Violence Begets Violence

I've been wanting to write a review for some time and have only gotten around to it now.

Honestly, I would rate this lower but I think the great acting of the ML and SML offset my low rating.

I want to first start off by saying I binged watch this in one day because I wanted to see how everything unfolded but I think that there were a few things left to be desired.

First of all, I think everyone could relate to the bullying that the ML, Shi Eun, faced when he finally had enough, and finally fought back, there was this gratifying, sweet taste of revenge that every viewer cheered for. You wanted to see those bullies beaten back and every time they got what they deserved, it was oh so fun to watch. As morbidly disgusting, savage, and violent as it was, you felt the rage and the vengeance the ML was feeling.

But I think also that the storyline was a bit too violent and too far-stretched. With a con man trying to kill teenagers, with teenagers using bats and other weapons against each other, where a father beats his kid with a golf club, and where kids didn't know when to stop the beating, the violence almost became unrealistic and too much at times. Also, the only way to beat the bullies was to resort to even more violence or bullies getting bullied by other bullies or just because there's that one dude, like Soo Ho, that no one wanted to f*ck around with. You shake your head at the one friend, Beom Seok who never really learns what true friendship means until he's full of regret. Seriously.

I think, in the end, there's no real moral compass and everyone gets away with everything except of course the ML and his buddy Soo Ho who ends up in a coma. The one really good guy in the whole show, ends up in the worst state. Let's not forget the assemblyman gets away with being an abusive father, while his adopted son, Beom Seok, the friend who put his one real friend in a coma, has and gets to leave the country not really paying for his crime, Soo Ho remains in a coma, the one female friend Young Ki, leaves and disappears and the ML gets blacklisted from all the good schools only to end up in a school that looks like he's in juvie and starting in the same cycle of bullying all over again. All he wanted to do was focus on his studies and now what? He's put back another year with more bullies to pick on him?

Nothing turns out good for any of the good characters. Nothing. And unfortunately, that just means that even though some of the bullies got their own share of beatings, they really still won in the end.

This is a story of how violence begets violence, and how revenge is double-edged sword.

For me, the ending left a lot to be desired.

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Break up with this drama or better yet, don't bother getting involved...

Okay, so by now, everyone is talking about how Song Hye Kyo's acting, as the FL "Young Eun", is lacking and similar to the other dramas she's been in and I agree. I'm not saying she's a bad actress but I'd like to see her play more diverse roles. The roles she has played in the past and in this series, are all too similar and as such, watching her act the same way can be repetitively tedious and boring. That being said, I want to dive a bit into the negatives and positives of this drama so far:

First of all, there isn't much development into the ML, Jae Kook, (played by Jang Ki Yong), and FL's relationship... other than the fact that they had a one-night stand in the beginning. It seems like physical attraction becomes the main reason that the ML pursues the FL. There's no real substance to their relationship, besides a 10-year-old photo between them and a missed opportunity for a meet-cute that instead went to Jae Kook's brother, Soo Wan. Maybe if they had shown some banter and flirting between the two main characters before leading up to the hotel scene, it would've cemented some kind of emotional chemistry between them. Their stares and smiles are lifeless and boring.

It becomes clearly evident early on in the series that Young Eun's ex was Jae Kook's older brother (half-brother), Soo Wan, who passed away 10 years ago. Now, I can only speak for myself that I was left feeling a bit cringy after learning of this fact. Even despite the 10-year passing of Soo Wan, I don't know why writers think that it's okay to date one of your ex's family members. Even close friends and besties are off-limits but maybe I would've been a bit more accepting of the relationship if it was his best friend at the very least. But close half-brothers? Still a definite no-no.

Now let's talk briefly about Jae's half-brother, Soo Wan who passed away 10 years earlier. He left behind his half-brother Jae, his mother, his fiancé Yoo Jeong and lastly, his girlfriend, (FL) Young Eun. (He cheated on his fiancé with Eun and neither woman knew about each other at the time.) Now I can understand the mother and Jae's grief even after 10 years but the two women?! I just don't understand why the writers wrote a storyline that these two very successful women couldn't move on from Soo Wan after 10 years. I think this is an insult to women in general. Sure, anyone can reminisce about a painful breakup or loss but it doesn't make sense that these two women couldn't start over again with new loves. Apparently, it's the ol' k-drama cliché that women just pine after and never get over the one that got away or in this case, died. Not to mention that FL, Young Eun, was in a relationship with Soo Wan for only 2 months... That's right, only 2 months!!! OMG. Seriously? GET OVER IT. Not a fan of the ex-fiancé, Yoo Jeong, acting all bitter and childish towards Young Eun like a woman scorned. It's been 10 years!! Be mad at Soo Wan, move on, and just let him rest in peace. It's not like Young Eun knew that there was a fiancé at the time anyways. Ridiculous writing if you ask me.

