Dear.M (2022)

Honestly, it’s not too bad. I’m impressed

There’s not many dramas that take place at uni, so this was nice to see.

PROS
- Topics you might be interested in: university admissions for low income students; general financial problems; computer engineering students; the ethical and dangerous problem with dating apps; diabetes; ocd; cheer leading; app and game development and more!
- A group of six friends who are comfortable with each other
- Childhood lovers to friends; campus couple; and noona relationship (by only 2 years)
- Jeong jaehyun (he did really good) and the kisses? My jaw dropped
- Sibling relationship
- Simple plot - easy to follow
- Characters had own backstories and problems they dealt with throughout
- 12 episodes so no dragging plot

CONS
- The female characters (main and side) were stereotyped a lot in the first half. Whilst the men seem to be very laidback and chill whilst the women are obsessive and jealous and crazy, but it does improve by the second half
- The side characters - at some parts, they were more relevant than some of the main characters. For one in particular, they made them do something very shady which I didn't like (basically just to get ride of him), and by the end of the drama, they all became irrelevant. I was kind of disappointed. There was another character introduced very late and didn't really contribute anything...
- At times, certain main characters were background characters because they weren't in a relationship and most of the problems in the drama are relationship problems
- Miscommunication. This is a big turn off for some. I didn't think it was as bad as some people have said. But the weird thing is, when characters did communicate, there would still be problems and some characters went two episodes without talking to each other properly
- I expected better confrontation for certain characters

There are some other things I want to mention.

I though the plot was quite interesting, especially considering that it’s a campus romance. It didn’t feel like a typical university drama where everyone falls in love. The main six each have some sort of problem in their personal life that also defines their personality and choices at times. I also like how they depicted uni life. They actually go to class and do work (because they genuinely care), and have a social life. As mentioned before, I like the incorporation of their majors and the apps they use. And of course, the anonymous love letter that was posted, and the mystery element behind that which was a catalyst for misunderstandings and confusion.

There’s also a few other small things I enjoyed that I wanted to mention. Joo Ah and Min Ho’s friendship is really cute at the start: them sharing a drink, him typing his jacket around her, him calling her mum, ‘mum’ as well. They had a good platonic relationship which I like to see. And of course, him being in love with her for a while. And the small things he did when he was jealous were hilarious since they weren’t actually mean spirited in any way (e.g. the lip balm scene on the road trip - p.s. I LOVE ROADTRIPS IN DRAMAS SM!!.) Jaehyun's character spends half of the drama being 2nd ML but he doesn't fall in any good guy trope, and isn't possessive or toxic. Despite knowing he she likes someone else, he doesn’t treat her differently (i.e. badly). And lastly, there’s a main character (Bo Young with diabetes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character in a kdrama have diabetes. I can’t speak on how accurate the representation was, but I did appreciate how she briefed the people she was close to in case something ever happened. It felt realistic. And we also had a main character with OCD which he really took pride in (once again, can't speak for representation).

Also, I teared up during the last episode when Jaehyun gave his speech...

All in all, this is a drama that doesn’t do too much or too little. Aside from a few things, nothing else felt unnecessary. If you’re a fan of any of these actors, and of course, if you want to finally see Jaehyun’s first acting role, check it out!! For my fellow nctzens, you will not be disappointed - jaehyun knew the assignment. And the kiss scene!!!! wow

At the moment, I've given this drama a 8 but it may change in the future. This series is not my thing at all and I only watched for Jaehyun, but it was decent enough to get through

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Sweet , sweet romance, friendship, rivelery and Hoodies, hoodies everywhere....

When the hoodies are flowing and umbrellas are showing, you just know this drama is going to be a hit! As this is such a sweet feel good youth drama with, lots and lots of sweet heart fluttering moments, so sweet that they literally had do add insulin just to keep the sugar levels down, while adding some pretty decent (but not perfect) representation of type 1 diabetes.

There are very few dramas with multiple couples that are as lovable and fun to watch as this one, as the mix of personalities, friendship and romance in this drama is well balanced, seldom over the top and just a joy to watch. Showing us both friends to lovers done complicated, hate to love, love to sad... Poor/Rich, Smart/not so smart...

I love the way this drama deals with different types of jealously, fear and privilege . Again not perfect but they do show how what some take for granted becomes an impossible obstacle for others. This without making it to angsty or messy for that matter.

The visuals in this drama are also just lovely, especially the great use of hoodies, fashion and everything cliche, youthful and nice... Including a contestant for best umbrella scene of 2022 or even the 2020s.

The main couple here reminded me a lot of Park Bo Young and Park Hyung Sik in terms of chemistry and acting, however the story is more of a Weightlifting Fairy meets Fight For My Way type of deal with the added mystery of who is the writer of Dear M, and who the real M actually is. But looses some points for some a bit to cringe dialog here and there and that the who is M does get a bit meeh after the 10th episode, you kind of stop caring who M actually is... And thought there is A LOT of sweet, sweet moments they are just not as many or as not as sweet as inthe dramas mentioned above. Still definitely a drama worth watching for all rom com lovers out there.

Bingabilaty:10
Heartflutter 10
Annoying moments: very few but enough to drag down the score.

So go, enjoy have fun and tell me what you think.

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