Sunbae, Don't Put On That Lipstick (2021)

When Other Couples' Stories are More Engaging than the Main Leads'

*beware of the spoilers, i just wanna review this drama in this way*

Just go the point of how i look at each couple's love story.
-main leads: unfortunately, their story isn't really interesting to me. Not the actors, but their love story. I mainly skipped their scenes after knowing the base of the love story. But the last 2 eps of them is engaging enough. When FL is that busy & ML tries to adapt. ML tries so hard, but not for FL, she feels guilty instead. These 2 different principles of love put them in difficult situation & hurt him THAT MUCH. I like how she finally tries to make up for him.

-ML's eldest sis & Jae-un: their story has good potential actually. Both keep being single for decades, then fate makes them meet each other. UNFORTUNATELY, for people who've been single for a very long time, their relationship is just too sudden, i don't feel the depth of their feelings towards each other.

-FL's ex Jae-shin: you know what? I prefer FL to be with Jae-shin instead. I know he's a jerk when he keeps 2 relationships in one time & when she's that angry, he still couldnt find the real reason behind her anger, lol. However, his life is THAT hard, she's the only good thing in his life, i can say. But in the end, it's good for her to break up bcoz their r'ship can't bring them anywhere good. Thanks they made them separate in good term. While Jae-shin & Hyo-joo, their dynamic is good. When Jae-shin finally let go of FL, i thought Hyo-joo will be more mature & be a good wife for him in the end. Instead, she keeps being childish & he cant stand it. Their separation is a good thing tho. Hyo-joo finally learns to live and love her life. She grows up. And Jae-shin, finally he can move on, start off his new life independently, & both have good term in the end :)

-last but not least, 2nd elder sis of ML Yun-seung & her husband: their story is the saddest, i cried a lot. I'm surprised knowing they started their r'ship from kinda blind date. And she "instantly" fell for him, simply bcoz of his gesture which always listens to her WHENEVER & WHATEVER she says, ON THEIR FIRST MEETING! I guess i'll fall for him also, lol. He's a good man. That's why, i do ship this couple. But when their real problem comes, it hurts me :( i cried when she cried a lot. I didnt think this thing will come & break them apart. Although they separate for good, i still wish they got back together :( He's indeed a good husband & she loves him that much :((

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FL is cruel to ML through most of the series

7.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 South Korean romantic drama series with 16, 65 minute episodes. It is based on web novel “Senior, Don’t Put on that Lipstick”.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Yoon Song ah (Won Jin-ah) feels she has reached the top of her game as a marketer for a major South Korean cosmetics Brand, Her and her boyfriend, Lee Jae-shin (Lee Hyun-wook) are approaching their two year dating anniversary and she is sure he will be popping the question. Her success has led to her recruiting and training Cha Hyung-seung (Rowoon). She feels completely blind sided and betrayed when Hyung-seung reveals that her boyfriend is not only cheating but about to get married. As is often the case her initial anger is not as much at her cheating boyfriend but at the messenger. It is fairly clear that Jae-shin thought she never needed to know about the wife and he could just have her as side chick. Upon revealing her boyfriend’s deception, Hyun-seung decides to confess to her, perhaps to make her feel better but it has the opposite effect., She suspects his motives and initially tries to drive him away. Will Soon ah see Hyung-seung’s real feelings. Can she get revenge? Will true love develop from a rebound relationship?

Review

This starts really slow and I found the first episodes to be only minorly interesting. It picks up when she is dealing with her boyfriend of two years and his cheating. Then it is all about lead guy winning her over. If you like romances that are heavy on the drama with few comedic, suspenseful or mysterious moments then this might be one you would enjoy. There are some characters with deep flaws that have only minimal character growth.

Spoiler*

There was a huge disconnect between the way that the characters were acted and portrayed in the first part of the drama, and the way that they were acted and portrayed in the next part of the drama. It was not simply character growth as it happened too suddenly and radically, For instance Song ah was completely against going to Europe. They made a point of Song ah saying how much she enjoyed her company, and that it was like a part of her. It seemed to be true and also seemed like she was portraying to him that he was mire important than Europe. Her ex gets taken off the project and her mentor takes over and suddenly she could not do without Europe. And suddenly she could care less how Hyeung-seung felt about it. That was an odd reversal. In the first episodes, the ex pledged he would never give up trying to win her back then went never mind. It was even more odd that he gives up on lead girl, throws it all in with sugar mama rich girl, then decides to strike out on his own and suffer. That was such a complete reversal that the loss if his dad, who he professed to not care about, could not account for it. Also, the lead female character’s mom was very child like and selfish but she has a sudden denouement and becomes a social butterfly doing a complete flip flop from being desperately clingy to hard to reach. Peopke can change but not fundamentally and not typically in such a short period.

