Reviews

Very tropey. Not bad, but not 'extraordinary', either.

Spoilers beyond this point.

If you have not yet watched this show up to Episode 10, I recommend not reading further.

I hate cliche terminal illness plots, I think they're trite and lazy, even more so when the illness is sudden and has no previous foreshadowing. If hints had been provided at the beginning, then I would not have dropped this show. Unfortunately, because of that reason, this drama will forever remain dropped and will stay in limbo until I figure out a way to get past this roadblock. Rating is from before that episode.

I wish we could get more insight into Minwoo's shift in how he treats Youngwoo. I feel like the show is very dramatically portraying him as a bad person without actually delving into *why* he feels that way. Of course, the actions he took against his perceived injustice regarding Wooyoung's "special treatment" were bad and very much ableist, but I dislike how they did not show his view more or have characters that actually combated his views in a way that was helpful to making him understand, instead of brushing his concerns off. Minwoo was a far more polarising character, and that's what made him interesting.

The main male lead is also a very one-note character. So far, we have barely learnt anything about him other than the fact he used to work with disabled people, and that he is attracted to the female lead. It seems as if his character exists only to be the "protector" or "good guy" towards our main character, and I find that very boring regardless of how cute their scenes may be. Should I ever choose to pick this drama back up, then I hope that this changes. As of this moment, I'm not really interested in seeing how his character progresses; feel free to convince me should you want to, but please remain respectful if you choose to do so.

I feel as if Attorney Jung and Youngwoo (discriminator/discriminated to immediate respected colleagues), or even Minwoo and Youngwoo (rivals to bully) would've been much more interesting dynamics. Age gaps can be an issue for some, as can bully/victim, and I completely understand that being a deal breaker for many people, but even then I feel like they had much more chemistry compared to the actual relationship that was explored in the show. Sorry, Junho, but your personality and relationship with Youngwoo were both too milquetoast for me to actually get any enjoyment out of it. Despite that, I did really enjoy both of their acting, especially Eunbin's.

In general, it seems that there is a lack of nuance and grounded personality when it comes to some of the characters. I don't mind the stereotypical representation of autistic traits, as an autistic character being portrayed positively, especially an autistic woman, is already a big leap for Korea given their popular societal views on autistic people. That being said, the characters can be summarised by maybe one or two personality traits throughout the show, and they don't really amount to anything more than that. This show is very trope-y, though, so it's not too surprising. If this approach is not changed in later episodes, then it's likely my rating will stay at 6.5, or perhaps even drop further than that. Only time will tell.

Overall: likeable and has a lot of good moments, but definitely not a stand out show for me. Has re-watch value, but I may end up skipping certain scenes that I find boring or have writing I dislike. Some of the characters are a bit boring or one-dimensional, and I feel like some of the more interesting dynamics just get shafted by Youngwoo and Junho's cliché moments. Not bad, but not great, either.

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Pretty silly most of the time, bordering on cheesy fan fiction. As a true Sonic fan, it doesn't really bother me. The idea of recharging the pacemaker makes absolutely no sense. Whatever.

But I really needed that flood of sugar, feel-good vibes, and a tough guy who cries in secret while watching a K-drama. Binge-watching those sappy episodes helped me kill time, wallowing like an unproductive slacker, ruminating on my anxieties and doing absolutely nothing.

I like that the two suitors in the love triangle come right out and admit their feelings. And that the one who gets rejected doesn't keep pushing. In fact, everyone moves on once a situation is resolved. However, the last two episodes dragged on with an attempt at melodrama that didn't fit at all with the rest of the show.

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The Heaviness of Being A Muse

The story follows Jay-jay, a high schooler who’s sent to live with her aunt and cousins, after being expelled from her previous school. She’s sent to HVIS, the same private school as her cousin Ares. At HVIS, she is left to fend for herself as she’s sent to the delinquent class ‘Section E’ which happens to be comprised of 16 rowdy boys. Ares, who’s in Section A, does not want to associate with her or help her when she gets bullied both by Section E and Section A. Although alienated by everyone, Jay-jay quickly makes her first true friend, the silly younger boy named Ci-N.

