A charming and much-needed program
This is already the second season of a Japanese dating show, but it is something much more than just a dating program or a reality show. I rooted for every couple from the second season as if they were my own friends — whether they ended up with the person they chose on the show or not, I truly wish them all the best.Beyond the romantic aspect, the participants grow by sharing their experiences with one another. Even if they don’t find their other half on the show, they take so much away from this experience. It is a truly beautiful and touching program!
Of course, the producers aim to create a show, and at times I wished the cameras could be pushed aside and the participants allowed to experience these moments in private. Everyone seems so authentic and lovable that you just want to give them a hug. I admire how beautifully the participants are able to express their feelings and how maturely they communicate with one another.
Of course, it makes me sad that in today’s world coming out is still, for many people, a difficult moment because of fear of their loved ones’ reactions. I wish coming out could be a neutral statement — something no one would have to be afraid of.
This program, just as I wrote in the title of this review, is charming and very much needed.
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Without the Last 2 Episodes, It Could Be 9/10
This drama started so good I originally gave it a 9/10. It felt like a combination of True Beauty and Lovely Runner. Interesting plot, adorable main couple. Even the plot with Bong-su didn't disturb me at first — I actually enjoyed this character, and the actor was great at playing the double role. His performance was really nice, with the immediate difference when switching between the two characters.I felt like this until episode 10. Then something changed and I actually don't understand what happened. By the end of the drama I stopped paying attention and just waited for it to finish to learn the final outcome. I feel like it could be much better if they kept the original idea with the young shaman trying to find her true self and trying to reconcile it with love.
Also, just my personal opinion: how can one person (ML) be that affected by so many bad things happening in his life? I know it's a drama and so on, but it doesn't sit right with me. Maybe I just have too strong a sense of justice. It just felt like too many things happening to a high schooler. Screenwriters really love torturing their characters with the plot. 😩
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Why did they make P’Cir a creep? ?
When I first saw the trailer for this series, I was excited to watch a fantasy show with an interesting parallel world. Why didn’t the screenwriters follow that original idea? Instead, they made the main character a stalker and a creep 😄 It’s honestly funny.A guy has been stalking someone for years and then decides that the best way to approach him is to lie about coming from a parallel world. Yeah bro, great idea 👍 He’s loved him since high school and didn’t even have the courage to ask his name. Randomly bumping into him on the street, saying hello, or borrowing an umbrella would have been a much better idea than this whole parallel-world plot.
I mean, just imagine if the guy wasn’t attractive 😄 Then he’d just be a creep, right? The whole plot doesn’t make sense. Why would Phu even believe something like this? Do they live in a universe where superpowers and multiple universes actually exist? It’s never explained in the series, even though Phu’s friend can read people’s minds or something… or maybe that’s a lie too. I’m honestly confused.
Anyway, the chemistry between the actors is good, as always — they work really well together. But sometimes the overly dramatic dialogue makes everything cringe-worthy. There’s just too much melodrama and crying, and it feels exaggerated. When P’Cir started singing in the last episode, I literally laughed.
P’Cir is a really strange character choice. He seriously needs therapy and to work on his issues — and I’m not saying that to be mean.
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A nice story, but it had so much more potential that went to waste. :(
Ep. 1–2The series started with a quite cliché but adorable Cinderella story. It deserves 9 points out of 10.
Ep. 3–12
Unfortunately, from this point on, the story took a wrong turn. The FL has a reason to lie at first, but at some point it is no longer believable. Telling the truth to the ML is the safest and only reasonable choice, yet she decides to stay silent until the truth is revealed by accident. What a waste of potential to make this drama good and extraordinary.
The lack of communication between the characters covers up the lack of better ideas for the storyline. I like the idea that the FL is an effective woman — she takes responsibility into her own hands and acts when necessary.
I liked the acting and the chemistry between the main couple more than the story itself.
Ep. 13–14
I've never worked in S. Korea, but is it possible to slap an employee at work? I know it's meant to increase the drama, but it’s not very believable to me. Plus, there are unnecessary extra plotlines in the last episode. Instead of closing the sister's story, the script introduces another unnecessary conflict. It’s meant to make Go Da Rim realize that she may lose the ML as well, but it could have been handled better.
A few more cliché threads, such as the ML competing with another childhood friend or the second couple’s story, could have been finished better as well. Opening a start-up company without previous experience also feels unrealistic.
To sum up, I still enjoyed the series, but it could’ve been so much better. The acting of the main couple deserves praise, though.
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A charming story, but without fireworks ?