In regards to the situation with the sister and her husband, the chef guy, his befriending the sister, and the entire circumstances of the relationship between the three was just a confusing addition to the story . He didn’t really go after the husband in a way that made it make sense that he would cause such a rift in the relationship. The husband was a little cold and distant but it wasn’t like he sees the chef and is like oh right I was in love with him. The storyline with the chef only revealed this weird subject from his college days that he was very conflicted about. It did not show him feeling attracted to the chef or other men so him hurting his wife and little girl whom he obviously loved to continue his journey of self discovery was pointless. It was like they wanted to explore the topic of suppressing sexuality due to social pressure but they weren’t brave enough to go any further. They did not give him a gay romantic interest so it just created this weird ambiguous situation. The little girl was nine so all they would have had to do was wait until she reached adult hood and he could have continued his self searching without breaking everyone’s heart. A perfect ending to that story would have been him with a partner, her with someone that romantically loved her and the little girl happy in this blended family.

They built the little girl up to be wise beyond her years. It seemed like the purpose was going to be she would respond to her parent’s break up in a very mature way. Like yeah I knew daddy was unhappy and was interested in men I was waiting for him to realize. Or I am glad you are separating now you can find someone and be happy. But she broke down and was surprised like any kid would be. It made the whole build up of how mature she was pointless.

Maybe the cutest side romance was lead guy’s sister and the grandson of the company. He saw her and it was instant infatuation. Him moving heaven and earth to get the lipstick she liked remade was such a compelling romantic gesture. I felt like it got Netflixed a bit when she proposed to him instead if the other way around and when she was the one paying so little attention to the details of the wedding. Has to have those feminist undertones if it is on Netflix. i thought there was missed opportunity for him to favor the lead guy in the company. Like when the other manager was sabitaging the launch of the new product lead guy developed, they could have discovered it was that corrupt manager behind it, and it could have been a big reveal to him that lead guy was now an extended part of the chaebol family. It would have been fun to see him grovel. But they just dropped that story line.

I liked the way the romance between the rich sugar fiancé and lead girl’s ex played out. Tgey became friendly again but did not get together romantically. They both had serious mental issues. Her emotionally black mailing him with suicide if he was not with her was such a toxic thing I could never see them having a healthy relationship. Him just using her for what she could give him financially was also a non starter. So I liked that he finally refused to let her emotionally manipulate him. I also liked, when he was back, she had moved on.

Many reviewers say, and I completely agree, that lead girl was just mean to him. I get the “shoot the messenger” aspect if him being the one to reveal the affair so she directed her initial anger at him. I have seen that happen often in real life. But she took it beyond that and seemed to enjoy him fawning over her and returning his devotion with near disdain, But the whole Europe thing to me was unforgivable. Thatvwas after she confessed and they were in that over the moon phase of a new relationship. He asked her not to go and she ignored his heartfelt request and said she was going anyway. Then when he chose to accept it and try to make the distance relationship work she did nothing to bridge the gap instead she continually chose work over him. Then she breaks it off with him in the cruelest way possible when he came to Europe to see her. She knew his past relationship and how that ex had treated him but showed a total disregard for his feelings in much the same way. I think she broke up with him then not because she was hurting him as much as she felt guilty and wanted to pursue her selfish goals without remorse. Then she cuts her Europe assignment short professing it was because she realized her error and missed him but that did not seem genuine either. It showed her mentor essentially using her like a lackey and little joy in her work there. So it seemed the oversees job was not as wonderful as she thought so that is why she came back. After that I really did not like her and was not happy when they reunited. He at least made it a little hard for her. And what happened to his ex that proposed to keep trying to get him back? I would have liked for leadvgirl to experience some heart break seeing him with someone else and I thought perhaps that would be the case, he would get back with the ex. But she just dropped out of the storyline.

