I admit I'm extremely biased for giving such an average drama such a perfect score, but if I don't then who will? It's not complex and it's definitely not too well thought out. It doesn't do anything new and it doesn't try too hard as a drama either. Which is exactly why you should watch it.
Had a bad day? Your own real life romance not going how imagined it would? Work/ school is hard? Then you shouldn't watch another drama about a pair of star crossed lovers who aren't allowed to be together ( although I do like those a lot) and you for sure don't need to watch that drama where two people keep on misunderstading and hurting each other. You don't need to. Not just yet. Just watch these 12 episodes and you'll feel better. Maybe I just got lucky and watched this very normal drama at a very correct time and place and setting of my life ( A time where I needed such lightness) but I hope that happens to you aswell...

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Myung Soo Hyun, babe, we need to talk about that ending you wrote up cause what the fuc-

There are some people in the comment section who interpret the ending as a happy ending. They're right if you think about it, no one died, the characters all became successful ( all owning real estate they wanted which was the primary theme and focus of the drama) and even the leads met again. But boy oh boy do I have a bone to pick with this "happy ending". This is essentially a rant and not a critique. I will not be eloquent with my words, the ending has left me too frustrated for that.

I feel the need to let anyone reading this know how I watched this show. There were two episodes each week and for eight weeks I tuned in first thing in the morning to watch them before doing anything else. This show was a part of my life and routine for 2 months. And I loved it. The show was your standard Kdrama with lots of warmth, love, romance, laughter and in this case lots of pretty houses and many heartfelt insights of home owners living in those varied, beautiful homes. I think I speak for all of us when I say the the numerous cliches used were a bit much sometimes. But a lot of experienced watchers like me who have been watching since before kdramas became more ' refined' and 'palatable' for western/netflix watchers, are very much used to the cheesiness and predictablity of the plot details. I could certainly do without the numerous breakups, misunderstandings, sacrificing love for you friend/ family and all the little chiches in between but I don't hate them. And I certainly won't fault a romcom for being cliched.

SO WHY IN THE FUCK DID THEY NOT TAKE THE CLICHED ROUTE IN THE END????? I can only guess that they wanted the FL to be 'successful' and 'independent' on her own and prove that she did not rely on the ML in anyway for achieveing her dreams. And I suppose they wanted to explain them not ending up together due to their father ( being compulsed I must remind) to run away from paying back the ML 10 years before the leads met. Which the ML understood and acknowledged might I add. Sure, he'll be " reminded of the incident everytime he looks at the FL" but that's how it's supposed to be???? It doesn't mean he'll hate her and treat her badly for her father's mistakes. You can't cut an entire person ( your significant other in this case) just because you don't want to think about it. The show put all this emphasis on " money can't buy happiness" and " House+Love= Home" but at the end completely ignored it at the end. It showed the leads being sad looking loners who live in their big empty houses by themselves with their piles of money and presented it as a 'makeshift happy ending'. It was giving me " See? They can be happy by themselves too!". It's honestly a bit distasteful. These characters were always showed to be hardworking social climbers who always wanted a better llfe for them and their loved ones. And they were shown to be putting a lot of importance on relationships and love for their emotinal fullfilment and happiness. Particularly the ML was shown looking kind of depressed even after three years.

The ending didn't match with the overall theme/vibe of the show at all and was utter bullshit.

If you're going to watch it, go ahead and do until episode 15. I'm sure if you like this genre you'll enjoy it. It was done well and at times REALLY well until the ending. Personally I would like my 16 hours back and a compensations for the emotions I wasted. Thanks.

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Quality nuanced content

Listen, I'm not a fan of mini-series shows. They're usually underfinanced, undercasted and don't have enough runtime to properly explore their themes and leave an impression on the audience, I personally view it as a tool utlilised in the industry to make fast, easily consumed content similar to fast food. Nothing wrong with enjoying, fast, consumable and compromised- quality content ( I'm not one to look down on a sixteen hour c-drama where the CEO gets the gal). But it still doesn't make them into "a good memorable drama".

