Why Am I Here

Romance is Just A Bonus

As the title says, romance is just a bonus in this show. If you're expecting some cheesy and fluttering romantic scenes, then you won't find a lot here. The romance is quite mature in this show, since this show is about an older woman and younger man couple. The story is quite heartwarming, about a woman who never gives up fighting for her life even with age disadvantage. They create a great couple, who is always there for each other in every hardship. The comedy is also good here. And since the romance is calm and mature, the comedy scenes are more powerful in my opinion. It doesn't appear frequently though, since it's not the main genre.

Although the summary above is quite heartwarming, the biggest problem in this show is nothing more special of that. It's just about a woman struggling to find a job for living, then after she finds it she still struggles while doing it, then she finds someone who is willing to be there for her, that's all. It's like the romance show that you can find on TV every week. The soundtracks are somewhat great. I personally like the screenwriting style with book-alike type like what the do at the end of each episode. The visualization of unrealistic thought like when Dan-I dances at the first episode is also seems interesting. However, these styles are not consistently applied and only come occassionally.

Unfortunately, I am kinda dislike the ML character. While chasing Dan-I as well as competing his feeling with Seo-Jun, what Eun-Ho mostly does is nothing. He looks like a coward who just sit down and wait until the universe serves it for him. Dan-I is a super caring mother to her daughter, but after she becomes together with Eun-Ho she suddenly forgets about her daughter. Everything outside this complicated relationship also seems too much, for example the Kang Byeong-Jun mystery. Though some of the additional tropes are more enjoyable.

With 16 episodes on this show, I think it's too long. Maybe it'll be better if it's shorter and more focus to the ML and FL. It's still good for rewatch, but in my opinion there are a lot of better rom-coms than this for rewatch.

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Not A Rom Com, Should Be An Action Comedy

Watching this in 2025, I can't believe that this is so popular back in 2017. This show has most elements of typical K-Drama romcoms: triangle love, kidnapper, childhoold relationship, problematic rich family and obsessed parents. I was expecting this show to be a pure romcom but the vibe is so dark even from the very first episode. There are three group of villains which makes me questioning the original genre of this show.

While three group of villains seem intriguing, the resolutions are not always well executed. The not-so-thriller tropes are quite dragging and predictable. CEO Ahn's blackmail case ends very plainly, it doesn't even require Bong-Soon's involvement. Instead, Min-Hyeok just tells him to stop, and he stops! When Bong-Soon shoves the kidnapper while saving Gyeong-Sim, the kidnapper only gets minor injury. This doesn't make sense because even Mr. Gong breaks his tailbone just by chicken-fighting her. Also it's quite a plothole when the police finally raid the car dump in Episode 12, they don't go for the secret room even though Guk-Du knows where it is. The character Monk Nizamuddin is added for whatever purpose and then they dispose it suddenly in the middle of the story.

The positive side from this show is the performance from the main leads. Park Bo-Young brings an iconic spirit of Do Bong-Soon, while Park Hyung-Sik is having an excellent job as her co-star. The soundtrack is also great here. And shout out to the product placement in this show. They do it perfectly rather than going absurd as usual!

If you are looking for a comedy, yes this maybe an option. But don't look for the romance, as it will be overshadowed by the busier (not-so-)thriller.

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This is your typical Slice of (Absurd) Life show! Jokes and silly situations are the main element of this show, and I love how they can keep the vibe consistently throughout the season. There are some expected jokes, there are jokes that appear unexpectedly when you think that the scene shouldn't be a joke, and there are also some jokes that you won't be able to forget for a while. You will laugh in most episodes, and you may hurt your jaw in the others.

All of the main leads play their own character excellently. Lee Joo-Woo as the arrogant Soo-Ah, Go Won-Hee as the rude Seo-Jin, Jung In-Sun as the clueless Han Yoon-Ah. Son Seung-Won as the innocent Bong Doo-Shik, Kim Jung-Hyun as the grumpy Dong-Goo and Lee Yi-Kyung as the childish Joon-Ki. The latter has an outstanding performance by successfully pulling tons of absurd scenes. All six of them living together really causing a chaotic life situation.

