Kate

Mental Coach Jegal is NOT a romance drama. Not by genre and not by tags, so their reasoning was wrong in this case

If for someone one of the main reason they enjoyed the show was the mentor/mentee relationship between Jegal and Ga Eul, changing that dynamics can ruin the show overall. People also have their specific pet peeves - sometimes the smallest aspect of the show might ruin the whole experience if you are really not on board with it.

Not to mention, if someone did not like the romance, but the show ended literally on them getting together... it's like having your favorite meal, but the last bite is only stuff you hate. It just leaves bad taste in your mouth.

At the end of the day, it does not matter what was the specific reason the romance ruined it for them, it does not matter if we get it or not. The fact stays the same - the romance did ruin the show for many people, and it's not like it actually improved the quality of the show and was needed in the first place ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This is not a romantic drama tho.

It's neither in the genre, and it was not in tags when it started airing (don't know now, and don't care enough to check) so they have every right to complain about the romance in a show that they did not expect to have any romance in the first place.

I 100% agree that people complaining about the romance in a romance show is ridiculous. MCJ is NOT a romance show, so that argument does not work here.

Don't writers get tired of putting romance in every show ever because they fear they cannot attract the audience in any other manner?

Romance is great, does not mean it's needed in every show, especially if there are other plotlines that feel like they could/should be explored more - the screen time used on romance could have been used for these. And that's the issue in MCJ.

Also... in general there is nothing wrong with someone not wanting romance in the show they are watching and saying the romance ruined it for them. If someone does not want to see romance in the show, they can't just "enjoy it".

I was not as passionate about the romance here as some other people (be it in negative or positive way), but it did feel painfully unnecessary and poorly executed compared to everything else in the show. Hence it did make me enjoy the show a little bit less.

This was probably the best I have ever seen writing wise in terms of SA.
I think they truly made ALL the right choices. They showed the perspective of the victim, they showed how general public might react, they showed that whatever decision the victim makes (go public with it or not), it's not wrong and they should focus on themselves and healing, how they are not to be blamed for what happened to them etc.

I did not talk about it in my review, even tho I really wanted... but it is a huge spoiler in terms og Ga Eul's character so 🙃

Yeah... either give us more, or less... But this half a meal was disappointing.
And you saw the photo I took from the floor, so you know how I feel about the last scene 🤣🤣

I ended up on the floor laughing during the last scene of the last episode 🤣

Me few weeks ago:
"As for the "romance" twist - I am so not worried. Anyone who thinks this might go anywhere - are we watching a different show? Jegal already said he sees Ga Eul as a child, a kid whom he wants to protect, because she reminds him of his past and how he had no one truly on his side. There is nothing romantic about his interactions with her."

Me now:
🤡🤡🤡

this one was just.... nothing. i am not going to remember anything from it in a week.

That's what happens when you write reviews for everything you watch - people see you everywhere 😅I'm glad you were able to enjoy at least some of my reviews tho hahahaha

Exactly... the show was just too long. I understand that it's "realistic" that people run in circles when they are troubled about something, but don't know how to deal, but damn it does not make good drama. Things have to be changed to fit the media it's used for...

People use the "star of the show" to literally describe the main character, which he was. He was the center of the plot, whenever someone liked the character or the actor's performance.

It's a first full on fantasy kdrama, not surprised so many people loved it. The audience finally got something fresh, so it's a shining new toy

I'm not even joking. You know jow cdrama overexplain everything with opening animation? This shit did reverse - they did not explain anything 😂

살고 싶은 잡아 aka I am so happy I might cry.
I knew the chemistry between Je Gal and Tae Man is too good and he is too gray of a character for them to just keep him a villain till the end 😭😭 Like, I was planning to write a whole essay complaining about the romance, but damn I don't give a fuck about anything now 🤣

Goo Tae Man was awful, but it was impossible to hate him. I just knew deep down he will switch teams eventually. I think the best indicator were his interaction with Je Gal - it always seemed like he respected him on some level. Even tho he acted all dirty trying to remove him, we all knew he could have done worse. I feel like, no matter how much of an asshole he was, he always picked the way that would remove Je Gal with as little negative consequences as possible compared to other options. And honestly speaking, he himself was really naive about the whole situation, otherwise he would see Seung Ha's father betraying them from far away.

About this whole switch from sport slice of life to action politics tho - I don't mind it plot wise, it bothers me pacing wise. I don't think the transition was smooth enough. I feel like the training with the archery team was too much of a clean cut break from one aspect to the other. Instead of slowly expanding the issues to the political level, they kind of, but barely hinted it and it all went down right after they came back from the training. It makes sense it's a bigger conspiracy. Otherwise bad guys being so bold and desperate makes no sense. So plot wise I'm fine with it, I just hoped they would make the transition smoother.

Also, the way the show developed explains Seung Ha's character and her involvement much more. I also really like her scenes with Goo Tae Man. I actually like her interactions with him more than Je Gal. She always hits the right spots with him to make him reflect and rethink some of his choices.

Okay... let's talk about the romance. I am legit unsure how I feel about it and where it leads. Je Gal legit acts like a shy teenage boy when Ga Eul is open about her love for him. It does not give me "flustered because my client has feelings for me", but rather "I'm denying I like her, but I do and it all affects me as fuck". It would be just hard for me to support it. From the way they met, what kind of relationship they had, Je Gal's trauma, Ga Eul's past situation, it all makes it hard for me to be on board with it. I also wished for one clean, good and healthy portrayal of anything related to mental health profession...

Anywaym again... ending of episode 14 was everything I wanted. I needed these 3 assholes working together. I was slowly losing faith it will happen, but the writers proved me wrong and I'm thankful for that.

I love how easily I can tell which one is the dog and which one is the cat just by seeing them stand up 🤣 The way their personalities match the animals I cannot hahahhaahhha

"I should say I chose you as my butler" 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I live for it. This is exactly the crack plot I needed right now. Milk is amazing. Love the dude... cat?

yo I feel like the "uncle" is the love interest. HOW WILD IS THIS SHOW
I AM LOSING MY MIND WATCHING SDJHGSDBSDJKBGAJKFGHDSJ 🤣🤣🤣
the pants scene... I barely survived.
I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

I do 😂😂😂 both dramas and movies. Started doing it in 2020

One could say so... it's not a romance show, but the main people are married couple.

I did not. It changes nothing. Still, with the way you phrased it, you personally think cdramas are shoddily made, as a whole. You might mean something else, but with this phrasing, that's the result. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well, you made quite a big statement saying cdramas are too shoddily made. There is a difference between saying "the few shows I tried watching were too shoddily made" and saying overall cdramas are.