This is a great movie, in almost every sense, except for one: It's a little bit... not okay? It's really hard to form an opinion about it, because the show itself is sweet and lighthearted, but the premise is glorifying borderline pedophilia. And, so, in order to rectify these two vastly different ways to judge the show, I'll split my review into two separate sections, and you can make up your mind for yourself what you deem more important. We'll start with a typical critique of the show.

Which is, by itself, truly outstanding. A unique plot structure, fantastic writing, and frankly some of the best chemistry between leads I've ever seen in acting make the show a blast to watch. And, while the conflict does arise directly from the actions of the protagonist (which is usually not the most fun to watch), this plot device is believable (she is, after all, a teenager), and doesn't press so much on the story or the character that it makes you dislike her. And, somewhat most unbelievably, the show steers clear nearly entirely of the typical romance misunderstandings that drive most romcom plots at some point or another. Likely thanks to its shorter (movie) format, they've been able to cut off the fat and filler of an already good show and make it that much better. Also- and this is not something I've ever noticed before- the audio quality was great! The male lead shouted in one scene and I jumped because I could've sworn he was in the room with me. The only downside I saw production wise was a little bit of rushing between plot points to fit the entire story in, but I didn't mind all that much and it kept us moving quickly.

Alright, so with that out of the way, let's break down this whole "she's only fifteen" issue. Um... well, I mean, that's pretty much the main issue. I didn't catch them saying explicitly in the film what the male lead's age was, and I'm no expert on Korean law, but from my research Koreans start college and are allowed to drink from age 20 (international age 19). However, the male lead also is starting an internship as a teacher, which you'd expect to happen in the later years of college, so we can assume he's around 22 or older. So let's assume, for arguments sake, that he's around 22 and she's confirmed to be 15. Yikes. That's not quite okay. It's on the border of legality in many places, and on the border of morality in some of those, but generally I'd call that a yikes.

So... what? Is a product of its time? Is it cultural difference? Are the writers pedophiles? I seriously (yet optimistically) doubt the last one, but I think it's safe to say that it's problematic now. Nevertheless, as you can probably tell, I've rated the show mostly based on production quality and enjoyment, which in the end was quite good. After all, it's no fault of the actors and production staff what the writers, directors, and producers of the show get up to. However, I still think it's probably not a good idea to make anything like this in the future, especially if it has a chance of attracting an audience and making people think it's okay.

So, should you watch it? Well, regardless of the uncomfortable age gap, there's never really any sexual tension (thank god) and the flirting comes across more like banter between friends, so I don't think you'll be super uncomfortable (unless you're sensitive to this topic), and the movie itself is well made. So... I guess I would recommend this movie... but I'm not happy about it. And you should watch it, enjoy, and not be happy about it as well.