Unfortunately, timeline is not a focus in this show. Some scenes appear in a weird sequence. Prior making Dong-Goo marries Yoon-Ah, the landlady tries to kick them out since they haven't paid the rent. But if you look back to the previous episode, their guesthouse is full and they even don't have any room for Yoon-Ah that she has to sleep in Seo-Jin's room. The photoshoot when Yoon-Ah wears green screen also weird because in the previous episode, Joon-Ki destroys Dong-Goo camera, and later on Dong-Goo has to win a camera from a giveaway. It is also weird that Yoon-Ah suddenly goes to the baking school excessively and forgets to take care of her baby. Also I feel the quality of the story is going downhill after Yoon-Ah get together with Dong-Goo.

To conclude: yes, you definitely have to watch (and rewatch) this show. It will give you a lot of laughs! There aren't any stupid or dragging tropes, just you watching a (chaotic) day at a guesthouse.

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Underrated Rom Coms!

This show is soo underrated! I always love the no-nonsense rom-coms. There are nothing harmful in this show. The romance is pretty mature. Main characters are pretty honest straightforward towards their feelings, no need to overcomplicate things and create misunderstandings! Each characters are open to share what they have suffered and what they want. The vibe in this show is quite positive and cheerful one. This show also clearly potrays the darkside of the entertainment industry: how everyone tries to clean up the celebrity's mess and how malignant is the relationship between celebrities and their fans. Also there are good messages about how men should respect women and vice versa. All lead actors and actress do an excellent job delivering this message. I really love the fearless Yeo Mi-Ran, she will kill for respect!

Despite the simple, smooth and lovable plot, I feel like the pace is a bit too fast. Especially for non-Korean speakers like me, sometimes I feel a bit difficult to catch what is going on. I understand that most straightforward rom-coms end quickly, but with the number of episodes and the duration of each, this is still too fast for me. It's maybe better if they stretch it to 12 episodes. The romance build up between Won-Joon and Na-Eun also feels too quick. Even though Na-Eun occasionally falls in love at the first sight, I still think it is too hasty, and that makes Won-Joon to become more like a pervert. Some of the premises are left hanging without proper closure such as Kang-Ho and Se-Na relationship, Mi-Ran parents relationship and Mi-Ran and Gilmu directors partnership. Also I feel like the Kang-Ho Fan Club President deserves to be overthrown (and also a punch).

On top of that, this is a highly recommended show. Don't be deceived with the first episode, it seems quite heavy on it. But bear a bit, you will see that this show is very lightweight and full of joy. I would even recommend this for a rewatch!

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Underrated Thriller, Must Watch!

This show should be a hit! I don't understand why it doesn't have so much exposure. The thriller is thrilling with so many plot twists. The story is really good. It doesn't even have a filler episode. The show pictures an agency office with such "problematic" environment. It seems to have messy conflicts, but there is the starting point where we will begin the enjoyable journey. It is boring up until Episode 4. But if you're being patient, you will get paid off!

Soul-swapping is not an easy thing, but both main leads deliver it excellently! Kim Ji-Eun and Lomon have to dealt playing as both characters, and it goes really well. During the soul-swap, I feel like they are actually switching—they become totally different person. I even think Lomon really can imitate Ji-Eun's gesture when he plays as Na-Eon.

The only thing that disturb me is the writer decided to give the main leads frustrating personalities. Na-Eon is a b*tch and ruthless person at the beginning of the show and she hardly have a character development, even after going through some big moments. Also being a thoughtful and ambitious person as Na-Eon, isn't it more reasonable for her to try protecting her body from the killer during the soul-swap, rather than throwing Eun-Ho in her body to some dangerous scenes? Eun-Ho personality at the beginning is the worst. He looks like an eight year boy trapped in a man's body, who reacts excessively at everything. Ji-Eun plays this well as Eun-Ho, but to think that she is "actually a man in a woman's body", it doesn't seem correct.

The intention to use this show as a media for Seongsu-dong tourism promotion goes in the right direction. I love the scenery of the Seongsu-dong view, and it really promotes Seongsu-dong as "Pop-Up Store District". I will really recommend this show!

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Great Story, Awful Ending

I like this show. It is a great one, although it's not special. The romance and comedy are mixed up and exectued well. The casts are all good, especially Sang-Yi and Ji-Hyun. Their chemistry is outstanding. They also include a "serial killer" which blends pretty smoothly into the story without making it looks like a way to "simplify everything".

