scenophile

Feels like an adaptation

Before I start, I do want to say that I have watched the original Taiwanese drama and it's one of my favorites. There's definitely gonna be some bias there but either way, my review and rating will be more about this drama as an adaptation and less about its source material (how the plot is written, etc.).

In terms of the plot...well it already has my favorite type of time-traveling where everything is a singular timeline, and it has one of the most heart-wrenching twists I'd ever seen. I do feel like sometimes it got a lot more confusing than the original did; they left out some scenes of the characters just hanging out, or having important conversations, and overall just paced it differently because they had one less episode. Either way, I sometimes wondered if I would be more confused if I hadn't had pre-existing knowledge.

As an adaptation, though, it really is just missing some of the beats that the original nailed. I felt like we got a lot less time to watch the characters come to term with their emotions. The grief of Jun-hee, the playful innocence between the trio, and the tension over the attacks...everything just felt...less. I never really felt the stakes, or felt the gut-wrenching bittersweetness of unrequited love and all the pain that comes with it.

This is partly saved by JYB's acting, which is fantastic. But I can't help but feel like we only got to see the tip of her acting chops. The acting of the ML (AHS) was pretty good also, the ML is a lot more "cool" in this one and I absolutely missed the playfulness and the life in the original. Both the leads felt mellowed out as a result of both acting and script. Since this IS an adaptation, that's fine — but I definitely just prefer the character dynamics in the original where we really got to feel how much they enjoyed spending time with each other.

I also think the OST is just okay here. In the original, the cassette song was a core part, but really so were all the other songs as well. In this one, the soundtrack really just doesn't give you the same feeling of nostalgia.

The vibe of nostalgia really is missing from a lot of this show. I think the cinematography was really good, but sometimes the different timelines weren't that clear both visually and atmospherically; I don't think this one captured the feeling of the past and all the longing that comes with it.

Overall, I still do think this was a good adaptation but I think someone going into it fresh might appreciate it more than someone who has watched the T-drama. It is pretty one-to-one, which is a double-edged sword for the following reason:

Still, although a lot of scenes were directly taken from the original, the flow wasn't necessarily done well, landing this drama in an awkward position:
- If someone watched this for the first time, I really think they would enjoy it and my 5.5 should have 0 bearing on it.
- However, if someone WANTED to watch this story but hasn't yet, I would absolutely 100% recommend the original instead.
- And if someone had already watched the original and wanted to see it adapted...this MIGHT be a good watch, but personally I'd still recommend just rewatching the original again.

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Namhyeok supremacy

I have to start this off with my favorite part of — Suhyeok and Namra, who totally stole the show, both individually and together. I just loved Namra's character arc in particular, and though romance is by no means a main focus of this show, their scenes are the ones I keep going back to rewatch.

With that being said, I think it was really good that romance wasn't a main focus, and yet it was there in certain light-hearted moments, reminding us that these characters are still kids who deal with crushes and first kisses and butterflies. I think both of the main relationships were done absolutely beautiful and we got just the right amount for them.

I think my main criticism with this is just the massive amount of unnecessary characters there are. I liked the two main groups for sure (although I admit some of those characters felt extra — it was as if they were to die in case someone needed to be killed off) and some of the peripheral characters like parents, and I anxiously awaited moments where their paths would cross. But other than that, there were a lot of other character groups and arcs that took up time and got incomplete arcs like the politician, the livestreamer, or the pregnant girl; I either didn't care for those or were downright annoyed with them. Even some of the characters that were more relevant kind of had their character development swerving off-kilter in a non-sensical way.

I also felt like the last episode was really rushed; I felt like taking out some of those unnecessary characters and spending more time with the main group could have given the changes in the last episode more screentime — I also wouldn't have been opposed to having this be a full 16-episodes so we could see more about the aftermath and maybe get an ending that was more satisfying. It currently stands a bit bittersweet and I have mixed feelings on that.

In conclusion - watch for Suhyeok and Namra.

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Character-driven social commentary

One thing I've noticed about these Taiwanese mystery thriller dramas is that it's not necessarily about the whodunnit or about blowing your mind with plot twists. It's about making social commentary through the eyes of different characters. Copycat Killer did a really good job of that.

Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed the mystery element, but I realized I shouldn't overthink the actions of different characters and waste my time trying to figure out who did it. Instead, the drama made me think about the killer's motivations and psychology, and most of all how the media and the rest of the public enabled it.

This is a really character-driven (as opposed to plot-driven) story; if someone keeps those things in mind, I think they'll really enjoy this one.

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Comforting but a little boring

I think this drama would be good for people who enjoyed Run On, Because This Is My First Life, and Racket Boys — all dramas that were pretty mellow and comforting, where any romance was pretty simple, straightforward, and honestly a little distant. I do love good communication between characters and I also loved seeing strangers get to know each other but I felt like I never really felt giddy or that invested in them. The relationship is almost too mellow for me (as someone who just wants a little more playfulness and casual banter).

There are also some cliches in the plot that felt a little out of place for 2021, and the pacing was a little weird with not focusing on the male lead at all until near the last few episodes.

I'm also pretty on the fence about the side stories — there are some scenes that were very touching and heart-warming but overall I definitely wasn't that invested in their stories as much and I even found them a little annoying at times.

I know 6.5 might seem like a low rating but it's not and it's really more out of indifference than dislike; I've watched worse dramas that made me feel more.

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Humor was hit or miss

Right off the bat, I knew it wasn't my type of humor. It's a little like Melting Me Softly or After School: Lucky or Not where the humor is just kind of bizarre and illogical — the type of "omfg lolzor so randoM!!" type of humor that I liked in middle school. Even with this being said though, there were SOME moments that still made me laugh out loud.

Because of the above, I felt like the plot was just kind of boring to me because it felt like there wasn't really anything at stake.

The main couple was the one I was least interested in out of the three, and it felt like the main two characters (and the random second lead) had no personality. I loved Seo-jin and Joon-ki att first — but after she started liking him, all the banter and clashing that defined their relationship went out the window, and Seo-jin's say-it-like-it-is personality did a complete 180. In the end, Du-shik and Soo-ah (who I disliked at the start) became my favorite two characters.

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Heart-warming but bittersweet

I have too many thoughts. It's true that this drama focused less on the romance plotline and more on friendship and family, which I can get behind. BUT—for fifteen episodes, the romance barely progressed, and I honestly found myself thirsting for any sort of development. The triangle was one of those situations where for once I wouldn't mind who got the girl because I loved both love interests so much. It definitely wasn't who I expected at the beginning, where I was firmly on Team Jung-Hwan, but the way they went about making Taek the husband was so natural that I fell for him HARD along the way, and their hotel kiss scene turned out to be my favorite scene. which I've rewatched at least 50 times since finishing the drama an hour ago.

I really appreciated that Deok-Sun fell for him on her own and, unlike the other two, didn't just like the idea of being liked first (in which she was unlikable and had stilted character development); to add, the fact that she lied and didn't chase after him because she cherished him so much as a friend...that broke me into a million pieces. Their relationship was honestly all kinds of natural, and even though everyone treated him so preciously and she did too, she was also one of the few who weren't afraid of wrestling him and treating him like everyone else. Like I said, even though Deok-Sun seemed to have some stilted character development because she was such a passive part of the love triangle for so long and didn't even understand her own emotions after the time skip, I really liked how everything ended up playing out—I just wished her pacing was less bunched up towards the end.

My heart still hurts for Jung-Hwan, especially with all those episodes after the time skip, and I wish he had more development even after it was clear Taek was the husband. But one huge thing I loved about Reply 1988 in comparison to the other dramas was that, even though it was heart-breaking, it teaches that you have to ACT and fight for what your heart wants. Jung-Hwan might've loved Deok-Sun, but he never fought for her, treated her indifferently, said hurtful things, and for once the tsundere-with-lack-of-communication didn't have that hail Mary / miracle at the end and get the girl, which is a much more accurate representation of real life. Jung-Hwan's episode 18 revelation was one of my favorites: when he sees that Taek got to her first, blames the red lights, then finally realizes that he had had all the time in the world and could only blame his own hesitation and cowardice. It can all be summed up in that on scene where Deok-Sun says she has indigestion, JH only asks if she's okay, but Taek follows her out and gives her medicine.

