michelleoc

Not for me

I need to care about the characters in the shows that I watch. Here, the only ones I cared about were the grandmas and the second lead couple. I felt like it took me weeks to get through this one (I think I've only dropped one drama - I'm no quitter, even when continuing is as irritating as this was.)

STORY/WRITING - It was okay, but nothing extraordinary. Him being younger than her was mentioned a few times - why? It was two years! I absolutely hated the way the FL was written - too forward, kind of stalker-ish, wouldn't take no for an answer, extremely immature, pouting, making ML "pay" for mistakes that she thinks he's made, posting pictures online to make him jealous, emotional game playing, and she always wanted him to do the apologizing, then would pout some more. ML was okay. I didn't find the plot itself interesting, it seemed to repeat a lot and the episodes seemed bloated. I would much rather have had more time spent on the 2nd couple. Now them I loved! There were some amusing things happening with them. However, her abusive husband was a nightmare and then suddenly disappeared, never to be mentioned again. I did like the friendship between the women, the relationship between the ML and his grandmother, and the secretary/aide of the guy that kept trying to get with the FL. He was very funny. I loved the wedding scenes, and the family scenes - they were loud and chaotic, but you could feel the love.

ACTING - for the most part the acting was good. As is usual with Chinese dramas, a lot of the acting for the ancillary characters was really bad. FL - absolutely stunning to look at. The chemistry between the leads was good, but I still didn't buy their relationship, she played too many games. As I mentioned, I loved the second couple. The 2ML was a "tough guy" but I loved how he stuttered every time he was near the 2FL. I also loved his relationship with her son.

COSTUMING - what the heck!?!?! Most of the clothes the ML wore were too big for him, like he was playing dress up. The FL wore things that stuck out like a sore thumb in a small town. Shorts and Boots, too-large blazers. She seemed like she should have been working in a large city, not a small town. And the blue sweater with the bunnies pinned on it? Absolutely ridiculous!

REWATCH VALUE - there is no way!

I realize that I am in the minority here, so you decide for yourself whether to try it.

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Too much emotional baggage

I felt that the actors did a good job with what they were given. The concept of the "cells" was cute, but as we move further into the drama they are used more and more, and I felt it got very repetitive as a means to make more episodes.

My biggest problem with the show was the characters. Yumi - we are told that this is her third relationship. I must say I can see why. She was immature and needy, and wanted a relationship just because she was lonely. I know that this is unrealistic of me, but part of the reason I watch romances is to see love develop, and I like to feel like the person has found their perfect love. This was a case of "love the one you're with". I also have a problem with people having a physical relationship when ultimately the relationship doesn't work out. That just takes away the "specialness" in showing physical intimacy as part of a love relationship. Ku Woong - why they made him so scraggly looking is beyond me. He was emotionally stunted and wasn't willing to stand up for the relationship. Seo Sae Yi - Ku Woong's "friend" that wanted to be more. She was manipulative and worked hard to destroy Yumi and Woong's relationship, and Woong let her. Ruby - just overall irritating throughout, with the high voice, trying to be cute.

We were led to believe that the couple fell in love basically by looking into one another's eyes. I didn't feel that they had a strong emotional connection, and I didn't feel any chemistry between them. Throughout so much of this show I wanted to yell at the tv "just say something!". There was an inordinate amount of time of staring into space, or staring at one another, to the point that I felt like they just forgot their lines.

Big spoiler here - oh my gosh, the ending! I sat through hours of a relationship that I didn't really believe or care about (because I'm not a quitter!) to just have them look at each other, unemotionally, and agree to break up, and then go their separate ways. Needless to say, I won't be watching the follow-up to this show.

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Boring, and it was only 10 episodes!

The first couple of episodes were them fighting. I wasn't feeling that they were a good couple to begin with, so when she was trying to make a deal to save him, it just didn't make any sense to me. Why were they together? I didn't believe that they were in love, due to the circular storyline (break up, make up, repeat), the lack of chemistry and the fact that they were "broken up" more than they were together. I felt that the writers were trying to create a thought-provoking drama, and granted, the potential was there, but if you can't see the love between the couple, the rest of it just doesn't make sense.

