Oh man, I must be missing something

I really don't get it. I must be missing something or watching an entirely different drama than this because I don't understand the rave reviews on this drama. I was so excited to watch this but waited until all the episodes came out because I hate waiting for the next episodes. When it was finally finished, I was so excited to watch it alongside my friend but it just seemed so boring and slow paced. We ended up dropping it at episode 7. Fast forward, some months later, and my friend said he picked it up again and that it's such a good healing drama. So due to my curiosity, I decided to give it another shot. Now I'm on episode 12/16, and I'm just struggling through the rest of this drama. I already have it at 1.5x speed since I restarted because it's just way too slow for me otherwise. And honestly, if I could put it at 2x speed I would but Netflix only lets us go up to 1.5x speed. The main couple is finally together at this point and even though they are cute sometimes, they just seem so cringy on top of it. I must really be missing something because I don't find this refreshing at all. I just want to get to the end at this point. I'm hoping the last 4 episodes will save the rest of the drama for me, but right now, it's not looking too good.

Updated Review:
I enjoyed the last 2 episodes and that's basically what I watched the entire series for. It was a struggle getting there but I'm glad I watched all the way to the end. The two episodes were sad and heartbreaking but we ended with wholesomeness and warm, fuzzy, feel good feelings. However, I guess this drama was just not my cup of tea, it was too boring and slow paced for me. I get that village life is much simpler and slow paced complete with nosy and rowdy neighbors which Hometown portrayed beautifully. But I guess I just couldn't get into it that much which is sad because I wish I could have loved this drama just like how so many others did. Oh well, onto the next one I suppose.

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A refreshing coming-of-age drama

I'm only on episode 9/16 as I'm writing this review. Originally, I was going to wait until all the episodes were released until I started watching this drama. But I kept seeing so many clips that I just had to start. The beginning started off a little slow and now I've just spent the whole day binging the show. This is such a good, refreshing, and touching drama. I love the way its shot and I love how we, as an audience, is reflected as Min-Chae. For example, when Hee-do said she had a boyfriend, I was like WHAT and it immediately cut to Min-Chae with a similar reaction. There has been so many moments of this drama already where I felt so touched and moved to tears. I love watching the characters embark on their journeys, learning painful lessons and growing from them. It's exactly as Yijin said, they're going through their growing pains. I can't wait to see how the rest of this drama unfolds and I really hope there's a very happy, very cute ending waiting for us at the end of this journey.

EDIT: Coming back after finishing the rest of the drama
I knew it was coming, and I knew it wasn't going to be a happy ending but I really had high hopes for a happy ending anyways. Honestly, I'm not too mad about this ending but I definitely don't think this ending was done as well as the rest of the drama was. I understand that the writer wanted to portray a realistic ending, but I didn't think the reason for the breakup for that justified. I definitely think that it was a bit out of character for Na Hee Do and Back Yi Jin to basically give up on their relationship. The break up itself was beautifully done and really captured the pain of a break up, but I just wish the reasoning behind the break up made more sense. In addition, i didn't even know Na Hee Do's husband is someone working overseas, so it seems even more ridiculous that Na Hee Do would break up with Back Yi Jin because she didn't want to always be waiting for someone and be in misery.
I didn't think too much about the present-day Na Hee Do and Kim Min Chae, but after reading other reviews, I agree. The present-day characters basically served no purpose to the show and only teased the viewers. I was also annoyed because they included that scene where present-day Na Hee Do forgot about the their first beach trip, but the scene made it seem like something happened to her to make her forget, instead of her just forgetting because it's been so long. I feel like it makes more sense that once it was brought up, she would fondly but faintly remember her friends and the memories that they once shared.
But overall, the drama was still emotional, impactful, and really captured the exciting but turbulent time of youth. I don't regret watching this drama but I really wasn't expecting the emotional damage this drama has given me.