Siwon is such an unusually handsome man that it was hard to buy that he would’ve put up with her cold indifference, and even cruelty at times when you would expect, he would’ve had a lot of women very interested in him. In real life I have seen it but it’s rare. And usually it is either the woman has such an attractive personality or has an allure in the bedroom. Since he was several attractiveness levels above her you would’ve thought, at minimum, when she broke it off with him so coldly that would’ve been the end of it.


#SheWouldNeverKnow
#SeniorDon’tPutOnThat
#WonJinAh
#Rowoon
#LeeHyunWook

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Started strong but soon fizzled out; kinda picks up again at episode 16

For the most part I thought this drama was good, but on reflection it lacked the effect of keeping me gripped.

I feel like it started off strong but soon fizzled out. It was another typical office romance with nothing particularly special about it. I feel like the main difference between this drama and other ones is that the romance was focused more heavily from the male lead's perspective.

Don't get me wrong, I liked both the male and female lead as they were nice, charming and cute etc., however, because they were mundane and nothing was particularly special about them, it didn't make it as interesting to watch.

I think the casting crew knew what they were doing when they chose Rowoon for the male lead. Ngl, I probably wouldn't have had it on high priority if he wasn't in it.

I had a really hard time caring about Jae-shin and Hyo-joo's relationship. Initially I did think Jae-shin was awful and like, "how could he do that to poor Song-ah," but once you find out some backstory it all starts to make sense. I ended up feeling sorry for the dude.

I liked both of Hyung-seung's sisters. I was glad when Ji-seung coupled with Jae-woon, and he was so cute in the final episode! Almost had me crying.

Hyung-seung's other sister, Yeon-seung had to go through a lot and I felt bad for her. Ha-eun was cute and such a smart little cookie. It was sad to see her upset about her parents divorce, and it was awkward with her Dad.

The final episode was my favourite and most enjoyable to watch. We got to see a whole bunch of fluff which was really cute! However, the every ending left me a little underwhelmed. I was hoping to see an actual wedding but instead we just saw them trying on their wedding outfits.

Acting was great, good cast - I liked most characters.

I don't imagine I would be reaching to watch this one again, at least not anytime soon.

-E

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So Bland

When I saw news of this drama I was incredibly excited. I had enjoyed Rowoon in Extraordinary You and I had always heard of Won Jin-ah but never really watched her in anything, so of course I had to tune in for this show. Unfortunately, I never finished it and ended up dropping right towards the end.

The first few episodes really took me by surprise when I found myself hating Hyun Seung whenever he was around Song Ah. The two barely knew each other, yet Hyun Seung felt entitled to her space and her personal life all because he had a crush on her, which is incredibly creepy when you view it from her perspective. It is something I can not stand in dramas, but I stuck with it anyway as I assumed there would be some character development. I began to enjoy it a bit around episode 4 when the two started working together and as their friendship bloomed, but that is where another issue comes in.

The two of them didn't have any chemistry, and it was unbearable to watch. As Song Ah began developing feelings for Hyun Seung, I honestly couldn't tell she was until she said the words right out of her mouth, but I didn't feel any excitement or relief. The two of them were dry together and I honestly felt as though Won Jin-ah was awkward around Rowoon(I had watched behind-the-scenes clips). I recently started Just Between Lovers so I already knew that she wasn't the issue. Rowoon wasn't either, I just don't think these two were all that compatible with each other. They were better as friends and I enjoyed watching them together when there wasn't any romance involved.

Another issue I had was the characters. Although the acting was okay(minus Lee Joo Bin. I felt she was a bit over the top and incredibly cartoonish compared to the actual tone of the show), the characters were awfully boring. They didn't feel real and it was like watching paint dry. The storyline itself was just as bland as the characters, and the will-they won't-they schtick became incredibly repetitive. I don't want to be too harsh on the actors because I know their capabilities and I am sure that their blandness was mainly because the material they were given to work with, or lack thereof, was dry.

It really sucks that I feel this way because I was incredibly excited to watch this and I know Rowoon and Won Jin-ah could have done so much more, but their chemistry was lacking, the story was lacking and the characters were lacking. It was just a very boring show that didn't have much to offer. The only reason why I am giving this 3 stars instead of 1 is that, even if I didn't like it, I also didn't hate it and there was a small point in time where I was genuinely enjoying it. If the two leads were to ever be in a drama again, I hope it is only as friends or acquaintances.