Another series from the FirstKhao duo—this time a cute and calm story, but because of that it also feels a bit boring at times? There’s basically no proper cliffhanger here, which makes the story feel somewhat flat. Maybe I’m just being picky, but I really miss some kind of tension.Going back to the beginning of the story, the conflict between the son and his mother feels pretty forced. The whole conflict is because the mother takes care of cats that destroy the son’s things? Did I misunderstand something? He resents his mother for overly caring about the cats that ruin his belongings. He even claims she cares more about them than about him, then leaves home and doesn’t contact her at all? o.O I don’t understand what kind of personality you’d need to behave like that. Aside from those unfortunate cats, the mother didn’t hurt him in any way that would justify punishing her with silence like this... very strange, and it doesn’t fit the character played by Khao.
This plot point just didn’t work for me. So yeah, a nice story, but like I said—kind of flat. For FirstKhao fans, it’s an interesting change from their previous projects, and of course the actors are great <3
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A charming series with a few problematic aspects
I started watching An Incurable Case of Love because of the actor playing the main role, after his performance in Glass Heart. I don’t think this will be the last series I watch with him, because he’s really great :D and I’ll definitely follow his future projects.As for the series itself… it’s a sweet and charming story about the innocent, initially platonic love of a young girl for a doctor who fascinates her. It’s really love mixed with fascination, maybe even a kind of idol-like admiration. Overall, the idea of being fascinated by an older, experienced doctor is understandable, but I do have a few issues with this series, and I think the age difference is actually the smallest problem here.
Maybe I’ll start with the fact that the main character’s behavior doesn’t match that of a 22-year-old, but rather a teenager, which, from what I’ve seen, other commenters have also pointed out. Some of her behaviors are very childish. The second issue is that three men fall in love with her at the same time. I get the whole rivalry thing and all, but without offending our heroine—how is that even possible? Two middle-aged men plus a millionaire all fall in love with a young, not particularly sharp nurse. Of course, she is sweet and charming, kind and empathetic, but she is also childish, not very perceptive, makes mistakes she shouldn’t be making as a trained nurse, and overall the whole millionaire subplot seems quite unnecessary to me. Similarly, I find it unconvincing that she was the one sent for overseas training—like, why exactly? What was the selection process? Maybe I missed something?
And finally, my biggest issue with this series, the cherry on top:
Who would want—or react with a smile—if their loved one called them a donkey? Even at the altar? Was this mistranslated? It’s constantly either “donkey” or “blockhead,” used at work, then thrown around as a joke, and in the end said to his future wife? What kind of relationship is that, where one person treats the other in such a patronizing way? Of course, I understand it’s a series and not real life, but what I value in series is a reflection of reality. If a 22-year-old falls in love with a 33-year-old doctor and, completely blinded by love, marries him, then after 10 years, when she matures, she’ll be a completely different woman… It’s strange that a grown man is attracted to a girl with such childish and immature behavior.
So, I rate it—perhaps a bit generously—an 8.
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Better than I expected
I started this series mainly because of the big hype around it, and I didn’t really know what to expect. Unlike most dramas, the first two episodes bored me a bit and I watched them without much focus, but later the show really picked up. The FL was played well, the ML even better. Aside from one overly dramatic scene with the ML crying etc., I think it’s a very good series. Despite the seemingly trivial topic, it presents an interesting story about searching for a soulmate, loneliness, and maybe even an attempt to portray modern society—not just Korean, but more generally how we set expectations for a future partner. In a way, it also touches on the topic of AI, which is becoming more and more present in our everyday lives. I was very pleasantly surprised by the comedic elements—the writer lady’s dating experience was AMAZING, just a pity those parts were so short. Similarly, the subplot with the main character’s friend was great.I’d even say it shows relationships quite realistically for a k-drama, meaning actual kisses and visible affection. The ML did a great job portraying indifference and awkwardness. Lastly, I’m really happy to see Yoo-in Na in another drama—I like this actress a lot.
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The BL Horror Story That Was Actually Scary
I’m not a fan of horror, but I decided to give this one a chance since I watched PoohPavel in Pit Babe before and wanted to see their new work. And honestly… this horror story is actually scary. The ghosts are terrifying, and the visuals are very convincing, so beware of watching it at night. 😈When it comes to acting, Pavel is being Pavel — which means his emotions are convincing and feel very natural. As for Pooh, at the beginning I had the impression that he improved since Pit Babe, but as I continued watching, I started to notice the same things that bothered me before. Pooh still needs to work a bit more on his pronunciation and his acting style. Sometimes it’s not fully convincing, especially since he’s portraying an adult but occasionally acts a bit childish. Also, when he’s flirting, something feels slightly off.