The fact that I enjoy the second lead more somehow indicates that there is a problem with the storyline. The idea of the story is good though. The beginning phase is really slow, I would even say it is boring in the first two episode. They build a lot and complex problems in the beginning. However, the writer decided to develop stories around Hae-Young better than hers, causing the main story about Hae-Young and Ji-Uk to be outshined by other premises. The pace somehow turns fast after Episode 8, and this causes some conflicts to have a plain resolution, or even left behind. Sad that we don't have a chance to see Ja-Yeon story with Bok's family, Ji-Uk's family backstory, or make Hae-Young have a better closure with her mom. I am totally pissed after Episode 11 though. They decided to add more conflicts near the end, in Episode 11 and 12 (seriously why did they make a major conflict in the last episode??), only to have a rushed resolution.

(AND THEY MADE HA-JUN REALLY FINE AFTER HIS FORMER LOVER BECAME HIS EX-BOSS GIRLFRIEND. THAT'S TOTALLY IRRATIONAL!)
I was hoping they will do something with the abused child in the Episode 5, since Hae-Young has "some experience" with it. They also brought up the premise of "CEO should take lunch at the cafetaria", and did nothing about it.

Overall I will still recommend it. It may take time before you can enjoy the story. But I don't think it really match up the hype.

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Crash Course or Just A Crash?

This is the first time I dropped a show. I tend to finish everything no matter how bad it is, but 16 episodes is too much to bear. So much things go wrong in this show. The story is about a star teacher and a small side dish restaurant owner. How do they cross path together? Yet the writer make it in the every worst possible way: childhood relationship. The main story is boring and predictable, while the side stories are all over the places. Choi Chi-Yeol himself already has a lot of personal problems including his teaching issue, his past trauma and his digestion issue, yet they mix it up with Hae-Seong problems, the students situation, the All-Care complicated mothers, and most unnecessarily metal ball serial killer as well as the online hater. With all those, it becomes excessively too much on the plate. The romance is mature and calming, but too slow and frustrating as well (speak your feelings, seriously!). First half of the show is painfully slow and focuses to much on the students.

Most of the cast's perfromances are outshined by Jung Kyung-Ho. Roh Yoon-Seo is definitely in the same level with him here, but the third best performer here is Oh Eui-Shik as a mentally-disabled brother which means there is a problem. The chemistry between ML and FL is only bare minimum. Make up team is doing an absolutely horrendous job here. They make Chi-Yeol looks like falling in love with a fifty years old woman. I get it that they are poor, but why does she look like a fashion-blind when she can afford a Starbucks coffee maker?

Chi-Yeol is supposed to only be able to digest foods from Hae-Seong family. Yet he has seen to eat normally in multiple occassion, including when he treats Hae-Seong family to a premium restaurant. The girl that hugs Chi-Yeol earlier is disappeared, yet they somehow forget about her.

Apart from the mature romance as well as Jung Kyung-Ho and Roh Yoon-Seo performance, there aren't any reason to rewatch this show. Maybe it's just me, but if you ask, it's a no no from me.

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Came out of nowhere and became a hit. This show is surprisingly excellent. Every episode is straightforward, no-nonsense, and very intense. The show covers different "common" bullying cases in each episodes, including physical abuse, psychological, gambling, drugs, and involves every party from students, teachers, even parents. The insert of small comedy in this show is a perfect balance.

For an action show, the storywriting is pretty nice and tidy. The messages delivered very loud and clear. While Na Hwa Jin always saves with his "super-slap", I personally think the main leads aren't the highlight of this show. It's all of the villains who always succesfully increased our cholesterol while watching. Massive shoutout to several brand-new faces in this show.

Several comments from me: The pacing at the early episodes seemed too slow, some audience may not feel engaged. The online gambling case had a very thin silver-lining to the school, I don't understand why they took the case and even started the investigation from the school. The juvenile cases, I couldn't get about the verdict so they were able to keep them inside the prison. While Hwa Jin was a very calculative person, he somehow came to the knife fight with zero preparations. The romance at the end was a bit disturbing. It should start earlier, or should be nothing at all. Another distrubing scene was the cola product placement, like whaat??

Overall, yes you must watch this. It's a very great and intense show with a lot of things to learn inside. Don't watch too close to the screen, you might want to punch it in the process.

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Unique Action Story

Impressive storyline, I must say! This is probably the first show I've ever watch that has no-nonsense plot, no fillers just story. The theme, although seems cliche, is actually new and fresh. The cast is packed with star talents. They can't go wrong on the potrayals; they all fit their own characters. There are a lot of characters, and they're introduced thoroughly one by one. The introduction style with back and forth timeline is really smooth, and every past story matters and impactful to the present story. Hence even with 20 episodes, I still feel it's not enough as more explorations still needed here and there.

