bokminthe

This should have been 16 episodes

I'm overall being a tiny bit generous with my rating because I think we need more romcoms like this, that have some unique elements that set them apart from other more straightforward and simple ones. But as someone that has read the webtoon, I can only say that it was close to there, but not quite.

Overall this show is a very good adaptation of the webtoon and everything is more or less there, including a rushed ending, what was the most disappointing aspect of the webtoon.
Characters are pretty close and all the actors did a very good job in their portrayals. I think my only complaint in this matter when it comes to the main characters is the change of Seon Ho to more possessive and jealous towards the end, what even themselves point out in the last episode how out of character it was for him to do that, what it totally was, and it's not how he develops in the original material (or their whole relationship for that matter, not necessarily bad here but much better in the webtoon in my opinion, it's different).

When it comes to secondary characters I do have a few more complaints. I think that overall everything is there once again, but the problem is that they didn't develop most of the side characters much, what I can understand being 12 episodes and reason why it should have been 16 ideally. All Spirit Finger's members have their backstories developed and followed (to varying degrees). I knew from the start they would butcher Black Finger's character because kdramas need to be mainstream and gods forbid you have a punk/kuro lolita on a TV series *cry*.
This actually leads me overall to the aesthetic changes of the overall drama. I understand it from mainstream society standards, don't get me wrong, but it's still disappointing nonetheless. I'm glad they half kept Ji Geong's like for pink and his sleeping bag, but I also wanted way more edgy alternative clothing when he's modelling than what he wore, he could be sooo cool and edgy, it was a MOOD!!! (in fact I missed this of his whole personality, a stronger duality between being cool and edgy at times and so dumb and lost at others). Them trying to sell me "wow look what a model" while wearing a plain suit was extremely boring. I really need some kdramas that start showing more unsanitised and alternative fashion and surroundings. I know it exists in Korea so why are we always presented with the same old same... (even more so in romcoms).

For me though, probably one of the most frustrating aspects of the adaption of this series is FL's mother, and especially what they did there at the end. Her essence is there, but they tried so hard to redeem her and show once again this filial piety thing and I absolutely despise it. Yes, FL's parents do change a tiny bit at the end of the webtoon (more like they surrender a bit), making a bit of effort, but it's not by any means in the way it's portrayed here, especially when it comes to the mother. She's a massive covert narcissist that uses FL as the scapegoat while considers her sons the golden children. She lives off of using their praise as food for her ego (let's remember here that, despite her complaints, FL is second in class, and in the webtoon she was happy when FL's friend moves to Germany so she can finally be first). It's a quite classic narcissistic family dynamic they have and it's one of the things I found interesting from the webtoon for being quite accurate in its representation. Trying to change the mother to being more attached, more emotional and more understanding to try and redeem her misses the point on so many levels and it doesn't give the best of examples if someone relates to FL because of her situation. Yes, the portrayal is quite good, but they changed some things that basically contradict her personality and the way she does things.
This also brings me to the fact that while I understand choosing not to portray the younger brother's obsessive struggle that develops throughout the series, it does also tie to the mother and the family dynamics. And why did they decide to make the older brother interested in photography? They wanted FL to relate to him and it's fair, but I like more the original idea of them not relating and showing the struggle from both parts wanting to be closer to one another but not being able to because of the family dynamics and the barrier that it's the mother.

There are other details related to the story that were changed from the webtoon that well, I can give a pass and I understand because of constraints, but some others did rub me the wrong way simply because they were only changed to follow certain mainstream Korean standards, like for example the fact the talk about makeup and not needing it was changed to show them being way more lenient to the beauty standards and have a scene of them looking at makeup. It's the little things that were changed to follow the mainstream ideals instead of what the webtoon was trying to communicate.
As is, if compared with other kdramas, this is great, but it's difficult to not compare it to the source material when that went the extra mile to show and portray certain things in better ways (in my opinion).

I liked they kept the magic realism as is when it comes to the rooms and the mystery of the café, that I'm very thankful for, as well as the overall dynamics of the club and them dressing in different clothes and, even if left more superficial, that all Spirit Fingers characters are there and the same in essence.

Overall it's a good adaptation, very entertaining, funny, unique, the development of FL as a central point in the story is there and all the elements worked in cohesion and with coherence. I would recommend watching this if you like romcom and whimsical and a FL that is not a damsel in distress and that grows and learns throughout the series paired with not your typical ML and interesting secondary characters.
The webtoon is still better, but this is very good too.

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Who was this made for?

That's what I'm wondering after watching this.
Was it made for the manga readers? NO.
Was it made for the general public? I don't think so, since it's a collection of scenes without any reason or sense whatsoever and unless you have read the manga you won't be able to link things and fill in the gaps.

