anything for my love esther

If it wasn’t for the second lead story, this would be a 5/5 stars. They just took up too much space to be honest, and it was very annoying. The main couple were chef’s kiss though! I loved them: they were fun, cute and entertaining to watch and especially in the last episode… sigh… I nearly shed a tear, too cute (yes, despite Esther Yu’s baby voice, you get used to it… why her character had to act like a child sometimes… that’s something else). Anyway, now I lowkey want a botany professor who likes no one but me. Meh. *cries* (edit a couple of days later: the opening title is such a bop, I can’t stop listening to it, it makes me so fucking happy<3)

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Fun little enemies-to-lovers

This is how you do enemies-to-lovers properly and in an entertaining way. I enjoyed this drama a lot, it was fun and entertaining, swoonworthy and I really liked our main couple. They were so chaotic and fun to watch and their chemistry was GREAT. The second couple was a bit confusing and to be honest.... I truly think they broke up after the last episode, no way they lasted because the way they acted in the show?? no. I wouldn't want to put up with all that. Anyway, the music and story were really cool and fun, and I do see myself rewatching this for the main couple; their love felt passionate and sincere! <3

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Interesting premise that is ruined by the execution

While the premise sounds interesting, and the show kept me entertained at first, the overall execution is lackluster and disappointing, which is why I finally decided to DNF this 15 minutes into episode 5. The “conflict” between the male lead and Eve went on and on, but it’s the phone call between the twins that kind of killed it for me. I don’t even know what their thing with the lottery ticket is, but they are both so annoying: space twin is oddly whiny and shrill/childish, and planet twin is oddly dominant and both of them maximized the annoying effect they have on me.

Episode 4 was already quite weird to be honest. Why would the space tourist, untrained and unprofessional as he is, be Eve’s savior… out of all possible people that could have helped her? Makes no sense. Everyone, be it in space or on planet Earth, wasted precious minutes “monitoring” and asking the same, tired questions instead of stepping in and getting their commander back inside… like,… I don’t know?

The whole … reproductive propaganda is also done distastefully. Korea has low birthrates at the moment, and this show is not really promoting having babies in a good way: the female characters concerned with the space reproduction don’t even have a say about the doctor (Kang Su or the male lead) treating their eggs and they generally have no bodily autonomy as of right now. So far, in 4 episodes, the CEO has just decided everything or fired everyone in the women’s stead, which is so icky. (Also, him blaming the male lead for Go Eun’s baby loss made no sense, her pregnancy was literally not viable and life threatening??)

Anyway, there is maybe more to say, but the show just didn’t do it for me. Moving on to the next👋🏻👋🏻

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Eerie and yet I feel indifferent

I finally caught up with the show and have to say it's a weird one. I don't watch psychological shows usually, but I was nonetheless intrigued since Lim Ji Yeon is playing a main role here, and I thought she was great in "The Glory". We have two more episodes left and I am more than curious to find out the truth about Kim Yoon Beom's death as well as Lee Soo Min's. for the latter, things have been revealed, only to be slightly different after all, I don't think we have the full picture yet.

What I found questionable is that the police gave Sang Eun her husband's belongings back, including his phone, concluding his death was suicide, but... did they even check the phone?? Because if they actually checked, they would find the weird pictures he took of Joo Ran as well as all the interior pictures he took of Park Jae Ho's and his family's home. Which would be weird as hell. If they checked his phone, they would have seen the text message sent by Yoon Beom, blackmailing Jae Ho. Which, again, is weird. The phone alone would be reason and evidence (a motive) enough for killing Yoon Beom but the police concluded a suicide, this doesn't make sense to me.

While I understand this is a psychological thriller/mystery, I find all the empty scenes of the characters just looking at me super weird and long. They make the show draggy to me. And I understand Joo Ran's trauma but at the same time, I enjoy the scenes with Sang Eun much more, they flow better in my opinion. The music is a nice addition to the series as it complements the eerie, creepy atmosphere quite perfectly. I was watching the show and was so entranced that when my cat was making some noise outside my room, I got scared lmao. But on a serious note, the music is nice. Another thing I like a lot, unsurprisingly, is the cinematography. Studio Dragon participated in this drama as well, therefore the beautiful camera shots come to no surprise. Visually, the show is very appealing.

