Too soapy for my taste

The show started off strong in the first half, but as it progressed, the second half took a turn into telenovela territory, which didn't quite resonate with me. The conclusion managed to deliver a certain level of satisfaction. Although, in my view, it could have done away with the pregnancy subplot and the whole secret paternity angle. I had hoped for a more intriguing twist to the storyline, something less ordinary. The addition of a pregnancy arc, particularly when the central couple's foundation isn't solid, is a narrative device that I've grown less fond of over time.

On the upside, the chemistry between the main characters was genuinely heartwarming, and a handful of supporting characters added depth to the narrative. My preference would have been for the show to prioritize the journey of the protagonists getting to know and genuinely fall for each other, rather than delving into convoluted schemes and over-the-top drama. Admittedly, achieving that might have necessitated additional episodes.

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Great chemistry between the leads, bad story

Contrary to many opinions here, I had no issues with the chemistry between the leads. I thought they made a cute couple, despite their age difference. Jerry holds up very well for his age, and his character had a childish, sweet side, so I wasn't weirded out to see them fall in love. There was a lot of potential because of this. Unfortunately, the rest didn't deliver.

Now I'm not one to care much about wardrobe, but it was grating to see him wear the same 2-3 unflattering outfits. If he had pulled a Steve Jobs, he would have looked fine, but those outfits looked ridiculous. It's like they ran out of budget when they got to him, but he's the ML and a designer???

Wardrobe aside, the story was not good. There were a few good moments with the FL's storylines, watching her grow in confidence and seeing her struggle but not give up on her dreams. But his storyline was nonsense, cheesy and overdone. People can have trust and confidence issues, even without the most horrible things to have happened to them in the past. This hidden, tragic past trope has gotten old for me, and I have no patience for it. Apart from this, everything about his career and the design competitions felt nonsense; I was only invested in his development related to the FL, which was not good. The antagonists were mostly caricatured villains. The SL was too much of a white knight to find him interesting. The rest of the side characters were ok, but I wasn't that fond of their stories.

Now I did mention having felt good chemistry between the leads. It did put a smile on my face a few times, but overall their romance was disappointing. There weren't many great moments between them. There was some cute bantering, flirting, but I needed more substance. It's not the actors fault; it's just the script they were given.

Why did I watch this then? The answer is Shen Yue. For some reason, I find her adorable, and I like her characters. Even though I don't always find them relatable, I always end up caring for them.

I'm disappointed with C-dramas. Lately, they are starting to seem like a waste of time. The stories all seem quite samey: overstretched, uninspired, cheap comedy, telenovela-style conflicts, too superficial relationships between the leads. And I'm not talking about skinship. I've just watched a few mini-shows taking place during the quarantine, and the chemistry and connection between the characters felt off the charts. But those shows focused on what's essential, the leads and a couple of side characters only, and the storylines were relatable but straightforward. C-dramas nowadays seem to be bloated with a gazillion characters that I didn't give a cracker about, and the stories just so cheesy and removed from reality.

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Boy bands are the just sad

I'm seriously fed up with the whole teacher-student thing; it's just creepy. Yeah, I get that she hasn't been his teacher for five years, but I still can't get behind that dynamic. And these guys, seriously, they acted like they were thirteen-year-olds, including Dan. Age differences aren't a big deal for me if the people involved are on the same wavelength, but in this case, it just didn't click.

Now, let's talk about these so-called idols. It's like they're slaves to the band, the image, and the management company. They can't make a move without permission, can't have their own dreams, and forget about dating like normal people. And all this just to please some crazy fangirls? Plus, let's be real, the music isn't exactly groundbreaking most of the time.

Who in their right mind thinks they can control who an entertainer dates? And why the heck do they care if they're in a consenting, adult relationship? These boyband members seem to be living in a weird kind of prison, allowed on stage but trapped in a gilded cage by these managers who want to control every aspect of their lives. It's pretty depressing, and I can't get behind it.

The acting was so-so. Those emotional scenes felt more like exaggerated theatrics than genuine moments. And seriously, the whole gang turning on Asuka even though the band owed a lot to her? It didn't make sense. Acting like her holding hands with someone was some kind of betrayal? They could've just denied the romance thing since they weren't even really involved. Drawing stars on each other's hands doesn't exactly scream "relationship" to me.

