that he wasn't dead. otherwise I'd have given it a 1 ;)
also all of those scenes making it seem like they were going to kill the son? come on that was a cheap move..
which makes me wonder if the son running away was the writers "punishment" for Sun Woo, because at the end of the day she was not blameless in that mess

but I do admire them for breaking away from the revenge mold, usually it takes them 10eps to uncover the secret and 5eps of omg I can't believe, with 1 wrap up party..


the ost was great and I never rewatch stuff

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awkward smiles UWU

a story like this should've been a slow slice of life genre about music and friendship, something like Quartet, where a bunch of random completely different characters come together in the name of "love" for the music and make their own band, they could've preformed on their own there's no need for them to be high class..
I won't get why song ah had to "give up" her violin, there's no reason she couldn't have played for fun, it's like me with drawing, I don't do it as often as before but it'll always be a part of me...

the romance was great (emphasize on was), they started out honest, awkward, and always true to their feelings but from ep10-12 they started "drifting apart" for nonsensical reasons and the 2nd leads were just a flame for that misunderstanding flame..
the 2nd fl had her reasons, but the things she said last to song ah about how joon young was still in love with her was pure bs.. and if the ml ever knew about them he'd have competently broken his bonds with her. tbh they wasted that chance, the 2nd fl never had "redemption" or a moment of "realization" she suddenly just became normal ;/

the whole inevitable breakup needs to go away, ML "I love you", FL "let's break up"

speaking of "I love you" the amount of times joon young kept saying "I like you, I like you" or "I love you, I love you" was too sweet! though I hated song ah always getting teary eyed when a confession was coming (like girl you are not rumeo and juliet) xD


anyway, from early on I really skipped (not just fastforwarded) everything related to anyone beside the 2 mains. and the only other worthy character was Cha Young In, everyone else suddenly became the 2 mains enemies ;/
song ah was lucky to have met Cha Young In ;)

overall I loved their relationship but I hated the conflicts and the cheap fast way everything was suddenly resolved in the last ep ;)

I never rewatch anything and the ost was GOLD, I mean, chen, baek and punch?! ;3

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So heartbreaking I couldn’t stop crying

On a light note, the way the movie started with how everyone was so clueless about planes, those simple joys before everything went wrong….


I’ll add my comment first then add more on my review

The thing about this is that it’s based on a real story
So the backgrounds of each characters, the pain, the fear, the choices and regret, it was all so raw and heartbreaking

Yongdae wasn’t just a hijacker, he was tortured as a kid by psychos who labeled anyone as a communist
Taein lived through the first hijacking with his choice of letting them pass the boarder, was that the right choice? Or would he choose differently

Everything was just so heartbreaking and the acting honestly they couldn’t have picked better actors, my jingoo, my heart ached for him and being his fan, I could sympathize with that backstory, but his actions of course didn’t make it easier so that’s the whole emotional turmoil, everything was so intense I couldn't stop crying


It’s like a domino effect “what if”
Taein letting the first plane pass which resulted in 11 people being unaccounted for till now, it only means they were imprisoned or murdered or worse, labeled communists

And thus, this time he decided to make sure everyone is safe, and if he died, atleast they’ll know and won’t live in dread
That’s a heartbreaking choice, he literally threw himself on a bomb to save people.

Those times honestly are so confusing for me, were they witch hunting people and calling them communists just because?
Cuz yongdae’s life, he was abandoned by his brother, his town threw hot water on kids, they put false accusations on him, and his mom died…. When “normal” people labeled others so easily, doesn’t it make sense he turned out so messed up?! Who’s to blame?!

And we will never know the truth past that first hijack, did they really give the first hijacker money, did they choose to stay behind cuz they were done with their government
Did they ask for money for returning the hostages? Did they use the plane technology? Did SK refuse to pay more for the government workers that they didn’t return them?

But all those things fueled taein, to protect them and hide their identities, to return their bodies, or to return them safe

He was a hero, yongdae was a victim, who’s to blame? Atleast things did change, those were really black times for Korea
With this dire action, it also stopped others from trying I guess

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for a movie that's only 1 hour and a half long, this wasn't bad, but it might've needed a little more emotional substance. they didn't stress enough how "bad" the relationship between Yi Na and her dad was, tbh it just felt like common sadness, and the dad was a workaholic who tried to make excuses to leave his daughter for a couple of months because he didn't know how to deal with the loss of his wife, and basically they just needed therapy not a new house ;)
anyway it took them a few days or less for Yi Na to act "weirdly" and a few days later she went missing, so there was not much buildup.

