Yumi's Cells Season 2 (2022)

I liked it less than Season 1, but I still appreciated the new season!

I was literally in the middle of randomly rewatching season 1 of Yumi's cells when season 2 finally appeared! Yay!!! If you were a fan of season 1 then season 2 tries hard to recapture that magic and continue Yumi's story right from where the last episode ended. I was glad to see all of the old characters and cells return, but I will also confess that I am unapologetically team Wung, and was rooting for him more than Yumi at the end of season 1. I say that so that my bias is clear, although I will try to not let that cloud my review too much.

I think the main issue I had with this season is that unlike season 1, which was a clear linear plot about the evolution of Yumi & Wung's love story, season 2 tries to possibly do too much. Yes, as you can see from the poster art, Yumi has a new main love interest, Yoo Babi from season 1. We do get to see their relationship turn romantic and get introduced to Babi's cute and festive cells, but a lot of time is also spent on Yumi's writing career, some new characters, and an appreciated update on Wung too. I didn't read the webtoon, so maybe they just tried to fit as much of the original content as they could into the story. Sadly, although Yumi's emotions and the storytelling overall is still super creative and often relatable, the actual plot starts to drag and get repetitive about halfway through. And although watching season 1 first makes the most sense, there are plenty of flashbacks for context just in case you skip to this season for Park Jin Young as the male lead.

He may not have been the ship I wanted to sail but he is cute, so I understand.

Speaking of Park Jin Young as Babi, I do think he played his role pretty well, but once Babi became the center of the story he also became super boring. He and Kim Go Eun do have some cute chemistry moments in the first episodes but there are also quite a few cringy-trying-too-hard-cute moments too. Their cells often have to save the day to keep the story fun, or make their fights much more engaging. Watching Yumi become super jealous and distrustful on loop was already annoying in season 1, but Babi always being even-keeled with the same bland smile or sad expression just made it worse. If you are a Park Jin Young fan I'm sure he will be sufficiently cute for you to enjoy but compared to the chemistry in season1 I was kinda disappointed. Side couples were often much more interesting than the leads were. Wung's character having a decent amount of guest star screen time helped a lot too, but he always wore a shirt this time : ( #imissedhisabs

The rest of the cast were the same quirky characters I liked in the first season with some good new editions. My favorite of the new characters hands down was illustrator Control Z. ("Zeeeeeeee" lol ). He was another character that saved me from wanting to drop the tedious love story parts. I was hoping Da Eun would be as involved in the story as Sae Yi was, but I feel like she was underutilized. I think because of the self-centered nature of the Yumi character some great performances are more like guest appearances than the feel of an ensemble cast. There were some literal good guest star moments too. Park Jin Joo's cameo was really funny.

And all of the voice actors were amazing once again! I truly missed their antics!

Another plot issue was, as inspiring as Yumi's writing pursuit was, without the cell's POV, that was boring to watch as well, and definitely started to feel like filler in the last episodes.

Kim Go Eun as Yumi grew on me too and had a little more life in her performance this time. Or maybe that's just compared to boring Babi. Bland Babi's character was never allowed to evolve much past pursuing Yumi. Or was the lined black and white version of Babi also a metaphor for his lack of a personality? Apparently, in the original story he's the fan favorite, but I had a hard time seeing his appeal in the show. Their relationship was shady from the start, which was also pretty hard for me to look past after liking Wung so much!

Would I watch this again? Sure. I would definitely skip past a lot of scenes but the same charm of the cells and getting frustrated at Yumi makes even this messy plot still fun to watch. The Cells are everything, and along with favorites (like naughty) they really got creative with some of these new cells... like the hilarious "hand"!

And yes, I still love the OST and the new song editions. I was very glad to hear certain songs again.

Overall, it's super hard to recapture the energy of a successful first season, which the writer even blatantly has Yumi stressed over during the show's last episode (very meta). What Yumi's Cells 2 does well is stick to what worked in season 1 without trying to repeat it exactly. I still never cried, but I LOLed often. It's still the perfect length to binge and re-binge, even if the story drags at times. I got some character updates that I needed. I still wished for more growth from Yumi, but through her chasing her dream I saw some. I was also satisfied with everything ending as it did, and how they implied what was next in Yumi's love life without me needing to see it all played out, but if they do decide to actually go for a season 3, count me in... again!

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Catching up with life.

