crystalhydra

Archaeopteryx screech

Before I start singing odes to how I liked it, I want to have a moment of rambling. I particularly dislike when people start pointing out at tropes and routines as disadvantages, while I find it quite silly, because every genre has those, it's part of the genre after all. Rom-com doesn't pretend to be a chaser after high achievements, it should have romance, it should have comedy, if you want to watch something realistic then you definitely chose the wrong place. It's as if viewers, who are very aware of what to expect from the rom-com still manage to be surprised that what they see is what they expected (tropes and routines), but it makes them angry for some reason. But the main thing that makes a show pop is not only those, but how the entire staff, from director to screenwriters, actors, editors and everyone else manage to make the drama entertaining and interesting. To me many parts of this drama won my heart, so many endearing people.

Drumroll.

I want a loud round of applause for cameramen and editors. STANDING OVATIONS PLEASE!
Honestly, the first thing that really got to me was the wonderful work of camera and how the whole drama was edited, they managed to highlight many things. Fresh ideas, the picture doesn't look boring. They did manage to make it look entertaining. I remember even sending the slipper hitting the face scene to my mom for laughter, she said it was really fun and edited well. Not to mention small details, even the birld screech that haunted us the entire series was memable. Just for their job done so well I really had fun watching.
And overall I really-really loved watching it.

SECOND STANDING OVATION IS FOR ACTORS.
I honestly loved their play. They managed to be expressive in a humorous way, but not exaggerating it to the point of being awkward. Amazing Kim Se Jeong (the very first actress who really looks sleepy when waking up ahahaha). Absolutely delightful play. Ahn Hyo Seop played really well too, transforming from this arrogant and snarky CEO who only wanted to catch Shin Ha Ri's tail for her deceit, but slowly growing and changing. The way he was acting new and awkward to relationship, which was logical, was endearing. The second pairing was absolutely fantastic! Some say they even overshadowed the main couple, but I don't think so, each couple had their own story and merit. Since main couple was responsible for the rom-com routines, the second couple had more mature approach, after all they met, fell in love and came together eventually witout much bullshit, which was really refreshing. Seol In Ah was fantastic, I was really amazed, I had a really good impression of her while watching Running Man and in acting she didn't disappoint. Let's not forget to mention Seo Hye Won, with a little spoilt daughter personality and Engrish words thrown here and there she managed to have her own bright spot. And of course Lee Deok Hwa who played the grandpa. I mean viewers should be like him, even grandpa knows how to enjoy the melodrama X'D To me personally the entire drama really was held up by actors and they made it work.
Despite the storyline being silly it was fun to watch. And of course it was unrealistic, don't start with me, everyone knows that such things don't happen in life. The only thing that I thought was not really needed is the time skip at the ending, the story could have done without it. Maybe the distance and coming back again means something for Korean, but I felt bad that grandpa's character was put through such plot. That was the only dark spot in my opinion.
All in all, if you come here for the rom-com, light-hearted watch, then try it. Really.

PS: I think I'll forever remember about Samantha and Rachel :'D

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I think I need some soap...

To wash my ears after these cheeky dialogues!! AH! I understand cringe and I like rom com, but this was straight out embarrassing! *hides*

