Reviews

Worth a View for Sure~

I'm not finished just yet but I've been a fan of this actress for awhile now. The roles she takes on haven't really deviated from drama to drama and I see this as a reflection of that. I think this is her niche, her forte, but the door is open for to take on anything. Residents Playbook, Law School, AOS2, and a top5 favorite of all time in Moving. Solid resume and then some.

Having said that, I've got some mixed feelings about this drama but I'ma and hope to finish in a couple days. Lot of stuff just to watch today alone but want to wait for wife since we started this one together. Kdramas are just one of our things. Hope to finish soon. 1/16

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sweet but not tooth-ache sweet

My 2026 resolution is to write reviews for everything i've watch - so here goes! I just finished the drama and my overall feelings towards this drama is generally positive. In fact, i do not have any criticisms - not even for the slowwwww pacing for the romance to develop cause i felt that it was done very well to stretch 36 eps - not too fast/not too slow. Although it did feel the epilogue ep was tad bit rushed but maybe it could be cause i was very invested lol. I liked the fact that women in this drama were strong and stood their ground, even that annoying college roommate - loads of room for development. I also hoped that her ex-college crush also moved on instead of moping with droopy eyes lol (glad his colleague didnt settle with him). Other that the "mis-understanding" i liked how there was no miscommunications with the leads and their romance took a natural course. I was oddly invested in their work too lol. The boss/sub-ordinate dynamics was also handled well. Suyen knew what he wanted and boy did he get her. Bonus points for this drama to not have meddlesome parents/friends/ exes. Even more bonus points for great communication. I am not usually a fan of romance as a main genre but this was cute and refreshing. I have no complaints!

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From Women Empowerment to Power Imbalance

Started this because of the star cast, but the first four episodes were so boring that I dropped it. I restarted only because there was no other drama that held my interest. I’m glad I restarted because the story did get interesting—but unfortunately, it nose-dived again toward the last few episodes.
The first four episodes introduce the ML as a fearless, justice-serving imperial inspector sent to clear out corruption, and the FL as part of the most influential Rong family, the biggest name in the tea business with the best plantations. The FL is the eldest daughter, with the entire responsibility of the family on her shoulders, guided by her grandmother. The Rongs are matrilineal , but men in the family are treated with respect and equality- this promised a refreshing balance.

This opening arc focuses on families visiting the Rong household to be selected as husbands for the FL. These episodes are overly invested in showing how the FL is beautiful, strict, just, strong, and diligently running the tea business, while the other sisters are scheming for her place.The ML is ambushed by corrupt officials, nearly loses his life, is saved by the FL, and develops amnesia. This felt like a known trope and is what made me drop the drama initially.

After restarting, the drama became more engaging. The different schemes by suitors from prominent families, along with the sisters’ internal politics, and how the FL navigates all of this with poise and grace, were a treat to watch. At this point, it felt like a perfect women-empowerment drama. The ML slowly regains his memory, and together they form a team, remove corrupt officials, and bring justice to the region.
The ML also advises the FL to soften toward her sisters and guide them gently rather than ruling with an iron fist. She integrates this advice, and the sisters become softer and more inclusive of one another—another positive point for sisterhood.

This is where the problems start. Instead of continuing this character development and integration, the script begins to fail. The FL’s role becomes too perfect and overly self-reliant. In one case, she should have taken the ML’s help to arrest a convict, but instead she does everything herself and even locks the ML in a room. This goes against the narrative built so far. The ML has proven himself trustworthy, and while the FL is a capable businesswoman, her stepping into law enforcement shifts the tone from grounded women empowerment to toxicity.

The ML’s role, which initially seemed progressive and promising, gets sidelined until he almost becomes an obedient simp. The entire capital arc feels unnecessary. The arc where the ML is pining, again goes completely against the character that was originally introduced. The FL solving everything while the ML—introduced as an intelligent, fearless investigator—does nothing except admire her, is incoherent. Unfortunately, the drama moves from women empowerment to a narrative where the woman does everything.

