I gave the story a decent score, only because I think the transformation was pretty impressive, but it was still imperfect in a lot of ways. My first problem with the story was that it didn't know whether it wanted to be a romantic comedy or a melodrama. The main plot revealed a very mysterious and serious backstory, then went into these weird slapstick comedy scenes that just didn't work together. One moment there is a revenge story brewing, then the next moment we are supposed to care about a CEO's anxiety issues, and the obviously planned romance between him and an obnoxious new hire. Add to that the fact that the CEO is too mysterious to be sympathetic, and The leading lady is the most annoying person on planet earth. The only thing that got me through in the beginning were the "Another Miss Oh" cameos, but I listened to viewers who said the story gets better after episode 5. In my opinion things don't start falling into place until episode 7, and that's when I knew I would probably become a fan.
The writers do a great job of justifying the previous bad episodes while completely changing the drama into something more enjoyable. Still, even with the fixes to make it better, the flaw is in how bad the story premise is in the first place. In order to like this drama you can't dwell on how unrealistic the major event of the story is, and instead you have to just go along with the characters on this journey. The characters, and their rewrites, are what made me become a fan.
I eventually adored Yeon Woo Jin as Hwan Ki. This is, in my opinion, his best role so far. Maybe it's the fact that I relate to his shy/socially anxious character a lot, and I thought they did a good job of showing what it's like in a neurotic anxiety filled brain. I was truly impressed by how believable he was, and relatable, and empathetic, and totally unlike the ways I've seen him before. Some people may think it's too exaggerated, but I don't. I also relate to being thought of as scary and intimidating while I'm just sitting and thinking about something to myself. When it comes to his character, I think they nailed it.
He is matched with Park Hye Soo, who's character I initially hated so much that in one scene she actually gets slapped, and I wanted to applaud. She was too pushy, too obnoxious, completely self involved, and not likable in the least. I'm sure the initial point was to create an opposites attract scenario, but they left her with no redeeming qualities, which made me think that the actress was just too young and out of his league. Eventually the rewrite calmed her down, made her more charming and less annoying, and that's when I realized that Hye Soo is really quite talented. I did end up liking them together, and rooting for them to succeed, in spite of the plot making that pretty hard to do. I started to actually see chemistry between them, and although they may not be among my favorite romance duos, I thought they worked well together. Many of their romantic scenes together made me smile, and there were no closed mouth lips barely touching kiss scenes either.
My favorite amongst the rest of the cast was the silent monster staff. Once we were able to get to know their stories the office scenes became fun to watch. Their characters are comedically over the top, but still felt real and relatable. I just get excited seeing Ye Ji Won in anything now, but Heo Jeong Min was hilarious too... And I just rewatched "Another Miss Oh". My next favorite is Jang Hee Jin as Hwan Ki's first love, who was refreshingly different from what's often expected from that kind of role, and made that aspect of the story more entertaining.
The problem with Yoon Park as Kang Woo Il and Gong Seung Yeon as Yi Soo is that even with the rewrites they were still stuck in a melodrama storyline that made no sense to me, so it was impossible for them to not come across as extremely overdramatic at times. They did their best, but I cringed when that storyline would reappear. Writers did make both characters sympathetic, and saved them from becoming 2 dimensional, but their actions remained unbelievable to me, so I just preferred when they were not a major part of the story. Then there's also Lee Kyu Han who plays the ultimate buzzkill. His backstory is eventually explained too, but he kinda just pops out of nowhere at seemingly random times in the story, making it seem like he was only created to be a problem.
If I ever watched this again it would be strictly for Yeon Woo Jin. I had a slight feeling of missing the cast when it was over, but really it's just his character that I am going to miss. I really related so much to him that I just may rewatch it someday... or maybe just clips.
About the music... There are 2 songs form the soundtrack that stood out to me, so in my opinion it was better than ok, but not much better.
Obviously I am biased against the melodramatic storyline, and more a fan of the shy boss rom com storyline, which I think saved this drama from being a major flop. Still, every aspect of the story is explained, and reexplained, and the writers seemed thorough about avoiding loose ends to the very end, which i appreciated. So yes, all questions get answered, even if the answers are hard to swallow. Also, even though some of the last episode seemed like filler, I loved the last moment, and thought it was a great way to end the story... a story who's major theme throughout is being able to express how you feel!