But there is something about the show that just leaves me feeling... rather neutral. I am invested enough to watch every new episode but I don't really feel anything watching this show. Now that I am done watching the show, I still don't feel like it had any real impact on me. Episode 7 was a weird, boring one yet I finished it rather quickly. We got some additional information about Joo Ran's sister's death and her troubled relationship with her mother as well as JR and SE plotting Jae Ho's murder (which I thought "huh, that's TOO easy, but okay", which it was because SE was betrayed by JR and nearly killed). The last episode was probably the most dynamic and eventful one since we got some actual physical action. While I thought that JR pulling a Bella by cutting her wrist was dumb (because why would he care, she betrayed him?), I also kind of hated how she did not help SE as the latter was nearly beaten to death. Park Jae Ho was revealed to be a massive narcissistic psycho, and he showed no remorse beating a pregnant woman and literally throwing her across his house (this actually genuinely shocked me) BUT I have to say to action scenes/stunts looked incredible, real, and impactful. I will give the director and choreographers this much! One thing I was thinking throughout the whole show was that none of the characters really had any development (in my opinion), everyone seemingly stayed the same except for SE in the last minute who seemed to live a happier life after all, but you cannot really call that development, we didn't get to see that progression. Also, what exactly was SE reason to follow her husband's footsteps in blackmailing Park Jae Ho? Where did that scammer characteristic come from? Was is general greed for a better life,...?

Overall, the show was... good? The ending was okay, left me thinking. I'm not quite sure what to think. I feel like the longing stares (into nothingness) could have been cut short to tie certain story/plot lines together more neatly; I also think the neighbor lady was underused to be honest. The show is missing something, but all in all it was a visually interesting experience at least and quite intriguing, too.

I'll give this 6/10 MDL stars or 2.5-3 out of 5 regular stars, I think.

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Nothing special to keep me interested

While I think the cast is very talented and good, I just couldn't continue the series. I almost made it halfway through but I decided to just drop it. Many people prefer shows such as "Dr. Romantic", so I will definitely give that a chance in terms of medical drama coupled with romance. Ji Sung has very pretty eyes and melted my heart one too many times, but that is not enugh to keep me interested :(.

I need to vent my frustration with Kang Mi Rae:
She is pissed at her sister, our female lead, because she accuses Kang Si Young to having given up on their father and basically supporting the decision to let him die. Euthanasia plays a big part in this drama, it is controversial, everyone has their own opiniions on that matter. I personally support the decision to let the father find rest after spending more than one year on a machine that does the "living" for him. The man had already accepted that he might die even before being admitted to the hospital, but the family (of doctors) cannot bear to let him go. While the female lead, her aunt and her mother silently wish to finally let her father go, Mi Rae opposes to it. I get it, she doesn't want to see her father die. Her behavior, however, is very frustrating. The way she treats her sister because of the incident is just awful. So much hatred, frustration and hostility for something that wasn't anyone's fault. Mi Rae acts like only her (medical) opinion and feelings matter, that only she is right, and it pisses me off so! much. In those moments it is very clear that it's not Dr. Kang Mi Rae who has these opinions, but Miss Kang Mi Rae, the daughter. At this point, it is selfish to keep the man attached to a bunch of machines just because you can't let go, however hard it may be. This isn't life that he's living, he's merely existing, unable to (ever) do anything at all (again). Her treating her sister like that is just AH very annoying.

Next, the two antagonists, that nurse and the prosecutor, I'll keep it short though.
I don't know, if I found out that a doctor ended a patient's life who 1) was TERMINALLY ill, meaning he would have died anyway (with or without clinical trial) (and also in hell lot of pain too), and 2) (lowkey more importantly) was a kidnapper who killed two children, I would choose my priorities differently. The nurse is pissed because she's against euthanasia and also thought the patient didn't deserve to die; the prosecutor is pissed because he's against euthanasia and the death penalty (in general). However, I found their targeting Doctor Cha invasive and weird. Don't y'all have jobs??? Just chilling in front of the hospital (or even in the building) and lowkey threatening him.... that is just harassment lmao, that makes you no better to be honest. Doctor Cha served his 3-year sentence and is now out and about, saving patients' lives. Their motivations were... i don't know weird.