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Mature romance without stupid breakups

If you want a fun, mostly light show with a wonderful romance without the usual nonsensical separations/breakups, I could not recommend this show more highly. I'm getting so weary of the shows that go on for 16-24 episodes and the main couple only spends part of one episode together, the rest is filler, and they tie everything up in the last five minutes. This is far from that. That's all you need to know. If you are so inclined and want further thoughts, feel free to keep reading.

There is so much to love about this show. I must say, this is my second time watching it, and I upgraded my rating - maybe I'm looking for something different in my romances these days, but this one ticked all the boxes for me!
ACTORS:
Park Min Young as Deok Mi - I have loved her in everything I've seen her in. She is so classy and beautiful. She has the most beautiful hands, and they take many opportunities to show them. I found her very irritating and immature as a fangirl, but that was necessary for the story. My only complaint was her hair - through most of the show the style they had her hair in was NOT attractive, messy bun, shorter hair hanging down in the front, parted in the middle, flat with no body. But aside from that, her character was lovely. A career woman with a secret life.
Kim Jae Wook as Ryan Gold - I've not seen him in anything before, and I'm going to be on the lookout for him in the future. He was wonderful. His character was strong, yet approachable, with hidden things in his life that you find out later in the show.
Park Jin Joo as Deok Mi's friend Seon-joo was, as usual, lovely. She's so cute and seems to always play the supportive friend. Ahm Bo Hyun as Eun Gi was excellent.
I must give a shout out to Kim Sun Young as Uhn So Hye - the boss that was removed while being investigated for embezzlement. She is such a versatile actress, and she played this part in a way that bordered on charicature. Between her terrible haircut, her breathy/creepy voice and her over-the-top clothes, she was a hoot!
SCRIPT- Wonderful. This is a romance-lover's romance. They start out antagonistic toward one another, with a slow buildup to a relationship. I LOVED that once they were in a relationship the drama came from elsewhere, not from them breaking up for any ridiculous reasons. They had a wonderful, mature, loving, supportive relationship. Their conversations were real, raw at times. Their apologies were heart-felt, short, sweet and to the point, and they were mature enough to move on and not hold grudges. Every character was so well developed that I didn't feel there were any extraneous people that should have been left out. The character of Eun Gi, Deok Mi's long-time male friend, was absolutely wonderful. I just watched this for the third time and realized that his character touched me more than everyone else. I found myself shedding a few tears on more than one occasion when he was involved.
CHEMISTRY- Oh my gosh! The chemistry between the two leads was exceptional. The looks, the almost kisses, the kisses, the hugs (it got me every time they hugged and he settled in and closed his eyes - like he'd finally found his home)
FRIENDSHIPS - the relationships between the friends was a joy to watch. What happens when one friend crosses that invisible line to attraction? This was handled so well!
WARDROBE- Kudos to the people that dressed the cast, especially the leads. She wore classy, sometimes edgy outfits. His clothing especially, impressed me. Loose silk pants, boxy jackets - they really dressed him to emphasize his attributes. Plus, he always seemed more approachable, since he wasn't wearing typical suits.
SOUNDTRACK - there were two songs in particular that I really liked. The music went along well with the storyline.
ASIAN CLICHES THAT THEY DID/DID NOT USE - I don't remember seeing an arm grab. He grabbed her hand a lot, but it totally went with the storyline. Thankfully, there were no evil parents trying to keep them apart. The second leads/romantic rivals were short-lived and made sense. There was, happily, a shirtless shower scene. There was only one drunk scene but he was so precious in it I actually enjoyed it. No fish kisses - their kisses were oh so good! They did do a time jump, which I didn't feel made any sense and they could have done without.

This is a show that had so many scenes that needed to be replayed just because they were so lovely. I'm glad I re-visited this one!

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Be patient...