"Shall we have a cup of coffee?" has been my favourite mini-series in my eight years of watching and enjoying various types and styles of dramas across five different countries. Each episode goes off on a tangent, with just a hint of conflict and climax near the end ( patiently spoon fed to the audience). It's beautifully filmed and scripted with a very limited but tasteful OST. The actors weren't perfect but they knew what they were doing. They understood what the drama warranted, which made their performances so deeply enjoyable. Each episode was just a like a warm calming cup of coffee or any other drink the reader thinks to be comforting and delicious. Like a small break to take within the fast pace of life to slow down but not drouse, to savour and think. I've learned so much about coffee and I came to care about the characters. Mostly, I fell into awe of how a show can have such little going but still manage to have so much substance. I'll watch this show again, no doubt.

I also wanted to mention how I found the show. The trailer ended up in my youtube algorithm. I clicked it, thinking it was a BL a minute in. Uh. It was not. The company clarified this in the comments as well ( which was very funny to me). Actually there wasn't any romance in it at all. Which is why I didn't wanna watch it. How immersive can another cafe show be? I constantly look for immersive, dopamine boosted shows that'll distract me from my problems ( this usually ends up being romance). I'm so glad I took a chance and watched this. I also know Korea is not forgiving to mainstream actors doing LGBTQ content, so I'm glad netizens can't shit on this show. The chemistry between the actor of the cafe owner and Go-Bi was so insanely good in its inintensity, I'm sure a lot people will think it's a shame. I personally don't mind the father/son relationship they chose on. I enjoyed the amazing one on one chemistry nonetheless.

I spent a lot of time trying to think of a fault this show might have. I tried. I really did.

It's not squid games, it won't give you goose bumps and it won't put you on the edge of your seat. It's supposed to be a dreamy and sweet show, as clearly intended by the creators. It's pretty easy to gage what the show wants you to feel, and it's not trying to be like mainstream, story oriented dramas. The only thing I could think of, is that it must be niche type of content targeted to a specific audience. I don't understand the low ratings for this show, probably because I am exactly the type of viewer this show was made for. Which is why I hope more people learn about this show, and more of these niche viewers can cherish and enjoy this show.

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It's not very good tbh

The story had a lot of potential to be romantic and fun. When I read the synonpsis I was imagining the FL to start out a spoiled rich brat and have beautiful character development with the support of ML beside her as they gradually fall in love. Although that's the story they followed, those points felt like they weren't hit at all?? The company politics, the girl boss energy, the cute romance and the character development were all missing. To be more frank, these plot points were so badly executed that there was no impact at all.

I mainly wanted to watch for the romance and girl boss moments of the FL taking charge of her life. I feel like I got a watered down version of both. And my expectations for this drama and its quality was really low before I even started. I seriously was just expecting it to be a bit funny and cute. It didn't do anything for me unfortunately.

Their romance had no proper buil up/ progression in my opinion. It was just the ML being hesitant for 18 epsiodes. The FL sat on her ass for 18 episodes as well, just waiting for him to do something. I feel like I watched air for 18 episodes in terms of romance. I'm all for the man in dramas making the first move but FL seemed so detached from the romance plot at times it was baffling. After they got together, it was just ok. Nothing they did felt particularly romantic to me. I didn't even wait for last 2 episodes to get subbed. I just skipped through it raw. It's not unwatchable, but like I said the impact is so low after the first 4 epsiodes or so that it feels like watching air.

I'm very disappointed because this may be the worst chinese drama I've seen thus far ( for my tastes) and I've even watched those weird web chinese romcom dramas that don't even get registered on this website as dramas lmao.

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The homophobic ending to this masterpiece made no sense :/

I'm ashamed to say, I was naive and hopeful enough to imagine that they would give this drama a just ending. So many people, including myself fell in love with this drama for doing everything right- atleast at the beginning. The deep and sophisticated portrayal of changing, loving and transforming one's self in order to love whole heartedly was what kept me hooked, baited and caught. And then episode 20 left me at the bottom pits of the ocean. Not only was my heart broken but also left me disappointed at the creators. Not just because of the homophobia we always complain about but also their pathetic attempt to tie the unfairness and messiness in pretty little bows and ribbons.

Are we supposed to be happy for the modern day chef who gave his all, risked his everything for his love only to come back refreshed like he went for a Bali trip or something? He fought to earn the love, admiration and loyalty of those around him in a time where he was in an alien, unfamiliar and often frightening place all alone, only to be left with no one left by his side at the end. He wasn't grieving or even missing his husband and the baby he fought and changed himself for once he came back to modern day? I don't buy it as a viewer.

