Completely Misunderstood Drama!

***** SPOILERS GALORE!!!*******

So, this is going to be more of a response to all the negative feedback this drama has gotten instead of an actual review. And it’s LONG so bear with me.

I just watched this for the 2nd time and I might have liked it more the 2nd time around.

I think people completely miss the point of the entire drama and the message it sends throughout. It’s about forgiveness and letting go of hatred and anger and choosing to make drastic changes to yourself to be good to, and live a happy life with, your loved ones.

The drama makes a firm fine line right down the middle of people bad people who choose to continue to hold on to their selfishness, hate and anger, and those who finally realize how bad they truly have been but choosing to accept the chance they’ve been given and changing themselves for the good. Standing on that line are their loved ones who make them face their bad behavior, give them a chance to change and fix things and motivating them to do so with their love. In the end the loved ones continue on to live long happy lives with those who’ve changed, putting the past behind them, but completely cutting out those who chose not to change from their lives, even as they forgave them as well.

That’s EXACTLY how it should be!

Too many viewers got so caught up in ML’s horrible behavior once it was exposed, even going so far as to say the show let them off or made light of it. IT DID NOT. Not at all.

In fact ALL of the bad behavior in the drama - with the exception of a whole lot of dumb, dangerous and even disrespectful behavior of the FL - was shown to be wrong and intolerable. To say they made light of that behavior is extremely inaccurate. They drama acknowledged how scary and disturbing the ML’s behavior was, and the FL did NOT forgive him easily but - not at all. However, not only was she already in love with him but, a major part of the FL character’s personality was her extremely forgiving, trusting and accepting behavior. So it would make LESS sense to show her not being willing to at least try to really get through to her HUSBAND to help him realize just how wrong and scary, his behavior was, so they could still at least have a chance at making the marriage work. It was clear that she would have left him (exactly as she did) if he didn’t change his ways. And his behavior wasn’t because he was crazy and obsessive. It was made clear that behaving that way is what he was taught and shown, so he truly didn’t understand that it was wrong. FL (and to some extent his best friend) was able to finally get him to understand, so she could then give him a real chance to prove he could change his ways. When he clearly was still not getting she even said that she questioned the point of continuing to try if he didn’t even see why his behavior was wrong. But once he did she was able to give him that chance which he took her up on and did! COMPLETELY! Not once did he behave in any of those ways again. That’s how it SHOULD be. We’re talking about families and loved ones here. Real love. Not that weak shit. I say again, they were MARRIED, and both believed very strongly in the sanctity of marriage so OF COURSE they would, and did, give it their absolute best to make it work before walking away.

Those around him saw the goodness in him so they were willing to give him a chance and he didn’t let them down. That’s a beautiful thing!

Same goes for 2nd ML’s very abusive father. They (and even the character himself) acknowledged how horrible he’d been to his son all along and how wrong that was. But, again, this drama was about forgiveness and 2nd chances.

The ones that took those chances and changed themselves for the better - the ML, the best friend’s father - were accepted and completely forgiven. They ended up having wonderful relationships with those characters.

Then there were those who couldn’t let go of all their toxic behavior - the spoiled princess who just couldn’t accept being told no, the severely disturbed and damaged half brother who clearly didn’t know how to manage his anger and pain (not surprising with the parents he ended up with once his real mom died), and the selfish as fuck mother of the ML. Even the girl who was FL’s assistant who chose to continue to follow the step-brother, clearly choosing to continue on the wrong path as the FL literally, clearly tried to show her during the kidnapping! How viewers didn’t get this is insane to me!

Anyway those characters, while forgiven (so they could really let them go and move on from them) were completely cut out of their lives one by one.

That ABSOLUTELY shows the horrible behavior being addressed!

In fact, that the ML could be as good to FL as he was was actually a miracle with his upbringing, neglect and those fucked up genes is itself a miracle.

I will say though that too many of the FL’s bad decisions and actions went completely unaddressed. Walking into a strange man’s house (she’d literally only met him once before when she bought a tie from him) and then going into his house to cook for him - again, a complete stranger! - is the dumbest, most dangerous thing I’ve seen in a while? What woman does that? That’s just begging to be raped or kidnapped or both. And then running to his house in the middle of the night in LINGERIE and then getting drunk and falling asleep?!!! WTF?! First of all you are a married woman. Why tf are you even running to another man dressed like that? Completely inappropriate! But…ummm, rape much? None of this was even remotely ever addressed. And then! Promising her husband to stay away from his step-brother but then, the next day! - doing exactly the opposite because you didn’t want to offend him?? Like WTF woman?! Knowing how her husband felt and having PROMISED that was just wrong on so many levels. THIS is where the drama was inconsistent - she valued marriage but her actions showed a lack of respect for her husband, even for Western culture. In Eastern culture it’s flat out madness!

