inmyrare

a drama i will hold close to my heart

i cried at every episode and could not stop
what a story, truly heart breaking
a story abt women and their hardships, true love, a mother's love, the father's love, the dreams and aspirations we all are made of them
to think that aesun's mother's love and determination for her child led to the betterment of two whole generations of people
don't get me started on aesun and gwansik's story, two people giving up their dreams to be together, how they grew up in their love for each other, how they broke toxic cycles to let their children grow. to the very end they were amazing
i even loved geum myeong's story. a eldest daughter's guilt, responsibility, love and the ultimate urge to be your own person. her having enough love for herself so that she could prevent herself from falling into the dangerous cycle that her mother tried so hard to keep her away from, i cried for hours over this.
this drama reminded me so much abt how we all are just humans trying to survive life, trying to not be a burden, trying to give our loved ones our best. i feel like crying every time i think about it.
truly great

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Addicting but the last 2 episodes make it lose its spark

Binge worthy crime thriller

We have the suspense and solid plot points, good acting and cinematography to make someone sit and watch episode after episode but it loses all the suspense it builds up by simply revealing the culprits in the 11th episode. We didn't have a well planned reveal, it was like writers were like 'oh we are at the second last episode? let's reveal the killers and end it'. Making a random side character the real killer is getting boring now. I was suspecting the prison doctor at one point because how he was highlighted. I think we could have subtlety hinted at the real criminals.

Even the reasons also felt too dumb, killing someone cause they won't apologize? I get the message but for the buildup it had it was boring. Even the prosecutor's reason for being so fixated on An YunSu felt too simple.

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my style of drama

i love this!!!! give me 10 more!!!!

this is how u make a show about demons (all shade to my demon). she was truly demonic and did demonic deeds. the premise was also good. it was very satisfactory to see the criminals get punished. the gore was good too. sometimes the violence was too graphic but still it was good.
THE ROMANCE. this is what i want from dramas. the way do-an is slightly interested in her in the beginning then he hates her, to following her to expose her and in turn actually liking her and understanding her. bit-na becoming his source of comfort and her becoming so WEAK for him. perfect. the angst? amazing. wish we could have had more but still im happy.
park shin-hye absolutely rocked this role. her expressions and fits were amazing. 10/10 performance.
i don't know if a season 2 would work well though. one of the main reasons this was fun was because there were 2 chases happening, bit-na with the criminals and do-an trying to prove its bit-na whose doing it. it wouldn't be fun now that do-an will have to protect her instead of arresting her

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an insanely good show on an evil villain

what an insane show

(i don't condone or idolize ajin's actions, it was interesting and exciting to watch an unpredictable plot)

we get plenty of shows about sociopaths and all but this one so different and good.
we get baek ajin, a girl from an abused family who gets stuck with other abusers and bullies but she overcomes everything by manipulating people from a young age. a sociopath who uses people left and right. she was morally grey (imo) until the cafe owner part. after that she was the devil who was on a mission to get on the top.

i liked the excitement of finding out how she was going to move and get to the top. her plan to bring down her school bully, her plan to kill her father, her plan to reach the top as an actress, her plan to escape her psycho husband (this was a very interesting part, seeing how the psychopath and sociopath will one up each other). there were so many unpredictable moments. my jaw dropped when we learnt the truth abt ingang's grandmother.

baek ajin was a complex character with so much layers to her. some things which make u want to be on her side and other things which want u wish on her downfall.

i loved the dynamic of her and each of the men she used. my fave would be kim jaeoh. and of them were also fairly complex characters, each of them with their own weakness which she perfectly uses. joonseo might the most interesting one, his dependency on her and desire to be with ajin but ultimately he wants the ajin he created in head and not the reality in front of him

kim yoojung deserves all awards for this. give her all the oscars and emmys, her acting was insane. especially her eyes, so much emotions were conveyed through her eyes and we learnt so much abt ajin without saying anything out loud.

the outfits, the sets, everything about this was perfect. even the soundtrack and osts.

there were some inconsistences to me, like the deep relationship the manager had with ingang, his suicide, seunghui and her last actions etc but im willing to overlook them.
i felt like they tired to downplay her mother's abuse of her sometimes along with making the school bully and joonseo's mom look like the victim, which might the only thing i don't like. ajin is evil on her own, don't make me sympathize with her by victimizing her abusers.

the ending was very good. i don't know how i wanted it to end but i was shocked by the ending. even the last shots were amazing. there could have been a better ending. i don't think we need a s2, keep it as it is.

overall, one of the best dramas of the year, it gave us everything from acting to story and sets. amazing