I don’t think we need another review for the 2nd season of “Yumi’s Cells”, so this one will be me casually talking about the parallels, the changes and the newness of the show which will also include few complaints, ofc. And it will contain spoilers for obvious reasons, so to know about the quality of the show, please refer the reviews for the season 1 bcs it’s almost the same in this season.

DON'T READ AHEAD IF YOU'RE NOT DONE YET.

# SO, It begins with the B&W face of the person that we loved in the s1 with all our heart. The pain in those eyes though, very heartfelt.

# We have to go through a ‘moving on’ era and process the breakup, with whom? Obv, with Yumi and her cells. The various tactics she pulls to get rid of her feelings and just forget, the time she takes to get over everything and let go, all of them were sad.

# I am glad they remembered the fried egg umbrella.

# Book as a sign of love and book as source of comfort, truly liked that.

# The rainbow music player device is still there. Gays are winning AAAAAA.

# Ruby remains annoying but the writer-nim put some sense to her character in this season and that made her very likable. She’s cute anyways.

# Was hunger cell always that calculative? I mean I knew it was clever but the way Yumi ordered stuffs in that restaurant along with that free stuff was clearly jaw-dropping.

# They continue to present some of the conversations between the cells as chats as the character thinks about stuffs during confusion.
# The fan and anti-fan war between cells for Babi was so cute man, I enjoyed till it lasted.

# I honestly was not sure about Babi at first and the reason was obv Woong, but by the end of ep4, I realized that he was a charming man.

# The recycling garbage dump of Yumi was a creative thing for sure.

# Yumi slowly falling for Babi with the confusions she held and with the fears she possessed was a rough yet sweet journey.

# A lot of things felt like déjà vu, bcs we were again falling in love, may be in a different manner, but feelings were regardless the same.

# There were contrasting paralles between the two relationships that we saw in the 2 seasons and I loved how they were represented by the makers, even so unintentionally?

# Yumi having reasonable suspicions in every matter following her fallout with Woong felt very real.

# Babi’s cells welcoming Yumi’s ‘SARANGH SEPHO’ was one of the sweetest things, I cried.

# Embracing newness and changes that come along is what life demands from us, was the moral of Yumi’s responses in her new relationship.

# Changing profession so as to honor your passion is a fulfilling feeling. Yumi qutting her work and becoming a writer was a witness to it.

# Aurora as the new lights and the turning points in the life, a reasonable method of relating.

# The blackout in Yumi’s village when she gets drunk was so funny.

# Rationale cell’s voice is worth falling for.

# The naughty cell had a blast this season, my gosh.

# The 40kg lingering feelings behind the trunk of the pride’s car put by conscience was also another relatable idea worth of appreciation.

# Woong appearing at the end of ep 4 and that thing continuing in the next episode was painful and heavy. The 5th episode that started with misery, I found myself relieved by the end of that episode because of the way Yumi dealt it. Woong was at least given a perfect closure, I was glad.

# I am so happy they didn’t introduce new OSTs and used the ones from the s1, indicating a perfect continual flow, However, it was also a lil sad for it reminded me of Woong too.

# Introduction of many other body parts as cells, like tongue cells, hair cells, foot cells.

# P. O. as Control Z (read Control JEE) was the cutest. I honestly didn’t know about his role and seeing him was so joyful. Then he was made to stay longer, and I was so happy.

# Surprising was Control Z and Ruby falling in love and dating, and I guess it was for all of you too, haha.

# Babi and Yumi’s relationship was smooth and sweet for a long time, very likable. The way it was shown definitely played a big role in making the audience want for more when, in fact, Babi isn’t as significant in the webtoon. Nevertheless, we all fell for Babi.

# What happened to their relationship was not expected but was I surprised? Not really! Was I mad? May be but not that. Bcs I knew Babi wasn’t the man for Yumi in the webtoon and how Woong and Yumi ended up, I learnt a lot from it. It also taught me endurance.

# Long Distance Relationships are not easy and for most of us, it’s a myth. It was bound to be shaken one day and by any means, which happened to be a third party disturbance in this case, which was again natural. Not justifying it at all but getting swayed towards your colleague when you’re away from your partner is real so it’s upon the person to have control over their emotions, at which Babi failed.

# We have all the rights to be extremely angry bcs after all, Yumi is our primary concern and her feelings matter more to us than anything else.

# Yumi’s response to this was also natural and one of the two options she had left to do and she chose what her then emotions and impulses demanded. She could have stayed and given Babi another chance but with furiousness she simpy chose to walk away.