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Boring drama with a side of cute and fluffy

Honestly, this drama was hard to get through and I found myself wanting to quit multiple times throughout the series. I get that this is a character-driven type of drama but I really wish they had more plot and story to go off of. I only got excited to watch near the end of the drama when things were actually happening.
I also thought many of the side characters and couplings were either unnecessary or annoying. I really didn't like the Dan-Choe coupling, they annoyed me to no end and it irritated me more that it seemed like they got even more screen time than the supposed second couple, Se-won and Yeo-rum. And the one side couple I was most excited for and rooting for ended up not even being together! I think the only saving grace of this drama were the main leads, but still, I'm quite disappointed. I remember putting this drama on my list years ago and being so excited for it, only to have it be such a letdown.
Definitely won't be re-watching this drama anytime soon. Whelp, onto the next!

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I'm pretty surprised and a little bit disappointed

I'm honestly pretty surprised at how well this drama was received. C-dramas have finally gotten so much recognition and popularity from this drama alone, for which I am grateful. I enjoy both K-dramas and C-dramas and I was always a bit upset that C-dramas came nowhere close to the love and popularity that K-dramas get. So of course, I had to watch this drama myself to see what the whole hype was about. But unfortunately for me, I was disappointed and I really don't see what the hype is about. I feel like so many other C-dramas have a better story line that should've been the spearhead of this spike in C-drama popularity, but alas, this is what we get. The whole sister-brother thing made me uncomfortable at the beginning, and I feel like they chose a child actor that looked WAY TOO YOUNG for the age that she was supposed to be playing at. So because of that, it made it uncomfortable when our ML finally fell for our FL. Even after trying to ignore this point, I don't think their relationship was anything to die for. I didn't find myself smiling ear-to-ear, squealing my little tush off from their relationship. Everything just felt like it was lacking . Anyways I'm pretty tired so I'm just going to end this review but maybe I'll come back to fix it up. Bye for now!

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Disappointing Drama

Honestly, I'm surprised at the rating of this drama. I'm pretty disappointed with this drama and I am just trudging through at this point, wanting it to be over. I just didn't really feel that strong of a connection to the main couple, and I'm not a huge fan of the second couple as well. I found Chen Yi Chuan annoying and really didn't like how he treated Gu Xiao Man for so long. I honestly felt bad for Duan Ning, he genuinely cared for Xiao Man but he was just used and continues to put on a happy face.
In addition, since I didn't even have that strong of a connection to our protagonists, all the antagonists in the story were just annoying and an eyesore.
Then finally, after the two couples get established, we're just rushed into their end of college/adult lives with only a few episodes left. Everyone just unrealistically drops everything to work at Zhen Han's company. What about their dreams and aspirations? Somehow, they all just landed and lined up with Zhen Han's mission. During this entire time as well, I came to the realization that Xia Lin Xi is really not that independent as we are led to think. What about her dreams and aspirations? Whatever happened to her programming or her love for math? She learned programming for a competition and left it at that and math just disappeared in her life. They even hinted that she hated her major yet she did nothing to change it? They didn't delve into her career and she just conveniently joins Zhen Han's company as well. I feel like the only thing that she wants in life is to not be under her mother's control. Yet, she continues to be an economics major because her mother wishes it. Things don't really add up and now everything is rushing and I'm just frustrated. I was barely entertained throughout this entire drama and even seeing them turn into adults isn't that much better either.
I give this drama points for having a somewhat healthy relationship and not giving us a breakup period but that's pretty much it. And I say somewhat because this relationship is just filled with so many lies. I get you want to protect your significant other and don't want them to be sad but if you're continuously lying, I'm not sure I can say that its a healthy relationship that has good communication.
I just wanted to write a quick review about this drama but it turned into more of a rant than a review so if you read this far, thank you! If you try out this drama, I hope you enjoy it more than I did.

Edit: Now that I finished the drama, I just wanted to add a quick little edit. The last episode was sweet and very much like them but I really hate that they just redeemed everyone so quickly like that. Honestly still disappointed because I didn't love this drama nearly as much as everyone else but it's okay. Onto the next!

