i've watched about 500 english-speaking tv series(american, british, canadian etc.) and about 100 Korean+Chinese dramas. i have to say for writers/producers to handle a storyline so well its really rare. Not only is the theme of this drama delicate (with the Korean division situation etc.) but also it's portrayed with no direct prejudice from South Korean point of view. Apart from all that lets start with the praises: -Acting is verrrry good from all parties involved. The evil roles are also well casted and executed, not only the leading roles (which are usually likeable anyways). -The romantic aspect of the story evolves very organically and smoothly. No rushed situations and no extremes. The chemistry of the leads is too good obviously. -The parallelism of family relationship in the different countries and how they affect the Lead roles are also very well written. Same goes for the problems each side face on everyday basis, and the evil scheming . -I usually don't comment on music unless its terrible or extremely good. Here i will just say that it's well-timed and not too loud when it's applied. -This is a drama that even if the North-South situation is not portrayed realistically (which is probably impossible since the info on North Korea is so limited), it can be a slight insight on what the situation is, for international viewers. Of course ratings and all that are justified unlike other VERY hyped dramas. I believe it deserves all the hype and the international exposure that this drama has gotten. ---One general observation that is portrayed really well in this drama too, but it stands for MOST korean dramas (not family ones of course), is that Korean writers have a story they want to tell and manage to do so without dragging it and milking the number of episodes for money. There are a lot of masterpieces written in 16 episodes and it shows that you can be successful if you have clear goals and vision. There are no backtracks after a drama becomes a big hit, in the sense of Koreans don't make a season 2 just to milk off the show's potential. *Squid Game is a different situation but it applies.
disproportionately written, no really romantic scenes, the love between various couples just appears and doesn't build up so you can't really feel happy or sad when things happen to them. aside from all that, its short, tells a story, overall the antagonistic hateful characters get thrown aside and the lead couples' love shines. if you are a romance drama fan and for some reason can't bother to watch long dramas(like most romantic Chinese ones) then go for it. 7/10 You won't get bored but you won't love it either, and chances are after a short period you will not even remember it. (production value and cast value correlates well with the ratings). No shocking investments and no shocking acting as a result. A decent try from all the people involved in it. Watchable in a weekend if you'd like and no intense feelings while watching it (hatred or love).
Don't get me wrong it's not bad, its just really disproportionately written. `The first boyfriend of FL saga was dragged a few episodes more than it should, so after moving on to the second and the completion of the story the ending felt rushed. `A lot of things are happening in a matter of minutes and you can't get a sense of completion/satisfaction even though there is a happy ending. `Pretty actors, decent story, good chemistry among most actors(be it second roles or family roles), no huge ML or FL antagonist that schemes all series long to destroy their lives without getting punished etc(which is my biggest pet peeve). `A decent 7/10 i'd say. if you are a romance fan maybe a bit higher. also if it was condensed in less episodes OR just better written(in terms of story distribution) and didn't rush some important plot points it could be ranked higher. `For music i can't really comment/judge since i usually fast forward the lonely staring and thinking scenes accompanied by music and no other plot development except in extreme cases.(in some K-dramas the music is just too good or too well-matched to the scene, or the actress i just eye candy). ~ conclusion: if you are a fan of an actor/actress here watch it. if you just search for slight romance with no big romantic scenes BUT no extreme conflicts too, then again watch it. if you have finished watching a TON of these types of series like me and search for well hidden gems or missed masterpieces within this Genre(important) then this is not gonna satisfy nor disappoint you and you can spend your time on it. (with the intro skips and pointless scene skips it can be finished in ~25 hours or so)
Just your typical romantic C-drama.~Rich chairwoman and her minion try to ruin lead couple's life for 30 episodes…
