True to Love (2023)

Not your typical rom com

This drama is superb. Very tight story and acting is superb. It won't be for those who doesn't like pure romance stories or those who likes fantastic events with their romance. It is very realistic mostly IMO and the pacing for me is just right (maybe except for the last 10 mins).

It is also something that you can't just take at face value. It shows 4 different couples and what their love looks like. And while others think that the other couples, I feel like they're necessary to what the writer wants to show (being true to love). Even the ending is great for me. We have 2 couples just starting their coupledom, 1 with pairing who knew each other so well and 1 who seems to have started it with rose colored glasses. And another 2 couples, 1 whi has been long married and who just got married.

I also liked that BoRa's book ended, not with the planned ending, but with her knowing she can recover even if she's just by herself.

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Like A Phoenix which has come to birth again from its ashes

Yoo In Na's character at first was a little immature or let's say not considerate. She analyzed things which I liked but analyzed it too much, and made a relationship between a couple less human, it was frustrating but character development would come, so let's wait.
And it did, those conversations between Bo Ra and Si Hyeok, about love, life, if the drama would have been only that, I would have been okay too.
The drama tried to be realistic and shared some of our parts that we can be ashamed of. She wanted her three years with her now ex boyfriend to be worth of it, and we've been through five episodes of breakup. It was maybe heavy, but she was so human and there was So Hyeok so who likes a damsel in destress little trop was well served, they were cute, and she let her ex love life go for no return(in her heart not our screen though).
Su Hyeok, aaah, I've thought, with Bo Ra, it'll be different, he'll swallow that pride and tell her, eeeuh no, he made her wait, he made us wait, I was going to be mad at him, I understand you can't change that easily, but you can't cross a certain in the patience limit, but then the drama made it well, that book having an open ending made Bo Ra an even more likable character, she knows what she wants, fights for it, but accepts defeat and that's not the end of a life.
His confession, I've never seen something, that honest, that real, that hilarious, that touching.
It reminded me of the garbage scene, that will become iconic hhhh you know when it seems to become pathetic or sad, writers turn it into a hilarious scene that you're just enjoying.
You Jeong and her husband, maybe I didn't see enough dramas with that trope, but seeing a married couple having this kind of problem and I thought they will divorce, and so glad, they knew how to deal with it, all this drama felt real, mature, warm, healing.
It was Bo Ra born from Deborah, she was the drama, a not perfect drama but a different and cozy one.

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Made me feel single!

A great drama! It did have some hiccups in the way at times I wonder why the writer would put those lines in. I really enjoyed the process we went through with the main character and going through he breakup to then finding new love. It really showed how messy breakups can get, and I think it would comfort anyone going through it. The main leads had amazing chemistry I do wish we had seen them dating for longer but I really liked the ending scene. This drama shows no one is perfect you have to have patience with people and understand your worth and what you want from a relationship.

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As a person who like to keep.the good dramas to watch every now and then
I was hesitating about this one because of two reasons
1st: this drama was going in an opposite way
Began shallow and boring continue strong then rush ending

2nd: the end was too rush and the ML was stubborn like a mule till the very end and after the FL admit she loved him he kept silent till the last minute
Which was really annoying

The character development for him was too slowly and nothing much changed

I was touched many times at many scenes
The story was ok
It was shallow then solid then rush

I liked that the side stories were going parallel to each other

I dislike that the FL wasn't firm enough with her garbage ex-boyfriend

So till now I can't decide if iam going to keep it or erase it

But anyway it was nice and simple

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Missed Opportunity for Character Growth

Loved it! Although I'd have loved it even more if they had planned a couple more eps, showing how Su Hyeok becomes more expressive and Bora learns to be more genuine in their relationship, Right now, they didn't really show any character arcs for both of their characters; both of them had a breakup in the beginning and had a tough time dealing with it, then fell in love w/ each other, but their character growth was almost nonexistent. Su Hyeok still can't properly express his feelings, even at the very end, and Bora has barely learned her lesson to not treat relationships as a game. And I'm very sad about the missed opportunity w/ this drama. Considering how realistically they portrayed the reality of breaking up and moving on, a couple more eps focusing on their relationship dynamics and character growth would have definitely made this one the best drama of 2023. Nevertheless, I did love it for the exceptional acting by each and every actor. Incredibly disappointed about the missed opportunity; just 2 more eps of them focusing on their relationship and working on their character flaws would have made such a big difference. 