It’s unfortunate that so many viewers missed the point of this drama completely. It was actually extremely well done. It sent a good message and did so right in your face. But, somehow, people still got completely caught up and stuck on the bad behavior, and missed the positive message entirely! Which, when you think about it, is pretty ironic given what that message was.

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Better in some ways but that ending...

Let me just jump right in and say that without comparing this version with the original in any way whatsoever, I absolutely HATED both the ML and the ending in this version. I had to get that off my chest right away.

For you happy-ending lovers (which I am 99.9% of the time), never fear because your happy ending is there. But for the life of me I did not want to see them end up together. I don't think I'd need all of my fingers on one hand to count how many times that's been the case for me after watching an entire drama.

First, I'm going to review the drama as a stand-alone, without comparing it to the original version. Then I'm going to do a breakdown of what I liked and disliked between the two.

For this version, let me just say the CGI was god awful quality. I don't understand why they even tried. Like, they knew they had to based on the original version - they just couldn't avoid including any gaming completely or it would automatically be treated as a complete sham - BUT they should have made sure they at least set aside a decent budget to produce something at least AVERAGE. This was way subpar. What I DID like was that they actually showed on-screen shots of the characters playing on their computers. That version of the graphics quality was at least acceptable AND I LIKE that they used that method because, that's really what it's like in reality when we play games. We aren't actually in the games talking to other people in a virtual world like they keep showing in these dramas (including the original) so it felt good seeing a more realistic aspect of them gaming.

The FL character in this drama is one of the best I've seen in a while. She's strong and confident. I genuinely liked her. There was a period of time where her behavior bothered me a bit though, because it seemed out of place. It was when she met the ML in real life and found out who he was in game. The thing is, they'd already interacted both in game and in person before. When they'd interacted in person they were friendly and comfortable around one another. So for her to close up completely on him and be so standoffish made no sense. Yes, she'd be surprised and caught off guard, but she made it suddenly seem like just interacting with him on a friendly level in a public setting was totally taboo and such a big deal. Like WHAT? But, when she finally came around I LOVED that they maintained the strength of her character all the way to the end, and I sincerely mean that. I'll explain why later on.

The FL's best friend was AWESOME, until she wasn't. That complete 180 she suddenly pulled in ep 8 made absolutely no sense whatsoever. None. It was completely illogical. But I'll go more into that when I do my comparison.

The SML turned out to be a decent guy which is good. More on that to come in my comparison too.

Now. The ML. I ended up hating him with a passion. He was a weak, pathetic loser with absolutely no backbone and who in no way whatsoever deserved the FL. NOT. AT. ALL. He was wimpy about approaching her in the first place so I should have caught on then but I honestly couldn't see him turning out to be this much of a douche. Early on, like when they finally agreed to meet offline, the FL kept having to be the one trying to get a conversation going. He didn't really seem to put any real effort into making things work except for in the middle there when they did date a bit and finally agreed to be a couple. But then the BS started and let me tell you how much I hated that man! He let his girl suffer alone and did NOTHING, NOT ONE SINGLE THING, to try to make things better for her. NOTHING! Not once did he protect her, stand up for her, reassure her. The man did nothing. Instead, when the SML calls him out for being the pathetic tool that he is, he responds by completely ABANDONING HER in the face of everything she'd already been enduring all alone. Bear in mind that at this point he doesn't even know that her best friend isn't even talking to her because, you know, his ass never bothered actually caring about her life anyway. When did he ever show any interest in what was going on with her? Only when he heard about her being behind on classes? Seriously? Yes the SFL may have gotten into his head but what kind of pathetic man do you have to be for her comments to affect you that way? He saw how much the FL was hurting and instead of stepping up and trying to protect her - especially after the SML called him out - his response is to drop her like a hot potato!

THEN the drama tries to convince us that he did it for her own good? Like WHAT THE EVER-LOVING FUCK! Excuse my language. THEN! He NEVER APOLOGIZES! NOT ONCE! They make HER win HIM back?! WTF?!!!!!! They even get engaged! Like, WHAT?!!!