In the above comment i mention the 'bad' points of the drama. Of course the good ones are whatever you expect from these types of dramas. Some cheesy scenes, extremely fast falling in love by one party, general sweetness from the lead characters towards their close circle , and power/business struggles that get resolved with the power of love or whatever in the end and leave 5 mins to rush the happy ending. I honestly feel that all these types of dramas could be condensed in 24 episodes and would have about 5-10% more viewers. As long as there is not extremely big names in the cast OR a very VERY good chemistry between the leads OR a truly innovative side story (almost never happens), then the drama will usually get draggy at points and the above mentioned Cons will pile up and lead to a few people dropping it. :)
Just your typical romantic C-drama. ~Rich chairwoman and her minion try to ruin lead couple's life for 30 episodes straight and get NO PUNISHMENT in the end. As usual. Writers always screw up this part. Writing a cancerous and annoying character or two, are fine to tighten the plot but only if there is some redemption from the lead's part. What writers achieved was to just make us angry for so many episodes and get no sense of satisfaction on that part. ~AND again as your typical romantic C-drama the happy ending is HELLA rushed like in the last few mins of last episode. One more point where there is no redemption/satisfaction. ~As others mentioned the lead's chemistry wasn't there, BUT it wasn't too bad either. We've seen way more incompatible couples in other dramas. The relationship with the son though, here somewhat balances for this chemistry as the 3 of them look good as a family and there is understanding from the son's part. ~All the rest relationships apart from the lead couple were completely uninteresting but also not too time-consuming. ~Music was just bad. Randomly chosen, randomly appointed, and used in random parts of the series where it didn't add suspense or emphasis on the event. It was just another reason to fast forward the next minute or so. ~The plot all in all is literally same as every romantic Chinese or Korean drama that has to do with rich/poor relationship plots. I'm not gonna comment on that as we all know what we sign up for when we start these types of dramas. (i personally like most of them as long as there is some kind of revenge taken on the cancerous characters OR these types of characters calm down after they fail ruining the lead's lives after 5-10 episodes). BUT what i am going to say by mentioning this point is that there is also no need for you to waste ~35 hours of your life watching THIS particular. Well except if you are a hardcore fan of some lead or second lead actor or you have no life like me :)
-- 5.5/10 BUT if you are a fan of this genre lets say 7/10 since most things i mentioned you will either expect beforehand or you have seen so many times that it doesn't trigger you--
and to give an insight on it, its not just the male-female lead relationship that she(the cancerous antagonist)…
yep.. and last episode review. rushed,bad,loosely-ended, no redemption, no revenge, no logic in lead's choices. they all act like female lead didn't have her baby die because of an evil plan. it's as if things like these happen every week for them. 5/10
and to give an insight on it, its not just the male-female lead relationship that she(the cancerous antagonist)…
im writing as im watching it.. it gets worse. writers are straight up mocking us. they are trying to defuse how much of a cancerous person female antagonist is by making her the long lost sister of Second Male Lead (who is a kind and loveable character). YIKES
it's just as you expect it.poor girl marries rich, female antagonist comes along and ruins people's lives and…
and to give an insight on it, its not just the male-female lead relationship that she(the cancerous antagonist) destroys with misunderstandings and evil plots as EVERY drama, she literally becomes the reason a baby dies. disgusting writing without redemption.
it's just as you expect it. poor girl marries rich, female antagonist comes along and ruins people's lives and in the end there is no revenge or punishment for her. when asian writers develop such a hateful antagonist character they always make your blood boil and give you no relief by punishing them in the end. makes some dramas unwatchable for real. One good thing in this one is that the rich chairwoman is not a scheming and plotting hateful old lady, she is actually really affectionate towards the female lead and thats rare. i suggest you dont invest 30+ hours of your lives in this drama, except if you are really able to skim through it and not get attached, or the hateful feelings will make your blood boil till the last second.
again 10/10 as i said every time a season ends though, i'd like to see some change in the storyline, apart from just power struggles etc. A romantic aspect for Michiko, or another freelance surgeon antagonist that's also really skilled , or something like that. Still since each season is so short , it can not get draggy/boring so even if its 20 seasons of the same thing , Yonekura Ryoko's acting is enough alone to keep you hooked.