Taek was the one who was always there for her, and even after knowing about Jung-Hwan's feelings and folding his own, Taek still dropped everything for her—not because didn't care for Jung-Hwan, but just because Deok-Sun was that much of a priority.

The time skip in this one surprisingly didn't bother me as much, even though I still felt kind of iffy about it at first, as I do with all time skips. Unlike Reply 1997 where Yoon-Jae and Shi-Won didn't talk to each other for six years, I liked that characters kept in touch throughout the years and still met up, which was why their relationship was so natural even though we could see them growing up.

The ending broke my heart, and honestly I wish it ended at episode 19, where everyone was happy. But since we DID have episode 20, I wish the things introduced in that episode were wrapped up, like their family and friends' reactions to Taek and Deok-Sun's relationship.

I also HATED Bo-Ra at first, because she was rude and angsty and bossy and yelled ALL ThE TIME. But she grew on me, and I loved that her political activism was a storyline. Her relationship with her dad was also a dark horse that I didn't expect to cry so much for them.

One thing I wished we had more of was friendship for Deok-Sun within the group. I loved her scenes with Dong-Ryong which were JUST friendship, and I loved the bromance between the other characters. But since Deok-Sun was the only girl, I couldn't help but feel like she was left out of some of those deep talks.

It took me a little longer to understand who was who, simply because this one had the most adults and family members. At some points, there were some plots that I didn't care for and felt like they were filler, but they really grew on me as the story progressed.

Another thing that really didn't work for me was the different actors in the present day scenes. I liked that it meant we didn't have the guy's face obscured at all times, but I really felt like I disassociated the older characters from their younger selves and just could not get used to the different faces and voices.

Lastly, the 1994 cameos were woven in beautifully. They tied into the message of the episode perfectly. I loved the Reply 1997 characters and their cameos in 1994, but I wish they had the same impact as the ones in this serial.

I honestly would give 10/10 for the last 3 episodes because they had the perfect balance of romance, friendship, family, culture, etc...but overall, my rating would still be 8.5/10. As much as I liked that this one didn't focus on romance, some of the episodes felt more filler, and I felt like some of the plotlines were recycled from previous Reply dramas, like the realize-you-have-to-treat-your-parents-right-after-a-health-scare.

ALSO - give the actress for baby Jin-Joo an Oscar. She was hilarious, adorable, and stole every single scene she was in.

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Amazing first half, okay second half

I came across some clips on YouTube and just fell head over heels for the main characters, for the subject matter, for the aesthetic...for everything.

And for about 10 episodes I continued loving it and I continued getting those butterflies in my stomach.

Then the story started to drag a little and it seemed like all the great communication the characters had before went out the window. I understand that it's a melo and they definitely were going for realism; the issue is that they made it so repetitive. The second FL getting in the way followed by the main FL getting insecure, etc. and it seemed like they never got anywhere.

Another issue I had with this drama was just the conflation of the career plotline and the romance plotline — it's understandable that things would get a little messy, but I'm always a bit annoyed at characters like that and I'm not sure if it was an issue with the character or with the writing.

With that being said, the most disappointing part for me was the epilogue ending for our main FL — after everything she had gone through about following your dreams, self-confidence, independence, etc. It just felt like all those mini-lessons and references went out the window. I really thought her career plotline would have a lot more oomph, and it felt almost like SA was turned into nothing but JY's love interest at the end.

Some of the characters were also just annoying and said things that made no logical sense — again, I know it's a melo and the aesthetic kind of made it not as annoying as it would've been in a low-budget 2010 drama, but I still found it annoying. There were pretty underutilized side characters.

Ultimately though, I still enjoyed this one quite a bit, mainly due to the aesthetic, the classical music references, and just the amazing OST. The acting was great and our main leads actually had a lot going for them, but just not much to work with. I love myself a good melo but I'm still a bigger fan of episodes 1-8, before they got together and actually had better communication.

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Way too dragged out

This part felt twice as long as it needed to be, and it was very hard to feel any stakes compared to the first part.

The plot was really dragged out. It got even more annoying when side characters had information and just didn't share it because "it would happen anyways." It really made the plot move way more slowly than it needed.