# Again, again, again, it was only natural how upon meeting Babi after a long break and being confronted, she melted like butter despite her efforts to resisit. It was because they were away for a while and seeing each other again made them realize that they were not over each other. So the time asked them to get back together and they did.

# I will never understand people who lowered the ratings or started shitting on the show bcs the show didn’t have a lovey-dovey relationship entirely as shown in the first half rather it turned rough and realistic. It’s only natural to be mad on the characters but this is stupid.

# The process of Yumi becoming a writer was an ecstatic journey. We saw her spending carefully, thinking through a lot, being calculative at everything and manage her love life at the same time. But the way she bloomed into an artist and flew with colourful wings by the end of the show, I was so happy for her and for the fact that she got what she wanted and rightfully deserved.

# The editor in chief’s character was super funny and so was the scenes written for his cells but those ugly ass weird cells made me so angry, I mean why would you make his cells like cylindrical human beings? TT

# Woong coming back to screen, and that time with a fair possibility to get back together with Yumi, had made me so so so happy but why in the world the writer had to bring him back with the intention of hurting harder??? I was very mad, ngl.

# I was never happy with the 2nd innings of Yumi and Babi, not bcs they made choices to do so, but Woong’s comeback had me excited. And as expected, they were clerly not completely happy with whatever was happening though thankfully it never turned toxic.

# Well, but the ending of the 12th episode somehow felt rushed and abrupt, I mean the way they decided to get married out of impulse did bother me, bcs I was assuming they’d break up for the 2nd time then.

# Okay then, I was expecting a blast to result from that scene in next episode or at least in the finale, which didn’t happen, rather things were wrapped up smoothly and ig I am not mad about it.

# The metamorphosis card thingy was relatable wow.

# The cold virus and it's fight with the throat cells were so aptly presented, also with the ginger molecules, haha. The way the immune cells were acting up then was very biological.

# Ahn Dae Young and Yi Da??? let me cry bcs they were also cute.

# The fat cells were so cute, I'll kms.

# I liked how things were processed between Woong and Yumi’s in the finale, which obv made me expect things but atp, I think everything happens for a reason (honestly I cried about it not happening).

# About the ending, I am satisfied and happy about the way it ended. It was the best possible closure to me. Yeah, It was confusing a bit and we can say we are gonna have another season where Yumi finally meets her soulmate but I will wait.

# The guy whom we saw in the party, i am sure people are going crazy to know but first of all, I want them to announce the renewal, then I want to know whom they are gonna cast and that will probably happen few months before the season airs.

# As much as I wanna know who the actor will be, I think it will be a huge huge huge surprise if they introduce him right in the 1st episode of the s3.

Not gonna list out the complaints but lemme rant a bit. The plot development was not shoddy or anything there are definitely some plot elements that felt off. I can completely dismiss my criticisms if I think of it as a realistic option, but I am still unconvinced on personal levels. Few of the screenplay felt a little off and slow which should not have happened for a 14 episode show with multiple short and long time leaps.

Adding to it, I would have love some elaborate explanations about few things involving their relationships which didn’t happen here, and which was very much prelevant in the s1. The faster flow could be to blame but I guess they also wasted time on focusing on some additional characters, so why not this?

Will there be a season 3? Well, I am both uncertain and optimistic about the possibilities just like I was at the end of s1. So, it might or might not happen, which we’ll know within few days if we are lucky, but as much I know about the webtoon, there is definitely more to the story and personally I would love another season. But I will also be okay if they don’t plan to make one. Considering the original work and the buzz, its more likey to be renewed though. Anyways, I want one, so please.

As I am come to write the ending note, I urge everyone to realize that the relationship in the season 1 was a realistic one where the one in the season 2 is a idealistic one so the appreciations and complaints will differ in a varying degree, basing upon personal references but rationally speaking, I am still standing on a neutral stance. I liked both of them for different reasons albeit the fact that I liked the season1 better, regardless, I think there is no firm requirement for comparing the two for they’re the same continual drama.

Final Remarks… Overally, “Yumi’s Cells 2” was again able to make us feel different and had crucial influences on our hearts and minds. The show retained its originality by once again proving that the story is about the cells and not human beings. It had some rough points technically and the makers could have worked on it, but it is still good and I am sure that, if you’ve been reading through, you loved it too, haha. Will eagerly wait for the season 3.