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Ooof I wish I never touched this drama

Alright, this isn't the WORST drama ever but, I try to pick my dramas carefully so I don't waste my time but unfortunately , this just wasn't a good choice. There isn't really many things to like about this drama honestly. I didn't like the female lead, and besides his outstanding good looks, I didn't like the male lead very much either. And I know the drama is called "destined with you" but come onnnn, I thought they would at least fall in love for reasons other than destiny. I just didn't find their love line believable and I found it so annoying that the male lead would just not break up with his girlfriend, out of "loyalty". But cheating was okay? So confusing and irritating. Also this female lead...my goodness, it really was like watching a damsel in distress of 16 EPISODES. Even when she let herself become bait, like that was the best you could do? Anyways moving on from those two, the office people were INSUFFERABLE. I hated those two girls, and they literally added nothing but negativity and horribleness to the story. I could have definitely done without them. OOH! And of course I couldn't forget about Sin Yu's Dad!! He was absolutely horrible too and clearly a terrible judge in character. I don't know why they just insisted on making him a blockage for all things good for our male lead along with a verbally abusive husband. But yeah, he just added onto the list of things making this drama a chore to watch. The only character I liked in this story was Jae Kyung, and even then its not like the bar was too hard for him to clear.
Whelp I'm glad I'm finally done with this drama, so I hope I can move onto a much better drama. Bye for now!

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A good drama but probably not the best

I don't typically watch xianxia dramas but I decided to pick this one up because of its raving reviews. And honestly, it was a good ride but I don't think it was the BEST and I'm not sure if it deserved all its raving reviews. However, there was something about this drama that just kept sucking me in and wouldn't let me go. Even though the drama is a bit too long for my tastes and I had to put it all in 1.5x speed, I enjoyed it enough. The main leads were amazing and I clearly felt how deep their love ran, I mainly watched it for them. The second leads were also cute too, but the antagonists were so annoying. The graphics and cinematography was absolutely stunning. This is probably worth your time but I just wouldn't expect a 10/10 drama.

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A heartwarming and heart-wrenching story

I just finished watching 39 and I am broken. I cried so much during that last episode that my eyes are so tired from the crying. I really enjoyed this drama, a lot more than I expected to. I saw the ratings and read the reviews beforehand so I wasn't sure if I should even watch this drama. But the reviews probably helped warn me in what to expect so that I wasn't disappointed like so many other reviewers. For me, since I knew Mi-Jo was going to be the main narrator, I didn't think her obstacles and stories were out of place. We were seeing things mostly through her eyes so of course, the story will focus on not only Chan-young but her love life and biological mother as well. But I do agree with the other reviews. I think it would've been better to see more equal screen time amongst the three female leads. I felt especially bad for Joo Hee because her story was basically pushed off to the side and didn't fully develop. Joo Hee made it clear that she felt left out amongst the three of them, yet it seemed like even after she spoke up, the two continued as they were and nothing was actually changed in Joo Hee's situation. And although we knew Hyun Joon and Joo Hee were going to be together, I wanted to see how it played out, but we only got the end result.
But overall, I really enjoyed seeing the wholesome and heartwarming friendship of the three female leads with their respective male counterparts. I enjoyed seeing the love that they all had for each other and how they were so supportive of each other. The last episode was obviously the most emotional but I think it was done beautifully, especially the brunch scene. I felt all the emotions and cried my little heart out. So for me, this drama gets a pretty good rating on my list.

