catherine
Gets better
This was one of those dramas that gets better and yep, by the last few episodes I was getting really into it and I loved the direction that the plot took.It did, however, take a while for me to reach that point; I kind of wish the earlier episodes had played into the plot more instead of just feeling like story set-up. without really answering or asking any big questions.
I also really loved a few of the characters — namely Hyun-su — but the cast was just a tad too big and I really didn't care much for many of the characters until the latter few episodes.
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Always Have, Always Will
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Fluffy but inconsistent
To be honest this started off so frustrating with a string of bad things happening to the FL. And while I understood that and, what grew to be more annoying was the main FL's consistently bad decision-making and the repetitiveness of misunderstandings. There was pretty weak character development on her part — it seems like she just waited to be saved and still made the same bad decision next time, and it was always the same kind of miscommunication issue.There are also a boatload of tropes in this that just got a little too cliche and cheesy, and this drama also suffered from the unfortunate syndrome of the big conflict coming in late and everything falling apart haphazardly, then rushing to get everything back in one or two episodes. Even with this issue, I liked how they tied in amnesia and the backstory.
The way they handled some situations just made no sense to me, and I also hated the way they diminished the best friend's anger with something like "Girls are just emotional like that."
Overall, this has its cute moments and the theme song is a bop.
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The Secret Life of My Secretary
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Adorable
This was the typical rom-com — very adorable and never really high stakes because you knew things were going to be okay.Ultimately, I really enjoyed it, and it helped that the secretary and boss didn't fall too much into the cliche cold jerk/weak but warm stereotypes. JGH stood up for herself when necessary, and DMI was nicer than a lot of other bosses. The chemistry was really good.
I do, however, have a natural dislike for characters that keep these kinds of secrets — the kind that involves and hurts someone else and is purely for selfish reasons — and while I think the drama did a good job of balancing how JGH wanted to be someone else and yet felt trapped in her lie, I still think it might've been dragged on for a little too long.
I also wish the rules around DMI's face blindness were worked out a little better; how it was resolved at the end honestly felt deus ex machina, though I was still kind of relieved we got a nice resolution.
The secretary subplot was honestly really interesting, but I really wish it had been given more screentime and had been fed to us earlier. It's also rare that our two main characters are so uninvolved in the subplot and rather just victims of it (which was interesting to see actually). But I also felt like it wrapped up a little unsatisfyingly, though that could've been because I just didn't spend enough time with those characters to care deeply for them.
I liked JGH's siblings as well — even though they were parent-less, there wasn't ann overdose of angst and I loved how they still teased each other and supported each other.
Ultimately, this was a really fun watch, and I gotta say Veronica Park was HILARIOUS and cast perfectly. Favorite character.
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There was also a lot of humor at the start, which I appreciated even though it wasn't my type of comedy and because I felt like the FL was acting so ditzy when she was supposed to be the more mature one. Even as someone who's not a huge fan of age gap romances, I really missed the power dynamic in that I liked how the teacher was in a position of power at school. I'm also a sucker for the school setting and kind of liked that part of the drama the best.
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Drama Special Series Season 3: Adolescence Medley
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It took a while for the main female lead to grow on me, as throughout a lot of the drama she really just felt like another cliche quiet, top-of-the-class good girl lead. The few scenes we saw her with her best friend made me like her a lot more and I wish we had more time to get to know the more talkative, smiley part of her.
Another character I really wanted to know more about was Brown Bear, and part of me wanted him to end up in the main ship instead, as his personality and backstory just seemed much more interesting than the main lead, who I didn't like as much. The few minutes of flashback we saw between Brown Bear and A-young's brother made him grow on me A LOT. Overall, I just wasn't a huge fan of the male lead, and I didn't think there was enough time for his character development.
Story-wise, however, the plot was really strong and I liked how we saw very subtle but well-paced character development in the side characters. The open ending (which is a style I'm not a fan of in general) left a lot to be desired in my view, but it can still be considered a happy ending, which I'm grateful for.
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The main couple's on-and-off-and-on-again relationship started to get really repetitive, and to be perfectly honest I was rooting for second lead a lot more.Now, the special episodes I loved, because NOTHING beats the friends-to-lovers trope and even though something about Pu-Reum doesn't quite sit right with me, I love Ha-Neul and I will root for his ship.
I'm also surprised about something else—I'd always thought Jae-In was the main female lead, but it's been three seasons and she doesn't have much plot. I'd definitely want to see more of her in the next season.