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A love coach gets dumped and the way to get over your ex is to fall in love again

Oh.. Bo Ra! Deborah! I wished you would have been a better coach, especially to yourself.

Bora! Deborah is an ok romance drama that had its moments, but still unfortunately managed to disappoint me.
The drama managed to be uplifting and comforting sometimes and as a person who has pretty recently broken up from a 3-year-old relationship, it made me think about my own experiences.
It had the potential to be a really good breakup/romance drama, but having many bad couples and bad advices (Let's not even get started on how insensitive it was to bring up the holocaust) it was quite the miss.


STORY:
Bora is a love coach, "Deborah". She gives out love advices while waiting for her proposal desperately. She is not really being herself, she is only doing stuff to please her boyfriend. Bora is a radio host who gives out love advice, so her co-host Yuri asks advice for from Bora about her relationship, she soon decides to break up with her boyfriend. This boyfriend happens to be Lee Suhyeok from a publishing company, whom Bora had met while looking and dreaming about an engagement ring of her own. Lee Suhyeok bought a ring and was about to propose when Yuri breaks up with him. Bora on the other hand soon gets cheated on by her boyfriend and this is witnessed by Lee Suhyeok. These two starts as mutually disliking each other to comforting each other.
Bora causes huge scenes by drinking too much alcohol. On an event, she gets drunk and ends up ruining her career as a love coach by insulting men and love and by falling down and accidentally flashing her underwear. She also pees on the street and goes crying on his ex's doorstep.
Time goes by, and she comes back as a breakup icon and starts falling for Lee Suhyeok.

MY OPINION, SPOILERS OF THE STORY:
The relationship of Lee Suhyeok and Bora is lackluster. They kiss and call it a mistake, work together and sloooowly fall in love and get together at the very last episode in the last 15 minutes or so.
When Bora gets cheated on, and she proceeds to make a fool out of herself by drinking too much, I cringe. Sometimes I had to even pause the scene to collect myself. Every breakup is different, and every emotion is allowed, but when you are making trouble for other people, that's when u should stop and really think about it. I totally get the feelings of sadness, desperation and depression after a breakup, but I would never go out to drink with someone whom I barely know and give this person trouble and on top of that.. peeing on a street. I really wish this drama would have let some of her breakup moments out, since I think we shouldn't encourage anyone to drink till you are THAT drunk with a person you don't trust or know enough.

Then we have Bora's best friend and her marriage.. Lee Yujeong and Yang Jinwoo. I really wanted them to break up, since Jinwoo had gotten used to Yujeong. He felt like she was overbearing and needy and wanted time for himself to the point he made a secret man cave in the basement without telling Yujeong. Yujeong time and time again tried to bring back the spice in their relationship. When Yujeong asks Jiwoo "Why don't we do IT anymore?", Jinwoo answers "Maybe because we can do it anytime?" And when caught, Jinwoo tell Yujeong that he wanted time for himself and Yujeong answers him, "What about us? Do we ever spend time together? In the morning, we are in a rush and busy all day at work. In the evening, after dinner and cleaning up, we just pass out. But you complain you don't have alone time for yourself.. You are not bothered about having no time with me?" And in the end he never changed, but they still decided to be together.

