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Please Don't Watch This With Expectations Of a Grand Romance
I started watching this drama without having read any comments or reviews. I learned that lesson about short web-series after I passed on a lot of good shows that have unfortunately low ratings and a terrible comment section. I've discovered that it's better to check the tags and then walk in blindly without other viewers opinions marring your own perception.The poster image for this drama is deceptive. On MDL the image is bright and bubblegum colored with smiling faces and a quirky undertone. On Viki the drama link image is a girl with a notebook with 4 very attractive guys lined up in front of her, also in bright and cheery colors. These insinuate a happy and cute rom-com is waiting for you, maybe with a lot of heart-fluttering reverse-harem moments. But if you look a little deeper into the information provided by MDL, you'll notice the second tag is TRAUMA. This drama is basically a character study of a flawed girl that has felt unloved her whole life and the lengths she will go to feel loved and "whole". The relationships with these men, while starting out fluffy, quickly deteriorate into pain due to the circumstances of the notebook. Some are even abusive and toxic. This is all part of the journey the FL takes to achieve self-discovery, and find out that relying on others to provide love when she has none herself is going to be a never-ending circle of regret and pain.
The actors in this drama did an exceptional job of either making me love them or hate them. The FL was flawed and likely was hard to understand by viewers that haven't experienced that feeling of being lonely and unlovable. Her desperation to feel whole by receiving love from another person is relatable, and I found myself viewing her actions as understandable. The actress did a good job of providing emotional balance and I found myself rooting for her. The ML appears perfect but was also flawed in his own ways. He was impatient and jealous, which he vented on the FL often, but was unwilling to confess his feelings to provide context to why he was so upset with her on so many occasions, which lead her into deeper feelings of isolation. The ML's acting was great for a rookie. You could feel his anger, hurt, panic, and love without him saying a word. The SFL was surprising, for the first half of the series she presented without nuance or depth, but in the second half the actress proves that appearances can be deceiving and becomes almost an entirely new person. As for the supporting male leads, they all did a fantastic job of either making me love them or hate them... or love them THEN hate them.
Overall, this drama has a re-watch value that is pretty low, but it's worth watching once if you're in the mood for something a little deeper than a fluffy reverse-harem. Jump into it without expectations and you will enjoy where the story takes you a lot more than if you have a preconceived notion about how it should play out. It's a little dark, a little traumatic, a little emotional, with moments of sunshine and rainbows and fireworks mixed in, just like real life.
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After seeing the poster, i was expecting a light rom-com, but then the magic book appeared and the focus is on fl, her trauma and how she always longing to be loved. I find her actions understandable. Throughout the whole 1 month boyfriend, i keep feeling bad for her, she definitely needs to realize her worth. One of her words that hits different is; "I thought no one loved me. But the only person who didn't love me was myself. I must love myself first in order to love someone."
As for the romance, it was disappointing.
The only romance we got is the ml liking the fl and kept hiding it, until the last minute.
The acting was good. I'm watching this for Doyoung and he didn't disappoint. For a newbie, he did great. Other actors did great with their role too.
Music used was good, but wasn't the type I'll listen to daily.
When you watch this don't hope much for romance, just focus on the female lead development.
Btw there are some bloody parts! It might've been triggering for some people.
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Disappointed
If I'm being honest I watched this series because of Doyoung and I was not really expecting a lot since it was a short series. But the bare minimum was to give us a kiss between the main protagonists and a better slow burn. ON THE OTHER HAND, I want to say that I'm greatly surprised about Doyoung's acting skills. Moreover, the music is very beautiful but not more than Doyoung. I hope that we can watch him in another series with a more complex plot !!!! I LOVE HIM, GUAPOOOOOOOO, PRECIOSOOOOOO. TE LO MERECES TODO MI REY.Was this review helpful to you?
1The FL is realistically flawed, she just wants to be loved
I loved it.It was very realistic even though it had the unrealistic part with the magical notebook.
You have to realize the main part of the girl's journey to understand why she is behaving the way she is - the thing most people who are disliking this apparently overlooked - that she grew up horribly unloved. One parent died early, the second one therefore shut down and stopped acknowledging her entire existence. More to that, the rest of the family blatantly blamed her for the whole tragedy so she had NOONE, I repeat NOONE who would give her even the littlest of love, since she was a small CHILD.
So the fact she's using the notebook over and over again is absolutely true to her character.