It's a fact that I never read the original webtoon when I started watching this drama, but when I met reviews and comments I realized there is something wrong and read first few chapters to get acquainted and I fully realized pain of those who saw the webtoon first. After all it's really hard to watch adaptation after reading the original at any time. You can't help but subconsciously compare the two. I don't mention the fact that when adaptation does not follow the original to a t it also becomes confusing. And I repeat, I read only few chapters!!
And I could tell the difference right away. Even the female lead gave me completely different feeling, not only because webtoon has truly ordinary looking girl (she has average looks, she doesn't manage her body shape and weight), but idol dramas simply won't EVER take a challenge of finding an actress that at least partially would resemble such ordinary girl and with a true make-up (like contact lenses, stickers for double eyelid etc.). Because I'm so sorry FOR HAVING EYES. I look at her beautiful fatures that can't be masked with reddish skin and overdrawn brows . Huh~ Ironic, right? The story about make-up and the rash face looks like that *wink*. The girl to me doesn't look ugly, her body also looks great, but she needs dermatologist. But such idolish dramas don't allow the big contrast. Again let's not forget that original LJG didn't have good face AND body, she worked hard to achieve a beautiful shape, so the starting line here and there are completely different. Mun Ka Young looks amazing btw, very beautiful. Second thing that made me have very different impression is how the story started. Webtoon LJG gave me more free-wheeling feeling, she wanted to blend into her new school, but she never looked as scared? She just found the make-up as her ticket to being more than what she is. Drama LJG knows what a school violence is (sorry everyone, but what they do is not on a bullying level to me, this is violence), so her trauma comes from there. The stakes of the first episode are really high, all the bullying, crying, attempt at s*. It's understandable that she wants to hide herself. But here again is where things are different to me and why I mention original and drama difference of female lead. Because webtoon LJG was SO different, she almost wanted to attract attention to herself and be liked, but since drama LJG kinda wants to blend and the liking from others isn't really important, she's more about doing things she couldn't do prior (like doing the girly stuff with girlfriends). Oh remember that scene where she walks into new school for the first time? So exaggerated, so embarrassing :D

You don't need to be a guru writer to see for yourself, the script was cut and chopped and reassembled A LOT. Why? Because when you cut it like that and reduce its' significance it becomes less needed. Okay, maybe needed, but I still don't understand why you need to include that baseball player (looks bad, his lines were so cringe "strike right into my heart" *rainbow vomit*), or why would you include that playboy (I mean, in webtoon you understand that it's a plan to keep LJG away from LSH, but here... I'm speechless). Anyway, the writer included some really embarrassing lines in the script, my skin crawled a lot.
But still here we are, following this story of 'true beauty'.. or in other words more like a kiddy version of - everyone, bullying is bad, your face is not important, what is important is your heart~ <3 *kiss*

As for other characters:
I never knew who Cha Eun Woo was before watching, I only heard his name and saw few shorts, but you must admit he IS handsome and sounds handsome. It's the type of correct beauty, yet recognizable. And even if his character setting was more of a stone-faced handsome guy, yet when he smiles his eyes shine. He is the first to find about LJG and although they have such a start, he still gets points for treating her well. It's a spoiler, but with their love for each other going strong, I really didn't get why writer forced that break-up, I'm sure both would have waited for each other. I know that the one who loves can let go, but it was awkwardly written and it felt bad to me.. maybe I'm wrong, but in my impression it felt like LSH breaks up and makes up one-sidedly, like where's love in that?
Han Seo Jun's role was pretty okay. But despite his love he really felt like a good friend. And don't start with me on who is better. Both had good and bad sides.
What impressed me the most unlike the above was Kang Soo Jin! WHAT DID THEY DO? Like WHY?! Just to insert a love rival between girls you first write KSJ into this heroic handsome woman, I was totally up for it! But then they turned her into this! Just why? Wouldn't it be okay to keep her good? I mean, LJG's previous bullies could easily play the role of villains till the end and KSL would stay awesome, but I think her character was flushed like that. At least in the webtoon KSJ was a complete snake from the very beginning, she WAS that bad who could use anything to make LJG and LSH not together (you could feel her obsession), but in the drama she was introduced so handsomely and walked away like that (also, she felt plastic when it came to emotional scenes against LSH). I was so surprised they crossed out such a beautiful female friendship they created.. but I suppose they created it just to give a twist. I'm sure writers thought it was cool and they were smart *shakes head*.
Honorable mention: LJG's sister and teacher are cute, okay?
The story was okay, nothing bad, the script and dialogues could be better, characters more consistent. Not a horrible watch, but I must confess at times I struggled watching it.