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Amazing, Unique Time Loop Drama

Wow, this was an amazing drama. I literally just finished the last episode and I had to come here immediately and leave a review. Initially, I wasn't sure about this drama and was confused as to how a time loop drama could possibly last 15 episodes and have such good reviews. But since it was unique and I was curious, I decided to give it a shot. At the beginning, I wasn't too invested and I was confused as to why everyone was praising this drama. But as I kept watching, I got more and more hooked and more and more invested in the characters. I loved that each cycle was different so it wasn't just a repetitive explosion over and over again. I loved that they took the time and developed stories for our side characters and made us grow to love and relate to them. The criminal of this drama was also perfectly casted and I absolutely loved their portrayals of the criminal. Everything came full circle at the end and it was so relieving to finally get a resolution to the story and understand what was happening since episode 1. Of course, I loved our strong, independent female lead. She was just an ordinary student but she stayed true to herself and stuck to doing what she believed was right. I also appreciated that the romance story was slowly developed throughout the drama and it took a backseat so that we could focus on the main plot of the drama.

Overall, I really enjoyed this drama. I think I had a harder time staying engaged in the first half, but I think it was just a problem with my own, limited attention span and not really anything to do with the drama. I started to really love the drama during the second half when everything was ramping up and each episode became better than the last. Props to the writers, cast, and producers for making such an amazing and unique drama!

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This is it. This is my comfort drama.

This is it. I found my comfort drama. Whenever people would say that "this was their comfort drama", I never understood what that meant. Sure, I had dramas that I loved, dramas that I would rewatch, and dramas that I thought were absolute masterpieces. But this is the only drama where I definitely felt "this is my comfort drama". This was such a feel good, slice of life, realistic drama. I absolutely loved it and I know I'll be coming back to watch this time and time again.
I don't think I have much else to say, sure the drama may have its flaws but this was such a heartwarming ride that I really don't mind. It was still such a beautiful portrayal of life, friendship, and family.

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Started off pretty good but the ending fell short

I’ll keep this review short for now but I might come back and write a full fledged review later on.

Overall, this was a warm-hearted drama that honestly started out pretty good. The drama went between light-hearted and funny to melodramatic and serious. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the switching, I think it was done decently well. I loved Cheong-Ah and I loved seeing her story play out.
But as for what I disliked, it felt like the last two episodes were too rushed and too many questions were left unanswered. The pacing could have been done much better, leaving more room for us to see Yi Chan and Cheong Ah’s love story develop more if they didn’t spend so much time on that love triangle earlier. I would’ve also loved to see the new 2023 be more fleshed out as well.

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Hmm not too sure about this one

I had high hopes for this drama. It had an interesting set up and the cinematography was beautiful. But I think it definitely fell short of those expectations. If I had one word to describe this drama, I would say anti-climatic. I felt like they spent all 11 episodes trying to create suspense and mystery, but the ending of it all at the 12th episode was just anti-climatic. Like I don't know why we had to suffer through all those episodes just for nothing to really happen. The only thing I did like was how everything came full circle in the end, but even still. It was an okay watch, not the worst drama but I definitely expected more out of it. In addition, I liked the second couple enough just because they were cute but their story line was also really weak. At this point, now I'm just glad I'm done with this drama so I can move on to another. So that's it from me for this one, bye for now!

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Expected more but overall it was alright

The hype that came with this drama before it even aired probably didn't do this drama any favors. I was literally so excited to watch but then it ended up just being alright and just a bit disappointing, especially towards the end where I was just over it and didn't really care much for it anymore. The only thing that really saved this drama was the chemistry and visual factors of our two leads, Kim You Jung and Song Kang. Honestly too, I finished this drama about a week ago and I forgot to write my review and now, I don't even have much to say. It just wasn't very excited or memorable really. Just a drama to pass the time and to be mildly to moderately entertained I guess.

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Just a short, fun little ride

Honestly, I just came in with no expectations, I knew it was a short little web series so I know this was not going to be a seriously good drama or anything. I just wanted something short, quick, and cute and that's what I got. The acting and the plot could be a bit silly at times but if you just want something that is a very easy watch that moves a bit quickly, this is the drama for you. I don't have anything else to really say. A time loop drama in this short little format was very interesting so it kept my interests piqued and it resolved quickly enough that I was satisfied. Our ML and FL had enough chemistry to keep things cute and entertaining as well.

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