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Yumis Cells 2 was a drama with a thoughtful plot, flesh and blood characters, realistic relationship history. The Season 2 Finale was perfect as it should be. Relationships end, we stop loving, we start loving someone else. There are no winners, no losers, no guilty, no innocents in love, there are just people and their feelings.
The music in the drama was perfectly matched to the scenes, I liked all the songs.
The acting was brilliant, especially with Kim Go Eun, Park Jinyoung. I will remember their scenes for a long time. Their shared scenes moved me, made me happy, or saddened me. For such acting duos, it is worth watching Korean dramas.
The animation part was interesting, funny, touching, never boring.
I will definitely watch the drama again. I've already done that with a lot of episodes. It does not get boring, even though I know some scenes by heart.

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Bittersweet journey to the core of "yourself"!

I won't make my review unnecessarily lengthy. Obviously you're here for "What's there to like?" Let me answer that for you...
When I started watching Yumi's cells S1 honestly I came for Ahn Bo Hyun. But stayed for the plot. Why? Because it the plot speaks for us. I felt myself in Yumi. She's You, she's us! The emotional rollercoaster we face everyday in our daily life, the hurdles we overcame, the breakups we've been through, the thoughts left unsaid, those overwhelming situations made me laugh, angry, and cry too.
In the mid of S2 I was really confused about the plot. The characters and screenwriters successfully put us into a abyss of contemplation. Which I must say is worth contemplating for!
Ms. Yumi earned my respect. She isn't perfect. She knows how to compromise but she'll never settle for less.
And lastly the beautiful OSTs Ling Ling, Shinning on Your Night both just stole my <3

If you don't want to watch it yes you can skip, no big deal. But if you watch this till the end, I can assure you won't regret it.

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A story of love and pain

The second season was as good as the first one. Kim Go Eun as Kim Yu Mi did a fantastic job of portraying the real-life struggles of a woman trying to find her happy ending. The time jumps made the story feel more realistic as nothing was too rushed. Jinyoung and Ahn Bo Hyun portrayed their roles very well. Do not expect any twists and turns but you will still be entertained.

In the end, we also got a happy ending that was not as predictable for those who did not read the webtoon. I am really happy that Yu Mi did not get back together with either Ba Bi or Woong. It truly felt as if she got her own happy ending. The final episode wrapped the series nicely.

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As Good as Season 1 - Love the Cells!!!

To be honest, I wasn't Ba Bi's fan in season 1. Like Yumi, I was 100% team Woong. Like Yumi, my heart was broken by the end of Season 1 and I couldn't imagine Yumi to end with anyone but Woong, that I swore I wouldn't watch Season 2.

Then one day I didn't have anything else to watch and I hesitantly clicked to watch episode 1 of season 2. The cells!!! They won me all over again. It reminded me the real reason why I watched Season 1. Yes, of course Yumi and Woong's relationship was fun to watch. The whole season was essentially just a slice of life - but thanks to the cells, they bumped it up to the next level.

So here I am, just finished episode 4 and can't wait for Friday next week for the next 2 episodes.

There's a big change in Yumi's life this season, career wise. So this is not just about Yumi's romantic life. It's showing her character growth - the risk she's willing to take to achieve her dream.

I am now officially in love with Ba Bi (just like Yumi). I know he's not going to be "the groom" but nevertheless, I'm enjoying the ride very much. I always take to heart that it's thanks to Ba Bi that Yumi ends up as a famous writer.

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LOVE YUMI

Absolutely love it! Yumi's character development along with some of the other characters is done so beautifully that by S2 I felt I knew each of them so well and cared deeply. Hats off to Kim GoEun. Honestly, I started watching show because of her and she did not let us down at all. She is so mesmerizing I felt her all her emotions be it frustration, struggles, happiness, despair. The animation, omg kudos to the entire animation studio. Such a phenomenal job! And especially voice actors! My fav cells Reason, love, foodie and lust. I laughed and cried with all of them. Im sad it ended but the ending was perfect. Subtle and impactful! Don't be persuaded by negative comments about the ending, can't have typical cliche endings so boring. And for that I loved this even more! Congratulations KGE for the award, well deserved and more!!!

