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Great for those unfamiliar with broader mental health issues; otherwise nothing truly new.
I finished this drama thanks to Seo Ye Ji and Oh Jung Se. If this review possibly happens to make you question watching IONTBO, I would tell you to watch it for these two incredible actors. I've been a fan of Seo Ye Ji since her Moorim School days and her talent has only become more stunning as time has passed. Oh Jung Se is a legend in my books, period. I'd also say that, if you like artistry in storytelling, IONTBO is an interesting watch. There is beautiful incorporation of various art styles weaved throughout the show, and this is one aspect that I truly enjoyed about the show. The writing is alright; certainly better than your average drama, though it still succumbs to obvious fan service (which, to be honest, I can't completely fault the writer for because Seo Ye Ji and Kim Soo Hyun are her leads—she took expert advantage of that, haha).So, onto the not-so-great elements. As an individual with deeply personal experiences with mental health, as well as experiences with the mental health of loved ones, IONTBO ultimately is a slap in the face. It's not entirely the show's fault, truly. KdramaLand and, in general, Korean entertainment as well as entertainment internationally, are all guilty of requiring a beautifying lens on most interpretations and storytelling of the world.
Don't get me wrong, I also enjoy watching beautiful people playing roles in heart-wrenching storylines. But there is just something irreconcileable to me about the concept of beauty and mental health. I do not (at all) mean that beautiful people cannot have mental health issues or that mental health is a completely ugly thing. However, when we talk about de-stigmatizing mental and having diverse voices or representative storytelling—I could not help but think: how many people would be raving about IONTBO and its championing of mental health issues if the leads were not Seo Ye Ji and Kim Soo Hyun? If this was a representation (note: I don't mean copy or true story) of real life, how many people would truly care if this story was told? What would domestic and international reception look like if Kwon Yoon Hwa was cast, rather than Seo Ye Ji?
And so, as the show progressed a certain cliche refused to stop ringing in my head: "Nobody cares unless you're beautiful or dead". While I personally can't say that I believe this to be completely true—sadly, when it comes to most mainstream media, wherever you might be in the world, this saying often holds heavy truth.
As I did not expect Crazy Rich Asians to be the representation of all Asian stories and voices, I do not expect IONTBO to represent all voices, stories, and perspectives for mental health. That being said, if you've been around KdramaLand for a while now, you'll know that this is not the first "groundbreaking" attempt at telling stories about individuals and mental health.
Ultimately, IONTBO will be enjoyed by most, I reckon. So, all I can say is that IONTBO was nothing new for me in KdramaLand, and is certainly not groundbreaking in its explorations of mental health. Instead, it's a painful reminder of the endless habit of beautification in film and TV industries around the world.
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So how was the rest of the cast? They were good, but it was hard to separate characters who were badly written from the actor. Kim Ji Won is a perfect example. There was nothing wrong with her performance but her character irritated me for the majority of the drama. She had pretty good chemistry with Chang Wook, but I honestly didn't understand what made him so obsessed with her. The chemistry wasn't enough to carry the weak storyline.
The other main characters did a good enough job of being distinctive but bad writing made their stories pretty dull. I won't spoil how the stories connect but I guess the point was to explore different kinds of relationships (the good and bad) between men and women... friendships, crushes, long-time commitments, encounters with exes, casual relationships, and summer flings are represented. For the entire drama the only character who didn't annoy me at all was Kang Gun, but I was honestly bored by all the other interactions. The women characters is particular are often irrational and make frustrating decisions. I think I was waiting to relate to the characters as I got to know them but that never happened. I was just constantly waiting for the "story" to start. Sadly once it started it turned into one repetitive episode after another.
If I could describe the plot in one word I'd say it felt pointless. If you like the idea of non-sequitur relationship snippets then maybe you will like this more than I did. To me, it felt like filler interrupting the main plot which didn't have enough substance to fill all 16+ episodes. Then there's a weird resolution at the end that feels thrown together, that's interrupted by another random story with random minor characters. I think I would have liked it better, maybe, if there was a different story each week because this just felt like I was watching an unscripted mess. That didn't make it feel more authentic to me either, in fact, it felt more fake, especially with the awkward product placement moments.