Second, after the serious note we ended the first part on, the second part really needed to match the high stakes in the first one. Instead, the drama tried to repeat the funny and light-hearted vibe we started the first drama in, relying on parallel scenes and humor. It felt out-of-place and doesn't really move the story forwards.

Aside from this, it was very romance-focused, giving us a push-and-pull between the leads that got very repetitive when I would've much preferred for the story to move forwards faster, especially since it felt like the antagonists had stayed exactly where they were in season 1.

Honestly, I just didn't really buy into the romance. After the epic love story we got in part 1, the one in here felt watered down and I didn't really see a reason for the main lead to fall for them again.

I generally found it very difficult to connect the female lead we saw in this one with the Naksu from part 1. While I think it's fine for her, having gotten amnesia, to be brighter and more innocent, I wish we still saw more moments of sassiness and less scenes that just referenced part 1 to be clever.

Overall, it really just feels like they spent too much time on the romance and humor and ended up cramming the plot in the last 2 episodes. I'm glad about how the story ended up, but really didn't like how we got there or how it was paced.

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Slow burn excellence

I was a little nervous about the leads' relationship — after all, the characters have a TEN year age gap. But this turned out to be one of the sweetest, healthiest, most mature relationships I've ever seen and I can't put into words how much I loved seeing their feelings slowly develop. The chemistry was absolutely there but even individually, both the ML and the FL were given equal time to shine. They were such well-rounded characters with their own stories, and their relationship was built on supporting and caring for each other during those journeys. There were no stupid misunderstanding tropes and the honesty was just so refreshing. The FL is exactly how a strong female lead should be written, and the ML is respectful and kind.

The second and third couples were okay; I liked them as characters also and think the relationships also made sense, but they weren't as fleshed out and sometimes there were developments I wanted to see that I feel like the show skipped over.

But they were still good additions to the cast, and plot-wise the subplots of all the side characters were intertwined with the main one relatively well. It's interesting too to realize that there are really no clear-cut villains in the story. There are some people that are selfish and money- and power-hungry, but ultimately they didn't become "evil" and things were never that black and white. It made the drama very relatable and true-to-life.

I know some people complained that the drama started out slow but the pacing of the entire show was just perfect for me. We got to see what the characters' original lives were like, what traumas they had, who and what was important to them, how they handled conflicts, etc. It makes seeing their development at the end mean so much more.

Whether you typically watch sport dramas or not, this is one I will 100% recommend.

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Unbearable

This was horrible to watch. I know dramaland has a history of rude/jerk MLs that do nice things behind the scenes, but it is my belief that the latter probably doesn't matter if the former is just that hurtful to the FL — and this hinges a lot on how the FL takes it.

In this one, the weak and whiny FL was annoying, and the ML's coldness was just over the top. It was one of those dramas where jealousy wasn't funny and their entire relationship just seemed very toxic.

Something about the relationship progression with them being brother and sister first just felt very weird and unnatural to me.

Everything about the plot was very cliche, and it was just full of misunderstandings caused by the evil SFL.

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Mellow but underwhelming

I know this one is getting glowing reviews but it really felt underwhelming to me. Objectively I think everything is well-written, but I just didn't really feel the spark in it.

To start with the good things, it's definitely a mellow, down-to-earth drama. No conflicts feel overblown, there aren't any purely evil villain characters, and misunderstandings are understandable and realistic. I also think the age gap was handled really respectfully; they talk about it explicitly and emphasize that it began one-sided (that it would be weird otherwise). By the time feelings are revealed, the characters are older and wiser, and the romance is mature and communicative.

Ironically, I think this is one of the few dramas that would've benefitted from having a little more drama so that I would feel more stakes. I don't know if the story with the ML's backstory got as much closure as I would've wanted, considering it was the most interesting part since aside from the romance, SZ unfortunately doesn't feel that well-rounded.