Naru? Ugh, he took the cake for being the most annoying character. Always jealous of something, and his excuses just didn't add up. First, he hides Asuka's goodbye message to keep Dan around, but then he's all in favor of kicking Dan out and resists when he tries to come back. It's like, make up your mind already!

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Jeng deserved better than Pat

I watched the uncut version of the series, mostly because of a handful of characters: Jeng, Chot, Put, and Jaab. Jeng, with his good looks, smarts, charm, poise, elegance, and all-around goodness, had me wondering why he fell for Pat. Pat, on the other hand, was this mix of annoying traits—rudeness, loudness, childishness—that just didn't gel with Jeng's awesomeness. Seriously, Pat's only saving grace seemed to be cuteness and a few bright ideas. But when he couldn't handle criticism without a meltdown, it made me cringe. And their relationship was very bizarre. Pat went from a slight interest in Jeng in the beginning to hating Jeng and bashing him non-stop, to lovey-dovey with Put, to over Put in a second, to grieving after Put, to accusing Jeng of games??? to professing undying love for Jeng, to hating him and abandoning him, to going back to him. What on earth was this relationship? Such a waste of good NC scenes on this mess of a couple.

Now, I was all set to dislike Put for his past actions, but even I couldn't help but feel a bit bad for him for falling for Pat. Honestly, a more intriguing plot would've been if both Put and Jeng dropped Pat and found love with each other. Why not, right?

Chot was the comedic gem, adorable, and a great coworker. Jaab didn't exactly rock my world, but he didn't annoy me either. Jane, though, took the cake for being one frustrating second lead. His baffling behavior with Jaab left me scratching my head, wondering what on earth he was thinking.

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Didn't live up to the hype

Watching this drama felt like being a donkey chasing a carrot stick. The whole setup was promising, but boy, did it fizzle out in the end. You know what really grinds my gears in romance dramas? The scarcity of actual, meaningful romance. And guess what? This one was no exception. The main characters hardly spent enough time on screen to even convince a goldfish that they could be a couple. And quality time? Ha! That's like spotting a unicorn at a shopping mall.

Let's talk about these two lovebirds. Flawed is their middle name. Sure, they've got their good sides, but did I see them bonding like peanut butter and jelly? Nope. Chae-kyung was basically Yul's personal confidante, even when it was about as appropriate as wearing a swimsuit in a snowstorm. And Shin? He's like a clam that swallowed a porcupine. Closed off, prickly, and full of inner turmoil. He pulled some pretty questionable stunts, but Chae-kyung waltzed into his life and started demanding love and attention like it's a drive-thru service.

What I had my hopes up for was a slow, delightful transformation—like watching two caterpillars turn into butterflies together. Shin, at least, became a smidge more bearable by the time the curtain fell, but Chae-kyung? Not so much. I mean, how in the world did she magically level up in maturity overnight? She started off as a total mess and stayed that way most of the show. Her kindness and quirks were drowned out by her tantrums and me-first attitude.

And their baggage? Oh boy, it's like they tried fitting an elephant into a carry-on bag. All those hurtful things, hardly talked about or resolved. Just slapping an "I love you" sticker on it doesn't fix a thing.

I won't lie, there were some gems in there. The early episodes had me hooked like a cat with a laser pointer. But did it leave me satisfied? Not even close.

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Wasted chemistry o a terrible story

I'm getting fed up with with Song Hye Kyo always playing the stoic blank face girl boss who can't catch a break, her life is work and pain. She plays it well and I usually love her series, but it's just too much at this point. They did not do her justice with the hair styling, makeup or wardrobe, it's like they wanted to turn her into an ajumma.

She had a lot of chemistry with JKY, but it was killed over and over by the melodrama. Such a waste. God, the amount of deus ex machina, coincidences, lies, trauma was so too over the top even for a Kdrama, it felt more like one of those Turkish telenovelas my mom watches.

Why is it so often that when we get a noona romance things have to turn so melodramatic and forced? Just because the FL is 40 and the ML is younger it doesn't mean you have to kill the passion and at least occasional fun. I just wanted to see more of the FL and ML's relationship and them being happy and we got so much screentime of work stuff and secondary characters I couldn't care less about.

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Kinda sweet but not that great

Tsundere ML? Now that's my jam! A dash of cluelessness in the FL? Sure thing, no worries. But boy, this FL was like the cluelessness Olympics. I mean, give me a break. Her character grated on my nerves like sandpaper.

