The Snare of Pride

Pulling your own teeth out would be more fun than watching this show, so why did I finish it? Because of pride and vanity. I was certain from episode 1 that I knew who the "big bad" was, and proceeded to suffer 16 hours of mind-numbing, brain-rotting awfulness for the cheap transient satisfaction of being proved right. IT WAS NOT WORTH IT

Anyone who has ever watched K Dramas centred on the police know that the Dramas last as long as they do because the combined IQ of all the Police in the Drama is slightly less than that of your average brain-damaged rock. This Drama was no exception to that rule, but it did throw in criminals who were just as incompetent and devoid of sentience. Learn from my mistake and find a better and more enjoyable way to spend 17 hours of your life - dumpster diving for rotten fish, for example

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Putting the "meh" in "mehdiocre"

I stuck with this one on the strength of its fantastic opening sequence. If only it had stayed like that through. At 24 episodes, it's short by contemporary C Drama standards, but it felt so much longer and was a chore to get through.

What I didn't like:

The lead as a teen was a patronising git. If I had a single yuan for every time he "affectionately" belittled the female lead, calling her ugly, stupid or variants (and combinations thereof), I could buy Beijing. That ain't romantic. And the reasons for his noble idiocy as revealed in the final episode were both stupid and mind-numbingly clichéd

The Second male lead was the worst kind of "no never means no" stalker. His antics as a teen especially were ALL about him. His love was one-sided and it was all for him. How SHE felt was basically irrelevant, and anything he did was ok because it was "love". Ai carumba (pun intended)

Why I stayed. There were intermittent flashes throughout the Drama of the sort of spark shown in the opening of episode 1. Also, REALLY loved Luo Zhi, and her story arc was a big reason I didn't drop. It caused me to add "Unrequited Love" to my watchlist, although I was disappointed that the same actor is not playing her in that Drama.

In summary, not awful, but one I shouldn't have wasted my time on.

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A story of two halves

This is one of few Dramas I've dropped that I have given a score greater than zero. That's because there was a lot to like about it, or at least one half of it.

That half is the half that focused on the FL's work. The FL was shown as competent, mature and realistic in her work environment and VERY god at what she did, while also realistic about the challenges and limitations she faced in her working life. The excellence of that part of the storyline, and especially its focus on capable, competent independent female professionals. was why I endured to episode 24 of 36.

The reason I had to drop was the indefensible behaviour and attitude of the ML. Yet another in the seemingly endless line of man-child MLs that China's romance Dramas keep churning out, his petulant self-absorption was very hard to handle at the best of times. But coupled with his penchant for physical violence, dragging the FL by the wrist, and hitting or slapping his "best friend" whenever that friend told him unpleasant truths, was just inexcusable. The ML lied to and deceived the FL for more than half the entire Drama's length, but instead of genuinely realising how wrong that was and sincerely apologising, he turned up, said "I'm sorry" and LITERALLY dragged her back to his house. THAT scene was my breaking point, when I knew I had to let go.

The message conveyed by Dramas like this one and My Fated Boy is VERY toxic - it's OK for men to act like selfish children, women need to accept and adjust. No, it's not ok.

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No apologies? Sorry, I'm done

The OTP in this Drama had real promise, and I enjoyed the first ten or so. Then they started doubling down on the tsundere. The ML got worse and worse in terms of his refusing to apologise for all the hurt he caused the FL and being angry at her all the time when he was in the wrong. SHE kept apologising, despite having done nothing wrong.

The clincher for me was in episode 21 when, instead of apologising for his behaviour, he grabbed her by the wrist, dragged her away and said "now you need to trust me" No apologies, no explanations, just the AWFUL wrist grab and "trust me, because I"M A MAN" I got so angry I just had to drop.

I don't mind tsundere in small doses, but this archaic trope of the bullying bruised rich kid who expects that "his" woma n will understand and excuse everything he does without question is not remotely romantic. When the Drama is nearly 2/3 done, there should be clear evidence of growth in the character. Blaming the FL and expecting her to be the one to say sorry for the "sin" of not having blindly trusted the ML who gave her no cause to trust is aggravating. Dragging a woman by the wrist is ugly and repellent and a trope that needs to die - NOW.

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A Sentimental Journey

I started this film expecting a sweet, feel-good story of personal triumph. It was that, but it should also have carried a trigger warning: May induce brony bawling.

Another reviewer described it as uneven and illogical, and complained about the way it switched focus from a youth romance kind of story to one with much more pathos (the bawling bit). LIFE is uneven and illogical, and sudden shifts in the emotional tone of life are very, very real. I spent much of the last 30 minutes literally bawling out loud, thanks to the powerful performances from an old favourite, and an actor I've barely seen.