What I really liked, though, were the scenes where he is haunted by ghosts — the emotions there are good and believable.
The best part of watching this series, apart from the story itself, was reading the comment section 😂 For example, fans demanding that the ghosts should start haunting the characters they found annoying — that was hilarious.
So greetings to all the fans who made watching this story even more fun because of YouTube comments!
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Here we go again!??
Geon Woo and Woo Jin are back! I binge-watched the second season in just 2 days, I literally couldn’t tear myself away from this series. Incredibly suspenseful, with no moment to breathe. Of course there were some humorous elements, but this season was definitely darker than season 1. I kind of missed the brightness and humor here, Lee Sang Yi is made for that kind of role.A beautiful relationship between the boys, very brother-like, which is also visible in how Geon Woo’s mother treats his friend like her own adopted son. The fight choreography is excellent — I don’t really know much about boxing, but as an amateur it all looked very convincing to me. Especially the highway fight scene with Yun Tae Geom — absolute banger!
The main characters are amazing. I can only imagine how much work they had to put in to build that physique and learn all those movements — impressive. I keep wondering how long the training must have taken to achieve something like that. The actor playing the gang leader was terrifying 😀 Honestly, I really wanted them to take him down in the end, he was awful 😀 but performed phenomenally.
Now the negatives: 😳
First of all — why pull a guy out of prison and then do absolutely nothing with him for several episodes? So much effort to extract a dangerous person just to actually use him at the very end of the series? 🤔
Second thing, more of a personal preference: too much gore. Some scenes I had to skip — ears, bathtub, torture… I get that it amps up the thriller vibe, but for me it was too much. I’m here for action and fight scenes, gore is just too much.
Another issue — not enough light and humorous breaks. The balance in season 1 was better. Here I was constantly stressed out 😀 maybe that was the intention of the writers though.
And one more thing: is the life of professional boxers really like that? That they constantly have to run from people, being chased by organizers of illegal fights? Geon Woo is a world champion, so I understand raising the stakes around him, but there are plenty of other fighters who would agree for money… why are they so fixated on him? And all that trouble just to get one fighter. Just a small digression — I get that the story needs a trigger for everything to happen.
Overall: highly recommend, but for sensitive viewers — sometimes hand on the mouse ready to skip 😄
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A difficult topic handled lightly — or maybe a bit too lightly?
When I started this series, I was expecting something completely different: a calm rom-com with pretty scenery. And, to be fair, I did get that — partially. But the writers decided to throw in a little “bonus” in the form of ... Spoiler alert!... serious mental health issues.
In general, I think addressing such topics is a good thing and helps break taboos around them. However, in this series it all felt far too light. The female lead doesn’t struggle with minor issues that can be magically cured by love and emotional support — she has a personality disorder. Multiple personality disorder is not something that just goes away.
I understand the idea of destigmatizing mental illness, but one visit to a psychiatrist does not solve everything. The heroine says that, following the Japanese psychiatrist’s advice, she continued treatment, had an MRI, talked to a doctor… and was basically told that nothing can be done and she just has to live with it. Did I understand that correctly? No treatment, just deal with it?
Another issue appears in episode 6 — a conversation between the leads that I honestly didn’t understand. Why do they break up despite mutual confessions of love? Overall, the chemistry between them is great, the male lead is adorable, and the female lead is stunning — her beauty and acting already captivated me in Alchemy of Souls. The characters themselves are great, but the story sometimes simply doesn’t make sense.
The ending is also… strange.
All in all, I’m a bit disappointed. Instead of the rom-com I was waiting for, I got something closer to It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Some of the heroine’s behaviors are genuinely dangerous (like giving sleeping pills), and nothing is done about it — which I found confusing.
On the plus side: as mentioned before, the acting of both main and supporting characters is very good, and the scenery is absolutely beautiful.
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16 Episodes and I surrender
The actor playing Wei Wuxian is the ray of sunshine of this show. His emotions are written all over his face and in his eyes, and he is definitely the best part of the series. The second lead is also good, but Wei Wuxian is my favourite.What I didn’t enjoy from the very beginning were the ridiculous special effects. I’m sorry, but the cave monster and other beasts look terrible. This is also my first Chinese series, so I’m not familiar with their usual level of expertise, but it all looks very amateur.
Another thing that really disturbed me were the male cast’s wigs. To be honest, I sometimes couldn’t even focus on the dialogues because of those ridiculous wigs. I mean, where does human hair start according to Chinese character designers? Surely not halfway down the cheek.
Unfortunately, I’m dropping the series after 16 episodes, as I couldn’t get involved enough with the storyline. Maybe I’ll try the books one day.
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