Wow! This isn't my usual genre (I don't like to be scared), but the list of excellent actors reeled me in. The writer took the subject matter and turned it on its ear. This show was like reading a novel from the back of the book to the front. The first few episodes make no sense. We get no back story or explanation, just a gripping storyline that keeps you coming back for more. It was amazing to me that I could care so much about these people and not have a clue why I was feeling like I did, especially considering that this was only eight episodes. Every second of every episode was well-crafted.

Light Shop is a mystery in the truest sense of the word. Props to the cinematographer - the use of black and white, muted colors, pops of bright light were very visually effective.

For me, this drama was also thought-provoking. Seeing the decisions made, would I have chosen the same way?

Because I'm a big chicken, it took a few days for me to finish this. I could only watch the episodes when it was light out. Turns out that heightened my enjoyment as well. It wasn't just a passive watch, each episode kept rolling around in my mind. I can highly recommend this drama and also suggest that you don't binge watch it.

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VERY unpopular opinion here...

Don't hate on me, and please remember that reviews are just the opinions of the reviewers. This reminded me of A Love So Beautiful, which I didn't care for either. I was so looking forward to watching this, based on all the glowing reviews. Part of the problem might have been that I watched this right after Hidden Love and enjoying it so much. Maybe it just couldn't live up to my expectations. I was looking forward to this drama because it was supposedly low angst, and I was drawn to that. That being said -

WHAT I LIKED:
-It was, in fact, low angst
-the storyline of the second couple. I loved how he liked her alone and was always trying to help her in whatever way he could, even though his heart was breaking because she didn't like him.
-no stupid misunderstandings
-when the typical storyline started of a female trying to get the ML showed up, I LOVED how the FL shut that down. She knew her man, had faith in him, and went straight to the woman to resolve the issue.
-a wedding. Though, for me, it didn't work here, I always appreciate a wedding after watching a couple get together.
-ML and his dimples

THE THINGS THAT DISAPPOINTED ME
-FL. Supposedly cute and bubbly, she came across as a stalker (she was sure she liked him after seeing him once, and never tired of telling him that she liked him) and immature. The actress was cute as a button, but between her voice, her mannerisms, her clothes, and her bouncing around all the time, she just reminded me of a hyperactive puppy. Plus, her way of talking was very fast and staccato, like she was blurting out phrases, one after another.
-her calling him "Rang Rang" all the time. It was cute at the beginning, but by episode three I was ready to make a drinking game out of it - hear her say Rang Rang, take a drink!
-why did the ML like her? When did he start liking her? I get that he probably appreciated her energy compared to how repressed he seemed to be, but I didn't see or feel the attraction between them.
-I admit that I wanted low angst, but I also wanted something to move the story along. There really wasn't anything going on. I felt like I was watching a documentary of the life of a teen in China. I was bored.
-the parents fawning all over him was somewhat cute, but I can't believe they would have been fine with their daughter living with a man before they got married.

In conclusion, if you are still reading this, I'd say if you want something mindless to watch that doesn't have a lot of the typical tropes, you might enjoy this. It just didn't have enough going on for me.

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It would have been a "10" if I'd only watched the last episode

My review is strictly based on my enjoyment of this drama. This show was well-filmed and very well-acted. What a stellar cast! That being said, I find it difficult to watch abuse, whether it be physical or verbal, and I tend to try to steer clear of corruption stories. I didn't care for the ML's treatment of anyone, especially his mother, there was no excuse for the way she treated him (though the story would try to get you to believe that her reasoning was viable and acceptable). I don't think they really redeemed the mother, other than in a roundabout way.

The villagers were all so odd, I felt like I was getting whiplash between whether they were supposed to be funny or be taken seriously.

However, the final episode was excellent! The emotions of all the people were laid bare. The ML just broke my heart and the villagers finally seemed like a cohesive family. The acting was excellent, especially in this episode.

