2013 Review:

This web drama is very over the top and ridiculous. At first, the ridiculous seemed to be just that, ridiculous. There was no clear motive behind any of the main characters behavior. And that was perfectly fine. Sometimes you just need to watch something funny and not have to think about it. But as the story went along, the drama revealed a surprising amount of heart.

Each young man is a caricature of a stereotype layered on top of said stereotype. There’s the brain, the ‘charismatic star’ (whatever that means), the artist, the sportsman, and the flower boy. Together they create an entirely hilarious and unique set of characters that you just can’t help but love.

In other words, they are adorable. Really inappropriate, but adorable.

Kim So Eun pretty much embodies the awkward, shy, quiet high school girl. She’s adorable and real and someone I totally would have been friends with if she had gone to my school. If my loud voice and opinionated and argumentative ways didn’t scare her off first, that is.

The interesting thing about this web drama is that for about the first four or five episodes, you really have no idea who the female lead could end up with. She could end up with any of them. She could end up with none of them. With most dramas, the romantic set up is clear. This character is going to end up with this character. I appreciated how After School subverted this typical drama set up.

They did trick you later on in the series as the lead started to fall for one of the boys while two of them started to fall for her. Of course, it didn’t really matter who you liked better because….

She doesn’t end up with anyone, lol.

The idea of this group of young men continuing their club in honor of their dead friend was very touching though. Granted, the dead friend they were doing all of the missions for came off as kind of a jerk to me once we finally met him. ‘Hey, Kang Joon, don’t like this girl you clearly like, because…I like her. And obviously, I have more right to like her then you do. Cause that’s how friendship works!’ *fake smile and hold up a thumb* No. That’s not how friendship works.

But they’re teenagers, and teenagers don’t act rationally when they have crushes, so what are you gonna do?

I do need to add a caveat/warning here. There is a mini storyline part of the way through that involves a joke making light of child molestation. I don’t remember it being a very long moment in the story, but the joke is legitimately offensive.

All in all, this is an odd little web drama. And that is definitely the highest compliment. With the exception of the molestation story, and the fact that the female lead doesn’t actually end up with anyone, I loved everything about this show. Every five seconds I was bursting into laughter. Every five seconds I was going ‘This is such a weird show.’ Every five seconds I was a little offended by the boys and some of their behavior. I marathoned the whole thing in two days. It took me two days, because I was trying to be responsible and not spend my entire weekend in front of my computer screen. (That and I needed a break after the molestation episode.)

I highly recommend this drama for anyone who loves stories that play with stereotypes and that have an over the top sense of humor. It’s a fun watch.

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It seems like a lot of people really love this drama. Having now finished it, I can see why. I can't say I really love this drama as there are flaws in the execution, but I did enjoy a lot of things about it as the story has some interesting story mechanics/concepts, and there are some genuinely good twists.

Xiao En is a fabulous female lead in the first half. She finds herself in the middle of a romance novel and takes full advantage of this to hilarious effect. Nothing's too embarrassing for her to try, she expertly handles the villains and their shady behavior, and she goes after absolutely everything she wants (principally the male leads heart), ultimately succeeding in turning herself into the female lead of the story. It's all incredibly charming and laugh out loud funny. But then she wakes back up in the real world, and the story takes a bit of a nosedive into mope-land for a time. On the one hand, I get it. Xiao En's spent 3 months (I think it was 3 months?) falling in love with a book character and making herself at home in the book universe. Then she wakes up and is brought back to reality that none of it was real, none of it actually happened (although I feel there should have been more awareness on her part about this), and she mourns everything she's lost. She just...mourns longer than I think she had a right to.

It's unclear how much of Situ Aoran's personality is the book character and how much is actually Tian Xing, because the drama doesn't tell us, but for my part, the male lead is bland as toast in the novel world. Seriously. Situ Aoran is incredibly uninteresting, lol. Tian Xing is an improvement, and there are glimpses of him having an actual personality, but we don't get to spend nearly as much time getting to know him as we do Situ Aoran, so it's hard to know just what he's like. (Maybe some of Xiao En's mourning period could have been spent on developing Tian Xing as a character and building a relationship between them instead.......)

Chu Chu, the female lead turned second female lead, has an unusual if also kind of stereotypical character trajectory, as she goes from being the male leads love interest to one of the villains of the story. I personally can't decide if this was a good writing choice or not. On the one hand, there are a lot of reasons this makes sense. Her role in the story is essentially snatched away from her, which would understandably be upsetting, especially if you're one of the leads in a romance novel. It's also a clever story twist to switch the roles of the female and second female leads in this way. But a number of viewers didn't like it, and part of me doesn't like it as well. The evil second female lead has been one of the most common tropes in Asian dramas for a long time, to the point that a lot of drama lovers are sick and tired of it. It's not uncommon today to see people complain about mean female characters in a drama even when they serve an important and appropriate purpose in a story. For me, it's hard to reconcile my feelings on this writing choice, so I've decided not to spend too much time thinking about it.

Qing Feng is, as they often are in these types of rom-coms, an absolutely lovely second male lead. He does everything right, is honorable and kind and a loyal friend, and he has a very hard time of it, lol. What sets him apart from so many other second male leads though is that while he starts the drama liking Chu Chu then switches his affections to Xiao En, his true love...actually isn't even in this novel at all. This is an incredibly unique twist that works well (even if I have a few quibbles around it). It can get hard watching so many lovely second male leads end up alone at the end of the drama, but that is luckily not a problem with this drama. Since the woman he really loves is from a different novel, you don't have to be sad for him that it didn't work out with Chu Chu or Xiao En, because Xiao En is such a good friend that once she gets back to the real world, she doesn't rest until he gets his happy ending. (This is one of those drama exceptions where a second male lead gets an ending that is truly deserving of his wonderfulness.)

The part of the drama that is the most flawed is all of the business and family drama. The real-world storyline around Tian Xing's family and his father's company could be a real slog, and I did a lot of skipping/fast forwarding through it during much of the first half of the drama. The business machinations and family drama were simultaneously boring and irritating. But then the sister's plotline became both interesting and quite heartbreaking, and I found myself slowly becoming invested in the family dysfunction. There's a lot of bitterness and distrust and hurtful behavior to go around, and it makes for a very sad family portrait. It may have been the actress portrayal (probably) that helped bring me around, but I felt a lot of sympathy for the sister. (Not enough to forgive any of her behavior but definitely enough to understand her better and hope she will change her ways and live her life differently.) I didn't have any hope for the rest of Tian Xing's family, sadly. Mom does have the tiniest bit of an epiphany about the role she's played towards the end, which is good, but I honestly was too apathetic about her to feel very invested in her change of heart.

