A Love So Beautiful (2020)

A teenage love story

I did not watch the Chinese series, so I will not (and obviously cannot) make any comparisons. I had no expectations on this drama, so I guess I just loved it as it is. Everything you needed in a high school romance drama was there: hanging out with buddies, falling in love, teenage crushes, good and bad teachers, school assignments, meeting (or not meeting) parents at home and extracurricular activities (sports, theater, singing).

The main leads were nice and cute, and so were the other 3 supporting leads. The male lead was kind of a shy, aloof and awkward guy who didn't know how to express himself and the female lead was cute girl who badly needed attention in a nice way. The friendship dynamics among the five of them was cute. I particularly liked the scene when they went out of town, and lied to their parents about staying overnight at each friend's house, and all sat down watching the evening scenery.

The acting was good. The female lead, Soo Ju Yeon, who is 27 years old, really did well acting as a high school girl. Kim Yo Han was also great, knowing that this was his first drama/film. In the last episode, where they showed behind-the-scenes, you can see how totally different Cha Heon's personality was compared to Yo Han in real life. Yo Han really looked like he enjoyed the dancing scene (at his best friend's wedding) so much, which was not the kind of thing you would expect from the quiet Dr. Cha Heon.

Anyway, I enjoyed this drama. Something nice and sweet, bringing back memories of your youthful days (as also mentioned in the last episode), Would I watch this drama again? Yes, definitely.

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I will never get these hours back.

As the title and review score implies, I was not a fan of this drama. I walked into it knowing it would not live up to the C Drama and that was okay, I had just finished up watching True Beauty and wanted to just watch this quickly.

If I could go back in time and tell myself to do literally anything else I would have. The characters in this drama are about as one-dimensional as they come, and almost all of the plot lines resolve themselves within the episode. I understand that that's basically like the formula that the show is going for being more serialized than your typical drama but it makes it unfortunate when plot lines that are kind of interesting (like the substance plot line) get resolved basically off-screen. My biggest grievance with the show is honestly the romances. The second-main lead trope is here and its incredibly cliched. I don't fault the show for that since the cliche is a cliche for a reason and some shows can still do it well. This show doesn't even try to add nuance to the characters and therefore they all just come off as pretty bland. The main male lead literally makes no sense, the show gives you the premise that the main female lead has liked him for as long as she can remember and he just doesn't acknowledge her advances. However its clear from episode 1 that not only does he acknowledge them but he also likes her back because the moment the second main lead comes into the picture he is visually jealous. He is also a member of their friend group so it makes no sense why he would be so standoffish to her besides just to further the plot. This however is not the romance that I have an issue with.

It's the cliche side characters getting together. For starters the idea that one of the characters has a crush on the nurse and then everyone just acknowledges it and no one addresses how its odd is kind of weird but okay whatever. The trope where the one friend is falling for the other character but the other character basically rejects him at every chance is here and at first its harmless and even though you can tell where it's going you don't mind. That is until they just jump the gun and go from "oh my she likes the nurse and not me?" to "you can tell people I'm your girlfriend" with literally no character development to warrant this change. The whole plot line of him going to the hospital makes no sense because they don't imply that anything actually happened to him physically other than him being sad about her falling for the nurse but that doesn't warrant him being in a hospital especially for as long as he is. Overall the moment she said that I had a physical gag reflex as it just felt so forced that it made me feel uncomfortable. It didn't help that the very same episode is when the two main leads get together. Therefore we were left with 6 episodes of no real plot which of course just means its gonna fast forward through random moments in their lives with arbitrary plot lines being thrown in for suspense (like him leaving to the US and coming back or what not).

Honestly I was gonna give this show like a 6.5/10 since it suffers the same faults as the other show in the same "series" whose name is blanking on me but it was a chinese drama with a physics guy. But their chemistry was actually nice and made the show worth watching, this felt like watching cardboard fall for each other and the two side characters rushed (I use rushed lightly as its more like they were just rammed into the romance) made it almost impossible to finish the show let alone recommend it.

tldr: don't watch it if you value your time. Unless you really like Kim Yo Han or something which in that case, stream WEI songs or something its a better use of your time.

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Really good fun!

