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I was happy most of the time

A key to my watching Kdramas has been the 1.5 speed as it reduces the long staring shots into something a bit more enjoyable. The writer/director succeeded in painting the bad guys as such, but after a while it just got tiresome. Their ultimate comeuppance wasn't sufficient to atone for all the screen time spent depicting them as baddies. A consistent quirk in these shows is the inability for any of the characters to see more than 15 feet in any direction. They can't see eavesdroppers or people in their peripheral vision just a few feet away.

I was hoping that there would be a moment when the two leads talked about their time spent in the woods together (when they were both ten) after the tragedy. Nope, unless I missed it. I thought the whole "I wanna be a doctor" was out of character and thrown in to satisfy someone other than the audience. Perhaps I'm wrong on this point, but the Princess taking off to study medicine didn't seem to fit the timeline.

My brother had recommended this show to me a couple of years ago and he likes the romantic happy ending type of series. And there were enough romantic moments to keep me smiling in between clicking 10 seconds forward. I wouldn't watch the whole series again, but I could see popping in to see a few select scenes every once in a while.

I'm finally figuring out that some of my best liked series have a similar storyline: Awesome guy and a bratty girl who eventually realizes how awesome the guy really is.

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Comfort Food

Maserati, Quiznos, Godiva. I'm starting with the product placements this time. Godiva I get, as Chocolate is the title and the unifying plot strand. And clearly the writer and director chose to use food preparation sequences to balance out the harsh realities of a hospice environment lest the series just become a tearfest. Upping the playback speed to 1.5 has been beneficial as it removes some on the intentional slowness of many scenes and I'm still able to read the subtitles. Again, I fast forward through much of the subplots / side characters. Except Iron Ranger III. I didn't enjoy the finale victory lap as much as usual, possibly due to how quickly I binged this series and also due to nature of the hospice. Would I recommend this series to someone new to Kdramas? Probably not. Yet for those who have already watched many Kdrama series this one has a place at the table. Not the entree, not a dessert, just a side dish.

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Not Enough Of A Return On My Time Investment

The relationship between Hye Joon and Jung Ha was the central pillar of this series. I slogged through all the episodes (lots of fast-forwarding during the last couple) and felt robbed of a romantic ending, my expected reward. I have a hard time swallowing the "realism" of the ending when the entire story is a fantasy to begin with. Yes, there were a few foreshadowing moments and it was clear that Jung Ha wasn't really ready for a long-term relationship. I guess I don't take much joy from depictions of failed relationships.

Too many product placements! Hurrah for BMW and Subway, among others.

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So Annoying

This series is not so bad that I want to stop watching, yet I'm really annoyed by a couple of things about it. First off, just how stupid is the ML that he can't put 2 and 2 together? How many episodes is it going to take before he can finally see what's right in front of his face? IMO it should have happened in episode 2 or 3 at most. And I refuse to believe that the FL can so easily control herself in difficult circumstances so as not to reveal her big secret. I find it easier to believe in zombies and I hate zombie series. Naturally, the 2 episodes a week format isn't as enjoyable as the binge-them-all-in-one-shot opportunities. Netflix arbitrarily skipping a week didn't help. As it is I have to watch everything at 1.5 speed due to the prolonged pauses inherent to a lot of Kdramas. Overall I just want this series to move faster. Hopefully it will ripen into a good romance, but it's just a bit too green for me right now.
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Just watched the finale and it was tot the ending I was hoping for:

The dramatic ending of episode 11 left us hanging (well, for a day) as to what Bad Guy (BG) said to his Uncle ML. I tried to think what new twist could have been so devious that ML would look so sad and made him disappear from FL? When I realized that BG was regularly calling FL "Sis" it occurred to me that maybe BG and FL WERE actual half-siblings! (Her mother would have some explaining to do.) I chuckled for at least a minute. That would have been so wrong! ML would be FL's uncle also and that would make their marriage a very bad idea.

Imagine my disappointment when finding out that ML went away because he felt bad. Yawn. And then there was the whole foreign war-torn adventure in the finale...all to set up some cozy time with a view of the sunset. Far too many footprints in that sand outside their window BTW. The rest of the victory lap episode was ok, not particularly earth-shattering.

Overall I felt that ML and FL didn't spend enough time smiling, or rather I should ask did they cast FL because she cries so well? And at the very end of the finale when 406 becomes a thing again, FL missed an opportunity to be more emphatic and demanding. "Get your a$$ back here right now or you'll be eating my cooking for the next two months!!!" Ah well.

Note: The preceding comments represent my opinions and are published as a personal record (and maybe for the entertainment of others.) Please write your own review about this show rather than critiquing mine.