The FL’s acting was good in the beginning. Her poise and grace matched the character well initially, but the lack of emotional range later makes the performance look wooden and performative. Episode 22, where she stands up to her grandmother, should have been a turning point. Instead of feeling integrated and transformative, it fails to add depth. The ML’s acting is good, but the writing completely fails him. The blind sister’s acting stands out the most—she appears humble, while the direction clearly shows that she is scheming. Both the writing and direction strongly support her role.

Production value is good. The story starts strong after the initial slump but nosedives later.
Female centric drama from tea business or career perspective is actually 9.5/10
But from relationship perspective it became 1/10 .
Overall, what could have been a 9 became an 8 for me.

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Not great

Things I liked

1 The premise. I thought it was a wonderful, original idea and was expecting food to be much more present than it was. It wasn't and that was a big disappointment to me.

2 The ML. I like him as an actor and he's handsome which is a plus.

3 The director. A great character but I can't say I loved her. That's the issue with this drama. I just liked some things, there was nothing I loved.

4 The director's love story. Something new and interesting. I didn't care that much but I still liked see her happy.

Things I disliked

1 The FL. The actress is okay, but her character wasn't one I liked. I thought contrary to others that she was weak and when she tried to be different she often came of as unlikable. At first, I thought I'd love her. The break up scene was great, the first meeting with the ML as well, but then she started to annoy me. I don't know, she never clicked with me.

2 The mother. Something rubbed me off with her character and never warmed up to her.

3 That the show didn't keep it's promise for a lighthearted romcom about food.

Things I hated

1 The whole story about the ex and his mental health. I don't think it was handled well and it made me cringe quite a few times. I felt the handling f mental health was superficial, but the most irritating was that I didn't expect that. Yes, I knew it was about a physiatrist but I didn't expect that kind of dark content. I hated every minute about this. All in all, a failure at this level.

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OMG IT'S INSANE

When the drama started I was kind of worried because sang zhi's character was really young, I was like is it going to be something weird and creepy ?? But thankfully I was wrong and I ended up loving this drama. The characters are so sweet and adorable, and the story feels like a warm cozy hug, this is one of those dramas you watch on rainy days for comfort. I recently rewatched it 😭 and I still love it. the chemistry between the actors is so amazing I just can't describe it in words. And it's shot so beautifully, visually it's gorgeous to look at. One of my favorite things of this drama was also the sound track 😭. IT WAS ALSO ONE OF THE FIRST CDRAMAS I WATCHED SO IT'S VERY CLOSE TO MY HEART.

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Female Lead attitude make me dropped this drama fast than light.

I like the theme of this drama and used to watch J-drama with same theme (I love Satomi Ishihara's Unnatural) , but unfortunately, I really can't accept the FL's character. FL laughs indiscriminately when in forensic room. She laughs even when the forensic doctor is examining an autopsy at a crime scene, and she even shakes hands with him. So rude!

FL is supposed to be a gentle police officer, while the ML, is a forensic doctor, yet the police officer's fighting skills feels like she paid the school to get herself enrolled. Unbearable to watch. Dropped.

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Gets better as you move along

This starts off kind of goofy, but if you stick it out, it gets much more interesting with several good sub plots.
Eiji Akaso is always good, seeing him in several past performances, so he did keep it entertaining. I really think they could have hand picked one or two of the inheritance stories and played that out over the entire drama instead of having so many small stories. Some really good plots were solved within one or two episodes, just too fast. It would have been more enjoyable watching them play out over the entire series.
The last three episodes do redeem the quality of the drama, watching Haie solve his own personal issues from his past. There's a good antagonists we see more of toward the end, that plays well in the story, too.
Overall, a good series, but it could have been so much better.

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Warning if you hate mild violence, please turn away.

I actually watch this when i found Yu Peishan's Shen Mubai first and realized his other cast is Chai Huixin.