Would I watch this again? Hard Pass! Not even for Ji Chang Wook's smile.
Also, the random old school rock "theme" song with the unnecessary music video was equally irritating.
Overall, this drama felt like a concept without a plan. I guess I can piece together moments that I liked enough that it kept me watching, but there were far more frustrating moments that made me wonder why I didn't drop it after every single episode. More than anything I didn't care at all about who stayed together and who didn't, which is bad for a romance-themed drama. There are intimate confessions that seem out of place, especially since the characters seem to have no idea who is listening and responding. Do you enjoy watching people act irrationally in relationships, and drag out misunderstandings, or drive people they care about crazy with their unresolved issues... then enjoy. I can't imagine sitting through this for another season myself, although I can see there being a possible setup for one. Since there were many times I was literally rooting for the main couple to never deal with each other again, I can't recommend this drama. Yes, eventually there are reasons and amends but the frustration to get there made it very anticlimactic. I definitely wasn't lovestruck with this drama. It almost makes "forever alone" seem like the better option.
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A good comedy trying to be an unsuccessful tearjerker…
This drama started off AMAZINGLY!!!! I was literally obsessed with the first episodes! It was soooo hilarious!!!! I kept recording the funny scenes and sending it to friends and telling everyone to watch this 😂😂😂I loved the drama when it was just about Seo-ri trying to get used to the new world. I never realized it but the fish out of water trope really is one of my faves 😂😂😂 The way she was talking was soooo hilarious I was laughing soooo hard I couldn’t breathe 🤣🤣😆 This actress has done such an amazing job!!! One of my highlights of the year so far! I wanna see her in more comedies!!! 😂😂😂
That scene of hers when someone made a youtube edit of her saying this one sentence over and ovet again was the death of me! I was cryingggg soooo harddddd!!!! 😂😂😂
In general in the first few episodes there were a lot footages of Seoul’s famous sights so it almost felt like a promotional travel video for Korea but in a good way. Fun to watch if you miss Korea like I do. Also her addiction to sweets and how she kept on running out of money bcs all she did was spend it on food was hilarious 😂 And the dogggg ommggg!!! 🥹🥹🥹 It was sooo cuteeee!!!! I hoped the drama had stayed in this slice of life world until the end without the numerous time travels, and past life snippets and family intrigue and murder 😕😕😕
I also really liked her next-door neighbor ☺️ That male actor has been one of my favorite second male leads. I always love the roles he plays in dramas and I really wanna see him as a male lead one day. I liked him much more than Cha Se-Gye. Not as a romantic partner for Seo-ri but just as a character in general. I would have likes to see more scenes of him and her and how their friendship evolved 😂 I also really liked how he became her manager 🤣🤣🤣 That was one of the good things of the middle part of the drama…
I would say after the Jeju episodes things went downhill for me…
When Mo Tae-hee shows up things get quite boring… There was also this one episode (8 or 9) when everything takes place in the press… scene after scene there is another news article! It all felt like I was reading twitter rather than watching a k-Drama… that was the point when I lost interest and got sleepy and bored at EVERY episode… I seriously had to force myself to finish one episode / night 🥺🥺🥺
Also I found the male lead to be VERY toxic! The way he treated FL was unacceptable for me. I would have never dated him. He only liked her when he felt loved but as soon as she did something that shattered is ego he became all aggressive… RED FLAG!!! 🚩 nope!
