puurimi

It's interesting how the comment section here is so negative towards the show and the actors, while outside of this platform's comment section I got an impression that people are really enjoying the series. Just an observation. That's why the ratings are quite high too, I assume. it's definitely higher than average show and it's a been a long while since I enjoyed a GMM series this much. For once, there is a more realistic relationship progression, as well as the context for it; complex and multidimensional characters, not stupid friends and non-toxic ex. This drama just feels healthy.

Sorry, but you've got a rather strange idea about how romantic relationships work, huh. People kinda need to agree on being in one, for that people actually need, you know, talk with each other. Kissing once doesn't mean anything except attraction, and even then the latter one is not guaranteed.

Agreed. I actually don’t think Cher even seems nosy. Probably some people may misinterpret his lack of filter, yeah, but I was pleasantly surprised from the beginning how he wasn’t nosy in the slightest. He’s there for people when they need him but that’s about it.

Two people being honest with each other, not hiding their intentions, having thoughtful conversations, being supportive of each other, not having any misunderstandings so far. Also being delicate with each other and not nosy. This is where that maturity lies. Cher might seem silly but he handles difficult situations like an normal adult. Silly and playful personality doesn't mean lack of awareness.

I like the series a lot. It’s quite mature, considering it’s a romantic comedy. The plot somehow is a bit silly here and there but I don’t quite understand the complaints of some other viewers. Book’s character is a bit over the top, but it suits the show. There are plenty of series with similar character dynamic, and yet it’s the first one I see people complain so much about. I thoroughly enjoy Force’s and Book’s acting, and seeing them together is quite nice. They complement each other well visually too. Their chemistry is quite chill and subtle but I like it a lot, it feels refreshing somehow. Nothing is in your face, it feels comfortable.

Overall it’s nice to see a mature relationship. I’m a little tired of all the school/university settings on the one hand, where it takes forever for the characters to figure out that they like each other through very weird tropes, or, on the other hand, overly sexualised/bad-boys/gangs stuff series recently. Both types have their place, but this feels much more realistic even with exaggerated characters, and much more mature than all the sexy dramas. Boss/intern relationship is maybe tricky, but hopefully they will be able to address it. If not, I don’t mind either way, this stuff definitely happens anyway. It’s not something I personally can be annoyed about.

Fluke and Ohm’s couple I don’t really buy, they are very cheesy and I don’t care for them much? Feels like they are there to fill some of the gaps in the story. I don’t particularly mind them, just don’t care. Could’ve been a better couple instead of them for sure.

Again, kinda strange to see so much negativity. It’s not that bad at all? Somehow it feels sometimes that people come from a place of disliking Book and Force more than anything. I think Book and Force are decent actors, there’s nothing wrong with their acting per se. Maybe I’m wrong but these comments kind of made me feel this way.

There’s still a lot of room to spoil everything but I hope the signs I’m picking up through their dialogues are not there for nothing, and, hopefully, it might mean that we are getting a good plot progression and conclusion.

I felt exactly the same. It was pretty good until it wasn't. Adding to all you said (and I do agree with), I also felt as the pacing was broken without any good reason for it, and all the suspense was lost too. Very sloppy writing, and directing too, for that matter, I think. I had to push myself through the past 3 episodes and I did't care for it. I also felt as some storylines were underdeveloped, and the close it was getting to the end, the less attention writers payed for it and the balance was lost too. A shame, really.

Anyways, thank you for an honest review. I have been seeing people liking the series so much but good to know I'm not the only one disappointed, especially after such a good start.

I actually don't mind criticism since I am a terrible to watch stuff with too, there always be something I don't like. But then again, how I rate and what I actually think of the show in more depth are not the same thing.