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Fun, but the editing was problematic

I started watching this for Jin, and he didn't disappoint. Thankfully, he didn't come off as the "Worldwide Handsome" guy (that gets old). He was at times shy, sometimes funny, but the thing I noticed most was how hard he worked. Cooking, cleaning, getting people settled.
Ji Ye Eun was somewhat irritating in the first couple of episodes with all of her shrieking and screaming, but she settled down and then I enjoyed watching her.
Kian is, in a word, odd. His vision for the B&B was fun and strange. Blowing your nose on your sweatshirt - who does that!?!?! However, it was Kian that brought out the inner thoughts and feelings of the guests, and this is where the show really shone. The dad with cancer visiting with his two sons, and the conversations Kian had with him were heartfelt. Then there was the VERY shy, guy that came by himself, and he turned out to be a North Korean defector. The stories he shared were special, and by the end of the series, you could tell that this B&B was healing for him.
I absolutely loved watching all the guests, hearing their stories, and seeing their reactions to the B&B and its rules. I cried along with Ji Ye Eun when the last guests left. If there is actually a season two, I hope it's a different environment, not a repeat of the same B&B.

My only complaint is that the editing needed to be tightened up. Midway through the series, there were a lot of slow scenes, you could tell that the guests were uncomfortable, and I suffered from second-hand embarrassment.

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Give it a try, but for me it fell short

Things I liked:
-Loved the relationship between ML and his two ghost partners. Yoo In Soo as Sung Ho and Eum Moon Suk as Nam Goo were both very good. There was quite a bit of humor when these three were involved.
-FL's friend the attorney that climbed up the hill to her office. I LOVED the yellow suit she was wearing.
-The way they styled ML. Loved the color of his hair, it set him apart. I also loved the clothes they put him in, loose, comfortable clothes.
-2FL storyline (for the most part).
-I liked the cameos.

On the other side of the coin:
-ML and FL had no chemistry, as far as I was concerned. The whole thing seemed kind of forced to me. However, they didn't have the cliche misunderstanding breakup.
-Some of the filming was extremely dark. If you aren't in a dark room when you watch it, you'll miss stuff.
-I didn't like the character of the FL at all. I don't care for forward women, and she just couldn't get the hint.
-Continuity issues - they are drinking in the park at night, and suddenly when they are walking home it's daytime.
-I felt that this show suffered from too many episodes. There was a lot of wasted time.
-The cop ghost - didn't like the ending of his story, or his lack of resolution with his wife.
-The 2FL and the office ghost in a relationship? Please, that was just too ridiculous.
-Though it was a happy ending, I was pretty disappointed in the show once I finished it.

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Not nearly as good as season one

I was tremendously disappointed in Season 2 of Stranger. The friendships that had been developed in Season 1 were gone as if they never existed. Now, the police and the prosecution were at odds about everything. I SO missed Shi Mok and Yeo Jin solving crimes together.

And this is just my personal opinion, but there were just too many corrupt people! It seemed like it was everyone other than Shi Mok and Yeo Jin! In a move to make the majority of the people in the show corrupt, they had to create multiple convoluted cases, most of which I didn't care about. Everything was too long and drawn out.

I also didn't care for the ending, too open for me, without adequate consequences for a few of the people.

However, I will say, it was worth watching the second season if only for Shi Mok's smile at the end!

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Loved a lot about it but pick a genre!!

My disclaimer - this is only my opinion! I have to admit that there was something that bothered me while watching the show - the humor was more on the slapstick side of life and then it would suddenly turn into a mystery, then slice of life, then healing. It never stuck with one thing for long, so I found myself not being able to totally be invested in the show. But the things I liked:
1) My number one favorite thing about this show was Yoon Park. When he first appears, you think he's just going to be an obnoxious character, but he quickly became my favorite. Warm, caring, nerdy, out of his element - he went through so much and I was all in whenever he was involved.
2) Park Hyung Sik has the PERFECT facial expressions and body movements for this type of comedy. His comedy timing is spot on.
3) Main couple - very cute. When they initially got together, their immaturity relationship-wise was so cute, but that wore out for me pretty quickly. I understand their actions initially because they'd never been in a relationship. However, I've read this word in a lot of people's reviews, and I never quite got it, but now I do "cringe".
4) FL's family toward the end. 3/4 of the way through I found them very over-the-top, and the mom constantly hitting and kicking her brother bothered me. But how they assimilated the ML into their family (his parents were the worst!) was just lovely.
5) The scenery and architecture were good.

