My Sweet Mobster (2024)

Do Not Miss Out

I can affirm and confirm that this is one of the best (if not best) romcom drama this year. I can stop at episode ten and be very satisfied. In fact, it would be the most perfect beginning to an ending. For me especially, i find it more rewarding because i found it on my own without seeing or reading beforehand about it. Like the drama, Tell Me You Love Me, these two are like a gem that snuck quietly in when I wasn’t looking, yet hold the fiercest of satisfaction to become an embedded treasure.

My reason is simple. First the story. I’ve seen it all. Rich and poor, hate to love, first sight love, cold to warm, etc. I think I may have seen something similar as this, reformed mobster, girl falls in love. Yeah im sure I have. Regardless, I love it here.

The cast! Absolutely the best! The side characters, especially the ml “reformed” family makes me wanna have a bunch like them too. They’re hilarious, dedicated, and lifetime friends once in their circle. They are such an important bunch in this drama that made it super extra fun. Leads? What a perfect pairing. Uhm Tae Goo as male lead is superb as the cold, no nonsense, guy turned soft. Oh my gosh, how he acts, reacts at his own change of falling in love is hilarious but so so heartwarming. True to the saying, she fell first but he fell harder……add butterscotch with honey dripped in savory chocolate. Han Seon Hwa as female lead is soft, kind, and plays her role perfectly. Not only is she beautiful but she’s the one to tame and jellify the man.. Everyone, even fl best friend and her love interest are cute. Everyone in the cast makes this drama memorable.

Like I said, for me it’s perfect. Well weaved, acted, and one to definitely go back to over and over. It’s so good. If it ended at ep 10, it would be perfect. Glad though there’s six more of these guys that’s making my drama watching so fun. Don’t miss out on a gem.

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I want this male lead in other dramas. This drama kinda lost its spunk

I love the main male actor, he has that non-standard but hot look. Everyone is swooning over his deep voice lol.
The synopsis of this drama is a basically that FL was a youtube content creator who lost her job, ends up moving into the house of the CEO who owns a meat processing company. The CEO is connected to her childhood.
I didn't really see the point of SML in this drama other than that the writers needed some other relationship to take up screen time.

I think the issue with this show is that there's nothing driving the plot for 10 episodes other than her trying to find her childhood friend. (a lot of that screen time is filler) The cat villain gang with the drug dealers is kinda boring and doesn't really further the plot that much.
We are 10 episodes in and I wish FL would have gotten more character development by now. Like, she lost her job several episodes ago & hasn't been job hunting. I guess that the drama is trying to portray the struggles women have of finding a career, but it doesn't feel like she has a sense of urgency with her life... It's another rich CEO drama where he saves the day!

I think this show could have been more stellar if they actually made a decent villain figure, and we get to see our gangster male lead pull off some action like Healer drama. Y'all remember the OG kdrama Healer?
Episode 11: opens with both leads being very cutesy and sort of cringe at the dining table. I don't know. I can't really take them seriously anymore especially given their ages. Like you mean to tell me this guy has never had a girlfriend before lol. Does anyone else finding it hard to keep interested in this drama?
episode 13: why is FL suddenly confused that Seo ji hwan isn't her childhood friend? i thought this was already resolved several episodes ago. this padding feels so random and the pregnancy matter with side leads is resolved. now, i don't really care about this show anymore. oh well!

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Return to classics

After a fairly long time this was a light romcom that brings back the classic old Kdrama feel. The main draw is of course Uhm Tae-goo, a genius move casting him as the titular sweet mobster. The acting from all characters including the villains was just so good it smoothed over flaws here and there. I blame the bad old summary section spoiling the identity crisis for the live watch because initially the drama was building it up well till everyone pointed out it was already revealed in the summary given. This drama is based on a webnovel which also has a webtoon based on it which is incomplete and its fun sifting through both and comparing for strengths and weaknesses of the source and the drama(for eg: as kids they were 10 and 13 in the webtoon but 7 and 13 in the drama). Theres some biblical allusions which aren't too deep. Much of the plot followed an idea of subversion which sometimes worked much better but sometimes weakened the plot of the drama.