So moving onto the FL, Young Eun's character. I just didn't understand her conflicting personality. On one hand, she closes herself off to love after a 2-month relationship, but yet when it came to employees betraying her brand and designs she worked so hard on for years, she takes a forgiving stance. It would've been better to see her more heartless as a driven and ambitious designer. I think it would've been a more realistic trait of her character's personality and the cutthroat world of fashion. It also would've made the storyline a bit more interesting and not so boring.

That being said, it is refreshing to see the FL's character take a stand against her own friend, Chi Sook, and the other team leader. Also, her stand-off against Yoo Jeong (Soo Wan's fiancé), that guy that was head of the department store, and also against Soo Wan's mother. It made the storyline a tad more interesting. Of course, there are the "I'm against your new love" mothers. Like, let your adult children live their own lives for f*cks sake. Another k-drama cliché, check! Stop adding these parents' disapproval just to pile on more drama.

On a side note, I do like the fact how everything comes out of the open quickly. There wasn't any hiding the fact about Soo Wan being Jae Kook's late brother. That truth was revealed early. But then again, there are a lot of other things that become clearly obvious to the audience even before it comes out later. There are no major secrets between the ML and FL so far. So some points there.

Regarding the secondary characters and their relationships, I didn't care much for them. What's up with the FL's friend, Chi Sook, being drunk all the time and trying to have flirty conversations with Do Hoon? There's nothing attractive or cute about her drunken antics. I don't care much for them. Other secondary characters' storylines aren't that interesting either.

That's my take on this drama so far... I'm watching this just to pass the time but it's so draggy and boring. I'll update my review if I feel like it will be worth doing so after the series concludes. (Watched up to EP8 as of writing.)

UPDATE: I broke up with this drama during EP11. Just wasn't worth my yawns...

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A WOMAN WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BE A MAN BUT REALLY... HE'S TOTALLY A WOMAN

While I'm still on the fence about this drama, I do admit the kids, in the beginning, set the stage for this show. They were very good. However, I find it ironic that K-dramas can be so strict on "bedroom" and sex scenes but when it comes to scenes with the murder of children, it's fine. I always have a hard time with those kinds of scenes or storylines, but whatever. Luckily it was all in the first episode. Nothing gory but still sad. Kudos to the child actors though!

Anyways, my hesitancy about this show is because I think it's a hard pill to swallow trying to make it believable that the Crown Prince DOESN'T look or act like a woman. To me, it's very obvious she's a woman. Maybe it's just a wrong casting for the FL but that's my opinion. I didn't expect her to be overly masculine, butchy, or brawny, but there's just something missing with her character. Luckily the ML, the second ML, and the bodyguard all make up for it. Bunch of handsome men... and now I just realized there are not enough female actresses. They should've given her a close confidante at least the same age as the FL. Even the ML and SML have a bromance.

All the acting is good so far and the storyline is interesting enough to keep me watching but by now, knowing what and who the Crown Prince knows about those who tried to kill her early in the series, you'd expect her character to be tougher or show more enmity over the years towards them. It's like she's constantly cowering in their presence. I think this was a missed opportunity for the writers to make the FL character stronger and gustier. Maybe this could've contributed to making the FL more believable as a woman acting like a man.

(As of this writing, I've finished E6 and I'll wait to see if I'll revise or update my review when the series concludes).

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Annoying Side Characters and the Most Annoying "Love Triangle" Trope

I do like watching this but right now I'm on Episode 8 and the side characters are just pushing me on the edge of hating this...

So the story is pretty self-explanatory in the detail summary but just to add a bit more details, the two main leads have best friends who get together and get married. They try to get the main leads together.

As for the other side characters, the ML, Yu Hao, has a stalker actress who's in love with him and who is so annoying that every time she comes on screen, I have to fast forward and skip every scene she's in. I don't blame the actress, but her immature antics and acting are so bad. She plays the 3rd female lead and gets a lot of screen time. I dislike her so much I will only refer to her as the "stalker actress".