The OST was cute but not that great. Chemistry was fine. Acting great but the story just didn't pull me in 100%. Si Young could be a lil nosy sometimes and do just a lil toooo much idk.

Overall, disappointing considering its hype, but I don't want to spend any more time on that show, I'll watch some other medical romance drama lmao.

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Healing

The last 15 minutes made me so inexplicably sad and made me cry, I don’t know why🥹. This show was really comforting and served as a means to let go of some of my feelings, which makes me appreciate this gem a lot. Liu Yi Fei is incredibly natural in her acting in this show, she easily conveyed any emotions and really touched me with her performance. Li Xian: I only know him from some clips of “Go Go Squid”, and in those he looked rather stiff, so I didn’t know what to expect. He quickly proved to be very charming, fun and expressive (key word: eye acting😏) on screen, and I enjoyed all the interactions his character had.

I think the show had too many sub-plots though. Too many stories to be told, and at one point I started losing interest and only cared about Hong Dou, granny, A’Yao, and the girl trio (girl friendships 🥰🐥🍓🌸🌷🌞🌈💜💕❣️), basically anything that involved our main leads.


The OST and cinematography were also simply sublime and so pretty!

Overall, a beautiful healing series that goes right into your heart with a dash of romance!

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Quite fun

This was cute and fun! I liked how bright and colorful the show was, it felt like an easy watch.

CCIR sheds light on the competitive educational system, and how it negatively affects students in terms of mental health and behavior towards others (their parents or classmates). Su Ah, for example, may have a nasty personality for most of the drama, but I couldn't hate her because it was clearly a result of the academic pressure she has on her shoulders in order to be consistently high achieving in class. I also blame her mother and any other adult in this show lol. Seon Jae's mom... Su Ah's mental health drastically deteriorated: she had hallucinations and even fantasies about harming Hae Yi. Due to the pressure she felt, she viewed HY as an enemy that needed to be eliminated but we could see that she felt bad and that she was self-conscious. Hee Jae is another example of how academic pressure (and parents) can destroy a person mentally, especially because his mom continued to make the same mistake with Seon Jae.

The found family trope in this show is strong and great, I really liked it. Chi Yeol finally found his people, and Haeng Son's little circle was so wholesome. And I loved it whenever she'd say "Anyway" 🥹. However, I found the episodes a tad too long, I watched the second half of the show in double speed and also skipped a little. I thought I would enjoy it a little more than I did to be honest. The show is overall 'alright' - I don't know what it is, but it didn't catch me 100%. The OST was okay - average, there wasn't really a song that stood out to me. But: I really enjoyed the relationship between the leads. It offers some sweet and fun moments between all the teasing and bickering and is also overall quite mature. I didn't like how it was never clarified that Hae Yi didn't attempt suicide though. That was bad writing... my girl was kidnapped!

In conclusion: a cute little show that offers an insight into education and its dark sides and impact on mental health, but also a show with fun romance, friendship and found family.

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This is was "Squid Game" was trying to be to be honest. I know both shows are different in terms of story and motivation, but I just enoyed this so much more than SG. This was dark and depressing yet entertaining and exciting. The games are completely unhinged and scary and I think I wouln't survive a day in Borderland because wow. I really liked the actors and their characters. Fan favorites such as Usagi and Kuina were just amazing queens, but I also think that Arisu deserves some credit. I feel like he is a little underrated in his own show. Chishiya was an unhinged 5-minutes craft king and Niragi may look hot but he really isn't. It's crazy how some characters just aren't redeemable, but that is what makes him interesting in the first place. An overall super entertaing, scary show that I very much enjoyed and I deffo would rewatch because the cinametography alone was stunning.

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fun rom-com!!