My struggle was with humor! I'm all for humor, I'm all for healthy cringe. I like rom com. BUT! I think they overstepped sporadically here and there. I honestly didn't need making faces, poop and fart jokes during important emotional scenes and some of the body comedy to keep up. For example, LJG's dad that was hit by a pan with eyes open and tongue out..why? Or her little brother farting on the stairs. A lot of poop jokes btw, noticed? And they're sporadic and not needed imo. E.g. Both sisters talk in bathroom suddenly there's pooping little brother behind. HSJ searches for his brother and finds him in the toilet pooping. At the end LJG is so stressed that she's costipated, it comes as a topic during emotional talk (?_?).
Acting should be acting, even in comedy, the more natural it is, the better, sometimes I felt like seeing too much. Even there were scenes that gave me impression as if actors themselves looked like - do we really need to play it like that? embarrassing. can we go home and hide?
All in all it was like that. Not entirely good and not entirely bad. My respect goes for the topic of external beauty, especially in Korea where it's such a big deal. I think it should be brought up and explored to give a positive example. We should take care of ourselves, love ourselves. World would be a better place if we weren't hung so much on beauty and a person does not deserve bullying and hate for the way they look.
<3

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It's not entirely good and not entirely bad. I personally enjoyed it.

I better start from good points before I will shiver from the WORKPLACE FLASHBACKS. Important, I started watching this drama without reading synopsis or watching anything, so there were moments fo surprise.
• Acting
Let's admit, acting is not bad. On the contrary I found it prety good. If you feel good about main leads and feel their chemistry (especially in small things I find their chemistry is insane) and if you feel like you want to crush the head of the main villain sister or you want to smash faces of all those who step on the heads of the underpayed and underappreciated workers, then I think actors did a great job. No mater how cliche it sounds or looks, at least I wanted to slap few faces, I bet you'd like to join. Tbh I really liked the chemistry of Junho and YoonAh, we're skipping all the standard rom-com falling into the hero's embrace, being protected etc. stories are full of these, deal with it, yet I truly felt good about the two and it lasted till the end. The play of Ahn SeHa is remarkable as a support to me, steady stream of humor. The same goes for the friends.
• Music
I liked the soundtrack, especially those two songs, confess to you and is it love? Although in dramas it is inevitable that same songs will be used countless times, if I was a weekly viewer and not binging maybe I wouldn't mind that much, but otherwise.
• Storyline
Ok, hear me out, it was hysterical to me, because before that I watched Secretary Kim and Business Proposal and you can guess it, all three dramas have a male lead with a trauma. I know it should be sad, but I laughed. As for the storyline tbh to me it was a bit sporadic and sometimes unexpected, doesn't mean in a good way, maybe the flow would not be so disrupted if not the PP and also because it doesn't entirely concetrate on romance or the heir fight or anything else, small bits and pieces. I was very surprised that at the very beginning our heroes get separated by several years, one is studying and the other one is working and years later he comes back, after all he is the chairman's son and she is no longer a newbie. The way they got acquainted I found weird, after all two men, even wearing same t-shirt, don't look the same. But whatever. Although I find the toilet humor not the best, but the situation of her searching for a free bathroom felt real. Yet imagine, since they will surely get together, imagine them having kids and kids ask - mom, where you and dad met? What should mom say then? As time progresses the main storyline of two opposite sides fighting for the right to be a heir takes form. Junho's side is inconvenient, since he did not come back for years, while his half-sister was ruling, but at least he did what he thought was right and humane, unlike his sister who only saw wealth and power and never minded stepping on corpses of the employees, while placing her cronies. Though from my experience, the sister type survives more in the business world, it's hard to do many things with conscience. Along with the main fight for the rights storyline, the romantic line develops, yet we also have a glimpse at the lives of YoonAh's friends, which is not all sunshine.
• Product Placement
Really disrupted the flow of the story many times for me, since you can't watch with a blank mind, all those close up shots got in the way of watching. In earlier years (and I don't mean Kdramas exclusively) PP was more sohisticated, somewhere in the background. Thus the joyride, the morning routine etc. are nothing more but Audi or skin care ads.
