This review may contain spoilers
Definition of comfort drama
Wow, wow, wow... Where do I even begin?I was not expecting this drama to be THIS brilliant. Absolutely perfect acting, which didn't surprise me because I already knew several actors from other projects. The comedy scenes are also perfect - this drama made me laugh SO hard! It was also perfect in length at 20 episodes and duration at 1H.
I love that Hyunbin and Jiwon have so much chemistry!
Furthermore, I love that this drama makes stuntmen feel seen and appreciated.
Also, thank you so much for filming in Jeju-do - I was so glad when the characters said they were going there!
I could relate to both Joowon and La-im, and I love them a lot, but I find that there are a few inconsistencies in their characters: I think it's absolutely normal that Joowon was confused by La-im, but some of the things he told her were actually cruel, which doesn't reflect who he was - yes, he was arrogant, rude and clueless at the time, but the writers took things too far.
As for La-im, I love that they made her a complete badass, so it was completely out of character when she suddenly acted like a little girl while interacting with Oska - don't get me wrong, she could absolutely be a badass and a fangirl, but tapping her toes on the floor while talking to him was too childish; what was also out of character was the fact that she didn't refute Joowon's claim that she pretended not to want expensive stuff.
Apart from this, it was very cringe to watch the parts when we could hear their thoughts - unfortunately, dramas used to do this a lot, and it's extremely cringe because the thoughts themselves are cringe-worthy; also extremely cringe was the part when Joowon was smiling while watching La-im sleep because, again, the way he was smiling was cringe - I feel so bad for Hyunbin for having to do that, lol. But at least it only happened once!
These inconsistencies and cringe moments are the only reason why I'm not giving the drama a perfect score - fortunately, there were only a few parts when we could hear their thoughts, which means it doesn't happen often enough to lower the drama's score by more than a star. I really wish I could watch this drama on loop forever because I loved it that much... I'll watch it from time to time, but I'll simply be skipping the cringe parts, haha - this is officially my first comfort drama (along with EXO Next Door, but that one I watch for the comedy and it can't be compared to regular dramas).
[Warning: Spoilers ahead!]
I thought Joowon's mother was going to come around when she found out who La-im's father was, but she got even worse, so I thought "Maybe when they get married...", which turned into "Maybe when they have children...", and it just never happened, and it's okay that that was the writers's choice, but it was unfair to Joowon, La-im and their children - they deserved better.
I love all the kissing scenes that were gifted to us and I LOVE that Taeseon is gay! Also, the fact that having sex was mentioned as something natural in dramas from around this time and even a long time before makes stories more realistic.
In the beginning I thought I was going to hate Yoonseul, but she was actually my favourite character - I related to her the most and I fell in love with her... Joowon and La-im's story made me suffer in the last few episodes, but Yoonseul's story made me suffer the entire drama - Kim Sarang really made me feel like the pain was real, so well done to her!
Same goes for Bongho - I thought I was going to hate him, but I actually loved him and he even made me cry. I absolutely LOVE when writers create characters who look like they're going to be villains but who are actually good.
Every single actor and character was essential and awesome!
On another note, I love that we got to see Yejin at the end of the drama, hehe.
[End of spoilers]
Thank you to all the actors, writers, directors, producer, staff, everyone involved for this amazing drama! Maybe the industry will trade art for AI, but people like me will always want to see the creativity of real people only.
Hopefully you can feel the love if you're reading this and were one of the people involved!
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Definition of mixed feelings
I want to start by saying I really appreciate that this was filmed in Jeju-do and showed a lot of real-life struggles, although I wish it had gone more into the history of the island because there are aspects worth mentioning.This drama is full of amazing actors, and although the story is good, I could never rewatch it because it's just too painful - my heart broke for the main couple and their little children; Aesun had her stupid moments, though - I didn't appreciate the way she acted towards Gwanshik sometimes. Geummyeong as a teen / young adult, on the other hand, irritated me a lot because she was really ungrateful and rude to her parents. Also, speaking of a broken heart, Yeongbeom deserved SO much better...
[Warning: Spoiler ahead!]
I just can't get over the fact that Geummyeong and Yeongbeom didn't end up together - their chemistry was insane, and you could tell Yeongbeom really liked her; it would've been much better if the writers had made them stand up against his mother. Geummyeong and Cheongseop, however, had zero chemistry and their relationship just felt weird.
[End of spoiler]
In my opinion, the drama could have been better executed, but even then I'd have to skip the extremely sad parts if I rewatched it - I'm giving the rewatch value an 8/10 because I feel bad, but in reality I won't rewatch it.
Thank you to everyone involved for your hard work!
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An insult to the amazing actors in this drama
I would always see this drama come up, so I really wanted to watch it because I thought it would be great, but this is the only drama I ever dropped as soon as I finished the first episode - the characters couldn't be more problematic, I couldn't stand it. It honestly concerns me that people could watch the second episode and even think this drama was good. There are so many amazing actors in this - it was an insult to them and a waste of their talent. I usually put up with dramas, series and films until the end because I feel like I have to finish what I've started, so it's extremely rare for me to drop anything, especially after the first episode - I think that tells you everything you need to know about how I feel about this drama.Was this review helpful to you?
