Interesting premise but confusing

I'm usually a huge fan of time travel type stories, especially when it has a sort of "oldie" vibe — and certainly, at the start, I really liked how the story was playing out. I loved both timelines and how they interacted with each other, and I also really liked all the characters and their backstories, and how those were tied together.

As the movie went on, however, I definitely just felt like it lost me. There were more characters that I didn't care much about, the three boys started blurring into one another and doing things for no reason, and overall I just thought the movie became "jack of all trades, master of none."

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Heart-pounding, mind-blowing

Just to preface this, I started this without any background information whatsoever — I had never read the manga or watched the anime and didn't know what this was about aside from the gazillion (erroneous) comparisons to Squid Game.

I ended up loving this, especially the individual games; there's always a twist to them, and I was on the edge of my seat during all of them, no matter which category it was. The action scenes are just superb and the drama managed to do really successful and heart-wrenching character development in the little time they had, not for just our main leads but for all the side characters as well.

I have to admit that I don't love the later arc as much as the earlier ones; partly due to my preference for the "out-of-the-system" character and also because I managed to guess the game answers there, but overall the action sequences and fight scenes during these episodes were still great, and I love how the season ends and sets up the next stage of the story.

Cannot wait for season 2!

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Exciting and explosive

Wow — this is hands down, the most heart-pounding, stress-inducing drama I've watched. From the very first episode, I was super invested in the backstory and in the backgrounds of the two main leads. This was, in a sense, the perfect underdog story — the "us against the world" vibe runs throughout all the episodes in the best way. Especially in the first half, the pacing of the story was perfect; it was fast-paced and we were finding new developments all the time. In term of plot points, this is a drama that really requires you to suspend disbelief — I've seen a lot of reviews saying that it became hard to believe, but in my opinion that's just the nature of a conspiracy thriller and I found myself still able to immerse myself completely in the story. There are some political and financial aspects that I was a little less interested in, maybe a little confused by, but in the bigger picture it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the series.

Even with the insane plot, it was really interesting how this drama still managed to get its laughs and rom-com moments in. The chemistry between the leads is really great, and I love how their personalities meshed together even amidst all the tragedy.

With all that being said, however, I think this drama desperately needs a second season. The ending leaves a lot to be desired, especially since the last few episodes packed a lot of new information that wasn't explained and also changed a lot in the dynamic between our two leads. As much as I loved everything I already watched, it really leaves me craving more — and it feels almost as if I only watched three-fourth of a drama.

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Unbelievable but super adorable

Objectively, this is pretty much the perfect rom-com formula. It had a lot of hilarious scenes, the chemistry and acting of the two leads was amazing, an I also liked that the business and antagonist plotlines weren't taken too seriously — there was a lot of comic relief in their scenes and the entire tone of the story was really consistent. This drama was like the perfect mix of every possible good coincidence and trope you could think of, but it was smart enough to call itself out on it in a really witty and humorous way.

However, I did find myself unable to completely immerse myself in the drama throughout it; the plot points were sometimes just so outlandish that even I couldn't suspend my disbelief or overlook the plot holes, such as when it came to the human allergy premise.

Even with that, I thought the acting of the two leads was undoubtedly the best part of this drama — they really brought the story to life, had great comedic timing, and just were so adorable together in all of their fluffy scenes.

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Did I watch the same movie as everyone else?

I'm seeing reviews about people crying at the second half of this movie and I'm just a little lost for words because the movie I watched was just so...mediocre? It was certainly a nostalgic and light-hearted rom-com, but overall the plot points and the characters are just really cookie-cutter and cliche. The two second leads are also considered main roles but were not really given adequate personality or character development.

I also could not handle how many times the main female lead had to trip over her own feet — I understand the clumsy aspect of her personality, but there are different ways to do it. Seeing the exact same thing happen so many times grew old very fast.

With that being said, there are more quiet, thoughtful moments in this movie that really stood out to me, and I wish the movie let those moments shine through more.

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A tearjerker

This is a movie about silver linings. I really did not expect myself to shed so many tears over this movie — but I sobbed throughout it, especially the second half.

I was expecting a really depressing movie where it was just one tragedy and no good parts one after another, but there was a surprising amount of hope and friendship in this that made it really beautiful to watch. The two leads had amazing chemistry and really heart-warming dialogue and it felt like the main focus of the movie, as opposed to the bullying moments. I actually felt like the bullying situation at school and beyond wasn't fleshed out very much, but I think this actually worked in the movie's favor for the most part.

Overall, a really really beautiful movie that will make you ugly cry :)

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Had its good moments

I did enjoy watching this so don't let the average review fool you — my only gripe with it is that it just kind of focused on the wrong thing.