I was watching some random show days ago and the plot made me remember Parfait Tic the manga because it shared a couple of similarities and I fancied rereading it. I found out in the process that there was a live action version of the manga. I decided to watch it after rereading the manga, what shouldn't have done.

I need to point out that the manga is not great despite its popularity, and I hadn't reread it since I did first back in the 00s as it came out. My expectations were already very low with this adaptation before starting it because it's a trend with adapted mangas, I think I've only seen a couple of good ones ever. Alas, what made me reread the manga was mostly remembering Daiya as a character because I liked him and because it's one of those rare occasions where the main character chooses the secondary male interest instead of the obvious more main one.

I feel I need to sum up a bit the manga to point out at the same time why this adaptation is so pointless and bad.
For starters, they have, I guess, tried to fit in 10 episodes of around 20 minutes (and they repeat scenes what it's the cherry on top of insulting if you ask me) a total of 22 volumes of the manga. Sure, the manga, especially in the second half slows down and goes melodramatic and dragging but the funny and ironic part is that they have focused here on the more drama and melodramatic moments of the whole series than anything, it's a whiplash of melodrama scene after another. This show, like it has happened with many other shōjo manga adaptations, has gone for a dramatic take on the plot instead of the romcom it should be. Most of the manga, taking those dramatic moments, are more pure romcom, with a clear comedy inclination.
I was trying to think what they have done right in here but it's pretty much nothing. I guess they deserve some praise for not including homophobic and fatphobic comments as well as keeping the gender stereotypes a bit on hold (barely). I thought they would avoid them completely being 2018 and considering everything they cut from the show but hey! there is always space for some gender stereotypes in the mix! I guess they also made Ichi surprisingly more bearable (what might come as a surprise to people but he's one of the worst romantic interests in a manga ever for me).
This show is like it all happened in about a couple of weeks, it's very cheaply made and acting is pretty bad too. I thought the timeline was already fast enough in the manga (about a year and a couple of months or so) but here they said "hold my beer".
Now, a simple sum up of the plot of the manga will already highlight the many things that this adaptation gets wrong (and sorry it's so long but it's 22 volumes!!):