Is it wrong? Well, she does not force the guys to date her forever against their wishes, they are free to leave her once the month mark is over and they usually do. It's not right thing to do, yes. However she understands it's not real, it's temporary bandaid to her loneliness and absolute thirst for someone making her worth and classically not realizing that the most important person who has been loving her ever since and could give her everything she wants, is right there, in front of her.
In conclusion, FL is not picture perfect.
SHE IS FLAWED. And I think she kinda knows it, but she's just scarred and exhausted from carrying everything on her back, alone, all her life.
I even think we might all know that one person in real life who thinks that being in a relationship is just the must that will solve all the problems.
Again I loved it as it was very real.
And Do Young's character Si Ho was also behaving kinda unsuprisingly, trying to get out of the unrequited love column but still knowing he won't succeed as he's deep down in the love zone for her and he's give up on moving on and just live in the shadows.
That's the most unrealistic part of this, I wish each and every one of us had such a gentleman/white knight guarding us!
I haven't seen the ending episode yet but had to write this so it is not flooded only with not so positive reviews.
The actors did a great job, especially Do Young and his panic attacks.
If you're looking for a fluffy lighthearted romance, this is not it.
It's heartbreaking but realistic.
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Good, just that
Just because of bias, doyoung hahahaanother female lead that was annoying
The plot had potential and maybe was limited by the budget
If you want to watch something in the background, this is a good option, some scenes are to long and you can understand even if you don't have your full attention on it
Doyoungs acting improved here, I was mad because of the nctzens who laughed at his acting but actually he did pretty good, this was just his second time, I know he will become a very good actor when he has the chance
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Not Good Enough
Korean Drama " Dear X Who Doesn't Love Me " is a mess of a drama.The start is pretty nice, introducing the characters and getting the viewer intrigued by the mystery book, the girl's past, her relationship with her father, and some dark, bloody scenes.
Unfortunately, the drama has a messy pace, jumping from one plotline to another without being cohesive. The love story was boring and predictable as well, without proper development or any surprises. The story overall was disappointing, had some unnecessary dark moments that weren't explained, and the final conclusion that wrapped up everything was more than disappointing, turning everything into a fairytale.
The performances, moreover, were okay, but needed to be better at times. The main girl's character, in addition, was annoying and unlikable.
So, overall, two out of ten.
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This isn't rom com at all tho
First of I want to emphasize that this isn't a romantic comedy and that the description of the drama doesn't suit the drama!!It's not super duper deep but it's topic is quite serious and revolves a lot around self love. I watched all 10 episodes after another and I did like how the story developed. However it dragged a little from Episode 5 to 7. It got a little bit boring during this part but they added new stuff from 7 which made it almost feel like a new drama.
Character wise the development seemed a little hasty towards the end, some characters didn't make sense a lot or their sudden change of feelings towards each other. Some relationships were also not really explained or well more likely their background. I feel like they could've shorten the first part of the drama, add maybe some funny elements. Because believe me, I didn't laugh a single time, but cried eventually. I think depending on what you usually watch this might be heavy. Like don't get me wrong it's not traumatizing or anything but I feel like it can trigger some people. What stuck with me the most is the sentence "only unrequited love can last forever". Also from this sentence you can see the overall tone of the drama which leans more towards sadness and grief more than happiness.
I was intentionally looking for a lightweight cheesy rom com which this is not even close...but despite it wasn't what I was looking for nor what the poster and plot summary makes it seem like, I actually enjoyed watching it and would recommend it to people.
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Good Start, but Fell off Slowly
I really didn't have any expectations when I went into this drama, all I know is that my sister watched this because the ML is an NCT Member.The story, was unique enough for me to get hooked in, like from the way they set everything from the first episode in order to reel you in. It had a good start, but as I kept going, I slowly wasn't really feeling it. I kept thinking about it, it's probably because I don't know where the story is going like, I know this is a romance drama so at least give me something to get invested in for me to keep watching and thankfully that's what the 2nd FLs side-plot managed to fulfill. I think I liked the 2nd half more because of how things got complicated and developed. The way the drama ended was okay.