I gotta hand it to the drama, though. It kept things breezy, none of that heavy-duty misunderstanding nonsense or overly complicated love triangles. That's the saving grace that earned it this rating. I went all in, even toughing it out till the grand finale, hoping against hope that I'd start rooting for this couple. But nah, that spark just didn't catch fire.

And let's not even talk about the side couple. If anything, they were like an extra scoop of "meh" on top of an already lukewarm sundae.

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Not better than the Part I

Pacing-wise, I didn't have many gripes, but the chemistry? Nah, it was still playing hide-and-seek. Now, in the sequel, Hirose's acting took a nosedive. Heck, on second thought, he wasn't exactly setting the screen on fire in the first one either. Sure, he dialed up the emotion a smidge more than Yamada, but that wasn't exactly a home run.

Now, let's address the elephant in the room—the actors' appearances. Hirose looking like he's about to hit 40 throws such a wrench in the works. It's like trying to picture a pineapple in a snowstorm—it just doesn't compute. Even if they'd transported the whole thing to a university setting, I wouldn't have been able to buy it. And chemistry? Oh boy, it was MIA. That ending? Yeah, it fell flat as a pancake.

Honestly, the story had the potential to be a skyrocket, but it ended up feeling more like a sparkler.

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Well made as a disturbing story

I find the idea of having a relationship with a high-schooler disguising. This is a boy we're dealing with, almost a child, he's troubled and immature and it was painful to see him fall apart because of this relationship. Not all big age gaps are harmful, but it this case, I can't find one scenario in which this is ok. The way it's shown how he devolves from a normal kid into to a manic, quite violent kid possessed by jealousy makes think the show is condemning and not romanticizing this kind of relationship. It shows he is completely unprepared to deal with this kind of relationship.

I empathized with her dissatisfaction with her relationship, I found her boyfriend quite repulsive, and I also understand not wanting to work for one of those horrible soulless companies but you don't fix that by grooming a boy for pete's sake. So she because equally deranged for not realizing how messed up it is to be with that boy. Her coworker's situation is not the same. The age age seems significant but at lest her boyfriend is an employed adult and his parents are aware of their relationship.

The series was well made and filmed and it portrayed quite well the struggles an an aging woman in Japan. The societal norms are so strict and it leaves so little room for a woman's fulfillment that it's easy to understand how suffocating that can be.

It though this was all going somewhere but then it lost me at the ending. Where it hinted they reunited and it put a spotlight on one of the better moments of their relationship where they were both candid about their dreams and it was a tender moment where his age isn't so apparent because we can all have dreams well into old age.

I also find it very unlikely that he would end up directing a movie that gets displayed in her cinema. In reality, he would have been so consumed by their relationships that it would have long lasting effects. He would have dropped out of school, become depressed and erratic. It's impossible for a healthy outcome to come out of this.

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Underwhelming

I really wanted to like this one, but it just didn't do it for me. The whole idea sounded great, but the way they pulled it off and the acting were kind of a letdown.

I didn't really sense much chemistry between the characters. The guy playing Seiryo seemed to capture the whole falling-in-love thing a bit better, but he looked way too old to be a high schooler. Honestly, he seemed closer to 40 than a teenager, and seeing him in a school uniform and calling someone "senpai" felt a bit off. As for the actor playing Shino, even though he looked younger, it was still hard to buy into him wearing a uniform or falling for Seiryo. Maybe a reboot with more fitting actors would be a good call. And those kissing scenes... they were just plain weird. It's like the actors were scared of touching lips or something.

By the way, I've seen other J-dramas where actors in their twenties pulled off younger roles way better. So, it's not impossible to make it work.

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A bad addition to noona romance

This drama easily ranks as one of the least enjoyable I've come across. The lead characters were remarkably unappealing. He came across as a spoiled, entitled individual, while her immaturity seemed out of sync with her supposed age and role as a mother fighting for custody of her son. Despite the shared immaturity, attempting to root for the romantic connection between them felt uncomfortable. His demeanor and behavior resembled that of a 12-year-old, making their pairing come across as off-kilter. I must admit, his acting left much to be desired. Although her performance wasn't subpar, it wasn't sufficient to redeem this overall disaster. To make matters worse, the plot itself felt like a tired repetition of every overused trope found in CEO-centered romances.

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