The finale was surprisingly great. Lots of good storytelling choices. From the leads going straight to the courthouse to get married sans wedding ceremony to having a hitchhiking, camp-out honeymoon of all things! (I was seriously expecting that writing choice to not go well, but it was surprisingly romantic and appropriate for our leads.) And the sendoff for Qingfeng was perfection. It made me teary-eyed.

Despite the drama's faults, I understand why so many people love Lost Romance. It pulled off a lot of really good and unexpected twists. It's also just a lot of fun. But don't go into this expecting it to subvert every trope and avoid all the stereotypes of the typical rom-com Asian drama, because while it does subvert a lot of tropes and stereotypes, some are still alive and well in this drama.

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This is a very short comment I wrote earlier this year that I wouldn't normally add as a review cause it's so short, but I feel sad that this special has no reviews, so here you go, lol.

I didn't enjoy this special as much as the first, even though I do think it is well written. Mr. Lookalike clearly has nefarious plans, and it's obvious throughout most of the special, so I spent most of the time wanting the female lead to figure out what he was up to and foil it, which doesn't happen. That was a little disappointing.

This also felt a bit like an ending to this story overall. I'm still crossing my fingers for another season where we finally get to see Akiko and Akira end up together, because I NEED IT, but this special makes the series feel...done. Which makes me want to cry, so I'm not going to think about it too much.

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I probably would have given this drama a 9 or 10 if the last four episodes had matched in quality with the first 8. A lot of the MDL comments I saw before going in called the female lead too self-sacrificial, a claim I always take with a grain of salt. I personally find that while there are plenty of legitimate complaints about female leads who will literally lay themselves on the train tracks or burn themselves at the stake or sit themselves in the electric chair for some of the most foolish and unreasonable of reasons, there is also lot of disdain out there for too much kindness in female leads, like if a female lead sacrifices herself or something she wants for another character, even if it's truly a noble sacrifice, she actually Deserves to be laid on those tracks or burned at that stake or put in that electric chair. With this in mind, I decided to go into Usokon open-minded. I truly like kind and self-sacrificial characters, and I'm always happy to see them represented in dramas, so I was hopeful and excited for this drama.

For the first 8 episodes, I can genuinely say Usokon is very solid. I enjoyed the episodes so much, in fact, that I struggled to understand what people had been complaining about. The female lead can be more self-sacrificial and kind than she might need to be, but all of her kindness and sacrifices are for truly kind and worthwhile reasons. She never did anything I found to be outrageous or stupid. I really, really, really liked her. Of course, like most everyone else, I found the male lead charming and adorable and a riot to watch as he acted surreptitiously silly and excited over his feelings for the female lead. The romance was so easy to root for, because the leads were sweet apart and together.

But then came the last four episodes.

I'll just jump straight in and say that a random girl who went on one date with the male lead in high school and who he obviously didn't really like back shows up and is all 'I've loved him for ten years! Give him to me!' (I'm exaggerating a bit, but that was essentially her attitude), and the female lead...acquiesces. Granted, two of our side characters have a heart-to-heart with her telling her she's being foolish and way too self-sacrificial and she sort of, finally, sees some reason, but the whole plot twist is completely unnecessary and leads to a rushed finale where the female lead and the second male lead have to fake a wedding ceremony in order to lure the male lead there, because He is so heartbroken over the female leads behavior that he decides to walk around moping about it. As you can see, this ^ story choice...is a real buzzkill.

Now, I know there are going to be people who disagree with my assessment of the female lead as a character in the first 8 episodes. In response, I can only say that there's a vast difference between sacrificing your job on behalf of for your single-mom co-worker who is struggling to make ends meet and giving up your man because some girl he went on one date with ten years ago shows up saying she's in love with him and she'd very kindly appreciate it if you'd gtfo. The first scenario is relatable and shows just how much the female lead cares about other people's well-being. The second scenario is stupid.

I do have to disagree here with some viewers who have said the female leads nice-to-a-faultness rubs off on the male lead, because I think they missed some important context clues from the flashbacks about his character. He starts liking her when they are children but never makes a move until in his late twenties. The reason? Because he's intimidated by the other friend in their friend group and feels like he has to prove himself in order to be good enough for the female lead. He believes (we never find out if he is right or not) that the female lead likes this other friend, and he (the male lead) doesn't measure up. The whole drama, there's this big, neon sign over the male leads head telling us he struggles with insecurity/self-doubt. This is fine with me, because I think it works for his character, and I really felt for him, but I don't think you can act like his difficulty with expressing his feelings are because of the female leads influence. No, he already had that problem. I will, however, agree that his response to the female lead stepping aside for this nobody girl is pretty dramatic. Why he doesn't confront this girl and be like 'We went on one date. You need to grow up and leave the woman I love alone' is beyond me, but he doesn't, and we all just have to live that.

I honestly went into this drama hopeful that it would be a more positive portrayal of a kind female lead. I don't need, nor do I want, all drama female leads to be super kind, but I would like to see more dramas treat female leads who exhibit such kindness and self-sacrificial behavior with the respect they deserve. True kindness and self-sacrifice, the kind that actually puts good into the world, is not for the faint of heart. It's for the strong.

I'll end my review by saying that if the female leads kindness had continued in the same vein as what we'd seen in the first 8 episodes, my opinion of this drama would be very different. It's amazing how much only 4 episodes can completely change the way you feel about a story, isn't it?

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I enjoyed a lot of things about this drama. It's not completely realistic with how things really work in the idol music industry, but the drama is very intentional about showing the group actually doing the work of being an idol group. They're practicing their choreography, they're doing performances, they're going to photoshoots, they're writing their own songs, and they're facing some of the sorts of challenges you would expect for a group attempting a comeback after falling out of popularity. Group members struggle with figuring out the best pathways to take in their lives, they get into fights and disagreements because of stress and pressure, and they frequently recommit themselves to each other and the hard work it's going to take for the group to come back. It can admittedly get a bit saccharine and dramatic at times, but more often than not, I felt sympathy for these boys rather than annoyance or second-hand embarrassment. I would say this aspect of the drama is where it shines most.

There are some story choices towards the end that are admittedly head-scratching, even if they mostly make sense. The most head-scratching is when one of the members voices his very strong opposition to the leads dating. His opposition has nothing to do with the leads very sizable age gap (which I will get to in a minute), but because a relationship between them would divert the male leads focus away the group, and apparently, the group should trump every other area of his life. This is obviously a nonsense attitude (although it's certainly how the record labels themselves would like their artists to act), and it also comes semi-out of nowhere. There are hints leading up that this character is bothered by something, but you never would have guessed this was the thing they were bothered by. Personally, I think the drama would have been better served by either removing or toning down this plot point, because doesn't serve the story, and it actually ignores the very real problem with the romance.

