Reviews

Abundant themes and ideas with a major ethical reservation

„Love of the Divine Tree” harbours an impressive number of themes in the neat chain of causality. However, some ask for ethical reconsideration, so prepare for a bitterness overload.

YIN & YANG. It is pleasing to observe how these clash when the two strong leads are confronted, then gradually mix and form a delineating curve. When the plot tears them apart, the yin and yang start rattling anew, searching for a new equilibrium.

Su Yi Shui is tagged as a sample of yin. He displays a total immersion in a belief or feeling. All he needs is freedom and appreciation. His opening up to love reveals his hidden nature of a giver. After the loss of his master, his remorse grows immense till it blocks his ability to participate in life fully. Followed by a short period of calm, his amnesia phase sees a radical depletion of his potential.

Deng Wei in this role is brilliant at expressing those wuthering heights, this wild turmoil – especially by means of one-second movements, gestures, glances, outbursts with graded volumes of fury, longing or regret. He is immersed in this character so deeply that each cell seems to play the role. He is a black diamond of hundred facets, each imprinted as a dark hot flash in our memory. The dignified frame and silky movements add to the impression. Note the actor’s awareness of the meaning a body position may convey: when exposed to a comparison against Wei Jiu, Su Yi Shui chooses to stand half-turned away from the crowd: perplexity and unwillingness to participate. Regardless of the prevalent Asian standard of beauty, he has been adorned with wavy hair; both black and white wigs match the complexion. Alert – he cannot hold a baby safely.

This character would not be complete without Xu Yi Ming and Zhang Jing Yi, performing scenes from Su Yi Shui’s childhood. The scene with the mother’s door shut is truly heart-rending. I am not in favour of stripping actors of their natural voice, but the selected voice actor (Sun Rui Yang) yields a matching timbre for exasperation.

Mu Qing Ge vel Xue Ran Ran is a specimen of yang, with self-certainty, pride, joviality. Her readiness to take responsibility, straightforwardness, lack of fear or regret are also bright. A lady in red, her broad smile and directness in flirting challenges to surpass the Chinese convention of modesty.

Han Zhi Xiang did well in depicting both the mature master and the budding apprentice. Worth noticing is her capability of presenting the purged memory, the unprepared youth. When confronted with the masked stranger, she tosses all the paper spells at him. The voice actress (Duan Yi Xuan) did her work so diligently that I thought there are two.

RESOCIALISATION. The subjugation of Su Yi Shui is not an isolated occurrence. Mu Qing Ge has a vocation, an innate tendency to rehabilitate. Apart form building a mixed-ability team of apprentices, she manages to convert Wei Jiu, as soon as Tu Jiu Yuan has cracked his callousness. She also reshapes the world-view of the sects that once killed her, and catalyses a bond between two ex-enemies.

The prolonged presence of Spirit Spring inside Su Yi Shui’s heart is a symbolic reminder that childhood abuse drags on, requiring time, empathy, willingness on both sides. Unfortunately, the drama involuntarily challenges the boundaries of interference in another person’s integrity.

OBJECTIFICATION OF MEN. In most C-dramas man has to serve woman, which is hardly acceptable. There is a heavy load of possessiveness in Mu Qing Ge’s acts. The chains she put on her apprentice are no different from those of the Eternal Sect or in his nightmare. After the memorable scene with lamps, she ruins the mood by insisting twice on his eating fruit and drinking alcohol. Once means an offer, twice is coercion. The scene in which Su Yi Shui receives cat pets and starts purring (vol up!) shows that the heroine fails to respect his dignity.

SHORTAGE OF TRUST. We gather enough evidence that the young man knows his aim, the risk of hosting an evil force, and his eagerness to quit crime once he breaks free. The prophetic book shows merely a dispute who would become the new emperor – not the end of the world. Princes’ rivalry has always brought a bloody fight. So Mu Qing Ge had better advise rivals to take a duel, instead of bloodshed that depletes the army. Su Yi Shui does not pose threat to humankind, his intentions deserve no distrust. Unlike Dun Tian, with whom she shares her plans.