I personally used to be a scardy cat and I don't know if I'm just older now or movies lost their fear factor, but this was heartbreaking rather than scary. especially with the background story of what started it all.

and speaking of how it all started it felt quite basic, plus it was resolved very simply and it didn't need the dramatic fight scenes.

and they only spent a few seconds on the other kids but I think that'd have been the breaking point for them, I honestly teared up on that subject but then it was suddenly over.

I also feel like they could've built a beautiful bromance and connection, tbh Kyung Hoon came in the picture, said 1 thing about why he's doing this and boom they were working and solving what took him 10 or so years to solve. there was no anticipation, no foundation.

overall the acting was great and I'm looking forward to what Yi Na comes out with next, that precious baby is really talented~

ps I never rewatch stuff ;)

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the story started off lighthearted and funny, we had 2 teenagers (yes both 30 year old mains were acting as 18 year olds, but they did a really great job showing the youthfulness), who wanted to make money, Go Taek Il left his house and ended up working at a chinese restaurant, while Woo Sang Pil became a loan shark but he didn't know how dangerous that job was.
I do fee like they brushed past the key points a little too fast, but since it was a webtoon it must've been hard to squeezed all of that in a 1 hour 45 min movie.
I really liked how each character had their own backstory and traumas, usually movies just focus on the main and everyone else just exists in their world. by the middle part we got to see the emotional baggage the side characters had, but I do think they solved everything way too easily. the tension was going up up up and then it disappeared.

still though I did highly enjoy the characters and it made me laugh a little and sometimes that's all I need. not everything needs to be dramatic.

I never rewatch things but maybe there's hope for a 2nd season ;)

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the thing I appreciated the most was the diversity. they had 2 couple who already knew each other and 2 that "met" as the movie started. one was divorced, one was in an abusive relationship, one left the country cuz of the work stress, one left the country over a heartbreak, one was in a interracial relationship, one was disabled, one was raised outside the country, 2 had stubble❣ and so it gave a nice worldwide view of things.

people are different and that's what makes us all shine.


I didn't appreciate the meeting between Lee Jae Heon and Min Jin Ah, kwriters always think they need to bicker before falling in love and 2 seconds later LJH turned out to be a sweet person. Kang Ji Ho and Lee Hyo Young also started that way but it was more understandable cuz KJH was the "rough" ragged yet clumsy type while LHY was more head strong.


the things I loved
the google translator scene between Chen Du Ling and Yeom Hye Ran xD
the "accidental" eavesdropping between Han Oh Wol and Kim Rae Hwan, kdramas never use eavesdropping for good xD
Han Oh Wol and Kim Rae Hwan was really really sweet I wish it was longer ;(
the ending between Kang Ji Ho and Lee Hyo Young
Kim Kang Woo and Yoo Yeon Seok in stubble❤❤❤❤
the smooth transitions between characters at times, like they all "knew" each other but they weren't friends or anything


the things I didn't like
it had too many couple too little time
some of the "tension" and conflict was boring
the bickering
it was too short ;(

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the story was really original, but the execution lacked, it felt rushed, not planned out enough. for one thing the fact that the fl had 2 outfits (even in a flashback from several years ago) and the ml had 1 outfit kinda made it seem low budgeted.

the main idea of rohan's super power was amazing, the execution on that part and the cgi was also great, and each story was a stand alone that kinda connected each ep, but it wasn't that well developed. they didn't have time to add substance to each character though I easily loved the 2 mains, I wished for more connections, more interactions, more backstory ;(

so basically it was too short and too rushed but still great idea~

the outfits, well the fl's 2 clothes were really really pretty, and for rohan, his head piece felt weird and he should've worn tighter pants. and the other manga guy's outfit just like rohan's head piece felt too cosplayish. it's like they walked right out of the manga xD

the acting was great, Takahashi Issei played off the eccentric goofy manga artist with a wast knowledge and a deep secret really well. though I love to see him do more dark dark roles, that doubled feeling felt right for rohan.
Iitoyo Marie too was cute enough to be the bubbly kind and she was kinda clingy but then it came off as uncertain assertiveness that blended well with rohan's 2 faces and I just liked to ship them ;D

the songs were nice enough, the way each book had a different style was really clever and though I never rewatch things I wish for a 2nd longer seaon

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