Fuuko is in many ways the typical shōjo manga main character, she's clumsy, bad at studies and yada yada. One of her characteristics is that she's very passionate about her hairstyle, hair in general. It's the reason she has it long and wears a different hairstyle every day (shoutout the day she wore it in a poo shape) . She's also very fond of children and keeps the local kids entertained and plays with them constantly, she's almost like a part time volunteer nanny. I guess that this alone can already explain why she chooses that career path in the end, she specifically wants to work with hair and with children. The show made a terrible job at showing this. Her age at the start of the manga is 15, 16 at the end before the 2 years time jump.
Now, although the series did show the key points of the manga, the more melodramatic moments that is, it misses way too much for the timeline to make sense. Fuuko gets a crush on Daiya first (no, they don't go to the snow, they actually make their way to where they were supposed to go, the zoo, and find their classmates there). It's a crush!!! not a deep love or anything. Fuuko kinda gets pressured by people around her to confess to Daiya even though she was not feeling ready. Daiya rejects her saying, like in the show although in a different way, that he doesn't know what love is and doesn't seem interested to know, he has fun messing around with different girls. I can't even start to illustrate what a womanizer this guy is, he's constantly flirting and getting attention of girls, and it's something that in shōjo makes of him quite interesting as a romantic interest since it's not (or wasn't at the time) very common. Fuuko cries for a few days and feels down about being rejected, but since it was a crush it's not more than that. Soon enough she's able to get back her relationship with Daiya to friend level and it develops from there. This is important, their friendship, to understand the development of the plot later on. Point here that the show managed to give a few of the actions and lines of Fuuko to other characters, especially Daiya, what is kind of annoying as development of the main character. Sure, she's the kind of damsel in distress more often than not, but she's also stubborn and is able to stand her ground and show a lot of initiative. The dog situation in the show is not like in the manga, what would be fine if it wasn't because they tried so hard to make it so much more melodramatic and give points to Daiya that should go to Fuuko. In the manga the dog is abandoned, it's not anyone's. Daiya helps Fuuko the same way, but also she's aware the poster was made by Ichi (after Daiya pushed him to do it btw) and it's Fuuko who receives a call from someone interested and tells the other two that she achieved it (and no sad daddy issues story here, Fuuko's father is present in the manga). This is important because Ichi would until that point heavily underestimate Fuuko's willpower.
From that point the friendship of the three develops and slowly Fuuko starts to develop more feelings for Ichi (who was already having a crush for her when she had feelings for Daiya). With Daiya there is a development of deep friendship, they're like best friends, always hanging together and playful. They see each other pretty much every single day. Fuuko's feelings for Ichi develop deep for quite a few months, I'm theorising here because there is no a clear timeline in the manga of this, but I would say it's probably at least 4-5 months or so? Anyway, at the same time, Daiya is starting to fall in love with Fuuko too but he's overall still very clueless about what he's feeling and ultimately he's not acting on it nor feeling like he has any right to intervene on Fuuko's or Ichi's feelings, it's around this time he also stops being interested in flirting and going out with other girls. The point where the manga introduces the character of Iori is when it starts going quite messy and weird and not sure what the author was thinking to be honest and that can also be seen in the series, only that the time this happens is way reduced. Ichi and Fuuko have mutual feelings but they're not officially a couple or going out when Iori appears. Ichi completely drops Fuuko, I can't fully explain the level of ice water bucket that whole ordeal is. Obviously Fuuko is heartbroken, we're talking like love level feelings, it wasn't a crush like with Daiya and the guy just drops her like nothing and starts ignoring her for Iori as soon as she appears, he skips class to be with her, stays out until super late, etc (pointing out here once again they're 16, Iori is 21 and because Ichi's family knows what happened is also the reason Iori lost her job in the company). During this time Daiya is there for Fuuko picking the pieces and being with her every single moment and trying to make her feel better for weeks. He's obviously inexperienced and probably his main flaw as a person is that he goes way too strong, and so he confesses to Fuuko and asks her out when she's still mourning her feelings for Ichi, and Fuuko agrees later (not immediately) because ultimately is not like all the feelings she had for Daiya had disappeared anyway, she still found him appealing. So they start dating. Daiya is super attentive, always there (the bracelet was the White Day present for her from him, the "snowflake" is a heart in the manga, he says is "his heart" giving it to her, what highlights a lot more the importance and the symbology she applies to losing it later and she spends so many days looking for it too btw). He's basically like perfect boyfriend material. Fuuko starts forgetting Ichi, who by that point has realised Iori doesn't see him in the same way, like in the show. He was expecting during his peak Iori phase that Fuuko would be there waiting for him or something? Seriously Ichi character is so much worse in the manga than in here. Anyway, Daiya and Fuuko have a really good relationship, they're best friends and a couple, really good if you ask me. But author made Fuuko still have feelings for Ichi and care for him even after all the ordeal and everything and the drama in the last few volumes is so unnecessary of her basically not committing to the relationship with Daiya fully, probably just to create drama. In here not sure what they did with the ending and why Daiya breaks up with her. It's confusing because they haven't explained properly the why since they made Fuuko say things that she doesn't say in the manga, if she had in the manga said those things then the breakup wouldn't have happened, and that's the problem. Basically the whole drama at the end in the manga is based on miscommunication as usual, since Fuuko hadn't said to Daiya she actually loved him, so from Daiya perspective and considering they started the relationship with him fully aware that she still had feelings for Ichi, he still thinks the situation hasn't changed, he can't take being with Fuuko anymore thinking she's still in love with Ichi and not him and that's the reason, as well as the reason he is the one to decide to go to China (in the manga they have to decide among the two of them, there isn't a pressure from the parents other than them having to decide who of the two will go). The scene with the taxi at the end is so ridiculous and not sure why they didn't keep it like the manga, it was in the train station and Ichi getting on is actually a funny moment, especially when the other two say something in the lines of "where is he going, he doesn't have a passport or anything anyway" lol

Now, Ichi, not that we learn much of him here anyway, but I feel the need to point out why he's so problematic, as in his character. From day one he's the incarnation of the trope "boys that make your life hell is because they like you". He spends his days insulting Fuuko quite badly, from calling her ugly, dumb, fat, etc, to being there to provoke her at any given moment. Even after he's already confessed to her he continues this behaviour of berating her, how endearing! Then he pulls the Iori thing what is one the lowest moves ever to then consistently openly trying to sabotage and meddle in Daiya and Fuuko's relationship, telling them directly he's doing so btw. He's a piece of crap to me and I'll always be angry that nor the manga nor this adaptation called him out on his shenanigans and that Fuuko still cared so much about him even after all the ordeal he put her through, made no sense.

Side characters? To me, some of the best characters in the manga, apart from Daiya, are secondary, like Akio and Isobe and their cute relationship. Fuuko's friends also have a much bigger role in the manga. I get they didn't have time/money, but almost they could have skipped it all if they were just going to do it this way. If they had gone the romcom like they should there would have been many funny moments, like Daiya and Isobe singing in the festival? or Daiya singing a love confession for Fuuko in front of everyone? the couple's camping? Characters that were also interesting that don't appear here, like Fuuko's sister fully, Ichi's sister, Ichi and Daiya's mothers, the grandparents (the grandfather is like an old version of Daiya, he's a womanizer too, and they're the ones hosting the Christmas party for the whole class! what I found very funny).
I feel the main problem with shōjo manga adaptations is that they don't want to commit to the natural behaviour the characters should have, maybe that's the reason they go drama instead, but it completely loses the charm and they shouldn't bother in doing the series altogether.
I think that bit of banter at the end of the series after the two years jump was more in line of the spirit of the manga than the whole of the series.