Uhm Tae-goo and Han Sun-hwa had more chemistry in Save Me 2 I feel- but that wasn't a romance drama. Their acting in My Sweet Mobster was genuine in a way it made the drama that much sweeter than it would have been with the usual lot and their relation comes out nice and strong. Of all their interactions the drunken playing in playground remains the best and highlights the duality of both. I love the FL's character in terms of her integrity and principles about children's content- it was one of the well done messages of this drama. She also has this strength and maturity you can tell she faced a lot of hardship in life and doesn't let anything make her compromise though it makes her more like a mother to the cast. She was also frank and clear about drawing lines and deserved more honest communication by people around her(which is why Deers and her bond is the strongest). The found family aspect steadily became stronger in the second half than the romance once the couple actually start dating and they grew too shy, with odd moments of immature possessiveness. The online comment war was hilarious however. The SML came across as annoying in his interactions with the FL ever since he said he was never rejected in his blind date of the past as it painted a poor picture of hidden ego and he kept acting two-faced. The character himself was written to be nice and had many things that make for good relations but something always felt jarring. The SML however was great when dealing with the bad gangsters though his thawing towards the main group was a tad marred because even that came only because of personal biases because it was connected to FL than in a properly objective manner.

I may have started this for Uhm Tae-goo but I fell head over heels for Yang Hyun-min: Jae-soo was the greatest. Ever. May nothing separate Jae-soo and Man-ho for eternity. Hong-ki won me over with his straightforwardness and he became my third favourite. The way they love and support each and every one of their found family was beautiful. I love Miho's actress and thus I easily moved past her and her beau's archaic trope to like the straightforwardness(Miho), and the impulsive couple they made. Her parents were hilarious. The found family made of the Deers getting their second chance is however where one of the biggest issues lie- the Deers needed far more plot dedicated to them than was. Their lesson shown in absurd song and dance sequence that was as cringe as Mini Eonni's videos but they could have used the idea of lessons to reveal more about each of the Deers themselves(like in the webtoon) which would have bolstered Eun-ha's choice of future kid's content as while their background was clear to her, it was only vaguely implied for the audience. The message part of this KDrama about not judging ex-cons was weakened by the superficial manner it was handled- oversimplification the likes of which I'd expect of small children's cartoons. The choice to erase the original ML's face scar and tattoos was a different type of choice I get but adds to that feeling of appearances nonetheless defining things. I know KDramas are pretty black and white and harsh about even petty crimes and this is one small step but to me its too puerile to make the point especially the way they overdid the reactions of children and 'normal citizens'(strawmanning much?). The lack of actual plot for Deers and the Cat gang members was a big part of this. Yena too needed more screentime- I liked her in the last few episodes but don't quite get her in the first half. Yena is a foil to Eun-ha the way Yang-hee is to Ji-hwan. But for both the 'bad' ones the logic behind their characters is weak and shallow.