• Workplace FLASHBACKS
Nothing more but a horror of everyday life, especially if you have managers like in this drama. And don't think it's exaggerated. Maybe sometimes, but in general there's enough b*tches like that in rl. I have a story like that too. We had the manager being changed and when I arrived after vocation I knew, I'm working my last days here. Why? Because the new manager wanted to bring his own cronies to this workplace. In the end three people did part of my job. He also was thinking too highly of himself, although the company was working for some times and was on the right track, so all this was not done by him, but he had to collect us all every morning and mainly repeated same shit. Because those are factory premises we had a small office within, he chased us all out and the next day I got sick, it was winter and this part of the building always faces north. He also cut half my salary just because. Heh, don't think I didn't do anything in return, just remember, small person is not afraid of wearing small shoes. This is why I truly felt cringe when it was time for Pyung Hwa or Da Eul to come in. In many cases what we see is nothing more than cronyism or corruption. In Pyung Hwa's case she wasn't promoted for the longest of times. Why? Mainly because the one above didn't like her and openly accepted gifts or help by a junior. In my eyes this is nothing but bribes. But I suppose there are people who like their asses to be kissed so hard and thoroughly, so they would shine like a mirror. In case of Da Eul again it's nothing more than a head manager who does nothing, but points fingers, if something isn't right then it's the fault of people below, she is also the crony of half-sister, so I'm not that surprised. This is why sometimes I ask myself, if at least partially what they show is what happens, because often times it's baffling how toxic the working place is in Korea.
• Friends
I had my blood boiling at some scenes, but this is only because our cultures are either different or they overdramatise it. First of all Pyung Hwa, she is supposed to be a divorced woman, but honestly I partially understand that the badness comes from her being a flight attendant (although who cares who is divorced or not imo). But in life we have a completely different outlook on divorced people and being divorced = bad thing is outdated. A lot of youngsters here get married and get divorced, so it's not a big thing to me. What was disgusting is how their pilot was basically harassing her and except for one person everyone is selectvely blind. As for Da Eul..well, here it would be embarrassing for parents to mooch off their children and point fingers. So the entire filial piety is very strange to me. It's not that we don't understand hospitality, but it's almost outrageous to act like Da Eul husband's family. First of all it's shameful to live with your parents (unless it's a force majeure) and even parents should call their children to know if their children are available to accept their visit. Hospitality is present, but no one tells you what to cook, unless your children ask what would you like to eat specifically. If that aunt who went through Da Eul's wardrobe did the same thing here, the wife would go all ballista on her, no one would say - you should share - because what she did was nothing more than being a thief, the same with leaving her child without asking. I haven't finished watching, but if Da Eul goes nuts I will support her for 100%. At least for me, although it wasn't that much, but the story of SaRang's friends brought something. They're simple people, their life isn't going to be a tale of a Cinderella, but it's good when friends stay friends for years.
• Small thoughts
It was my first time seeing a female lead having natural brows :'D okay, I know they have make-up, but it's very light and not overdrawn to death.. not that I watched many dramas though.
Other find it cringe, but to me it's hysterical how stereotypical male leads are (childhood trauma, never tried basic food etc.).
Why does YoonAh give me warm housewife feel I don't know, but she does.
Junho feels like a pro of kissing scenes ahaha, but the overall intimacy was great, both didn't feel awkward during them being close, it was cute.
Why everyone has chapped lips I wonder.
Actually children of wealthy usually don't look that good, unfortunately, Junho looks really handsome, while average wealthy kid looks like IT programmer with a wife and a 1-year old kid.

Although I may not re-watch, but I can't say like others that it was unbearable, especially if you watch it in good humor and specifically chose it for it being a rom-com. Because when your expectation are low, the viewing experience will be much more enjoyable. After all I don't really understand people who blame tropes and routines. Hello? Those are everywhere, especially in such genre. I laugh when I see those routines on the screen, after all I'm here to have a light watch and don't have unrealistic dreams that every drama will be impeccable.

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