of course it still goes on being perfect. (im currently watching a season per day). but to be honest even though it can go on as it is and still be interesting, i'd like to see them change things next season. Maybe a more stable environment for Daimon or a romantic ministory or an (almost)equally skilled antagonist doctor from another freelance agency etc. Because same old power struggle is getting repeatable. BUT because it is indeed just ~10 episodes per season, you don't get bored due to Yonekura Ryoko's whole vibe/cold acting. :)
people in comments seem to not understand the origin of the series and the date it was produced.. This was a worthy season 2. good successor of doctor x s01. highly recommend
i've never watched a J-drama before. only korean and chinese ones. but above all im a medical tv series fan. its too bad this was so short but i see that they understood its' success and went on for more seasons. Lead character is really intriguing and hooks you into the events. Totally worth the watch and easily bingeable.
Just as tags mention, youth romance genre. exactly that and nothing more or less. episodes are 30min long so its actually short and bingeable. 7.5/10 for innocent romance fans.
VERY disproportionate writing from the production. Sequence was just a mess. it got draggy in parts where 2 episodes would be enough to resolve some issue, and rushed in important matters where more screentime should have been given. 8 out of 10 main characters were very well written, the other 2 were just disgusting. Could have easily been condensed in 28 episodes. 7.5/10
Honestly while it wasnt extremely draggy, it was indeed many more episodes than it should have been. Easily could be condensed in 24 episodes. Many antagonist or small antagonist roles were introduced without capitalizing on them which ultimately made this drama repetitive and just obstacle-sprinkling pointlessly. Apart from that it was ok. Do not expect romantic scenes kisses etc. Even though the romantic situations are subtle , the actors actually acted well in them so you still can classify this as romance genre. 7.5/10
Since the female lead's antagonist has appeared this drama has become disgusting. One more prime example of an antagonist that literally ruins the female lead's life and gets NO punishment and there is no revenge in the end. No matter if your drama can reach 40 50 or 100 episodes, as long as you dont give closure to these plot points that you open in the first place, people are going to be annoyed and watch the drama till the end just as a chore. It's a pity because even if you have a happy ending, world never works that way and the ones that ruin people's lives always get away with it. if i wanted reality i would just go outside. 5/10. could've easily been 9/10 if the female antagonist was written slightly differently.
Could have been 36 episodes but not less, thats cause the character development is not just in 4 or 5 people(ML,FL,SML,SFL and a parent)as usual but in waaaay more characters. The plot holes are very minor and not caught easily with just one time of watching the drama. All in all it was well written, there are parts where you really want to hate ML because of the repeated manipulation towards FL but it's not to the level of blood-boiling so its fine. Probably 8.5/10 and if you are romance lover 9/10 (due to lack of many romantic scenes which honestly could've fit in 46 episodes). If you keep in mind that you are in for a long watch you wont feel it becoming draggy and its not the kind of drama that sprinkles a plot-twist or a car-crash or a random amnesia just for the sake of racking up extra episodes. OH also, the 'happy ending' could be stretched since they had so many episodes they could really fit in a longer ending. Have fun!
i have to say for writers/producers to handle a storyline so well its really rare. Not only is the theme of this drama delicate (with the Korean division situation etc.) but also it's portrayed with no direct prejudice from South Korean point of view.
Apart from all that lets start with the praises:
-Acting is verrrry good from all parties involved. The evil roles are also well casted and executed, not only the leading roles (which are usually likeable anyways).
-The romantic aspect of the story evolves very organically and smoothly. No rushed situations and no extremes. The chemistry of the leads is too good obviously.
-The parallelism of family relationship in the different countries and how they affect the Lead roles are also very well written. Same goes for the problems each side face on everyday basis, and the evil scheming .
-I usually don't comment on music unless its terrible or extremely good. Here i will just say that it's well-timed and not too loud when it's applied.
-This is a drama that even if the North-South situation is not portrayed realistically (which is probably impossible since the info on North Korea is so limited), it can be a slight insight on what the situation is, for international viewers.
Of course ratings and all that are justified unlike other VERY hyped dramas.
I believe it deserves all the hype and the international exposure that this drama has gotten.