On the thematic front Yang-hee is a proper villain. His ridiculousness fit the overall absurdity of this drama and at the same time his sinister expressions and pettiness underlined the dark gangster world. He alone showed wanton criminal tendencies beyond an aesthetic. A foil to Ji-hwan in every aspect from poor leadership to being the black yin to his white yang, an epitome of scrappy street crime that won't just disappear and fit in to be good for the sake of being inherently good. He however sucks at being a gangster unlike Ji-hwan who fits the life like a glove. The tragedy of their all their criminal loves is quite apparent in the police station scene in how the police look away from those brutal injuries and Ji-hwan for all he has achieved is also in a similar boat till a clean prosecutor vouches for him. But the others will always stay in a cycle where they themselves believe that once a criminal they'll always have to stay as one. It was surprisingly impossible to hate Yang-hee even when he almost kills people. The drug arc, with those kid's candies that are exactly like Yang-hee's duality, was dark but well done as a serious arc and the Taek guy was used well. But when the father comes in fulltime, the gangster part becomes aimless outside of Ji-hwan's father issues and undermines everything Ji-hwan had been established as being with backstories so far- into a bluff almost. The march of the goons was brilliant cinema but empty. All tiger moms and dragon dads are the same so its not very gangster at all(in webtoon he has Ji-hwan kidnapped at 13 and with Yang-hee trains him to be a gangster since that young age). Other significance of the dad's- to humanize and turn up Yang-hee's resentment to the max with his vacillating treatment. It pays off when he finally explodes. If he doesn't snap and strike, Ji-hwan can't show his father that its time to give up because his father would never let such issues go beyond a certain line(honestly it might have worked better if they did a temporary hatelliance like the two in Doctor Prisoner to get their lives out of the dad's web and fixed the dad's attitude with less bloodshed). Seo Tae-pyeong couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to be a bloody gangster whom his men feared getting punched around by(patterned kkangpae shirt) or the honorable mafia(hat+dark suit) who follows codes he isn't consistent about. He was a power broker according to his character page and we know he owns millions and a hotel he'll retire comfortably to when released from prison. The father being redeemed because of being blood 'father' was shallow because of how they initially framed the backstory as an extremely abusive father and the tragedy of Ji-hwan's mother being on the run from him for decades to give Ji-hwan a better life opportunites than ending up a gangster(again different from the webtoon).

Similarly for Yang-hee too, they didn't have much of an idea outside of Cain and Abel which doesn't work because Yang-hee isn't an adopted brother but a much older pretentious right-hand man so his monologue sounding like daddy issues makes very little sense. His character page calls him a petty cat burglar who was groomed into a gangster by the dad and they could have played this as him being a weak financial criminal instead of an inefficient low tier goon turned puppet leader with no bark nor claws? Didn't make sense why he was kept on as a second-in-command in name only after he tried to kill the same child ten years ago and has always been a volatile liability. Yang-hee was also if Im Chul-soo was playing Ahn Gi-seok again, more bumbling but evil and more of a okama type punchline, dressed like a royal cat granny with a villainous perm. His final look was aptly gangster and made him look like discount Giovanni(he already had a not-Persian) which would make a Pokemon knockoff theme with his not-Pikachu tattooed goon. The Cat Gang theme was nicely "over"done since the four actors end up very much resembling cats and their gang's everything revolving around cats was funny. Il-yeong's equivalent, the extremely efficient Kang-gil, while really intriguing was also left a blank slate and it was hard to tell his real feelings which keep getting contradicted by his contradictory actions and inactions. That is, aside from his relation with Yang-hee with whom he has whole conversations between shared glances alone(mainly over Ji-hwan) and represents a long cycle of boss-underboss abuse.

Overall, the romance and sweet interpersonal relations win in feeling genuine even when tropey and its one of the best found-families in Kdramas. The drama itself has a lighter vibe to it with so much heart, and is not too cliched but old-school nonetheless. One major thing to add is how creative the concept of the Hit Like and Subscribes were. I absolutely love the OST and background music. The song Beautiful Woman's music in Ep 1 playing for the Deers scene and then the ringtone... I really liked the opening song, Everything, Ring My Heart, The Way and See the Moon are so beautiful. Quite a few of the scenes had a good cinematic vibe and the slapstick comedy was mostly good. They should have kept the darker part of it much lighter and comical instead and characterization oriented. And added a more clear redemption for Kang-gil, all based on the scope of how far they wanted to actually take things with the characters, instead of trying their hand at mixing various darker genres just for the sake of trying them all out.

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The mobster of our dreams!

I saw the growing hype around this show online so I went in with high expectations. The first episode is very unique in its style of comedy that might make you not want to continue BUT BARE WITH IT AND WATCH FOR ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS OF THE YEAR. You slowly get used to style of rom-com and it’s gets funnier and cuter with every minute. The shift from noir to cutesy is so well done, especially by Taegoo (male lead). He truly carries both sides of the show, but you can fully immerse in it due to Sunhwa’s (female lead) portrayal of her character. Yes, some supporting characters are trope-y but they are so lovable. There are MANY tropes in the story but it’s well done and doesn’t bore the viewers. Just get ready to squeal, twirl your hair and kick your feet watching this amazing drama!