The story is actually decent, and the acting of the Yu Peishan and Chai Huixin and the rest of the cast is acceptable. It avoids the typical clichéd banter and excessive physical altercations found in bad dramas. If you want to see romance please turn away and if you can stand mild violence, run!

Plot is about FL who already got her vision back from being blind and want to inform her husband aka ML but it turns ML was having affair with mistress and want to kill FL for her property and inherence.

I love how FL handled the situation, and the Ladies support in the end. Overall, this show is a good way to pass the time during leisure time.

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Cha Mu Hee breakthrough EP 1 Review

The first eight minutes already say so much. Mu Hee's personality come strong and her chemistry with both male actors is already there. I could feel it right away, which I think in other dramas doesn't usually comes this fast. And wow Go youn jung acting feels effortless.

The highlight of this episode is Cha Mu Hee's career break through. The last scenes made me tear up. Everything about this episode feels fresh and high quality, it feels like a KDRAMA ROMCOM PREMIUM.

The scenery is beautiful, the soundtrack. Everything is beautiful in this episode. Once again, Hong sisters show how thoughtful and creative they are. What an extraordinary opening episode!

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I got completely sucked into this series; I watched each subsequent episode with real curiosity, wanting to uncover the truth. A lot was happening here—probably too much for some people—but I personally liked it. Plenty of secrets and dirty laundry on both families’ sides.

I’ll try to briefly go over everything, although for the first time I actually find it difficult to do so. Let’s start with the first main couple—Hong Hui Ju & Baek Sa Eon. Hong Hui Ju was definitely my favorite character. Her development throughout the series was very interesting. Through love, she gained self-confidence and the courage to finally fight for her true “self.” Overall, their relationship was amazing—despite many adversities, they were the most important people to each other and never doubted the meaning of their relationship once they understood their feelings. They fought for each other’s happiness, and therefore for their shared happiness as well. They didn’t push each other away when more brutal facts from their past came to light; instead, they supported one another. With the exception of the final detail that made him decide to leave to atone—but fortunately, she found him and put an end to that.

Now let’s move on to both families, where the situation was the most complicated. That complexity caused some storylines to remain underdeveloped. It’s hard to describe it coherently, because so many things are interconnected, but I’ll try.

It’s hard to even know where to start. In short, you could say that everyone was mentally ill, but I’ll begin with the real Paik Se-eon (the Hijacker). From childhood he had psychopathic tendencies, and instead of sending him to therapy, his family decided to cover up his murders and lock him in a room—then they tried to kill him, replacing him with the main protagonist. Sim Gyu Jin, the mother who later tried again to shield him from responsibility, led to his death, and she herself rotted in prison—even though she could have saved him by locking him up in prison or a psychiatric hospital. Baek Eui Yong—the father—cared only about his career, for which he was willing to do anything, even renounce his family, despite not being any better than them himself. Why was he free and not in prison? He knew about his son’s crimes and pretended that the kidnapped child was his. The same goes for the stepfather of the female lead, Hong Il Gyeong—he also knew about his son’s murder at the hands of that family and stayed silent about it until the very end. This whole matter was basically swept under the rug, and no one was held accountable.

Baek Jang Ho—his “grandfather,” who later suddenly turns out to be his biological father. WTF? Why was this dropped on us as casually as if they were talking about what they had for dinner yesterday? It wasn’t developed at all and came completely out of nowhere. Did he abandon him as a child? And then take him back, knowing he was his son? Who was his mother, then? And why did he grow up with Jung Sang Hun/Jung Jin Seok? So many questions and zero answers. It feels like this was thrown in just to force the main couple’s separation because of his guilt.

