C-drama watchers are used to shy, stiff, awkward kissing, kissing that's only alluded to, or great kissing that's left on the editing room/censorship floor, with hugs spacious enough to fit a third person in between. So I get it. People are thirsty for more heat on screen and Love of Replica generally delivers. (You're not getting HBO; it's more on par with North American daytime soaps.)

Beyond that, however, Love of Replica has a middling plot that gets sillier with each half hour -- so even at just 16 short episodes, it doesn't take long before the storytelling starts to feel tedious, ridiculous, cliche-ridden, and cheesy, filled with plotholes and nonsense. (And I say this as someone with a very high tolerance for corny romance and known to enjoy and indulge in cheesy feasts.) How many times, for example, can an FL "fall" into an ML's arms and twirled around in super slo-mo while staring into each other's eyes? Here, it almost felt like the director contrived to make it happen at least once an episode (I didn't actually count). The acting wasn't bad, but I didn't love it either, to be honest, though maybe I should give the leads more credit fore being able to keep a straight face every time they needed to fall and twirl for the camera.😂

Mysterious Love had its share of problems too, but it felt sexier and had better pacing. If you just want to see the OTP together, I suggest just skipping straight to episode 12.

Stray obervations and notes:
* Was it just me, or was that S1's Leslie Ma making a cameo in the scene where a stranger picks up the phone the FL threw out the window?
* While this is a standalone story and completely unrelated to S1, there is a bonus easter egg/post-credit scene at the end of episode 16 that ties the two dramas together and hints at the possibility of a new story in the future.