let me start by saying, OH.MY.GOD. What a phenomenal rollercoaster of a drama that was. NIF1 does not need to be watched before watching NIF2, though there are occasional small references to the 1st that's nice to catch onto. For most people, if they compared this to the NIF1, they'd give it a 9/10. If they viewed it as it's own separate drama, it's definitely a 10/10. Now I LOVED NIF1, it's my favourite c-drama (well, past tense now). I loved the plot, and I loved how smart the characters were, the detailed plotting and strategy of it all. If I were to compare 1&2, I'd say NIF1 took me by the brains but NIF2 took me by the heart. It's so rare for me to find characters that I become emotionally attached to and this drama knew exactly how to tug at my heartstrings in all the right directions. There are so many inherently good characters in this drama and not just good, but smart good if you know what I mean. You can't help but root for their success and their happiness, and cry when they're in sorrow.. I even felt compassion for a lot of the "villains" in this. There was rationale and practicality behind these characters. Most importantly, this drama told stories of acts of heroism not just by main leads, but the efforts of the middle men and little men that never often get their stories told. This whole drama is about unison, an "US", not YOU or ME. The lead couples were just ughhhh my heart ached for them. At some point tears just consistently flowed out of my tear ducts because that's how emotionally invested I was. I HIGHLY recommend this.