bedofroses

Don't be quick to judge, just give it a try!

As a Rowoon fan, I'm surprised I left this show in my watchlist for so so long. For some odd reason, I was on a hiatus from k-dramas and just could not pick this show up even though I liked the premise enough to put it in my watchlist. Last night, I randomly decided to give it a shot, and boy I'm glad I did. What a ride! 24 hours later, and I've finished this in it's entirety with very few skips here and there (I'm not a fan of costume/period trope).

Contrary to the majority of the views here, I actually did not find this drama to be unbearable, or the story to not fall into place. I'm still trying to think back to any major plot holes but I don't find many so I'm kinda falling short at understanding many of the reviews here. But to each it's own! Which is why I started this review with not judging until you give the show an honest unbiased try. I was lucky to have come here to read the reviews only post 6 episodes when I just needed a little spoiler on a happy or sad end. I'm not sure if I would've watched it had I seen the reviews earlier.

I like the story and what I like the most is that although it has those fluffy typical kdrama butterfly moments and some amazing chemistry between the leads, it is a refreshing take from your usual over the top sweet rom-coms. while there are other tropes like past life which are also relatively common, it was an easy watch for me personally. The leads have superb chemistry and I think the three: Hong Jo, Shin Hyu and Mr Kwon together gelled so well that it was a very pleasant watch.

I like how the second male lead was not vengeful which I why I absolutely abhor the same old trope of the vicious second female lead (if we can call her that, she was anything but a lead). But she has barely any screen-time so it's still fine. I also find the co-workers at City-Hall to be extremely rude, extra and not needed. Although a lot of redemption comes by towards the end of the show and once Ms Ma comes back, but before that I keep questioning which workplace allows such blatant infringement of privacy? These two women are just always shouting??? Who allows that? That was another aspect that was putting me off a bit.

ONE THING that has PUT ME OFF the most is the lack of respect shown to the second female lead. Even if she's a bad person, she deserved to be told that he's breaking up with her before he goes around telling another woman "he loves her" for whatever reasons those might be. This was done repeatedly, and not just under the spell trope. Even after that, this continued. I do not support such nonsense so it was a big downer which is why this show does not go into my all time fav list. Everything else was on-point for me otherwise as nothing is absolutely perfect.

However, I like how the story progresses. I also like the suspense of it in the beginning though it becomes quite predictable towards the mid of the show. But where it lacks in dramatics, the romanticism makes up for it. Lots of angst and cute moments between the leads to keep you smiling throughout. Even their banter is hilarious. I quite enjoyed it.

Although I liked Shin Hyu's parents as actors and roles, I'm pissed at how easily his mom overlooks the imprudence of the dad. That's where the feminist in me gets triggered but obviously they are not the main focus of the show so maybe something happens off the screen (other than that insufficient scene post drinking where he drunk hugs her and apologises once???) for her to forgive him! I also quite enjoyed the warm friendship between JSH and his lawyer friend and how he actually supported JSH throughout.

All in all, I quite enjoyed the show. I have a long watchlist and this is a little heavy so I'm not sure about a rewatch, but it's definitely worth one watch and I would recommend this show to people. In the end, I would just advice you to push through 2-3 episodes before deciding if this is your cup of tea or not. For me, it became better as it progressed. Cheers!

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Absolute nonsense!

FYI, I have not dropped a single show officially on this website and said something about it out loud, so I'm not taking it lightly.

Firstly, I do not know how this show has such a high rating. If this is the kind of nonsense people are liking, my concern for women is increasing more because that's how horribly this drama is portraying them as spineless and whiny beings through different characters.

If your definition of cute is a woman acting dumb, chasing a man who seems to show no interest in her and talks like a baby, go for it. I absolutely loathe such spineless characters and cannot waste any more time on this stupid story with absolutely horrible acting by both the leads. The ML is still better but the FM is beyond horrible, especially when the character itself has nothing to offer.

I usually say we should give it a few episodes but come on 6/24 is 25% of the show that I finished in 1.5ish hours because I skipped so much. I definitely gave it a chance and now I regret wasting even 1 minute of my time on this nonsense.

