Reviews

All Hype, No Delivery

Dropped at 42 minutes and 30 seconds. I couldn't even finish Episode 1.

• The acting is painfully fake. I find the acting low-level, unnatural and unconvincing. Even the dual-role performance does not work for me. I know some viewers praise the actress for playing two characters, but I simply do not see it.

• The constant hype about her looks is baffling. Everyone keeps saying how pretty she is, but all I see is a heavily painted face, fake-looking goldfish eyes that look surgically altered, and a flat, plate-like face. I need to see an actual performance instead of being repeatedly told how pretty she is.

• Her voice sounds digitally edited. It sounds artificial to me. Yuk!

• The storyline makes everyone look stupid. All the women and people around the female lead seem stupid, while the men are the ones who can see through her. It is frustrating to watch.

• The story is not winning me over either. Other online reviews have also questioned the predictability of the storyline and its reliance on familiar tropes. For me, the acting makes it even harder to sit through.

• So much money spent, but for what? Perhaps the gore and sexual content help sell the drama, especially with its NC16 rating. But that does not make the acting any better.

• It reminds me of The Pursuit of Jade. To me, it is another case of influencer popularity and hype without a story that convinces me.

Final verdict: All hype, no delivery. I have better things to do with my time.

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Initial thoughts

This is not a review as this drama is still airing, so i will write a complete review later.

Between steps or the literal title love PhD doctor. Both titles sum up the whole story; A complicated love with a step/space between the two leads OR being more prepared by thinking ahead or anticipating needs. This is how the leads are; Imperfect.

It's cringe at times. The leads are weird and act weird. A little too raw or unfiltered, but super REAL.
I think the story is depicting love at first sight but a painful, complicated one.
The ML is a disabled cancer survivor. Good looking and smart but super hurt. Life is not fair to many people in reality too.
The FL, on the other hand, haven't had the taste of the things the ML went through, but she falls for him and doesn't see his disability as something bad but rather something unfair and painful. The interesting thing is, she goes beyond that and accept it only to be rejected by the ML a few times.
This push and pull continues till they both realize they love each other, but the path ahead is not easy. The drama will get complicated for sure.

Overall, one of the best Kdramas i have seen this year so far.

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How absolutely effing dare you?!

My all time favourite drama. One of - if not the - first cdrama I watched and it has set the standard for me that not many series out there reach.

Story - at the time transmigration trope was absolutely new to me, same as everything else about cdrama world, andt it caught my imagination. It's very cleverly written and extremely well acted, and didn't leave many plotholes for me to nag about. There's an excellent balance between drama and comedy, I've rarely laughed as much as during this series, but when the drama hits it hits HARD.

Casting - absolutely amazing. Both actors show a great range of abilities, being equally well versed in dramatic and comic scenes. Supporting cast was good, but this is one of the dramas where the leads are the best.

Filming - camera work is great, editing is very good and it makes the drama dynamic and easy to watch. Sets, costumes, makeup are beautiful and well used. Music is good and even the sound effects don't make me want to cringe.

I've rewatched this show many times and will again in the future. I love it. Watch it, it's worth it.

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Not a bad drama, but the love stories felt unconvincing

Look, this is a fantasy, not reality. In a world where people have magical powers, it's a bit silly to complain that the love story felt unrealistic and unconvincing. Whilst I agree in this context everything is possible and the writers weren't being irrational, I'll argue they could have told a more compelling story.

They show you the leads are in love with each other, but they don't take you along the journey of developing that feeling. It's just there out of the blue? I'm happy for them, but I still don't feel emotionally invested myself.

Let me give you an example using a different story. Showing you someone crying because they lost their father may make you feel sorry for them, but showing you clips of the same person being raised by a loving family, being helped by their father when struggling financially, then getting into an argument with him, deciding to apologize, rushing to a hospital trying to make it before it's too late... This will make you feel their emotions and develop a deeper connection to the story. And that's what's lacking here.

They do take us along a journey full of moments and behaviors that could have made them fall for each other. But they're already in love before this even starts. So this journey just works as a way of showing us how much this couple is willing to sacrifice for each other. But how did we get to this point? How did that person become so precious to you you're willing to risk so much?

The writers seemed to be laser focused on making us empathize with the side characters and their stories, so that we'd be intensely impacted by those characters' decisions - I'd even argue it was overdone. But then they forgot to use the same strategy to the main couple.

We're also told Fan Yue is a very powerful demon lord, but we don't get to see how powerful he supposedly is. He does show his powers but in situations that don't demonstrate what the writers want us to believe. Again, they tell us but they do not show us.


On the positive side: the visual effects are great for the most part, the costumes and sets are beautiful, good acting, the FL is a strong woman with her own agenda.