The kiss scenes were indeed amazing tho! And luckily he softens up in the last like 3 episodes or sth 😂😂😂
But the switch from perfect comedy to half-asses romance and family/company intrigues left me quite cold 😕 I wished the first 5 episodes back…
Another thing I didn’t like is how the FL changed from being this badass woman who took no one’s shit and always fought back (she literally beat up a dozen men to save her grandma in the first episodes), to suddenly being this weak, whiny woman who needed to be saved by the ML really rubbed me the wrong way… didn’t like it at all… And it made absolutely no sense…
The past life / reincarnation thing was interesting but a bit sloppy and confusing at times, to the point that it got boring… I feel like they wanted to do sth similar to Hotel Del Luna but they failed…
Then some things towards the end that I didn’t quite understand / had questions about:
1. What was the point of having halmoni have dementia and losing her memory?? Did it contribute to the plot? to the character development? Why? Why did it have to happen? And why did she have to die? I feel like they were trying really hard to make the audience cry but sorry it was not convincing… They should have sticked to the comedy. They did that the best tbh…
2. Why was the grandfather so mean to Se-Gye and favored Mun-Do all his life just to make a 180 turn and call Mun-Do inhumane and start prioritizing Se-Gye?? Just because he finally found a gurl? I didn’t understand that and it never got clarified…
3. The last scene of Dan-sim and the Prince running away? what was that all about? I didn’t understand…
4. Also the way she had to save him in the past but couldn’t be with him again all didn’t matter in the end anyway and they could easily bend the rules again seemed very sloppy to me… I didn’t like it that the rules were so easy to change…
5. Why did Seo-ri’s drama set bestie turn on her???? What happened that she started to hate Seo-ri? I feel like the motive here was not clear. Was it because the second FL aka the actress suddenly turned good that they needed another evil, jealous side girl??? I don’t like that approach! Why cant they all just become friends??? 🙄🙄🙄
Also the amount of hospital scenes was just insane!!! 1. he gets poisoned 2. she gets hit by a truck 3. grandpa is still in the hospital 4. halmoni has to go to the hospital too 5. Seo-ri gets drugges 6. Se-Gye gets stabbed 7. Seo-ri is in a coma … did I forget sth??? 🙄🙄🙄
Tis drama should have been just 10 episodes… then maybe it would have not become such a shipwreck in the end…
All in all, just watch the first 4 episodes for a good laugh and then drop it…
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I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THIS
From beginning to end, this film was a true masterpiece. If you want to experience a beautiful story filled with authentic feelings of affection and true love then watch this. It evokes nostalgia for items like DVDs and payphones, and the overall melodramatic, nostalgic, dreamy mood only adds to the plot.Watch it if you want to be left feeling like a complete and utter wreck. Also don't watch it for those same reasons. I just feel the same as I did after completing 2521. It's literally so similar to that with the youthful, coming of age storyline filled with miscommunications and missed opportunities except there's a very big plot twist at the end.
Be warned, there is no happy ending to this story. I'm still not over it. Bo Ra and Woon Ho deserved sooooooo much better.
It's a solid 9/10 for me but I am so mad / confused I want to give it less but it was a really good movie, I think the actors did a really good job portraying these characters and sharing their love story. I was literally up at 3am watching this sobbing for 15 minutes after it ended. This film truly made me feel so many emotions.
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i'm going to be hater
starting off with saying, i never got the hype of this series. sure, it the casting choices for this drama were insane and filmography outstanding and sets beautiful and clothing true to the time period. i feel like it could've been way shorter. from time to time, i felt that they were dragging out some storylines and throwing in too many storylines for side charactersWas this review helpful to you?
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The second instalment of HIStory3 for this year is a regressive detour into fan service that has neither the coherence nor the charm of previous storylines.One thing I usually say about the HIStory series is that it does good queer stories even if it doesn't do other things right. But Make Our Days Count is not working for me at all. Which is a shame because I was looking forward to it a great deal. However nothing can hide the fact the show is badly written, poorly characterised and has nothing to say.
This story about popular and oblivious Xiang Hao Ting who falls for the studious and impoverished highschool student, Yu Xi Gu, (whom he used to bully) seems regressive - annoyingly so. HIStory1 was little but cliched Fujoshi baiting and I have been enjoying how the series has been maturing and evolving through HIStory2 and then HIStory3: Trapped, which for all its many many many many flaws was ambitious storytelling with mature leads.