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why create shows that u cannot develop beyond the initial idea

again, another gmmtv which could have substance but they could not commit to it. they had one line to prompt the entire series: what if 2 ppl born on leap day have their loved ones die. they did not build more upon this idea. why does leap day happen, why these people and how. nothing is answered. my biggest gripe is ozone's character. they went with the same way they have always represented an autistic person. and apparently ozone is the 'help' sent from someone to solve leap day. its like the team didn't have a answer to solve leap day so they created a character who does not fit the usual ways of society and make some stars communicate with him thus we solve leap day. we never know why ozone sees stars or gets messages. is it because he is autistic??? he doesn't even get a clear message from the stars so there was no point. ozone is not even day's actual brother so what does that whole plot do?
if u watch the first few episodes and then skip over to the last few u won't miss anything cause nothing of change happens. we through many years in the series but we can never differentiate . night and dream know each other since highschool but there are no changes. i assume night and day and the whole group meet each other at 2020 and become close over the years but we only see them become close in the 2nd last episode. even the solution at last doesn't feel proper, like there are no connections, just randomly came up with in the last few seconds. this series honestly felt like such a waste given that the they didn't care the develop it past its initial idea

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A good ensemble show

HR violations left and right yet so enjoyable
i really REALLY enjoyed this show from the beginning till episode 9 or something
a really well developed show with almost all of its characters having a proper character arc and growth
many people were disappointed with the show not being focused on the pair but i liked the way this show was. its more of an ensemble cast show rather than a bl
the team has taken a lot of care to show this story. the sets felt real, the characters had depth and continuity
one of the flaws in the writing was the whole judy-bamhee plot, it felt like someone who hated judy got into the writers room. the tae-bamhee ending was also a bit meh, they would have been better off as friends.
they should have also tried to add the jane & ryan stories consistently in all the episodes cause during the whole judy-bamhee-tae episodes there was barely anything about them and in the last few episodes we had a lot of new things pushed in
otherwise this was a good show with many well executed themes of finding yourself, working, being an adult, making mistakes in the workplace, finding your worth, women in the workplace, self-esteem, communication etc etc
i wish gmmtv makes more series like this with this effort instead of cheap remakes

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It is such a bore when shows have this big drug mafia and investigation as their main theme but everyone involved in this so called intricate plan is driven by emotions and makes no logical decisions.
The first few episodes were interesting with Junmo getting into the gang and then his wife getting involved and her past with Gicheol. But they quickly lost me with how Gicheol suddenly trusts this new guy above all the other people who were with him for years. They didn't even use Euijeong to her full potential. Some things made sense, like Gicheol feeling like he could only trust Junmo with his escapades with Euijeong etc but he was just way too trusting with Junmo.
How is Gicheol the leader of this powerful gang? He seems to follow his emotions too much. You could use the 'gang is his family' thing but in the end we see he didn't even know anything abt his gang members. His behavior throughout shows that he doesn't see them as close friends or anything.
Even Lee Haeryeon, how is she responsible for such a big drug trade if she just falls for a simple guy and ruins her whole career even when he betrays her?? they did not have that deep of a connection for her to do all that.
The police and the gang being too incompetent is so annoying. Like why would u not tell your wife you are going on an undercover mission???why would u put an officer's wife in the investigation if u don't want him to get his emotions involved?? It's like they were not prepared at all for an undercover mission. The arrests at the end too, u all waited all this time just for this?? couldn't u have gotten all this info just by following them (given how this gang got attacked every two days, it would easy to stalk them)
I think we are supposed to feel like Junmo and Gicheol had this kind of understanding/friendship but all I got was hate from Junmo's side. Nothing about their relationship moved me.
Junmo and Euijeong.....He went and took this whole job so he could be with her proudly (mind u she was defending him in front of her parents so idk why he felt the need to do all this) but in the end they just gave up on their relationship?? What was the point then.
Junmo's whole change was also not sold to me. He was also very hesitant with the killings and his rash behavior was an effect of him wanting to close the case asap instead of him becoming a 'thug'.
Overall such a disappointing watch, I expected some good manipulation and drama but alas nothing was delivered. This drama's strength was having attractive actors(who can act)

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Ultimate love story

I love everything about this. Them meeting, their voiceovers, the push and pull, the angst....so perfect
Gil-Chae was kind of a pick me in the beginning but it makes sense for the time period they are in. She has great survival skills and for women needed to be picked by a safe man in order to survive. She stepped up when there was no man to help them and went a long way on her own, I liked those parts so much. Gil-Chae and Jang Hyeon finding each other in these gaps, missing and yearning for each other while not admitting anything to each other...so entertaining to watch. I'm very happy with the 1st part. Let's see how the story goes

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Doesn't work well when this show is recommend as heartbreaking + should have been a GL

This series might have hit better for me if I was watching it while it was airing. I knew the biggest plot twist i.e heedo getting married to someone who is not yijin. Matter of fact i might have seen that scene the most before watching this series.

This series was very hyped up with people saying the last 2 episodes gave them a heartbreak so that hype might be a factor to my disappointment.

First of all, THE AGE GAP?!? i thought 25-21 might be a cute inside joke and not their ages. And it's not even the age they get together, it's the age they break up at!!!!! I could not get over their age gap, given that they met each other while she was 18 and he was 22. They even heavily point out how of a mental difference there is between 18 year olds and 22 year olds. But then everyone pretends that it's ok for this grown ass man to hang out with high school girls ( and one guy) and even date one of them. Even at the end they point out how they were such clueless kids and he was the only adult.