(April 2022) This was so freaking cute: I loved every second of it. I randomly started this drama and it was exactly what I needed: cute, sweet, fun and good humour. You just have to fall for all the different characters necause they were toooo likable. Loved out main couple a lot as they gave me lots of swoonworthy moments, but I also reallyreally loved the second lead couple (which is usually rather rare lol). But Yeong Seo and Ha Ri both had such chaotic bestie vibes while the guys were calm, it was really fun to watch their dynamics. The humour wasn't overdone, the drama has the perfect amount of cringe and ridicule without going too overboard. To me, this is the perfect light-hearted K-Drama.

My only criticism is that the ending felt a little too rushed, I would have liked one or two more episodes but other than that I really enjoyed this drama and can definitely recommend it. I have rewatched it twice already because it is such a comfort for me <33.

(August 2022 rewatch impressions) Every time I rewatch this drama, I know (again) why I love it so much: it’s easy to watch, fun, lighthearted and romantic. Truly something that soothes my soul<3(second rewatch).

(November 2024) Infinite rewatch haha! Still so, so fun and cute, I love this show so much. I laugh out loud so many times and just embrace the slight cringe🤣✅. Only thing is that Ahn Hyo Seop is a little stiff to be honest, but I love the show regardless!

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Not for me

Oh, this was not it. Everything that worked in “Love Me, Love My Voice” did not work here, I fear. This was not for me, and I feel like everyone was doing too much and nothing at all at the same time. Why does the male lead immediately care so much for a girl he doesn’t know? To the point that she literally moves in with him, like? Girl, he could be a freak, aren’t you scared of getting offed?? LYY was also just too intense for me. Bro loved looking at Yin Guo like this 👁️👄👁️, it made me uncomfortable😭😭. When she put that band aid on his leg… I thought I was going to 🤯 because why were they doing that much over a scratch?? I thought I could push through to get to their dating era, but the episodes just drag and drag – the leads just looking at each other wide-eyed, doing too much and yet nothing at all. It wasn’t for me, moving on to the next drama.

Update October 2024: I kept thinking of this show, and picked it up again. I admit that I skipped episodes 23-29 and most of episode 30 to finally get to the end. Overall, this was alright - I guess -, but my initial thoughts are still the same. Again, small situations were kind of presented in such an over-the-top way that I just rolled my eyes👀👩🏻‍💻. Bro has a sore throat, and Yin Guo acts like he's on his death bed. When she visited him while he was ill, she kept bumping into that stupid box in his apartment, which pissed me off so bad BECAUSE IT WASN'T EVEN THAT DARK TO MISS IT?!👹👹 Like, if I can make out every piece of furniture, then it ain't dark enough for her to trip over her two feet. Again, bro was doing too much because her leg was slightly red from bumping into a box twice. Pleaseeeee. Also... Zhao Jin Mai was adorable in this show, she gave me black cat energy, however, her whiny voice was a little annoying sometimes because it made her sound like a 16-year-old 😭😭😐 Anywho, episodes 8/9-15 were quite enjoyable though, once she got back to China... I lost interest again 😐🚩. Anyway, I did it, I watched the show, and had an okay time!

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not good but not bad

I was curious about this drama since I had started it several years ago, but never actually finished it. Unfortunately, it did not catch me as much as I wanted it to. I really wanted to like it, and I (for one) think the acting is decent. Some people don't like the lead actress' acting, but I thought it was alright. The male lead is super handsome, and I found his acting pretty good since he had two act two contrasting characters. It's the story that just didn't do it for me: it did not make much sense sometimes.

1) Mr. Grim Reaper is supposed to be experienced and smart and whatnot but then he keeps on talking to himself about "humans" and how dumb they are, he's overall super goofy and bad at hiding that he's a grim reaper like... Sir. Plus, he has no awareness of his surroundings and people possibly shadowing him. His grim reaper friends literally have to tell him to act more like human like cmon, where is said experience??

2) Mr. Grim Reaper wonders why the female lead cannot see HIS shadow in Moo Gang's/Joon's (? lol, I am not invested enough to figure that plot line out :( )body and then concludes it must be because he's wearing all black. Mf, maybeeee it is because the body you chose is already dead. How should the female lead foresee "your" death if the body already died bffr. I find my theory more plausible than his, how can he convince himself of that...???