Not that my issue is with the highschool setting itself but with the awful seme-uke "gay for you" nature of the main relationship and its associated stalking, harassment and abuse. I felt like the first few episodes were basically a relationship post on the "Am I The Asshole" reddit (with the overwhelming responses agreeing that yes, you are the asshole).
I feel so sorry for Xi Gu who just wants to work and study and has this succession of classmates harass, bully, assault, stalk, abuse and finally sexually harass him. Also I have no idea when or why our male lead suddenly decided he liked him; the switch happened suddenly and without much preamble. The romance essentially came out of nowhere and, while I could believe that Meng Shao Fei's pursuit of Tang Yi could easily become a romantic pursuit, a bully swapping relentless harassment for wooing does not work as well. It's no surprise that Xi Gu assumes that the sudden sexual element to the harassment is merely a new ploy by the boy who has been torturing him.
Of course the other relationship is just as bad, with an older man, Lu Zhi Gang, dating a highschool student, Sun Bo Xiang . One particularly revealing (and slightly gross conversation) involves the older man denying he has a romantic interest in Xi Gu because he's far far too young - despite him being the exact age as his boyfriend. No one - even the writers who put that dialogue on the page - seem to have noticed the problem here. Bo Xiang (played with a great deal of charm and nuance by Wilson Lui, who impresses me weekly) is a physical and emotional child, treated frequently like a toddler by his so-called boyfriend . To make the whole thing worse, the writers inserted an unnecessarily graphic sex scene (unprotected sex, even!) between the two of them that, again, felt like fan service rather than a genuine narrative development.
I could argue that the relationship in HIStory2: Right or Wrong was equally as disturbing but there I felt like the show was saying something and had put some thought into the characters and the relationship. The whole thing was both wrong but also quite romantic and it was up to the audience to work out where the line was and whether they were fine with it or not.
I honestly feel like this iteration of HIStory3 was written to a formula containing things people liked about previous HIStory stories and BL generally. They don't have anything to say, they just pulled elements together as fan service. There is nothing that subtle or interesting about it. It's a copy and paste job that celebrates the worst of BL while romanticising harassment.
Worse than that, "gay for you" as a plot device has a tendency to whitewash homosexuality out of the picture, something that's both ironic and frustrating in a series that's supposed to be dedicated to queer romance stories. Writing gay love stories without the gay may be a standard element of Yaoi but that doesn't mean we're not supposed to be evolving past that. And this is where I see this series as mere Fujoshi baiting. And that is a depressingly regressive move from these particular writers.
The ending
This review has been updated following the final episode to make a spoiler-free comment about the ending. It kind of goes like this: OMFG!! No, just no. Watching this show is like watching someone dig a hole and every time you think it's as deep as it can go it turns out it can plumb new depths. Even people who liked this terrible drama hated this ending. Ponder that one for a moment.
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It was a bit weird because it seemed like each couple was like out of different genres of dramas.
I needed fluff right now so I still liked it. I watched it without much thought while it was in the background.
If you want something light and fluffy you can watch without much thought you will enjoy it. There are still better ones out there.
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1This review may contain spoilers
More Like A Hundred Disappointments
80s story that could have had potential but ruined by hundred dumb routes. They have promising setting, two female bus conductors at first having their own family burdens, social expectations, and dreams. Their contrast personalities give balance for their character. But the show reduce them to “love rivals” rather than an individual characters who have goals. The writer want to create story about girl friendship complexity but failed, no build up, no progress, no motivation, no solid story message. They wasted it with story being defined and revolved around the male lead and lost the unique identity they supposedly had.Oh yes, I understand it is romance. But then they didn't show how they develop the relationship, how and why they catch the feelings bit by bit, what push them to change, how they got to be who they are. The story becomes a disconnected events rather than a cohesive journey for the main characters. All of their purposes are pulled into shadow by the romantic entanglement rather than resolved by their own growth. All these forced emotions are craps.