Overall I would recommend this drama for fans of unconventional rom coms with the warning that this story takes a loooooooooooong time to build. If you can sit through the first few episodes filled with annoying characters, misunderstandings, and over the top melodrama, you eventually get to a good story about becoming comfortable with who you are, your own style of being, and expressing how you feel, with a sweet but difficult love story as a bonus.
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When one is difficult in expressing oneself, what it would be like? Misunderstood? This drama focuses on that expect. Gives lesson in life that sometime all we need is a listener. The story is really good and it isn't that bad like others used to say. A kind of drama that would make you say.. Glad I did start it. It's cute, fun to watch, some drama scenes with plot-twist
The start was ok to me, some scenes were quite bothersome from few first ep but it did change you know! The story start to pick up from ep6 and it will get better and better.
bonus: It will take you back to Another Miss Oh feels if you ever did watched that drama. :)
Characters:
Each character has its own story and struggles. That's what I like about it. How one's grow and conquered their fear/insecurity/depression/weakness. The characters was like I started from here and look at me now.
Hwan Gi: this guy is so easy to love, sweet, gentle, kind and considerate... xD every awkward moments with him is so cute. You'll find yourself cheering for him in every step of the way. He'll also make you proud, I am so confident about it!~ plus there's a bonus, look forward to his dance moves.
Chae Ro Woon: yeah this girl is not easy to like, she could get all the hate, annoying and bothersome well she did all those because she's in a revenge mode but her character will have some development just wait and see.
Ji Hye: this character would make curious and say why? No matter what's the decision she made/ the reason behind it no one should judge a person lowly.
Kang Woo: The guy I used to misunderstood about his relationship with Hwan Gi but I was wrong about him. He is the character I want to improve the most/open-up along with Yi-Soo
Yi Soo: I find her role pretty dull from the start but surprisingly there's more color into her.
Yun Jung: my fav character. You'll like her for sure with her straight forward/honest/mature personality.
Silent Monster Team:were all good. my fav from the group is Sun Bong.
Even it was short I love the bromance and the tandem of Kang Woo and Yi Soo.
Actor/Actress
Shout out to Gong Seung Yeon for portraying her role effectively, such a good actress, I was totally immersed with her, I cried. Also to Yoon Park unlike his usual role as someone who is calm, serious in here he was different and I like it. He gets drunk, shouts, play, a free kind of character, a new side of him that I didn't see in his other drama.
As to Yeo Woo Jin I love his role here the most compared to his other dramas
Park Hye Soo there are times that I see her like a kid but it's ok she manages to act well.
OST: I like the ost and music, thanks to it I always keep up with the phase of the story as to emotions, didn't get bored because of it.
Overall:
Meter feels as to fangirl is sometimes up sometimes or just straight line. My excitement and overflowing feels disappeared along the way maybe because I start a new drama but despite that everytime I watch a new ep I still like it. A good romcom.
Recommendation: Oh yes to those who are into romcom you could enjoy this drama especially to the one who are shy/introverted/difficult expressing oneself I think you could relate over it.
Just don't overanalyze it like the others who use to complain with the title because they think the guy is isn't introverted at all instead with an anxiety attack.lol.
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This review may contain spoilers
A quick one, because there have been so many others written already: I doubted this show in the beginning. The premise sounded great, but the first episode didn't grip me. The second wasn't much better. So let me just post a quick rundown of reasons why I am ever so glad I stayed with it:
- The Male Lead: Really, he is too precious. He is caring and awkward, afraid but powers through it, competent, confident and content to stay in the background at the same time. He truly cares for his employees, gives everyone a second chance, takes responsibility for his actions, stays with his friends and he's just an overall cutie. Really, this show was about him growing into himself as much as about romance, and I'd have watched at least ten more episodes of him becoming happy and confident.
- The Female Lead: Couldn't stand her at first, but she suddenly gets better after episode 5 and you'll forget you ever hated her. She's super cute, too!
- The characters and their struggles: There was hardly any black/white storytelling. Every character was shown to have multiple motivations, strength and weaknesses and I just enjoyed seeing people in this show instead of cardboard cutouts.