---One general observation that is portrayed really well in this drama too, but it stands for MOST korean dramas (not family ones of course), is that Korean writers have a story they want to tell and manage to do so without dragging it and milking the number of episodes for money. There are a lot of masterpieces written in 16 episodes and it shows that you can be successful if you have clear goals and vision. There are no backtracks after a drama becomes a big hit, in the sense of Koreans don't make a season 2 just to milk off the show's potential. *Squid Game is a different situation but it applies.
aside from all that, its short, tells a story, overall the antagonistic hateful characters get thrown aside and the lead couples' love shines.
if you are a romance drama fan and for some reason can't bother to watch long dramas(like most romantic Chinese ones) then go for it. 7/10
You won't get bored but you won't love it either, and chances are after a short period you will not even remember it.
(production value and cast value correlates well with the ratings). No shocking investments and no shocking acting as a result. A decent try from all the people involved in it. Watchable in a weekend if you'd like and no intense feelings while watching it (hatred or love).
`The first boyfriend of FL saga was dragged a few episodes more than it should, so after moving on to the second and the completion of the story the ending felt rushed.
`A lot of things are happening in a matter of minutes and you can't get a sense of completion/satisfaction even though there is a happy ending.
`Pretty actors, decent story, good chemistry among most actors(be it second roles or family roles), no huge ML or FL antagonist that schemes all series long to destroy their lives without getting punished etc(which is my biggest pet peeve).
`A decent 7/10 i'd say. if you are a romance fan maybe a bit higher. also if it was condensed in less episodes OR just better written(in terms of story distribution) and didn't rush some important plot points it could be ranked higher.
`For music i can't really comment/judge since i usually fast forward the lonely staring and thinking scenes accompanied by music and no other plot development except in extreme cases.(in some K-dramas the music is just too good or too well-matched to the scene, or the actress i just eye candy).
~ conclusion: if you are a fan of an actor/actress here watch it. if you just search for slight romance with no big romantic scenes BUT no extreme conflicts too, then again watch it. if you have finished watching a TON of these types of series like me and search for well hidden gems or missed masterpieces within this Genre(important) then this is not gonna satisfy nor disappoint you and you can spend your time on it. (with the intro skips and pointless scene skips it can be finished in ~25 hours or so)
Of course the good ones are whatever you expect from these types of dramas. Some cheesy scenes, extremely fast falling in love by one party, general sweetness from the lead characters towards their close circle , and power/business struggles that get resolved with the power of love or whatever in the end and leave 5 mins to rush the happy ending.
I honestly feel that all these types of dramas could be condensed in 24 episodes and would have about 5-10% more viewers.
As long as there is not extremely big names in the cast OR a very VERY good chemistry between the leads OR a truly innovative side story (almost never happens), then the drama will usually get draggy at points and the above mentioned Cons will pile up and lead to a few people dropping it.
:)
~Rich chairwoman and her minion try to ruin lead couple's life for 30 episodes straight and get NO PUNISHMENT in the end. As usual. Writers always screw up this part. Writing a cancerous and annoying character or two, are fine to tighten the plot but only if there is some redemption from the lead's part. What writers achieved was to just make us angry for so many episodes and get no sense of satisfaction on that part.
~AND again as your typical romantic C-drama the happy ending is HELLA rushed like in the last few mins of last episode. One more point where there is no redemption/satisfaction.
~As others mentioned the lead's chemistry wasn't there, BUT it wasn't too bad either. We've seen way more incompatible couples in other dramas. The relationship with the son though, here somewhat balances for this chemistry as the 3 of them look good as a family and there is understanding from the son's part.
~All the rest relationships apart from the lead couple were completely uninteresting but also not too time-consuming.
~Music was just bad. Randomly chosen, randomly appointed, and used in random parts of the series where it didn't add suspense or emphasis on the event. It was just another reason to fast forward the next minute or so.
