II started watching this show because of the intriguing plot; I've seen too many shows where the ML is the smart one or has some extraordinary abilities, so to finally have a female as the smart lead, that too an autistic female character, I couldn't say no! To top it all off, my favorite actress, Park Eun Bin, took on the role! I wouldn't miss this show for the world. I will not comment much on how autism is portrayed in this show because I am not on the spectrum and it would be inappropriate for me to determine whether or not the portrayal of autism is accurate. Instead, I encourage viewers to read comments from our neurodivergent friends who have provided incredible insights on the show; I have learned a lot from them, and I would recommend that everyone read what they have to say. My review will mostly cover the other aspects, so here's a list of pros and cons (if you haven't started watching the show yet, perhaps this review will help!)

Pros:
1) A very lovable female lead. It was heartwarming to see her journey as an attorney as she learned the realities, sorrows, and joys of life. If you only need one reason to watch this show, the female lead is it.

2) endearing side characters I liked geu-rami and chef hairy's dynamic, and I enjoyed how they guided Young Woo when she had questions about her job and her love life. Myeongseok and Su-yeon, the other side characters, were also likeable and played important roles in YW's development.

3) The romance was so sweet; I haven't seen such a wholesome romance like Jun Ho and Young Woo in a long time. They had great chemistry (eun bin and tae oh! what have you done to me!) and their interactions were heart-fluttering. I was happy to be the third wheel!

4) Fantastic cinematography and graphics! I loved the intro and episode intros, as well as Young Woo's eureka moments. It was a nice and original touch to show the whales whenever she made a breakthrough in a case. For me, it really elevated the entire show.

5) Many have said the legal cases were boring but I thoroughly enjoyed them. They felt realistic to me, and they left us with some important messages.

6) Sweet OST

7) A happy ending (whether or not it is satisfactory is debatable ahah)

Cons
1) Young woo's relationships, both with her father and with Jun Ho, lacked development. I wish we had seen more of her interacting with her father. I also wish certain scenes with Jun Ho hadn't been cut/ faded out because it left us confounded. I also wanted to see more of her relationship with Su Yeon, perhaps even flashbacks to how YW and SY were in law school.

2) A lack of character development for certain characters: I believe this is the first time a male lead has been barely developed. The thing is, I adore Jun Ho, and unlike other viewers who kept demanding to know why she liked her, I understood why he did from the start! That's just love, man. A lot of shows just throw in leads with no chemistry whatsoever together but that's not the case with YW and JH so I personally didn't see an issue with them getting together. But my issue is that we didn't get to see more of his family, where he previously worked or studied, why he lives with Min Woo and why he has such rude friends, and so on. The same can be said for the other characters; Min Wo's arc was too poorly executed. Tae su mi, hanbada ceo, and other characters were underdeveloped. even chef hairy!

3) use of kdrama cliches: as most viewers would say, the last few episodes completely deviated and used every cliche kdrama trope out there ahaha, and it became kinda makjang at some point as a result. MYS' illness didn't make sense to me, nor did Min Woo's 'redemption' arc, nor soo yeon suddenly being interested in min woo. Because of the use of these tropes, I believe the ending was rushed. We also didn't get to see much of YW with her half brother because the writers crammed in unnecessary plotlines. It was as if I were watching a different show. I am fine with these cliches/ tropes if they are executed well but I didn't like how they were used in this show.

That's all I have to say! I had more thoughts, but I can't put them into proper sentences right now haha! To sum up, I believe this show is worth watching. I was obsessed with it and told everyone I knew about it! If there is a season 2, I hope they delve deeper into YW's interpersonal relationships and perhaps even have her meet with a counselor (since it was mentioned). If there is a season 2, it will be interesting to see how the story develops. Please watch this show! Young Woo is an amazing character and I wish her all the best.

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'Every Life is a Work of Art'

This is my first review here, I will try my best to articulate my thoughts!

I'm not usually a fan of this genre, but Our Beloved Summer pleasantly surprised me.
While I will admit that I started watching this drama because I am a huge army and the OST enticed me, I binge-watched it in two days and ended up loving every minute of it. I'll just list the pros (the good) and cons (the bad) because that's probably the best way to explain how I felt about this drama.

The Good:
The plot was gripping from the start; the documentary aspect really elevated the show because it would have otherwise been a typical rom-com.

-Relatable characters: each character contributed something to the story. They each had their own struggles, which they handled gracefully.

- No annoying characters: The characterization in this show was excellent. I feel like I'm too old haha, so I get annoyed when there are evil or annoying characters in shows (of course, this depends on genre, and such characters are necessary in some shows), so it was nice to see that everyone was just living their own lives and not actively seeking to harm someone ahah.

- Sweet romance and Beautiful friendships: Yeon-su and Ung were delightful to watch. Despite their disagreements and breakups, they clearly loved and cherished one another. I don't like second male or female leads because I dislike love triangles and the like, but this show can teach a lot of writers how to write secondary characters. Rather than ignoring them or making them one-dimensional, the writers gave them proper backstories that helped the audience understand their choices and behavior. I rarely have SLS, and this one was no exception, as the chemistry between the main leads was top notch. Even though each character did not interact with each other on a regular basis throughout the show, it was palpable that they all served a purpose in each other's lives; I use Ji-Ung and NJ as an example here because, while they were not particularly close, NJ accompanied Ji-Ung when she noticed he was eating alone and Ji-Ung's advice to NJ changed her outlook on life.

- OST: The OST is quite literally perfection. Truly fit the tone of the show all throughout.

-Stunning cinematography and very aesthetic character fashion!

