A masterpiece - clichés and all

This is one of the first kdramas I watched, and over 100 dramas later, it’s still the only one I’ve watched all the way through more than once (3 times in fact). This drama came out before the globalization of Korean media outside of East and Southeast Asia - and I admit it shows. It doesn’t have the level of cinematography later dramas have nor does it shy away from cheesiness or clichés. But this is what I think so many of us come to kdramas for - that delicious cheesiness wrapped up in truly heartfelt stories that’s hard to find in western media.

This drama is chock-full of angst, pining, tragedy, and epic romance. It leans in to everything that makes kdramas unique, clichés and all. It’s also messy and strangely paced - but the exceptional character arcs make up for it ten-fold.

MLSHR stuck with me for ages after I first finished it. I always tell people it changed my life - and it’s true. I wasn’t prepared for how much this drama would affect me emotionally. Even the mere sound of a few notes of the soundtrack gives me a pang in my heart. Years later, even.

A lot of the reviews here criticize IU’s acting and I would have to disagree. I think she held her own. There were no scenes in particular that stood out to me as poor acting. Sure, she’s no Lee Joon-gi, but I think she did a perfectly good job portraying her character.

To sum it all up: if you can handle cheesiness, and are a sucker for pining, then this is an absolute must-watch. If you prefer more concise, modernized stories, this is a skip. But it will always be a 10/10 for me.

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Exceeds all expectations. BRILLIANT

This is the first time I’ve felt compelled to write a review on this app. I’ve watched over 100 Korean dramas - at this point I can predict the the entire arc of a drama’s plot by the second episode. Usually when I’m unable to predict a plot twist it’s because it ends up being some cheap cop-out. This is the first drama that has managed to surprise me over and over again without feeling gimmicky. Every time I thought I had it figured out something new would be revealed that would have me rethinking everything. This drama had me kicking my feet yelling “what the heck is going on?!?” at my phone only for everything to make perfect sense in the end. Hands down the best time slip drama out there.

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Chemistry makes up for [almost] every flaw

A lot of things were left unexplained by the end of this drama. By the last few episodes all the inconsistencies in the writing became pretty glaringly obvious and it felt… lazy. The ending was overall a bit of a let-down - I was hoping for some sort of extremely clever twist but it ended up feeling like a cheap cop out.

THAT BEING SAID - this drama features hands down the best chemistry of any leading couple I’ve ever seen. Each episode had me pausing to take a break countless times throughout because the butterflies were just too much. The romantic moments were filmed and paced wonderfully which gave the leads’ chemistry the opportunity to truly shine. This absolutely incredible and undeniable chemistry is what makes up for nearly every flaw in this drama and it is what will have it go down in history as a cult favourite.

Byeon Woo-Seok’s acting was top notch for me. It was never too much or too little - it was always perfectly believable. I’m not one to crack up at dramas but comedic scenes had me laughing out loud in the middle of the night. Nobody else could do this character justice the way he did… the dorkiness, the emotion, and absolutely beautiful singing voice. I really look forward to him taking on bigger roles in the future.

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