Also, all the characters are just so shallow? Whether it be the ML's sister or grandmother (I saw people commenting non-problematic in-laws but how is it non-problematic when she is allowing the sister to bully her so openly?) or that doctor friend of the FL or even that villain female co-actor. Oh, once again, let's not forget the FL's character. ML and his brother's characters seem to be the only sane ones so far but the acting is so poor on them as well.

I'll just copy my own comment here from one of the replies I made:
1. Why is the actress talking like that? I've lived in China and seen many Chinese shows. Chinese women do not talk like that. I don't know why they have to baby her down so much. It is not attractive at all.

2. I absolutely hate it when shows do this but what's with the FL having no self-respect? Is she not a famous actor? Like her acting does not suit her own supposed character. She can do so much better than a random doctor but yet we see her shamelessly throwing herself at him. It's a different story if they showed anything special that made her fall for him. Here, it literally starts with an apparent eye contact when she was under the influence of drugs??? Makes no absolute sense!

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A nice throwback to old-school beautiful romance

I do not watch many ongoing shows and this one reminded me why once again. It was such a pain to wait one whole week for new episodes, thank god it's a short series. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this show and I'm sad that it's ending so soon.

First things first, as I said in a comment earlier, I'm actually someone who does not enjoy romance dramas a lot. I need a little more to the story in terms of mystery/suspense/business/friendship or just anything that would not make it just plain old romance. But these days, the South Korean entertainment scene has changed so much that there aren't really many plain old good romance dramas that this feels like such a fresh breath of air and it did not let me down in terms of the story, characters, acting or the music as well.

What I love about this show is that it broke all those usual tropes and I'm all for it. No toxic female friendship considering they share a love interest. I actually love this fresh take on the friendship between the women where they are so so supportive, so amazing. And not just them, but friendship in general. They have portrayed such a beautiful and supportive friendship between the three of them (even five, in a way) and it has been so pleasant to watch. The second trope they break is communication. The characters communicate with one another. Whether it be between parents, or between friends or lovers, they talk to each other. Sure, they might take some time, but they communicate without fear of the response. So happy to see so many healthy relationships in this drama. Third, until now, although the ML's mother does not support their relationship (for maybe selfish reasons), you do not see her causing harm to the FL. So, she does not come across as an evil villain. Fourth, the perfect balance between flashbacks and reality. They do not delve into the flashbacks so much that it becomes boring. One of the rare shows where I did not fast forward even once.

I quite like how they have a coherent story without loose ends and I'm really enjoying the great acting by this bunch of people. It's my first time seeing some of them and it's been very nice. I really like the cute chemistry between both the couples on the show. I also enjoy some comic moments a lot, it does not have unnecessary angst or melodrama - something I was expecting going into it tbh. Maybe that has something to do with the limited episode format.

I'm at crossroads with whether I like the length of the show or not. While it is perfect in the sense that had they increased the episode count, it might have lost some of its positives and maybe indulged in tropes, but I enjoyed their story so much that I just can't help wanting more.

It's a very happy, interesting and beautiful watch. Quite easygoing as well. Would definitely recommend this to my friends! :)

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An engaging plot developed alongside a healthy, beautiful romance

Full Disclosure: I watched this show as the new episodes were released and dropped this at Episode 10. It took me over 3 weeks to muster the courage to watch thereafter and completely hated Episode 11. But the redemption thereafter was enough to bring this show back into my list of favourites for various reasons. :)

1. The Aspect of Romance
This show is not for everyone. As a person who absolutely loves slice-of-life dramas and slow-burn romance, this show was absolutely perfect. Furthermore, there were certain aspects I was expecting, knowing the history of this team with shows like One Spring Night (my absolute favourite) and Something in the Rain (a show I eventually put on indefinite hold). I actually never thought that the romance was too little or started only at a particular time because for me even the start had enough romance to build the impactful storyline. Romance for me does not mean only passionate scenes. Supporting one another, respecting one another and having a healthy relationship classify more as romance for me, which is why I loved this one. This is one of those rare East Asian shows where however much I prepared myself for a break-up, it didn't come. No unnecessary fights, ugly breakups, bad second leads or mean in-laws. Just a very healthy, communicative and modern/mature relationship and I'm all for it. Having said that, if you do not like slow-burn romance with stories that have a topic other than the clueless romance, you WILL 100% NOT LIKE this show.

