I don’t even know where to start. There’s just too many layers to this masterpiece.

The story and writing were beautiful. It made me google about Korean History a few times just to check fiction from fact, and to know some parts were inspired by real history just made it even more engaging. The fact that this made me curious about another country’s history... that’s a win for me.

The cinematography, oh my gosh. Your eyes will surely be in for a feast, and you’ll leave fully satisfied and in awe from almost every episode. The music also heightened the emotions.

The characters. Most dramas usually reveal their backstories mid way or towards the end as a plot twist, but the writer in this drama chose the opposite. You’d appreciate every character from the very beginning since their history is revealed as early as the first episodes. Though it got confusing for awhile, be patient and wait for all of these beautiful characters with beautiful histories meet and create an even more beautiful story for us.

Can I specially mention the bromance? They added humor in this very “heavy” drama. This is probably one of the few dramas that really had me literally laughing out loud, all thanks to the peculiar friendship of the three.

And sorry, special mention for Yoo Yeon Seok. His acting was totally out of his usual character, and damn sir, you really pulled it off. I rarely fall in love with characters, this is one of the few moments.

The heart ache. You felt for the characters, their desperation, anger and frustration for a country that was falling, and their eagerness to stand up and fight for a cause... damn, this makes you realize how lucky we are in the times we live in.

Spoiler: this one particular scene in the end made my heart ache in particular... this was when the shop that buys stuff and does favors opened again, and they started having a collection of the many things that hold too mny good memories. It gave me a familiar feeling I have about growing old- the feeling of sadness when you’re reminded of the good moments and how you’ve lost the people you’ve spent them with. This is the pain of passage of time.

Thank you, Mr. Sunshine. This was truly a treat and I’ll surely be reading articles about you for days.

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Season Two managed to save Season One for having a bit more sense.

Just read from the comments that they changed director for this season and I am thankful they made that move. Seasom 1 really threw me off and I only stayed partly because I was curious where this was all heading.

Season 1 honestly sucked. I'm not a reader of the original work, and I can say that the writers assumed that the audience would automatically know the background of the story. But for a viewer like me with fresh eyes, everything was messy- from the plot, the unexplainable reasons behind their actions, the annoying love triangle and how highschool (immature) everything was. I have no idea how I managed to finish all episodes.

But Season 2 came in and turned everything around. We found connections that finally made sense, character arcs that made you appreciate the characters that were unlikeable in the first season, and more backstories that added realness to the story. I'm happy I proceeded with this season.

Can I also say that I'm sucker for the concept? The whole premise of the show can really become a Black Mirror episode where you start to question humanity's love for technology. Concepts like these really make me think deeply about the possibilities of these things. Are we really prone to swapping our true feelings to scientific discoveries? It's a fun idea to play with.

Also, I love the build up of Hye young and Jojo's relationship. First season showed a stalker admiring his crush, but second season showed us someone who maturely waited for the love of his life to love him back. Their love story was such a joy to watch and I honestly felt warmth seeing their interactions together. Their tandem made more sense just because of how they could relate more to each other.

But I agree, Sun-oh did deserve better. But I like how his character seemed to mature a bit towards the end. This show really tells us the importance of choice and hardwork in a relationship as seen in both couples. Feelings come and go, but who you choose will always be your choice alone.

Love-hate for this show. Not perfect, but I hope people would give it a chance before being swayed by the overwhelming negative reviews.

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