Ha Ji Won and Lee Jin Wook are good as Oh Ha Na and Choi Won. They have a good chemistry and it is fun to watch them fight and laugh. I don't know who Yoon Gyun Sang is, but he is the male version of an actress that is stone faced. He doesn't have much experience. So, hopefully he will get better. Ha Na's parents, brother, and friends help make the drama more interesting and better. I really liked when she would discuss her life with them.
Personal: I gave this drama a higher score because Ha Na and her mother spend the night in a hotel talking and it reminds me so much of spending time with my own mother. I love that scene the most and I will probably rewatch it over and over. I miss my mom, but that episode is some how comforting.
The music is good.
I won't rewatch this.
It is pretty ok as a light romance.
Was this review helpful to you?
Just finished and it was not as I imagined ! Not that bad!
I really loved the relationship that was built between them among all these years!
Loved their pure friendship, and how he is supporting her anytime and anywhere.
I really looooooved her clothes style <3.. and her Shoes!
I loved the friendship they keep with their friends from high school <3 That small thing gave me a warm feeling!
Despite her failure in her relationship with other men, she has a great character. Oh Ha Na is a very strong, smart and cheerful person who can't be hated!
I think Ha Ji Won and Lee Jin Wook both did a great job in their roles. For me, Ha Ji Won was really cute and adorable :)
Although I don't think that I will re-watch this again in the future, but it is kind of interesting and enjoyable.
BTW, I have not seen the original drama and I don't think I will give it a try. ^^"
Was this review helpful to you?
Now that I know this drama was a remake, I can see why it suffered from a sort of identity crisis in the beginning. In the first few episodes it was dramatic, exaggerated, and struggled for solid footing. Couple that with weird flashback scenes (that I did come to enjoy!) and I was thoroughly confused. It flipped-flopped from being over-dramatic to a seeming like a drama that had been on for a while. (This is most likely because at this point in the characters lives they've known each other for over 17 years.) Eventually it does gain its footing at the expense of (sadly) plot, where it once again goes off course.
Ha Ji Won is great actress, but her role as Oh Ha Na seemed a little forced at times (or maybe overacted is the better term?). It mainly stems from having to act overly cute and talk in that silly baby voice. It was great, however, to see a successful woman and have others recognize that. Not to mention most of her wardrobe was spectacular and she looked gorgeous. None of this negates that maybe this wasn't the best role of Ha Ji Won, but she worked with what she had.
Not much to say about Lee Jin Wook other than he really melted into the role of Choi Won and convinced me that he was a friend who had been in love with Oh Ha Na for a very long time. Only problem is that he started to go a little out of character toward the end (and I'll also throw in a mention to that terrible middle part hairstyle).
Chemistry wise, they definitely had it, but I felt Ha Ji Won was holding back at times. I especially liked their easygoing banter and their ability to understand one another, the actors really did a great job there and it was truly the force that held this drama together. Sadly, kiss scenes were a little stale on Ha Ji Won's side as she never moved her lips (though this particularly nothing new with kdramas), so no, this drama doesn't have steamy kisses, though it does have lots of them.
Unfortunately, this drama suffered when introducing Yoon Kyun Sang as Cha Seo Hoo. I felt like I was in limbo watching Oh Ha Na make relationship decisions. That whole side plot seemed unnecessary and just added extra episodes, filler episodes that is. I'll go ahead and say the drama was way too long and the ending was just for fan gratuity (yes, those last two were thick as sugar and I suffered through them).
Had this drama strictly been about the main couple and side characters it would have been so much better. I found myself questioning everything that was Cha Seo Hoo and watched it solely for the interactions between Oh Ha Na and Choi Won.
The Time We Were Not in Love is NOT a bad drama, it just tried to be a lot of things at once and got lost. Ha Ji Won and Lee Jin Wook really carried this drama on their backs with their chemistry and personal story, and that was enough to make me continue watching.
Was this review helpful to you?
A 5 episodes story turned into a full 16 episodes drama!
Ha Ji Won is one of my favorite actresses, on the contrary, both male leads (Lee Jin Wook & Yoon Kyun Sang) are amongst actors I hate. Both of which I've seen most of their filmography, they always put up artificial expressions, borderline cringe and overact.This drama was quite disappointing, lackluster writing full of incoherent and jarring flashbacks, plus a sleazy shitty love triangle. The drama was heavily reliant on the ML's secret (why he can't love FL) to construct a story and this is its biggest downfall. The secret wasn't even that grandiose, it was just some insignificant bullshit from the teenage days. What a way to fucking blueballs the viewers.