LACK OF SENSE OF JUSTICE. Mu Qing Ge disregards the long list of persons Su Yi Shui’s father once ordered him to eliminate. A punishment for the past would serve as a practical guidance better than irrational blame of potential future crimes. The worst example of validation of cruelty is the justification of Su Yi Shui’s mother through her dishonest letter. At the Marrow Cleansing Pool, supposed to accept cultivators after they leave their obsessions, Xue Ran Ran and Dun Tian somehow manage to retrieve theirs.

FALSIFIED HISTORY. The opening legend is all twisted on purpose. Mu Qing Ge is its main victim of accumulated superstitions that brought about a ‘witch process’ and foddered the hypocrisy of observers. Even Su Yi Shui’s hitting the formation wall is misinterpreted as his attempt to kill his master. The legend leaves out Mu Ran Wu’s enactment.

COMMUNICATION ISSUES. Much plight results in insufficient communication. It was given the form of a muteness spell. In spite of her eloquent quirk, Mu Qing Ge / Xue Ran Ran proves unable to circumvent the spell (by gestures, metaphors) or detect its symptoms on others. She seals Su Yi Shui’s and Zeng Yi’s mouths, being aware of ensuing injustice. Note her negligent attitude to other sects and her sister as regards the information flow. She indeed is warm but frank towards Su Yu, and reasonably instructive towards the rehabilitated Wei Jiu.

Mu Qing Ge fails at overhauling information gaps. She takes Su Yi Shui’s integrity as obstinacy. Having been around her sister or Dun Tian, she remains unaware of their evil nature. As Xue Ran Ran she is unable to recognise her master in Ling Xiao. When she talks deprecatively about Su Yi Shui to his rival, the content is abusive enough, the wording even more.

BASIS OF LOVE. A drunken kiss brings pain. Trying to reignite love to regain memory, the leads hastily kiss and fail. It shows that love needs an emotional basis, not physical. When forced it can be unrewarding. It takes work to find and maintain a point of convergence. What triggers Su Yi Shui is a promise of a home, light, good food (alco and cicadas excluded!) and understanding.

LOVE AFTER LOVE. This is relevant for viewers who experienced the loss of their beloved. It touches subtly upon the aspect of age difference in a relationship, attitudes and expectations, similarity vs sameness.

APPROACH TO THE LOSS. Unlike many dramas indulging in time travel, this one disdains the idea. Changing one’s fate is possible, but only in alignment with its temporal development. We must embrace the bygone. The greatest offence is made by the worst villain, Dun Tian. His family love is vitiated in confrontation with the spirit of his wife, whom he grabs by the throat. Mu Ran Wu is punished for ousting a person, Su Yu for drawing someone unwilling. The conflict between particular interest and common good is relevant here.

INSTABILITY AS A CIVILISATIONAL THREAT. There is a symbolic scene at the invaded Mount Wester, with dilapidation and nauseatic rolling movement of grey, disintegrated settings, and the death of the Reincarnation Tree. It may stand for today’s world’s decay, atomisation. There is nothing left to adhere to, no point of reference.

TRAP OF PROFESSIONALISM. Mu Qing Ge is so self-assured in her moral teaching skill that she trespasses the boundaries of Su Yi Shui’s integrity. Even if the outcome turns out to be right, it is not THANKS TO but IN SPITE OF the intrusion. He separated the good he received (love, home, sacrifice) from the accompanying bad.

Mu Qing Ge’s sect’s recruitment pattern is gathering youth whose talents fail to comply with the expectations of the competitive sects. She is adamant in defending them – and proves right. Su Yi Shui’s process of recruitment proves wrong: what matters is devotion, mere skill is insufficient, pride is disruptive.

The married leads organise chores to reflect their past turn-taking at supremacy. This model builds independence and yin-yang completion. However, the eldest son should have been taught to wipe off his stain.