- The relationships between the female characters: Really, all around people were just so supportive of each other, it was incredible! But what stayed with me most is the relationship between Roo Won and Hee Jin. The best relationship between two girls fancying the same guy I have ever seen, refreshing but heartwarming.
- The relationships in general: You'll watch everyone almost grow into a family and it's so emotionally rewarding!
- Of course, the relationship between our main couple: They're adorable, full stop. They bring out the best in each other and support each other and it's wonderful to see
- THIS POINT CONTAINS A MINOR SPOILER: We see a glimpse of a trans character! And for me, as a cis person, it seemed like a really good portrayal! Of course, if someone who is trans themselves sees an issue with the way the point is handled in the show I'd rescind this point, but so far I've read of no complaints.
- Semi-accurate portrayal of mental illnesses that isn't just depressing: I know this one is hard, but as a person struggling with some of the same stuff the characters struggled with, I saw myself represented here. And in a good way, too! Their actions aren't excused, they aren't used as pointless reasons for some actions, but everyone has their own thing they struggle with and it's really well portrayed.
In general: This is probably one of my favourites now. The music is cute, the cast is amazing, the story is exciting, suspenseful, funny, romantic and heartwarming. It has that TvN flavour. If you're looking for a show that will make you feel a range of emotions and leave you with a smile on your face, try this one!
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Story:
To say that the main plot was far-fetched is being kind. Suspension of disbelief is warranted for the main characteristic of Hwan Ki's character, since that's the hook of the show, but to have this entire scheme to uncover a mystery from left field that left me thinking: "uh... this is not the fun and wacky drama I thought I'd be seeing...", having this was unnerving. The way the protagonist was written had me frustrated. The way that the female lead was acting (from the script, not her actual acting) was irritating. The growth in all of the characters, including the silent monster staff, all came abruptly without minor changes in their behavior could not be noticed. It's as if on cue, they changed their behavior because it was already episode 6, and by episode 7, they should be acting in a certain way towards each other.
The pacing was excruciatingly slow in the beginning, became rapid fire fast in the middle and then slowed down when you were expecting the climax.
I can see how the writers might think that the way the story was written was clever in their minds, but since this is not a sci-fi drama, I can't bring myself to buy the contrived plot and the forced character changes in the middle. Granted a re-write was done to make the female lead more appealing, it wasn't sustained in the succeeding episodes. And speaking of the female lead...
Acting/Cast:
I feel bad for Park Hye Soo. She was given a material that she couldn't execute better. If a different actress was in the role, they could've brought out more from the character. I loved Hye Soo in age of youth, and I felt that her character there was closer to how she normally is, seeing as she was more likeable and believable in that role. For this drama, though, I couldn't believe how easily her motivations changed. She needs more seasoning in her acting chops, and her acting was a major reason why this drama was a disappointment in my eye.
Yeon Woo Jin acted fairly well, and gave the best performance he can, with the script that he's given. He's had better performances, with "Marriage, Not Dating" being his best one so far.
Several supporting actors actually came from the previous drama that the PD worked on, which was superior in every way, "Another Oh Hae Young." The Silent Monster crew was charming in their own way and damned entertaining. As usual, Ye Ji Won and Heo Jeong Min gave brilliant performances as supporting actors. Both were very funny and entertaining as usual, but the limitations of the script and story prevented us from seeing more and enjoying what they can potentially do, given a better script.
Music:
The music was very appropriate, and you can feel how each track was selected to coincide with the mood of the scene/s. But since they used and re-used around 4-5 tracks, it became formulaic. It's as if the drama is telling us: "It's time to laugh.... now, it's time to feel sad..." I understand that this is normal in any show that features sequential story-telling, but because of the really bad script, which in turn translated to less-than-stellar acting, the music just brought me out of the story. Rather than helping accentuate the scenes, and feel the mood based on the scene and the acting, my attention focused on the music. Normally, the scenes and acting are enough for me to feel, know and understand what's happening, with the soundtrack adding that icing on top. Instead, I hear the music, and I'm forced to pay attention to the scene to get the appropriate mood that was supposed to happen. That is an indication of bad story-telling.
