bokminthe

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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