NOTES

The flow gets disrupted by redundant verbalisations, reappearance of longish proper names. Still fewer in comparison with the artifact data in “The Blood of Youth”. It makes a viewer feel like a PC gamer, having to “select the weapon” to be allowed to move. The imagery also needs trimming: too many symbolic trees, twigs and one-use beasts.

OST: some phrases will stay in my memory for long. However, I reserve max 10 pt for creative masterpieces like in “The Blue Whisper” or “Kill Me, Love Me”.

The YouTube version might be abridged. Probably this is why it is not clear when Wen Hong Shan claimed to be disfigured by Mu Qing Ge, when Wang Sui Zhi left the Wester, when Su Yu got poisoned or when Tu Jiu Yuan gave birth. For final battle resolution, it took an irrelevant dragon immortal and her motionless child.

APPEAL

My appeal concerns everybody involved in determining C-drama’s future development directions. The genre has become a chance to evade being under the fusillade of the Western convention: this one spark of hope left to preserve dignity, creativity, modesty, true development, faith in humanity and more. Please avoid the Western ‘aesthetics.’ One of the greatest threats is the indulgence in unnecessary plastic surgery and tweakments as breach of authenticity, as interference in actors’ and actresses’ integrity, in their sacred bodies and countenances – the beautiful mirrors of their souls.

Written by a nationless spirit confined in the decaying Mid-Europe.

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Thank god I have free will…

I watched the second episode and hated my life, then read a review where someone said that they were debating going back to it and decided not to because of the GenAI slop smeared throughout the entire show, and that's when I remembered that I have free will.

Obviously, I think everything about this show is terrible, including but not limited to
1. The horrible acting (especially Po’s actor trying to portray lust but just speaking annoyingly slow and staring at the other guy all weird)
2. The OST (which you can barely call it that given that it's surely AI-generated as well because why not)
3. The premise/writing (because what the hell is even this …)
4. The GenAI images and voice-overs 🫩

All that to say, I will not be streaming because even if I'm watching it on an illegal website, I will NOT give people the impression that I stand for GenAI SLOP and terrible writing anyway. #FUCK AI! #AI IS NOT ART!

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went in with no expectations ...

and came out really happy that i started this! it was my first kdrama after a long stint of cdramas instead, having struggled to find something to capture my attention recently. the premise seemed interesting enough, and i figured i had nothing to lose in starting it.

the mystery aspect kept me engaged and prevented the show from feeling like another idol x fan drama. the shared backstory between the characters was also interesting though it's very much one of those things that would "only happen in the movies" (aka is it possible for all those coincidences to happen in real life? not impossible but certainly difficult). nonetheless, a drama is always more enjoyable if you don't think too much about all the little things.

the music was also great! i wish gold boys were an actual group because i would very much be a fan of their music 😂 both sooyoung and kim jaeyeong also did fantastic in their respective roles. the supporting cast was wonderful as well.

all in all, things seemed to tie together nicely and i'm glad they didn't drag it on to be a 16-episode drama. definitely happy with how it played out!

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This is Different - And I Loved It

Mad for Each Other was a real breath of fresh air for me — loud (especially the ML 😅), messy, serious in places, but above all genuinely funny in an intelligent way.

These are not glossy, idealized characters, and that’s exactly why they work. The humor grows out of real pain, real misunderstandings, and very real personalities. Mental health is taken seriously, yet never treated solemnly just to look important.

And yes — I loved that the umbrella is used to beat up the male lead instead of turning into the usual romantic prop. That alone tells you this drama plays by its own rules.

In a sea of polished familiarity, this one dares to be human, noisy, and different — and it’s so much more fun because of it.

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What starts with a murder and ends with a singalong?

Taken as a whole, it is a decent rom-com. However, if we look closer, we soon find cracks.

The show starts quite angsty with a hint of an exposé on the idol industry and (toxic) fandom. An unexpected murder hints at darker motives and conspiracies. Any sign of cuteness evaporated.

As it stands, the law and order subplot is laughable. There is little suspense. The revelation of whodunit towards the end has little impact. The inept police investigation and the "corrupt" prosecution process are groan worthy. They seems to have never heard of forensics. No finger printing, no DNA tests, blood splatters? It is borderline criminal negligence. Are Koreans numb to plots making a mockery of their police and judicial system?