P.s I can’t believe this is Taegoo’s first ever rom-com role, he’s so brilliant in it. BOOK HIM MORE COMEDY ROLES!

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A Fun Mix of Love and Laughter

I found "My Sweet Mobster" to be a refreshing take on the usual story of a good girl meeting a bad gangster. This time, the male lead is an ex-gangster who is surprisingly innocent and kind. His sweet nature and care for his friends made him a character I couldn’t help but love.

The love story was cute and engaging. There's a fun love triangle with a prosecutor that kept things interesting. Watching their relationships develop was both exciting and heartwarming.

The drama is a perfect mix of comedy and romance. The funny moments were well-timed and never overdone, making me laugh without being too much. The side stories with the other boys were also cute and added extra charm.

Overall, "My Sweet Mobster" is a complete package of fun, love, and unique storytelling. If you enjoy a good blend of humor and heart, this drama is a must-watch!

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Tooth-rotting romcom with loveable leads

I really enjoyed watching this drama weekly and I'm so sad to see it go! I had a few issues with it, but overall, it was so refreshing and the bright spot of my Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Main Leads:
-This was my first time seeing the leads Taegoo and Sunhwa in anything, and I loved their performances.
-Starting with Jihwan, he was a very loveable ML. I like how he was willing to put in the work to improve whenever Eunha checked him on his behaviour. I loved his protective and caring attitude towards the other Deers and his employees overall. Taegoo has a very commanding presence and was definitely the highlight of the show for me. He was great at portraying the hardened ex-gangster and just as good as portraying the lovesick fool. I really liked his journey over the show of overcoming the guilt he harboured during his time as a mobster. His struggles were very understandable. The show was more enjoyable to watch knowing how introverted Taegoo is in real life lol. And ofc I love his voice too. He's definitely going to have a lot of new fans after the show lol.
-Sunhwa also did great and I really enjoyed Eunha as a character. She was kindhearted and headstrong. At first, I was annoyed that she didn't really seem to stick up for herself, but over time, she was more willing to voice her feelings and opinions, especially when it came to Jihwan. Though their relationship had its ups and downs, Eunha was always the voice of reason and wasn't afraid to check Jihwan on his behaviour. I just wish we could've seen more about Eunha's backstory and her life in the period after Hyunwoo/Jihwan left, like what she was doing after her parents divorced and what her life was like, how she met Miho, etc.
-Taegoo and Sunhwa had amazing chemistry that felt believable. Their scenes were very very very sweet, maybe a little TOO sweet lol I wish things got a bit spicier! I know that it's Jihwan's first relationship so I guess that's why, but I feel like the directing on their kiss scenes could've at least been better. Anyway, I always looked forward to seeing Eunha and Jihwan's relationship develop, I loved the angst they had, and despite some hiccups, I love how they were able to resolve their problems quickly and communicate with each other. I wish we could've seen them get married though :( I know this is their second project together, so hopefully they can do a third 🙏🏾

Supporting Cast:
-Initially, I was annoyed by Hyunwoo (prosecutor) because of his strong prejudices against Jihwan, but the more I think about it, it really wasn't that bad because you can't tell me you wouldn't be apprehensive about an ex-gangster lol. I do think his whole philosophy of "people can't change" was definitely a negative point though, and I'm glad that he was able to change this way of thinking by the end of the show. By the way some comments talk about him, you would think he kicks babies on a daily basis 💀 he really wasn't that bad. He didn't actually do anything to break up the leads. Even after he confessed and she rejected him, he did have that moment of "I'm still going to pursure Eunha" (which annoyed me) but nothing really came of it and he eventually moved on. He was integral to the plot of taking down the Kitty Gang, and I think his presences was necessary to make Jihwan actually act on his desires. Overall, Hyunwoo was fine and people are doing too much by hating his guts
-I liked Ilyoung and Miho a lot. I was put off initially by the pregnancy plot but I think they had good chemistry and I liked them as a couple. One thing I will say though, it is crazy that they got married without even really dating each other haha. I guess that is something that happens in real life but hopefully not to me!
-Hongki and Jaesoo were my favourite Deers, especially Jaesoo. Jaesoo was literally the most hilarious and entertaining character in the drama and I cannot believe he made me cry more than once lol. He was great at the more emotional scenes towards the end
-The Kitty Gang was mostly funny to me. Yang Hee was the funniest of them all like I'm sorry but even in the scenes where he's doing horrible things and being threatening he was still funny to me 😭 Tae Pyung definitely had a threatening aura, and I can see why Jihwan was terrified by him.