As the days pass, Jay-jay becomes closer to each boy and the drama they’re involved with until she becomes their "Mutya" (muse.) Tension rises as Section E is constantly targeted by other gangs, Jay-jay’s trauma intensifies during the gang fights, causing to literally crash out and black out. Not only is she estranged, she’s also kept in the dark about her family history. To make matters worse, she captures the heart of Section E’s leader Keifer and of his best friend and nemesis Yuri. This love triangle is at the heart of this drama as both boys have previously fought and passed over the popular and beautiful Ella, the previous Section E girl, who just happens to be her cousin Ares’ girlfriend.

At the time of release, I was consumed by this. Once I got past the cringiness, I realized I couldn’t stop watching to see what would happen next: which rival gang Section E will fight next, and what secret the next Section E boy is hiding and dealing with on his own before Jay-jay gets to meddle and help. I even went on to read Books 1 and 2 translated online into English from the original Tagalog to uncover what will happen in Seasons 2 & 3. Unfortunately, the updates and translations have stopped so I have no idea how the story will truly end. I am hoping she ends up marrying Keifer.

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The Drama that Started My Love for CDramas

I don’t say this lightly when I say that “The First Frost” was my favourite piece of media of 2025, meaning it trumps over all the other books, movies, shows, and art pieces I’ve witnessed in that year (that’s a lot considering I’ve watched around 50 shows and 80 movies, and I’ve read 70 books.) This show deserves an infinity rating. I have not seen anything quite like it since.

Additionally, “The First Frost” was my very first introduction to C-dramas. After watching this my first ever C-drama I was hooked and never looked back. (A year later, I hardly watch or care for American shows anymore.)

In this dual timeline drama, we follow the restorative love story between Wen Yi Fan (played by Zhang Ruo Nan) and Sang Yan (played by Bai Jing Ting), their current day reencounter is interspersed with their past as deskmates that went their separate ways in high school. In the current timeline, Wen Yi Fan is a reporter while Sang Yan is a game developer and bar owner. It’s actually at his bar, Overtime, where the pair meet again.

At first, Wen Yi Fan pretends not to know him but the jig is up once Sang Yan becomes her roommate, offering the pair a second chance at their connection. Wen Yi Fan, due to her trauma and the manner in which she left and hurt Sang Yan is determined to keep her distance. That’s until her sleepwalking episodes unconsciously carry her to seek comfort in Sang Yan.

There’s so much that I love about this drama.

Here’s a very brief list:
- Showing the realistic portrayal of trauma and its aftermath, Wen Yi Fan flees (disappearing in the past timeline when she didn’t attend Nanwu University with Sang Yan and the present one when she runs off to Hong Kong), suppresses her pain (to the point when the stress causes her to sleepwalk), is hyper independent (shuts even the people that love her out), etc.
- I absolutely love Wen Yi Fan’s childhood nickname Wen Shuangjiang which means the “Warm First Frost” since she’s born during the time of the year when the first frost appears
- The drunk scenes of Wen Yi Fan and Sang Yan (they were so funny and cute, and provided great respite from the heavier scene)
- The satisfaction I got and the pride I felt when Wen Yi Fan finally cut contact with her mother for good
- The OSTs absolutely enhanced the emotions in every scene
- Sang Yan’s proposal scene and being shown how he devised getting Wen Yi Fan’s attention first during the first day of school

There’s so much to note and so much to love about this drama. I will be rewatching this and one day I hope to watch it again without English subtitles. This story truly transformed me and made me feel seen at the same time.

