chaotic plot genre (?) but good (?)
ok, so I really like this but also I didn't. I feel very conflicted cause I got very attached to the side characters (THE SECOND LEAD COUPLE AND THEIR LITTLE FAMILY LITERALLY HAS MY HEART) and also to the dads, moms, and aunties. The story around architecture, food, paramedicine and finding hobbies when you are older were so inspiring!! Also the male lead was so so hot and the actor killed this performance. However I feel like this drama tried to do too many things at once. First the banter almost family-like, then the I liked-you-first, then the illness, then the small town found family, then the family drama... I don't know I feel like it would have been an amazing short cozy drama (maybe like 8 to 12 episodes) and I would have loved it, but it just went in too many directions and for too long so I lost all my interest in the main couple and was not feeling butterflies for them anymore. I stayed for the side characters and do not regret it at all.Was this review helpful to you?
I love this show...
I am really sad about the cultural appropriation episodes but I really hope the situation gets resolved. I hope the producers take sincere provisions but I really hope the shoe doesn't get canceled or suspended. The chemistry between the leads is insane, I stay up all night thinking about the m. I haven't felt this way about a kdrama ship since Hometown cha cha cha and Strong woman do bong song. This show brings me so much comfort, I really hope there is a way produce's can pay for their mistakes without repercussion on the amazing kdrama :(Was this review helpful to you?
amazing!! give it a try
will never understand people who expect too much from slice of life dramas... they are literally made to be comforting and a little flat!! I personally enjoyed this one so much. It was so so funny I had to wipe my tears from laughing too much in some points, and it was so sweet and heartwarming it made me feel so cozy. There are several tropes who were clique but executed perfectly: the little town, the countryside, the town people, the tight office team... but also some who completely surprised me!! The friendship between Mi-Kyung and her bestfriend for example was one of the best I have seen in kdramas, and the way they handled past trauma was refreshing!! Sometimes I find a little unrealistic when characters just can't move on from the past no matter what. Because life does indeed go on, and honestly to me, the ending felt so real and pure. I am a very big fan of the genre so I know that I am biased but I must say, within this category lg Once-Upone-a-Small-Town dramas I like to watch this was refreshing, funny, charming and original!! Definitely a rewatch.Was this review helpful to you?
so lovely
such a nice refreshing bl🥹 a little bit different from what I am used to, and I would have loved to see more of their dating era but still very very cute and comforting. The actors are so handsome omg I feel like I gasped everytime they showed a close up of them. The flashbacks and storyline flowed very well together and I loved the sport element even though it was a bit overlooked. I love how they didn't give a villain arch to the second lead, I was expecting him to act like a bitch but instead was very sweetWas this review helpful to you?
my favorite k-drama to date!!
this is definitely my favorite k-drama ever and I can proudly say it with no hesitation. Even though I must say that I almost died during the last episode because of stress (THAT WAS SO FUCKING TENSEFUL I HAD TO PAUSE LIKE TEN TIMES). I never watched a k-drama that made me scream, cry, SHIVER, giggle and smile like this one. If you like suspense, and thriller but also a romantic comedy and a inspiring slice of life about sports... this is everything you'll ever need. Now how do I say goodbye to these characters and their world? I think I'll forever treasure Kim Tae-young and Lee Kwon-sook smiles in my heart. Truly a showstopper.Was this review helpful to you?
nothing can ever compare
I don't even know where to start.. I am crying like a baby cause I just can't accept the fact that I finished this drama. Nothing Nothing Nothing will ever compare to the feeling of comfort this tv show brought to me. I am afraid I'll never like any piece of fiction more than this, no I am almost certaint I will never enjoy a piece of fiction like this one. My heart is swollen with passion, heartache, joy, sweetness, nostalgia and every emotion possible all together. I will never never never forget this drama. There is no comfort drama that could ever top the way this drama healed me. At the same time it is also my biggest heartache cause I just passed my teenage years and I now know for sure I will never experience a youth like theirs. I will long forever for a group friends like theirs, and even tho I never got my young Zhang Lurang, I will keep waiting for adult Zhang Lurang in my future. Ah... I just can't stop writing... the lingering feeling that this has really ended... I just can't let go of these characters!! I will miss them so much it's unreal I could start crying all over again ...pls pls pls if u are reading this and still haven't watched it don't waste a single second! I can swear on my heart you'll never regret it.
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my heart is full
I have never felt this comforted by a kdrama ever before. This show is the DEFINITION of comfort drama. I feel so empty now I don't know how I'll go about my days without seeing my comfort characters everyday. Definitely a kdrama I'll rewatch again and again. The story was so rich, so many lessons about loss, love, family, sickness, friendship, age... I got attached to every single character and I truly felt my heart aching for them. I'll never forget Haenam. This show deserves so much more recognition. Aaaa I can't say goodbye to them what do I do now...Was this review helpful to you?
