Overkill on the melo

There needs to be a limit on the Melo.........and unfortunately this script writer didn't get the formula right.
Till episode 12 it w a s tolerable, after that the next 4 episodes just dragged out the brain tumor thing.
It's a k drama for God's sake. It's based on a few people's imagination - so to drag the torturous tragedy of a loved one at the throes of death in an attempt to just fill four hours was very poorly executed.

The FL was also beginning to look exhausted - not from the brain tumor - but this make believe trauma of pretending to be sick for 4 episodes.
By the end of it we wished she had actually died and moved on.

The poor ML struggled to keep the eternal flame of his undying love burning. Every support cast looked fatigued.

Gosh - just change tracks and give another character some misery since that was the underlying theme of this drama.

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Last few episodes destroyed the drama

I loved this drama so much that I stopped at episode 9 and decided to wait for its completion and then binge watch.
Alas!
The last few episodes went off tangent totally.

What started off as a comic, funny, classically ridiculous drama got burdened with the stale and repetitive theme of wanting to kill a crown prince.
For heaven's sake - is there no other turmoil in the Joseon period beside murdering the royal family?
Every historic drama I've watched only has this as the basis of all trauma. Seriously??

The positives:
Rowoon takes the cake. He is so perfect in this role - riding a donkey - it's hilarious.
Rowoons side kick : deserves 11 stars. He is just phenomenal. Fantastic comic timing and expressions.
Everyone else is pretty good too
The romantic sidelines are pretty fun.
Absolutely gorgeous cinematography
Great wardrobes with aesthetic colors.

The negatives:
The last few episodes move away from comic to dark revenge or whatever.
The chemistry weakens. The romance dies,
Rowoon is just dragging his feet. The female lead is left hanging.
I don't know anything about the accuracy of this period - but somehow it seems unbelievable. The writers have taken some liberties where needed and at other places they behave conservative and illogical.

What a pity that this drama went downhill.

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Too tragic for a drama. Made this into a docuseries instead?

Please forgive me, regional folks, this is not meant to disregard or disrespect your history and the tragic horrors behind it.
This is more a reminder for me to never watch this again.
If I had read that this was so Tra gic, I would've never watched it.
If truly this particular romance was so tragic, I would've preferred to see the actual people, their real names, careers etc.
In short it could have been a true story or a true documentary which are made very aesthetically now.

To take history, put your own spin on it again is fine.
But to take history, put your own spin on it, heavily load it with beautiful romance and then kill the lead is like pulling the rug from under our feet and bring us crashing down, breaking our teeth, heart and everything else.
Not acceptable for me.

So yes, it was a tremendously beautiful drama - music, cinematography, costumes, hair make up etc of the '80s, and every actor was stupendous.......but sorry, the ending destroyed it.

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This is an infomercial

Of all the strange J dramas I've seen, this one takes the cake.
I wanted to knock my head against the wall for sitting desperately through the episodes in anticipation........of nothing!

This is not a drama, so please don't get conned.
It can be one of three things :

1. An infomercial or sneaky advertisement for Japan Airlines, which soppily brandishes their holier-than-thou employees. Please make sure to fly JAL.

2. A career fair for Narita, Haneda and all other Japanese airports. Demonstrates the various departments, shift timing available, uniforms, pay scales (based on the apartments shown), food courts, etc all based out of these airports including snow ploughing at Aomori airport.

3. A docuseries for middle school kids showing them that's it's okay to dream of a certain career however if that fails then just get on with life. And to make it seem less depressing they throw in 3 couples who have love affairs that even saints will approve of - no intimacy, no chemistry, no expressions.

Seriously - my wall has a dent with all the head banging.......

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Cultural and ethical confusion

This drama had so much potential. It was very funny in parts, the relationship between the 4 friends is awesome. Each of their love lives is also distinct.
The one stand out actor was the 24-year old sister who is in love with the older oppa, her brothers friend.

However the ethical dilemma seemed very hypocritical. It really killed the beauty of this drama.
As a global audience,not very familiar with the delicate nuances of Korean culture, I found it very hypocritical.

It's okay and acceptable if a young college girl in her twenties sleeps with a minimum of 4 men, best friends at that.
But it's not okay for a 40 year old single man, who has a son from a previous relationship, to date a 30 plus woman?
Because the society is going to label this 30 plus woman?? But is approving of young college women to indulge rampantly in sex?

This logic blew me. It killed the essence of the drama.

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Finally c- drama nailed the perfect romcom.

Phew - I've had such bad luck with c- dramas that I was very skeptical to watch this. However this drama nailed it. Just perfect. I didn't give it a ten because it was just right, not outrageously fantastic.

The ML basically carried the show - he is so expressive that I can see a long award filled career ahead of him. He speaks with his eyes and his soul is in his eyes. Just marvelous. It doesn't hurt that he looks like a dish and happily shows us his abs.

The FL was excellent too. She stuck to her character of being older than him yet was not condescending or pompous. The chemistry was sizzling between them.
I just didn't like her anorexic looks. Hope that is not the standard for the regional young ladies to follow. It's too thin and emaciated - not attractive or appealing at all.