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Put Your Head on My Shoulder
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Si Tu Mo was a lovable main female lead as well. She definitely stood up for herself, was straight and to the point when it came to romance and friendships, and it was really great to not have to get frustrated at those stupid misunderstandings that too many other dramas have.
Sadly, the last few episodes of this drama really slowed down the pace, and I felt like it dragged without any real storyline—they seemed like filler episodes.
The OST is also okay, but I love love love Time For A Love Song by Luna!
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The main ship is starting to get a little on my nerves because of how wishy-washy they were being, and I actually liked the new character better. Other than that, I still had quite a good time watching this, and the fact that the episodes are short and updated frequently makes it easy to get addicted.
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Broke my heart and then healed it
I've recently been wondering if I prefer melodramas over romantic comedies because they seem to hit harder, but watching this drama reminded me just how amazing a rom-com can still be if it manages to hit the right emotional beats.Go Back Couple grabbed my attention in the first episode with how deep it was, and immediately I knew that this show took its subject matter seriously. The drama isn't afraid to touch upon important topics like grief and guilt, and throughout all 12 episodes, the emotional scenes were extremely hard-hitting, especially surrounding the theme of parenthood. I loved every scene between Jin Joo and her mother, and I loved how JJ basically had to choose between going back to see her own child or staying with the mother she never got to say goodbye to. The way grief affected the communication in the leads' relationship was so realistic and heart-wrenching; I cried so many times watching this show.
With that being said, the show also did an amazing job staying lighthearted. The second thing that stood out to me was that this drama is actually funny. With so many rom-coms now relying on drunken antics or slapstick humor (which doesn't quite click with me), this drama does instead uses a lot of callbacks or taking the time to set up situations that are funny but still very touching. I laughed just as much as I cried.
I love how much depth there was in both our main characters. Neither of them are perfect, but the breakdown of their relationship isn't their fault either. It makes the characters and their story feel extremely real. As much as I love the golden retriever archetype we keep getting nowadays, sometimes it feels like MLs have no purpose other than to love the FL. It's extremely refreshing to get an ML that is very flawed, but still so in love with the FL when everything is said and done.
There were only a few things I didn't like that much. One was the second ship; it's not that I disliked them, but I cared much more about those side characters' friendships with the main leads rather than their own romances.
I also didn't love the "getting hit by a car" trope at the end of Episode 11. While I admit the acting of the leads absolutely shined because of it, it feels like another common out-of-the-blue kdrama trope. I think we could've either done without it or at least picked a plot point that was pre-established, like Ban Do getting into an alley fight with some bullies.
Ultimately, though, these are all small potatoes and I still enjoyed this drama SO much. The "back in time" concept is nothing new but Go Back Couple manages to make its mark with stellar characters and excellent writing. I will be recommending this drama to everyone I know :)
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Things that Come After Love
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Comforting in a painful way
I really loved the vibes of this drama. It's a cross between kdrama and jdrama, but I actually found it to feel more similar to the latter; it felt very raw and gritty, while kdramas typically are more polished and touched up. The show really lets the acting and chemistry shine.The theme of cultural differences between Japan and Korea is really interesting. We see the effects of it from an external source when Choi Hong faces discrimination at a ramen shop, but we also see its internal effects and how it shows up in the relationship between our leads. We see how the ML and FL are not able to speak their minds, and how this leads to CH's increasing loneliness in a foreign country. The way the language barrier is portrayed is so interesting and relatable, especially one scene where CH reverts to her native language when she's upset and overwhelmed.
It's such a good premise and it's why I wish this drama was more than six episodes, because I feel like the cultural differences was established well as a conflict, but not resolved quite as cleanly. The last episode feels a little rushed and it left me with more questions about how their relationship would work in the future in terms of where they would leave, what language they'd communicate in, how to deal with different customs and traditions, etc. It feels like the ending went for a "they both apologized so it's all okay" direction, whereas I would've preferred them have more conversations about the issues that arose in their relationship. We already knew they loved each other and that they would be okay in a vacuum, but I'm of the mind that love isn't always enough.
Overall, I still really enjoyed this and liked the melodrama vibes a lot. Despite how angsty it is, this drama actually felt very comforting to me. And I hope I see more K/J collaboration dramas in the future.