ReWatch Value:
There are dramas I like that I rewatched the entire thing, and these are mostly the most exceptional ones that entertained me throughout the run, like "You From Another Star." Then there are some dramas that I just re-watch certain scenes with the lead actors in them, to re-create the feel of the show, without being bogged down by the entire story. This happened to me for "You're the Best, Lee Soon Shin." Lastly, there are dramas that I'd rather not see ever again. THIS DRAMA, created a fourth category for me. The only scenes that I re-watched, were the scenes wherein Han Chae Ah (Chae Ji Hye [Ro Woon's older sister]) were in them. That was how unbearable the female lead's acting was. I enjoyed the chemistry and interactions and the presence (she looked so much prettier) that a DEAD CHARACTER had, more than the female lead.
Over-all:
Over-all, it's like High School for me. I enjoyed half of it, I slept through the rest just to get through each day. I'm glad I saw the drama because I really liked the actors, but I was happier that it has ended because that way, my frustrations ended along with it. IMHO, the female lead was miscast, and the story structure, plot and re-writes made it a big jumbled mess. I've never written a review before because I tend to be satisfied with most dramas I watch, but this one prompted me to hit the keyboard because of how mind-numbingly frustrating this had been for me. You know it's bad when you'd rather watch the story of the dead plot device Unnie, rather than the actual female lead's story.
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Introverted boss is the story of a girl whose sister died a tragic death and now wants to take revenge on those who wronged her making her commit suicide. To her surprise, she finds herself caring eventually for the person she was originally set out to destroy. The drama is an aspiring melo comedy romance set in a business PR company centering around 2 polar opposite characters, an introvert and an extrovert. Sounds pretty watchable doesn’t it? Well, I had so many issues with Introverted Boss that I somehow believe they wouldn't bother me but at the end, I’m so infuriated by them they need to be phrased.
However benevolent the show’s meaning is, essentially expressing that everyone should be accepted and we should not judge others merely based on their looks, as a whole the drama just didn’t work. Trying to piece everything together I think I can pinpoint what went wrong. Overall it seems that the drama didn’t know how to draw a line between serious situations and comedy therefore ridiculing things in a bad way.
First and foremost, although I enjoyed how complicated the story was and how (unnecessarily) interconnected the characters were, the backstory which is the base of the whole thing is the weakest backstory I’ve ever witnessed in the almost 100 dramas I’ve watched thus far. The whole thing relies on a girl committing suicide. It’s the first scene of the drama, the driving plot device. It then continues developing this into a mystery “what happened to that girl, why” ect; it is only logical I’d expect an exceptional backstory there to wow me since kdramas specialize in such.
To my disappointment the reasons the girl commits suicide were utter garbage. Not only unimaginably exaggerated, but also utterly stupid – weak writing is the main fault of the drama and I cannot forgive it. However, what made me really angry was that as a plotline it puts women in such, such a bad, naïve, gullible, stupid, weak spot that made me sick to my stomach! Suicide is not a plotline to play with. Either do it right or don’t do it at all. Making a woman commit suicide in 2017 because of… men basically, just feels wrong, doesn’t it?
Moreover, to top it all off, during the last episodes they pulled a complete 180 on those already severely stupid reasons and made it even worse! Was that their idea of a plot twist? The “twist” pretty much disregarded everything that had happened up to that point, and made the backstory not only disappointing but also completely laughable.
Continuing the drama apparently has a thing against women in general, or at least this is my take. I never have a problem with bitchy 2nd female leads, I rather enjoy watching them spiral. However what was that here? The 2nd female lead isn’t bitchy, she is mental. I’ve never witnessed, EVER, such a weak, penis-slave female character before. This the best way I can describe her. I seriously don’t want to even think that in 2017 there are women that act like that, let alone 20something girls who are as excessively beautiful as this young woman here.
Are we really going to accept tv shows that put women in such a bad light nowadays, or even sympathize with one? No, if a bastard doesn’t want you, you don’t forgive his sleeping around and neglecting you because “you can’t live without him”, you kick him in the nuts, you do a hair flip and you move on! This is not the 1800s! Unacceptable writing!
What’s more, another thing that seriously bothered me was the misuse of the terms “introvert” and “extrovert”.
