Reviews

An Underrated Gem Elevated by Park Hee-soon

Park Hee-soon is truly the heartbeat of this show. While the storyline and production were solid on their own, it was his presence that gave the series depth, intensity, and unexpected emotional weight. Seeing him step into a new kind of role—distinct from his previous works—was refreshing, yet he still managed to carry over the same raw charisma that made his past performances unforgettable.

One scene in particular stood out: when he plays the cop, there's a subtle callback to his role in The Bequeathed. The way he carries himself, the calm but commanding energy—it felt like a quiet echo of his previous character, but reimagined through a completely new lens. That moment gave me chills, almost like watching two worlds collide.

If you’re already a fan of Park Hee-soon, this series will give you a fresh appreciation for his range.

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With the genocides in Congo, Palestine and Sudan, viewers want to be entertained not screwed with.

The whole drama is a shit show lol like them trying to sell the peaceful South Korea who wants reunification (which most people in this world support) BUT they make it seem like they're saving North Koreans from their rulers, totally ignoring the fact that Meurica played a big role in the embargo, using South Korea and Japan on many occasions (and probably in the near future, when you see the news)
Also the fact that they acknowledge the the Iraq war was based on lies (which is true) but then mention bombs made by "terrorists" (so Iraqis? racism again? wasn't it a war built on lies?) that ML supposedly saw in his service for the AMERICAN INVADORS
The drama was either made by dumb people, or by people who are actively engaging propaganda, I'm leaning towards the latter, we'll see with the next episodes (only watching to make an informed decision, but I'm watching on a piracy streaming website and my conscience is clear)
In any case, I hope these producers realize that many many people watch the news now, and with the genocides in Congo, Palestine and Sudan, people won't take this crap anymore.

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i can't see myself re-watching this

Before I start my rant, I want to say the acting was phenomenal. Everyone was acting like their bills depended on it. It is another drama that worked only because of the leads. If anyone else had been cast in these roles, I probably would’ve dropped it. Kim Go Eun gives one of her best performances here, while Park Ji Hyun, though getting slightly typecast, still pulls it off well. The real issue is the writing. It feels like the script was originally meant for cable, but no network wanted to pick it up, so it ended up on Netflix . This series simply isn't meant for bing-watching. The theme throughout the series is pretty gloomy and dragged out, so viewer can hardly relax. The most frustrating part for me was Cheon Sang Yeon: simply a terrible friend, yet writers somehow expected viewers to sympathize with her, despite her guilt-tripping behavior. Until her last breath, she had no character development, so I ended up feeling guilty for not feeling anything when she was dying.

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A Beautiful Telling of the Complexity of Love

I'm late to the Twenty Five - Twenty One party but I found it at the perfect time. Easily one of the best Kdramas I've watched in a while.

I've read a number of reviews for this series - quite a few viewers feeling disappointed with how the story culminated, some lost interest in how the story progressed. I found this story to be such a beautiful telling of love and care in its most raw, complicated, exciting, delightful, difficult, painful, wonderful way. Love for your passions and the willingness to fight adversity for it, love for your family and the lengths you'll endure to protect and save them, romantic love and the way it can heal and break us and, perhaps the most important to me while watching this series, love for your community and your friends and how they can carry you through both the darkness and the light. With this in mind, how could I not love it?

Hee-do is by far my favourite character in of all time. She's brash, aggressive, so tender and sensitive. And at no point does this characterization get maligned in favour of a more palatable one. I'm grateful to the writers. The love story between her and Yi-jin was also one of my favourites of all time. The love that they share feels deeper than romance. It felt like something far reaching and soulful. It feels down to their spirit and I believe that even as adults, they love each other in a way that is less desperate, more soft and constant.

Yu-rim and Ji-ung are so special to me! Seeing their love story blossom in the ways that it did was incredibly sweet.

I will absolutely be rewatching

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A PERFECT THRILLER AFTER A LONG TIMEEE!!!

I did not have any expectations when I first started the drama. I was completely unaware of its storyline, plot and hadn't even watched the trailer. I just jumped write into the drama, going from the face value. And I was captivated by the action sequences and the acting, in just 10 minutes of the first episode. I couldn't stop myself from watching the drama. I completed all the 16 episodes in just 2 days and I am very proud to say that it was my best drama choice so far!

