Influenced by all the good reviews 'Because this is My First Life' has been receiving, I decided to try it out, despite it being an out-of-my-comfort-zone Korean drama. Scarred from a past full of disappointing rom-com dramas, as well as a general aversion to the genre in any form, I was more than skeptical to start and more so finish this. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the first half of the show, displaying many cliche-breaking scenes, interesting female characters, and also some well-timed comedy. Around episode 8, things started looking a little down for me - I was tired of the plot-line, I was tired of the main characters playing dumb with each other, and generally just feeling the incoming wave of a generic Korean drama conclusion. For a few moments hereafter, the drama held itself to its previous glory but it ultimately let me down with its final path and ending. By the end, I thought some of the characters were not acting rationally for who they had presented themselves as before, and a few pointless story-lines were introduced and dropped without carrying any type of significance.

But most of all, this drama really disappointed me with its visual arrangement cliches. At some points, I found myself really irritated with the almost outdated cinematography of filming an actor while they stay still with eyes wide open, showing each character talking, or showcasing each time a character is reminiscing in flashback format. Ugh. After watching Western shows, such as Mr Robot or True Detective, I really wish Korean dramas would be a bit more experimental with their formats (though I am aware that they are dumbed down on purpose, since the general public that is watching them on TV may not be paying attention throughout the whole episode - still bad film-making). Same thing for the OST - it's the same as every other drama without any real standouts. Big disappointment for me, but I will continue to search for visually appealing dramas (aside from visually appealing scenes/sceneries, which were abundant here)

Despite all this, I recommend giving 'Because this is My First Life' a try, if not for the strong initial half, than for the tackling of some social issues Koreans face and tend to not really talk about on television.

Edit: Another reason why this drama began really annoying me towards the middle and end was the obscene amount of product placement in almost every scene.