Just to rib salt into the wound, most of the real detective work are done by the protagonist. Good on them, but that's cold comforts.

It is obvious that most of the subplots are there to push our leads together. The breadcrumbs all leads to their eventual HEA ending.

I'm not surprised that the last ep is largely fan service, but I was taken aback by how little substance there is. Did the writer-nim took an early vacay and left it to the intern to wrap things up?

In terms of acting, most actors are in their element. The support cast is largely from central casting. Our leads do look good together. They have chemistry and some nice skinship. Pretty much par for the course.

As a run-of-the-mill rom-com, it is fine. I enjoyed it. Fans of our leads will rejoice. Their romance is nice and cute. Just don't expect a serious crime thriller or any heavy hitting social commentaries.

It feels like an odd choice to start so heavy handedly and then reduce it to a fluffy romp by systematically paving over the darker elements with unicorn pastures. In the end, the rom-com bits are tropey and predictable. The rest feels half baked and tacked on. It is not a bad show, just a little underdone. I like the FL so the show gets an extra 0.5. ;)

One and done. Enough said. Peace.

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A different cup of tea.

A rather unusual story line where the main theme is that of dominant and liberal female values clashing with the more pedestrian male-centric society in ancient China. The main family's females decide and make choices while males play second fiddle. The ultimate display of power is not merely from martial prowess but the possession of a historically, bestowed gift.

The story line is intriguing, confusing, engaging and definitely stretches the credibility of ancient Chinese values. As a thriller it succeeds, as a romance it barely stirs the heart strings and as a travelogue into the tea-scape of China, it is fabulous.

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Female lead is just not it for me

It's meh,
The whole idol x fan is my least favorite dynamic, so really not my thing to begin with.

I had also such a hard time feeling the female lead. In my opinion, she's just not it, the story and whole kdrama would have been fine if they worked more on her character,
Like what was ep 4 all about... depression bc of someone's dating life, he doesn't even know u exist, I dont think these behaviours should be normalised,
Not to mention her obsession over Ra ik made her act so unconsiderate/rude towards literally her guy best friend...
She was giving me girl boss vibe, undependant woman... like how i usually like the fl to be, but they ruined it with that aspect.

Other than that, it's just okay. Not really bad, but nothing stands out for me.

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Karma Always Finds Itself Back To You

Karma 2025 6 eps 9/10
This was very interesting and such a diabolical show for me to watch but really showcased how your past mistakes can linger on and eventually give you karma like one line at the end of the show was “You can think of this as karma.” as the doctor or whatever surgeon who picked up a random side hustle was about to stab his knife into him. I really like how at the start we got random stories of these people and as the episodes went on everything started to click together like a perfect puzzle piece forming together, this show always had me thinking of how they knew each other or how someone would die. The idea of the red string theory is insane in this way, that everyone is someone connected to everyone. There were only 6 episodes but very good episodes that got me craving for more, I never really got bored because there was always something diabolical happening right in the show. But this show wasn’t a masterpiece that shocked me so maybe I would give it a solid 9/10.
“Karma will always find itself back to you.”

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The Social Hierarchy Of Life