I would say 3.5/10 and I'm being generous. By the end I wanted a miserable ending just for a final fuck you to the viewers.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
I loved the story, it was pretty simple and coherent and the acting (esp. Lee Jin Wook) was great. A lot of dramas these days are far too complicated, the writers need to chill :')
Didn't really hear much of the OST cause a lot of it was very Kpopish... but it definitely wasn't bad.
One thing I feel the need to say is i'm pretty dang sure '?? ??? ??' does not translate to 'The Time We Were Not In Love' .... but anyways! :')
Lee Jin Wook is fantastic, and Ha Ji Won was pretty good as well! -I'm happy.
Was this review helpful to you?
When I first started this drama, I was really excited. I love romantic stories where two friends discover that they have been in love all along, so I thought this drama would be really enjoyable. Contrary to what many others have said, I don't think that their relationship itself was boring. Ha Ji Won (Oh Ha Na) and Lee Jin Wook (Choi Won) are cute together, and they found the perfect balance between friendship and romantic love. I also liked how the story switched between present day and flashbacks to their time in high school—as the viewer, this allowed you to grow with their relationship and learn more about them throughout.
Now for the bad. The drama only revolved around the two main characters. There was very little personal growth/development of the secondary characters. When the drama introduced new characters, they only feel like obstacles to the main couple's relationship. The story was very repetitive—Oh Ha Na and Choi Won would find a perfect balance of friendship and begin to grow in their relationship, and then a new character would get in the way for a little while. That character, rather than growing, would just cause problems and then fade away. Then the couple would return to their happy lives before repeating the cycle all over again. Rather than learn from this never-ending cycle, Oh Ha Na and Choi Won didn't really grow as characters and instead dealt with each problem much in the same way.
Rather than being bored by this drama, I am just frustrated beyond belief. The acting is good but not spectacular (and Ha Ji Won did a lot of deer-in-the-headlights-staring instead of reacting emotionally). The music was also good but not great. Overall, the drama maybe had some underlying message about the trials of life (?) It was hard to say because there was very little development. My rewatch value is obviously low because I dropped the drama and have no desire to pick it up anytime soon.
If friendship-to-love romances are your thing and you have a high tolerance for frustrating characters, I would suggest you maybe try this drama (but don't take my word on that). Otherwise, I would suggest you try something else.
If you have finished this drama and want to refute my review, please leave a comment! Like I said, I dropped after 6 episodes so I'm interested to know if the drama changes. I'd love to know what other people think :)
Was this review helpful to you?
Like a warm, sweet dessert, on a cold night.
This is a more character driven, than plot driven series, and I don't hate it for that.I came for Lee Jin Wook, and honestly I stayed for him, since watching him play such a polar opposite character to that in Bulgasal or Sweet Home was refreshing, and adorable. Also Lee Jin Wook has truly one of the most stunningly charming and mischievious grins ever, and he wields it shamelessly in this!
Ha Ji Won wasn't initially my favourite, but she quickly grew on me, as I loved her characters self assured, independent streak. Even if I had a few issues with how meek she tended to be around the 2nd ML.
From the Leads families, to their friends and work collegues, the various relationships are almost always incredibly warm, supportive, and hilariously silly in ways only long term friendship and family can be.
This isn't a super deep show, but it is thoroughly enjoyable and something to watch if you need a break from massive amounts of angst and drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
Choi won on the other hand is hot and did a good job but i loved him in i need romance.
Anyways good story, but still not as good as the original. "In time with you"
Was this review helpful to you?
Dont know if i will manage to finish it.. its very lovely how he stays at her side giving her suppport... but after episode 8-9 things change... why did she changed her opinion?
Now its a bit boring....
Was this review helpful to you?
As I said Lee Jin Wook totally nailed his role in this drama and I'd love to see him like this again in another drama just with a bit more of a backbone... Ha Ji Won as Ha Na couldn't pull it off for me (in style or character) in this drama. Yoon Gyun Sang as the 2nd Lead was thee worst 2nd lead in drama-land so far - he was a very stressing character and made the middle part of the drama that much more aggravating (I really hated his character and that's sad b/c I loved him in Pinocchio) "bad drama choice for him" I also hated the 2nd female lead, I don't know what it is about her but she just rubbed me the wrong way (you know how some people just do that to you, even if you don't know them). Ha Na's parents and brother were awesome.
Music: Not my taste but suited the drama....
The acting got a 7.0 b/c Lee Jin Wook nailed his role & for Ha Na's parents but if I were to rate Ha Ji Won's "character acting" it would be MUCH lower - Same for YGS.
I will not re-watch this...ever.
Was this review helpful to you?