There were other unimportant couples, but I really couldn't stand Bomi, Bora's little sister. At the end of the drama, she gets pregnant. Her boyfriend, who sleeps on a couch in Jinwoo's and Yujeong's house, promises to marry her. Naturally Bora is concerned about her sister, even a little angry, since Bomi and Jinho both don't have enough money, haven't been together for long and are still so young. Bomi lashes out on Bora and says, "Why are you acting like I did something wrong?" I WAS SPEECHLESS. Bomi has always had a bad attitude, and she is used to getting money from her sister, and now she is pregnant in those conditions and her sister naturally is worried about her and her future. Bora reminds Bomi that she doesn't have to marry Jinho even though she is pregnant and to think about it carefully, and she just lashes out, "What's there to think about? We were going to get married anyway, We can just go ahead with it"

After all, I'm giving this drama a 6,5, which is a little higher only because sometimes it did have its moments and I felt comforted by certain scenes.

ACTING:

Yoo Inna as Bora,
She was an ok pick, I love Yoo Inna, but I just disliked her character her so.. She is beautiful as always and isn't afraid to look "ugly" in her crying scenes.

Yoon Hyunmin as Lee Suhyeok,
Honestly, pretty forgettable role for a main lead. His acting was good, but the personality of the character, as a color, would be gray.

Hwang Chansung as Noh Juhwan,
He acts pretty often these types of roles that I'm pretty used to it, but ey, he does it well!

Ju-Ne as Yang Jinho,
His acting debut! I want to give him slack, but this character wasn't for him at all. I love June, but his acting in this seemed so unnatural.

Other actors and roles were just fine. Nothing too special or bad.

6,5 stars!

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Typical plot but beautifully decorated by Yoo in Na.She is the ornaments of this drama

First of all i started watching it with very low expectation to be very honest because of the ML.i actually didn't watch any of his previous drama,Yoo in Na pulled me here. But he surprised me as well.He is very charismatic, i won't say Good looking but he does have some charisma and acting talent.

Story : You will find it typical. Cz there is truly nothing new.

Acting: This is the Essence of this drama. All the actor did very good job in their part.Even the secondary, villain (not serious) one too. Even words can't describe how much talented yoo in na is!! i dont know why she has less work. She did really well.You can relate with her,pre break up,after break up,Overcome the break up time that was so relevant that i sometimes felt like i was watching myself in Yoo in na's place. Comedy was on point,no extra drama,no over the top acting. i loved every punch line.
For acting section it is actually 10/10 from me.

Music: not that memorable but not bad either.

Rewatch: may be not. but definitely watch reels of this drama.

If you want to watch some light Romantic -comedy then this drama for u.I will recommend it for sure. Give it a try.

Happy watching overall. ?

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A Witty RomCom Roller Coaster

Welcome to the world of Bo Ra! Deborah, a drama that dives headfirst into the tumultuous stages of relationships. While it's not flawless, it captivates viewers with its refreshing dose of common sense.

The storyline is a stroke of genius, my friends. It skillfully unravels the personal growth journeys of not just one, but almost all the characters in this wild ride.

Let's start with the enigmatic Bo Ra. Initially, she tried desperately to fit the mold of her ex's preferences, turning herself into a lifeless Barbie doll. It was infuriating to watch, but also strangely relatable. The breakup wrecked her, no doubt, but it also paved the way for her transformation into the best version of herself. Sure, her post-breakup actions were cringe-worthy, but who hasn't gone a little bonkers in matters of the heart?

Then we have the dynamic duo of Bo Ra and Soo Hyuk. They became each other's pillars of support, witnessing each other's lowest moments and forging an unbreakable bond. Bo Ra didn't force Soo Hyuk to be someone he's not; instead, she helped him conquer his communication challenges by meeting him halfway. And when Soo Hyuk uttered those magical words, "Nothing can make me stop liking you," it was like the missing puzzle piece for both of them.

However, there's a slight hitch. While we see Bo Ra and Soo Hyuk grow and triumph over their pasts, we yearn for a glimpse of their lives beyond the bubble. What do they enjoy doing together? How do they navigate the complexities of a real relationship? Those little details would've added a powerful punch to their storyline. Nevertheless, they still gift us an impactful tale.