And that is that this romance has an unnecessarily large age gap. If the male lead had been just a bit older or the female lead just a bit younger (or better, he had been a bit older And she had been a bit younger), I wouldn't have had a problem. But he's quite a bit younger than her, to a degree that the mental gap is just too wide. She was also his teacher in high school years prior which adds another uncomfortable layer. A better scenario would have been for her to be an assistant teacher when she worked at his school, maybe 23 or 24 years old and getting work experience so she could eventually become a regular teacher, thus lowering the age gap to more along 5 or 6 years. I could have been more comfortable with that. The romance is admittedly very subtle and left somewhat open-ended at the end. I think it's pretty clear they get together in the last scene, but other viewers got a different impression, so your mileage may vary.

And I can't end this review though without telling you my absolute favorite thing about this drama. The soundtrack. This drama's songs are literal Bops, nicely weaved into the storyline as songs being written and performed by the drama's fictional group, 8loom. It's amazing just how much they add to the drama. I'm 100% going to buy them on iTunes, and if you enjoy Jpop or Kpop, etc. I imagine you'll probably love these songs too.

Overall, this drama has its charms and its flaws. It's not one of my favorite dramas I've ever watched, but it was a fairly pleasant and satisfying viewing experience, flaws notwithstanding.

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It's hard to sum up your thoughts for a drama that had such a great start before making a really good go of squandering its characters and stories. But sum them up I will try, because I do have some thoughts about this drama.

First and foremost, this drama has great chemistry between its leads. Ayaka and Togo are fun to watch together as they bickeringly charm their way into each other's hearts. Their little online videos together start off as part of their contract marriage obligations but quickly become some of the best moments of their genuine enjoyment of one another's company. (Not to mention they become more and more hilarious as the drama goes on.) These two are a couple you really want to see truly become a couple. Secondly, although I consider this of equal importance to the first point, the female lead is an incredibly sympathetic and complex character. I always love it when a drama surprises you with its characterizations, and Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi definitely does that with Ayaka. Ayaka has always been naturally pretty, and it has garnered her lots of attention in her life from the opposite sex. Unfortunately, much of that attention has not been good. A male teacher in her high school behaving inappropriately towards her, a client at her job as a wedding planner attempting to cheat on his fiancé with Ayaka, etc. To add insult to injury, Ayaka never does anything to encourage this behavior and she actively tries to avoid it, but the people around her consistently leave her holding the proverbial bag, wielding her attractiveness against her like a weapon, an excuse to turn her into the scapegoat for their own behavior. She's so pretty, so it's obviously her fault.

Not surprisingly, Ayaka has learned to handle this by acting nonchalant and unbothered, pretending she doesn't mind all the (truthfully negative) attention she gets from these men and that the sneers and accusations from others are like water off a ducks' back to her. Of course, we learn better when we see her alone holding back tears after she's been unfairly blamed for another incident. This characterization is very beautifully done, and gosh does it make me really like her. Unfortunately, the story drops this characterization in the second half, which I consider a serious misstep by the writers (among the multiple missteps they make with this drama). Ayaka is a strong female lead with a lot of depth worth exploring, but the writers appeared to only be interested in exploring it half-way.

Sadly, the writer's decision to step away from developing Ayaka as a character means they have to fill their time else ways, and they are two specific plot decisions in the last four episodes that deeply hamper the overall story. One is a very common, and often bemoaned trope, in Asian dramas that I actually think could have been made to work if given the time to develop properly. But the other is an infuriating, mind-boggling, head-scratching choice that was so improperly conveyed to the audience that there's really no way to fully salvage it as a writing decision.

Starting in ep 7 and concluding in ep 8 is a plot point around a possible sexual assault against Ayaka by the second male lead, Kamiyama. Personally, I don't believe any sexual assault actually occurred, but the whole things plays out in a way that does not make that clear. From the way things are set up, it very much looks like Ayaka has been assaulted. We start with her leaving a school reunion drunk, then she's passed out in a taxi with Kamiyama who intentionally hangs up her phone when Togo calls her, then Ayaka is waking up in a hotel room not wearing her dress and Kamiyama walks in without a shirt and intimates that something happened between them. Then when Ayaka tells Kamiyama she doesn't believe him, he tells both her and Togo that something absolutely did happen. Of course, Ayaka was passed out drunk while Kamiyama appeared to be relatively sober, so the perfectly rational conclusion for anyone watching would be that he did, in fact, assault her. But THEN in the very next episode, Kamiyama apologizes to Ayaka, saying he lied about something happening between them, and it's clear from the way this is presented to the viewer that he is telling the truth, and we as the viewer are supposed to believe him.

The problem is that the writers thought this one moment of apology was sufficient enough to clear up all of the confusion around what actually happened. But why Ayaka is not wearing her dress the next morning is a very important detail that the writers never explain, and not explaining it leaves viewers with the very strong impression that Kamiyama did, at the very least, attempt to sexually assault Ayaka and then maybe stopped himself part way. (Which is still assault.) I'm someone who tries to understand and respect the writers' intentions for their story, so since that's what the writer intended, I've chosen to believe that Ayaka took the dress off herself when she crawled into bed, and that Kamiyama left her there for the night and went home. But it's perfectly reasonable and understandable that some viewers would believe she was assaulted.

Of course, I have to talk about Togo's reaction to this situation, because it is not the best. His immediate reaction is anger and distrust, which very much upset me. He has no questions for Ayaka or Kamiyama about what happened, he immediately makes assumptions about Ayaka's character, he just has no interest in having an objective understanding of the situation. But it's also not clear he actually understood that Ayaka had potentially been assaulted in that hotel room. I get the impression that he thought Ayaka and Kamiyama had a consensual sexual encounter, which is obviously completely different from rape or assault. Since Ayaka never tells him what she remembers (for completely understandable reasons), and Kamiyama straight up lies, Togo never gets the full picture. I still think his reaction was unfair, and he owed Ayaka an apology when things were cleared up (and Kamiyama a swift kick in the groin and a clear warning never to come near Ayaka again), but I am willing to be more gracious and understanding towards Togo since I'm not sure he ever truly understood what was going on.

