How Not to Make a Romcom
This one oddly fell flat for me. I'm the first person to line up for a good romcom, no matter how many cliches it recycles and how much plot armor they award their leads with. This drama was an example of poor execution. It contained everything I love about Asian dramas-- a sweet romance, a fun cast ensemble, over-the-top comedy, and a feel-good fluff ending. CEO ML and slightly insane secretary FL? SIGN ME UP! I can never get tired of the push and pull, the banter, the CEO wealth and power flexing, and the absurd situations.
But somehow.... it all just felt a little flat here. I never minded cliches as long as it had all the feels, because every couple has a way of making it different and beautiful. I wouldn't say it was the fault of the actors, more like the writing and execution. All the characters felt like caricatures following a script rather than real people. There was no... heart.
Let's start with the cast ensemble. I always love watching a big fun cast with unique personalities get together, and here it was the camaraderie among the instructors. However, the drama doesn't really flesh that out, even though I thought the actors' worked well together. The show spends way too much time dwelling on the multiple revenge arcs instead of utilizing the good cast. I just couldn't care about them, and I struggled to empathize with their situations. I felt like a lot of plot points were done very much like A Business Proposal(FL's younger brother + ML relationship, fake contract dating trope, etc.), but as I said, no heart and the characters were more like caricatures.
And the plot... all over the place. It was incessant with its revenge lines-- every other character was out to get the ML and it really got tiresome after a certain point. It just wasn't that deep. The misunderstandings, the motivations, the final resolution... it was all messily done. I cannot understand why some characters couldn't simply stop to verify claims before going to insane, dangerous lengths to achieve their revenge. The only arc I really enjoyed was the grudging friendship between the Gotop and Ilpum Edu CEOs.
The romance... uhhhhh I don't really know how to explain it. I felt like I was watching so many romcoms all at once, with none of the feels. I giggled maybe twice in the beginning but as it wore on, it kept getting tiresome. I don't know why they went through all the motions of a romcom but it felt so stale.
That said, the quality of the production was pretty good.
Everything was at the mercy of the writers. Characters entered and exited as they pleased. Even though the ending was fluffy, I left feeling unsatisfied and bored. It made me miss the old kdrama charm... how we were drawn to root for and love all the quirky characters, and how we could empathize with even the most insignificant roles.
But somehow.... it all just felt a little flat here. I never minded cliches as long as it had all the feels, because every couple has a way of making it different and beautiful. I wouldn't say it was the fault of the actors, more like the writing and execution. All the characters felt like caricatures following a script rather than real people. There was no... heart.
Let's start with the cast ensemble. I always love watching a big fun cast with unique personalities get together, and here it was the camaraderie among the instructors. However, the drama doesn't really flesh that out, even though I thought the actors' worked well together. The show spends way too much time dwelling on the multiple revenge arcs instead of utilizing the good cast. I just couldn't care about them, and I struggled to empathize with their situations. I felt like a lot of plot points were done very much like A Business Proposal(FL's younger brother + ML relationship, fake contract dating trope, etc.), but as I said, no heart and the characters were more like caricatures.
And the plot... all over the place. It was incessant with its revenge lines-- every other character was out to get the ML and it really got tiresome after a certain point. It just wasn't that deep. The misunderstandings, the motivations, the final resolution... it was all messily done. I cannot understand why some characters couldn't simply stop to verify claims before going to insane, dangerous lengths to achieve their revenge. The only arc I really enjoyed was the grudging friendship between the Gotop and Ilpum Edu CEOs.
The romance... uhhhhh I don't really know how to explain it. I felt like I was watching so many romcoms all at once, with none of the feels. I giggled maybe twice in the beginning but as it wore on, it kept getting tiresome. I don't know why they went through all the motions of a romcom but it felt so stale.
That said, the quality of the production was pretty good.
Everything was at the mercy of the writers. Characters entered and exited as they pleased. Even though the ending was fluffy, I left feeling unsatisfied and bored. It made me miss the old kdrama charm... how we were drawn to root for and love all the quirky characters, and how we could empathize with even the most insignificant roles.
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