I love this k-drama it truly is a drama, it really despisers how school is because it exposes how school social status functions like a pyramid game, even without the rules being spoken out loud, because people who are popular are always the ones who are "better" in schools and have the power unlike an outcast myoung jaeun, the higher points in the pyramid were aloud to bully the F tier the ones who got not votes in the class voting system. In my opinion baek harin had no rights to create that game her reasoning "I was bullied, you were a bystander." that doesn't give her the right to bully others in her upcoming years, she held a grunge to jaeun just because she was a bystander when they were very young, which young people don't have any cognitive skills. This is the social hierarchy of the world and this show really did an awesome job showing that. And the fact that the school system is messed up, with a not a real teacher, teaching and hitting students because they tried to speak up about their harmful game everyone seemed to have no problem with, even when it was destroying friendships. And I love the way the friendships and alliances shift constantly no one is completely safe or completely evil. Ja-Eun and Soo-Ji’s bond feels real because it develops under pressure, while the higher-ranking students’ constant backstabbing shows that power is fragile. And also the game isn’t just a game like the show is saying even in the title "pyramid game." it’s a mirror of real life. Even without official rules, social hierarchies naturally emerge, showing how humans gravitate toward power and conformity, often at the expense of kindness. I loved the dynamics the character changes, crazy plot twists, high stakes, intense lore, scary fighting, horrible bullying. Just really shows how this world can be. And if you are struggling with something don't try to "overcome it by yourself." you need to talk to a trusted adult. But in the beginning of this show song sooji has many questions and wonders why they are playing the game, and she wants to get rid of the game, since its obviously harming everyone. Then she slowly gets friends that side with her, they overcome hardships and even betraying one time. And eventually they overrule the game, and the game is destroyed, because as baek harin said "this is everyone's game." now we can't do this in real life, destroy the hierarchy but this really shows how life can be with all the struggles, and learning to get help. The fact that in that whole school no teachers were trying to help except one which got kicked out at first, since she backed up sooji by saying it was the camera she placed in the room, when sooji did it because she was desperate to have someone understand their situation and be heard. This show is awesome for someone who likes drama, especially school kdrama, betrayal, hardships, social hierarchy's, emotion, life, school, action, friends, overcoming problems. And I love all of those in a k-drama so I do really think this show was amazing and it was a perfect thing to watch since I watched all 10 eps in 4 days I was very invested showing that I truly was interested in this crazy kdrama, a reflection on the real world.

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A Realistic Idol Drama with a Spice of Love and Law

Idol I is an idol drama, meaning that the main male lead, Do La Ik, is an idol boy group member.
The drama tries to show the truth about idol life, while also having its plot focused on romance and law. I highly suggest this drama to K-pop fans and those who enjoy romance law dramas, without too much “legalities” and with minimal misunderstandings between the main couple.

STORY:
Meng Sena is a lawyer and a fan of the global K-pop boy group, Goldboys. She keeps her personal life and professional life separated to the best of her ability. When her favorite member, Do La Ik, is suddenly suspected of being the murderer of his fellow bandmate Kang Wooseong, Meng Sena promises herself to keep her personal feelings hidden as she takes on the role of Do La Ik’s lawyer. The drama focuses on finding out who the killer is while showing the viewer the harsh reality of what it takes to be an idol.

SPOILER PART OF THE STORY, MY OPINION:
Idol I showcases the harsh truth about being an idol: the fights and misunderstandings between group members, the fans’ obsessive behavior, and the huge expectations idols struggle with. As an idol drama, the show does well. The drama shows how idols can dislike their sasaengs and how they impact their lives, while also showing the deep gratitude idols have toward the supportive fans who helped them reach the heights they are at.
Personally, I enjoyed that part of the drama the most, as I can only imagine how my favorite groups have struggled, and it is a good reminder to some obsessive fans of what damage they can do to their favorite idol.

The plot doesn’t really have much law in itself, aside from the main female lead, Meng Sena, being a lawyer and using her knowledge to free Do La Ik from the detention cell and from being convicted. She takes Do La Ik into her home and takes care of him when he appears to have no one who believes in his innocence. It is revealed that Meng Sena has a past with Do La Ik from when they were young. He managed to save her life when she was struggling with her father’s wrongful conviction and the deaths of her father and mother. She became a fan due to the gratitude and hope he had given her.
In the last episode, she finally manages to do what she always wanted to do: investigate and prove her father’s innocence. For a 12-episode drama, it was understandable yet disappointing that this was left to the very last episode. However, understanding that the main plot was always about her relationship with Do La Ik and his case, it was okay in my opinion. To call this a law drama would be incorrect in my opinion, as the law is just a side story.