I can understand some of the changes that worked better for filming and whatnot (they played tennis, didn't do dancing) but others I simply can't understand and for such a short series they shouldn't even have done it. It's like they wanted to refer to the manga but not fully and the result is a sped up mess.

They shouldn't have bothered, can't recommend. If you like the sum up of the story go read the manga instead.

P.S: As a knitter I have to give a shoutout to the knitting scene, what the hell. I know it's a detail but the manga also did this better. The hat she makes was amateur as it should and the point is that she put way so much effort into doing it and Daiya liked it anyway even though it was roughly made. Here the girl was shown how to knit and two seconds later did a hat with cables and all? Had my eyes rolling.

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A lot worse than S1. If there is a S3 you can skip this one and not miss much at all.

While I didn't think season 1 was a masterpiece at the time since it did suffer of some plot problems in terms of explanations and execution, it is a masterpiece if compared with season 2.

Season 1 had a very good setting and a motive, even if somewhat very generic and never explored enough in my opinion.
I still don't really understand the reason of creating the monsters, evolution or some powers is not worth the hassle, especially from a capitalistic standpoint, they lose more than they gain, immortality might be the only real perk here but potentially killing everyone around you when you cut your finger with the kitchen knife is not worth the immortality in my opinion.
The motives of the bad guys are never fully explained and fall into the very generic category, either just because or because wanting to save X person.

Season 2 main problem is the plot and its execution. First of all like many others have said there are way too many plotholes and I don't think they'll tackle them in a potential season 3. They had the time to show things but they didn't. Of the 7 episodes about 4-5 are just a mess of getting back to the point where we were at the end of season 1, sprinkled with some flashbacks that didn't add much in terms of explanation of the most important things. We're not even told fully well what happened a year prior, nor how the relationship of ML developed with Seung Jo, we're told a bit but not shown. This is a repetitive occurrence in this season, we're told things but not shown.
The setting in season 1 was interesting both historically and cinematographically, here it completely lost the charm it had between the warm tones and the grittiness of the hospital and changed to just dark. Someone please turn the light on!!! This is a problem in many Hollywood productions nowadays, they're recorded very dark to the point at moments you can't tell what is happening in the scene, here they used the same idea and butchered the balance it previously had.
The monsters are very underutilised. There was a reason for it to be there in season 1 because of FL's mother and the general plot, here it feels like they were put there at the end for the sake of not receiving complains there were none, but nothing more. I still don't know more about these creatures than I did in season 1, they seem to be conscious to a certain extent so why would they do what their captors want anyway. I'm a monster and instead of attacking whoever is being put there for me I would just continuously try to break free and kill who did it. Season 1 certainly had more nuance in this aspect but season 2 seems to have gone backwards.

One of the things that annoyed me the most about season 2 is how background character they made the FL. Sure, she's there in body and does some cool fighting scenes but her essence feels pretty off most of the season and she was mostly relegated to damsel in distress. I still don't understand this, she's supposed to be better fighter than ML (sure, he has caught up in the years) and you would think that having her mother's najin (what seems to be kind of special in some way) would put her at an advantage over others, yet they made ML way more powerful than her and he's the one fighting all the bad guys. We're at no point told or shown what kind of najin he was given either for this to be this way. It was disappointing, even more considering that with her memories erased at the end they made her a girly girl??????? Where is this coming from!!!? ML didn't have his memories for a big part of season 2 but he was still mostly himself in his ways and personality (although generally not so much the same personality he had in S1), but with her she lost completely everything that made her herself.
I liked ML in season 1 because it felt like it was this somewhat cocky guy that found himself in a mess and was doing the best he could in the situation but here they decided to make him a superhero basically, and the main problem is not even that he's that way but the fact that we missed and are not shown how he got to that, he simply is now.