I wish I could say it was a surprise what the writers decided to do next, but this trope is so overused it literally never surprises me when I see it in a drama anymore (although it certainly often induces rage deep with me). After the very heightened events of the (very poorly handled) potential sexual assault, the writers decide the last two episodes are the perfect time for a forced separation between our leads (some drama writer habits die hard, apparently), and there's nowhere near enough time left in the drama to deal with all the varied aspects of this plot point. It comes with arranged marriage (between Togo's father and step-mother), prior relationships of both parents that both produced sons (Togo and his suddenly introduced half-brother), Togo's stepmother's unhealthy attachment to him, her terrified unwillingness to acknowledge her biological son, and a rushed conclusion where all four of them are suddenly happy and reconciled. There is so much to unpack in this plot point, things I actually wanted to see the drama unpack, and if the writers had not chosen the last two episodes to address all of these things, I think we might have actually gotten to see this part of the drama be more fleshed out. But it's not fleshed out. Instead, it's rushed and awkward, and Togo's stepmother ends up looking completely unhinged and irrational.

Overall, the writers bungled the last four episodes of this drama. They should have chosen to focus on one of the above plot points instead of trying to do both, because trying to do both hurt the story. For my part, I think it would have been a wiser use of their time to focus on Togo's relationship with his stepmother and her secret son and all of the things that come attached to a situation as tenuous as that. There was a lot of really interesting stuff brought up in that situation that was never explored, and I even think the forced separation could have worked if the writers had really wanted to do it.

But we'll never know what that would have looked like in this drama, will we? Cause it didn't happen.

Having finished this and gotten plenty of genuine enjoyment out of it, I wouldn't tell people not to watch this drama. I think you might want to be aware of the missteps that happen in the latter half so you can temper your expectations. But some viewers aren't going to be so frustrated by the writing choices in the latter half of the story as I, and many other viewers, are. I myself might even rewatch this someday just to relive the leads amazing chemistry and the comedy and enjoy the short-lived effort at exploring such an interesting and sympathetic female lead.

Key word being someday.

Someday farrrrr in the future when I've gotten over the disappointment that the ending of this drama was.

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This is one of those dramas that I wish I had watched when it was airing so I could have joined in with all the drama lovers out there who squealed and swooned and fell in love with these characters and story. It's pretty close to perfect in my books, even if it has a couple flaws here and there.

First off, I was genuinely surprised, given the year She Was Pretty came out, at how consistent the storytelling is, how good the pacing is, and how well-written the characters are, not to mention how delightfully free it is of draggy plot points and noble idiocy and name any another irritating trope you might expect from a Kdrama. Given She Was Pretty came out in 2015, I was expecting some of these oft bemoaned elements to arise, but they never do.

I will acquiesce that the conceit of the drama, Hye Jin's best friend pretending to be her, does go on a bit longer than it should, and I felt some frustration with her character for not manning up and admitting to the lie. I empathized and sympathized with her deeply, but I also wanted her to stop putting herself in a situation that was only going to cause everyone hurt. Ultimately though, the drama's main conceit is used in an effective way that doesn't leave you hating any of the characters. I was sad for Ha Ri that she was so desperate for love she would lie, and I walked away from the story very happy that she finally decided to do the thing she really needed to be doing all along which was pursuing her own purpose.

I was admittedly not totally on board with the writing decision to have the OTP get together immediately after Sung Jun discovered that Ha Ri had been impersonating Hye Jin. I knew he would be angry with Ha Ri for what she had done, but I expected him to be angry with Hye Jin as well, since she was the one who asked Ha Ri to pretend to be her initially, and I figured he would assume she had asked Ha Ri to continue the lie as well. In retrospect, having now finished the drama, I'm glad the writers didn't go in that direction, because it would have probably meant last minute shenanigans the story did not need.

I think it is a fair critique to add here that while the first half of the drama spends some time exploring what it means to be the main character and what it means to be a side character with the female lead seeing herself as someone not all that important who just lives on the sidelines, this all kind of disappears for much of the second half. The last couple episodes bring it back in a really lovely way with the female lead deciding to be the main character of her life, but I wish the drama had explored this more before then. For example, I was hoping the drama would show us what it was like for Hye Jin and her family to go through the financial struggles they did and just how that impacted Hye Jin's self-esteem, but the story never goes there, and I don't know why. Of course, the female leads makeover and her honest and determined effort to succeed at her job at the magazine are intended to be an unspoken exploration of the main-character-versus-side-character theme as well as aid in her ultimately deciding to stop standing on the sidelines of her own life, and I think it is all very beautifully done.

The romance is pretty solid. Sung Jun starts off as an unnecessarily harsh boss, but he isn't the sort of jerk that's typical of older Kdrama's. There's no manipulation or abuse toward Hye Jin or cruelty or real insult to her appearance or personality. He is unnecessarily unfair to her in regard to the quality of her work, but he treats all of the magazine employees that way, not just Hye Jin. I do think the drama could have evened things out a bit by showing him being mean to the other employees a little more often, because it does seem a bit like him singling her out at times, but he is still quite mean to the other employees. He's just a little extra mean to her on a few occasions.

Of course, then he begins to fall for her (before the makeover ever happens, which I absolutely love), and he really begins to soften. By the time Ha Ri is caught in her lie, Sung Jun's pretty much gone for Hye Jin and hasn't been even the tiniest bit harsh to her for some time. In fact, he softens with all of the magazine employees over the course of the story and sort of becomes part of the work family.

Some people probably aren't going to like his harshness in the beginning but having lived in Korea for a time myself and knowing a little bit about Korean workplaces, I don't think his behavior is all that out of place, unfortunately. In fact, Sung Jun is downright nice compared to some bosses.

My only complaint with the subplot of the drama, the magazine possibly shutting down, is that the reason for it makes no sense. Businesses close because they're not making money or they're actively losing money or it's a small business and the owners don't want to run it anymore and a variety of similar reasons. No business is going to shut itself down because it's coming in second place in sales compared to another business. Second place...is profitable. Second place...is keeping the lights on. Second place is solid. Despite this illogical aspect of the subplot, the drama does show a strong portrayal of the magazine team working to turn things around, and Most's inevitable ranking as #1 is, in my opinion, appropriately bittersweet. If they had saved the magazine and everything had ended on a perfectly happy note for everyone involved, it would have been way too cliche and tied-together with a bow. Shin Hyeok's sacrifice for the magazine is absolutely beautiful and moving and made the win feel earned rather than simple and easy. It also made me cry.

Speaking of Shin Hyeok, I now understand what all the hype is about around his character. He was a constant ray of sunshine, provided at least half of my smiles while watching, and I loved him So. Dang. Much. It hurt to watch his heart be broken, and it hurt to watch him push through it to still be Hye Jin's friend and to help the magazine survive. If Shin Hyeok were ever to spring from screen as a real, living, breathing human being, I would gladly fill the hole in his heart.