Outside of all that psychiatric mess, there was also the female lead’s mother, who wasn’t much better. Kim Yeon Hui forced her daughter, for a stupid reason, to pretend she couldn’t speak after the accident, and later forced her into marriage. She treated her horribly—and then what? Suddenly, after her disappearance, she realized her mistakes. The problem is that we never saw any sincere conversation between them, only a sweet scene of them sitting at the table in a warm family atmosphere. And then there’s the older half-sister—Hong In A—I had mixed feelings about her. At first I thought she was just pretending and would turn out to be manipulative. Later it turned out that wasn’t exactly the case, but I still couldn’t fully like her. She manipulated in a different way—she wanted to get closer to her sister by separating her from a relationship she believed was bad. She wanted her freedom, but at the same time couldn’t accept that her sister felt free with him and truly loved him. She had a big influence on his decision to leave.

In short, the only normal person in this whole family fucking mess—someone you could actually like and sympathize with—was the female lead’s biological father, Na Jin Cheol. The problem was that he was staying in a facility, so we didn’t get many scenes with him, and he didn’t remember much himself, so he couldn’t really help untangle the chaos.

In that chaos, there was one more person: Park Do Jae. I knew that handsome face had a second layer to it, so I wasn’t surprised he turned out to be a “traitor.” Still, I excuse him. He was seeking justice for his brother and redeemed himself once he learned that the main character wasn’t the one he wanted revenge on. I’m glad that in the end we were shown that they forgave each other and started working together again—although I don’t necessarily understand what exactly they’re doing now, lol.

The last storyline is the second couple: Na Yu Ri & Ji Sang U. At first, they both had feelings for members of the main couple, but they weren’t annoying about it. In the end, they got together, and I rooted for that throughout the entire series—but at the same time, I feel unsatisfied. This storyline was very shallow, considering they’re also main characters. On top of that, we were given signs along the way that they were starting to feel something for each other, but the final scene announcing that they’re together slightly changed my perception of them as a couple. I had the impression that Ji Sang U was still looking at Hong Hui Ju with a strange feeling, which makes me unsure about the sincerity of his feelings toward Na Yu Ri—but I prefer to convince myself that this look simply meant he was happy about his friend’s happiness.

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Up until the final episode, I considered this series to be great. I wasn’t bored for a single moment, and the entire plot kept me genuinely interested in every next episode. The whole moms’ team was fucking awesome, and it was a real pleasure watching them shut up all the doubters and support each other. The chemistry between the main leads — Ko Da Rim & Kong Ji Hyeok — was AMAZING from the very beginning and clearly palpable for the viewer. On top of that, their relationship itself was very enjoyable to watch. Yes, there were many misunderstandings that could have been solved with honesty, but at no point did I feel their relationship was toxic (a so-called red flag). Maybe with one exception — the pool incident, where in my opinion he crossed a line by “forcing” her to jump into the pool even though she couldn’t swim. Other than that, they were an enormous support for each other and would have risked everything for one another. Their moms were also wonderful, and watching their friendship was a delight — especially how, thanks to her mom, his mom started getting back on her feet and decided to fight for her own happiness.

However, the last episode was, in my opinion, tragic on many levels. The idea of his memory loss itself wasn’t bad, but dumping it all into the final episode absolutely was. Because of that, we spent half of the finale watching her pathetic attempts to restore his memory. I find it hard to understand why she didn’t think earlier that a kiss might bring his memory back, considering they had already talked about it once. On top of that, Kang Gyeong Min knew that a kiss was what sparked his friend’s feelings in the first place, so it’s also weird that he didn’t tell her about it. It’s even harder for me to understand why his mother didn’t try to talk to him and explain that Ko Da Rim wasn’t a scammer and that they really were together. He accused everyone else of lying, but he loved and trusted his mother, so he wouldn’t have suspected her.

Then came their one-year separation, during which he still knew nothing — even though he went back to work at the place where they had previously worked together, where a scandal had just happened and which he must have known about. Hell, the media surely published plenty of articles about them dating. Did he seriously think everyone was lying to him? Then there was a random encounter where he suddenly remembered everything, followed by quick music montages of their moments together, half-assed proposals, etc. Overall, the final episode left plot holes, unresolved threads, or storylines that were treated lazily because the creators decided to cram everything into that single episode.