The king was completely fine with loving a completely different person who he felt nothing towards despite being engaged to for a considerable amount of time once before??? Huh???

In one episode when Bong Hwang was acting sweet and feminine, the king was even shown to be uncomfortable and frankly a little grossed out. He fell in love with Bong Hwang and everything about Bong Hwang. The modern mindset, the cleverness, the honesty, the sweet fiercenesss. And at the end, the bravery of Bong Hwang was depicted to earn the king's loyalty and love. But not at the very end??? Then it was all for null!

They spent 19 hours showing us, convincing us of the love that existed between the king and Bong Hwang only to end it with " SIKE! You didn't think those emotions, the love between them was real did you? It was all just body hormones. And guess who gets all the credit for saving the kingdom and the gets to live with the king's undying love? The girl who wasn't there for 90 percent of the show of course!"

The creators let down thousands of viewers and their own professional integrities by going through with this 'happy' and insensible ending.

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" the summer belongs to us" and other sad stories that don't deserve a ten tbh

A beautiful, wonderfully scripted and impeccabaly casted show that impacts the viewer. Now that I've said that, lets drop the straight praise and get into the sentimental feels that is 25 21 and why I gave it a ten, despite feeling an entire range of negative ( and angry) emotions after finishing it. I'll also get into why it's a very biased, and maybe even undeserved ten.

The entire show is an essential summary of this quote that stuck with me since a long time ago, " Any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again."

You get it, youth is fragile and what we have, all we do is just picking memories blah blah blah. Now that the gist and vibe of the show is provided, lets get into the meat of the matter that had the fandom divided and asking themselves " did I really like that or am I a sadist ?"

The writer of this show is a very talented individual who knows how to make characters click like clockwork. The consistency and quality affects the audience in a perfected and almost magical way. I'm sure the comments and reviews are absolutely raving. She's great, I admit. But she dooms herlself by taking herself too seriously and the overall picture thus becomes muddy and distorted, losing it's original feel and texture. I tried to watch her previous work ( by God I tried my darn hardest) but her writing there has the same problem ( just in huge dollops). Her writing is great is in all ways except that her ambition to create something serious and timeless always seeps through like a big fat insecurity. It's like she's begging her audience and herself to view it as something that's emotional and beautiful and it ruins the effect a bit, in my opinion. Art does not beg, it simply exists and makes the viewer FEEL. The show did make me feel a range of beautiful and not so beautiful emotions at the start but by the end of it, I sort of questioned If I even processed the entirety of it completly, let alone feel it.

She takes herself so seriously at some points that it becomes the singular flaw of this show. And for those of who are thinking that I'm saying it should have taken itself lightly by having everything tied up in bows, that's not what I'm saying at all. You can do "melo" without trying to overly shock the audience and being a try hard about it.

The only reason I gave it a ten is because of sentimental value cause I'm a young adult trying to find my way etc. etc. and so I became attached to the first fourteen episodes of the show ( also subtract all the scenes with the present Na Hee Do which leaves about three quarters of perfection in this show) . As a viewer however I have to say, that ending was poorly executed and in a way kind of cliche if that makes sense.

Can I just say that I, for one am a sucker for happy endings and gravitate towards them with record speed. I, also however, see the beauty in tragedy and the glory of simply letting things go as nature had intented ( I have a whole list of depression juice tittles on mdl cause I have a thing for pain). But, the way this drama was wrapped felt anything but natural. The spoilers of this show are not hard to guess. I knew which way this show would go the minute I listened to the theme song " twenty five, twenty one" by Jaurim which the show is clearly based on way back when the first episode aired. " I thought it would last forever, our 25 and 21" I mean come on, at this point Jaurim wrote this stuff over ten years ago?!!?

So I was expecting doom from the beginning but in a tasteful, natural way, patiently spoon fed to me with the writing and production I so admired. It's not what I got, but hey! I gave it a ten so give it a go if youre bored and wanna feel something again for (most!) of this show.

