Reviews

Can't believe I went so long without watching this...

...though to be fair, I usually avoid sageuks because of the heavy political focus and overall melancholic vibes hanging over the entire story until the very end when our heroes finally, through much blood, sweat, and tears, eke out a victory.

But from the beginning, this drama was different. And not to say that this didn't have its fair share of political intrigue; the overarching throughline of the story is a great treachery committed 20 years prior that comes to wreak great consequences in the present. But for me, where this drama really shines is in its characters, particularly the Queen and her rowdy brood of Grand Princes.

I do wish that the drama had maintained its focus on these princes maturing and reaching their full potential, and I feel like the politics took over completely in the latter half of the story so that we only get glimpses of these rich characters interspersed throughout the narrative. Maybe more episodes (or tighter writing) could have allowed the story to utilize this wonderful cast of characters a bit more without sacrificing the major theme of righting past wrongs. The Crown Prince contest and how the princes became more involved in the political happenings of their kingdom is an excellent example of how this could have been achieved.

Regardless, I was thoroughly hooked from beginning to end, and while I can't say this drama has cured my kdrama slump completely, it did remind me that I have not entirely lost my attention span.

Kudos to the cast and their enjoyable performances, especially Kim Hyesoo and Kim Haesook. Their constant showdowns were an acting masterclass and one of the highlights of the drama. I love that the Queen Dowager remained evil and dogmatic until the bitter end and there's no overt attempt to try to justify her actions; her motivations were always clear and I applaud the writers and the actress for really making that character more than just caricature.

And a special shoutout to Kim Hyesoo's eyebrows, practically a character of their own.

A drama I will always recommend going forward.

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Great premise, poorly carried out, but still worth a watch.

I was excited to watch "Rugal" in that the premise of AI enhanced robotic warriors, is interesting, terrifying, and imminently relevant to today's world. Plus, there is Choi Jin Hyuk as the male lead! But the story really didn't focus on the risks and rewards of AI enhanced humans, it had huge plot holes and there were so many problems with consistency and continuity that it became frustrating to follow. The actors did the best they could with lame dialogue. The fight scenes, though too fast and choppily edited, were still exciting and fun to watch. Choi Jin Hyuk was good in his role as the protagonist. Just being picky here, but the stylist who created his "flower boy, robot warrior" hair style for the last few episodes needs a reality check. That hair was really annoying! Park Sung Woong, also good, was particularly plagued by bad writing and he played-up the evil antagonist to such an extent that his character became amusingly campy. Not sure that was the intended effect, but he was fun to watch. The end was satisfying but a bit lame, and again not well written--many scenes were reminiscences via flashbacks, which in my opinion is lazy and boring. But despite the problems, this series is still worth watching. There are hints at a sequel and if one is planned, I would definitely watch it if a new scriptwriter is hired. You just have to be willing to make leaps of faith in the plot development (or nondevelopment).

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Great mystery, decent BL

I had a lot of fun watching this weekly and theorising on who the killer might be with my friends. I was really satisfied with the conclusion to the case, I feel it was well written and well acted. I do wish that the secondary characters at the police precinct had been given more light of day, especially in the final episode it felt really lacking, but the main characters all had satisfying moments.

As for the romance part, I felt it started off really well, dipped greatly in quality around episode 7, and then kinda just became ok by the end. When it came to the romance parts, the characters often didn't act like themselves in order to be cute or loveable. It honestly was just juvenile at times. This is just a symptom of GMMTV's main audience being teenage girls, I suppose, and it really showed here unfortunately. That being said, the actors have great chemistry and I enjoyed watching them work as a team.

I would watch this again, and I would also show it to others and watch them try to solve the mystery themselves. I would definitely recommend this show, even if for the mystery alone, but the romance has its merits too.

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In terms of cinematography, fight scenes and quality, season 2 is way better 100%.
(Oof esp the fight scenes, i mean have u SEENN that slow motion??!)

But in terms of how sad it made me and personal preference, season 1 for suree. (Maybe i’m just too attached to the old story and cannot move on idk)

I think this time in season 2, the characters are less annoying and they have actual reasons for why they turned out the way they are.