As the plot advances, the drama does a good job of giving viewers mixed signals about who could be the culprit, as in the idol world, there are many corrupt people. It is just reality. Personally, I think the culprit being his ex-girlfriend Hyejoo was slightly a letdown, though it was also realistic—especially for Hyejoo, who grew up as an illegitimate daughter with money but no love.

The silver lining is Meng Sena, who does not waver in her belief that Do La Ik is innocent and in her willingness to continue helping him even after he finds out that she is a fan and fires her as his lawyer. She shows the side of K-pop fans who truly love their idol.
“Real love is cheering someone on from far away, no matter where they are or who they become, believing in them.”
It is this love from Sena that Do La Ik falls in love with. Their love story was believable, given the circumstances they were in. Their passionate kisses were the perfect substitute for the usual K-drama kisses, which are more like pecks. This drama had what you could call real kisses.

MY OPNION SUMMED UP:
The love story is believable and touching, yet I feel like it was a side story. Still, I highly enjoyed it. I would give it an 8. I truly suggest this drama to those who enjoy idol dramas that realistically showcase the life of an idol and the perspective of a fan, while also giving an exciting plot in the form of crime and love. I do have to say that for a 12-episode drama, they wasted time on many unnecessary scenes, when it all could have gone to show more of the ace lawyer side of Meng Sena that she was supposed to be.


ACTING:

Choi Sooyoung g as Meng Sena:
As an girlgroup member herself, she knew how to act like a fan yet also how to show sympathy towards the ML. The moments where Meng Sena stood up for Do Laik, is when she shined the most in my opinion. Her concern and sympathy were the best moments in her acting.

Kim Jaeyong as Do Laik:
Cute. Handsome. Just absolutely cute. If you only need one reason to watch this drama, he is more than enough. Not only did he act well when being cheeky, jealous and cute.. He also acted so well during the distressed moments in Do Laik's life. His tears and the scenes where he acted as panicked, distressed and devastated were raw and real. It was an impressive performance.

I am giving this an 8. The actors especially made this a truly enjoyable drama

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Almost wished it was more absurd.

All BLs require a certain level of suspension of disbelief — but Me and Thee offers a strangely confusing paradigm: the more it tried to lean into realism, the harder my brain had to work to believe any of it.

When the show fully committed to being over-the-top, it was genuinely fantastic. Thee’s constant (mis)understanding of the world — people, social norms, even basic human functions — was hilarious. His mother seeing everything through a melodramatic lens, the ridiculous wealth, the absolute disregard for money, and Pond fully committing to the “voices in Thee’s head”… those things produced some of the most gloriously unhinged moments in the series.

Even the romance only really works when you view it through a comedic, exaggerated lens.

But whenever the show tried to pivot into drama, sincerity, or grounded emotional realism, it completely collapsed. Even Peach felt a little too normal for the universe the show was building — and in a “normal” context, him falling for Thee makes absolutely no sense (no matter how much trauma the story throws in to justify it). If the writers had leaned into Peach’s obsession with peace, quiet, and tranquility in a much more extreme way, the show would’ve actually become more coherent — paradoxically — because it would match the heightened world around him.

And I won’t even get into the abandoned plot threads and half-dropped story engines.

Honestly, a lot of that could’ve been forgiven if the series were consistently absurd. But instead, some of it just feels loosely written — and that’s the worst kind of messy.

I might sound harsh, but I genuinely enjoyed the show. In a few years, I’ll probably only remember the funniest scenes — and in that sense, it did exactly what it came to do.
I really hope we get more BLs in this genre, just executed with tighter control.

Still, overall? I’d recommend watching it.

