Like many of the other reviewers, I felt like the first half of this show was far superior to the second half. Dan-O started off as this awesome, hilarious, spunky character who slowly devolved into just a one-note lovestruck teenager who seemed to care about nothing other than Ha-Ru.

The first few episodes set up the world really well, and established the main story of 'what would you do if you realised you were a random side-character in a romance comic?' in a very intriguing way. Dan-O choosing to take control of her own fate and change the world was something I was super invested in watching and excited about. However, things fell flat pretty quickly. While watching the show, my sister and I had several theories about why the world works the way it does, why some characters have egos, why Ha-Ru is the only one who can change the stage, etc. but by the end of the show it seemed like we cared more about all these things than the literal writer of the show. Half our questions were not answered, including big questions like why the heck Ha-Ru randomly vanished mid-season only to come back without an ego, and why he's the only one who can change the stage. In fact, we learn almost nothing about him. Seriously. Like, I understand the strong, silent, handsome, doting type is attractive, but this man was literally a blank slate and I was supremely bored with his character (and the relationship tbh) by the end of the show.

Kim Hye Yoon as Dan-O and Lee Jae Wook as Gyeong were probably the best actors on the show. Gyeong who started off as a one-note aggravating douche, turned into one of the characters I was most interested in by the end of the show. Lee Jae Wook gave Gyeong depth and nuance, even in scenes where he seemed to be reverting to his douchebag ways. His character arc was quite well-done and I really enjoyed watching him. Other characters I absolutely loved were Do-Hwa (my love) and Shadow!Ju-Da. I personally didn't mind that Ju-Da ended up with Nam-Joo, but I do think Do-Hwa deserved better. As one of the initial characters who got his ego, I felt like he was constantly pushed to the side-lines by the writer of this show as well as the characters within it. A waste!! I want to know everything about him!! I loved his entire role as well as his friendship with Dan-O.

As I mentioned, there were a lot of plot holes and I found certain choices regarding the story quite questionable. For example, Dan-O being the protagonist of the previous novel took something away from her just being a scrappy extra who wants to change her fate. Also given how impossible it was to change their fate or the storyline at all... it was kinda like... what's the point?? Why this plot? I would have watched like a 100 episodes of Do-Hwa and Dan-O causing chaos in the comic book world, finding loopholes and changing up the storyline and causing different scenarios within the world. Unfortunately, the concept wasn't given it's due and the show turned into a classic love-story. Meh. I still enjoyed the show, but if I was going to rewatch, I'd probably only rewatch the first few episodes.