One good thing the age gap did was to show what parents'emotional neglect will lead to. If you don't give your children emotional support they end up seeking it in the wrong places. Due to heedo's luck yijin was decent, if he was anything but that she could have gone the wrong path. After getting attacked by the entire country her mother doesn't come up to protect her or comfort her, she has to seek comfort from the man she met in a bookstore and strangers in restaurants.


The best thing about this series was that friend group. They showed a good friendship with all of them loving and accepting each other as they are, letting each other take breaks and providing support on the various paths they take. Even a very healthy male and female friendship. On that topic.......HEDDO AND YURIM SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOVERS.

Honestly this should have been a gl. EVERYTHING about heedo and yurim was romantic. Both of them knowing each other before actually being introduced to each other, them wanting each other to do well so that they can compete together, them being scared together, being online penpals. Their declarations of friendship felt like love confessions. They way yurim plays with heedo's hair......YOU CAN'T TELL ME IT WAS NOTHING. Then hugging at that marid match after not talking for months, yurim's speech at heedo's retirement, all of these were the most passionate and romantic moments of this series. I would have eaten this up if it was gl with two fencers who fall in love with each other and their highschool life.

The last few episodes are the most talked about, i feel like they were pretty realistic and good. I thought the 9/11 part was unnecessary, just felt like they threw something in there to give yijin a reason to be an ass. Like i can understand he is affected by it ofc, but being so affected that you say your gf's support doesn't help and she doesn't understand you yet she should not break up with you? From heedo's side the break up made sense. She is not the naive girl who could not find support from home anymore. She grew up and understood that the kind of life her mother led was not the one she wanted and that yijin is probably going to follow the same path and she doesn't want a future like that no matter how much she loves him.
During the time when life gives you tangerines was airing I saw a lot of comparisons between this show and that, saying that in one the couples give up their dreams for their love while here the couple give up their love for their dreams. I think that's a bad comparison cause here without their dreams they will not be who they are and they would not love each other if it weren't for their dreams.

I was not that emotional over their breakup or relationship (due to the above mentioned reasons). The best parts were yurim and heedo's friendship. I liked heedo's journey and high school parts the best. I got a lot of new perspective on athletes.

Overall an okay show. Another series with Kim Taeri and Bo Na as leads please

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boring

started off with the cliches but it was bearable because they were kinda aware of it and gave a different feel like over-romanticizing the whole college surroundings. plus bani just finding multiple men liking her was funny to watch but then they went ahead with a love triangle and miscommunication. is it so hard for people to actually say anything???? if yeol and bani's relationship had developed in the background while bani was finding options left and right it would have been a bit different than your usual dramas. the fl's performance was better here compared to hierarchy. the cinematography of the first few episodes are great but we loose that too

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a drama filled with grief to the brim

each and every episode was filled with sadness, there was no escaping it.
to begin with the positives, the acting was great. each cast member did their part perfectly. ohm and tu were great in their characters. even the children were amazing. the set and production were good, every home was unique and felt like someone was actually living there. the costumes were also specific for each character like kongkwan's bows, zo's tomboy-ish dressing, plu with his beanie etc
the plot was interesting on paper but it was not executed very well. i did not get what they were trying to do.
from the past scenes itself it seemed like no one noticed mai or luk that much. after the death, everyone was quick to fight and move away. if they were this good family as they said they would have solved it as soon as it happened. luk's reasoning for going to jail was also weak and selfish, u are willing to go to jail so that his 'reputation' will not be tarnished but u are willing for your whole family to be harassed.
all the adults in this show needed therapy, especially santi, mai and phukao's dad. the dad was horrible. how are u going to ignore your child and abuse him while he is alive and then when he is dead u drink yourself to oblivion and ruin your family. phukao was an absolute asshole. his family falling apart wasn't kongkwan nor her family's fault. his home was already broken. him playing the victim, acting as if people hate him meanwhile he was full-on harassing kongkwan physically and emotionally. the sudden 180 in his behavior after that one jail conversation was so off too.
also how did no one bat an eye at mai and luk's relationship except mai's step-mom???? luk was a teacher and he was a student. even if he failed many years in school, luk would still be much older than him. this is literally pedophilia. also why is she, the adult, making the teenager find a place to live and money????????????
the romance between the 4 felt very forced. the family/brother-sister dynamics were too strong. there was also a lack of chemistry between ohm and tu
the show would have been better if they focused on the 4 of them and their healing and grieving together. there were barely any scenes with them together, especially zo and kongkwan. they said they are sisters but we saw them hang out about 3 times only. it would have been more fruitful to see them learn to forgive and unlearn the hate they learned from their parents.
zo and her dad were the best family in the whole show, they are the happy family which everyone overlooked

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