Things I didn't care for:
1) The drinking. Oh, my gosh, I think there were only two conversations in the whole show that didn't involve drinking! This was especially problematic for me because a) she was depressed (alcohol is a central nervous system depressant); b) she was taking psychiatric medications (any responsible doctor would have told her not to drink while on psych meds). They went to drink when they had a bad day, they went to drink when they had a good day. Messy drunks are not funny to me at all. And, if someone has drugged your drink at some point in the past, I think I'd at least to try to keep some sense about me.
2) Park Shin Hye. She is absolutely beautiful, but to me she is the same in every show she is in. And I can't stand that loud crying she does. To her credit, someone has been working with her on how to do a kissing scene.
3) The wardrobe. It sounds strange, but everything was so "match-y match-y". It was like the characters discussed what they were going to wear every day and dressed in similar colors/styles. Lots of beige and brown. Boxy, oversized jackets.
4) Do they not have a medical consultant when there are people supposedly in the medical field?! Putting a bandage on a wound that hasn't been completely cleaned. After her accident, the doctor said she had heart rupture, but that happens after heart attacks. And the worst, was when they were talking about removing part of her lung, "but don't worry it will grow back to its original size". WRONG! Lungs do not regrow or regenerate like the liver does.
6) The mystery aspects. One mystery is solved, we have part of an episode of happiness and then we have a new mystery. It felt like a ploy to make more episodes. Granted, they were related, but very confusing and unnecessary.
7) The character of Nurse Doh. Was it the character or the acting? She never seemed to be looking a whoever was talking, her expression never changed, and it seemed like she was TRYING to look like a robot.
8) Let's be honest, they looked exactly the same in their teenage years and they didn't mature emotionally over the years.
9) The depression aspect could have been handled so much better. Her deciding on her own to stop taking her meds, the psychiatrist saying basically that she was cured. She was fine because everything was suddenly rosy, but I wasn't convinced that she had learned how to deal with problems.
10) There is no way the ML's new clinic toward the end is in that rundown building.
11) So much eavesdropping. A large percentage of issues started because someone overheard something and felt they needed to share the information.
12) I am getting so tired of the Kopiko product placement!

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what did it want to be?

I'll preface my review by stating the obvious, in the hopes that no one gets hateful, this is just my personal opinion. Please take it or leave it alone, agree or disagree, but please respect the opinions of others (and I'm kind of irritated that I even have to say this).

There was a lot to like about this show:
Acting. Everyone was really good. Park Eun Bin as Mok Ha was wonderful. I think there were certain mannerisms that we saw that she displayed in Extraordinary Attorney Woo and I think are just part of her DNA, because I've seen them in other shows of hers. However, they absolutely worked here. She was charming and likeable, driven, yet devoted to those she loved. All of the other actors were excellent as well. I especially loved the younger actors, they were the standouts for me. Also, Kim Joo Heon playing a morally gray character, and both Lee Seung Joon as Ki Ho's father and Lee Yoo Joon as Mok Ha's father were surprising. We are so used to seeing them in the role of good guys, their transformations were amazing.

Music. As you'd expect, the OST was wonderful. Eun Bin's voice is sublime. I could literally listen to her all day.