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A Hundred Triangles?
Alas, I find the male lead out of place from the female leads's dynamic. Whereas Yeongrye and Jonghui's opening come from down to earth household, economic hardship and gender expectation; Jaepil comes from the contrasting background. Prince on white horse? His cliche "privileged rich cold boy" introduction failed me to connect with his character in their 80s setting.
Yes, ML owns his emotional wounds, daddy issues, and bankrupt era. But the drama also seems to rely on him being the “object” that the two female leads orbit, rather than giving him enough depth to make the audience care deeply about him as more than just a romantic figure. Even his "aspiring boxer" narrative is scrapped by "heartbreak". He also got no much role for female leads's development. At least other male characters play a significant part in female leads's ambitions plot / Yeongrye asking the brother duos about law as she lacks education but she still revolve the problem on her own / Jonghui with his criminal brother side by side with Ko's siblings.
Once again, the main character's dreams, are scrapped throughout the drama, removed, forgotten, then pulled back in last seconds just for the sake of dumb plot. Titled hundred memories then give us a whole 7 years timeskip with a minimum flashback with majority of dramatic tension still weight heavily on the male lead, who, is not given enough complexity, growth, or... good acting to justify that weight. Romance drama? Well, it is also supposed to be a youth family drama but the series fall back into hundred romance tropes.
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Not Enough A Hundred Memories, But A Hundred Cliches.
Anyway, some parts are great especially when they show Yeongrye's family dynamics and 80s economic straits through the open door bus conflicts and.... well, there isn't much arc in the dorm lmao, what else I can mention? Wait, there is another love triangles plot in the dorm! Rather than showing the fellow conductor's struggles, they chose to add another male-centered side story! Even the side character cant escape from the love triangle, sick how the writer sidelined Jeongbun's struggle and made her story all about cheater character instead of addressing pregnant without marriage issue in 80s. The ending is such a joke too, I would accept the writer's intention to push "friendship" narrative in the last minutes if they focus resolving the main conflict, the stab incident trauma between the girls, but then they pulled this foggy dream light crap and made Yeongrye scream "Jaepiiiill" !!
But really, this drama has some genuine emotional moments, especially during first half in portraying female friendship and societal pressures of eldest daughter, female labor etc.. Though it went down hill, jumped to the cliff latter part, especially with the makjang nonsense.
Overall I am disappointed. I gave it lower rating because I had high expectations with my fave starring here. I have much more to complaint especially the late 80s hair salon background setting and styling post time skip. I expected much more from both Kim Dami and Shin Yeeun. Why the hell did they accept this script? I wished the story prioritized showing the dorm characters's inner lives, ambitions, 80's conflicts, and especially more evenly. It could have been a strong 80s story. If you are looking for that, turn around! Don't get scammed like me~
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The Moon truly does rise where the River is
Acting and Characters: Kim So Hyun was absolutely perfect as Pyeonggang. Na In Woo took on the difficult job of filling in On Dal after Ji Soo got dropped and exceeded all expectations. Lee Ji Hoon was the swoony SML that we grew to love and hate. Choi Yu Hwa did an amazing job portraying a cunning yet kind-hearted Silla spy. The side characters were all so lovable. Pung Gae and Jin were so cute. The Queen and Go Won Pyo were extremely well portrayed. Won (or King Yeongyang) was lovable as a teen and despised as an adult. King Pyeongwon was a character that we grew to love over the course of the show.Plot: The plot was iffy at times but it was bearable. It didn't help that they rush a couple of episodes and write a whole new set of episodes due to the allegations around Ji Soo. Overall I think they did a really good job of sticking to the history and folktale while giving us the viewers some fanservice with that ending. They did Geon and Won (or King Yeongyang) dirty in the latter half of the show, but at least we got their true character back by the end. The "death" of On Dal was kind of unnecessary but I get why they did it. They needed to stay somewhat true to the ending of the folktale.