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Can sympathize all too well

From a mother with a son in the military, all I could do was think about, how all too real this is. Emotionally, mentally what they can go thru, unfortunately I can relate. Not a dry eye as I watched, it seemed every episode. All I could do was think how one of my family members could be going through a traumatic experience like these characters and they brought it to life 100%. It was one of my favorite dramas and yet I can’t bring myself to watch it again, for a while yet. It’s been at least several months since I’ve seen it and i still listen to to the OST and the tears are always waiting. 💞 100 stars indeed

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A Frustrating Miss for Me

In all honesty, the popular guy falls for the socially awkward loner dynamic isn’t really my thing. But the idea that the loner secretly writes BL novels and that the popular guy is his unwitting protagonist genuinely intrigued me.
I thought this self-aware, meta twist could make a familiar setup feel fresh.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, the series doesn't make nearly enough of that concept.

I just couldn't connect with Hajime Suzuki as a character. I understand that his insecurity and difficulty believing someone like Serizawa could genuinely be interested in him are central to his character. And I don't expect someone who has struggled socially to suddenly become confident just because a popular guy likes him. But the constant overthinking and misunderstandings eventually wore me down.

What frustrated me most was the irony of his character. Here is someone who reads and writes BL, yet I kept wondering what he had actually been writing about all this time and where those stories came from, if he seemed to have so little awareness of his own romantic feelings. That question lingered for me, and I wish the series had done more with this aspect of his character.

Serizawa didn't help matters much either. So many misunderstandings could have been avoided with a little more honest communication. I don't mind misunderstandings in a rom-com when they reveal something meaningful about the characters or help their relationship develop, but here they often felt like a way to keep the two apart for longer rather than something that added much to their dynamic.

Eventually, I stopped feeling invested. I found myself skipping through episodes to see whether anything interesting would happen, and I eventually dropped the series after episode nine. I can't say whether the remaining episodes address any of these issues, but by that point, the cute moments were no longer enough to make up for my frustration.

Perhaps this was simply the wrong kind of comedy for me, but Popular Serizawa Acts Weird Around Me ended up being much more exhausting than enjoyable for me.

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I'm dropping this only because it's way too intense for me

As the title says, this drama is so intense, I just can't handle it after 5 episodes 😅 but I'm pretty sure that people who love this kind of drama will love the hell out of it. I mean, it's Yanan as the stern commandant hating the guts out of his new wife who isn't really his wife. The original Wei Rao is absolutely crazy and the other Wei Rao is the polar opposite and it's about who will win the upper hand in this battle. The drama has started out brutal and I mean physical violence and crazy person brutal way and in the 5 episodes I watched it keeps on being this intense. It's too much for me 😂 I really like the opening theme though, this is the second drama where I let the opening credits roll because I liked the song. I might find the mental preparedness for the intensity of this drama some day, but definitely not right now. Still rating this a 9/10 because I'm sure this will become a huge success.

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A two in one combo? and they actually made it work!

I will say, though, that I found one story more intriguing and captivating than the other storyline, but overall, I still enjoyed this series.

I went into this as a show to binge watch and ended up really enjoying it! Watching two storylines unfold within one series was interesting because, at first, I had my doubts about how they were going to portray both without one overshadowing the other. But wow, was I blown away by how invested I became in both storylines and their respective characters.

One of my personal highlights was the 472 steps confession scene that genuinely had me smiling nonstop. The emotions, the atmosphere, and the way the scene was presented made it such a beautiful and memorable moment for me. It was easily my favourite scene in the entire series.

I also really enjoyed the characters, particularly Feng Yunting (Zhen Xie's girlfriend), Ms. Qin and the Director. And that ending? What an unexpected twist! I definitely wasn't expecting that, and I loved the surprise.

Another thing worth mentioning is the amount of intimacy in this series. I rarely come across a Chinese BL with this many kisses and intimate scenes, especially ones that are so detailed and visually presented. That was certainly something different and interesting to watch. I mean, there was practically a kiss in almost every episode! I'm not complaining, just making an observation.

I particularly enjoyed Ollie's acting, although the rest of the cast did a good job as well. His performance stood out to me, and I really appreciated the cast's contributions to bringing the different characters and storylines to life.

As for the soundtrack, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't entirely my cup of tea. I noticed that the series seemed to rely heavily on English language songs, and I honestly can't recall hearing a Chinese song. That's just a personal preference, though, and it didn't take away too much from my enjoyment.

The cinematography was lovely, and I really appreciated the editing and transitions between the fictional series and the behind the scenes storyline. I thought the series within a series concept was creatively executed, and the way the two narratives were presented made the viewing experience even more enjoyable.

Overall, I had a good time watching this series. While I found one storyline way more captivating than the other, I still enjoyed the experience. The series dealt with some heavy and sensitive topics, but its psychological elements and dark undertones made it an interesting and engaging watch. I'd recommend it to anyone willing to immerse themselves in a series with multiple intriguing storylines.

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Unexpected discovery

First of all, please bear with me, as it is my first time writing a review.