Then, of course, the FL, Su Ke Lan also has another guy, who is the director at her new job, that's interested in her and he teams up with the annoying actress to thwart the two leads from getting together. This is where I think that story really starts to crash and burn with the stalker actress and director. Honestly, the storyline was okay with the main leads and their besties trying to get them together, but the other two stalkers, ugh... it's really ruining the show for me, that I'm almost ready to drop this.

(Major spoilers ahead)
Here are some of the other ridiculous schemes the stalker actress and the director pull off:
-The director confesses to the FL on the first day of her job in front of everyone... talk about tacky and inappropriate behavior in the workplace. He basically gave her a job because he liked her
-The stalker actress constantly schemes and pushes the director to try to get the FL's attention. On top of that, the stalker actress has the audacity to constantly accuse the FL of "scheming" to take away the ML from her. OMG. Even when the two leads finally get together publicly, the stalker actress doesn't stop her antics. We can now add "obsessive" and "crazy" to her "stalker" title. I don't even like to use the term "crazy" for women so that's saying a lot for me. She still thinks she has a chance with the ML, even when she knows he now has a girlfriend, and yet, she still tries to break them up. Her acting is just limited to being immature and annoying.
-The stalker actress and director literally sneak uninvited into the best friends' wedding just because the stalker actress hates that the leads are the best man and maid of honor and hates the idea of them being close together. Seriously? Spying on them at a wedding?
-Most of the kindness that the director shows to the FL's mother is all due to scheming with the stalker actress so all of his kindness towards the FL and her mom, seems insincere and manipulative. Even when he found the FL's mother unconscious, it was only because the actress pushed him to go visit her. BS man.
-Did I mention how stalker-y the annoying actress and director are?
-The leads finally have a precious moment when the ML confesses, only to be rudely interrupted by the stalker director and actress... way to ruin a romantic moment writers. Thanks.
-Now about the leads. The FL's look and personality never change. Her business wear and casual wear are all plain and her work hairstyle is so boring. A tied-back loose ponytail with just too much hairspray. Her work hairstyle looks like she's doing laundry at home. There's even one scene where there's a professional hairstylist working on her with the same boring work hairstyle and I'm just like, "What an insult to hairstylists everywhere..." Let's talk about her acting. It's limited to just being overly nice, wide-eyed, smiling, and giggling. If she's mad, angry, or upset, her acting has no real emotional range. Actually, it's the same for the male lead too. He just tries to act stiff and cool all the time but it just kept looking like he was trying to pull a double-chin look. Even when he was angry or emotional, there's not really much range either.

-Then the mother goes to the hospital and the FL lead acts like it's the end of the world. She's supposed to attend a business meeting with investors but flies back after hearing about her mom, without a word to anyone. Even her phone is powered off the whole time. She acts as if her mother died. The acting here is so BS. I dunno why the director and writers went this route. It was way too unprofessional and unbelievable of someone from a top position to be behaving this way. She couldn't even call and tell ONE SINGLE PERSON about her emergency?? Even with a death in the family, women can still be professionals. The investors talk bad about her, the boss/boyfriend ML berates her, and then you have the doctor and stalker actress berate her for not taking care of her mother. Because of course, women can't handle having a boyfriend, taking care of aging parents, AND having a high position job. Whatever.

I'm watching this only because it's a filler during the week when nothing else is on. I also like the second leads storyline better. I may add more to the review when completed...

UPDATE:

-By Ep15, I nearly dropped this because I was just fed up with the stalker actress and her antics towards the director. Like WTF? The things she did was practically sexual harassment, but because she's a woman, we're supposed to just think it's "cute"? Talk about double standards. Ugh.
-The ex-bf of the FL comes back in a few scenes and really, I have no idea why. What a waste of screen time! His scenes contributed nothing to the ending storyline. I have no idea why they brought him back.
-In the last episode, it seemed too late to tie in the reconnection with the ML's father and grandmother. It was a bit rushed.
-Lastly, the last 15 mins of the last episode were full of cheese, cheese, and more cheese. Why they had to include the ML's ex-gf and his investor friend, (who really hated the FL btw), to be in this last scene made no sense whatsoever. It was if they wanted to include everyone in the last scene. Should've brought back the ex-bf while they were at it.

Because of the last 2 episodes and the points I just mentioned above, I lowered my rating from a 6.0 to a 4.5. I had enough of that stalker actress. She just ruined the whole drama for me.