Character Dynamics:
-Expanding more on Jihwan and Eunha, I haven't watched many Korean romcoms or kdramas in general, and I think that helped because I wasn't turned off by the childhood trope like many others I saw in the comments while the show was airing lol. I think it was interwoven into the plot well; it's there from ep 1 and isn't something that is thrown into the show in the last 2 eps. Both Jihwan and Eunha's childhoods had such a huge impact on their lives, it's easy to understand why they would still be holding onto it (or trying to bury it in Jihwan's case) for so long. I like that Eunha fell in love with Jihwan before she knew the truth, and it didn't feel over the top that she was still looking for him, as he was the only bright point in her life when she was a child. He's the one who inspired her to become a kids content creator in the first place. I did feel like they dragged out her finding out a biiiiiiiit too much but I can fully understand why Jihwan didn't want to tell her, as he was very ashamed of the person he used to be. Taegoo and Sunhwa really stuck the landing in the more emotional scenes of the drama, I loved the scene where Eunha finally realizes 🥺
-One of my favourite relationships was Jihwan and the Deers but more specifically Jihwan and Ilyoung and Jihwan and Jaesoo. I could really feel the love between Ilyoung and Jihwan, they had a very sweet older brother/younger brother dynamic. I also really loved Jaesoo and Jihwan, they were so funny together and when things got serious they made those more emotional moments feel believable.
-I also really loved Eunha's relationship with Donghui, she was basically an older sister to him and it was very sweet. And I loved the progression of Jaesoo and Eunha's relationship, from calling her a rat to "little mouse" (lovingly) lol.
-By the end of the show, all the Deers + Eunha really felt like a family and I loved that so much 🥺 It's cute that Hongki, Jaesoo and Manho will continue to live with Eunhwan after they get married lol
-Eunha and Miho's relationship was also nice, I like how they went to each other for advice and they supported each other. But on that note, it kind of annoyed me how Miho basically didn't say anything to Eunha about her relationship with Ilyoung before he announced it to everyone. They seem to share everything else with each other so I thought it was weird that the writer chose to just have Miho not say anything
-I think Yena and Hongki had good chemistry but she annoyed me for the majority of the show lol. I think it's fine if Yena and Hongki and Hyunwoo and Officer Song didn't get together if both relationships have people (Yena and Hyunwoo) who still aren't over their crushes.

Plot/Story:
-I really liked the themes of redemption, loyalty, forgiveness, second chances and overcoming prejudices and overcoming guilt in the drama. I love that the drama was able to tackle more serious/heavy issues without losing the essence of the show. I know that some people hated how serious it got towards the end but I didn't mind it, these are ex criminals and gangsters we're dealing with so I expected this to some degree, and it was never anything soooo serious that made you think "wow is this the same show?"
-Somehow the show was filled with cliches while also defying expectations. At multiple points when we thought they would break up, they didn't and I was very happy about that!
-This show was genuinely hilarious and I found myself laughing every ep. Shoutout to Jaesoo who is the funniest one in the show lol. Jihwan is a close second 🤗
-There were definitely some lose ends towards the end, specifically when it comes to the Kitty Gang. I would've liked to see more about Kang Gil, how he got his scar and his relationship with Jihwan. I also think the writing for Tae Pyung could've been better. Last ep was definitely a bit rushed lol

Overall, it was a very refreshing show that I looked forward to watching every week! I'm very sad to see it go and will definitely be rewatching 💖

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Perfectly cast ML pulls of both "swoony" and "adorkable"

I am not the biggest fan of slapstick... and yet! Don't let the silliness deter you! I thoroughly enjoyed this warm and cute drama. The OTP were lovely, while the excellent and perfectly cast ML, in particular, was both adorkable and swoony. I know this is how Uhm Tae Goo's voice sounds now, but in certain scenes, the cadence and tone felt like such a hilarious nod to Marlon Brando's Godfather. The comedic homage to western gangster films in some of the background music and other details was also just enough to be cute and funny without crossing into grating and tiresome.