So far, the cinematography is nothing out of this world, same with the OST. Overall, I am a bit disappointed. I decided to DNF this on a whim because I was just watching episode 7 and felt like I made huge process, only to see I had only watched like 20 minutes max... so yeah, it drags a little. There are other shows to be watched, so I'll let this one go !! :)

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Big love for my bamboo sprouts!!

What a wonderful show this was🥹💗 I had such a good time watching this drama over the last couple of weeks. Visually, it was incredible, and I just loved the styling and little details here and there. Such as when Zi Qi was invisible, and we could see Miao Miao’s hair ribbon being played with; or when they were sitting on the stairs, and all we could see were the marks their butts had left🤭🤣

I just loved Esther and Yu Xi together, I cannot believe their chemistry was even better than in “Moonlight” (which says a lot because I LOVED them in “Moonlight”). They were both so fun on screen, and I loved seeing Zi Qi yearn and long for Miao Miao throughout the show😭💞 I also loved our little Bamboo gang in general, and the friendship that they had! 🎍🎋

Acting wise, this was great! Yu Xi has such great expressions, and his eyes can convey so much; truly, such a good actor!! And Esther was wonderful as well, she can act cute so naturally I love it so much! I also enjoyed the rest of the cast, I just wish the second male lead could have had more room to show his talents, I feel like he was a little underutilized to be honest. Regardless, I loved the cast, everyone had great chemistry and worked well with each other!🌟

The OST, cinematography and visual effects were also so, so good – this drama was such a feast for my eyes and ears, I loved it!! Although I have to say that it lost me a little bit after episode 23/24, but episode 28-32 were great again, so it’s fine. I will miss this drama now that I’m done with it … 🥹💞

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Cute!

This was cute, but a bit too long in my opinion. I think 12-14 episodes would have been better.
I liked how this was primarily a feel-good drama, the bad guys didn’t take up too much time and were more ridiculous than scary! The show was cute, if not a little cringe at times, but I still enjoyed it and laughed here and there.

I wasn’t a big fan of Kang Ye Na; she acted like she was the only woman ever, like she was the only person ever working hard blabla. I just can’t stand a girl that doesn’t read the room on purpose: flirting with the male lead and acting like she had a claim on him when he clearly doesn’t give a fuck.
The Prosecutor was also super annoying. 1) still lowkey pursuing someone who clearly isn’t available is lame at your big age and 2) he was a useless character. He only existed to make the male lead act on his feelings for the female lead (most of the drama), but other than that… I also never really understood why Mr. goody-good-pants even liked Eun Ha.
I also wasn’t the biggest fan of Mi Ho to be honest. Both of the girls did not give off bestie energy at all, it was really weird. I had to skip all her scenes because I found her so annoying.

I loved the bromance and loyalty between our little mobster family and also the way they warmed up to the female lead😍That was super cute. The show is bright and colorful and cute, I think it’s perfect when you need something light and sweet for in-between!💌

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sweet cringe, but very touching

DNF November 2022

The first couple of episodes were fine (despite being cringe), but I skipped so much in episodes 8 and 9 that I decided to not finish the drama because I felt like I was getting impatient and annoyed with the characters. It’s cute and deeper than I thought but not good enough to keep my attention (or dedication to continue watching).

FINISHED July 2023

For some reason the show just kept me thinking, so I finally decided to finish the last 7 episodes. I am happy that I decided to do so because there were a lot of fun and sad moments that touched my heart. At first, I wasn't the biggest fan of Seo Jun as I found him a little toxic but as the show went on, I could see his charms. My number one choice was always Su Ho though. To me, he and Joo Gyung just always fit perfectly. I hate the writer for ruining Soo Jin's character like that over a boy, I couldn't be mad at her; I was more frustrated with the script writers to be honest. The ending was super cute and fun, overall, the show is a sweet treat that can be a little cringy but is definitely a little deeper that you would think!

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