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Great, except for one big thing
Folks, it has been quite a while since I've gotten second lead syndrome and even longer since it's been so bad that I've had to start my review out with it, but here we are. I think the thing that was so jarring about this one, though, is that I did not see it coming at all. Contrary to other dramas where you sit through 16 episodes of a SML pining for someone you know they'll never get, I sat through this drama with the continuous thought that this drama had one of my favorite tropes — the one where the main lead feels like the second lead but ends up getting the girl because they were the one that stood by her and laid out all their cards on their table while doing it (see Dream High). I was unfortunately, very wrong, and you cannot imagine the absolute whiplash I felt when Kaga, my favorite golden retriever who spent all six episodes unabashedly spending time with Ayumi and making her laugh...ended up being the second lead. It's not that I dislike Koshiro and in a way it makes sense, but the problem is that we, the viewers, didn't get to see any of it beyond the childhood flashback and a few speaking scenes — because we spent all this time seeing Kaga with Ayumi instead. I have a big soft spot for the storyline where Person A loves Person B but ends up falling in love with Person C because of a big life change (see Vampire Diaries) and thought this was going to be the case based on screentime alone. Long story short, my heart is SHATTERED.Okay, with that out of the way, this drama actually had a lot going for it. It grabbed me right out of the gate and kept me on the edge of my seat. There's the more "fantasy" and "thriller" aspect where you have the leads trying to figure out how the body switch happened and how to deal with it, and there's also the more down-to-earth part of the drama where they just have to go about their day, attending classes, eating lunch, dealing with bullies and school events, etc. The balance between the two is done extremely well, and I was also really touched by the story.
The theme is common but really interesting. The drama does a good job of showing "pretty privilege" — not just in terms of your genes but also how wealthy you are, if you grew up in a good environment and with good parents and were able to take care of yourself, etc. But it also shows that sometimes people who are dealt a bad card let it define them forever and blame others for it to a fault. I was really happy to see Umine's redemption arc and loved that everyone became a friend group by the end, though it was a little fast.
Plot-wise, I do think the short length of this drama hampers the pacing somewhat. It feels really well-paced and fast at the start, but it starts to drag a little bit before it just completely speed-runs the ending. I'm not sure if the manga originally montaged through it or had more, but I wish we got more scenes about the "shuffle," had more time to develop Umine's redemption arc, and explained more about the lore and how switching worked. It felt like they introduced a researcher character who was supposed to have a lot of answers about the process, but ended up not really doing anything other than some lore dumping early on.
Ultimately, though, SLS aside, I still really enjoyed this one. In my heart of hearts Kaga will always be endgame, but even if he's not, I hope it doesn't deter anything from watching this.
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Needed a bit more
The premise of this drama is super interesting but it was just missing something for me that made it not as exciting as it could've been.Despite quite a lot actually happening and the main character traveling to the past multiple times, it feels like not a lot is actually happening. I think we needed to feel higher stakes for the main character. While I actually really liked seeing a selfish and greedy main lead — there's a lot of potential for character growth — I felt like the ML wanting to become rich by marrying the "10 billion girl" was not really a strong enough plot motivator.
The character of the FL was also kind of thin. The childhood connection and contrast of the FL being selfless and kind-hearted is nothing new, but next to the ML it felt like we needed a character who was righteous but just as headstrong. Our FL was so quiet that I didn't really feel her presence in the show, especially after she was revealed to be so normal after her ominous introduction.
With that being said, I like the concept of the romance but I'm not sure if I actually bought into it emotionally. I wish we'd gotten more scenes of them just spending time together or, once again, just having higher stakes that would push them closer and give us a sense of desperation and trust.
I actually liked Takauji for this reason (not just because Mackenyu plays him, although that certainly helped) but also because the character added an intensity to the plot that we really needed. I wish the drama had taken it a step further by giving him the tools to travel back in time as well. It would've made the "race" between the protagonist and antagonist SO interesting and added some much needed competition.
Overall, I still quite enjoyed the plot. Though it was a little rushed at the end, the character development works and everything is wrapped up nicely.
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Definitely a tearjerker
I've already seen the Taiwanese movie, I said. I won't cry since I already know everything that happens, I said. Dear reader, I sobbed like a baby. Every. Single. Episode.Cream/K's story is by far my favorite, which always really surprises me because it has a lot of tropes that I typically don't like. But it's done extremely well, you understand exactly why the characters are making their decisions, and when the ball finally drops, expecting it doesn't make it hurt any less.
I still enjoyed the modern plot too, but more so the family arc, and less so the copyright arc. For the former, I love that the parallels to Cream/K are there but not too in-your-face. I also have to give props to Bai Run Yin, the little boy who is casted to play An Ke Le. He plays the role absolutely perfectly, adding a such a layer of maturity that makes his story that much more raw. I understand that searching for the copyright is how the two stories are intertwined, but this part was definitely not as interesting to me, even though the final song, sung by A-Lin, was fantastic.