I am used to watching Im Chul Soo in likeable, earnest comedic roles, so watching him portray this perfectly detestable weasel with such energy and swag was an unexpected surprise. The reformed "criminals" and "gangsters" were also a bunch of teddy bears and just as enjoyable to watch!

Overall, a sweet drama with an important message about second chances.

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Never knew a mobster could be this soft-spoken and cute!

I came to know about this drama a few weeks before it aired, and the vibrant poster did attract me to click on the drama page, and after seeing the tags gangster and romance, I went feral!

This is literally a simple romantic story between a gangster and a kid creator who met in unusual circumstances at the right time but developed feelings for each other with a twist of fate.

If you are wondering why you would watch something this cliché, I know it is, but what makes it different is:

✓ Our gangster, ML! He's a pookie gangster. He has a low, raspy, sweet voice to soothe your senses. In the world of rom-coms, he's a hidden gem. His comedic timing, facial expressions, and body language are swoon-worthy!

✓ OMG, our mini-eonni, the FL, is such a sweet heart! Her natural beauty and acting are spontaneous, versatile, and full of warmth. The interaction between the two just gave me giggling moments.

✓ The storyline and setting are full of laughter and fun, which made me feel refreshed and energized. This is something I missed from the recent rom-com dramas.

✓ The chemistry between the leads is just awesome! They were co-stars in the drama Save Me 2, and you can literally see on-screen and off-screen how comfortable they're with each other. Their chemistry is just natural.

✓ In recent dramas, the visual romance is focused on the physical part, showing how intimate couples can be and showing skinship 24/7, but we forgot that without those, romance can bloom. I'm not an anti, but sometimes too much intimacy can be overwhelming and can be mistaken for lust. But here they took things a bit slower and concentrated on the comedy part more. Romance is all over the drama but shown in a very subtle and gentle manner, almost like worshipping "love.".

✓No annoying side characters, no unnecessary murder mystery, only pure entertainment.

✓ The Quad-Squad's comedy is extremely enjoyable. Sometimes their actions made me cringe, but they also made me laugh hysterically!

Is this too soon to declare it "My Best Watched Rom-com of the Year"? It was a refreshing summer rom-com, which I enjoyed very much, and discovering Uhm Tae Goo was the biggest treasure! Not gonna lie, I'm going to miss this show very much.

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Best Rom-Com 2024

It was the perfect Rom-com Kdrama. <3
If I’m being honest My Sweet Mobster had so much going on there was not a single boring episode. Was a well-written show. I smiled, giggled like a silly, and laughed, out loud, cried . The OST is beautiful l listen to every day
The whole cast was brilliant It was my introduction to Uhm Tae Goo.
No one can convince me that it's just acting especially 15. Ep last scene uhm tae goo you are legend !
Thank you My Sweet Mobster team. Thank you jihwan, eunha, thirsty deers. No words can describe how much I love you guys

“You said that I led you down a good path. It's the other way around. You always make me want to become a better person. I want to be your subscriber and love you for the rest of my life. Will you give me your permission?”
Honestly JIHWAN'S PROPOSAL TO EUNHA. one of best k drama marriage proposal
My Sweet Mobster I wish i could erase my memory and watch it again for the first time <3

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This is mostly my thought on everything that I didn't like, still a good show though!