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A Healing Kind of Love

"The Best Thing" is one of the best things I've watched in 2025. This was the second C-Drama I had ever watched (the first being 'The First Frost,' which I finished on the same day!) I started my C-Drama journey on a strong note. There's so much to say about this show. I love even the simplest details, like the fact that they shared TCM recipes at the beginning of every episode. This show truly made me swoon, laugh, cry, and it motivated me to get out of my funk and start saving for travel and life abroad. Damn, I even applied for a job at the hotel near my house. I relate so much to the main female lead Shen Xi Fan: I got out of a toxic relationship, I want to move abroad in my late 20s, and I've also seen a TCM for my insomnia (and poor blood circulation). What truly made this show incredible is the gentle male lead He Su Ye. He's kind, patient, smart, mature, and just so attractive (especially when he showed his playfully shameless side once he had a chance with Shen Xi Fan). This show reminded me of the great importance of a Spring day after a long and horrifying Winter. There's just so much good to say about this show, but I will return with more of my thoughts and appreciation once I rewatch this. I never knew that watching "The Best Thing" and "The First Frost" would open me up to Chinese culture and language so greatly, as I intend to learn Mandarin Chinese in the next year.

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What Does It Mean To Live Your Dream Life?

I loved this drama because it didn’t shy away from using a sci-fi memory distortion concept for characters with normal lives and dreams. Jiang Xiao Yuan, the female lead (played by Liu Han Cun), is from a wealthy background and a car crash sends her to a world in which she lives a life of poverty. If it weren’t for the male lead, Qi Lian (played by Lin Yi), who knows the “other her” from this world, she would be beaten and starving on the streets. The pair hate each other but they are determined to figure out what happened to her and the “other her” of this world who disappeared and send her back to her world.

The actress Liu Han Cun did such a wonderful job at portraying someone who’s both confused and outraged at what she believes to be this parallel reality that is harsh and unforgiving to her. And Lin Yi really played his role well too because he’s quite horrible at first until he softens.

At first, I was upset that this wasn’t a time travel story but then I was relieved it wasn’t because we got to witness the ML fall in love again with the “new identity” (wiped out memory) of the FL. The show also gradually introduced the real mystery (a memory alteration program that has gone wrong) that was disguised as a time travel device. There were actually quite a few twists and turns that made this an entertaining and rewarding watch in my opinion.

There’s a whole arc of her slowly regaining her memories and we see how close the ML and FL lead were in high school, how they always protected each other. At some instances, we also understand the anger and grief the ML has gone through and how everything is all interconnected in the end.

In the meantime, the FL works her way into becoming a hairstylist/makeup artist, which introduces other interesting characters into the storyline and gives her a second chance at life. I believe in the end, the message was to follow one’s dreams despite one’s burden (financial, familial, societal, etc.) To me, the drama presented a satisfying ending and I was rooting for the couple as they relearned to trust each other and repieced her memories.

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Commercialized Remake Replaces Peaceful Solitude with “Masala”: Forced Romance and Office Drama

Cheers to Me! takes the serene, self-contained charm of Wakako-zake and completely undermines everything that made the original Japanese series special. Where the original offered a quiet sanctuary celebrating mindful solitude, this adaptation falls into the same predictable traps that pollute so much of commercial television.

In Wakako-zake, the whole point is that Wakako is entirely whole on her own. She finishes her workday, steps into a quiet eatery, pairs her food with a drink, and enjoys her own company without needing office drama, gossip, or a dramatic arc to validate her existence. It is a peaceful, grounded meditation on solitude and simple presence. It has a totally different serene vibe with subtlety and sweetness as the protagonist goes out into the world, but self contained within herself. As she observes different interactions around her, she often remembers that she is not here to meet with anyone, just enjoying her own presence and the food. The food looked divine and I could actually taste it with her while listening to her inner dialogue of how she experiences the food. A therapeutic experience. Even the background office scenes are framed in a way that support Wakako’s serene experience of food in the evenings, rather than taking center stage as office drama. No unnecessary backstories or flashback drama, just resting and enjoying the purity of the present moment.

Cheers to Me! throws all of that out the window and destroys the central pure premise of the Japanese original. The Ma in J dramas creates an atmosphere where characters do not need to constantly explain themselves, react dramatically, or pursue horizontal goals. The narrative trusts the viewer to sit in the stillness without needing constant sensory stimulation or loud emotional hooks. However, in this remake, instead of trusting the power of a quiet purity of a self-sufficient protagonist, the show forces a tired office plot or romantic storyline onto the narrative. It operates under the lazy assumption that a person eating alone is inherently lonely, incomplete, and just waiting for someone to come along and fix their life with drama and high school style noise. It is immature commercial formula over the purity and wisdom of solitude. Juxtaposed with office drama and food montages of her childhood eating with her mother, the food scenes at the restaurant seems like an afterthought or coping mechanism for the woman’s office drama stress and missing her family. That is a totally different plot with lots of additional noise. It lacks simplicity. It makes the food look more like a binge eating addiction for emotional stress rather than pure mindful enjoyment. I couldn’t even finish 2 episodes of this nonsense.