I haven't talked about Hye Jin yet, but I honestly have no end of good things say about her character. Hye Jin is such an 'I'm gonna face whatever comes my way head on' kind of character, and it was so incredibly easy to both like her and root for her. She obviously struggles with her self-esteem due to her appearance, the way people clearly treat her because of her appearance, and the financial struggles her family experienced while she was growing up. But even when she's struggling, she doesn't quit on herself. Some people will think she's too 'positive' and 'upbeat,' that she's not realistic, but it's exactly her positivity and upbeat-ness (and her deep, un-ending well of kindness) that make me like her so much. I personally struggle with depression, finding my purpose, with insecurity and self-loathing. Hye Jin was a timely and hopeful reminder that I Am the main character of my life, and I should never give up. I really quite love her, and I may end up adding her to my favorite female leads of all time.

This is somewhat to be expected of a drama of its era, but they definitely don't do a great job of making Hye Jin's skin 'condition' look believable and realistic. Technically, it's not a condition. The drama treats it as the natural way her face looks, and when she has her makeover, one of the characters even comments that she's lost all of her freckles, so I guess that is supposed to be part of what was going on. But it's obvious to everyone watching that that is not how people's faces normally look. I'm truthfully not all that bothered by this so I'm not docking the drama any major points, but I do think they could have gone with a skin condition like rosacea to give it more believability.

Finally, I know Kdrama lovers don't typically like their romance dramas to spend too much time with the characters after they've already gotten together, because it's all about the lead up to the relationship, but I enjoy a good romance where we get to see a couple be a couple (case in point, the Jdrama We Married as a Job), so I loved the finale episode. All of the major plot points of the drama are mostly wrapped up by the next to last episode, so a lot of the finale is our leads being cute together. And they are very cute together, lol. But there was also a really nice amount of focus on Hye Jin pursuing, and succeeding, in her goal to be a writer as well as becoming fully comfortable with her own body, freckles, red cheeks, and all. The three of those things combined make the finale more than worth for it me.

While this drama doesn't quite make it to a perfect ten-out-of-ten rom-com for me, it gets pretty dang close. I'm just sorry I waited so long to watch it. 2015 me really missed out.

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There’s not really a lot to say about this drama, whether positive or negative, but it’s been in the back of my mind since I finished it to write a review, so I will just have to write it in order to get my brain to shut up, lol.

Attention, Love! is a very typical story for its genre. It has its charming and funny moments, but it also has its fare share of frustrating character choices and some wheel-spinning. It’s certainly not the worst offender out there in this regard. You will find much, much worse. And people who enjoy stories that involve lots of pining and characters’ inability to move on will most likely enjoy this one. For my part, I found the enemies to friends’ relationship between the leads in high school fairly sweet and enjoyable. I think that was the strongest portion of the drama, as while their path to friendship is sometimes dramatic (like things often are when you are a teen), it’s not utterly ridiculous, and the characters are pleasant to watch together on screen.

The premise of essentially a future arranged marriage between the leads is really not necessary to the plot as it’s only discussed earlier on in the story and barely ever mentioned as the drama goes on. It also doesn’t have any real impact on the characters apart from the female leads initial dislike of the plan. But then she sees our male lead and has a change of heart, lol. I mostly ignored this part of the plot because its lack of importance in the story makes it very easy to do.

Where the drama starts to wheel-spin is once the leads head off to University. This portion of the drama (which makes up the majority of the rest of the story) is a very long stretch of the female lead pining for something she can’t have and the male lead sending mixed signals over how havable or not havable he is. The frustration this creates for the viewer could have been lessened with some smart usage of the drama’s chosen clichés and tropes. In my personal view, most clichés and tropes you see in dramas are usually fine within themselves. The issue is with how they are used by a story. Here, the trifecta of the female leads pining, the male leads refusal to admit his feelings, and the forced proximity between the two does very little to serve the story. They certainly create tension and jealousy between the leads as they watch each other interacting with other love interests and try to convince themselves that they don’t care, but it does nothing to help our leads grow closer together in any way, particularly the forced proximity.

If you’re going to have your female lead stuck in a loop of pining for a guy who isn’t making himself available, and you are going to force her to live in the same building and on the same floor as him, you’ve got to provide some level of growing openness between them to fuel said pining. The leads should have begun spending more time together at this point, not less. The male lead should have begun to blur the lines between friend and more than a friend. There should have been moments where things almost crossed over into romance. But there’s very little of this. It’s mostly the male lead manipulating things in the background to keep her from moving on but being openly hostile towards his own feelings for the female lead, and at a certain point, you have to ask why he won’t just let her go if the writers don’t intend for him to be a selfish jerk.

It’s this dynamic, the male lead refusing to let the female lead move on and the female lead endlessly pining, that ends up being the most frustrating part of this drama. Otherwise, this drama is very easily watchable. The female leads best friends from high school have a super cute romance that in some ways is far better than the romance between the OTP. The pretty, prissy new friend she makes in University is a super fun character who turns out to be fiercely loyal and protective of those she loves. And the female lead herself is a very determined and go-getter character (outside of her blind spot that is her crush on the male lead). Something I particularly liked about this drama, which I've seen no one talk about, is Shao Xi's natural trajectory from a tomboy who doesn't spend much time on clothes or makeup, to a young woman still every bit as fierce and determined and pretty tomboyish but who also develops a more active and realistic interest in said clothes and makeup. She never felt like a different person to me, just like a young woman growing up and into herself, and I thought it was really well-done.

I wouldn’t say to anyone don’t watch Attention, Love! because this drama might be your thing. Definitely give it a shot if you enjoy pining and male leads who can’t admit their feelings. You might like it. But personally, I think there are better dramas out there. And now that I’ve written my review, I realize I had more to say about this drama than I thought, lol.

(I have to add here that while I didn't love this drama, I did love the remake of "Close to You" that played repeatedly throughout to the point that I eventually bought it. That song is beautiful.)

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I'm hesitant to say Youth is better than the original Kdrama, as it's been a while since I watched Age of Youth (I plan on doing a rewatch so I can do a comparison and analysis), but I'm confident in saying that this version is more strongly written and plotted. I adored the original with all my heart, but I would be lying if I said it didn't have flaws. Plotholes, plotlines that don't go anywhere, some story elements that come out of nowhere. Youth manages to address all of those issues while staying pretty closely faithful to the original story And giving it its own feel and vibe as a remake. This version fills in the plot holes, follows through on the dropped plotlines, and gives all of those random story elements purpose. I think I'll probably find I prefer the performances in Age of Youth more once I do a rewatch, but I have to commend this version for the way it handled the flaws in the original without losing what made the original so good.