2. Acting by the Actors
I have to say, the acting by everyone was really great here. The villains made me hate them to the core, we saw character development for some really great characters like Mr. Pyo, Ms Nam and Jun Ho. And the chemistry between the main leads was absolutely phenomenal. I am in love with this pairing and I'm so happy with how nicely they've delivered. I was never out of touch with them, even when I was absolutely frustrated with them. I have laughed, cried and enjoyed with these actors and I cannot fault any of them, to be honest, in their acting.

3. OST
One thing I was looking forward to with this show was the tranquil English OST - something this team is well-known for. And my god, did they absolutely deliver. Right out of the park. What a stunning, soothing and peaceful OST collection. I absolutely loved it. I mean, I love Korean/Chinese OSTs so much, but it's so much better when I can actually understand the song and get double the feels in that perfect melody at the time of watching itself instead of googling the translation later.

4. The Storyline
I actually quite enjoyed the story of the show and I believe it was quite decently written and narrated. One, it was a somewhat fresh concept that provides good insights into the education system of Korea - a topic that although covered before, is not mainstream. So, I appreciated the use of a new concept instead of rehashing those same old cliches. Second, I liked how other than the politics, there were no unnecessary tropes in the show like cunning second leads, memory loss, or even mean in-laws. It was a very non-problematic show in that sense and nothing seemed like not needed to me. I also quite liked how all the characters have been written, I enjoyed most of them other than the FL. I also liked how everyone had their individuality and how all the individual stories tied in together. As someone who does not appreciate romance without good plots, I was very very satisfied with the plot here which was strong enough to keep me going and enjoying the romance, I often drop shows with stellar chemistry if the plot is lame af. So clearly, I have a preference for a stronger plot, and this show had just that!

5. Insufferable FL at times
If everything is so nice, then why a lower score? Because of the FL's character. In many instances, I found the FL to be manipulative, cunning and also downright demeaning when it came to the other characters like the ML and Mr Pyo. She was quite narcissistic in her behaviour and as I've said in the comments before came off as insecure about her job. The last part was further corroborated by how she talked about her job in the last episode, and her dissatisfaction with her work was leading her to be hypocritical to others like Mr Pyo, who honestly has been shown to be a great teacher. As for the ML, she has been downright insulting towards him multiple times. And while I call this relationship healthy and mature, it's only because, in reality, such issues do emerge in a relationship. It's how they tackled it together and did not give each other up for their own egos that stood out for me. But that does not mean that how the FL was acting was acceptable in any sense. She was the reason I dropped this show for a while.

6. Ending
Another aspect that leads me to deduct points is the ending. While it was really great and sensible for the main leads, I just do not see how it is a complete ending in any sense for all the other parties involved. As I recently noticed in another show, an open ending is a very different concept from what we see here, which is much more incomplete than open. An open ending is what we had in Marriage Contract where you know all the facts and then leave things to the imagination. But here, so many plot holes remain at the ending that you would be left to imagine so many possibilities on your own to come up with an ending for yourself. That is never a sign of an open ending or a good ending. It just seems super rushed, not well thought out and leaves me with a deep feeling of being robbed of a great drama. You do not know what happened to the two ladies in terms of business since that was the main plot (other than the possible lawsuit part), if the instructors stayed or left, how the academies were impacted, where Jun Ho stands, and so much more. All we know is that the leads are together and she is pursuing her goals. NOT ENOUGH!

All in all, it is a great and entertaining watch that will make you love and hate parts of it at the same time, that is, keep you engaged throughout. My favourite character is Jun Ho (who is so mature and did I say hot) and Mr Pyo (who had the best character development tbh). I have enjoyed both of them thoroughly. The show while had its flaws, is one of the better ones that I've watched. It is a must-watch for everyone who enjoys this genre! Love it!

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