Brilliant and refreshing! but deserved more romance...
humor, originality , suspense, thriller and friendship!! brilliant drama that perfectly blends humor with thrilling plot twists, sweet romance with blood chilling mysteries and heartfelt friendships with found family. I love it overall and found it very refreshing!! I even cried in several points of it, because I was moved by the story or by the relationship Hae Song had with the students 🥹🥹 I never felt the need to skip, it was very very enteirtaing and I got attached to all of the characters so much. The story was insanely good written and the plot gripping!! too bad the romance was only hinted at for 11 episodes... I think for this drama to get 9.5 it would have needed more romance and for it to get 10 it would have needed more episodes!!!Was this review helpful to you?
sadly it didn't hit as it should have
beautiful cast. perfect chemistry. great great start of plot and first episodes. incredible originalità in the plot. complex and realistic characters. villains with vulnerabilities. character development for each one of them. beautiful visuals. but... the plot did not make it. it started so well and promising and then went into this weird spiral which was not meant for a 10 episode show... i still got attached to the characters and place so I think 8 it's very safe to give. But sadly I stopped enjoying after ep 65, I wish they either gave it 16 episodes (then keeping all the drama/sub plots would make sense), or they should have get rid of some thing. it felt rushy and too filled. we lost the chemistry and the beauty of cooking and the slice of life feeling of the first episodes.
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refreshing!!
same vibes as Not Others, one of my favorite dramas. I loved it, especially the parents' romance was the sweetest little thing. I also like the "lead' couple nonetheless, the chemistry was not really there but their plot was really really cute. overall a nice family drama, had nice plots, character developments, tear jerking moments, interests side characters and finally an original plot! besides not others I haven't found a kdrama mature but silly, so it was definitely what I was searching forWas this review helpful to you?
Refreshing
very cute cozy kdrama with also a lot of angst and melodrama. I loved how they discussed mental health and so many other important themes such as burnout, friendship, single parents, grief, absent parents and so on. Great chemistry, great delivery by all actors and great plot. I don't really have nothing to say to this drama and maybe that's why I stop at a 8.0 grade. It was great, meaningful, cute but nothing incredibly memorable. I had lost interest at one particular episode (I think after episode 9) but thankfully after a two weeks break decided to try it again and I was very pleased with the ending.Was this review helpful to you?
this drama could have been a 10...
Overall this drama was really my style. Without doubt one of the best thriller subplot I have ever watched in a kdrama. The killer mystery was just the best ever, and the police team among my favorites for this genre of kdrama. The chemistry between the two main leads? Incredible. The slowburn? Great. But... what was that end... I was really disappointed by the end... like up until episode 15 I was so glued to the screen my eyes were hunting. Episode 16 felt directed by a whole different person I don't get it... I love this drama but will forever be bitter but that rushful and exaggerated ending. I wanted the two have a happy ending however, there were so many other ways they could have done it without ruining it so much.Was this review helpful to you?
this show surprised me
I was not expecting this but I am so pleased.Sometimes warm, sometimes heartwrenching, sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter... it was a rollercoaster of emotions.
Got really attached to the hometown and almost all of the characters I am going to miss some of them dearly. The actors did such an incredible job I was amazed by all of them, even the small roles.
In conclusion, such a classic! A k-drama staple which is worth to rematch for comfort <3
The couple also had a lot of chemistry which sometimes can be hard for slow slice of life k-dramas but they made my heart beat so fast!!
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mixed feelings
i have mixed feelings about this drama. On one hand it was a rollacoaster of emotions with an amazing plot, incredible actors' performances and unimaginable plost twists but on the other side... I don't know I can't understand if I got attached to the characters or not... for some reason I feel like at the start I was very fond of them while towards the last 3-4 episodes I want forward only to see the plot unfolding cause the story was so addicting. Props to the female actresses, from the main to the villains, they all did an amazing job the acting level was phenomenal that's for sure. Overall I liked it even though I feel the last three episodes lacked of something the first ten had ..Was this review helpful to you?
this drama healed me
I barely have words. I just finished the best drama of 2025 and probably of 2024 too. I love this on so many levels and I have my heart full, thanks to the amazing acting and plot. The story is rich, heartwarming, thoughtful and full of life lessons. The characters are complex, flawed and perfectly built, with much room for development and it is so easy to get attached to any of them. I loved this to the core, it was done so well and so carefully executed!!! from Ho-su's mom to Kim Rosa's backstory, to Mirae's coworker, to their youth days.. there is not one single backstory scene I wanted to skip over. It is rare to find a kdrama that can glue your eyes and heart to the screen like this. I cried (a lot lol), laughed, giggled, frowned and sighed like I was in their universe too, like the twins were real and this was more than just a script. I will cherish this drama and its lessons in my heart for a long long time. Can't wait for time to pass so I can rewatch it and fill my heart with them all over again. Thank you director, thank you writer, thank you actors. I mean it.Was this review helpful to you?