Introverts aren’t people who hide in black hoodies, can barely talk to others, never leave their houses and don’t have any friends acting like creeps. What is this? So an introvert has no fashion sense and only wears black hoodies to cover his face, not being able to cater for himself. He can’t strike a normal conversation with a person to save his life and he overthinks to the point he hurts himself. As I said, over-exaggeration killed this drama.
Somehow this was supposed to be funny but it wasn’t! I agree introverts have difficulty in socializing, but there is a huge difference between an introvert and an anti-social person, which is what the male lead in this drama is.
In the same sense, an extrovert isn’t a crazy person who screams and violates people’s proximity levels. Over-exaggeration made me role my eyes so hard, they were stuck at the back of my head.
Since I mentioned the extrovert part, the female lead, let’s talk about that. Yes, the female lead was awfully annoying in the first 3-4 episodes, but during those episodes the drama had something different to offer, it was somehow original. I was actually enjoying her quirky character giving a unique vibe to the drama. Not every female lead needs to be nice and innocent so as to eventually “change” the male lead. So boring and unreal! After the script changes, yes she became conventional and likeable but also super boring, and along with her the drama reduced itself to a very, very classic and boring rom-com.
Additionally, I would like to mention what was a failed romance for me. No one in this drama had chemistry with one another. Park Hye Soo and Yeon Woo Jin seemed to be having fun in their scenes, but I won’t ship 2 people who just look good together. Everything felt too forced to go down a romantic lane making their scenes cute but also non-inspiring and boring.
Furthermore, broadening my rant to the supporting characters, I’ve never witnessed such uninspired, superficial and machine-like secondary characters. They all had nothing to offer other than comedy which, on the whole, fell completely short in my eyes. I was mainly annoyed at the misuse of Ye Ji Won who is just too good to be treated like that.
All this in combination with the thoroughly tedious and long episodes contributed to the drama’s complete failure. I could have overlooked everything to be honest if it wasn’t for the exceptionally weak backstory. I know this is a drama and i should just relax and enjoy, but when they put serious plot lines and issues in the middle like suicide and emotional abuse, there are lines that should be respected. Not everything can be comedy!
As far as the acting is concerned all the actors did a good enough job but I think all of them were miscasted.
Park Hye Soo was borderline unpleasant to watch and completely forgettable, no charm in this role. I am all for actors trying different roles and testing their limits. She did not do a bad job in this role, she was directed to act like that after all, it is just that the role didn’t suit her at all. Maybe it would be better for some actors to just stay in what they can excel at. I could totally picture Lee Sung Kyung in this role.
Yoon Park is too cute to be playing ungrateful bastards. Good job but I couldn’t dislike him enough to consider him an antagonist or sympathize with him at all to care or root for a character development which left me with a lukewarm taste throughout the drama.
Gong Seung Yeon. Oh my god! This woman is too beautiful to be playing such roles. I understand the directors’ thoughts behind hers and Yoon Park’s casts but it just didn’t work out. When you are beyond beautiful like Seung yeon you know it and you don’t run behind any bastard, and if there are girls like her, no reason to beautify it by presenting it in a tv show!
Yeon Woo Jin was the only actor I actually enjoying watching, still his performance wasn’t memorable to save this thing.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this drama to anyone to be honest, but considering the positive reaction it is getting I think my personal views, principles and values got the best of me. Apparently rom-com lovers, business drama followers and comedy fans will enjoy this but I’m positive there are far better dramas out there.
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When I started this drama, I was expecting it to be a light romantic-comedy, but the first thing that happens in this drama, I think I can say this, is that someone kills themselves. I understood it after I kept watching it but I did not expect that.
As the story goes on I noticed myself finding it harder to watch, by the end of the drama I felt like I was forcing my way through it. I had already seen 14 episodes so I thought that there was no point in dropping the drama now with only 2 episodes left, but I’m dropping t halfway through episode 15, I just can’t seem to get through the last two episode. I don’t know if I started watching it with to high expectations or if it’s just not that good. One thing is for sure though. If someone asked me whether they should watch “Lucky romance” or “Introverted boss” I would 100% for sure say “Lucky romance”.