My problem came in with the writing and the way the story was put together. On the surface, or maybe because of the trailers, this was an original premise, with strong possibilities of feeling all the feels. My struggle was this drama couldn't decide if it wanted to be a romance, a drama, a comedy, light or dark. For me, the extremes were too great. I wasn't expecting it to be fluffy, but the darkness was too dark for the rest of the drama, and the flipping back and forth wasn't allowing me to flow with the story. I didn't feel that there was enough of her on the island (a whole episode would have been nice) and the whole thing just seemed too implausible - she was that close to civilization all that time? Then, her reintegration was just too easy. First of all, the voice is a muscle. She would have needed to get used to using her voice again. Add to that, her early life was just trauma. So, she's traumatized as a child and then has the trauma of having been on an island by herself for 15 years, but she comes home and there appear to be no after-effects, just that she's glad to be back home and she immediately gets back on the track of wanting to meet her idol. It would have been so much better if we'd been able to see/feel her struggles with reassimilating into society -- that would have really improved the flow and made it more realistic.

I'd say, if you've actually read this far and are wondering whether to give this show a try, you should, definitely. Just because I'm one of the few outlier people that didn't fall in love with it, you may (and probably will) have a different reaction to it.

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Watching this, I was angry at almost everyone in it!

What I liked:
1)The actors playing the younger Ri Hwan and Haeng Ah. Their story lines were interesting, and they did a good job. Episode 11 was good, we got to see the leads as their younger selves.
2)I suppose all of the actors did a good job with what they had to work with. It wasn't the actors themselves, but the characters that I had a hard time with.
3)Episode 15. Nice tie up and it would have been a good ending here.
Things that made me want to scream:
Let's start with the characters.
1) Ri Hwan appears to have cared for Haeng Ah forever. He was always there to pick up the pieces when her life fell apart, but never put himself out there. Then there's the fact that he was TOO nice. There was a girl that liked him (why?), she was basically a stalker, she knew that he liked someone else, but he kept meeting her and then he apologized to her?!?!
2) Haeng Ah - puts up with (and lives with) a man that completely ignores her, shows no emotion toward her, and can't even really have any kind of a deep conversation with her. She decides that she's had enough, breaks up with him, yet keeps meeting with him. Apparently, I was so irritated I started micro-watching, because her rings were driving me up the wall. Why do you need one on every finger?
3) Seok Joon - aforementioned boyfriend of Haeng Ah. This character had no personality at all. Completely flat affect throughout the entire drama, until one slight movement toward a grin in the last episode. She breaks up with him, he knows why, you know he has no intention of changing, yet still keeps coming around. Stalker much? Watching him was creepy and depressing.
4) Ye Seul - the girl that likes Ri Hwan. Again, this character had no emotion, other than depression, throughout the entire show. She even says that people "say I'm like misery". True words. She knows he doesn't like her, that he likes someone else, yet uses emotional blackmail to be with him "I'll get the best care for your mom if you'll be with me."
5) Haeng Ah's mother - she was terrible at the beginning of the story line wanted us to feel bad for her, but in some ways, it was too little, too late.
Those were my main issues. Then, you add to the fact that there were entirely too many story lines going on. Multiple couples, used-to-be couples, almost couples. Not enough time was spent developing a really good story for any of them.
Story:
At about episode 5, Haen Ah and Ri Hwan finally admit their feeling for each other. But by episode 7 she is waffling. They break up in episode 8 and there is abject misery all around until the very end of episode 13. The reasons for the breakups are weak, and there are numerous opportunities for the 2ML and 2FL to try to inveigle their way into the leads' hearts/lives. It was so irritating and unnecessary. I really disliked both second leads, and the fact that the leads kept meeting up with them made me dislike the leads as well. So, the leads were actually apart more than they were together, and I didn't feel chemistry between any of the characters. Episode 16 was just filler.
Music:
There was some song that was repeated multiple times and the beginning of it sounds like Jingle Bells, which totally took me out of the story.

I know that a lot of people really liked this drama, lauding it as having an Indie feel about it. In layman's terms, that just means that the story was slow. Which isn't a bad thing in itself, provided the drama is well-written and that you like and root for the characters. I was just counting down the episodes until I could be finished.

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There were times I wanted to gouge out my eyes!