Even though there were too many characters, i feel like every one of them was important to the plot at some point. Even that one nerd who was absolutely horrible at fighting, he was still important when defending the other MC’s and during the investigations of the union.

10/10 for this season, they went all out.

God that ending tho.. unexpected-

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Another remake nobody needs...

What's with all the MAME (MeMind) remakes and do they even make sense? I really don't understand why they need to do a remake of every story. The BossNoeul pairing is imho the superior pairing to the japanese counterparts. While it's "only" the second outing for this japanese pairing, they still don't know how to kiss. Besides that the production quality comes nowhere close to the original. Many scenes feel lifeless, especially considering this is an university setting. It was a bit different with the "Love Sea" remake where the production quality was comparable and the compact format and some other changes made me enjoy the japanese version more. This series on the other hand is totally uncessary. The only highlight of this version is they changed the ridiclous end of the original, which makes the story in this aspect better, but on the other hand the compact format made some things a bit too compressed.

So, if you are into parallel worlds and other scifi/fantasy settings you should watch the original. This version is just there, just improving the end of the mom-story a bit, but not offer anything extra. The chemistry between the actors is marignal better compared to their previous work (Love in the Air Japan) but it's nearwhere close to the original pairing. Also the second couple gets less screentime and the younger looking one is the "Senpai" which makes no sense. Of course even the kissing and the nc-scenes are much better in the original, here it feels quite akward. Overall, you will not miss anything when you don't watch this.

Update: The special is the same as the original, so they passed up the chance to tell a different story which would have been much more interesting.

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Oh this broke me…

“We’re lovers only during the good times, and a burden to each other in the bad times”

This show takes the “right person, wrong time” trope and twists it so it can hurt in the best way possible.

Everything about this show seems so real. It’s not like other shows where the scenarios are over-exaggerated to make the show seem interesting. It takes actual real life problems that people have and execute them perfectly.

It tackles topics like financial struggles, moving on from teenage years into adulthood, determination, relationship problems, abusive teachers, dealing with change, and letting go of the past (..and a shit ton of other stuff i forgot about).

The ending is bittersweet too.. just how I like it! :P

It’s pretty slow-paced so there wasn’t enough to keep me hooked, but I highly recommend :)

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A waste of time filled with NC scenes to keep viewers engaged

I had to take a deep breath before writing this review so I can write it without offending others .
Taste is subjective but I’ll still say what’s on my mind in a respectful manner.

This series is a waste of time and would reduce your brain cells . The Nc scenes were so unnecessary that there was no longer chemistry. I started skipping the Nc scenes of both couples . That’s how exhausted I was .

I know you’d wonder , if you hated it so much , why did you finish it . I finished it so I could hate better with proof and evidence . I watched it to the last episode and dropped it 19 minutes to the end because it felt like self harm at that point .

I could go into details that only people that have seen this drama would understand and empathize with me but no .
The purpose of this review is to chase away someone that hasn’t watched it yet .
This review is for the person wondering if they should start and I’m here to say DON’T do it .

Don’t fall for the edits or recommendations .
If I’m able to save at least one person’s time , then I have succeeded .
In this day and age , there are several series to watch . Please pick something else .

Note : I don’t hate the actors as individuals. I think they did a great job . The show is just not it and I hope they all get better projects in future although I doubt I’d be interested again but I wish them the best .

Bonus : the actor that plays run is very pretty and I hope he gets a show as the lead .

Byeeee and see you in my next review! :)

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Bursting the hype reviews

You know what? Dali and the Cocky Prince really could have worked.

The whole old-money art heiress meets nouveau riche, brash businessman dynamic? That’s interesting. The commentary on class, taste, refinement versus hustle culture :there was something there. It had potential to be clever, layered, even a little biting.

But then… it just became silly. And not in a charming, rom-com way. In a “can we please be serious for two seconds?” way. There were moments where I genuinely felt like my time was being wasted because the tone tipped so far into childish absurdity.The conflicts became exaggerated in a way that wasn’t witty or satirical, just… over-the-top. And not in a good way.