All in all, an okey drama, it's not bad but it wouldn't be the first drama i'd reccomend if someone asked me to reccomend a rom-com.
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This review may contain spoilers
It’s been so long since this drama ended so this review is going to be scattered, but my GOD did I love this drama.I wasn’t even going to watch this drama. I had it on my list, but the initial response to it was so negative, I took it off. But then I saw this one gifset of the male lead stroking the girl’s face while lying in a bed and I felt so much tension just from those gifs, I was immediately taken.
And honestly, Hwarang was so dry I was like dying of thirst and when I saw that gifset just drenched in chemistry I was sold.
I could see where the negative reviews came from. The editing was very jumpy - jumping back and forth to the various different things going on but, like, I couldn’t tell what was going on.
The transitions were really weird. The writers were awkward with introducing the characters. And then the drama started out with a woman jumping off of a building, and it takes you forever to find out who she was. JUST FYI that scene took place three years before the rest of the drama. They should have put “Three Years Later” at the bottom of the screen, no clue why they didn’t.
They could have used a bit more depth in setting up the characters. Whereas most dramas take two to three episodes to set up the plot, this drama just dived right in. Pretty much “everything” was set up in episode one. And I say that in quotation marks because of the episode 5 situation (explained below).
BUT once everything started to make sense, I was really intrigued. They had a really good story, it was just a rocky start. Get past the rocky start!
Much of the controversy was surrounding the female lead Park Hye Soo’s acting. I can’t argue with it. She wasn’t awful, but it seemed like it was her first lead role. She seemed like the type that can act well in minor roles, but something felt off with her line delivery... it felt almost forced. I think part of it was the weird script, because it got better after episode 4. Obviously it didn’t bother me enough to stop watching the drama, I stopped noticing it much the later I got into the drama. I guess the experience did well for her.
For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember when the news broke, the drama skipped a week to rewrite the script. This happened after episode 4. If you are watching and you’re not really feeling it, my advice is to wait and watch episodes 5 and 6 because that’s where a lot of things are fixed, everything gets explained, and the plot picks up.
NOTE: From what I gathered when watching, the writers changed the central conflict. There are a few continuity errors, but it’s understandable considering they film these dramas while they’re airing.
It was really quirky. The bright colors, the tone, the dialogue. It reminded me a bit of the extra-ness of jdramas. It had that lighthearted, fun feeling like Sassy Go Go, Surplus Princess, Marriage Not Dating (from what I’ve heard), Cinderella and Four Knights, Shopping King Louis, etc.
However, the deeper you get into the show, the more things appear to be not what they seem. So while “everything” is explained in episode 5, aside from the personal conflicts and episodic conflicts, there was this mystery brewing. A sort of underlying sketchyness that kept growing until the end.
I absolutely adored this drama. From the comedy (which was golden btw) to the use of irony to the characters to the romance. It is up on my list of top dramas for 2017.
The comedy: there was a lot of witty dialogue and utilization of each of the characters’ little quirks. The actors did amazing, a lot of it was expressions and motions tied in with dialogue that wouldn’t have been nearly as entertaining if the actors delivered it badly.
Yeon Woo Jin did such an amazing job as Eun Hwan Gi. He made this character come to life in such a raw and realistic way, I am truly impressed. I’m looking forward to seeing him in his next drama. I, someone with a social anxiety disorder, relate to Eun Hwan Gi so much it’s frightening. But that’s what made me love the drama even more. It made me feel a deeper connection to any kdrama character I have ever felt, and his thought process was so much like mine (always overthinking things) it made me root for him that much more.
I felt so much for him seeing him make the efforts because I know from personal experience how hard it was for him. He was unable to do the mean thing despite it being the right thing because it was mean. He was so not the typical male kdrama lead, and he broke a lot of gender stereotypes. Plus he was freaking adorable. He had all these charms; his drunk habit for one lol, + he was caring, he watched over everyone, and when he did succeed in conquering his fear step by step as a viewer it fills you with so much warmth.
He’s just such a wonderful person and it brings you unbelievable joy as a viewer to see the rest of the characters slowly realize this too.
ALSO HE WAS LIKE HEALER’S BONG SOO ALIAS EXCEPT IN REAL PERSON FORM AND I LOVED IT.