~The plot all in all is literally same as every romantic Chinese or Korean drama that has to do with rich/poor relationship plots. I'm not gonna comment on that as we all know what we sign up for when we start these types of dramas. (i personally like most of them as long as there is some kind of revenge taken on the cancerous characters OR these types of characters calm down after they fail ruining the lead's lives after 5-10 episodes). BUT what i am going to say by mentioning this point is that there is also no need for you to waste ~35 hours of your life watching THIS particular. Well except if you are a hardcore fan of some lead or second lead actor or you have no life like me :)
-- 5.5/10 BUT if you are a fan of this genre lets say 7/10 since most things i mentioned you will either expect beforehand or you have seen so many times that it doesn't trigger you--
rushed,bad,loosely-ended, no redemption, no revenge, no logic in lead's choices.
they all act like female lead didn't have her baby die because of an evil plan.
it's as if things like these happen every week for them.
5/10
it gets worse. writers are straight up mocking us.
they are trying to defuse how much of a cancerous person female antagonist is by making her the long lost sister of Second Male Lead (who is a kind and loveable character).
YIKES
disgusting writing without redemption.
poor girl marries rich, female antagonist comes along and ruins people's lives and in the end there is no revenge or punishment for her.
when asian writers develop such a hateful antagonist character they always make your blood boil and give you no relief by punishing them in the end. makes some dramas unwatchable for real.
One good thing in this one is that the rich chairwoman is not a scheming and plotting hateful old lady, she is actually really affectionate towards the female lead and thats rare.
i suggest you dont invest 30+ hours of your lives in this drama, except if you are really able to skim through it and not get attached, or the hateful feelings will make your blood boil till the last second.
as i said every time a season ends though, i'd like to see some change in the storyline, apart from just power struggles etc.
A romantic aspect for Michiko, or another freelance surgeon antagonist that's also really skilled , or something like that.
Still since each season is so short , it can not get draggy/boring so even if its 20 seasons of the same thing , Yonekura Ryoko's acting is enough alone to keep you hooked.
but to be honest even though it can go on as it is and still be interesting, i'd like to see them change things next season.
Maybe a more stable environment for Daimon or a romantic ministory or an (almost)equally skilled antagonist doctor from another freelance agency etc.
Because same old power struggle is getting repeatable.
BUT because it is indeed just ~10 episodes per season, you don't get bored due to Yonekura Ryoko's whole vibe/cold acting. :)
very well made.
This was a worthy season 2. good successor of doctor x s01. highly recommend
its too bad this was so short but i see that they understood its' success and went on for more seasons.
Lead character is really intriguing and hooks you into the events.
Totally worth the watch and easily bingeable.
episodes are 30min long so its actually short and bingeable.
7.5/10 for innocent romance fans.
Sequence was just a mess. it got draggy in parts where 2 episodes would be enough to resolve some issue, and rushed in important matters where more screentime should have been given.
8 out of 10 main characters were very well written, the other 2 were just disgusting.
Could have easily been condensed in 28 episodes.
7.5/10
Many antagonist or small antagonist roles were introduced without capitalizing on them which ultimately made this drama repetitive and just obstacle-sprinkling pointlessly.
Apart from that it was ok. Do not expect romantic scenes kisses etc. Even though the romantic situations are subtle , the actors actually acted well in them so you still can classify this as romance genre.
7.5/10
One more prime example of an antagonist that literally ruins the female lead's life and gets NO punishment and there is no revenge in the end.
No matter if your drama can reach 40 50 or 100 episodes, as long as you dont give closure to these plot points that you open in the first place, people are going to be annoyed and watch the drama till the end just as a chore. It's a pity because even if you have a happy ending, world never works that way and the ones that ruin people's lives always get away with it. if i wanted reality i would just go outside.
5/10. could've easily been 9/10 if the female antagonist was written slightly differently.
All in all it was well written, there are parts where you really want to hate ML because of the repeated manipulation towards FL but it's not to the level of blood-boiling so its fine.
Probably 8.5/10 and if you are romance lover 9/10 (due to lack of many romantic scenes which honestly could've fit in 46 episodes). If you keep in mind that you are in for a long watch you wont feel it becoming draggy and its not the kind of drama that sprinkles a plot-twist or a car-crash or a random amnesia just for the sake of racking up extra episodes.
OH also, the 'happy ending' could be stretched since they had so many episodes they could really fit in a longer ending.
Have fun!