Characters, honestly for ML I was surprised. I think we all know MV acting is vastly different from drama acting. His acting at the beginning was decent, but as I kept going, whenever he was on screen his acting stood out because it kept getting better and better. For his character, it was good, though I don't remember him getting the growth he deserved because he's dependent on FL. For FL, even though I don't like her for ML, I loved the way her character progressed throughout the drama. I didn't really feel the chemistry with Her and ML, though I must say she's pretty and hot. 2nd FL, I don't know if I ever felt this 2nd FL syndrome before, but I prefer her over the 1st, her side-plot is so good and her character is pretty dynamic because you'll go from liking and rooting for her to hating her. Can I say she's also pretty and cute as well? I think I might check out her other dramas, cuz she made an impression on me a lot. The last ML in the last few episodes is pretty good too, I feel sorry for him, I like his character.
The OST, I don't really remember much sorry xD, I guess it's good???
Overall, it is a decent drama. I don't recommend it though, but if you're an NCTzen please watch this for Doyoung. His acting is so good. If you're not, then I hope you'll find something that will make you stick till the end, it's only 10 episodes anyway.
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Meaningful and misunderstood
The criticisms of this series are quite harsh. I, however, quite liked it towards the end. I found some aspects relatable and it even made me emotional.The story revolves around a girl who has grown up feeling unloved. She dreams of a love story out of kdramas. One day she discovers a magical notebook that seems to make her desires of love come true. And anyone she writes about in it, magically fall in love with her. However, the magic does not last beyond a month. But even when her best friend protests her actions, she can't help herself as this is the only way she can feel loved. What she doesn't know is that he is actually in love with her.
This series isn't actually about romance. It's about a girl and her desperation to feel loved. There are moments that touch your heart like points where she thinks her father wishes she was never born and that she is actually undeserving of love. Although people have criticised her for misunderstanding the situation, the reality is, her father never actually treated her with warmth. Since her mother passed away when she was very young, she doesn't remember her relationship with her mother either. She is also scared of losing her only friend. The show is still quite light and didn't go too dark with a terrible past which can make her problems come across as superficial.
Though the story is presented under the context of a fantasy element, a lot of people with low self esteem end up with partners who don't actually care for them and in certain cases it can lead to abuse. This is also why she has a hard time saying no even when she knows she should. She is afraid of losing the person. Yes, such people can come across as frustrating at times which is why many dislike the female lead. However, the reality is that it is not easy to change without help.
Though the ending is simplified, the series tries to explain that the female lead was in fact loved. She just couldn't understand acts of care as a love language and was slowly starting to understand it. The series ended the way it did is because finally she had to learn to love herself first before she can accept someone else's love completely. Similarly, the male lead recognised that he was overly dependent on the female lead because of his anxiety. Would I have preferred some kind of closure? Yes. But that doesn't mean the show was bad. I would say it is rather misunderstood.
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Honestly a disappointment
Originally I had high hopes for this drama but it turned out to be quite disappointing.At first the drama seemed interesting and I liked the idea of a love story between two people who have been friends since childhood but are now facing the reality of unrequited love. However, I felt the execution fell flat and the storyline became cliche and predictable.
One of the major issues I had with this drama was the lack of character development. The two leads, who were supposed to be childhood friends, had zero chemistry on screen. Their interactions felt forced and lacked depth, which got really annoying.
Also the pacing of the drama was too slow, and it felt like the story was dragging on without any significant progress. The supporting characters were also underdeveloped and irritating.
Another aspect that disappointed me was the lack of originality. The plot was filled with many random and unnecessary events.
The acting was mediocre. While the actors did their best with the material they were given, It wasn't enough to save the weak script.
On a positive note, the OST was not the worst
In conclusion, Dear X who doesn't love me had potential, but failed to live up to it. The lack of character development, slow pacing, unoriginal plot, and mediocre acting made it a disappointing watch for me.
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I know it had an important message behindYou should love yourself first to know how to love and beloved
But for some reason I didn't like ??♀️??♀️??♀️??♀️??♀️
Although the story was written well except the romance part between the main leads it was lame
She used to ask for love from every guy she didn't love, but when it comes to the person she really loved she said nothing except they will be always together which I appreciated but it was lukewarm
i liked ML's acting
and i disliked the women's acting in this drama
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Not sure if I'll continue watching
I don't know what it is about this show, but I feel uncomfortable while watching it. It's like this instinct that something's wrong. It's super weird and kind of hard to put into words.At times, some of the music gave me mirror funhouse vibes, but there's this ominous feeling like at any moment everything will devolve into a nightmare and it'll turn out the funhouse was actually a horror experience. That was the kind of unsettling feeling I got.
Also, I just really dislike Hee Soo's character for some reason. I'm not sure what it is, but something rubs me the wrong way about her.
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