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A Master Piece Of Suspense

Price of confession 10/10 12 eps
This K-drama completely drew me in. I felt like I was living in its world, thinking about it constantly. I would fall asleep reflecting on the episodes and go to school wondering what would happen next. The characters were so well thought of and never did anything that didn’t suit them, they were so realistic and there were times I felt like their actions were going to affect me overall showing how I was so invested in this k-drama. and the whole entire aspect and dynamics of this show was amazing. The acting was on point, it made my skin crawl, definitely felt eerie in some ways. They all thought an yunsu murdered her husband and her life started to tumble. This kept me so engaged I could not stop watching, this k-drama did everything it was supposed to do for the viewer, a psychological k-drama where they twist what actually happens and makes you mad realizing you know that wasn’t the truth making me way more invested in it. This show got my heart beating and made me completely stressed out in a good way. I absolutely love that in the beginning it had 2 perspectives on what yunsu did, one being she killed him, and the other she didn’t kill him. But at the end we found out who did it, who ruined her life. And it all made sense and formed perfectly and by the end it formed like a puzzle piece it was so satisfying to watch it all unravel. In the beginning I was highly thinking of jumping to the end to see who had done it but it would have completely ruined the experience and I would have missed so many clues and ideas. In each episode I had high emotion, lots of thoughts, pure terror in my head, heart beating it was intense and so interesting I rated all the episodes above a 7 which really shows this had no boring episodes which I started to rate it a 10 when it was nearing the end, which shows that this show didn’t stretch out the plot and make it extremely boring they made it so interesting and made me so invested it was crazy this might be my favorite crime/mystery k-drama out there that I have seen so far. I will truly miss watching this show but now I will think about this for the rest of my life. This really changed my world. It was so good and well thought, the plot was amazing. I would rewatch it if I lost my memory.

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9/10 from my alter (call them So-La Di-Da), but my brain and I (Toot), not so much.

I always come out of a Hong drama feeling like it was a guilty pleasure. I enjoy it at the time, but all the while, feel like I shouldn't. And "Can This Love Be Translated", is no exception. I find Hong dramas often address big issues, and complex philosophical themes; what higher ideal is there than open communication, understanding and acceptance between people. They ask the question directly in the title - can love be translated? But the Hong sisters are too wont to fall back on tropey, caricature-ish plot devices and populist imagery, to actually give us a convincing answer. That just makes me come away feeling dirty. I personally find the Hong sisters, as writers, are not clever, they're manipulative. And in the experience of watching a drama you have to ask yourself, "Why am I thinking more about the writers than the actual drama?!?"

For ratings purposes, I'm going to take a leaf out of this script and create an alter for myself:

Me, My alter, So-La Di-Da: ...I'm just here for the entertainment!
Story: 9/10 Committed to romance, beautiful locations, easy brain switch off visuals of both people and places.
Acting/Cast: 10/10 The cast is great. Across the board. PRETTY!
Music: 7/10 To satisfy the "I'm here for the entertainment!", part of my brain, The Dancer should have had more dancing but meh.
Rewatch Value: 1/10 Still not switching off that part of my brain.
Overall: 9/10 Good chemistry, beautiful scenery, interesting dialogue. In the moment, whenever I can switch off my brain to just "ENTERTAIN ME" mode, this is a charmer of a drama.

Me, Myself, Toot: ...if I'm investing all of my time, make it mean something
Story: 5/10
Acting/Cast: 10/10 Worked well with what they had
Music: 7/10 Is not notable, which is to some advantage in telling a story.
Rewatch Value: 1/10 except for going back to make sure they really did or did not say that! Or checking the translation is accurate and there's not...more...
Overall: 4.5/10 There are just too many issues we're expected to swallow whole. The Italy chapter being illustrative - He's savvy enough to know that her belief that she is unlovable, is a delusion. They've written those words into his mouth. It's therefore absolutely unconvincing and inconsistent with the character, that he would just go along with her psychotic episodes (as Do Ra Mi) and not seek medical help. What gets me to a five/ten is the attempts at witty banter between the characters, and the fact that the main characters do...generally... present as intelligent and caring human beings. No-one is fully a caricature, they are ...somewhat... believable, if not well realised. And I believe that's a problem of the script rather than the acting.

In order to illustrate what I mean, I'm just going to focus on the use of Do Ra Mi: The Dancer (as the Hong's referred to her or if you prefer, The Zombie) Cha Mu Hui's disassociated persona/alter-ego: We, as an audience, ALONG WITH the male lead character Ju Ho Jin, are expected to accept this characteristic, without question. And more importantly for Ju Ho Jin, without action. It is a very obvious plot device, dumped in to create story, but never directly addressed or explored.