As an action show you'll expect this to be fast-paced. However the pace is extremely slow, and nearly painful and confusing at the beginning (maybe that's why Disney dropped 5 first episodes altogether). I believe several people lost faith and drop this show after 5 episodes.

Even though it has an impressive storyline, doesn't mean it's flawless. There are a lot of plot armors in this show. People with superpowers are prone to death when being thrown from height, except if their ability is immortal. However, Kim Bong Seok and Lee Jae Man survive this situation multiple times. Kim Du Sik somehow survives every bullets from the first North Korean infiltration only by flying, even though the North Koreans surround him and they have AK-47 in their hands. During Jang Ju Won's Russia operation, it is weird that it takes so long for the force to shoot Ju Won after being dropped from the sky.

There are a lot of unhinged ending on this show, especially why Bong Seok decides to disappear from the school after the incident. Also the reason Frank stops doing his mission also needs explanation, so second season is a must.

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Love Starts with Passion, Goes with Reality, Ends in Solidarity

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??? I was expecting a normal law show but damn, it's so heartwarming! This show contains different cases every episode, no, different life lessons every episode. Have you ever tought how a law genre could be mixed up with slice of life or how a law genre could bring a heartwarming feeling? This is the result! The story composition is somewhat outstanding. More importantly, they still able to put the forte of the show in the courtroom and lawfirm. Everything else such as the office politics, personal issues, etc, are just seasoning. The moment when they collage the previous cases near the ending, it's very beautiful how they can put together all of them!

Pace of the show is extremely fast. The case on Episode 4 is really great, and the case on Episode 10 is just magnificent. I can understand why there was a sudden hype after Episode 10 airing. Character development is somewhat very strong here. Both Yun Seok Hun and Kang Hyo Min looks very well-masked about their own personality. But as the story progressing, we begin to slowly (quick, to be honest, considering Seok Hun "suddenly" becomes very open to Hyo Min) peel the layer one by one.

Every episode, I was praying that Seok Hun shouldn't end up with Hyo Min. Why did they have to do that? Jin Wook and Chae Yeon are 16 years apart irl and 11 years in the show. They have more like uncle and niece vibe. Some non-recurring casts (only play in one case) look nervous and expressionless. Also in episode 4 when Seok Hun fights with Choi Cheol Min, Cheol Min's front door has a smart lock on it. However, Hyo Min is able to enter and separate the fight.

Too bad they don't provide us better story on Hyo Min's twin sister after her returns, but in the end the final scene is very very impressive. The soundtracks are good, I think they are all in English? Should I recommend this show? Absolutely! While all the cases seem heavy in this show, the slice of life side will give balance to it. My second 9.5 this year!

PS: I rarely ask for a sequel, but this show deserves a second season!

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Heartwarming Romance of 2024? This is The One!

Let me be honest, this series is not my cup of tea. I don't really like the story especially at the last third of the season. However, It is quite reasonable that a lot of people recommend this series, thanks to the main leads duo. Kim Ji-Won and Kim Soo-Hyun have an outstanding performance, and that is the reason why a lot of people ship them in real life. Hong Hae-In character is a good example to never give up on your life, and to never let you waste your life even though you only have a little left on it. The one she does in the press conference, I think it is because she knows that she will die either by the disease or in Eun-Seong's hand. She does it to protect her family. It resemble the phrase from Grace that "the one that has nothing to lose is the most terrifying". We also see how hard Soo-Cheol is trying to grow up, trying hard to fix everything and improve the quality of his family life. But on top of those, it is Hyun-Woo's love that against all odds, holds Hae-In and the throne of Queens.

Additionally, we get a really good soundtracks. They placed precisely it in the scenes.

The storyline is, although not flawless, has a great point. The pace was extremely slow in the first half of the series, and additionally each episodes are very long. Many audience may not be able to endure it. But trust me, if you follow, it will slowly suck you into the "hell" of the pitiful Queen's family— pitiful since the only members that have clear mind are a deserted aunt and an ex-spouse of the heir. The pace will catch up on the second half. More heartwarming scenes are coming after then, but there will be a few pointless filler episodes. However, I hate that Beom-Jun and Seok-Hwa don't do anything regarding the return of Da-Hye. During hard situation like that, logically any family will draw a line and make her choose clearly whom she will take side.