The music - wow!!! All the comments were asking where to get the sound track.
The cinematography - awesome. Beautiful visuals, beach, homes, gardens.....very soothing and appealing.

Every actor stuck to their role - kudos to the director for not letting anyone over act or behave cutie pie or sexy.

Wonderful feel good drama!!
Thank you again C-drama. I guess you read global complaints and really cleaned this one up.
One teeny suggestion - please stick to 12 or 16 episodes.

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C dramas are improving dramatically......

This is the 3rd cdramas that is blowing my mind.
Maybe it's sponsored by the government maybe not, I wasn't interested in finding out.

First - What's fascinating is the production value!
Detailed, expensive, aesthetically done, just wonderful!
The whole earthquake scenarios........gosh, was that created just for this drama or was that a real life event which was superimposed?

Second - the minutely detailed environment, training, incidents in the life of a firefighter.
Again there may be many complainers who will comment that those scenarios are not accurately portrayed (for example when doctors comment that medical scenarios are not accurately portrayed).....-and that may very well be true. But to a complete outsider like me, it was very inspiring to watch.
What added to the admiration was the size, beauty and layout of the full fire station. Impeccable!
Watching the details of the fire truck was also enlightening.

Third - Yang Yang! His face should be etched and saved for posterity. What genes did he get to look like that? Plus his romantic expressions - especially where he was sipping his soda with a straw and intensely watching the FL moving her hair. Heart Fluttering!! I saw some comments regarding negative reviews by the C netizens.......but I don't think I will read those.

Fourth - as a romance junkie, the chemistry, slow burn and some intimacy work just fine to give this drama an 8!!

Kudos to the production team, and everyone else involved.

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Lost potential in this drama

I watched the first 4 episodes, got so excited, then decided to wait for all episodes to release and started watching it again.
Boy - what a disappointment!!

The fact is that this story had an interesting premise, a slightly different take on the rich greedy conglomerate family and very promising actors.

It could have even become a romcom cult classic like A Business Proposal......but Alas, Alas.
Not enough attention was paid to details.

The friendship between the FL and her high school pal dwindles, the sizzling chemistry between the FL and brother in law becomes tepid, luke warm, tasteless tea. The second couple romance is actually irritating.

The story line is regurgitated and poorly served.

You know, with all the hard work that goes into producing these dramas, there should be a tighter grip on the story and detailed screen writing.

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Sizzling chemistry is the only selling point of this drama

Every time I searched for a modern c drama, this popped up. With a high rating of 8.something, it's worth a try.

But be prepared for girls in tiny, crotch revealing skirts/ shorts. Thank God the squeaky baby voice was discarded.
The villain lady with straight black hair and red lipstick.
The clichéd car accidents
The cringey share holders meetings
The jealous and greedy family of the millionaires

Just be ready to crawl under a blanket with all these silly creatures
BECAUSE
The ML is worth every minute of it.......

He's a dish, carries his role well, underplayed, macho.....Hmmmm mmmmm
The FL does a good job too. She adds the sizzle to their chemistry and does not shy away from the intimate scenes.
Sticks to her role and is kind of underplayed.

Most others need an award for overacting, especially that FL ' s friend.

So yeah, keep your remote close, skip through the rubbish and enjoy the steamy romance.

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Almost made it to 9 stars**

This review is purely based on romance genres.

What an absolute hidden gem this was till ep. 9.
After that it becomes the country's marketing appeal to their 1billion plus population to relish life, slow down, find beauty in your passion and be comfortable in your own skin rather than a designer-chosen animal epidermis.

PROS:
*Delightful bickering and slow burn romance.
What a breath of fresh air to see modern, smart, independent women, dressed not in crotch-revealing skirts and bone breaking stilettoes but comfortable/fashionable attire, speaking in adult tones rather than the squeaky, baby whining sexist tones.
*This lead pair has been around for over 10-years, unfortunately I have not seen them before. They are both excellent actors, great chemistry, sizzling retorts and finally, finally they smooch.
*Can't complain about the hot looks of the ML. His character is wonderful - middle management (not an uptight, irritatingly skinny, 20-something CEO), smart, charming, goofy - the goofiness adds to the allure and reality.
* The female lead is confident, although why they make her say she is not beautiful a few times is boggling.
* The supporting females - except for the sister which we will get to, all the supporting females were excellent. Their characters were very well etched and they portrayed it wonderfully
* Story was great the first half and then there is the zen mantra on how to lead your life better than being dragged by corporate madness
* Production / camera / script - nothing was jarring, which means all is good.

CONS:
* The cousin sister : she consumes almost half the entire show and is portrayed as a selfish, shallow princess. Which is not a problem except that she dominates a show that is not about her at all.
* She has 2 romantic interludes, which are both irritating and have no chemistry, plus she is presumably very beautiful so men are crazy about her. This whole concept did not flow well with the rest of the smart, talented female cast.

I actually enjoyed this modern c-drama, especially since the historical ones put me off and it took me deep digging to find this almost-gem.

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