Short: Short but well paced romantic drama that traces a group of people from their mid teens until their early thirties, focusing on the two leads and their long romance. Most of it is primarily from her perspective, but the final episode is all from his and explains a lot. Brilliant performances particularly from So Ju Yeon who is a young actress who manages to pull off such a wide age range really well. This is just pure fun really!

Detail:
To be honest, I wasn't going to watch this one for a while because it's another school romance and... I've watched a couple of school dramas lately and was looking for something a different, but with So Ju Yeon in it I decided I'd give it a shot and see how it went.

Opening scenes and her character is just solid sugar, she's squeaks when she talks and is just a non-stop walking cute-monster - which isn't meant to be a compliment, I wasn't sure how I was going to cope with this character but decided to stick with it.

Took about by the end of that episode for her silliness and genuineness of her character to come through and I started warming to the show and the other characters as well.

This story tracks them from 2006 to current day as they are in school, going through something like four years of school and graduating, going to university and entering their careers. We see a relatively high speed (though it doesn't feel rushed) snapshot through their lives and it ought to be inspiring to younger viewers to see this development in such a short space of time - if you're ever in school wondering if it will ever end, or if what your life will be like afterwards, while it's not exactly documentary-level, it's an entertaining glimpse into the transition that young adults make as they grow, including when things don't go according to plan.

The majority of the story is essentially from Sol I's perspective (the female lead), as she opens the whole drama by declaring her feelings for Heon (the male lead) - who immediately rejects her flat - and then spends the majority of what follows utterly relentlessly chasing him down despite what seem to be his best efforts to gently ignore her.

There's a love triangle in it, and this is the second drama in a while where i've honestly felt that the second lead is an incredible human being in general. Part of me was hoping against the writers wishes that the better man, the second lead, would get the girl, because he really was just a better person in my eyes. Alas, first leads always get the girl, I don't consider that a spoiler, it shouldn't come as any surprise. :)

I had some real problems with Heon's character and his actions. He teetered on the fine line between being assertive and red-flag-aggressive. Maybe i'm just too sensitive to such things, but it was part of what made me start rooting for the second lead.

Up until the final episode of this drama I was going to give it maybe a 7.5 ? Mostly because of my concerns with Heon and the unbalanced nature of the whole thing. Then the final episode comes on, and it's HIS side of the story. I won't go any further, but, balance restored.

I come out of this drama warm and fuzzy, it was entertaining and I was always looking forward to the next episode and i'm a bit sad having spent 14 years with this characters that I now have to say goodbye, but, that's what I have to do. To me, that's the sign of a good story and is why I give it a higher grade than most people seem to have. Swimming against the tide? That's me :)

Characters are all great and the secondary arcs are enjoyable. It's great seeing all their friends later in life and how various stories have played out in the background. There's one moment where there's a bit of a reunion and you genuinely feel almost like you're part of that experience, seeing this characters again and reminiscing about old times.

So - don't be put off by school drama (it isn't all in school anyway), and stick with it to the end - that final episode made a big difference for me and was beautifully written.

Watch it again? Heck yes, this one's full of the warm fuzzies, particularly after you know the full story and can then enjoy it more fully on subsequent rewatches.

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The plot was generally the same, but it was also as AMAZING!

If you've seen the Chinese version of this drama, you probably can't help but compare the two versions. Needless to say, I still think that both versions have their own charm and with the different cultures, I think they have added their own kind of uniqueness for each of the version. I still think it is great how Koreans always manage to add their culture into the adaptation of dramas from other countries, like the theme song which was originally sung by Kim Jong Kook and was a hit way back in the early 2000s. This was a very light series and even though it was predictable who would end up with who, there are details that were tweaked, like how the male lead showed interest even in the first few episodes (In the Chinese version, it was only midway through the drama that they showed the male lead was interested in the female lead). I also like that they chose Kim Yo Han as the main lead because even though he is a rookie actor and maybe not as experienced as other actors on set, his effort really shows and he was able to portray the character well. I can't wait to see him grow in his future dramas!