I don't have much opinion about their romance since for me it's just base ok, but repeating the plot and dragging their love misery gets old quickly, as in, it was already exhausted in the first season so I didn't want nor needed to see more or less the same love plot in season 2.
Seung Jo was very underutilised and the background stories of the other villains were also very nonexistent here. Can't even begin with those ninja najin mutants that had their heads covered. Imagine having extra good sight and covering your eyes just because of the fashion purposes of your master. Sir, you want the job done or aesthetics? I guess it's the second.
The action parts were good, but they were also dragged for the sake of it trying to show off. It almost reminded me of when I watched Aquaman, it's an action with some sprinkles of plot in-between and here it felt a lot like that too.
Season 1 certainly had more of a plot and there was more exploration of characters, they also felt all more unique. Here they become more the generic dichotomy of superhero series/movies bad guys vs good guys. Sure, they tried to make Seung Jo more of a grey character but with his background character very erased from the plot except for a few flashbacks that don't explore enough and don't let you connect with him, he's just a villain to all effects here.
I found the character of Lady Maeda interesting in the first season, if ultimately disappointing in her, again, dichotomy of character, but in season 2 is just plain boring and very background. I couldn't wait for her to die (if indeed she has that is) but once she did I even thought it was unsatisfactory considering the amount of stuff she had done.

Funny enough, despite all its flaws it's still entertaining at times and the reason for my rating. It's watchable as an action series with nearly zero brains in the plot, don't ask questions. I think if there is a season 3 it might be worse than this one, clearly they're going for an apocalypse type setting with mass killings, what means even more action and less brains.

I think if there is indeed a season 3 you can skip the 2nd altogether, you only need to know that FL and ML found each other and that she had her najin from the end of season 1 removed. Watch the 2 minutes prologue of the last episode of season 2 and you're set.

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Entertaining and good pace generally but frustrating FL and I wish for more growth

Overall it's an entertaining drama and acting is good.
Watching it now (2024) was certainly a nostalgia trip for me, I was shocked how similar their university campus was to mine. The cafeteria, the corridors, the classes, the material of the walls, pillars, railings... wow! It was bringing back so many memories.
The story was interesting in the beginning and I enjoyed the slice of life presented here, the relationships between the characters and the development of their friendship. It's not a very different or unique plot, it's very average but it doesn't make it less enjoyable.
One thing of the plot that was a bit more unrealistic was the coincidences when it comes to the ML knowing sign language and how many people around Sae seems to know it, learn it or pick it quite quickly, but could be worse.

When it comes to the characters I liked all of them in the beginning but I wish we got equal development of Keita as the others in the group, he was left more as a secondary character than anything and not much it's done with him sadly.
On the other hand, while I enjoyed the premise and start of Sae as a character, as the show progressed I grew more and more frustrated with her as well as her dynamic with Kai. Sae was very selfish and although she's called out on it multiple times by Kai (I applauded this) she really doesn't change. There is very little progression of her character in terms of personality and maturity. Kai is the naive nice guy that keeps chasing a girl that has too many issues that in my opinion should tackle before dragging him in and out of her life every time she has an outburst. Towards the later episodes it became annoying to watch and I was really hoping they wouldn't end up together, I thought it was the healthiest for both of them.
In my opinion they didn't work well as a couple nor they had that much chemistry to begin with, at points Kai seemed more her therapist than her love interest. Kai kept showing interest continuously for her, but she kept changing her thoughts for him constantly and many times she was just very stiff standing there doing nothing.
I liked more the secondary couple even though their story is not as deeply explored, but it was cute.

Sae's mother was also quite annoying to watch at times. In earlier episodes she was almost treating Sae as she was a guest in her house, saying things like that she could stay X amount of time longer in the house before becoming independent and so on. She came across as the detached mother that wants her kid out of the house as soon as they turn 18 (or university in this case). But then later on she's super clingy, wanting her to go to Germany with her, meddling between her and Kai and trying to marry her off to the guy she likes... It was weird and inconsistent and considering how selfish Sae was, the mother barely receives any of her rude answers or tantrums.

I enjoyed it for the most part because of the nostalgia, the friendships and most of the characters. It's an easy watch and I would recommend if you like slice of life.
The romance here it's not the fireworks/sparkles type if you're looking for that, it's a slower progression generally speaking.

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Basic entertainment

For those that have watched the anime, you'll be disappointed. For those that haven't, it's entertaining enough if you go with low expectations.
I'm somewhere in-between. I watched the anime growing up but I was never a massive fan of it, I generally found this type of anime where fights take episodes to be a basic ok but not much more for me. I liked the world building the most. But alas, I felt the nostalgia and I didn't have anything else to watch at the moment so I decided to check it out.

I don't understand though why they decided to even make this series if they were only going to bother making 5 episodes. It's a case of if you don't have really the budget maybe don't butcher a series with thousands of fans?

I had low expectations since from the trailer it felt cheap and because usually live actions are always pretty bad compared with the original material. It happens here too as expected.
Some of the costuming, and especially the wigs, are cheap and made it look worse than it could have been. CGI was about passable. If CGI has to be immaculate for you then I would say give this a miss.
Acting was ok at some points, at others it was not great, with actors being just standing there expressionless.
Characters are very underdeveloped, I guess can't be asked more for a 5 episode series but it still was disappointing nonetheless. I also think overall it would have been better in my opinion if they had a retro feeling to the whole thing and had more accurate hair to the anime.