Okay, just breathe. *Woooooosaaaaahhhhhhhhhh***

Let's just move on to my comparison.

WHAT I LIKED COMPARED TO THE ORIGINAL:

1) The FL - I don't dislike the actress in the original version. Even despite her scandal and everything that transpired after I've never disliked her. However, the actress in this was, in my opinion, so much prettier and HEALTHIER! She didn't look anorexic. She was very strong-willed and wasn't ditsy. I liked how they actually showed her analyzing her game play like a real gamer too. I liked her strength and there was a consistency to her character that caught even me off-guard at the end. Like I mentioned before there was a period where her behavior didn't make sense based on what had already happened in the drama. When she was acting cold and distant and a bit skittish towards the ML it just didn't flow with the character's behavior before. By the end though, I was actually surprised by how well they maintained the character's personality. While I was infuriated by the fact that she started practically begging him to get back together (thankfully, he pulled another dick move before she could actually go through with it, stopping just before I'd been about to go ballistic) it hit me right away that it made sense for the character to fight for her relationship. To give it her all to make it work. That's what she did and understanding that about the character's personality allowed me to accept her behavior when, normally, that wouldn't ever be something I could accept.

2) The FL's best friend - I couldn't stand the one in the original. From the beginning she grated on my nerves and it just never got any better. In this version I LOVED the FL's best friend, UNTIL ep 8. Then I loved her again in the final episode. She was one of the best sidekick to the FL characters I've come across in a while. Very supportive and gave great advice.

3) The development of the relationship between the leads, both in-game and out, prior to them getting together - I liked that, in this version, the leads didn't just suddenly get married out of the blue in game. He had her meet his friends and battle together for a bit and they got to know each other some before she finally agreed to do it. Offline too, I liked that, not only did they interact in person before actually agreeing to meet offline, but that even after they agreed to meet in person they didn't start dating right away. I like that the ML interacted with and observed the FL some before even approaching her in game and asking her to marry there. I like that they showed them getting to know one another a bit and learning to be a bit more comfortable around one another and going on dates before becoming a couple offline too.

4) The SFL was barely present - I like that we didn't have to deal with the SFL much at all. She wasn't terrible in the original version either (no that was her best friend...who, I now realize, was problematic in this version too although we didn't have to see her much at all, thankfully) if I'm being honest but she really wasn't bad here at all and she was barely present. For me, that's a good thing because I hate interlopers getting a lot of screen time in my dramas. I like that they also never made her a really bad person.

5) The SML!!!! - This one is HUGE for me. To this day, I cannot even stand to see the face of the guy who played the SML in the original version. I haven't even been able to watch him in another drama. I hated that character so much in the original version that I could never separate the character's personality from his gigantic ass chin. So whenever I see the chin I'm turned off. It's completely illogical, I know, but it's been years and continues to be the case. The SML in this one...at first I really did NOT like him. He had a girlfriend so why was he trying to get close to another girl. I also don't like guys who use underhanded means to get close to girls so I was turned off a bit in the beginning. But then he completely won me over when he told the ML off later on for being a shit boyfriend and for letting the FL suffer on her own. From there one he had my support. If she ended up with him I'd have been okay with it. Not necessarily happy, as I'm not a second lead syndrome kinda gal but I'd have been able to accept it...much better than I'm able to accept her being with the ML in the end. I honestly wanted her to just stay single and say no to both, if I'm being 100% honest.

WHAT I DISLIKED COMPARED TO THE ORIGINAL:

1) CGI - For the life of me I cannot fathom why they bothered even attempting to produce the drama without first making sure they had at least a decent CGI budget. Like, seriously. You're remaking a drama where you KNEW how critical that aspect of the production would be. This was released in 2021. A kid in high school could probably produce better CGI in his software programming class than they did in this drama. Seriously. It was abhorrent.

2) The FL's hesitancy towards the ML when they met offline - I didn't like that once they met up she became hesitant and put up walls and kept her distance. I actually loved the insta-romance in the original version but was happy when I saw the build-up before them meeting offline here. I figured at least they gave us more to work with. But then she started acting all aloof and brushing him off. It was a turnoff.