The ML is highly educated. He is also very clearly and in his own spoken words, aware that she has a serious mental illness. ("The idea that you are unlovable is a delusion") He is kind and clearly has a highly educated degree of insight, in being able to identify her alter. He is also informed enough to recognise that her core belief structure is a delusion. It is not realistic that, having this kind of awareness, you would just go along with a person's full blown psychotic breaks, her clear displays of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), without seeking help or care for that person. It is a disturbing illustration of how NOT to deal with serious mental illness, but is wrapped up in a lovely romantic bow. The ML being written as the ultimate polyglot, with the ability to understand and communicate on so many levels beyond the norm, is just inconsistent with a character who would fail to seek help and medical care for the person they love.

And so for my little rant...
The existence of Mu Hui's alter Do Ra Mi, is realistic, in the sense that it's a protection from very significant childhood trauma. This is in keeping with DID. But tying her central belief - that she is unlovable - specifically to the fact that she was A WITNESS to a horrific act, is ludicrous. There's a perfectly reasonable rationalisation that she was an actual victim of multiple horrific acts. I won't spoil them all here... But why tie it to being A WITNESS rather than being A VICTIM? This could have been an excellent opportunity to explore how, as humans, we create layers of, often irrational, belief around trauma, in order to function in our complex world. But unfortunately, nope, they're just there as backstory, to create a facade of character depth, with no exposition at all. Looking further and accepting the Witness/Victim dichotomy as a believable trope, I also feel an opportunity was lost for developing this further, as an exploration of Korean Society. If we accept the idea that characterising yourself as a victim is harder to swallow that characterising yourself as a witness; and that being a victim or even a witness, makes you believe you are 'less than", and makes you accept that others will see you that way too... what does that say about a society?!? But alas, that was also not explored.

I come out of Hong sister dramas, always questioning whether these writers are just ignorant enough, to be unaware of what mental illness really is, or just clever enough to use mental illness to shine a light on a core SK cultural belief: That being perfect is a requirement. That being imperfect, damaged, filially rejected, traumatised or broken, and SHOWING those in any way, makes you a problem for, and at worst, worthless to Korean Society.

Fortunately I am cognisant that my opinion is mine and is valid, in that all opinions are valid if you can justify it. When you write something and release it out into the world, your own interpretations of your words, remain only yours. You invite multitudes of interpretations when you publish. So whatever you intended to portray, is only secondary to the audience's reception. I think that what makes me cross about the Hong Sisters' writing is that they cause me to question THEM. I should be able to forget about the writer when I am watching a drama. But they can't seem to commit. They try to be populist - they try to write for the masses, using obvious and lazy tropes (Meet/Cute, love at first sight, destined love, childhood trauma as plot device), but at the same time, try to make grand statements about social issues and the human condition. There is something...a certain amount of finesse that is missing. In trying to be clever, they can sometimes come off as stupid. And I just really don't want them to be stupid. It's a dilemma because either they are clever but they think we (their audience) are stupid, or they are stupid, and therefore so are we, for enjoying their dramas.

Truly, for me this drama might be enjoyable in some moments but afterwards, when your brain turns back on, it has an unpleasant post show ick. I admire the central idea of addressing the question of translating love, I am disgusted by the use of childhood trauma and DID as a plot device, and a form of audience manipulation.

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high-stakes game of mutual suicide and extreme gaslighting

24 episode and approximately 15 minutes each and for the first six episode it was alright and I thought this could be a potential hidden gem……… it is not!

The Bottom Line is if you want a story where the heroes outsmart the villains with a brilliant, logical strategy, this isn't it. If you want a story where they eventually snap because they’re finally tired of being poisoned, humiliated and tortured then stick around—but yes, it will likely be a very quick resolution after a lot of unnecessary suffering.
Literally the last minute and a half of episode 24.

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