Another thing is that the side characters feel lacking. The best one was Sang Zhi's older brother; the sibling relationship was perfectly depicted and hilarious, but I do wish we knew more about him outside of it. Similarly, we get hints of the friends, roommates, and coworkers of our two leads, but they're not really fleshed beyond the cookie-cutter roles of side characters in dramas (the boy-crazy one, the smart one, the tomboy, etc.), and they definitely felt sidelined in favor of the leads. It's understandable — after all, they are leads — but it made scenes where the leads weren't together feel bland.

I really do think this would be enjoyable to viewers who like romance dramas that are low-stress, mellow, and mature, like You Are My Glory. For me, I think there's an element of liveliness that I really missed, whether it was between the leads or the other people around them.

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Big romantic gestures do not make a romance

It's a shame the plot turned out the way it is because I usually will eat up a college-setting romance, especially a reverse harem. And the first two episodes were extremely promising too, with some really amusing over-the-top scenes that seemed to be making fun of old tropes, and with a female lead that was a little cliche — bright and bubbly — but still ended up sticking up for herself. And I love the bright pastel visuals.

As the drama went on, it felt like the show stopped doing tropes the fun way and just started doing them for real. I felt like I was watching something that should've come out in 2010. The manipulative ex-girlfriend plot device is especially tired, especially when paired with a male lead that just...doesn't communicate. And the way they handled the study abroad plot was so immature and frustrating.

Which is kind of a big issue throughout the drama that really made me stop caring about the leads. The show uses scenes of big romantic gestures to push the leads together, but the two of them pretty much fall flat in everything else. Maybe I'm old now but constant slow motion scenes of the leads saving each other from random situations, or running to each other to say "I love you" doesn't really mean anything to me if they're not going to actually talk to each other in between those scenes.

The side characters feel pretty underutilized. But props to Hong Min-ki for showing up to serve face for a few episodes.

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Modern Day > Historical

I’m trying to review this without taking into account the horrible airing schedule this drama got, but it’s hard. So just to get it out of the way, I just want to say that the one-episode-a-week format (plus some skipped weeks) definitely did not do this drama any favors.

With that being said, while the airing schedule didn’t help, I think I fell out of love with this drama as it went on for several other reasons as well.

I think there was a really strong start and I was really invested in the story when it first started; the tension between Haena and Seowon was great as they cycled through the different relationship dynamics: unrequited love, Haena having to hide her secret, growing feelings, etc.

When the drama started covering the backstory behind Haena’s dog curse, I unfortunately realized that I just didn’t really care for the saeguk/historical subplot. The characters felt really distant and disconnected from our modern day characters, I felt no emotional connection to the “past lives” theme, and the reason for the curse itself was kind of anti-climactic (and yes, I felt the same way when I read the webtoon). Overall, I just enjoyed the more grounded, modern day plot better, and I didn’t really care for the side characters who were related to the backstory either.

As a result, I found the overall plot with the second lead intriguing until the actual reveal and watching it play out. I enjoyed the tension better than actually seeing what happened.

In terms of the amnesia arc, I don’t think it was super frustrating and I didn’t hate it, but amnesia is still one of my least favorite tropes simply because it feels random — we already know the story is never going to end with it, and the logistics of it very rarely make sense anyways.

Even with a few angsty arcs, on the subject of acting, I enjoyed many of these actors in other things but I don't really think this drama showcased any of their acting chops well enough, in part due to the feeling of low stakes, and in part due to the rom-com nature of the show.

Ultimately, I think you can say that this drama was paced well. Unlike many dramas, it doesn’t fall into the trap of leaving too many things unsolved at the last minute. Unfortunately, it seems to have the opposite issue where the last episode feels just like a filler episode because the main plot is already wrapped up, but overall it’s still a light-hearted, decent watch.

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Very...okay

From all the glowing reviews it looks like I may be in the minority again as I just found this drama very...okay.

The VR/mystery game plot wasn't really something I would be invested in and it just took up time, and aside from that, the show was basically your typical romance drama, hitting the same beats of workplace romance, cohabitation, and even the final act break-up.

I do think this one does it better than most. The pacing is good throughout (despite that final act) and the main characters are realistic and down-to-earth. The second leads are...fine. They were decent to watch, but the storyline isn't really fleshed out.

Overall, this was just okay on all fronts. The plot was okay, the chemistry was okay. A good way to pass the time but not really one I'll remember.

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