The original Wakako-zake works precisely because of its unpretentious, low-budget, quirky feel. It doesn't need slick sets or manufactured drama because the entire focus is on the simple, present-moment experience. When the adaptation floods the screen with high budget, glossy visuals, and unnecessary subplots, it suffocates the quiet space, the Ma that made the story meaningful in the first place. Adding backstory like childhood memories of eating with her mother or using food as an "escape" from office drama is the remake’s egoic attempt to make the character "deeper." But it actually does the opposite. It reduces a simple, mindful act of presence into a psychological coping mechanism. It assumes that nobody can just enjoy a quiet moment without a tragic or emotional reason behind it. The "Masala": Adding relational friction, workplace politics, and artificial tension is just commercial filler. It assumes the audience is too restless and immature to sit with pure stillness, so it constantly feeds the viewer sensory noise to keep them hooked.

By injecting forced workplace angst, primal screaming, and relational drama, this remake strips away the meditative pace and replaces it with artificial friction. It transforms a peaceful slice-of-life experience into a noisy commercial product designed to hook viewers on romantic tension. Unfortunately I have not seen any Kdramas that can handle the topic of the self sufficient, peaceful, meditative solitude of a female protagonist. But there was an interesting surprise in the first episode of the kdrama as the first episode shows Wakako from the original show sitting next to the lady as she goes to an eatery alone.

The acting is also really bad- the office lady that’s always taking selfies and photos overacts so much that it’s so cringe to watch.

When a network acquires the rights to a quiet, episodic Japanese series like Wakako-zake, which operates more like a slow, peaceful slice-of-life meditation, the commercial writers often do not know how to handle pure solitude. They fear that a protagonist who is simply content, quiet, and eating alone for 20 minutes will lose the casual viewer. So, they default to their standard playbook: injecting gossip, romance, and career competition to create artificial tension and keep the audience hooked on the next episode's cliffhanger.

On a deeper level, the ego system behind mainstream media is terrified of true, undisturbed solitude. To the ego, a character who is complete in themselves, who walks into a quiet restaurant, enjoys a simple meal, and asks for nothing more from the world, she is a direct threat to the commercial ego world. The ego’s entire existence depends on the belief that you are incomplete on your own and that you must seek validation, romance, or a partner outside yourself to be whole.

When a story like Cheers to Me! rewrites Wakako's peaceful solitude into "loneliness waiting to be solved by drama or romance," it is the ego attempting to re-impose its favorite script: You are not enough as you are; you need a character to complete you.

Cheers to Me! fails because it cannot comprehend a woman who is simply content in her own space. Instead of honoring the beauty of being complete in oneself, it reverts right back to the ego's favorite lie: that solitude is a problem to be solved with drama rather than a sanctuary to be enjoyed.

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ne vous arrêtez pas au premier épisode

Dans l'ensemble, la série est sympathique et très bien tournée.

l'OST de Bonnie (Red Kiss) est incroyable.

Il est vrai que le début de la série peut rendre sceptique vis-à-vis de l'histoire mais dans son intégralité elle reste bien à regarder.

Bien sûr, même si c'est le même univers que my only sunshine, elle est tournée d'un ''multivers'' différent, et c'est assez cool de voir un côté différent.

les OST sont une pépite, les personnages sont approfondis mais j'aurais préféré plus aux côtés de Key et peut-être sa soeur Peach.

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Should Have Watched It Sooner

My biggest fear before watching this series was that it would be shallow, with nonsensical fight scenes I would get tired of, but joke's on me I got instantly hooked by its depth, the plethora of emotions the actors exceptionally conveyed and the dedication that was put into every aspect of this series.