One of those unresolved threads concerned Ko Da Rim. She flew to Jeju Island to find her sister, but instead she met Kong Ji Hyeok, they kissed, and suddenly the sister plot completely disappeared. We don’t know whether she found her or what came out of their conversation — and I consider that storyline quite important. After all, it was because of her sister that the main leads met in the first place, and also because of her that Ko Da Rim looked for a job and ended up working for him.

Now let’s talk about the second main “couple”: Yoo Ha Yeong & Kim Seon U. In the first episode, I was convinced Yoo Ha Yeong would be an annoying character impossible to like, sabotaging the main couple. Turns out — she became one of my favorite characters in the entire series. Very warm and kind, yet persistent and fighting for what she wanted. Her relationship with his son was wonderful and genuinely moving at times (the school performance). Because of that, as the series went on, I felt more and more sorry for her.

I probably differ from many people here, but personally, I didn’t see a happy ending for them — at least not at that time. She completely fell for him, but from his side those feelings were never there. Even the scene where he tended to her wounds while she slept didn’t come from romantic feelings in my opinion — it came from him simply being a good person. So I had no issue with him. From the beginning, he clearly defined where they stood and rejected her instead of giving her false hope. However, I do have a major issue with the scene of their meeting years later, which suggested that “maybe” something could happen. Not the fact that the meeting happened — I don’t deny that after years they could meet again and feelings might develop on his side once he healed from his past love — but personally, I didn’t like that scene. It portrayed her somewhat as a desperate woman approaching him after five years while he was talking to another woman and saying they might be together in the future.

Now let’s move on to the most important antagonists.

I’ll start with the one person I developed a tiny bit of sympathy for — Kong Ji Hye. Did I hate her throughout the entire series? YES. Did I change my mind at the end? NO. BUT that doesn’t change the fact that I understood her in a twisted way and felt sorry for her in some aspects. Since childhood, she carried the label of “the mistress’s daughter.” Her father took her in only to silence his own guilt. She worked hard, but her father was never going to appreciate her anyway. The man she loved constantly manipulated her and treated her like trash. Does that excuse her actions? No. But it makes her more than a one-dimensional villain — she’s someone who never experienced love. In the end, she even turned that piece of shit over to the police, which earned her the only plus point from me out of the whole trio. Maybe I’m naive, but I saw a hidden potential in her to become a good person and hoped someone would help her get there. That didn’t happen — or at least it wasn’t shown. In her case, we also have two unresolved issues: first, what happened to her after she left the company and moved out? Second, she never found out that Yoo Tae Yeong was manipulating her again and actually wanted to use her to buy her father’s company.

The main male lead’s father (he doesn’t deserve to be called a dad) — Kong Chang Ho. There wasn’t a single redeeming quality in this man that could inspire even a shred of sympathy. A man completely blinded by career and money. So much so that he stripped his wife of all happiness and freedom, driving her into depression and anxiety, then blamed her for her condition — and later for fighting back. He treated his children no better. His son was nearly dying in the hospital, and he was worried about his position. He took his daughter in only to appease his guilt. I watched his downfall with great pleasure — losing everything and everyone around him. In the end, he was left alone with nothing — a happy ending.

The final character is Yoo Tae Yeong. No matter how you look at it, he was mentally ill, and I’m honestly surprised he ended up in prison instead of a psychiatric hospital. The actor played him brilliantly — the madness was visible in his eyes from the very beginning. His facial expressions alone showed his manipulative nature. Still, I feel that, just like Kong Ji Hye, he wasn’t evil by nature. His madness was influenced by his father, who also treated his children like shit and constantly belittled him by comparing him to the main lead. Of course, that doesn’t excuse his actions, but it could have added more depth to his character. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed watching his plan fall apart and seeing him end up in prison, where he got beaten by other inmates and completely abandoned by his family — a happy ending.

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