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Too annoying

I really don't think that this drama needed 16 episodes. It was so unnecessary and time consuming. Anyway, let's get into the review

1. I honestly like Rowoon but I don't know why but he gets roles that are pretty irritating and annoying (totally my opinion). Here in this drama, he actually resembled a stalkerish paedophile althroughout the drama, with no consideration of personal opinion or boundaries whatsoever. He totally degraded his self worth here.

2. I honestly never watched any other drama of Won Jinah so I will base my opinion on this particular drama ONLY. Won Jinah as Songah was so intolerable. It seems like she's always annoyed or irritated somehow. I mean c'mon man! That's not being a professional person, that's being an absolutely mean person with an incurable bitchy personality. She has her pride up the sky, which is really good at some point. But when your confidence goes into your head, you're bound to mess up. And honestly, even after catching her cheating boyfriend, she is cussing and yelling at that one person who tried to help her, I'm like... WOW! I mean, how much more of a bitch can you be hon? Then, she's clearly ashamed (or scared) of admitting to her otherwise annoying mommy that she has a boyfriend. Okay I get that she had a critical operation but c'mon!! Honestly I think that Songah didn't deserve Hyunseung, and she actually deserved getting cheated. Her whole demeanor towards Hyunseung was also intolerable. Just because he was her junior, does NOT mean that he deserves to be treated like that (well Rowoon might have deserved that. Provided that he himself was a creepy stalker)

3. Songah's mom. God what the hell is wrong with this woman? Always trying to meddle in her daughter's business. Like shut the crap honey! Okay maybe Songah was too cruel as to never answer her phone, this woman was so manipulative. She didn't want to let her daughter have a boyfriend EVER! Like what's your deal dude? Has serious abandonment issues for her husband cheated on her. Is delusional, constantly saying that maybe his husband had a sway of heart, and chanting the same sentence of her husband promising her to never abandon her, like a mantra. Honestly I know that she had problems in her life but no, she cannot be tolerated.

3. Jaeshin is a pretty good character if you ask me. Yeah he did cheat on Songah by agreeing to marry the chairman's granddaughter, and he was a jerk to Songah, and not accepting his mistakes. But then as the episodes progressed, he did have a character development. Overall he had a good character sketch minus that cheating part. That's unforgivable.

4. Hyojoo.... Oh God! She's not only delusional but also had obsession issues. She wasn't in love with Jaeshin but was downright OBSESSED with him. Still she was better than Songah as she didn't allow her man to treat her like trash because she was well aware of her self worth. But attempting suicide because your crush rejected you.... That's some 12 yr old's hormonal move.

5. Haeun. The daughter of Hyunseung's second elder sister Yeonseung. Man she was WAY ahead of her age and that's... Cute yet annoying. She acted Miss know-it-all and that sometimes pissed me off.

6. Jiseung. I've watched more than 200 Kdramas at this point but I've never seen a dumber girl than Jiseung. I mean she acts like she's flour bombed by a guy in her teenage years. She was the most dumb and idiotic character ever.

Overall this wasn't the best creation of the Korean Entertainment industry, provided that dramas like Goblin, Crash Landing on You and The Mouse was created in the country. Could've been better if someone else instead of Jinah would be there.

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Wonderful actors in a horrible show

Two leads whose prior performance I have greatly enjoyed are so badly served by this show that it almost makes me angry.
I watched the first six or so episodes, then went to Ep10 and 15 just to see if any of the awfulness disappeared (it had not).
In terms of positives, it is only the acting -- all of the actors do a reasonable job given the horrible quality of everything else.
So what is so horrible about the show? Oh, let me tell you:
1. The story: The premise is straightforward. The complicating factors the writers throw in move the story strongly into the melodrama territory, which is not in itself a problem -- who does not enjoy a good melodrama, after all? But... it does not work. The individual elements never gel; the choices the characters make are nonsensical (and not just in the kdrama way, which demand just a bit of suspension of disbelief, but in a "this would never, ever happen in the current world -- such as a solution to a woman attempting suicide being marriage as opposed to, say, competent psychiatric care???). Most importantly, despite a lot of dramatic things happening, it is all so boring and many of the conflicts are so clearly telegraphed that they come as absolutely no surprise.
2. The editing (I think) -- the cuts in the show and the ways the scenes flow one into the other are jarring in the extreme. Truly, I have not seen a show in recent memory that is so badly edited. Because of that, some of the scenes that should be action-filled or dramatic just come across as rather ridiculous.
3. Female lead's hair, make-up, and clothes: The female lead is a beautiful actress, and kdramas usually do a spectacular job regarding makeup. At first I did not understand what was going on with the actress, why she looked so different from when I had last seen her, and why she looked so overdone and wrong, somehow -- but then (since the show was so boring) I looked at the individual components of her appearance and it became clear. Seriously. She is supposed to work at a cosmetics company, where presumably appearance is more important than in other workplaces, but does that mean that she has to be presented as so "over done"? The stylists made her up and dressed her as though she were in her late 40s. Maybe this was an attempt to emphasize the age difference with the male lead (you know, the huge one year), but if that was the intent, then maybe the age difference should have been made larger in the script instead. And if that was not the intent, then it was just a weirdly bad choice.
My advice: Do not start watching this. You will bemoan the wasted time.