I’ll start with what is arguably the main character of the original drama, Eun Jae. I don’t remember a lot of the specifics around Eun Jae’s background, why she believed she was a murderer and what exactly actually happened, but I was impressed with how this version took her backstory and expounded upon it, giving us more insight into what was going on in Xiao Chun’s family, etc. I also think this actress gave the best performance of all the actresses in this version and that her performance most likely rivals that of Park Hye Soo from the original. (Will have to rewatch the original to confirm that.) I was really impressed with the way this version made Xiao Chun such a complex character. She’s shy, insecure, socially awkward and uncertain, but there’s a hidden strength that comes out when you don’t expect it. She’s fiercely protective of her mother, feeling (and often being) responsible for her mother’s well-being after her father’s death, and she’s the only one of the girls willing to square off with Gao Lin when he’s holding Chen Chen captive.

Speaking of Chen Chen, I was very pleased with how the writers chose to handle her story in this version. When Ye Eun’s boyfriend held her hostage in the original, viewers were in general agreement that it came out of nowhere. We all remarked among themselves about how unexpected and unbelievable it was, even though the writers were ultimately able to make it work. In the original, Doo Yeong comes across as nothing more than a jerk, a user, someone who would gladly toss her to the side if given the opportunity to date someone he considered ‘better.’ He certainly wouldn’t be happy with Ye Eun breaking up with him, but kidnapping and assault seemed like a bridge too far, even for his jerk self. But when Gao Lin holds Chen Chen hostage in Youth, it doesn’t come out of nowhere. There’s a natural progression to that moment, dropped hints here and there that he feels intensely jealous of her family’s wealth, of how well-liked she is by others, and of his own destructive insecurity and selfishness. You understand what drove him to kidnap and assault her, and when it happens, you’re not completely thrown for a loop and wondering how we got here.

There is one moment in Ni Jin’s story that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, however. Namely when Zhi Qiang attempts to choke her to death in a fit of rage, and for some unexplained reason, she continues to meet with him. Its already illogical for him to blame her for his daughter’s death, as there was nothing she could have done, and it’s not like she herself was trying to drown his daughter. It was simply a sad situation that left many dead and many more devastated. But I can at least understand his motivation, the way his grief would drive him to such desperation. What didn’t make sense was why she continued to meet with him after his attempt to kill her. I think they could have given her a logical reason for doing so, namely her guilt over his daughter’s death and feeling like she deserves to die, but the writers never tie any of this together, so the character choice leaves you scratching your head. I like how their story concludes, however, so I chose to overlook it.

In the original, Ji Won doesn’t get any real backstory or central conflict to work through until season 2, something viewers greatly lamented at the time. And when it did give her that backstory and conflict, it was a real dark downer and not really what the audience was expecting or hoping for. This is perfectly fine for a drama to do, of course. Just because a character is feisty and peppy doesn’t mean they can’t have serious trauma. But the writing choice had the unfortunate result of taking a really fun and feisty character and zapping the life out of her for the majority of season 2. It also inspired the writer to give what was probably the crowd favorite character of the series a premature death in the future (something I refuse to treat as canon, because how dare you). This version takes a different tack with Yi Tong, dropping the dramatic (and traumatic) backstory for something a little more simple but still just as painful for a young person to go through. In this version, Yi Tong has had a habit of telling exaggerated stories since she was a kid, initially as a bid for attention from her often-absent mother, then later as a response to some genuine trauma from being accused of lying about plagiarism when she was actually telling the truth. I honestly think I prefer this backstory/central conflict more, not because I have a problem with stories that address serious topics such as child abuse/assault, but because this version does the work to give this backstory/conflict purpose and meaning. It makes sense that Yi Tong would lie to get her mother’s attention, and it makes sense that she would later use it as a coping mechanism/way to avoid things that make her uncomfortable.

This version does leave three of the four romances on a somewhat open-ended note, which will probably disappoint viewers (it disappoints me), but the way the romances are left is mostly appropriate. All three couples end on a positive note with hints of things progressing in the future (where we, the audience, can’t see them). My one frustration is that we still did not get a conclusion for our feisty Ji Won/Yi Tong and her news club buddy. After the disappointment in the original series, the way the writer set up such a comically intriguing couple only to break all of our hearts by revealing Ji Won’s eventual death and NOT at least compensating us by having the characters get romantically together in the present, I think it was more than fair to expect this version to give the couple a happy ending this time around.

The one thing that I think stops me from calling Youth my favorite version is the performances from the lead actresses. All the performances in this version are solid and strong, but with the exception of the actress for Xiao Chun, I do think I will find myself preferring the performances in the original. I think the performances by Park Hye Soo and He Lan Dou are comparably wonderful and which viewers will prefer will end up being a matter of personal preference, but I have a feeling I’ll equally love both after my rewatch of the original drama.

Overall, I have to sing Youth’s praises for managing to take an already beloved drama and not only not screwing it up, but actually improving upon it in some respects. Many will probably still prefer Age of Youth to Youth, and for understandable reasons. It was such a standout drama for its time with performances that really stick with you. But I think Youth is a remake worthy of a watch and worthy of being loved, regardless of which ends up being your favorite.

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This is the story of a couple of oddballs (well, more than a couple) being odd together, lol. The mannerisms are exaggerated, the scenarios are outlandish, there's a whole side plotline that is five layers of silly, and that's honestly the entire charm of the series. The entire drama is intentionally silly and doesn't take itself seriously. If there's one thing you need to know about it going in, it's that.

Hwang Me Ri is admittedly unlikable for the first half of the drama, coming across as very selfish and thoughtless towards others, while Kang Dae Gu initially comes across as a leach and a slob. But as the story progresses, you begin to like and understand the characters more in spite of themselves. Hwang Me Ri becomes a more sympathetic character around the halfway mark, and Kang Dae Gu quickly proves himself to be a decent guy who's just struggled to find his way.

The story itself is very self-aware, poking fun at its characters and joyfully placing them in awkward or embarrassing situations for the viewers entertainment. The drama does take itself a little too seriously in the last few episodes, wallowing in a little too much 'woah is me' around some particular plot points that didn't need to be such a big deal (especially considering the literal dramatics of some of the drama's earlier events), but it's otherwise a solid drama that's likely to give you some pretty big, roll-your-eyes, belly laughs.

My recommendation for those thinking about watching Merry Mary is to not take anything in this drama too seriously, because you're definitely not meant to. Just go with the flow, and you'll have fun.

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I wasn't going to write a review for this season of Work Later, Drink Now, because, well, it's been hard parsing out my rather jumbled up feelings. Despite the excessive amount of drinking the characters engaged in, I greatly enjoyed season 1, and I was very hopeful and excited for season 2. These girls are a total mess, but they are an endearing mess, and I enjoyed watching them be both messy and heartfelt. But this season was...something else.