The storytelling was very strong overall, especially, in the first half of the series in terms of both structure and writing, without that meaning that in the second half was weak. On the contrary, it was strong as well, but the inclusion of certain sub-plots --that didn't necessarily contribute to the development of the characters or the direction of the story-- I would rather to have never gotten introduced to them at all or just see certain storylines, that were teased throughout the series, but were left untouched, to get developed instead. As for the characters, I particularly enjoyed how many of them, aside from the main leads, were fleshed out, making them multidimensional and ultimately more human. That said, some of the female characters, I found, not necessarily bad, but their presence rarely felt essential to the main narrative to me. They were somewhat disconnected from the central storyline.

The music stood out to me the most, not only because every soundtrack choice perfectly complemented each scene and amplified the emotional intensity, but also the sound mixing was masterfully done.

Overall, I definitely recommend this series to anyone looking for a worthwhile story. It's well-executed and engaging throughout.

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Fool in Love — Character Review & Spoiler

Yok’s innocent, cold and naive act is just a push and pull tactict to make Ing believe he is the one hunting. This makes Ing lower his guard. And Itt? He’s hardly the innocent little half-brother who simply looks up to Ing. Knowing the novel reveals that both boys are working together to destroy Ing’s company and ruin his life from the inside and their request to intern there seems more like an infiltration plan. Yok uses this innocent straight boy approach to ensnare Ing, while Itt hides behind the innocence of a younger brother. Poor Ing might think he's hunting a rabbit while he wanders into the Serpent's Den (Sauce: The sacred Serpent's Den). He thinks that letting Itt work there is like handing out charity, but in actuality he's already been ensnared. There is only heartbreak because Ing gives himself fully, trust, heart and body, over to Yok, only to be shattered.

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A captivating romance with stunning chemistry and a few flaws! ❤️

A captivating romance with stunning chemistry and a few flaws! ❤️

The Pursuit of Jade stands out for its engaging storyline, strong female lead, and the wonderful chemistry between Tian Xiwei and Zhang Linghe. The blend of romance, action, political intrigue, and emotional moments keeps the story interesting, while the cinematography adds to its overall appeal. Both leads bring personality and intensity to their roles, making their relationship enjoyable to follow. However, some pacing issues and uneven story developments prevent it from reaching its full potential. Overall, a memorable historical C-drama that delivers plenty of romance and entertainment, even if not every part is equally compelling.

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Potential good story, poor execution.

I really wanted to like this, given the cast, who I know have talent and can act.

Without giving anything away, the writing was poor, character development was mid, the acting was alright given the terrible script and the direction? I am not sure where they wanted this story to go other straight off a cliff. The chemistry was also lacking here, am I supposed to believe these people fell in love? So much potential, but so many dialogue heavy scenes with zero plot development is...an exceptional talent of a different kind.

Things get a little exciting towards the end but then...a cliffhanger. This would work of the I had enjoyed the story but I did not, and it just added to my increased dislike of the progression (or lack thereof).

Unfortunately, it disappointed me at every turn. I always encourage everyone to watch, and form their own opinions but this one was not for me.

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A Promising Start with a Charming Cast and Romantic Potential! ?❤️

A Promising Start with a Charming Cast and Romantic Potential! 🍓❤️

After watching the first two episodes of Merry Berry Love, I can say that this drama has made a positive first impression on me. Ji Chang-wook and Mio Imada make this pairing interesting, and I'm curious to see how their characters and relationship develop. The beautiful setting, lighthearted moments, and romantic atmosphere give the drama a refreshing charm.

What I appreciate most so far is its potential to deliver a heartwarming romance with comedy, emotional moments, and meaningful character development. The drama has created enough curiosity to keep me looking forward to the next episode.

However, since only two episodes have aired, it's still too early to judge the overall storyline, pacing, and character development. I hope the upcoming episodes build on this promising beginning and give the romance more depth.

Overall, Merry Berry Love is off to a good start. It hasn't proved everything yet, but it has definitely made me interested in continuing the journey. Looking forward to seeing more of this lovely pairing!

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