It doesn't have that overpowering love angle but yeah, love plays a latent powerful role in the whole plot. The thriller, the mystery, the chills, the tension and the deception, all are the key elements of the drama. It should really be made into a Netflix series. It is so well-written and directed, I got so emotionally attached with our 'cops' team and guys, spoiler alert it is not a sad ending though it does demand season 2!!

So there is a murder mystery that's being chased and also prevention of a foretold murder as announced by the 'squid.' Is squid the mastermind behind all the murders? Who is 'squid'? In every episode, the number of suspects increases. Many a time, I think that at this point anyone can be the 'squid' (the murderer). Every character is so intelligently written and ahs a subtle backstory, that adds spark to their deeds and behavior. It is difficult to fully decode anyone's personality or their motives. We can't exclude anyone from the suspect list. Dang qi (the protagonist cop) is a time loop perceiver i.e. he retains the memories of loop days (certain days repeat 5 times and the 5th time is the final outcome). He is so strategic, flexible, has got out of the world fighting skills and brain. Every moment of the loop day is carefully and meticulously planned. There is so much that goes beyond the normal eyes and every move has a deeper motive. The whole scene of Moma biotech, genetic experiment, technology, early trials and revenge, really adds a unique unprecedented angle to the drama. The storyline is amazing, how everything unfolds one after another just at the right time, there is nothing that you can guess beforehand, and so many intelligent moves are written.

Episode 13 was my favorite. I will not give the spoiler alert but it is the best episode of the whole drama. The 'wow' moment for me. No unnecessary subplots, no messy storyline, clear character roles and execution, really makes it one of the best thriller dramas of all time. "Corals and trees can map the age/ time of the world. But since last few years, the rings has increased from 365 to more than 400. The time and space are changing." This line sums up the base of the whole drama.

Everything starts falling in place once you reach the end of drama. The bigger picture starts revealing itself and it is majestic and unbelievable at the same time. The drama will really make your adrenaline go crazy, you holding your breath and your eyes always focused on your screen. How one simple research (a genetic one) can lead to such drastic changes, it is just an example to what our future world holds. The scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, heirs and the police all navigate through these changes in a tangled yet deadly way. In whose hands will the power rest? Can we trust the person? Is life for a life worth it for that person? Can we change our destiny? WITNESS THE MOBIUS.....the traps, the breakthroughs, the search and the ultimate chase!

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From Yazuka with love... Kinda, maybe, whatever!

The first half of this drama actually had me hooked. Messy breakup, moving in with the scary but sweet boss and a touch of suspense with its yakuza subplot...it was entertaining, light and felt easy to binge.

Then the second half rolled around and instead of turning the heat up, it decided to put the stove on simmer. We got extra plotlines that felt more like filler than substance.
We got introduced to Makoto's mother subplot and as expected, her mother was scheming, didn’t understand the concept of boundaries and somehow had the notion that everything is about her.
It was so over-the-top that it almost crosses into comedy. The ghostly background music during her first entrance didn’t help. Instead of giving us real insight into Makoto’s past or adding something that actually enhances her as a character or give her a personality, it becomes kind of repetitive, with the whole “damsel in distress where the yakuza will come to save her” vibe.

Similarly, the second male lead, while very charismatic and handsome, was just introduced to bring in more cliché tropes. His role as a childhood friend and police officer could have added genuine conflict, but it ultimately feels underutilized and somewhat predictable.

The romance in this drama was… polite. Don’t get me wrong, there are moments that are undeniably sweet, like the forehead kiss, but beyond that, it sparks but occasionally. And the kissing scenes… well, I thought we were over the dead fish kisses but apparently not.

I wish they had focused more on the couple than on unnecessary subplots and maybe a bit more focus on yakuza content other than ML just having that back tattoo. Too many if's and why's with no clear answer.
The hinted tension between the yakuza and police also remained underexplored, which is a missed opportunity given how the setup was given in silver platter.

Acting-wise, it was okay. I found Konno Ayaka as Sugawara Makoto a bit expressionless in some scene. I don't know if it was intended. Totsuka Shota was good. I liked the switch in the tsundere role. And him in glasses was such a pretty sight to behold. I am not even exaggerating!

Overall, this did start strong but lost its flavor halfway through. Somehow, the lack of personality of FL and too many personalities of ML clashed and with unnecessary subplots, the ship set sail... only to sink!
Again wasn't expecting much out of 8 episodes, but this could have been easily an office romance with some underworld/ local mafia linking and i might have rated it better.

Will I recommend it? No. I feel there are better Jdramas but if you want to try for ML, go for the gamble. It's pretty bite sized. Not much to lose.