The first problem was the arc around Ji Yeon's cancer. It was fine with me that they went to the mountains. I don't even mind that they were 'healing' cancer with nature. Sure, it's not believable, but this is Work Later, Drink Now. Part of the purpose of this drama is putting the girls in somewhat over-the-top situations and watching them respond. But when we were still in the mountains 'curing cancer' by ep. 3, I was ready for the girls to go home. The whole 'healing in the mountains' bit was only going to work for so long, and they stretched it beyond what was reasonable. On top of that, some of the humor in those episodes was both weird and not funny. (The statue grossed me out, frankly.)

The second problem is that the unnecessarily long stay in the mountains completely messed with the pacing of the rest of the season. Everything felt slightly out of whack, like when you watch a video and the sound is constantly ahead or behind of what you're seeing on screen. It was so hard to get a grasp on what this season was meant to be about, what it was meant to be doing, and I was over halfway through before I got a handle on the story.

The third problem was yoga. As in, what exactly was there of value in the entire subplot with Ji Yeon's boss and her boss' brother? They made the plotline work in the end, but for much of the drama, it felt like a weird rabbit trail that took away from more important things that were happening in the story. Sure, the brother and sister had a sweet little reconciliatory family moment at the end, and yes, I felt moved...but why was I supposed to care in the first place?

And this isn't a story complaint, but the CGI in earlier episodes was pretty bad. I was willing to overlook it while they were in the mountains, because you are not training a hog to pose for a camera, but I did not find adding a CGI snake in a later episode necessary. (The events around the snake were equally as unnecessary.) This might seem like a petty, unimportant thing to complain about, as they are the only instances of CGI in the drama, but they stuck out to me because of how bad the CGI was, and if that's what it was going to look like, they should have kept it to as much of a minimum as possible.

But, and here's where I'll give this drama some praise, while everyone else hated how things played out between Ji Goo and Ji Yeon, I think it was some of this season's strongest writing. In fact, most of the seasons strongest writing was in the second half. The conflict between Ji Goo and Ji Yeon, how things played out in both romances, So Hee and her mom dealing with their grief (I have some problems with her mom's choices, but those are not writing complaints), there was just a lot of really good character exploration and development in the second half, and I loved all of it. It was also really, really great to see what these girls were like as kids, their upbringings, and then later as college students and how their friendship began. It gave us a lot of insight into who each of them is.

I wasn't a big fan of everything in the finale, but it was still better than the yoga sibling's plotline and having to spend so much damn time in the mountains, so I'm choosing to overlook it. What I can't overlook though is the incohesiveness of this season. There were some really great moments, some strong character development, some really good romance. There were also some bad writing choices, serious pacing issues, and some really weird and out-of-place gag humor (Ji Yeon loves farting now?). I'm not sure if I would watch a season 3 of this show. I won't say I wouldn't, but I think I definitely need some time in-between this season and another one. Maybe by next winter I'll be ready.

I have to end this review with one question though. Am I the only person wanting to know why they never addressed the final scene of season 1? Or did they address it, and I just missed it?

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This was a cute drama. It's not a new or groundbreaking story, but it is charming. It has just the right amount of teen angst to be enjoyable without making you want to pull your hair out, and it is often very thoughtful and heartfelt in how it presents its characters and themes. I do think the second half of the story veers a little too far into the angst and drama department at times, but it's not to a degree that is excessive.

I'm also mostly pleased with the messages the story conveys. The female lead lives with a lot of shame and regret as an adult and traveling back in time provides her with an opportunity for a do-over. But eventually, she realizes that she doesn't really belong in the past trying to fix all of its mistakes. Her life is back in the future. In coming to this realization, she decides it's time to make peace with her life rather than trying to change it. What she experienced in high school is part of who she was, which in turn influenced who she became, and she chooses to embrace that. My one complaint is that this realization and decision should have been accompanied with the acknowledgement that she is an adult, and that makes her different from her teenaged friends. As a 29-year-old woman, she's at a very different place in life then a 17-year-old would be. She has more wisdom and maturity, and her goals and desires are very different. It is simply not tenable for her to date a 17-year-old boy and have a 17-year-old best friend. Even in her 17-year-old self's body. So if there were one aspect of this drama I would change, it would be that.

Admittedly, the writers did create a plot hole in their story and their time-travel mechanics in the last couple of episodes that has already created some confusion for some viewers. My recommendation is to ignore the plot hole and just go with what the story gives you. For some stories, the science fiction/fantasy elements are meant to follow strict rules as part of the storytelling/world-building. For other stories, they are meant more to serve the narrative of the story, and if some rules are broken in the process, it doesn't really matter. This drama is in the latter category, and for my part, I think that's fine. The plot hole is not enough to break the world or the narrative, so I don't consider it a major flaw.

This drama was sweet and easy to watch, and I would recommend it.

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This drama is perfect for two very specific types of people.

1. Fans of melo/makjang/over-the-top insanity.

2. Those who love laughing at said melo/makjang/over-the-top insanity.

I do not fall into category 1. I spent years going into Kdrama rom-coms all bushy tailed and bright eyed and then pulling my hair out whenever the makjang/melo would make an appearance. I would keep watching, of course, because true love requires commitment. But I would always lament why they had to include a final hour bout of amnesia, or why couldn't the male lead just finally wake up and recognize his terrible behavior sooner rather than later?

I also do not fall into category 2. (At least mostly.) I do not seek out makjang/melo/over-the-top dramas, and when a drama I'm watching turns into one, I find it frustrating rather than entertaining. I don't enjoy watching people be terrible for terrible's sake, I don't enjoy having my heart put through a torture device for the 'exquisiteness of heartbreak', stupid decisions made for the sake of plot drive me up the wall, and while I can certainly suspend disbelief when required by a story, I cannot just turn my brain off completely.

With Husband in Law, we have the super common set up. A contract marriage, the leads move in together, male lead is completely uninterested in (nay, actively dislikes) the female lead, female lead is hopelessly in love with the male lead since youth, they end up working together with him as her boss, yada yada yada. This is very common Asian drama territory, and I'm on board with all of it. But on top of this is a secondary couple with the most insanely toxic, abusive relationship. The girl is basically treated as a rag doll by her husband, and the husband is a truly vile villain. He's also out to get the male lead because the male lead slept with the abusive husband's wife (not knowing she was married), and he even almost successfully ends the male leads life.

