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Slice-of-life healing dramas can be slow-paced at times which makes binge-watching challenging. Therefore, they can be a hit-or-miss for me. But with “Our Unwritten Seoul”, I did not encounter this problem at all. At first glance, there are really 12 episodes, pretty short for Korean standards, right? However, each episode is 1 hour and 20 mins long and the amazing thing is that, I kept on pressing “Next Episode”. I was not at all bored or found the pacing to be slow, not even in the middle of the drama. And because of this, “Our Written Seoul” deserves a high rating for me.

As I mentioned in the title of this review, this drama is full of broken people. Each character’s story breaks my heart, fills me with a sense of protection that I want them all magically healed to 100% by the end of the drama. Of course, it didn’t work that way, and it shouldn’t. Some characters, such as our main female leads (Mi Ji and Mi Rae), male lead (Ho Su) and restaurant owner (Kim Ro Sa), we got a deeper look into their struggles, challenges, and eventually being at peace, being loved, healing, learning and discovering a better life. Others we get a sense of their past, their present and their future.

Aside from these characters' individual unique and touching stories, I love their relationships with each other, and I am not just talking about romance.
1) Mi Ji + Mi Rae - Twins sisterhood, their different personalities, lives and career paths, their experiences of each other’s struggles, and support for each other.
2) Mi Ji + Mom, Mi Rae + Mom - parent/child relationships and different expectations, different treatments and different ways of show love & affection, and disagreement
3) Mi Ji and Grandma - the beautiful loving bond and their support and trust
4) Ho Su + Lawyer Lee Chung Gu - mentor/mentee relationship, mutual admiration despite different philosophy and way of handling cases.
5) The Mothers - total opposites in everything you can imagine, yet an amazing bond between them with shared similar children experiences. One wears her heart on her sleeve and is quick to explode. While the other has a forever fake/forced smile and happy face.
6) Mi Ji + Ho Su + Restaurant owner - Love this trio so much, and really love how their friendship has evolved throughout the drama.
7) Mi Ji and BFF Gyeong Gu - BFF for life and they understand and support each other

Of course, I cannot not mention the romances. I really enjoy the story between Mi Ji and Ho Su. I like how their history was told via flashbacks by two talented young actors. It’s heartwarming to see how Mi Ji brought Ho Su out of his misery and was with him when he was in doubt and hurting as a teenager. Their shared internal and external brokenness and the road to healing and recovery are beautiful to watch. I also like their slow burn romance and do think Park Bo Young and Park Jin Young have good chemistry (and kisses!). I like their awkward transition from friends to lovers, and glad to see the drama focuses on some of the self-doubt and challenges of this new transition. If I have to nitpick, I would love to see a few fluffy scenes when they’re dating (just pure happiness for a little bit) before all the serious plot dampens it a little.

On the other hand, Mi Rae and Han Se Jin are such a cute and odd pair. This couple brought some fun and adorableness to the drama. Unfortunately, I agree with other reviewers that we don’t see enough of them as an individual and as a pair. They were not given the same amount of screen time, especially for Se Jin. He had a history that was not fully explored and also seemed to serve as the inspiration, mentor and maybe a minor love interest for Mi Rae. I want to know more of Han Se Jin as a person. Romance might not be in Mi Rae’s brain as she was going through so much, but it's undeniable that she likes Se Jin enough and maybe had a little interest. I just wanted a little bit more of this romance.

“Our Unwritten Seoul” also strikes a good balance between character-driven plot and business-driven plot. The finance company stories are enough to shed light on Mi Rae’s struggles and Mi Ji’s experiences without being too business. The legal cases are just deep enough to make us care about the characters, but didn’t bore us with legal proceedings.

Last but not the least, the acting is amazing. Park Bo Young is WOW. Two characters and she played them so well. You can tell when she’s Mi Ji and when she’s Mi Rae. Park Jin Young has quite a few emotional scenes, yet he also brings this calm to a character who has gone through so much but has evolved and worked hard to become such a good person. The actors who play the younger version of the leads did a great job as well. I would just nitpick on the young actress not looking like Park Bo Young at all and seem to be taller than her! The veterans are amazing, especially the mothers, grandma and restaurant owner. The side characters are not too annoying and provide just enough townsfolk friendliness and nosiness, or business evilness for comic relief or someone viewers can hate.

I had high expectations for this drama due to its glowing reviews and I was worried I would be disappointed. But I am happy that I like “Our Unwritten Seoul” as much as many of you. If you are in the mood for a slice-of-life healing drama with excellent acting, this is the one for you. This drama reminds me a little of the characters in “My Liberation Notes” (not the vibes but the characters). They are all going through some stuff and are so broken. In the end, viewers root for every single one of them and wish them a happy life.



Completed: 7/7/2025 - Review #598 (completed titles) #600 total reviews (include dropped)