3) The FL's best friend AFTER ep 8 (I'm leaving the big guns for last) - I get that they wanted to keep the story somewhat in line with the original story but the complete 180 they pulled in ep 8 just to have the girls argue was the stupidest thing ever. There was no basis for her to become as upset as she was and nothing to even begin to explain why she'd be angry enough to completely turn her back on her best friend especially as she's seeing her go through all the online and on-campus bullying she'd been enduring. In the original version I'm sure we can all agree that the best friend's reaction there too was a bit overboard as well but 1) we could at least see and understand what had driven her to that reaction and 2) she was a bit of a flakey airhead in the first place anyway so it wasn't that far or a stretch for someone with her personality. Here though, the best friend all along had been smart, rational, logical, confident...she was pretty awesome in the first place, so this weird reaction from her was just completely nonsensical, and that it lasted as long as it did too before she came to her senses just made it worse.

4) THEY BROKE UP! - One of the things I absolutely treasure about the relationship between the leads in the original version was how completely unshakeable they were. They were both very confident individuals, both in themselves and in one another, and also in their relationship. People coming between them was a non-issue. I LOVED THAT! It's one of the biggest reasons why it continues to be one of my favorite dramas to this day. Now, you're probably wondering why I dislike that they broke up when I've also said I didn't want them to end up together. It's the fact that he broke up with her, and in the manner he did, while she was still going through hell she had been that cinched the deal for me of not ever wanting her to get back with that prick.

5) THE ML! - I HATED HIM WITH A PASSION! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Yang Yang *ahem* the ML in the original version. That unshakeable confidence of his was to die for. That presence of his and his resourcefulness. *sigh* It made sense that the FL was enamored by him, and him her if I'm being honest. She had her own confidence and resourcefulness that made sense would appeal to him too. There's no way anyone was going to mess with his woman. He'd protect her to the end. Period. He always knew what was going on with her and always took care of her. She was never left fighting a battle on her own or feeling completely abandoned. THAT WAS THE ESSENCE OF THE ENTIRE DRAMA! THAT AND THE STRENGTH OF THEIR BOND! For them to completely take away both of those factors from the original story completely destroyed this version for me. The ML here was nothing but a coward. He was weak and pathetic. Instead of standing up and gaining a backbone when finding out the FL was in trouble he chose to walk away instead. He literally did NOTHING to protect her, nothing to defend or stand up for her, nothing to even support her in her daily life, not even before things went bad! He bought her a necklace and gave her a few rides. Big whoop! He never tried to know what was going on in her life or any of that. The ML here sickens me. THE MAN NEVER EVEN APOLOGIZED FOR BREAKING UP WITH HER! She had to win his worthless ass back! UGH! I'm angry all over again!!!

I still gave the drama a somewhat high overall rating though. I'm being very generous. Mainly because, up until ep 8, I was still really enjoying the drama and, for the most part, liked it in some ways a lot more than the original. But those last 2 episodes and that ending...BOY!

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Soooo good!

I absolutely loved it! So much of it was so damn frustrating but all I can say is I loved it anyway. The acting was superb across the board. The emotions the cast was able to evoke - my goodness! I’ve never ranted and raved at a drama so hard in my life! The story was beautifully complex. I started skipping some scenes at around episode 20 or so but by 23 I actually went back to watch what I’d missed because I realized I’d assumed those scenes would be boring. Going back and giving them a try was worth it, not because they were truly necessary for you to be able to follow the story, but because they simply weren’t boring at all.

I fell completely in love with the 2 main characters, both individually and as a couple. I really did. FL character is my new superhero while ML character made me truly protective of him, in a way I can’t recall ever feeling before. I loved both actors as well. FL actress had a cuteness that was sincere, yet was able to look drop dead sexy later on. ML actor has a really endearing quality.

The OST. Oh the OST. My first time watching it is 8 years after it aired yet I STILL found myself rewinding just to listen to some songs again. The classical, the modern - it was all great!

Skinship throughout was minimal but the romance was always there so you really didn’t even notice. But wow! There’s one kiss scene! Whew!!! Hot! Hot! Hot!

Again, soooo much about this drama was super frustrating. Nevertheless, I never once stopped enjoying it. It’s beautiful.

I will definitely be watching this several more times. Definitely.

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A complete surprise. By the end I totally loved it.

That was so damn beautiful.

I thought this was actually really slow and draggy for the first 15 episodes or so. It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t really holding my attention and I even briefly considered dropping it at one point but the main couple kept me going. I wanted to see them get together.