6.25/10

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Good but too, too long

I'll start with the headline - it was a good drama but the episodes were far too long. Most were an hour and 20 minutes, quite a bit longer than most K-dramas. It seemed endless. Most of this was due to all the story arcs - SFL/SML, the parents, the friendship between the older women, the brother, the exes...on and on. Rather than being supporting cast, everyone seemed to be leads because they all had their own stories.

FL/ML were great although ML was a dope to keep missing his opportunity to tell FL he liked her. I enjoyed their chemistry and their story. My second favorite match up - friends to lovers. My favorite is enemies/rivals to lovers - yeah, I like the bickering if it's witty and not just bitchy, if you know what I mean. I like couples that one up each other, not just bicker because one or both are disagreeable. Well, FL/ML isn't that way. Yeah, she's pretty bossy and aggressive while ML is sensitive, but it works with these two. However, I would have liked to see them get married and have kids. Here they are 34 years old and FL wants to wait a year to get her restaurant off the ground. That will make her 35. It's getting a little late to produce more than 1-2 kids. That's why we have a population crisis in developed countries. Then as a viewer we - like ML - have the cancer threat handing over our heads. Will they make it to old age together? Who knows.

I wasn't really interested in the 2nd couple. That's common for me. I don't care for 2nd or 3rd couples in C-dramas so I'm probably not going to be interested in them in K-dramas. I don't mind a 2nd or 3rd couple getting together but don't spend so much time on them that it takes away from the main couple's romance. SML is a reporter yet we never see him writing. He's also a perpetual do-gooder, and like ML, he's the sensitive one. There is a slight twist in regards to the kid. I won't spoil it for you.

Now the parents - I can truthfully say I detested FL's mom. She was overly sensitive to how people saw her and her family, she had an inferiority complex because she ran a snack shop and therefore unsuccessful in her mind, and she was always trying to tell FL what to do with her life. Fortunately, FL was as strong willed as her mother and wasn't having any of it. Even though ML's mom was rather cold, I preferred his family to FL's because it was calmer and quieter. At the end, I was beginning to think the dads were becoming alcoholics because they were constantly getting drunk together. I supposed when you're married to women like these two, you could be drive to it. Also, WHERE THE HECK DID THEY GET THE MONEY TO RETIRE? Supposedly, they weren't as well off as ML's family but they could retire from the snack shop business at the end. And what the heck were they going to do in retirement? Neither one had a hobby. And while we're on the subject, who was supporting FL after she came home? Did she have savings from when she worked? Wouldn't medical expenses have depleted that? Nobody was in dad's shop so how were the parents supporting FL & her brother? Sorry, these are questions that I asked myself about this family.

The exes - ML's ex was reasonable and quickly realized that getting back together with ML wasn't on the cards. Thank goodness! I hate the clingy ex-girlfriend trope who is a borderline psycho. FL's ex turned out to be the clingy one, but actually, I think the dude got a raw deal. He went through the cancer with FL, taking care of her, etc., yet because he needed a break while she was going through depression, he got disqualified and cast aside like a worn out shoe. I felt sorry for him. Who doesn't need a break after caring for a sick person - that's why they have respite care services. I just don't think he did anything worthy of being rejected. It would have been better for the writer to make him a cheater since FL was always intended for ML.

The cancer arc - if you're going to use cancer as a story arc for one of the leads, please use a cancer that's curable or has a higher survival rate than stomach cancer. Yeah, it was stage 2, but still, it's stomach cancer. For a FL, use breast cancer or thyroid cancer or even Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I really hate when the writer uses cancer for a young person. There was other serious illnesses out there that aren't death sentences yet still needs attention and management throughout life if they needed that 'curse' to bring about angst and resistance to marriage.

Finally, the music was utterly forgettable except for when we got a warm moment between ML/FL. It sounded like the beginning of a Disney princess animation movie. I expected woodland creatures to gather or Sleeping Beauty to float by while dancing with Prince Philip.

Overall, it was a good drama and worth watching (if you have the time), but beware of 1) FL's mother and 2) the episodes were too darn long.

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The Yakuza was not mafiaing enough.

Instead of making the female lead less bland as the drama progressed, they decided to make the drama itself more bland to match her vibe. Why? No one knows.

If you want to watch it for mafia romance? Don’t bother. Bad guy turned good for female lead? Don’t bother. High stakes and thrills? Don’t bother. I feel like what the show initially presents and what it actually delivers is completely different.