I decided to do this because I was amazed by the main actors. I was initially interested in it because of Song Kang (who I really liked in My Demon). However, the unexpected discovery for me was Lee Jun Young. I was really amazed by his acting and the way he portrayed Choi Joung-yo. I love how he switched his character from a bubbly high school student to a mature adult. There’s no way out for me. I just love him. (I’ve watched his previous works before, such as When Life Gives You Tangerines, Imitation, and Badland Hunters, and I didn’t know it was him.) Thus, this one really stuck with me and made me want to learn more about him.

Song Kang also played the role well. There are a lot of scenes without dialogue, but just through his eyes, you can feel the emotions he is trying to convey. My favorite scene was in Episode 12 when he found the church where Choi Joung-yo might be.

Anyway, enough of that. Moving on to the review of this beautiful work, aside from the main characters, all the actors played their characters really well. Notably, Kang Ji-hye (Pi O’s mother). She was so great that it really pissed me off. Hahaha. Like, how can you do that to your son?! Another notable character is Jo Hyun-cheol (Choi Joung-yo’s older friend). From time to time, I think he was a better friend than Pi O. He was always there for Joung-yo, even helping him take care of his father. The best! No one seemed to be on Choi Joung-yo’s side except him.

On the other hand, some characters were not fully developed. For example, Yoon Sun-ju (Grandpa’s 2nd wife). I was expecting more from her character. It seemed to me that she was always using Joung-yo for her own pride and to accomplish something. I feel bad that they completely forgot about Joung-yo after he disappeared, but when he returned, they used him again.

The love stories between Pi O and Jae-in, as well as between the mother and the teacher, were unnecessary for me. The drama could survive without those. There were also a few parts that didn’t make sense to me, like how Choi Joung-yo, when searching for answers about what happened to him, was led to believe that Pi O was the one who tried to kill him. But when Pi O was the one searching for him, he found out that it was actually his mother.

The cinematography and music were great as well. There wasn’t much OST, but with the main character playing the piano, that was all it needed. Overall, it was a great drama, and I will definitely recommend it.

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A Disappointing Watch ?

I had high hopes for this drama, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations. It started with an interesting concept, but as the story progressed, I found it a bit boring and even considered dropping it. I eventually continued watching just to finish it, hoping things would get better.

To be fair, there were a few really funny and entertaining scenes that genuinely made me laugh, and the drama had some potential. However, the overall storyline wasn’t that good, the pacing felt slow, and the direction was quite disappointing.

As for the cast, I honestly don’t think the main leads were the best fit for their roles. Their performances didn’t really work for me, and I couldn’t fully connect with their characters. I feel like with a more suitable cast, better direction, and a stronger script, this story could have turned out much better. The concept itself wasn’t bad, but the execution didn’t do it justice.

I understand why some people might enjoy this drama, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. It had an interesting premise but too many flaws to keep me invested throughout. The few funny and entertaining moments are what saved it from getting an even lower rating. Overall, a disappointing watch that could have been so much better.

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When Superpowers Meet Absolute Chaos

Honestly, I enjoyed this drama SO MUCH! ❤️ A superpower comedy with chaotic characters, hilarious moments, action, and an emotional storyline? Count me in! I loved how it balanced comedy with serious moments without losing its charm. The cast was amazing, and the chemistry between the characters made everything even more entertaining. Park Eun Bin was fantastic, and Cha Eun Woo genuinely surprised me with his performance. His emotional scenes hit harder than I expected!

But SON KYUNG-HOON is my favorite character! His comedy, funny expressions, and hilarious moments had me laughing so much. 😂 I swear, every time he appeared, he made the scenes even more entertaining. His acting and comedic timing were just SO GOOD! I absolutely loved him.

And can we talk about the last two episodes?! MASTERPIECE. 🔥 The emotions, the action, the chaos, and the way they all come together to fight and defeat them made the finale incredibly entertaining. I genuinely enjoyed every second of it!❤️

My only complaint is that 8 episodes were NOT ENOUGH! 😭 I actually like that it’s short because the story doesn’t drag, but at the same time, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to these characters! I would happily watch more episodes because I enjoyed their dynamics so much.

Overall, such a fun, chaotic, heartwarming, and entertaining drama with a great cast, amazing comedy, and emotional moments that genuinely hit. I loved every bit of it, and I would happily rewatch it. Highly Recommended.

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a bit of a mixed bag

Each episode left me feeling either excited or bored.

Overall, the series is solid. I really enjoyed the plot and pacing. They really nailed the more slice of life moments in this series.

Ryoto (who plays Serizawa) did an amazing job portraying his character, but I felt he often hard carried scenes, particularly the more intimate ones. This was most noticeable in the final episode’s bed scene, where the intimacy felt a little too unnatural.

I think my opinion was partially compounded by the lack of chemistry between the two leads. I never really understood what people meant when they said actors lacked chemistry before, as they’re actors, but I think I understand now.

PS. the music was really great! loved the intro song.

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