The old favourite is Lee Sung Min. I've loved him every since Miss Korea (best K Drama STP EVAH, if you haven't watched it, DO!) and he shone here as the self-repressed Dad. The actor I've barely seen before was Lee Soo Kyung. I absolutely lvoed her character and her performance and was watching to see how her story turned out. The answer was not the one I'd have hoped for. But I will be looking out for her from now on, hoping to see her shine in a brighter story,

I was also really impressed with Yoona. One reviewer said that the ML actor never looked like a high schooler while praising Yoona's eternal youth. That made me smile as she's only 3 years younger than the ML actor and she too NEVER looked like a high schooler in this film. But that didn't matter because both did well. I can't comment on the quality and authenticity of her satoori, but it sounded ok to me, and that she delivered real emotion in it shows how far she's come as an actor.

Overall, I'm very glad I watched this movie, and glad I did so alone, so that my loud crying didn't disturb anyone else ?

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Minami - not JUST cute

I started this for Hamabe Minami, on the strength of finding her cute and pretty. Happily, she proved to be a competent actor in this as well. The comic elements made me think it might have been adapted from a manga, but they never overpowered the stories.

I was also impressed with the final episode. Ms Hamabe showed she could really emote, and the scenes with her and the amnesiac geko even got my eyes a bit damp - well done! It was also a pleasure to watch Okada Masaki in a VERY different role from Okitegami Kyouko. I didn't even recognise him at first, which is a tribute to his disappearing into the role.

Ooverall, a short, light and satisfying tale of a quest for justive becoming a path to personal growth.

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An adult Drama

After watching about 3 episodes of this Drama, I was getting similar vibes to one of my TW faves, My Queen. The leads have similar attitudes and behaviour, and so the end of this Drama came as no surprise to me. It fitted very well with the way My Queen ended. Learning that My Queen was made the year AFTER this one makes me onder hether it was in part inspired by or modelled on this one.

Another reviewer commentd on the lack of romantic chemistry between the ML & FL, and I would agree. They always seemed more like friends and colleagues, to the point where I think the Drama had not tried to force them together.. That said, the ultimate resolution was satisfying and in character for both of them. I gave it 9 for what it said about the challenges faced by women of that age in a society still as overtly patriarchal as Japan

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Sweet, and smart in the right places

My wife and I watched this together, and we both loved it. The story was not original, of course, but the execution was good. The leads matched, and the acting of Zhou Yu Tong in particular was very impressive. Her character was also a good example of the thoughtfulness of the writing that elevated this one above the many similar dramas out there. It was great to see her "badass CEO" persona was driven by a sense of loss and grief BUT she still had solid self-esteem.

The show's writing also showed intellligence when the plot dragged out the hoary old 'noble idiocy' trope. The supporting characters, and the ML, all called it exactly what it was, stupid. And happily, the show didn't wallow in it. After her return, it was also refreshing to see that both the ML & FL thought about how they needed to actually use their words, albeit after an amusing 'intervention' by friends.

There were plenty of very amusing scenes as well. The FL's 'uncle' at the gym had us both doubled up laughing, and the group hiding under the table toward the end was almost as funny.

There was a lot of great dialogue in the show - the FL's rant against public proposals was superb, exactly right in every detail.

There were flaws, of course. The 'bad guy' was both a bit OTT in his fixation and then let off with blnding ease and speed. That last was a reflection of the slightly over-saccharine nature of the final few episodes, quite likely a PRC requirement. It could have benefited by being 30 instead of 35, and the way the characters all moved on from the 6 year gap was a bit too hassle-free. Despite that, it was a very enjoyable watch, one of my favourite C Dramas now, with a sweet happy ending that earned extra points by NOT bringing back a character that most K Dramas almost certainly would have.

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A better quality daily

I have to start this review with a confession: As with every daily I've ever watched, I doownloaded it and watched with MASSIVE amounts of FF. It's the only way I can get through 120 30 -minute episodes without wanting to make my quietus.

That said, as dailies go, this was a good one. I ended up giving it 7/10 because I decided to judge it on its merits AS A DAILY, not scoring it down for the glacial pace and excess filler of the first 50-60 episodes.

The core storyline was predictable, but one of the reasons I scored it as high as 7 was for the several occasions when the Drama surprised me not going where I expected. It dodged some of the tropes and clichés I was expecting, and did so right to the end, when the arc of the second couple did not end as I thought it would.