Now, let's delve into the other couples. Sang Jin's story starts strong with a heartfelt portrayal of divorce and failed communication. However, his new love interest is a hot mess. Their lack of chemistry and puzzling storyline progression leave us scratching our heads. Did he succumb to her charms simply because she fulfilled his desires? We're left perplexed.

On to Yu Jung and Jin Woo, the married couple who resemble more like roommates. Their resolution to dive into foreplay feels like a band-aid solution rather than a genuine fix. Jin Woo could use some lessons in showing appreciation, and meeting halfway on each other's interests wouldn't hurt either. Let's just say their ending didn't quite hit the mark.

Lastly, the young love of Bo Mi and Jin Ho disappoints. Their storyline had tremendous potential, but it crumbled under the weight of an accidental pregnancy. Bo Mi's independence takes a nosedive, and we barely know anything about Jin Ho beyond his love-struck persona. How will he support Bo Mi and their twins? We're left wondering.

Overall, Bo Ra! Deborah is a healing and growth-infused drama worth sinking your teeth into. The main leads' romance, while lacking screen time, still manages to captivate. It's not the best RomCom in existence, but hey, it gets the job done. Prepare for a roller coaster of clichés, cringe, and embarrassment, served with ample doses of comedy, sarcasm, and realism. The actors deserve applause for their stellar portrayals, making us love, hate, laugh, and cry right alongside them.

However, there are a few bumps along the way. The accidental pregnancy arc for the side couple? Totally unnecessary and ruins a perfect match. The main leads deserved more romance, as their annoying exes and side characters hogged too much screen time. And that uncomfortable relationship between Sang Jin and Uri? It made us squirm in our seats.

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Finding Love in unexpected places

I recently binged the hell out of this show, after craving something fun and light-hearted as I was recovering from a cold. I thought it would be a light fluffy romcom, but this show exceeded all my expectations. I’m writing this review because it hurts me personally to see so many negative reviews lol.

WARNING: Full Spoilers ahead.

Let us start with the Positives that exceed the negatives and have resulted in me giving the show such a high score (if it was only the couple I would give 10 stars):

1) The main leads: Both Bo Ra and Su Hyuk are realistically flawed and think that their ways of loving/ being in a relationship are the best. Hers is valuing how the relationship looks, ticking all the important milestone boxes (irrespective of her caring for them), and putting forth only her "best side". She, however, is someone who would do everything, no matter how much it hurts her pride if she loves the person. And would probably stay in a dying relationship where she isn't treated the best simply because she loves the other person so much.

Su Hyuk is more of a muted lover who believes actions take precedence over other love languages. He takes his gf and her love for granted, and will never inconvenience himself to say things he finds embarrassing or cringy even if his gf wants it. He almost thinks his gf is a mind reader and will know of his love even if he never says 'I love you'. His self-confidence in his opinions can sometimes make his gf doubt her own simply because he doesn't think them worthy. However, he believes in being honest and showing all sides of yourself in a relationship.

2) Realistic breakup: The time and the energy that takes to break up and move on, the indecisiveness, the awkwardness, the pathetic behaviour we engage in to get over it, the unhealthy and irresponsible life choices we make, the ugly emotional outbreaks, is very realistically shown. Bo Ra goes back and forth changing her mind, even trying to compromise on her fundamentals if she can be with the person she loves. Some might find that off-putting but I thought it was realistic because, in that heightened emotional state where you think you cannot function without that person, rationality is mostly out the window. The show manages to capture that vulnerability and sadness and add humour to it in a very tasteful way.

