Good and bad story at the same time

Let me start by saying that the ending surprised me and yes it did suck in terms of wrapping up the story line.

It was well paced overall I would say but it does help that you can watch episodes back-to-back to keep the viewer in. Because it can bore you. But the idea that the affair and after result with the compensaiton seemed almsot like a buiness transaciton to me. Like there were no feelings on either side. He was just drifting and as a young men who to me seems like he was still a virgin, was given the chance to have sex with a beautiful women, he naviely took it wihtout thinking of the love he felt for his girflriend and it blew up in his face. While she is in an unhappy marriage, was craving as she said, affection and comfort from another and since her husband wasn't giving it to her and as any human would do in my opinion, looked towards someone else to fill that need.

I feel like it is what the Tokyo Tower storyline could've been if the FL was still with her husband as an endgame scenario. But while in this storyy the FL or second FL dependning how one sees it, is just expressing a basic human need which is what we as human beings crave, the attention and affection of another human. It's what made the story good for me is that, the affair itself refelcts both an embodiment of and what the reality of an ACTUAL affair is. Except perhaps the part of the ML compensating the wife's husband. That is a bit alien to me which is probably due to the fact that I am from the West and unlike in Japan where cheating is part of their culture alot more than in Canada, it seemed strange to me that the husband could measure his wife's infedelity in numbers.

Anyways....the ML was a barely out of high school graduate who just enetred the real world and thought he could handle it. But as we saw, he overestimated himself in his understanding of the world and he was consumed by it. He gave this sort of feeling, to quote a character form a video game "my soul was asleep but my body was moving". WHihc can sort reflect alot of men, like myself when I graduated high school nearly a decade ago and enter the big bad world, where you almost just let yourself float and go along with the current of life unitl you hit a wall of reality, causing to wake up and face the consequences of our actions. Which he faced and by the end, is still paying the price for it.

As for the FL(the wife, not the girlfriend) she was sad and she craved affection but did not get it from her husband so she went to an innocent young man (at the start of the drama) to get it. But it was just a means to an end and how she bascially made the whole affair, which seems more like a s*xual realtionship than anything else, since they didn't really do ANYTHING else besides sleep together look like a buiness deal with no reall atttachment except primal human desires.

And here is where I think the story is unique but also falls apart. the affair as mentioned before, was made to look like a transaction. The complete lack of emotions both during and after the affair was exposed gave this sort of fresh feeling that I have never really seen before, in the sense where you, as a viewer see the TRUE reality of what an affair is, but without the emotions attached to it and how yes its a bad horrible thing that damaged a marriage and ended a relationship. But people still have lives, they move on from it. But maybe it's becasue of this sort of cold resolution that made the ending lack a bit substance given the fact that after he payed back the husband, he moves on from the affair but is still stuck in the past where he writes to his ex hence he does not truly move on from the break-up which make the charatcer seem a bit pathethic and lacking "meat" so to speak and therefore lacks storytelling.

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Mix of Warm and Toxic

It has been a while since I watched this drama, but I noticed no one had written a review, so I thought I’d give it a shot, haha!

For starters, anyone who has seen *Colorful Love* will definitely notice some similarities when watching this drama, though with less of the innocence and comedy associated with fairy tale aspects. This drama feels like the other side of the coin. The female lead (FL) is caught between two men: her boyfriend of many years, who viewers quickly discover is not only controlling (the toxic element) but also abusive due to his insecurities and childhood trauma, and another man who serves as a refreshing contrast.

The story explores how, as humans, we often feel the need to fit into predefined boxes or labels to belong—especially in today’s world. If we don’t, society is quick to assign a label to us, regardless of whether it fits. This theme is mirrored in the FL’s boyfriend (the second male lead, or SML). He witnessed his mother, a woman who loved wearing makeup (particularly red lipstick), endure a bad and loveless marriage. She eventually had an affair, got divorced, and abandoned him. This experience left him feeling inadequate and unworthy of love. As a result, he grew into a man obsessed with perfection, order, and control, which led to his toxic behavior toward the FL. When she began exploring her own desires and interests outside their relationship, he became increasingly abusive.

I particularly enjoyed the scenes where the SML was alone. His obsession with "fixing" what he saw as the broken painting of their "perfect" relationship was genuinely terrifying. The actor did an amazing job, especially in those chilling close-ups of his blank expression as he stared at something as mundane as a coffee cup.

On the other hand, the warmth in the story comes from the male lead (ML), Eve. His presence gives the FL a sense of comfort and safety, contrasting sharply with the SML. While this drama and *Colorful Love* are like two sides of the same coin, Eve represents the opposite of Yuki (SML). Eve exudes confidence and security, fully embracing his tastes and desires. His respect for boundaries and understanding of the FL’s situation allows her to grow and move forward in the story.

However, this is also where I feel the story fell short. The FL, Miku, is undeniably the protagonist and the "sun" of the narrative, with everyone else orbiting around her. As a result, the ML, Eve, and even Yuki’s brother (step-brother or half-brother—it’s not entirely clear) felt underdeveloped. The brother, for example, seemed to exist solely as a plot device to "save" the FL and ML, without adding much depth or relevance to the story. At one point, the narrative even hints he might become another love interest for Miku, which goes nowhere.

It often felt like the writers had a bigger story in mind but ran out of episodes to fully explore it. This is particularly evident in the lack of substantial romance. While Miku does confess her feelings for the ML at the end, the realization feels rushed and sudden, as though it was tacked on at the last moment.

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Soft but a good watch during pandemic and better re-watch in 2024

This originally came out during the pandemic when ALL OF US were stuck inside with nothing to do but watch or stream TV haha.

This drama is how I discovered the amazing talent and monster of an actor that is Park Jihoon given the work he has done since this drama. You could feel his charm sort of helped carry the interactions between the male actors in my opinion especially since nearly if not all of them were new to acting at the time and the same could be said of Lee Ruby for the female actors/actresses.

The story itself is simple and not complicated since they filmed it in 2019 early 2020 I believe and so it was limited with what they could do(I could be on this one, correct me if I am) and it was cute first love and typically drama love but had the slow burn effect. But there are certain what could be seen as drama cliché nowadays for the simple romantic comedies like Love Revolution which in my opinion could be switched up a bit. One thing is that it's ALWAYS the guy who falls first which since its almost always in Korean dramas nowadays, it gets a bit boring. So either make it more exciting, which I think they did for Lovely Runner. While if it's the girl that "falls" for the guy it's usually because she is a fan first.

But that is not to say that the story was not good, it actually was when I watched it the first time and waited for the weekly episodes to drop with excitment. You do see character development on both the leads. How the ML learns to tone down a bit of the affection and how they don't have the same speed when expressing feelings, which showed not only how love but his respect for the FL. The FL on the other hand given her bad experience left her with trust issues regarding romance, hence why she seems cold and closed off towards him. But as the show goes on, she slowly starts to open up and to trust him while telling him her boundaries (which is kind of a way to say, give me time to get there) until she confesses she likes him too and comes to love him..

Overall, good story and character development. The music was a bit cringe haha...But it's a drama so not surprising there. I still re-watch certain episodes now and again when I lose hope in love and it's a good comfort show even now 4 years after it aired.

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