As soon as they did it’s like everything took off from there, even though a lot of the story wasn’t directly about just them. I see a lot of people saying they enjoyed the 1st 15-16 episodes (maybe 18, I can’t remember) but that it then took a turn for the worst. I completely disagree. Strongly. This drama was very moving. It had great depth to it and turned into something really beautiful. It went from simple to complex, to very complex but there was a simplistic beauty throughout. This was Romance.

Loved that main couple from beginning to end and loved all the other couples that developed later on too. I laughed a lot. Cried hard as hell a few times too.

Still don’t have a clue how to play GO. Lol! None. But I still enjoyed watching the competitions, although I glazed over some of the commentary (okay, a lot) during.

I’m determined to find and download the OST for this drama. Loved it. I’m especially hooked on the song played during the ending credits. Already got that one added to my playlist and I’ve been singing it all day.

I’ll absolutely rewatch this. Definitely.

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I’m so in love with this drama!

OMG I LOVED IT! First of all I’m head over heels for the OST. Been wanting to say that for 26 episodes now but was determined to watch all 28 before posting anything. This show was so addictive. I love the chemistry of the main couple and really enjoyed the story of the 2nd couple too. I love how steamy the main couple was, not all prude like usual Asian dramas (especially Chinese). I laughed so much throughout the series, not just in the first few episodes.

I will absolutely be rewatching numerous times. In fact, I’m posting this as I’m about to rewatch it for the first time since I watched it several months ago. Can’t believe how excited I am to see this cast and these characters again and I don’t even remember any details right now. LOL!

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Really Love it! - Mostly…

This was excellent. The acting, the music, production, the story - all great! Definitely will rewatch several times. Had it not been for one major flaw this could easily have been one of my go-to dramas.

I really loved this drama EXCEPT for the 2nd ML character. Had he not been a therapist -and even more so the ML’s, at that - his character would have been little more than the usual annoyance. HOWEVER, his malpractice and ABUSE of his patient was absolutely unpleasant to watch. He literally used his therapist role (one which requires complete doctor-patient trust) to try to keep the ML from the FL, and not because he truly believed their relationship was unhealthy, but simply because he was jealous and wanted her for himself. A patient’s weaknesses were used against him by his own therapist. How could that possibly be okay and go unpunished?!?! I’m completely appalled by this aspect of the story. The therapist was literally trying to hurt his patient due to his selfishness. He saw the ML struggling and getting worse but did nothing to step in and help (or warn others to do so) despite having previously used the excuse of not being able to walk away from a patient in need to force his way into the ML’s home, just to keep the leads apart of course. He never even tried to address the source of the problem. No, he used drugs to treat the symptoms and left it up to the FL to resolve the true source of the ML’s illness. Not only should his license have been revoked but I wish he would have even been locked up for abuse of his patient.

Otherwise the show was surprisingly great. Yes, the grandfather was an ass, but we’ve seen similar or worse in c-dramas so it wasn’t particularly shocking. And again, the music was beautiful. Jasper and FL both did an excellent job.

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Amazing and Impactful drama

I almost gave this a 10 and feel that it probably deserves it but, because I was left wishing they’d included a couple of things in the finale I couldn’t give it a perfect score. I wanted to see the main couple get married, or at least engaged. A proposal should have happened. Also, I wanted to see the memorial they designed and corresponding ceremony to see how the families felt about the result. That work was so critical to the story, it made no sense for us not to be allowed to see it to fruition.

Otherwise a deeply moving and beautiful story. Great acting. Awesome OST. And impactful visuals. Will definitely watch again.

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Beautiful

This one was really difficult to rate. I forced myself through the first 5-8 episodes or so, all because I was curious about how things would play out with the main couple. But then, the show just kept getting better and better until I has no choice but to love it. There were some of the most beautiful scenes in this drama. The music. WOW! The music! That one performance at the end of episode 26 gave me full-body goosebumps from beginning to end. And there were so many others. That friend, Taro, and his story with the 2nd female lead was a complete waste of time for me...at first. Then I found myself wanting to see more of them and their story. The chemistry between that main couple was outstanding. I’d totally believe they were or became a couple in real life. I loved both main characters from beginning to end. The college friends were damn hilarious.

There’s so much I could have done without but sooooooo much that was outstanding that the beauty won out. I’ll definitely be rewatching this. It’ll be one of my go-to’s for sure. Really could have watched more. Gonna miss them.

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