The Bad:
- LACK OF SOL-I AND EUN-HO!!! I adored their dynamic, sometimes even more than the main characters', but we got very little screen time with them together (as a couple; though I understand why they couldn't just date right away). I'd love to see these two in another show someday. Similarly, I would have liked to know more about both of their pasts more, they seemed like quite interesting characters.

- I can't help but criticize some bits of the ending, as much as I think it was perfect. I am very critical of Kdrama endings because I have seen far too many that are abrupt and rushed, causing me to lower my overall rating of a show; I felt the same way about this drama. The show began slowly, and I believe it could have sped up some scenes/episodes and focused more on the final two episodes to tie it all together nicely. They did address every issue and every character's story, but it could have been spread out more (if that makes sense).

- I think that's it ahaha

Overall, Our Beloved Summer is a heartwarming drama about the reconciliation of former lovers as they try to make amends and grow together with the support of their friends and family. All of the characters are likeable and are shown to face unique hardships that they eventually overcome gradually (but surely). If you're looking for something soft and cozy to watch during these cold winter days, this is a simple watch with inspiring life messages.

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'In the storm, you have to be like an adult. In beautiful weather, you have to be like a child.'

I was very excited to begin watching this drama because its plot paralleled that of the Romance of Tiger and Rose (which I absolutely loved!). Unfortunately, I didn't end up enjoying it as much as I thought I would. The first two episodes were boring, but it picks up momentum between episodes 5 and 12, and after that...mediocre at best.

The Good:

The cast is very likeable, particularly the three main leads and Chuntian. I'd only seen Vivian Sung in Our Times before and had no idea she was such a big deal in Taiwan because I don't watch many Taiwanese shows (I should have known better, she's an amazing actress who deserves every bit of recognition!). Despite her character's tragic backstory, her personality was so vibrant and endearing that she carried the show on her back. She was a hard worker who pursued love despite the fact that the odds were stacked against her. Our male lead, Hu Tianxing, portrayed Marcus Chang, was a fascinating character. Marcus's ability to portray two distinct (yet eerily similar) characters was flawless, and you could tell he's a seasoned pro actor. I must admit, however, that I was not particularly interested in his character because he was simply a conventionally written ML. Qingfeng, played by the stunning Simon Lian, was the show stealer for me; I adored his character and am grateful that this show introduced me to him. I rarely have SLS because the FL rarely gets adequate screen time with the second ML; thankfully, this was not the case in Lost Romance, but it made Qingfeng's character so difficult to watch because he was so palpably and deeply in love with our FL. It broke my heart when his backstory was revealed, and it broke my heart after when he and Xiao En could not be together. Chun Tian, Xiao En's best friend, was especially entertaining. It was heartwarming to see her stick by the FL through thick and thin.

The plot's concept was unique. I liked how we got snippets of the characters impersonating characters from popular South Korean dramas like Goblin and DOTS; it was hilarious how they got those bits in. At times, Xiao en's random use of Korean was very relatable, reminding me of my own life as a kdrama fan :p

I really appreciate the messages that the show was attempting to convey. Throughout the 20 episodes, there are numerous encouraging messages about life and oneself.

If you just look at it from the main characters' points of view, the ending is quite satisfying because they all got a happy ending. I expected the last few episodes to be rushed as our two leads reunited in reality, but the transition into their relationship actually made sense and was quite smooth.

(Very steamy scenes between the two leads, enjoyable if you're a fan of those stuff ahaha ;))

The OST is quite catchy, might have to relisten soon!

The Bad:

Oh well...I have a lot to say. First, I know the plot of the book was exaggerated and cliche on purpose but I was just bothered by a lot of tropes and dialogue. I think the writers had a solid concept at the beginning but lost their way in the middle lol. I did not enjoy the plot that was happening in the real world setting either because it was just so 'makjang' (for the lack of a better word) for me. It was a very generic plot and rather boring because it's something I have watched too often. I skipped a few episodes and even watched on 1.5x speed because I got annoyed by the plot.

What disappointed me even more was the characterization throughout the show. I didn't like how all of the women around Tian Xing were shown to be in love with him and to be 'mean girls' to each other in order to win his heart; this is a horrible trope that should be left in the past. I dislike seeing women portrayed in this way. In my humble opinion, they also did ChuChu's character a disservice because some of her actions towards our FL just seem out of character for me at times, even though I understand that's how cliche romance books are and the writers were probably merely mocking them. But, in reality too, they didn't do much with ChuChu's character other than make her a damsel in distress madly in love with the hot CEO. I had similar criticisms with other secondary characters like QingFeng and Chun Tian. To be honest, I enjoyed QingFeng's backstory more than the leads', and I believe an entire drama could be based solely on his backstory. So it was disappointing that we didn't get a deeper glimpse into his story and that he was sidelined (his ending was fine though, could have been longer but I understand why it was done the way it was). Chun Tian deserved a backstory as well; I'd like to know how she and our FL became so close. Perhaps a romance for her would have been nice as well. That being said, there was a lot of potential for a romance between the evil (turned less evil) sister and her secretary (?), and I kinda wish they went down that road. Don't we need more hot chairwoman x secretary/ bodyguard romance in shows? let's change things up a bit people! I've already mentioned it, but I didn't like how they made every woman around Tian Xing fall in love with him (I mean, he's a hot CEO, everyone should be in love with him, but eh), including Shanna. They could have simply implied that she regarded the CEO as a friend and kept it at that. Of course, I understand that giving each character a proper backstory would have been difficult, but a lot of time was wasted on unnecessary flashbacks, so...

To summarize, Lost Romance's plot is quite cliche in many ways, but it has a very pleasant cast and leads who make you want to stick around for the entire drama. The plot's overall concept is novel, but it suffers from poor execution. I'd recommend it if you're looking for a lighthearted romance with delightful main characters.

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