3) The romance that creeps up without warning: Our leads start as a working relationship; however, their connection and friendship evolve beyond that to the point where they essentially become each other's safe space. They are constantly interacting and talking and seeing every side of each other. Bo Ra finds she can be her true self (something which she avoided because of her lack of self-esteem) and Su Hyuk starts realising that as much as it is important to be in love, it is equally important to appropriately express such love. They appreciate each other, adore all their sides, and make reasonable compromises if needed. They are not afraid of speaking their minds and being honest. They become friends first and lovers later. They see all the ugly bits first and help each other grow.

4) Conflict and its resolution: Throughout the show, the leads constantly find their norm and views about things challenged. Bo Ra learns to love all of herself and be unashamed about wanting what she wants. Su Hyuk learns how his lack of action made him the 'bad guy'. He becomes more proactive in going for what he wants even if it is embarrassing or cringy to express it.
When Bo Ra realises Su Hyuk loves her, she does not compromise and settle for a vague undefined relationship. She declares her love for him even when she had initially promised herself to henceforth be the one who loves less (to hurt less in case of a breakup). She accepts that loving with her whole heart is who she is. In exchange, she wants a verbal confession and chooses on what terms she enters a romantic relationship.

Su Hyuk loves Bo Ra and wants the best for her and hence tries to take himself out of the picture (as much as he can lol) because, on paper, her ex-bf is what Bo Ra had wanted. His lack of confidence in this situation and his refusal to put himself forth to be cheesy and confess in words of his love becomes the couple's final conflict before they officially get together.
I liked that and thought it was fresh to see. Because in real life, people hesitate, people get embarrassed easily, they think their feelings are obvious (because to them they are). In real life, confessions of love aren't drama-like with passionate declarations of undying love. They are usually quieter and filled with small everyday actions of love. That is why we have so many memes going 'It's always hyd, and never *insert choice of romantic declaration*'.
Both small actions and grand declarations are important and this couple shows that.

5) The Humour: This show is super funny. If you easily experience second-hand embarrassment (as I do) I would suggest you go with a cautious mind, but Bo Ra was so realistically written and acted by the wonderful and talented Yoo In Na it was impossible to not root for, laugh at and with her. Yoon Hyun Min holds his own by being ever charismatic and charming as Su Hyuk and perfectly complementing Bo Ra's ridiculous side with his patient and understanding one. Some of the scenes were so hilarious I was rolling in laughter. E.g., peeing on the street, slow-motion walking, crying while sticking her head out of the bus window, headband as a neck brace, all her next morning recollections, the garbage breakup scene where Bo Ra and her ex were finally being honest, even the aegyo scenes at the very end were all laugh out loud and FUN to watch.



Things I did not like and made me deduct 1 point (wanted to deduct more, but that would be an injustice to the main couple):

1) The doomed marriage: The best friend (YJ) was in a "marriage" where her "husband" (Yang Jin Woo) was more of a roommate. His only positive was that he said he loved his wife (but even then, he did NOTHING to show that). I was expecting growth for this couple. The husband to grow the f up and pull his weight or YJ to open her eyes, realise her worth and divorce him. The show made a point of having YJ explain how the cringe "jokes" of husbands being trapped in marriages are disgusting, but it's never followed up. YJ is in a sexless, unromantic marriage that remains the same throughout the show. However, the worst part is that this relationship is somehow touted to be "love" and "marriage". This lack of growth frustrated me because it took screen time which could've been used to show more of our main couple.

2) The younger sister: Bo Mi is an entitled brat in the first 3 eps. I am a younger sister too and could NEVER dream of contacting my elder sister's ex bf who cheated on her to come console her. That was honestly a disgusting thing and a deep breach of trust. However, we see some growth in her in the next 2 eps and with her meeting her love interest (Yang Jin Ho), I was mildly interested. Alas, it's soon evident that these two are immature children pretending to be adults, Bo Mi especially. She has no sense of responsibility, lives (mooches) off Bo Ra, is rude, and blames Bo Ra for everything that goes wrong. Then the couple gets pregnant (while the guy is hiding/ camping in his employer Yang Jin Woo's basement because he doesn't have enough money to rent out a place) and it's okay because the couple love each other and apparently that is going to feed, clothe and shelter them and their baby. Again, frustrating to watch because it's silly and against EVERYTHING the show so far is trying to say.