And then when we finally got to see his frustration. Social anxiety is not this cute introvert nerd, it’s a pain in the ass and I am so glad/proud/thankful that the writers showed this side of it.
I want to take a second to mention the symbolism. I adored the symbolism behind his hood and what it meant for him to take it off/put it on. It was just one more key to understanding the character + it made you feel all the things when he was comfortable enough to take it off.
Chae Ro Woon... It was hard to judge her change because it was so sudden, but I thought her change was for the better. Yet there were still some things that annoyed me. A lot of time the writers used her inappropriate(?) behavior to move the plot along, but there were still instances I thought she was way over the line. However in my opinion, a lot of the hate towards her was out of line because her main goal was revenge and it seemed like people kept forgetting that. Especially later on, I thought Chae Ro Woon was just absolutely amazing. She was so understanding of Hwan Gi, even though it took her some time (which is realistic), and she was accepting of him. She didn’t push him too hard to change, she gave him space, and did what she could to make him comfortable. I loved it.
I was also a little disappointed with what the writers did with Hyo Sung’s character, specifically the way she treated Hwan Gi, but I’m going to attribute that to the story change and that if the writers could they would go back and take out that one scene from episode 2(?) to make her character understandable.
I’m not going to mention how I feel about Kang Woo Il, or Eun Yi Soo for that matter, because everything surrounding them is a spoiler. They’re complicated, especially Yi Soo. While I may not have been fond of them, I understood them. Especially Yi Soo. Which is what I believe is the most important when it comes to a character.
I LOVED YOO HEE. I don’t know if either of you have seen the Taiwanese drama Refresh Man, but it was another office romance and there was this older woman who saw the main character’s feelings for the girl and tried to set them up. I loved it. And the same thing pretty much happened here. It was hilarious.
Yeon Jung, usually I hate characters like her, but she was so amazing. She was annoying as a love interest but necessary as a friend, and I am actually glad a character like her was in the drama.
The romance. The sexual tension between Eun Hwan Gi and Chae Ro Woon was tangible. I loved how he slowly opened up to her, and it was symbolic in his hood and the way his voice became louder the more comfortable he became. Spoiler: they kiss a shit ton of times. I loved every second.
The drama did a lot of things I didn’t expect. There were really straightforward conversations (the how-far-have-you-gone one), admissions of wrongful actions, actual apologies from multiple characters (all the characters that needed to imo) that I didn’t expect to happen, girls telling people off and breaking every drama stereotype.
A little thing I really liked was how, you know when dramas are like “we’ve wrapped up the plot but still have two episodes” so they create a conflict which is usually super random and off topic? This one tied back to the original roots of the plot and it fit so well with the theme of the whole drama. There was a huge presence of family in the drama, both Ro Woon’s and Hwan Gi’s, and I was very appreciative of how they wrapped up.
And, hun, while I stumbled over the time jump in the last episode, that ending was FANTASTIC. I don’t need to say anything else. Just that it was so damn satisfying.
Someone get me an Eun Hwan Gi please and thank you.
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And again........... if you're going to include something as serious as suicide in your series please do not make the underlying reason someone commits the act because of an unrequited love..... In this series specifically the person is totally fine and going along through life relatively happy no underlying issues that are found (compared to another character in this series who is completely insufferable) until this (1) series of events and decides to end it... and while that does happen for some people the way it was portrayed in this series is completely unrealistic and almost a slap in the face imo.
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Anyway, this drama is just so good! Love the flow of the story. At first, I feel so annoyed by Ro Woon though I tried to understand the reasons behind her actions. Before I decided to watch this, I watch some video clips of it on YouTube and instantly fall in love with the characters' chemistry. I am not even a fan of the Main Leads, but after this one, I love them already! Their acting is not that bad. YWJ is such a great actor portraying his character and I think PHS can improve. I love her cheerfulness and outgoing personality, which is very opposite to her Boss, what disappointed me was when she confronted Woo Il about the drawing, I really wished she cried, but IDK maybe the director told her not to? I felt that scene was lacking from emotions. Anyway, She's not that bad as a rookie. :) Now I'm planning in watching their dramas.