The mafia plot, even though central to the story, somehow barely exists and feels like it lacks impact. It’s the “good mafia” if you know what I mean. I did enjoy how puppy-like Odagiri Ren was towards the female lead, but when faced with danger and trash people, I wish he was more… mafia like. Otherwise, why is the yakuza even part of the plot?

I enjoyed Sugawara Makoto as a character at first, because I expected well delivered character development. And no, I don’t need her to become a confident extrovert, but girl needs to grow a backbone and learn some assertive skills. At the end of the day, she always had to be saved and could not deal with anything alone.

While the chemistry between them was great, it was the best when they were not kissing. Yet again - my man you are almost 40, playing a character who is probably in his mid 30’ - what is that fish kiss? What is this k-bl from the early 2010s? He is supposed to be madly in love with her, so why does it feel like they don’t really want to kiss each other?

Performances were decent. I think it’s hard for me to judge since for me the characters were weirdly written - a bit too juvenile for the age and circumstances they were in.

At the end of the day, the Yakuza aspect ruined the experience for me, because I kept expecting something else, something more. If it was just an office show with forced co-habitation, I’d probably rate it higher. Adjust your expectations and it might actually be a decent watch.

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Did the letters really matter?

The drama follows two timelines connected through cross-travel letter exchange. In 1991, we follow the main leads, who are teenagers suffering from daily hardships and injustice. In 2026, we follow two adults whose lives are directly connected to the leads.

POSITIVE:
- Romance. The relationship development was natural and so was the chemistry. I only wish we would have gotten a bit more fluffy scenes with them.
- Realistic story. If you remove the fantasy element with the letters, everything felt raw and real.
- Episode 8 was the best. In fact if it was the final episode, it would have impacted me greatly.
- All characters in 1991 were fleshed out well and felt like real people.

NEGATIVE:
- Side characters. The drama spent too much time on the 1991 bullies instead of the 2026 son and daughter (who for me were more important for the plot). My issue was especially with the little screen time the 2026 son received, because he played an important factor in the final episode and yet his character was so one dimension that I couldn’t really care about.
- Too much abuse. From start till the end. I get the set up and why it was important to show it, but at one point it was too much.
- The letters. My main reason for starting the drama was this fantasy aspect and yet in the end I felt like the letters didn’t really matter. It was just a “what if” scenario.
- Final episode. I expected something way, way more epic but it felt unfinished. I was quite disappointed and definitely knocked out a few points from my rating because of it.

OVERALL:
I went in completely blind, not reading the synopsis or watching the trailer. I knew this wasn’t my typical watch but still wanted to try it out. Objectively, it’s a good script and production but subjectively, I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to. I’d be hesitant to recommend it because of how extremely emotionally heavy it is. I watch for entertainment and most of the episodes stressed me out too much. I actually love angsty historical cdramas, but modern hits too close to home. The final episode unfortunately didn’t give me the pay off that I needed to make me feel the stress was truly worth it.

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Mobius Proves Even Repetition Can Feel Fresh

I’ve always had a soft spot for time-travel dramas, and Mobius didn’t disappoint. Qi, our detective lead, has the strange ability to relive certain days up to five times. Each loop gives him the chance to make new choices, though at first he has no idea why this is happening.

Things fall into place when he takes on a mission to protect the CEO of Moma Biotech, a company secretly developing a RAN drug said to cure terminal illnesses like cancer. Honestly, I think Qi agreed to this mission mainly because of his long-standing connection to Dr. An Lan. Years ago, her mother was in a car accident that Qi felt partly responsible for, and his visits to check in on them eventually blossomed into mutual feelings. Their chemistry here was subtle, but very endearing.

The deeper Qi digs into the case, the more we see how his looping power connects to the mystery surrounding the RAN drug and the murders of two company executives. By the finale, the mastermind is revealed, tying the threads together in a way that felt both thrilling and eerie.

Sure, the repetition might test some viewers’ patience, but that’s the nature of a loop drama...it has to circle back. What made it work for me was how the show balanced its sci-fi premise with lighthearted comedy (Qi was hilarious), strong squad camaraderie within the police team, and just the right touch of romance between Qi and An Lan.

As for the ending? Mixed feelings. It hinted at a possible season two, though personally, I don’t think it needs one. I’m content imagining that the “Squid Guy” collapsed and never made it out alive.

All in all, Mobius gave me an intriguing storyline, sharp execution, and characters I genuinely enjoyed spending time with. Loop after loop, it kept me invested.

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