I get why people were excited about it. The premise is fresh by K-drama rom-com standards. It’s not your usual chaebol CEO meets poor girl setup. I respect that. But freshness alone isn’t enough.

There were sparks of something smart and stylish in there, but it just couldn’t maintain its balance.

For me? No thanks.

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Its got everything

First of all, don’t be turned off by the name. It’s… strange. But trust me, there’s actually something solid going on here.

This drama watches like a classic police procedural, with engaging cases layered alongside family themes, mystery, and a bit of intrigue. It’s sad at times, poignant in others, and it really hits the emotional beats it sets out to hit.

What I appreciated most were the procedural elements as the cases were genuinely interesting and well-constructed. That’s where the drama really shines. There’s also a subtle slice-of-life undertone, which gives it warmth without overwhelming the plot.

Romance isn’t the focus at all , in fact, there’s basically none ,but there are a few implied romantic moments that add depth without distracting from the main story. At its heart, though, this is a drama about friendship, bias, prejudice, and not judging a book by its cover. It knows what it wants to say, and it delivers that message pretty strongly.

The male lead’s character progression was especially satisfying to watch. Seeing him grow into himself and figure out who he is was one of the most rewarding parts of the show. And the plot twists? Fantastic. I genuinely did not see them coming. They made the watch worthwhile and kept the momentum going.

Overall, it’s a pretty solid drama. I’d give it a strong 8/10. And if there’s a Season 2, I’d love for it to lean even more into the procedural side with fresh, compelling cases .

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When a Drama Exceeds Every Expectation: This Drama Gets Better Every Episode

I’ve been waiting for this drama for so long, and when they finally posted the trailer, I was SO excited to see Junior and Mark in the main roles together. Seeing them as Pai and Tim made me even more excited, but honestly, reading the plot also made me nervous because it’s very complicated. There are a lot of difficult scenes and emotional moments, so I knew the director had a big responsibility to make it work.

But when episode 1 came out and I watched it, I was honestly amazed. Everything from the production quality to their chemistry was incredible. We already expected their chemistry to be good, but it was even better than I imagined. The funny moments also made it really enjoyable and balanced the serious parts perfectly.

Episodes 2, 3, and 4 were all amazing too, and I could talk about them for hours. But now that I’ve just finished episode 5 (and have to wait another week for episode 6 😔), I can say it’s my favorite episode so far. You can really see Tim starting to change and accepting that he’s falling for Pai, and I loved seeing that development.

I’m also nervous about what will happen next, but if the drama continues at this level, it will definitely be a 10/10 for me. Everything about it has been so well done so far. I seriously can’t wait for the next episode!!!

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Quietly Inspiring

This is a warm, quietly inspiring, deeply sad, and incredibly precise in what it sets out to do. Like a good drama -it knows its brief and hits it again and again with nuance, restraint, and emotional intelligence. For me, it stands as one of the strongest slice-of-life dramas out there, and easily one of the genre’s best.

The writing is beautiful, the direction is assured, and the pacing is just right: never rushed and never indulgent. Every character feels thoughtfully constructed, but a special mention has to go to Chang-hee, the brother. While everyone shines in their own way, his character was the most endearingly complex and emotionally enduring for me. There’s something so painfully human about him, so layered, so quietly resonant, that his arc stayed with me long after the credits rolled.

I also loved the delicate balance the drama strikes: a touch of romance, a hint of whimsy, but always grounded in the rawness of the human experience. Nothing feels forced or overly sentimental. It’s subtle and deeply felt. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind a rewatch ; I feel like this is the kind of drama that only grows more poignant with time.

Now, why isn’t this a 9 or a 10 for me? One thing. The insertion of a particular character who was the sister's best friend’s boyfriend felt soooo unnecessary and a bit like overkill. His presence seemed to exist mainly to force growth in a character who was already progressing beautifully on their own. That arc didn’t need the push, and the detour felt like filler more than enrichment.

Still, those are minor qualms in an otherwise beautifully made drama. I’m not typically a slice-of-life person, but My Liberation Notes completely won me over. Add in a gorgeous soundtrack, and you’ve got something truly special.

This could be very much worth your time.

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