OST and Cinematography: OST was amazing. The soundtracks used for the battle scenes so perfectly. The main OST was lovely. The cinematography was absolutely stunning at times. One of the better cinematographies I've seen. The setting for the scenes was absolutely beautiful. The camerawork was pretty good. Overall a very well-produced show given the circumstances.
Final Score: 9/10
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Best 2023 feel good drama. Sweet & innocent romance with singing, travel, food and friendship.
It’s rare to find a drama like this. This drama is perfect if you are struggling with stress and difficulties in life and need something to warm your heart and put a big smile on your face at the end of your day. Every single episode contains an overflow of sugary romance with zero toxicity, no conflicts, no misunderstandings, no stupid love triangles, no angst, no break ups. The romance is so good you will definitely feel like a third wheel while watching.The drama is about the daily lives of the main leads and their friends and work colleagues. There is no unnecessary drama or side stories that you don’t care about. Male lead is a doctor (but we don’t see much of his job), and a voice actor (which is the main focus of his character), he is also an amazing cook (which he shows us often with amazing recipes) and total green flag boyfriend. Female lead is a university student who composes music in her spare time. They fall in love with each other's voices and personality first instead of their physical looks.
POSITIVE:
- Every episode makes you smile like a teenager in love for the first time.
- Sizzling chemistry between the leads. Their eye contact is enough to ship them instantly.
- Stage performances with singing and acting that are absolutely phenomenal and feel like you are watching a live concert.
- Fantastic travel episodes that feel like an awesome variety show/video blog.
- Many cooking scenes with delicious food.
- Every episode you are immersed in the story, like you are living with the characters and are part of their fun daily lives.
- Teasing, hilarious and supportive group of friends with very natural and organic interactions.
- Unique pairing: introverted male lead with a shy female lead.
- Fluffy romance that is all about innocence and first love.
- Story is about the main leads. There are no unnecessary side plots about side characters that ain’t nobody cares about.
- No stupid drama, no misunderstandings, no breakups, no annoying characters that try to break apart the main leads.
- Second couple is just as adorable and the second male lead and brings in all the comedy.
- Main leads fall in love with each other’s voices first rather than physical appearance.
- 100% green flag male and female lead.
NEGATIVE:
- Diabetes alert. The drama is so sweet you might get a sugar overload.
- Hungry alert. The characters are always cooking or eating food so you must bring snacks in order to survive watching.
P.S. The two points above are obviously jokes. I couldn’t find a single negative thing about this drama!
OST:
The music in this drama deserves special attention as it’s one of the most heartwarming and beautiful I’ve ever heard.
OVERALL:
If you want to see an innocent, fluffy romance and healthy relationships with travel, music, food and adorable friendship groups AND If you need a drama to make you smile and warm your heart after a stressful day, WATCH THIS DRAMA.
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The drama itself was a pretty good drama, not one of the best I've seen but I did enjoy watching it. Its one of those dramas you have to keep watching to like.
I really enjoyed the acting, characters were really unique and entertaining to watch. I mean you get to see both No Min Woo and Park Ki Woong play completely different roles from what we are used to and on top on that they sing >< .....I just loved the music. The songs were really fun and catchy.
Any who definitely recommend if you are in the mood of watching a light romantic/comedy.
P.S NO this drama does not have anything to do with the first Full House but the name.
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BEST CDRAMA I’VE EVER WATCHED
I really enjoyed this cdrama, i like the story and the flow, and the setting it’s really fantasy. Whei Zhi and Yan Yue’s chemistry is the best, their cute interaction behind the scene and on the scene is really romantic and cute. The open ost sang by ju jing yu is music to my ears, it’s really sweet like her voice, I’ve already fallen for her since then, and the closing ost sang by Ju jing Yu and Guo Jun Chen, their voice really match well, I hope they have more collabs songs in the future. I’m literally crying right now beacuse it ended, I wish it will never rnd, the show will never end, I will miss it forever. Whei Zhi and Yan Yue you will be missed forever. I wish Beauty of Resilience is having a season 2 soon.Was this review helpful to you?