While I enjoyed both plots, I did feel like the transitions between them were a little rough sometimes. I'm not sure how this could be fixed because they definitely have to run in parallel, but when we jumped from one to the other I often wished we stayed for a little longer.
Overall, though, still such tear-jerker, and knowing the story beforehand doesn't change that. I'm all cried out.
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Mature in some ways, overdramatic in others
Trigger Warning: Suicide, RapeThis is a drama that simultaneously feels ahead of its time and VERY of its time.
The way it handles sexual assault, PTSD, and grief is overall very mature, and I thought that the more raw and unedited type of directing and the more down-to-earth dialogue and acting really helped. The humor is subtle but there. The good-girl-bad-boy trope is present, but doesn't feel over-the-top, and each of our main characters feel like they've each carved out their little worlds before we get to watch them collide.
The chemistry is quite good as well, and I did find our leads really cute. The banter is fun — even though the female lead is shy and quiet, she and the male lead have a very good back-and-forth when its just the two of them, and we get to see how he gets her to come out of her shell.
The friendships are really great to see too, and that is such a crazy thing for me to say considering the intense way Qing Mei bullied our FL at the start. But once we get past that, I really liked her character and the way she supported the main lead. With that being said, however, this is definitely a drama that focuses only on the two main leads, so her character's personality and storyline isn't developed much beyond that.
Those are all the ways in which the drama felt ahead of its time.
Now, the way it feels exactly of its time (2004) are the subplots and just how dramatic they get. I enjoyed a few of them, like the sociopath/psychopath character who wanted to mold Chen Ling into the same as him, but the drama lost me a little bit when it went into his backstory. There's his twin's suicide, his mother's death, the dangers of motorcycle racing, the estrangement from his father, who is actually a wealthy chairman of a big corporation. That last reveal of him being a secret chaebol was the worst one for me because it's just so 2004 and made the drama seem a lot less grounded than it previously was. Overall, however, having so much backstory for him just made it feel a little unfocused.
The way the female lead's r*pist came back and everything with him blew up into stalking and a fistfight...I know this does happen in real life, unfortunately, but for the purposes of this show I wish it had stayed in the backstory instead of being blown up into something so big, which was then tied into the storyline of the ML returning to his rich family.
I know this is based off a manga and I'll probably read that at some point because I do think it's an interesting story, but I can already tell that I'll enjoy the earlier chapters more than the later ones, which is what I felt about the show.
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I Don't Want To Be Friends With You
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Different from your typical cdrama
The best thing about this drama is hands down the pairing between young Li Qing Tong and Chen Jun He. They are individually very intriguing characters with great arcs, and also have really good chemistry and banter when together. At first glance LQT seems like the very common-in-cdrama FL — bad at school, with a crush on the class president. The difference, however, is that her life doesn't revolve around it at all; her relationship with her family is very heart-warming, and she's not afraid to be loud, sarcastic, and stand up for herself and her friends. After a generation of "cute but dumb" FLs, this is SO refreshing. And then our ML, CJH, takes it to the next level. He's actually not "the good guy who every girl has a crush on" (another tired drama archetype) but the also bad-at-school, bully who fights character that we more often see as a second lead. After finishing the drama, I actually think this is one of the best cases of "reformed bad boy" that I've seen in dramaland, and the way everything plays out makes sense.Plot-wise, the pacing is a little rushed towards the end. Most of its episodes are in high school and then it skips around in college. This is a very common formula in youth dramas too, but I think for this drama in particular, where the biggest part of the plot happens in their college and adult days, there needed to be more time spent on those plot beats instead of some of the other youth drama tropes.
Honestly, however, I'm actually not completely sure about how time travel is used. It seems pretty necessary if the entire purpose is to have the daughter travel back in time to connect with her mother and discover the truth about her father, but once Li Jin Bu is actually in the past and has an established identity, it's really not used that much other than the occasional mysterious voice saying "It's almost time for you to go back" to LJB to give her some internal conflict about her relationship with Duan Xiao. Part of me actually wishes there wasn't any time travel at all because it added this weird, unexplained layer to the show, but I understand why it was a necessary premise.
Overall, I still had a lot of fun watching this! The emphasis on friendship and family is heart-warming, and the characters are surprisingly memorable.
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