3) The creepy age gap office romance: Uri (the f employee) is so immature it's ridiculous. She is probably 21-22, comes off as 17-20 and is in love with her boss (Sang Jin) who is in his 40s and is a divorcee. This is realistic as young women do have crushes on older men, and I was okay with the show having SJ rejecting her advances and Uri maturing from that. The vast experience and knowledge difference between them is palpable in their every interaction. It feels patronising at best, grooming at worst. However, they still end up together! The actors too have a 20-year age gap and they look like they could be father-daughter. Super unwatchable.

4) The ex-bf being brought back: Now I get why they did that, and I was totally on board with Bo Ra meeting him in ep 14 and him proposing to her. But the show lost me when we find that he is still cheating (not that I expected him to change), because the mistress shows up. Having the mistress arrive right after Bo Ra had rejected him, reduced the importance of it being Bo Ra's conviction that led to her finally saying a firm no and kicking him to the curb and instead made it seem that the situation was out of her hands because she HAD to reject him as he was still cheating.

Conclusion: Don't waste time reading my essay, instead use it to watch the show.

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Series that focuses on the evolution of couples and romantic relationships

Very nice short series (14 episodes) with Yoo In Na (FL) and Yoon Hyun Min (ML), both of whom I really like.

Plot: meeting between an editor and a radio host /dating consultant, around the purchase of a wedding ring (for their respective couples, which are going to ... break up). They will work together on a book, help each other, support each other in their breakups, and fall in love.

More than the main leads' romance (which only really works at the end), the story mainly deals with break-ups, evolution of couples, marital life, divorce (through the various annexed couples). It is told with intelligence, nuance and a bit of humor.
All the actors are excellent. We laugh with them, we cry, we want to slap the selfish ex, ...

Two characters, however, do not seem coherent to me: the ex of the ML who plays the victims while she was dating 2 men at the same time, and the very young employee in love at first sight with her boss who's 20 years older. This Puppy-love was really not essential here.

The production is dynamic, the neat framing and the OSTs are at the top <3 <3).
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Très jolie série courte (14 épisodes) avec Yoo In Na (FL) et Yoon Hyun Min (ML), que j'aime beaucoup tous les deux.

Plot : rencontre entre un éditeur et une animatrice de radio-conseillère en dating, autour de l'achat d'une bague de mariage (pour leurs couples respectifs, qui vont ... rompre). Ils vont travailler ensemble sur un livre, s'aider, se soutenir dans leurs ruptures, et tomber amoureux.

Plus que la romance du CL (qui ne se concrétise vraiment qu'à la fin, l'histoire aborde surtout la rupture, l'évolution des couples, la vie maritale, le divorce (au travers des différents couples annexes). Elle est racontée avec intelligence, finesse et un peu d'humour.

Tous les acteurs sont excellents. On rit avec eux, on pleure, on a envie de gifler l'ex égoïste,...
Deux personnages cependant ne me semblent pas cohérents : l'ex du ML qui joue les victimes alors qu'elle sortait avec 2 hommes en même temps, et la toute jeune employée amoureuse au 1e regard de son patron qui a 20 ans de plus qu'elle. La puppy-love n'était vraiment pas indispensable ici.

La réalisation est dynamique, le cadrage soigné et les OST sont au top <3 <3).

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Pretty good.

Once you get past the first episode things get going. What I liked about it: it's short on tropes. These aren't perfect characters that are the same from beginning to end, always show up at the right time, and always know the dashing and cool thing to say. They are flawed, hesitant, take one step forward then two steps back. They don't have it all figured out, even by the end. They're just trying to get through life, love and heartache like the rest of us.

Don't worry though, it's a still very much a kdrama, with the stuff we all love to see when we watch them.

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