Points go because is generally cohesive and the story flows despite the gaps in it and in the characters development, because the action/fighting is entertaining enough and because it's generally passable as a whole.

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Entertaining and easy-watch

I came to this drama with zero expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. It's entertaining, it's an easy watch and it's more mature than other shows I've seen recently and I very much welcome it.
It's not one of those overly cheesy, love-explosion dramas, so if you're looking for something like that this is not it. The relationship here grows step by step, flowing from dislike to tolerating one another to friends to love.
FL is a strong character, so if you prefer delicate/weak female characters then this drama will not be for you.

There are a few things I found to be a bit lacking but I understand because of its run time. I think overall the length was good and if it had been longer it would have dragged way too much story wise. The start felt a bit not so interesting to me but then it picked up. Last two episodes are a bit dragged and unnecessary in a way, and it's clear they're there to create the final drama.
Characters are good and more typical of romcom, so not a lot of nuances are presented in them, it's kept light.

I don't think this drama was presented as a "all men are bad, all women are good" at all, there were plenty of good men in the show apart from the main two leads, even the FL's ex was not presented as a complete jerk despite of cheating and they remain friends throughout the drama. Except for maybe a couple of comments all coworkers at the firm were also nice and welcoming.
FL has flaws and they're presented in the drama, FL's friend had also flaws and in fact she was a bit tiring with her back and forth when it came to the second ML. The first girlfriend of ML also had many flaws as did the actress FL represented legally. People be seeing a strong FL and already give a tag and run with it...

I liked the relationship of the two ML in the beginning, very healthy bromance, and I kind of wanted more of that, it was cute, but it was soon put to the side.
I did think second ML had more charisma and more depth in his character than the ML, I find this tends to happen in this type of romcoms, they want ML to be perfect so they give more realism and nuance to the friend, what is a shame.
A couple of things that irked me a bit were that the turning point of the show is a gay scandal (I get it, it's Korea afterall, but...) and the trope of "you're not like other men/women".
That being said, I have to applaud this drama for tackling a bit certain aspects of patriarchy and abuse in a country where sexism, gender inequality and domestic violence are high. Sure, it could be better, and it could be sooooo much more in-depth, but considering they're walking a fine line and that it's not the main plot of the drama, it's still commendable.

I think the ML and FL were a good fit together. Not so much the second couple, but mostly because of the way they decided to portray that relationship than the characters themselves. Do Won Joon didn't seem that much into Shin Na Eun, and she was into him but the way of showing it was anticlimactic and a bit of a mess.

Overall I would recommend, it's easy watchable, not long and it's entertaining.

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The cliché of amnesia as plot device

The good thing for me in this drama was the music, as someone that has listened to Hikaru Utada for decades. That's where it ends.

The cinematography (landscapes, mood, light, colours) was good and I enjoyed some of the scenes purely because of it but it's not enough to recommend this drama to anyone.
The story is based on the very cliché amnesia trope, I was hoping I wouldn't have to see that plot device used again ever but here I am. Everything else is pretty much destroyed for me because of that, everything becomes absurd and ridiculous and very easily solvable but they keep hammering their heads against a wall in veeeery slow motion, because the show is quite slow (and I say this as someone that enjoys slow shows/movies when they're done with grace and purpose). This show could have been a film, would have been better.
I get they're trying to appeal to the nostalgia of that type of shows, amnesia trope was so overused in late 90s and early 00s in everything so I had my fair dose of it and got very tired.
Something that also irked me was the zero resemblance of the main character with her younger self, I could kind of see it or imagine it with him, but her younger self was just complete opposites and made no sense.
I liked more the little story they showed of the son with the dancer.

Overall I regret wasting the time watching it, but it also brought me down memory lane with the music. That being said, I still would have preferred to spend my time listening to the music alone than watching it (because it's not like they used all her music for the show either so it did get a bit repetitive in that aspect as well). So, unless you like amnesia as a plot device I can't recommend.

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Pleasant ride that got bumpy

I like a good romcom and slice of life, it's of the genres I enjoy the most, but I very much dislike melodrama, and this show at points wanted to cross the line for the simple fact of having something to tackle in the plot. This was not necessarily bad and compared with other dramas I think it's was done quite ok, but there are certain elements in the execution of those situations that were lacking for me.
But first of all I would like to talk about the positives:

I liked the characters and I enjoyed that they were generally rounded and each had their own positives and negatives.
I know that Seok Ryu has received a lot of hate for her personality or the way she acted in the romantic moments. For me personally the only thing I disliked the most is the way how they made her roughhouse his brother and ML. I get they wanted to portray that closeness and with ML specifically that almost sibling kind of relationship but it was certainly a bit jarring and unrealistic for her age. Otherwise I could relate with her in many aspects both in her family dynamics as well as ending up being used in work environments because of working well and being a perfectionist. I totally get her. I also understood her reasons for not telling her family about the cancer considering how they treated her and the expectations put on her, she couldn't be weak and she didn't want to disappoint. This kind of upbringing just basically ends up giving you anxiety. When you become that level independent that you don't ask for help even when you're physically suffering it also takes effort to warm up to people around you, even those that technically you knew for your whole life. She might have been best friends with Seung Hyo, but that doesn't mean he actually knew the ins and outs of her that well. For that reason as well it totally makes sense from writing a character like her that she would need the time to get into the relationship fully, the weariness of something potentially going wrong or how much you can trust the person you like. I think overall her relationship with Seung Hyo and how it starts is very realistic and it's a breath of fresh air in terms of romantic developments in dramas because most times it's either love at first sight head over heels for someone, or if someone is shown as more reserved and initially distant is the guy, because it looks "cool" in society for guys to be that way.
I also loved the storyline of Seok Ryu quitting what she did previously and searching for what she wanted to do now and her growth to get there. That thing at the end when she's using her previous skills in programming for her restaurant was chef's kiss for me. That feeling that even the so called mistakes can come in handy at some point in the future. As someone in a complicated situation right now, it warmed my heart a bit.
Many people has also called Seok Ryu selfish for not telling about the cancer to anyone, both characters in the series like ML himself as well as viewers, but let me flip it, isn't it selfish to expect anyone to tell you they have cancer? It's their life and their privacy. I think it's selfish to be angry at someone for not satisfying your need to know and process it the way you want when it's the other person the one actually suffering. He was putting his emotions and his right to know above her pain (although this doesn't make his feeling not valid obviously). Also she tried to contact ML multiple times during that period and he never picked up the phone. I don't think anyone owes anything to a friend or family member that only wants to know the news if you're ill but they're not part of your life for the rest of it. There are so many times people can reach out to others before they understand they're ultimately alone and they have to deal with things alone, and FL be like that here, her independence and reluctance to reach out is because she has been burn out many times already. It's difficult in that situation to rely on others and open up. And this applies to her parents as well since they have repeatedly proven, especially the mother, that they only care about her success and her doing the expected thing.

It's a bit more difficult for me to say what I liked about Seung Hyo, I think his overall journey was interesting between what he wanted to be versus what he ended up doing because of his injury. His personality was frustrating at times and there are certain things that at points annoyed me a bit, like his jealousy. Yet, most of my complains about his personality added to the authenticity of his character and the realness of imperfection, but that doesn't take from the fact I do think he had some things to tackle that are a bit of a problem.

I really liked how the ex story line was tackled. Not only because finally we have a drama where the main characters have exes (sure, there are others but seriously I can't even remember the last one), putting an end to the overused troupe of 30+ years old character that has had no relationships ever and is waiting for the ML/FL of the drama, but also because of how the whole story line was presented on both sides. I enjoyed that Seung Hyo's ex while had certain intentions of getting him back she was not immature about it. Sure, she created a situation but was straightforward to ML about it, didn't beat around the bush and didn't get in-between the main characters, she stepped to the side in a mature way as soon as she realised the situation. I also really liked the flashbacks and the differences between what it was like and what kind of relationship they were looking for at that time compared to the present time. I liked her, and as someone that likes pottery I did enjoy her bits, I almost wish we got a main character in a drama whose main job is making pottery.
On the other hand while I do think FL's ex was quite toxic with his stalker behaviour, I did very much enjoy that their breaking and parting was not one based on typical drama and that it was acknowledged that there were still feelings there, because they just don't disappear from one day to the other. On the other hand though, I didn't like the ex much as a person. He was quite toxic with his stalker behaviour, not taking 'no' for an answer and he was very selfish in his incapability of understanding of FL's situation in the past and everything she was going through. He's the type that you tell him you're very unhappy and he tells you "just be happy then". Taking out his stalker behaviour what is crossing the line, I think his past incapability to relate or understand what the FL was going through was quite realistic as well as his automated and emotionally removed actions and responses when dealing with her cancer and her depression after.

I enjoyed the family dynamics sporadically here and there only and I also liked the relationship of the Lavender group in concept if somewhat repetitive at times with their bickering and I would have liked to see deeper or more development. I think generally it was presented quite superficially. FL's mother and ML's mother's arguments and fights were kind of boring for me and never funny.
I overall also enjoyed a lot the relationship of Mo Eum with Dan Ho and towards the end it was adorable, BUT I didn't like how Mo Eum approached her crush for him and she was very pushy and at times it felt she was crossing the line.