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buckets of tears man just buckets (and not all sad either)

They just did everything so well. I can't comprehend how much work the actors and production staff put in to make all 150 episodes so impactful, they didn't slip off at any point even though it's such a big project. This genre of "journey through life" isn't my favourite but I loved it nonethless. And the interracial relationship and the problems mixed couples face was really done well. The support characters and their personal lives were also very moving. The last 5 mins of the entire show had me sobbing uncontrollabaly because of that damn montage and now I kinda wanna watch it all over again.

Anyways if you want a breakdown of why its worth it/ not worth it:

Yes:
1. Exellent story
2 Excellent acting (Charlotte is a gem)
3. Romantic chemistry
4. Good scripting
5. Impactful romance plot line
6. Impactful family plot line
7. Good subplots of the supporting characters that tied in with the main story
8. Very original in it's style
9. Quite funny at the beginning ( Kamoi had me dying in some parts but I'm gen z so keep that in mind haha)

No:
1. Not the butterfly in your tummy kinda romance ( which is not necessary anyays but it's usually what I gravitate towards)
2. Definitely not for escapism lol (it's life portrayed truly with good and bad)
3. Some of the foreigner actors brought for a little bit of screen time throughout the show were cringy (nothing out of the ordinary for white people in dramas though if you've seen it before lol)
5. Comedy after 100 ep market is almost non existent in my opinion even though I personally believe humour is specially important in times of trouble ( but not a deal breaker anyways so doesn't matter)
6. Definitely not a short watch ( about 39 hours of episodes)

This drama has a place in my heart <3

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the fact that it made me furious is a sign of how well-made it was

I wanted to write this review because so many people adore this drama but it has a pretty bad rating.

Ok so I've never seen a pack of annoying characters huddled in one story like this in one go and that's really saying something. The character arcs were very realistic and well portrayed as in I've met people like this before. Which was why it was infuriating to see the male lead get ultimately chosen. All those annoying characters at uni and In ha, they're shown as people trying their best to get better, which I loved seeing. But I couldn't help but group them together with the male lead. Let's face it, realisitcally speaking, these are the type of guys that end up hurting girls the most, even the girls they love and care about. The fact that he was offered redemption again and again was not great to watch. I get it, he's actually a good guy, but to what extent? The fact that this drama made me feel all these emotions and think all these thoughts is the reason I gave it such a high rating. Because Kdramas with a good prodction value usually always connnect with the audience we take it for granted. This drama really did do a very good job of keeping me engaged even though I was extremely annoyed with the plot points. Kudos to them for a good production and most of the actors for a great performance, honestly.

Now If I actually get into what else there is to bite into besides the great production value - eh not much. It's a romance genre so there some sweet moments between but nothing that particularly illicited a response from me ( in comparison to other dramas in the genre which realltymake me FEEL you know). I'm not one to go on about the second lead usually but I have to say, the second lead and the female really did give me more feels than her with the ML. As much we love second leads, we have to admit the director always makes sure to make the ML shine more. But somehow that's not the vibe I got from this as an audience. I don't if it's because the ML's character but the SL and the FL gave a lot more romance and feels. So that was a bit awkward. But like I said, becausethe production was so good, the romance is notable and worth watching if not a little mediocre.

Obviously it's not a comedy, but the uni friendship dynamics did have some light, fun elements to it. As always, Kim Go Eun's great acting and expression kept me amused enough that I didn't feel like it was missing comedy. As a uni student, I quite enjoyed the uni life portrayal. I wouldn't watch it again though and unless someone asked me to reccommend them a drama which'll make them angry and annoyed, I wouldn't reccommend this to my friends either.

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It was just ok???

I have been hearing about this drama EVERYWHERE. And people have been singing praises about this show from left to right. So of course I was ready for a good time. But of the many many chinese dramas I've watched, this is probably one of the most unexceptional and mediocre. Which has led me to speculate that for a lot of viewers hyping this drama, this may have been their first "sweet romance" chinese drama. I feel like everything about this drama was just done alright. The actors were immersive enough, the plot pacing was done ok, the romance scenes was diabetically sweet ( although it didn't manage to make me squeal) and the e-sports part was passable.

Now that doesn't mean it's bad or a waste of time in any sense. That's what I'm not saying at all. It just means that at the moment an 8.7 for this drama is ridiculously high for a drama ( and it'll probably level down soon if I'm not wrong). There are tens and tens of other chinese dramas that are of much higher quality and offer much more. That being said, if you're thinking of investing time to watch this and you enjoy a nice sweet romance, I don't see why you shouldn't give this a try.