As I have stated on the beginning, I don't like the last third of this show. The story goes downfall after their return to the house. It is somewhat weird that Hong's family somehow stops looking for the secret money after then. Honestly, I totally despise the idea of Hae-In surgery's memory loss effect because it is boring and overused. Combined with Eun-Seong coming to Germany to become the first person Hae-In sees after the surgery, it becomes the worst plot because we all know what will come next. I will be honest that I would rather have Hae-In died of the cancer rather than this plot. The quality of this conflict is somewhat lower that other previous conflicts, and it puts aside the "main conflict" of the Queens Group. The pace also slows down after this premise, making the whole pace looks inconsistent and seems like the writer is forcing this conflict only to fulfill the requirement of 16 episodes. Fortunately thanks to this plot, we get the saddest part of the story— when she reads her diary. Final crash and the stand-off moments are also the things that I don't like. I get it that they are trying to make Hyun-Woo the hero of this story, but they should come up with something better and original. The pace speed up again in the last episode causing the ending to be a bit rushed. They should show the heartwarming moments of Hae-In trying to recover memory, probably a whole episode of it. I would also like to see how the tenseful family of Hong's turned into something more warm. They have brought out the story about the tenses during office meetings, when in family room, on the dining table, during the ceremonies and many more, but they never tell us how it turns after all of this moments.

I don't really like most of the Yongduri's residents. They are often cringe and overreacting at everything. Also visual effects of this series is not the best. You can see it clearly during the boar accident. And when are they going to remove the pop up stores??? I want to see the new concept so bad!!!!

Overall, I recommend this series for you all. If this type of genre is not your favorite, you may get bored at the beginning though. That is because you need to take your time to enjoy this series, as it has once again, long episodes. But when it comes to heartwarming romance, I still think this is the best for whole 2024, and it may take quite a while for me to get over from this.

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The Idea Goes Right, Everything Else Goes Wrong

It has great concept and idea, and that's all. There's nothing more on this show. The idea about trying to save a building ownership by doing everything, including dirty work, seemed very good. This show was slow but promising at the beginning. However, it never reached the peak that promised. Everything went downhill after they killed the coffee shop owner. The characters kept making ridiculous decisions. For this genre, the pace is far too slow. Take out comedy from the genre, there was nothing there.

A lot of talents wasted in this show, especially Lim Soo Jung and Krystal. Lim Soo Jung rarely takes drama jobs, why did she choose this? Shim Eun Kyung is probably the best in this show.

This show had too much going on together, but failed to entangle them between each other. I wonder how stupid was Gi Su Jong who trusted Nam Sang Ho on their first meet. The police killed the coffee shop owner like there was nothing going on. Gi Su Jong went to met the coffee shop owner at the bridge, even though he knew the police was tailing him. Also why the police kept eye on Su Jong after the fire incident, but not on Yo Na, especially when they were targeting Real Capital? And lastly, how come they all didn't go to the jail???

Should you watch it? Probably no. There are hundreds and thousands better show to invest rather than this one.

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It was A Great Police Story.... At The Beginning

This show started off so well. A corrupt police officer with bipolar disorder, forced to repent by his second personality. It has a good pacing, and the first half of the show was really good. The mixture between action and comedy, specifically brought by the character "K" was also fresh. However, the writer decided to write the rest of the story like a fever dream.

There are two highlights in this show, drug cartel and Ryu Su Yeol's dark past. The writer forcefully tried to connect these two premises, and it caused a lot of makjangs. It would be more logical if Su Yeol was the one who were searching for his dark past. Instead, this villain out of nowhere poked Su Yeol memories. Su Yeol himself didn't act like a cop. He always came to the bad guys with nearly zero preparation, yet he always survived thanks to the ridiculous makjangs. There were a series of murder after murder following everything Su Yeol put his hand on, but the police never took any prevention. On the other hand, the kidnapping of Han Jae Hui was strange. She was very strong when fighting with Do Yu Gon's gang and many more events, but she was powerless against three druggies who would like to kindap her? Other than Su Yeol, everyone was missing the backstory. Su Yeol's fight scene at the very beginning of the show had zero meaning. Jae Hui was mentioned to lose all of his wealth, but nothing explored more.

As much as I love the cast, I don't think Lee Dong Wook is the correct cast for this. He doesn't seem to have a good fit to become a police. Wi Ha Joon performance is the highlight for this show. Han Ji Eun and Kim Hieora did pretty good too.

First part of this show is quite enjoyable, but the sudden shift in the second part could make you raise your brows.

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