Positives:
Kim Jung Hyun as Kokdu: I love him as an actor. He's got a somewhat rugged look about him. He's not a "pretty boy", and he's very expressive. He's an actor that is able to do broad comedy with flair and believability and then cut your heart out in his serious scenes, with tears running down his cheeks. It gets me every time.

Cha Chung Hwa as Gak Shin: She's a very interesting actress. She has the ability to look totally different, based on the part she is playing. She can appear older sometimes, younger at others. Her character was funny, quirky, and I loved how she took Gye Jeol under her wing, walking the line between here and the afterlife.

Kim In Kwon as Ok Shin: This might sound strange, but I love his face, it's big and round with lots of surface area for the great expressions he conveys. Ok Shin was a good character, and I really enjoyed his story line with Gak Shin.

Cinematography and locales: Beautiful! The church was lovely, Kokdu's house was awesome, and the lighthouse area was just beautiful. I loved the color palette they used for filming and the soft filtering they did with the camera work.

There was a happy ending, which kept me from throwing something at my tv after wasting my time watching this.

That's pretty much it. Now, on the other side of the coin, the negatives for me were:

Im Soo Hyang: I don't care for her AT ALL. Personally, I don't think she could act her way out of a paper bag. She has a totally flat affect, and her eyes are always open really wide like she's wandering around in a constant state of surprise. I've seen her in other things and haven't cared for her. Remember, just my opinion, but I had to fast forward through a lot of it, especially her, because it was so bad. Add her bad acting to the awful character she was portraying, and it was a train wreck. She was supposedly a doctor, but every time anyone had a medical emergency, she did absolutely nothing. I didn't buy her as a doctor for that reason, as well as the fact that she was whiny, immature, clingy and spent most of the drama sobbing. Was that so it looked like she was displaying some emotion? I don't know, but her character was awful, from beginning to end.

The storylines: Too many! There was so much going on. They could have cut back on the multiplicity of story lines and given us some more depth of character. I fast forwarded, a lot, and I still felt like it would never be over.

Chemistry: The brother and his girlfriend - The brother was so cute, and I enjoyed his story line, and I liked the wedding, but not much chemistry between him and his girlfriend. But you will never go amiss with a man that can cook. Which brings me to the ML and FL - I wasn't feeling ANY chemistry between these two. The kisses were not the typical open-eyed, arms at the sides kisses, which I appreciated, but I just didn't buy them as a couple. Wait, I could buy them as a friend couple, but not as a romantic couple.

So, I would say that I you have a lot of patience/tolerance and are wondering if you should watch this, you could give it a try. These opinions are just mine, but there is no way I would recommend that anyone watch this.

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Funny, until it's not

I came for Seo In Guk. He is a terrific actor, and this role let him use facial muscles that are normally reserved only for the strangest expressions. There was an abundance of quirkiness and fun in this show, especially with the Cafe Minamdang employees. I appreciated how the writers gave us insight to how the Cafe came into being. Watching him bounce and dance around, chanting nonsense chants, and then surprising everyone with him being spot on was fun to watch.

Where it kind of fell apart for me was the overabundant number of characters to keep straight. They threw names around right and left, so many of them like the others, I spent a lot of time wondering who the heck they were talking about. I was surprised at how quickly the show went from light and fun to dark and sordid. The seamy underbelly of the police force and government officials, that's a cliche that gets used too much for my taste.

I also had a problem with the age difference between a few of the characters, only because it made absolutely no sense and wasn't believable.

Without giving anything away, there was one character that I was hoping beyond all hope that they wouldn't take him in a certain direction. When they did, though, I was glad because it made more sense. But it came so close to the end of the show it seemed like it was tacked on at the last minute.

I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but there should not have been a romance between the main couple. There was no chemistry, it wasn't believable, and I focused on the secondary couple.

The OST was wonderful.

I won't watch this again, because I didn't find it interesting enough, and the main couple was so bland.

I'm not going to say don't watch it. You'll be thoroughly entertained in the first few episodes, but as for the rest, I just really felt like there was something missing.

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