I only recently started reading webnovels or something of the sort. I was too busy studying (which included way too much reading in itself, so I resorted to dramas to try and unload my brain). Before my recent studies I'd read fiction in my native tongue mostly, but since the start of the pandemic I kind of got into reading more fiction in English. So I really can't say much here since I only really have a more profound experience in reading more classic forms of literature (not sure if that is a good way to put it, but I hope I got my point across), or some short webnovels in my native language, which is a whole other world of things. And even then I remember sticking to authors mostly.

But it would be nice to see your list if you don't mind ^^ Getting into novels is bit overwhelming, so I am doing very slowly. :(

It's so cool that you can watch it with your mum!

Also, you can DM me if it's more convenient for you. :)

Interesting! I just have sometimes this deep interest in characters. I am not a very emotional type of person, but there are times I can't help but feel intrigued about characters. That alone can make me rate a drama higher. Plot is important too, but then I guess some dramas have different standards and something I decide upon unconsciously. Rather convoluted, now that I think of it.

To be honest, I don't know how to rate novels. When it comes to reading, I am pretty much an "author" kind of reader. If I like an author, I read everything by them and take little interest in genres or whatnot ^^' Then I start re-reading, haha. Then ending up rating books on the range of best to worst of the author. I would often have a favourite author rather than a favourite novel. :)

I never got into K-Dramas, unfortunately. I have some on my watchlist and I dropped too many of them at some point that now I am reluctant to watch one. I have always gravitated towards Chinese and Japanese dramas more, and then Thai BLs, just because it was entertaining.

And as for Nirvana in Fire and politics, that's exactly why I wanted to watch it. I love politics more than action ^^ And historical or somewhat historical dramas are my favourites, I just love the settings.

I find your approach to rating shows very honest, quite admirable in my opinion. I am one of those people who never knows actors' names and directors to me are a mystery, so at the very least that also isn't something I pay much attention to when judging the drama. But I have a weak spot when I find myself liking some characters for various reasons. I guess, I find people interesting sometimes.

Also, I really like your watchlist, just wanted to say. Nirvana in Fire has been on my watchlist for years and I am rather inspired to watch it now :)

Well, I don't think people by their nature are very rational. The amount of times I would watch the film based on a good rating and be quite flabbergasted at why people like it. Should I be angry about it though? I might provide some comment on why I didn't like it but I would do my best do it with respect. Then, again, there are shows I love but some people might find not as great, I would give it a better rating because I enjoyed it more. Generally, rating of the show is not something one should solemnly rely on.

I do get your point, don't get me wrong, I just think it's too unrealistic. You seem to be much more objective about it than most people would even think. I don't quite tend to rate too high even things I like it a lot. But even then, in those I gave 9.5, as for Killer and Healer, for instance in my case, if I just didn't like characters as much as I did, I probably would've only given it a 7.0 at best. Another reason I rate some things higher than I probably would feel, as to be able to find the dramas I like easier. This rating system is just a tool, after all, for us to organise information to an extent.

And thank you for the last bit of the comment. I am from the West, but happened to live in Far-East Asia for some time because of my university degree, so I have some basic understandings of what it's like in that respect out there. The sexual part of identity is somewhat cultivated in the West, so you might be right to see it as a part of culture. Maybe arguably so, but I don't know. In any case, some people are just not always comfortable with that. Not the sex part in itself per se, but how much of it is there in media, films, shows, and regular conversations. I certainly don't mind the lack of it in shows at this point.

I find it interesting how frustrated people are with the rating of the show. I mean, the show really isn’t all too bad. Not great, but it is for a certain audience. Plenty of people like it. I personally don’t want to comment anything here as to not get involved in any sort of unpleasant discussion since people seem to be so vocally disliking it, and in a rather offensive manner. Dislike it as you please, but at least be respectful of the show, actors and people who do indeed enjoy the show. Criticism can be expressed without anger and offence. On occasions it feels as people really are going out of their way to show their dissatisfaction. Not sure why this particular show has triggered such feelings though. In my humble opinion, there are plenty much worse but at the same time much more popular shows that GMMTV has produced, and quite recently, at that.. This one at the very least resembles some form of realism, I can genuinely relate to some characters. Writing, acting, and directing could surely be better, but overall I like the message and the plot. In general, could have been done much better but I still quite like it.

