This review may contain spoilers
Beautiful queer coming of age story
I get that some people were disappointed bc of expectations from the source material, but the overall ratings seem excessively low to me for such a lovely and well made show. I haven't read the source material so this is solely based on the drama itself.This is the best Korean drama I've seen in terms of depicting a realistic queer coming of age story. Heesu felt like a real person and his world felt full and believable. The het side couple were really well drawn as a foil to the main couple, especially how easy it was for them to confess compared to how much harder it is for their queer counterparts. The sisters' mini storylines were also great for highlighting different things going on with Heesu and providing advice/examples that he could then apply to his own situation.
My two favorite scenes were Heesu finding out about Seungwon's two moms and Heesu coming out to his sister, both were heart-warming and understated moments of connection that rang true.
I hope more people give this drama a chance or a second chance, I think it's very special.
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This is such an underrated drama. It's genuinely one of my favorites of all time, and that is 1000% due to Pal Gang. Her growth and arc is what makes this drama. The ML is not bad and also has a nice arc, especially liked his relationship with her little brother, but honestly I would have loved it just as much without the romance.
The kids have a lot of screen time and thank goodness they managed to find really charming kid actors so even when the actual "acting" isn't the best, they are so cute they will win you over.
Caveat, the production value feels low and I'm not sure if it actually was or if it's just because it's from 2010 so it feels dated. Not enough to bother me personally though.
Overall: I love it for the FL and the sibling relationships even more than the romance, and rewatch value is 10/10 because I have definitely already rewatched it and probably will again.
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This review may contain spoilers
I liked this drama, but by that I mostly mean the otp. I thought the 2nd ML was more interesting than the ML and had resigned myself to 2nd ML syndrome, but then after a few episodes I was like WAIT he is the ML?! and started liking the drama infinitely more. He is not a good guy, don't get me wrong, but I thoroughly enjoyed him. They carried the show while the supporting characters ran around investigating the same boring, drawn-out mystery for the entire series. (Although, I did appreciate that the supporting female characters had definite vibes. I mean, they technically had male love interests...but the vibes.)If you are interested because the synopsis makes it sound vaguely futuristic/sci-fi, don't be fooled. The framing device of her being from the future and going into a VR program is irrelevant. I genuinely don't know why they bothered including it. She could have just been the actual girl waking up with amnesia and basically nothing would have changed plot-wise; the entire drama takes place within the "VR" which is just a fusion/historical/cultivation/fantasy 'verse.
Also, there is a faux-cest element. The audience never thinks they're actually siblings and both of them know they're not actually siblings, so it didn't bother me but I figure some people might want to know in advance since they play into it for most of the drama. And honestly I'm still not over the audacity of him claiming to be her biological brother and then hitting on her in the same breath. And then rinse and repeat for the rest of the drama lol, the man has no shame.
Overall: worth it for the otp but I'd probably only rewatch to skim for their scenes.
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