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I've watched it twice now... and here's my honest opinion

The first time I watched this drama I was in year 10, now I'm in my second semester of university. The first time I watched it, I thought it was an alright drama ( the making, cast etc.), nothing exceptional. However the overall drama left me deeply affected. At that time, I don't think I was suited to watch a heavy, emotional and mature drama such as this to be honest. The drama impacted me in such a way that I was sad for weeks and then I no longer wanted to think about it and be sad. So I sort of just tried to forget it existed. I'm specially sensitive, but still, being this moved by a drama as you can tell, is not usual and speaks volumes about the quality about the drama. The way it ended however, I couldn't really come to grips with. I was one hundred percent expecting a fairy tale ending, And I think not getting one, really distrubed me. And I'm not being dramatic or exaggerating unfortunatley. I felt like I really needed closure due to becoming so emotionally attached to this drama

So this year in yet another lockdown I decided to do something about it. I decided to watch season 2.

The original producers act like this drama was a bif flop due to the ratings in korea, so of course there's not actually a season 2. However, the chinese season 2 was there. The original story was sourced from a multi part book series by a chinese author and was adapted in to two seasons of ( luke warm quality might I add) of shows bringing the novel to life in China. I was not excepting much, after all the korean one was made 5 years later with writers who were more experienced with how to appease a broader, more critical audience. It only made sense the chinese one would not live up. Still, I wanted to experience the characters finding happiness after being reborn. But my god, the chinese drama had such little impact. I felt very neutral watching it, not really engaging with the characters or the badly paced plot. But it did give the sudden, unavoidable urge to rewatch Moon Lovers. I really really felt like rewatching the korean one after seeing how underwhelming the chinese one was.

To be honest , I was scared to rewatch moon lovers. It affected me too much emotionally ( I didn't want be sad all over again). But I put on my big girl pants and off I went. I watched epsiode 1 to 20 with absolutely no skips or lack of attention ( unlike the first one where my attention occassionaly drifted away during the political bits). And now I can conclude this show is a cinematic master piece. The first time I was not able to grasp the sheer perfection of this drama because I did not focus on the plot truly. A lot of things happen at the same time, and so it distracted me as I did not want to pay this much attention in between school and homework. But after truly and clearly seeing this drama, I realised how to beautiful this drama was. It truly lingers with you not matter how many times you watch it. I cannot think of a bad thing to say about the making. I can even say that after watching it a second time, the ending hurt me a little less.

I think it's very much worth watching this drama, if you're willing to truly give your attention to it. It has a lot of power and control over it's viewers and I think that's very special for a drama. I could not reccommend this drama enough to a person who has the ability to watch this with true focus.

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Ya'll have to start this drama istg

At first I started this drama because it reminded me of Goblin and I'm always trying to fill the void that drama left me. But believe me when I say, those two things are not on the same plane. Sure, Goblin is unbeatable, but RLIAGL is just a style of it's own.

The cinematography is insanely good, each scene feels like art. The romance is happening in a well placed and comfortable way ( while still giving me butterflies and making me squeal sometimes). All the actors are really pulling through ( the two leads are just outdoing themselves). The OST is also on point which is just insane because this drama is just running with perfection so far and not slowing dow. I have faith that they'll manage this quality for the next ten episodes. I haven't found such a masterpiece in years, I honestly don't know how to act. This is my reccommendation of the year man, just watch it.

Of course I'll update once the drama is finished so I can gush about my love for this drama some more.

Alright, so I spoke too soon lol.

It's a great drama, gave it a nine. But:

1. I feel like the climax for the romance plot never hit.

2. the climax of the actual plot which started out so beautiful and intricate ended up so messy and confusing I had to watch it three times to even grasp a basic understanding ( trying so hard to figure it out really annoyed me but maybe I'm just dumb idk)

3. The acting started to blow out of steam ( some of the main performances seemed borderline forced in the last few eps idk why)

4. As I'm writing these points out it feels like this might be a "me" problem ( maybe I was in a bad mood during the last few eps so please don't take my exclusive word for it).

5. You should still watch it cause who the hell am i to say the final quarter was bad

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