Recently, I've been watching Kdramas and I wonder why I'm not that attached to their OSTs but this drama's OSTs just keeps me singing! They've successfully enter my head and I'm having a hard time taking them out. I think you can already tell that I love every bit of this drama ;)
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This review may contain spoilers
Little the good, mostly the bad, and a lot of the ugly
First things first - I don't recommend this drama to anyone except for the hardcore Yeon Woo Jin fans.The good:
a) kiss scenes, though you will have to wait A LONG TIME for them, were steaming. Literally. Both YWJ and PHS were great and this is rare at least in the dramas I've seen.
b) Yeon Woo Jin's acting and interesting and unusual character
c) Park Hye Soo's cute moments - despite the horrible character she portrayed, she was a ray of sunshine and I would love to see her in a role that is better suited for her and in a better drama.
d) some social issues touched upon that I've never seen in a Korean drama: like society's attitude towards trans people, self-harm and social anxiety.
e) the premise itself while generally speaking a cliche (revenge turned into love) was very promising and the reason (among with YWJ's smile) that I started watching this in the first place.
f) unusual take on the female leads competition for the male lead.
The bad:
a) Characters put in the most illogical situations
b) weak secondary characters (they were just boring, I didn't get invested in any of their stories at all)
c) annoying secondary characters (i hated everyone except Yeon Jung, who was brilliant)
d) pacing all over the place: there was zero character development and then BOOM suddenly the character did a major turn around.
e) could not decide which genre it actually was and was failing at all of them most of the time.
f) the viewer is taken to be a complete idiot.
g) Chae Ro Woon (the female lead)'s character is terrible at the beginning and then lacking any character whatsover after the rewrite.
The ugly:
a) UNBEARABLE FIRST 4 EPISODES
b) love songs playing at the funeral :)))
c) horrible writing throughout the show - they completely forgot the revenge plot, turned the promising main villain into some sad puppy who does not know what and who he likes and what he wants
d) character development came way too late when the audience already hates the character and it's too late to redeem them
e) the sister's suicide reason was a disgrace. After waiting through the first 4 horrible episodes knowing that they had a rewrite, I was still disappointed. The show didn't make me wish to throw my screen into the wall anymore but it lost any character whatsover and became just bland. The only reason I kept watching was to know how they would solve this suicide problem. And guess what, they screwed up even more if that was even possible. To save anyone who reads this review the trouble and to get this off my chest: a COMPLETELY HAPPY if a bit shy person with a very supportive family kills herself... because she falls in love with her boss and can't tell him that. There are some more stuff going on but this is the main reason that her friend wants to enact revenge on her behalf (because he doesn't know anything else that happened). This is not addressed in any other way in the show, nobody says anything how this is absolutely unacceptable, they agree that the guy she fell in love with bears some kind of blame for it. Like seriously? This is the most tone deaf portrayal of both women in general and people who have suicidal thoughts and suffer from depression and ACTUALLY NEED HELP and not that their boss would acknowledge their crush on him/her.
f) portraying the sister's sexual encounter with the second male lead as ambiguous (forced/not forced debate) and then not addressing it at the slightest (neither showing it as a possible reason for her suicide, nor addressing it any further besides the same flashbacks and also of course showing the guy as the sad/confused nice guy instead of...well a rapist). You simply cannot do that. Either show the backlash and address the issue or not portray it in any way that could imply it was actually forced. Cause now we get a possible predator who is shown in a positive light and gets his happy ending and EVERYONE including the sister of the dead girl is happy with him and have nothing to say about it. This is seriously disgusting.
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Boring! Don't Waste Your Time, Worst Korean Drama
Boring Don't waste your time watching it.Starting watching it was curious why her sister died. The lead actress Park Hye Su was too loud shouting most of the time and put me right off by barging into CEO office and no respect of people privacy by open up drawers and looking for something which she doesn't know who he is.
Given up after episodes 3, story line is boring, no excitement or mystery. All I hear is her screaming and she thinks she is high almighty.
Boring! Boring! Boring! Don't Waste Your Time.
Not Funny or Excitement.
Worst Korean Drama I ever watch.😡
Highly recommend Business Proposal.😀👍🏻
Will not recommend watching this drama😰
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