I fully admit now that I did not care one iota about what's her face and her abusive husband. I abhor abuse, and watching it play out on screen is certainly upsetting, but it happens so often and is so extreme in contrast to the rest of the drama that you eventually become numb to the abusive yo-yo relationship of the villain couple and just want them to go away. This is the first drama I ever fast-forwarded, and it was mainly their scenes.

The rest of the story is mostly standard for these types of dramas, but they would often incorporate really random elements (which I guess is also standard for most melo/makjang). The most extreme example would be when the female lead suddenly becomes a genius hacker because story reasons and hacks into the male leads company. There has been no indication up to this point that the female lead has any sort of impressive computer skills. Truthfully, there's no indication she has any skills at all, so this feels more like 'let's insert a random conflict here so we can watch him be mean to her some more' than it does anything else.

What really hurts this drama the most though are the technical issues. The editing and pacing are truly terrible. Scenes just end inexplicably, and we're mostly tossed around in the story without a very clear framework. They do such a poor job of conveying important information to the audience, explaining character motivations, etc. that I often struggled to follow what was supposed to be going on and frequently found myself on the wrong end of the stick with the story.

This point is less important, but the music is Frequently dramatic at odd moments. I get they were trying to give scenes a certain feel, but they should have invested in one more track of music that could convey the right tone without making everything feel like a tense stand-off in a crime thriller.

Now that I've said all of this, it will probably surprise you to learn that I employed the 'laugh at the absurdity' method to watch this drama. I still don't fall into category 2, but once I'd gotten into the drama deep enough to be somewhat invested, I realized the only way through it was going to be with laughter. So laugh I did, and it mostly worked. Granted, it took me probably close to a year to finish this drama, because ^see above^. But laughing at the nonsense made it easier for me to enjoy the drama. And truthfully, there are some decent things about Husband in Law. The lead actors are fantastic. They sell their characters every which way from Sunday, and I found myself liking both of them in spite of myself. (And in spite of themselves, seeing as the male lead is a selfish ass most of the drama, and I spent most of the drama thinking the female lead was trying to convince him to love her when now I'm not so sure she was. (See critique about the editing.)) They also have fantastic chemistry together, which goes a long way in a drama like this. The male leads friends are fun (even if they're frequently a little Too goofy), and they were often much needed comic relief. They also consistently root for the female lead, which I haven't seen much of in dramas in the same style as Husband in Law. The female leads friends are equally wonderful, although not nearly as funny and not necessarily all that affective when it came to being of some actual benefit to the female lead. And the male leads family all love the female lead and consistently take her side. And of course, I'm already pre-disposed to enjoy the general premise/set-up of this drama.

Still, despite being able to get some enjoyment out of Husband in Law, I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't in one of the two categories I mentioned above. I was too far in to get out when I realized this drama was going to be too dramatic for me, but you don't have to make the same mistake. If you enjoy melo/makjang, this will be perfect for you. If you don't, watch something else instead.

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This is a movie very much of its time. The camera work, the editing, the type of storyline, the type of humor, they are all hallmarks of the period this movie comes from. It's filmed in a slice-of-life way (despite not being a slice-of-life story) with what another MyDramaList reviewer referred to as a series of vignettes that all connect together. I think that's an accurate summation and a good thing to know going in. There is an over-arching storyline with a beginning, middle, and end, but it doesn't feel quite the same as most mainstream movies today. This style of filmmaking isn't something that was done in all Korean movies made at the time, of course, but it was a somewhat common form of storytelling from what I can tell. Initially, I found it a bit confusing, but I got the hang of it about halfway through, and now that I've finished the movie, I think I like the directing/editing decision.

The one thing that really hampers this movie is some of the humor. The male lead is a rich, sexist, jerk in the beginning. This isn't a new trope, and it's not one that bothers me if the male lead grows as a person and sees the error of his previous behavior. But the way the filmmakers chose to portray him in the first half of the drama involved a number of inappropriate jokes/scenes that I found tasteless and unnecessary. For example, the male lead arrives for his new job and immediately a fantasy plays in his head of a bunch of teen girls (although the actresses look like they might be in their early 20's) coming out of classrooms and running past him in skimpy gym uniforms, all the while laughing and giggling with their long hair flowing behind them. I was not amused.

If you take out the crude jokes though, this movie does work surprisingly well. Like I said, it's filmed in a sort-of vignette sort of way that I came to enjoy, and the male lead actually becomes quite likable by the second half of the story. The catalyst for his character growth happens about halfway through. Something terrible happens to one of his students, and he really pulls through for her in a way you don't expect. From there, he continues to improve, and by the end, he's become a decent guy. The crude humor also goes away in the second half, for which I was very grateful.

I don't know that I will ever watch this movie again because of aforementioned crude humor, but it was funny when it wasn't crude.

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I don't remember when I started this drama. MyDramaList shows me starting it both 2 years ago And in 2014 (I definitely did not watch this in 2014), so my guess is either it really was 2 years ago in 2020, or it was sometime in 2021. Regardless, the point is that it took me quite a few months to finish, and I only finished it because I was dogged and determined to do so.

This drama is pure soap opera, very indicative of the time it came out of. Absurd situations, obnoxious/terrible behavior, a plethora of villains, the quintessential jerk male lead and candy female lead, plenty of goofy background music (that gets stuck in your head until you begrudgingly come to love it), and overall, not very well-written or well-acted. It's also all of these qualities that gives BOF its charm, a charm that can only come from a drama of this era. That and it's so absurd that the joy of watching often comes from laughing at said absurdity.

Personally, I don't really watch dramas like this anymore. They've never truly been my cup of tea, even when I first got into dramas and most of what was out there was at least somewhat soapy. But back then in my early days of drama watching, I wanted to watch every drama ever made, and I was constantly seeking the next crack drama to grab my attention and not let go. BOF definitely would have fit that bill, and I'm surprised I never tried watching it before now.

I would say this drama is perfect for that particular period of a drama lover's journey when you're consuming drama's voraciously and always on the lookout for something to take you on a wild ride of emotions. You might re-watch BOF years later and think 'Why was I so enamored with this???', but you won't forget the experience of watching it.

I gave Boys Over Flowers a 6 overall purely because the absurdity and over-the-top drama gave me a lot of laughs, but based on actual quality, I would say it deserves a 4 or 5. The only reason I could think of someone wanting to watch this, outside of being in that particular period of the drama journey I mentioned earlier, would be because the drama is so absurd it's hilarious to watch. So definitely watch this if you enjoy wild, over-the-top, true soap opera style drama that makes your sides split from laughter. Or watch if you're in that phase where you want to consume everything, and you're looking for a drama that will grab you and not let go. BOF definitely that kind of drama. Otherwise, I wouldn't really bother.

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