I could have done without a lot of the North Korean military commander scenes, and I wanted to see more of the different characters interacting with each other in domestic settings. I loved the ML's scenes with the different people in the community but never got that with the other MLs, who felt very randomly inserted into the community with nobody asking any questions.

Essentially, I feel like overall this movie could have been better served going the Miracle in Cell No. 7 route and being more subtle and heart-warming with the comedy than also trying to be an action flick, even though KSH is absolutely amazing at those.

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Wholesome and subtle

From the cover and the blurb of this movie, I really thought it would be one of those really dark and quiet movies where it was just one tragedy after another and no one ever communicating with each other. But this wasn't the case at all.

This movie was surprisingly wholesome and realistic. None of the conflicts felt out-of-the-blue, dramatic, or blown out of proportion, and the characters also reacted in the same way. They felt like real people and the relationship between the sisters was undoubtedly the best part of the movie.

My only gripe with this might be the ML. While I do love a beta male lead and he had some good moments, some of the things he did and said were just really cringy and he was persistent to the point of annoyance sometimes; he had good conversations with his parents but other than that it was almost as if he didn't have his own personality or life outside of the female lead. I almost would have preferred it too if the FL's character development of living her own life wasn't shown only through whether or not she let herself date this guy.

Other than that, this was actually pretty light-hearted and I loved how it depicted the hearing impaired community. This movie is representation done right.

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Wholesome

This was actually a really fun Princess and the Pauper kind of story — overall really wholesome, though also really cliche. I really liked the relationship dynamic between all of the characters, but I do think that maybe more time would have allowed the drama to go more into depth on a lot of interesting topics that they kind of only scratched the surface of (saesang culture, idol pressure, etc.)

I wasn't a huge fan of the ML; though he had a subplot and background it felt like actual character development was a bit thin. Other than that, this was still a pretty lighthearted watch and I'll still tune into the second season!

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Nonsensical and over-the-top

I get the appeal of an alpha FL/beta ML dynamic but this was not the way I wanted it to be done; the power dynamic was just way too one-sided and it made the relationship seem more physically and emotionally abusive than funny. Despite the ending (which was a nice touch) I felt like the female lead's personality was air-headed and high-maintenance to the point of being just downright unlikeable and annoying.

The plot was actually quite fun for most of it (especially the way they met) but as the plot progressed it kind of lost me; it felt like there was no plot, and sometimes things happened that felt either nonsensical or unnecessary.

This is a light-hearted watch for sure but I'm not sure it aged well.

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Beautiful cinematography and great message, but a little overdramatic

This was almost the perfect melodrama. I really loved the way they portrayed differing worldviews between different characters based on different upbringings.

The relationship between the FL and SML were undoubtedly the best part of this movie; I kind of wish they'd have gone more into that because it was short-lived and kind of one-sided. Other than that, the SFL also was a really great character and I also wish she got more screentime. The pacing overall was okay, but plot points aren't really explained much. This movie is more about the feeling.

The anti-bullying message was really powerful, but I kind of wish it didn't get so explicitly didactic near the end of the movie with all the political and legal references.

With that being said, I think sometimes the way the movie was filmed really felt just a tad bit over-the-top, with monologues that were beautiful but so literary sometimes it kind of took me out of the movie because "who talks like that?" Other than that, the filmography is pretty great; there's a lot of time dedicated to montages and stuff though, so if you like a more in-the-scene sort of movie, this isn't it.

I really liked the ending (unfortunately I didn't really cry at all) but overall this was a decent watch.

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A little endearing but mostly cringy and over-the-top

This is pretty much what I expected from a 2011 Taiwanese rom-com; it's a lot of ridiculousness and slapstick humor, and a lot of the main female lead just bumbling around, being clumsy, overreacting, and making questionable decisions.

Something about this is a little endearing — I appreciate the absolute mundaneness of the male lead, and of the entire situation, despite many of the plot points being common tropes.

However, the weakness of this movie is really with its characters; the male lead is mundane but uninspiring, the female lead is dramatic to the point of being cookie-cutter. It's pretty unclear why they fell for each other, and the addition of a mean female second lead felt pretty unnecessary. The positives were the aunties, who were pretty much there for comedic relief and succeeded at doing exactly that.

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Fun and endearing

This was a really nice no-brain watch; there were moments that were quite endearing and yet had harsh and realistic implications for the larger policing system. At the same time, because of the humor, I found it hard to feel invested because there never felt like there were high stakes. You always knew things would work out in the end, and even at the most harrowing parts the movie never felt serious.

Even so, this movie worked well as a comedy — KHN and PSJ have really great chemistry together and the bromance scenes in this have become so iconic it was fun to see.

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