I wish the female lead had more opportunities to stand up for herself. I get the feeling that she's written to be a strong female lead in terms of mindset, but for whatever reason, she never says anything when it matters. There were several opportunities for her to say something but she never does. One thing I need to mention, something that I hate, is when a female lead buts into a situation that, on every level, does not concern her, but there are genuinely scenes that have everything to do with the male lead and since they're dating it involves her too. That's your man girl, step up! I always think the same thing when it comes to the female lead getting to know the male leads friends, but I think it's important to put in scenes of the other male leads going out of their way to help and protect her instead of doing it simply because their hyung-nim said they should. It's clear that the relationship she has with the other boys is barely memorable, I think it would've been easy to add scenes where she gets along with them separately instead of all together. I hate the second male lead. he is so incredibly insufferable that he becomes a literal wedge on the main lead's relationship. if the female lead can't reach out her hand to the male lead when he's hurting simply because the second male lead is holding her back, whether that is literally or figuratively, she shouldn't be dating the male lead to begin with. How can you call it love when it's easy for a supporting character to stop you from reaching out. Another thing that I dislike, is her lack of friends. I mean like girl-friends. This girl has one best friend who keeps things from her and tells her to break-up with her loving boyfriend because he used to be a gangster and them in the same sentence will mention the fact that she's dating a man who works for that ex-gangster. like girl you are carrying his child, you have no room to talk. Things that I did like about this show was the way that the main lead's relationship never had issues that lasted more than an episode. Since they started dating, they have never let anything wedge itself to deep that they stopped talking to each other. I really enjoys the two side romances even though one of them can hardly be considered one. I hate the third female leads bs about knowing a guy for longer. She runs on the same physiology that second male leads in other dramas do, the 'I'll wait until you guys break up to get my chance'. The show never discusses how much of a bitch she'd been to the female lead, but just kinda expects us to understand where she's coming from. I notice this habit amongst a lot of newer k-dramas since a little before covid-19 where instead of writing the main characters or simply just the female lead to be relatable, they try and force everyone in the cast to be. At first this was nice, it was a way to convey that everyone has a story. However, the more dramas that have come out the more it felt like they were telling us to always take shit from people, because you have no idea what they're going through and the female lead who was once a relatable character becomes this angel of a character that always forgives and forgets. The final thing I can mention that grinds my gears a little is the trope of 'Oh actually we've known each other since birth'. at first I thought the plot point would come up to be an important part of the story, but it's just a reason to have the female lead and second male lead to meet each other and develop a relationship outside of just a victim/witness and Prosecutor. It adds nothing to the male leads relationship with his father or the life he lived after meeting the female lead again. I wish they could have added an info dump at least saying how big the disparity was between his life before and after being caught. but he's just a pawn for the Female lead's childhood. I really appreciated that most of the show is about the guys. I like the fact that it's always been them and they have each other's backs and that they are closer with the male lead in terms of their life before meeting the female lead. The female lead is of course an important person to the male lead, but he's got his homies, you know. The side romance was a little annoying at first, but it gets cuter after they clear the misunderstanding and secrets, which just goes to show how annoying and unnecessary a misunderstanding is. Although it feels anticlimactic, the relationship the male lead has with his father is really refreshing. Sometimes you can never sever the relationships with your parents no matter how awful they are. There are some parents that absolutely hate their children and will treat them like shit for no reason, but then there are parents who put their kids through hard times, because they think they know what's best for them. I think the relationship in this show was the latter of the two. It nice to see a son who still cares for their father protect them even after trying to sever all ties. That being said, his father is shit and he deserves the death penalty simply for being an awful parent. I really like the concept of the male lead being a sweetheart when he's drunk and that he's a lightweight, I wish they added more of that, and maybe it's because I grew up ready nasty Wattpad stories that I was kinda hoping for the leader of a gang and angel of a woman relationship and not the ex-con making a better life for himself and everyone else around him and the girl that is willing to except the changes for the better. I wanted more fighting, part of me also wanted her to get kidnapped(sorry, not sorry). I think they tried to shove the ending all into one episode so they had enough time to make a cute chiller episode, but it definitely isn't unwelcomed. I appreciate having a whole episode of pure joy!

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