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FLUFFY VAMPIRES
I never thought id say this but this is probably the fluffiest vampire romance ever . If you want an easy to watch, easy to finish romance then this is for you.This is an 8 - 16minutes episodes (which is really about 14 if you cut out the cheesy opening and closing credits) series with nothing but cute guys and fluffiness. Seriously. before watching the finale i had to rewatch the first episodes because i forgot about the events in them. Its a story about a vampire "family" living together with a normal human.
I love fluffy and light shows and i really iiked the series, however, to be quite honest, there is so much to be desired storywise. The vampire lore was so thin i wondered why they have to be vampires. I almost always ask why, for the love of god, does Koresn BL industry insist on being this short - the limited screentime allowed very little story and character development. It may have been better if it was released as a binge or compiled as a movie but i still think the plot is too thin to really make an impact.
Its pretty obvious the entire series has limited budget and that its possible the entire series may have been shot on a day or two.
The saving grace of the series are the main actors - Yu SIn and Park Dong Ju are real cuties and they did really well as Ju Won and Dong Ha considering the fact that they are almost brand new to acting and what limited material they have. I already loved Lee Tae Hyung from Match Play and its really good to see him in another BL i just hoped the series used him more. I specially loved the acting in the end of episode 7 between Ju Won and Seon Jay, with that alone id say Yu SIn has a pretty bright acting future ahead.
The other couple is mostly used for comedic relief and their kiss at the last episode was so fake i wonder why the series felt the need to add it to the story.
So would i recommend? Definitely. Would i rewatch? Im not entirely sure. Its a good and light series but its also quite forgetable i dont think id remember it after a month. Overall im giving it a strong 8 mostly for the cast and the entertainment value.
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Could have been more better, expected alot
The Eternal Fragrance feels like it's lacking in many areas, partly because of the choppy editing and the fact that it's a drama that was completed around three years ago, making some aspects feel dated. While ju jingyi is doing okay with her acting, there's still room for improvement, especially when it comes to delivering more emotional depth and natural expressions. The cultivation genre itself has become quite repetitive, and this drama follows many familiar tropes, making it feel generic rather than refreshing. On top of that, its visual aesthetics and overall fantasy vibe are very reminiscent of, which makes it harder for it to establish a unique identity.Was this review helpful to you?
After that, the drama is just the typical romance in high school. And I couldn't even get myself to support the main couple because screenwriters made Haru look completely dumb in the beginning. I even wondered if he was supposed to have a handicap or something. I understand some scenes were for fan service purpose, but it could have been done in a less stupid way. So you might be happy if you're a fan of Rowoon to begin with, but I was just facepalming. Plus Rowoon isn't very good at acting, although it gets a little better at the end. So for most of the drama I couldn't believe he loved Dan Oh. And the problem is, that's the only thing his character is here for. He doesn't have a back story like Kyung that could have made me like another aspect of him.
Other than that, this drama is full of dramas' clichés (you'll even find one TWICE) and of "plot twists" that you can see coming from miles away. At some points I thought I would be surprised, that things will be less simple than I thought... and no. It never happened. This drama doesn't take any risks, and it's such a letdown with a promising plot like that. Except for one character (who is not even a main one) most characters don't have any evolution, or a veeery rushed one as if screenwriters just realized the end was near and almost nothing had changed. The ending was meh because again, it was nothing I couldn't predict.
The only things I liked in this drama are :
1) the two first episodes where Dan Oh realizes she's a mere extra in a comic.
2) characters laughing at the ridiculousness and cheesiness of their comic world, very similar to Boys over flowers. While actually, Extraordinary you is also very cheesy.
3) Kyung, only because he was the main source of things actually happening in the drama which is otherwise very plain. But I got sick pretty quickly of the lead/second lead dynamic with Haru.
To sum it up this drama is boring and couldn't live up to my expectations, and I really don't understand why some people love it so much.
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