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The best pairing of the main leads in the latest years!

I can’t even express how much love I feel for this drama. What an amazing piece of work! Soooooo grateful I found it ❣️Everything about this drama was beautiful und mesmerizing . Every character's development excellent showed. Rowoon won me over now with this role , he gets better und better with every drama. And Fl as always extraordinary! Love all her work. The main leads are definitely one of favorite Koreans couples in drama’s world bis dato ❤️

I would recommend this drama to the older viewers …perhaps you must be older to enjoy this drama. I promise myself I won’t never read comments before watching dramas, because I almost skipped this great piece of work and it was the best and most natural acting I’ve seen lately. For me every scene with every actor was so real and the relationships between the main leads so funny and passionate 🥰

I especially love the FL's proposal at the end , let me quote it:

“Should we go see cherry blossoms in the spring
Let’s see the ocean in the summer
The fall leafs in the autumn
An the snow in the winter”

A must see drama.. imo

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Watching this show is a struggle

Given that this drama is kinda presented like a noona drama, I expected the age difference between Song Ah and Hyun Seung to be bigger. A one year difference in age doesn't seem that big of a deal. I expected five at the very least, ten if they really wanted to push it.

And, to be perfectly honest, it all seemed very juvenile. I feel like all the characters were too old to be playing these silly, childish mind games. They behaved like immature high school kids instead of grown-ass adults. Plus, the fact that Ro Woon had the same chemistry with Jin Ah as he did with the actress that played his eldest sister (that is to say, no romantic sparks between them in the slightest) did not help.

The only characters I found fun and interesting were the middle sister and her daughter. Everyone else was so bland and boring. And I strongly disliked the utter juvenile pettiness that's seemingly imbued into this drama.

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Just mehhh….

after watching Chinese dramas, I don't know why Korean dramas aren't interesting anymore, it's not like before watching Chinese dramas and I hate fl in this show so much. of all the scenes that ml did to fl, fl just wasted ml's feelings like that? women are selfish, I don't know, but do you really feel innocent after what ml did to fl, fl decided on him unilaterally because he felt guilty for not being able to accompany ml while ml was waiting for him? Instead of breaking up, why don't you think about change, it's better than giving up like that, women are heartless sometimes. when he has hurt ml and how dare fl still want to love ml again after what he did, how cheap that character is. give it 1 rating.

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I would never know...and it's ok.

I’ll be very honest and straightforward. If you dig Rowoon (and who can blame you?), watch it for him whilst switching off your brain and not paying attention to the story or the bad acting that surrounds him.

Nothing extraordinary or original. Unnecessary filler scenes that were they absent, they wouldn’t alter the plot or deprive the viewer of vital info (but serve as a cf, so I guess they make sense?).
The drama is a cacophony of cliches. E.g. why, oh why, is the FL always gullible when it comes to bad relationships but assertive in her job? (I’ll take a hard guess and say due to severe insecurity?) Such poor representation of women all round.

Oh, did I mention bad acting? Won Jin Ah plays so stiffly the role of the senior (sunbae) and is generally.. old. Then she has a partial lobotomy and warms up a bit but still, she’s an old maid trapped in a body of a supposedly 30 yr old. Naturally, not much chemistry going on, therefore, making it very hard to root for the OTP.
No character stands out apart from the fact that they’re all pretty weird. Even Rowoon’s niece. It’s hard to feel the emotional bonds between any of them.

Just small examples of bad writing, directing and shall I say unfortunate costumier choices too? Were they all deliberate in order to make a point?
To finish it would be a Herculean task. Need I say more?

3/10

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