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Cells steal the show for 2nd season

The second season has parallels with the first, but the cells are more prominent when they were more of a side note in the first season. Not just Yumi's cells but all the cells that appear. They provide the most comedy in the second season whereas Wung was the source of it in the first. Personally, I prefer season 1 but season 2 is deeper emotionally.
I've always thought the overall story is more about Yumi's bittersweet relationship with Wung, which is a much more interesting and emotionally packed story arc. I've always hated the going out, breaking up and getting back together storyline which has become a cliché (boring) and it happens here which is why I prefer the Yumi-Wung storyline.
At the very least the show exposes human imperfections and their decision-making driven by these imperfections. Yumi's hypocrisy, Wung's inability to swallow his pride and BaBi's creepy smile and sociopathic tendencies, and the latter made me worried for Yumi's future had she ended up marrying him. That's because Babi's daddy issues would have been exposed even more and his sociopathic tendencies will manifest into domestic violence and infidelity, but let's not go there. Let's be honest, Babi has been creeping around Yumi since the beginning and pounced on his prey the moment Wung was out of the picture; he mentions he doesn't get on with his father which hasn't been fully explored, and they haven't shown enough of what really happened between Babi and Da Eun. There is no way he didn't dip his bulgogi in her gochujang.
In the end, I hope they all end up with who they deserve. Babi doesn't deserve Yumi and Yumi doesn't deserve Wung. The series has an open ending so a potential for a third season which I would gladly welcome, but wouldn't mind if it ended that way coz that's how life is; there is no happy or sad ending, it just goes on until death.

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Better than Season 1

Yes I liked this better than Season 1. Probably because I like Jinyoung (who plays Yu Ba Bi) ;)

S2 introduced some new cells which added to the humour and storyline. I especially liked the tongue cells having tea together LOL!

Yu Ba Bi was great!!! Until he wasn’t ... :( he was the perfect guy and bf. Until he too started lying and hiding things from Yumi, with the ruse of not wanting her to worry, or overreact. Is it a guy thing to think like that? Whereas all the women want is for their man to be honest and open. Yumi was right to be upset and hurt, but I felt it didn’t warrant such a quick break up without even talking it through and giving some time to think and breathe. I also understand why BaBi was upset that she could break up so easily, as if her love wasn’t deep enough to hold on. And couldn’t she trust him? Couldn’t he hv been more honest?

After the break up, the character of BaBi didn’t make sense any more. It seemed the writers just needed a reason for the 2nd break up. Him hiding the accident, thinking of regrets and then proposing marriage?? What the... and they didn’t even discuss their issues after getting back together. Such poor and unhealthy communication. No relationship can last like this.

However I did like the professional development of Yumi becoming a writer. But Wung becoming a CEO in just two years?? That’s a bit far-fetched. I really loved the scene where he and Babi met at the hospital and they had a who’s-better-for-Yumi tiff off. Hahaha

Don’t expect too much with the storyline. It’s not a happy ending per say, but a good realistic one. :)

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‘Tis the season where Yu Mi discovers Yu ME

This season starts where S1 left off. In S1, Yumi was a supportive girlfriend and a good mid-tier manager, but she has hit the doldrum on both fronts.

It was no surprise that Yumi was once again looking for love and it seemed to be going swimmingly until the tropes took over. The big plot development in this season is how Yumi discovered self-love and becomes more assertive, a risk taker and is more focused. While this leads to some positive character growth, it also meant that she became more obstinate and, to a degree, self-sabotaging.

This change in focus also altered the feel of the Show. Yes, when the love line is in full swing, it was sweet and swoon worthy but that didn’t last. What replaced it was an air of melancholy. There are ripples of heightened emotions along the way, but it never reached the same heights as in S1. Everything felt muted and there is a strong sense of role playing when it comes to the romance. There seems to be a lack of passion.

Of course, the cells are the glue that held the show together and allow the writer-nim a chance to go off piste with the action. They are cute as ever and have loads of personalities. However, if you remove the animations, what is left is a fairly tropey plot and to be honest, a bit meh. It ticked all the boxes but there is little we haven’t seen before.

On top of the OTP, there are two other pairings. They are cute and provided some distraction while Yumi is beavering away at work. They were almost more fun to watch than our main CP. Acting is fine and felt comfortable with a bit of quirkiness when needed.

Now the elephant in the room. The ending is a total teaser. It left the plot dangling mid scene. There have been persistent rumours that there will be NO season 3 but this ending is shouting the exact opposite. There have been a lot of early chatter about possible endings as followers of the webtoon knew who is the chosen one. So what is going on? It also begs the question why is the Show only 14 episodes long when a normal 16 eps would have given the Show enough time to wrap things up if there is no S3. There will be a huge uproar and backlash if the Show ends like this. There is no news regarding S3 at the time of writing.

In the end, Yumi 2 was enjoyable and watchable but not as good as S1. The cell animations patched over a fairly ho-hum script and carries it over the line. As my friend @Love movies famously said, “I wish it were more yummy!!”. Peace out.

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