In things I didn't like:

- First and foremost the use of illness to excuse behaviours. It's used at least twice that I can recall and I found it quite problematic even if plausible in certain family dynamics, yet I wished for more growth.
I didn't like Seok Ryu's parents, especially her mother. I think her father was a bit of the funny airhead of the family what is ok, and I liked the insights about what he would have wanted to do in his life and what he ended up doing, but he clearly has an alcohol problem and it's never tackled at all, it's seen as the most normal thing. Points for realisticness I guess in a society where it be like that, but it's difficult to let it slide that much as a viewer.
But Seok Ryu's mother is so bad in my opinion and she never really changes in any way. The best part of her is that quirk of playing drums when angry, it was funny but everything else about her was so irritating!!! I absolutely despised that everything she had done (and by extension the father too, even if because of being an accomplice of the mother) is pushed under the rug once they know she had cancer. The mother learned absolutely nothing and she only cares about showing off and her position in the group of friends. It was not enough in my opinion, 30 years of treating your daughter like that and being the main cause of the way she is doesn't disappear because of a cancer pity party, but that's what they did. It's not even how she treats FL alone either, she treats her husband terribly as well, and spoiled her son so much that she wasn't really allowed to complain when he got into that problematic supplements business. Yet there is zero reflection or change in her, she was annoying to watch and it was annoying there wasn't any growth at all. Yet at the same time as much as I disliked it I have a feeling if they had tried to make a redemption ark it would have been pretty bad and full of excuses as usual because parents do no wrong in Korea, so maybe it's actually better they left her as she was. The father at least had a tiny bit of growth. But I still hate that the catalyst was the cancer, it was lazy and overused and overly dramatic.
Equally frustrating it was when illness (or potential one in this case) was used with ML's mother to sweep under the rug all the problems and miscommunication that had happened in their family dynamics. It was lazy in my opinion. I think if they were going to invest that much time in ML's mother as a character then there should be more direct resolutions than that. Hinting at illness for drama only is lazy writing again, and in this case the diagnosis in the end didn't even make sense seriously, it was weird. There is also never a resolution in the relationship between ML and his mother other than a couple of sentences, I think she mentions the necklace thing, that's pretty much it. It's just forgotten with the same thing of the potential illness and her falling in the woods.

- As mention previously Seung Hyo's behaviour at times was edging on problematic towards the middle of the show and although it brought a realistic and complete character I can't help but wish it was tackled more directly. I certainly think that in the course of the show Seok Ryu changed and grew more than Seung Hyo personally.

- FL's brother is not very explored but also I feel like he did the things that were expected of him in the end and they're showing me he has changed but not sure if because of the execution or what but it was hard to believe when he had spent most of the drama being a spoiled piece of work. It was unsatisfactory to me, as it was the introduction of that last minute romance with Na Yun, it felt forced even though it had already been hinted.

- As also said Mo Eum being so persistent with Dan Ho was bad, but also was they took so long to tell us Yeon Du was his niece. Mo Eum's relationship with Yeon Du was also pushy. I know that it's a big thing in Korea being with someone that already has kids and whatnot but it still baffles me, so the reaction and initial disapproval of Mo Eum's mother was kind of annoying.

- Special mention to the specific situation of FL's parents being annoyed at her towards the beginning for cancelling the wedding to the point of trying to push her to marry the guy against her will, calling him against her will, wanting to send her back to the US and the mother later trying to make her date and ultimately marry the ex. All that is obviously forgotten with the cancer but what did I watch seriously. They were treating her like she was 10 so many times, telling her what she could or not do.

- Somewhere between the resolution of the cancer/FL's ex plot and the end I found it a bit dragging at points and I do think they could have used those moments to explore deeper other things that were lacking, like anything written above.

- Generally I'm not a big fan of the childhood friends to lovers. I do think here it was decently well because they had lives and other partners in-between but as a concept I find it too overused.

- Some of the product placement was very on the face.


I would say if you don't want any drama avoid this since at points it has more drama than romcom. If you don't like long episodes and slice of life avoid this. If you want an explosive love at first sight this is not it either.
If you like the opposite of the above then watch it, it's enjoyable although bumpy ride. At points you love it, at others it gets a bit too dramatic and at others it drags a bit before you get another loving bit. It be variable like that.
Acting is good and the main actors did great for me, but when it comes to the main two actors I might be a bit biased since I've seen them in other stuff and I generally have liked all that I've watched of them. So if you want to watch because of any of them I would say to give it a go.
I think Yun Ji On is a bit stiff at times and I can't tell if it's the character that is supposed to be that way for certain or also his acting a bit. I think all the parents did good acting but certainly my favourite was Jo Han Chul.
I rarely rewatch dramas but I probably wouldn't this one if only to not have to relive Seok Ryu's mother as well as the more overly dramatic moments.

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