Heartfelt Drama That Sticks With You
NOTE: Based on the first 6 episodes. No spoilers, simply impressions.From the very first episode, this drama made it clear that it’s exactly the kind of story I look for when I say I want to feel a kdrama. Not just cry, but truly feel the characters, their loneliness, hesitation, and everything they don’t say out loud. The drama relies heavily on silence, body language, and subtle expressions, and it does this so well that it often feels like I can hear the characters’ thoughts without them having to explain themselves. Emotionally, it pulled me in immediately.
What stood out the most to me is how human everything feels. The characters aren’t exaggerated, they feel like real people carrying emotional baggage. Scenes are allowed to breathe, and uncomfortable moments aren’t rushed, which makes the emotional weight hit even harder. The acting plays a huge role in this, especially in "family scenes", where so much is communicated through restraint, fake smiles, and things left unsaid. Many moments really stayed with me.
However I’m not fully sold on the pacing of the main relationship. Things escalate very quickly early on, and while I understand why the characters acted the way they did, I didn’t completely vibe with how fast they crossed emotional and physical boundaries. Because of that, some of the conflict ( particularly around honesty and trust) felt emotionally unfair to me at first, even though it makes sense once you understand the characters’ fears and vulnerabilities. I can intellectually accept it, but emotionally it still felt a bit frustrating.
I’ve also seen people compare this drama to My Liberation Notes, but despite both having loneliness as a core theme, they feel very different to me. Love Me feels more hopeful and emotionally accessible, and I find it much easier to understand and connect with the characters. Where My Liberation Notes felt heavier and harder to emotionally grasp for me, this drama communicates its feelings more clearly, even in silence.
Also in the later episodes I found myself genuinely laughing at some scenes. The humor feels natural and well-balanced, not forced, and it blends nicely into the drama. That contrast makes the story feel even more alive and real.
Overall "Love Me" is a quiet, emotionally rich drama that is already personal to me. While it’s not a perfect experience for me due to pacing issues early on, the atmosphere, acting, and emotional depth more than make up for it.
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Slow Start, Strong Turnaround
DISCLAIMER: The review is based on the first 2 episodes only. No spoilers, only early impressions.The drama started off quite weak for me, to the point where I watched half of the first episode on 2x speed and even skipped some scenes that felt unnecessary. A first episode should hook you enough to watch it normally, and unfortunately this one didn’t. I’m generally very weak when it comes to political corruption plots, they usually bore me unless there’s something else to balance them out. From the premise, I thought this drama would have enough going for it to keep me engaged early on, but ep 1 focused on the darkest, most frustrating side of corruption. It was slow, overly long, very heavy, and dragged out so much that it became boring rather than immersive.
The only reason I pushed through ep 1 was because of why I started the drama in the first place:
- the trope of a character going back in time to fix past mistakes, which I find extremely intriguing
- Ji Sung — one of my favorite actors, which alone made me want to give this drama a fair chance
Even episode 2 took its time it still needed at least 30 mins to finally reach the actual turning point where the main character resets his life and goes ten years back into the past. But once that happened, the pacing and engagement improved significantly. I stopped fast forwarding, watched at normal speed and by the end of the ep 2 I was genuinely glued to the screen, wanting to know what happens next. By that point, the drama had finally found its footing and did enough to keep me seated and eagerly waiting for next week’s episode and I’ll definitely be pressing play as soon as it airs.
That said, I still have some personal complaints. The “over-the-top” acting meant to come off as comedic didn’t really work for me (as expected for my taste). There were quite a few cartoonish, overly animated moments where characters screamed too much or acted in an exaggerated, theatrical way which pulled me out of the story a bit. In those moments, the tone felt inconsistent and unserious. Objectively speaking, the acting is solid overall, but those choices didn’t fully land for me.
Another issue I noticed is the inconsistency in the main character’s personality. The shift is so sudden that it makes you question whether this is even the same person. In the present time he’s portrayed as morally gray with an unpleasant personality that annoyed me throughout the 1st ep, and even with the explanations given, I couldn’t really like or root for him. Then, once he goes ten years back, he suddenly turns into this chaotic, unserious, almost anime-like “hero” type, trying to be cute and righteous. While I understand the reasoning behind this change, it still feels strange because mentally, he should still be the same man that only went back in time. The contrast sometimes makes the character feel more cartoonish than believable, though I can accept it for now given the circumstances.
Overall, the drama had a rough start for me but it managed to recover by the end of ep 2. Despite my issues with pacing, tone, and character consistency, the core concept and Ji Sung are strong enough to keep me invested. For now it has the potential to rise if the story continues to tighten its pacing and balance its tone better.
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Decent Start, Waiting for More
NOTE: This review is based on first 2 eps. No spoilers.After the first two episodes, I don’t have many strong or lasting impressions, but the drama was decent enough that I didn’t feel like I wasted my time. It sparked enough curiosity to make me continue for now, even though I’m still unsure if I’ll finish all 16 episodes.
As someone who usually struggles with historical dramas (especially palace politics and power plays) I appreciated that those elements were somewhat balanced with lighter moments. What really kept me watching was the female lead and her life story. She’s portrayed as strong, smart, and resilient, and her journey is easily the most engaging part so far.
I also see potential in the dynamic between the leads. Their bickering was fun and they have some chemistry, but their interactions lean heavily into a fairy-tale, cinematic style with dramatic eye contact and “love at first sight” moments, which didn’t fully work for me emotionally yet.
A large portion of the episodes focused on side characters and political/palace affairs but they didn’t hold my interest as much, and the cartoonish comedy, especially early on, set a certain tone. The acting felt a bit theatrical at first, though I adjusted to it. Visually, the drama is beautiful, and I especially liked the use of animation and drawings throughout.
The upcoming body swap element from the premise feels like a strange fit and a bit unexpected for the tone of this drama. It adds a fantasy layer I didn’t anticipate, and while I’m not fully sold on it yet, it did make me more curious about where the story is heading.
Overall, To My Beloved Thief had a watchable but not gripping start. I’m continuing out of curiosity, and my rating may change depending on how the plot and characters develop.
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