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Watch It If You're 10

I get it, she has a huge crush on Heon and would do anything for him no matter how rude or standoffish he is but this gets so ANNOYING.
Sol-I, through the entire show, is exactly the kind of woman I would never want to be. That's my opinion, I'm not saying anyone else does or should think the same way as me but come on, she's jumping around like a kid every time he appears, doing anything she can to get his attention and will jump through any possible hoops to even get a smile from the guy- then in the end, he says he always loved her more???????? Did he????????
I really liked the FL before I watched this drama, I always liked to see her in any roles but this show has kind of ruined her whole vibe for me. She's close to 30 (at the time of filming) but the portrayal of a teenager is so overdramatic that I had to forward through most of the show.
I really thought that at some point she would realise he's not worth it and the second lead is but no, this girl never gave up on the main guy and that was the icing on the cake. Hated it.

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Fluffly and Sweet

(I'll keep this review short because there already very lengthy and in depth one so check them out if you want to know everything)
The original version of A Love So Beautiful is way better in terms of everything. The story of this K-Drama version was not as heartwarming and deep and moving as the original hence I couldn't feel much for the characters. K version skipped many important things elements of the story that made the original one a hit. If you forget that an original version of this drama exists then this is just a bland and typical cliche drama without any speciality.
Besides the ML in this was too soft and FL was just ok in my opinion, also their romance seemed boring too there was just not much chemistry. It was a sweet remake and I kind of liked it although I skipped so many secens as I neared the end. I won't recommend watching K version of A Love So Beautiful when you can easily access the original Chinese version.

Edit- I'll re-watch the original now, it's my favorite show and I feel like this I need some healing after watching this almost bleh version.

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é tão ruim que eu daria um zero.

Eu comecei a assistir só por achar o protagonista masculino bonito, mas no final eu estava odiando tanto ele que a beleza desapareceu.
A protagonista se humilha tanto que dava vontade de enfiar a cabeça em um buraco de tanta vergonha alheia.
O protagonista era sem graça, sem sal, chato e irritante, eu acho que a protagonista realmente só viu a beleza dele, porque não é possível se apaixonar por alguém com menos personalidade que uma parede, a desculpa que ele deu por ser um babaca foi um "Eu era muito jovem", até minhas gatas conseguiriam desculpas melhores ☠️. No entanto, o Daesung, que era um cara legal, engraçado e que realmente gostava da protagonista e tratava ela como algo luxuoso e não algo lixoso, foi rejeitado.
No fim as únicas pessoas que me davam forças pra terminar de assistir eram a Hayoung e o Jinhwan, que se fossem o casal protagonista com certeza seriam MUITO melhores.

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a love so cheesy and soft

i did not like this korean remake at all. the development of their love story felt extremely rushed, and the overall plot was too soft, fluffy, cheesy, and just cringe in my opinion.
i did not find this series interesting at all and only continued watching it to see if the main leads will end up together or not. i usually find those 'cheesy' and cliche kdramas interesting, for example a business proposal (which i rated 10/10), but from this one i am highly disappointed.
overall, i wouldn't really recommend watching this kdrama as it's pretty plain, maybe just as a time-killer.

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Not bad adaption

This is my first time watching a Korean series. First time watching a series that I have already watched previously in a different language. Although it is an "adaption" to the Mandarin one of the same name, I don´t think we should judge that harshly nor compare it so strictly with each other. Both series have their own specialty, uniqueness and awesomeness. I find the Korean version of A Love So Beautiful quite interesting. The casts did quite a good job, although some of the quirkiness you find in the Mandarin one you cannot find it in this one. Overall, the storyline is quite similar. I really love the songs paired for this series and especially the wedding dance. But, nonetheless, great job!

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Rushed

I didn't see the chinese version so i won't be able de compare.

This drama is alright for a love triangle drama. Not extraordinary but not bad either.
I would say the overall result a pass.

I liked the short format. But i might have been a disavantage.
Some characteres are underdevelopped . For example, elements are introduced to explain a bit a of the ML's back story but they are not used. As if the director cut those part due to a lack of time.
I suppose that the FL should funny , clumsy and adorable. Well i only remember her as havinga two-emotion: cringy - overly excited.

I enjoyed that the story didn't focus just on their high school year. However i feel that more time could have been spend on their "adulthood". Once again the story was rush.

As the story shows the character aging, the castings is really important. Yet i felt that the FL actress was too hold to make me believe she was a highschooler.

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