And do add to the recent previous comment, I have seen something about the lack of sex scenes on the discussion and, to be completely honest, it doesn't sit well with me. I come to Asian BLs often to get away from sex and the implications of it that are so incredibly common in Western shows. Just personal preference. Not every single gay person in the world is very sexual, and I would like to see some other side of that. I hope that love is somewhat more than just passion.

I quite like this series. This is not a masterpiece, but I do enjoy the pacing, the characters as I feel there is a complexity to them. They are not perfect, they should not be, and they make mistakes and think illogically. I guess it is nice to see some other types of characters too. Performance might be average, however to me it seems that most of the issue comes from directing more than acting in itself. Much worse acting has been done on much more popular shows, so I give it a good pass overall. The pairing has a great potential, chemistry is very strong, I hope they might get another show with a director who can do them justice.

To those who are confused about wether to watch it or not, since the comments here are not so positive and the rating is rather good, just try it out for yourself. You might enjoy it, might not. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I guess it's just the type of show.

I don't care for the novel. I watched very flawed show that made me read novels they are based on, and this show wasn't one of them. If you liked the show - good for you, I guess? I don't exactly care. I don't care if someone did a bad job with translating into English, you don't take into account what language I watched it in exactly and what my knowledge of Japanese is. For that matter, I didn't watch it with English subs, so I can say nothing about the quality of them. I don't think creators did a good job and I explained why. Yeah, a bit of a rant there, but most of it is a review of the show. I had to start with the rant because I wanted to explain myself and point out I am not a "hater" but I have received a lot of negativity for a simple harmless opinion, as many other people out there. Anyway, this is the way I chose to do it, and if you consider it a rant, then be it, I suppose. Why not, though.

I never spend my energy on trashing people, I have not interest in people I don't know to waste my time and emotions on them. Including you.

You should have ignored it from the very beginning. Wise thing to do.

Thank you for the support! I honestly greatly appreciate. I don't tend to write reviews, but I felt like this community absolutely disregards criticism of the series and I wanted to provide some. I also follow a community in my native language where the series was subbed, and it simply felt as the discussion there was much healthier. Though there are still "defenders" of the show of the type very prominent here, perhaps some common past and present realities make people of my home country more sensitive to attempts to shut someone up even in disagreement, hence the much more open discussion. But it is an interesting dynamic here I am trying to wrap my head around.

Thank you and I am glad I am not alone on this.

Cheers,
Happy New Year!

I didn't get into an argument. More like, I was attacked by an army of angry fans. I tried to make my point but people started calling me words and I left it at that. Maybe I also should have reported them, some of them were incredibly rude to me. Why don't you get angry at them and report them? They were much more offensive than I have ever been to someone.

If you dislike it so much why not just ignore it? What I need to do I can decide for myself. And by leaving these comments and asking people to report my review (and another ad review too) you just prove my point how frustrating the community around the show is. You can't leave people alone. I didn't attack you personally, why do you care? The best thing is to be above all this and move on. And you misinterpreted my words and made plenty assumptions about me and my intentions. You really are in no position to talk about logic here.

I think it is fair to criticise the community as well. It is part of the show too, so. As well as it served as an introduction. Overall, I can write whatever I want and I was being very polite. Most of my review is about the show anyway.

I was not on a fansite (what fansite even? Where did you get that from?) and I didn't get into an argument, it is truly fascinating how people can come to such assumptions without any ground for it in the first place. I wasn't angry either. Don't know where you got this from. Blimey. Haha.

It's also interesting how you so easily assumed I am a female.

I very much disagree. I simply don't think there was enough character development to convince me as a viewer that suddently their relationship can be justified.