The acting was better than expected too. I'd not seen either of the female leads before and both did well. I was particularly impressed by Cha Min Ji, who did very well with a character that very typically 1-dimensional for the first 100 or so episodes. I'll be looking out for her work in future. And as the brony that I am, I'm mildly pleased that both female leads still follow each other on Instagram at the time of writing, 10 months after the Drama ended. Another happy ending to wahat was really not a bad daily at all.

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Clichés done right

The Title of this Drama gives the final scene away, but then anyone who starts watching this would be expecting exactly that. The thing that marks this a really enjoyable watch is the skill of the execution. It's how they get to that ending that makes for an entertaining journey. The Drama really doesn't put a foot wrong in any major way. In my personal database I scored this as 8.25/10 so here at MDL I gave it 8 rather 8.5 because the "evil ex" was a leeetle bit overdone, but only a tiny bit, and not for long. A very sweet and satisfying romance Drama that illustrates how it IS possible to stick to a very well-used formula and produce a real treat if the writing and acting come together just right. Overall, this one was "nothing but net"

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Perfectly short

This was a truly excellent example of short story telling. It lacked nothing, right down to the note perfect final scenes. The two leads were great together, Kim Bo Ra reminding me why I like her as an actor, and they had good writing to work with. When K Dramas traditionally suffer from WAY too many episodes, this was a great reminder of what can be done with a tight focus on telling the core story, without any padding just to make up a certain number of episodes. Highly recommended to all who want to see a sweet story well told and well acted, and who enjoy proof that "less is more".

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Sometimes, 10 is too much

One of the things I love about Japanese doramas compared to K dramas is that they are short. Generally speaking 10 episodes of 50 minutes to an hour is exactly right. Every now and again though, there is a rare J dorama which is too long even at just ten 50 minute episodes. This drama was one of those.

I gave it 6.5/10 because of the strength of the way the relationship between the two leads developed, and a lot of the very thoughtful and insightful commentary on relationships. But it was stupidly overlong. Nine episodes would have been better, eight would have been ideal. This drama had two incredibly aggravating factors that served primarily to drag it out to the required 10 episodes. The first was the female lead's work colleague, the male nurse who kept talking to the camera. His contribution was as funny and appealing as stepping on a dog turd, and much less useful to the story. The meddling of he and his girlfriend was one of the factors used to drag out and complicate the relationship of the OTP.

The other major aggravation was the 2ML. His nasty sly passive-aggressive method of not taking no for an answer was again simply a device to stretch out the drama. In the end it was an effort to finish this drama because they kept dragging it out so much.

The above is even more disappointing because the core of the drama was strong. Had they cut a lot of that unnecessary baggage, it would have been a really top-notch contemporary romcom. As it was, the good outweighed the bad by just enough.

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Nailed the landing

I have tried MANY school C-Dramas, too many, tbh. I started this one wondering if it was time to admit that the genre and I just don't fit well together. That might indeed be true of the genre as a whole, but THIS school Drama blew me away!

The story was intelligent, and the characters given real depth. The OTP were genuinely funny together, never cloying in what I think of as "aegyo", and the journey each character took was well-plotted and credible.

As VERY satisfying as the OTP arc was, and the two leads did a wonderful job with their well-written characters, my favourite role and performance was by Li Ying Ying as Zhu Jn Xiao. High IQ and low EQ, but portrayed with wit and wonderfully restrained expressive facial gestures. I hope to see more of this fine actor in future, and espcially hope she gets roles as good as this one, albeit with a character arc that runs more to what I wish for her :)

I headed my review "Nailed the Landing" because way, way too often East Asian Dramas just don't. But this one really did. By the time Ep 16 started I had scored it 9/10 on my personal Dramalist, but by the time it ended, I had changed that to 9.5. Dramas this good are rare - of the 280 East Asian Dramas I've finished, this only the 24th to score at least 9.5, and only the 2nd C Drama out of 31 finished. It's probably completely ruined me for any further C school dramas, but that's OK, because it was a stunner.

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THE MUSIC!!! So much love, from the opening scene starting with ABBA's "Dancing Queen" to the amazing feast of the beautiful Carpenters soundtrack used throughout, this quiet, short Drama was marked in my memory by its music. And by its embrace and celebration of satoori as a perfectly normal, valid language variant.

Several reviewers have complained that it was too short, I could not disagree more strongly. Far too many K Dramas are far too long, even at 16 episodes, this one was a great example that "less is more" I really wish more K Dramas would be made in shorter formats. Eight episodes means no pointless filler, no draggy go-nowhere side stories. AND, being short makes it very rewatchable.

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