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I'm Enjoying This Show EDITED TO---->An Ending No One Wanted

The ending caused me to downgrade my rating on this series significantly. Not since Iris have I been so disappointed in the way a series ended. At least Iris had a bit of reality to the series, but this series demanded that we accept all sorts of fiction as truth along the way, with the final episode being something of pure fantasy. So why choose the ending that they did? We were in make-believe land anyway, so why not just put a pretty ribbon on it and let everyone live somewhat happily ever after? An image I've seen recently while watching an IU video on YouTube comes to mind: The crowd is smiling and singing along, all except this one woman who is just staring blank-faced. No smile, no joy. Yep, she's the one who might have enjoyed this ending. I suspect that the collage of newborns at the end was added to try and soften things a bit.

My advice: Stop watching before the finale and write your own ending. You will definitely like it better than what I just watched.

My original review after 12 Episodes is below:
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. So many haters writing reviews! On the other hand I don't think this show deserves 10s. I don't know that I have seen the ML in another series and definitely think he is kinda dorky and unattractive in this show. I suppose it comes down to expectations. I didn't have many going in, other than to be entertained, which I have been so far. It's ridiculous and stupid at times, but so are most people, myself included. Looking forward to the last 4 episodes!

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That was fun!

Sure, they wasted the 12th episode in an extended victory lap. What made it fun for me was that the FL never got past being a Gold Boys fan. They went a little overboard with her merch purchasing overshadowing the romantic night they spent together...personally I would have been a bit irked if my lover / fan had acted that way. But the FL lead was able to sell that she was a hardcore fan throughout and that goal was likely why that scene was included.

I would be surprised if this series wins many awards and it certainly didn't break new ground. Watch it at 1.25 or higher, use the 10 ahead button liberally, and enjoy the look on the FL's face when she is being a total fangirl. It's gonna make ya smile.

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I Got Suspicious...

I didn't know I was watching the final episode until after it was over. I typically jump ahead at the end and go straight to the "Next episode" button...only it wasn't there. Huh? Only then did I go back and notice that the credits scenes were showing the cast members and then the whole production team. Like an earlier reviewer said, I thought "That's it?" also. Candidly, I got bored during all the "love is this, love is that, what is love, marriage is that" etc etc. and jumped ahead 10 seconds at a time. Shoot, I've been married for 44 years and I wasn't too interested in what some writer thought on the subject. I did have an inkling that the long speeches about love etc seemed out of step with where I was thinking the series was heading. Then to realize that the entire series was basically building a soapbox to present said views on love and marriage? Fortunately the show was pretty entertaining even if it was a bait and switch final episode. Certainly the ending fail doesn't come close to Iris level ineptitude, but I feel cheated out of watching the ML/FL relationship grow. The secondary couple's courtship was so rushed and the proposal so lame that I wonder if it got thrown in as a nod to the romantics, knowing full well that we weren't going to be happy with the ending. Unless....unless...they were hoping for a Season 2 and didn't put a pretty bow on it for that reason. If that's the case, then all is forgiven. Otherwise, enjoy the series and stop the final episode at the hour mark and write your own ending. I'm sure you will like it better than this one.

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Satisfying Ending, For A Change

I was in need of a sweet, sugary ending to a series after watching a couple of less-than-satisfying shows. Jang Dong-Yoon is turning into one of my favorite actors, having really liked him in Like Flowers in Sand, too. I think this is the first show I have seen Nana in and I was struck by how sometimes she looked really attractive and others she was kinda ugly. It has been my experience that most Kdrama FLs are usually depicted as pretty all the time, even to the point of making sure that only certain camera angles are used. Some would say that I am too focused on looks, but, seriously, that's a major aspect of many Kdramas...dreamy music, looooong closeups on the attractive leads. I thought Kwon Ah-Reum and Kim Do-Ah were presented as more attractive iterations of the character. There were plenty of plot holes and strange twists, but the writer/director did a good job on keeping the main couple's relationship front and center so that the rest was just window dressing.

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Some Tasty Bits

I liked this series. No, it wasn't perfect, and as another reviewer mentioned, the whole Sapporo subplot was a distraction. Yet another reviewer opined that the ML was a wimp. True enough, I didn't really like the ML very much, whether it was because he was wimpy or what. Go Min-si on the other hand was a pleasure to watch. Normally I don't think about the acting quality as for the most part it seems to be adequate, in my opinion a cut above Thai or Japanese drama series. There was one scene that caught my attention, when Kim Shin-rok is reading the ML the riot act. It felt very real, the kind of real that maybe happens every day in life but is a bit sanitized or sensationalized in most dramas. At least that was my take on it.

I guess this is a bit of spoiler:

I found it odd that Kim Shin-rok's character was able to cook as well as Go Min-si's character. That seemed a stretch to me. Especially with frozen chicken.

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