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Grown Woman Acting Childish

Major spoilers ahead:

So the gist of it is that the FL and her mother have been locked away in a section of a hotel room by a Chairman. Seul Bi and her mother possess powers similar to that of powerful psychics. They're shamans of prophecy. They can see into someone's future by physical touch so Seul Bi and her mother always wear gloves. The Chairman uses them to see into the future so that he can make wise business decisions which he profits from. He basically keeps them locked up as his personal talismans. So in other words, Seul Bi has never been "outside" the real world. She grows up practically as a prisoner in a lovely "home" with her mother. Her only knowledge of the outside world is through books but the only books she gets to read are basically children's books and animals books. They cannot contain any stories regarding law, economy, politics, sociology, or psychology.

It so happens that the Chairman's son, Min Joon, had some friends over while his father was away. Su Gwang was his best friend and by coincidence, Seul Bi sees him through a door. Of course, besides those that know about Seul Bi, Su Gwang is the first man she sees and she immediately thinks of him as her "Prince". (Seriously?!) Seul Bi manages to escape because that "secured" door somehow magically opens. She sneaks out and spends a day with Su Gwang. Later, Su Gwang takes her back "home" to the hotel where he first met her. They are confronted by the angry Chairman who accuses him of kidnapping and he goes on to destroy Su Gwang's life.

Su Gwang survives being murdered for knowing about Seul Bi and assumes a fake identity. Two years later, Seul Bi escapes again and the first person she runs to is Su Gwang and she imposes herself on him.

I really don't know what to make of this show. There's something disturbingly annoying about seeing a woman who has the knowledge of a 10-year-old but the hormones of a 30-year-old. Like, what kind of creep would get together with a woman like that? It's almost pedophilic. Even the people who work around Su Gwang call Seul Bi "slow" and that didn't stop one shop owner who took advantage of her by telling her to buy stuff from his store with a credit card she found. Even when she had told the shop owner it wasn't her card, that still didn't stop him.

It's hard to watch a grown woman acting all "naive" and "immature" but yet pouts and pines after Su Gwang like a teenager. They're trying some twisted "A Little Mermaid" storyline in so far the FL uses a line from the book. Then she falls in love with the first man she saw. We're supposed to believe she's never seen the outside world but yet she manages and fares rather easily. She's supposed to be 21 but looks like a 30-year-old. Her character doesn't look 21 at all. And she's supposed to have the knowledge and persona of a child. We constantly have to see her clapping and acting with like childlike innocence, with wide doe-y eyes. Then we have to see her sulking after Su Gwang, as she openly calls herself his girlfriend or future wife. It's all so repetitive that it's not even charming or cute anymore. Then it's worse when she gets drunk for the first time and kisses the ML. It's like giving a kid alcohol and forcing her/him to drink it. IMO, that is the worse "first kiss" trope. Where the girl is drunk and she kisses the sober guy. Kdramas gotta stop romanticizing that crap. There's nothing cute or romantic about it. It would be far better if a sober man immediately rejects a drunk woman's advances no matter what she says or does. That's just being a true gentleman. Kdramas just skirt this by having the guy always taken by surprise.

There are other annoying things that I'm not liking about this show. The gangsters are idiots who look like they belong in the 70s, the neighboring shop owners' stories are boring and it seems like everyone is looking for Seul Bi. At one point, they show just how powerful Seul Bi's mother really is, and yet all this time, she didn't escape with her daughter?? Whatevs man. It seems also that the main lead Su Gwang is just oblivious all the time or clueless.

So far the only character I really like is Min Joon, the Chairman's son. At least he always wanted Seul Bi to have her freedom since the beginning. He seems nice so far but I don't know if he'll change. I actually wished they wrote him as the main lead or endgame. So far I'm on Ep 5 and already, I'm constantly pausing it to go do other things and then I come back to continue watching. It's not really holding my interest. I feel like the actors are lacking. It's missing something.

Update:
By the time I finished Ep9, I was losing interest fast. Took about two weeks before I started on Ep10 and I made it only halfway. It's just getting too draggy and uninteresting. There's no consistency with the FL. She's all over the place, one minute she's naive, and another minute she's like, I'm just gonna be a fortune teller and make money. I don't understand why her character would want to do that knowing what she and her mom went through. I also feel like the market ppl are very two-faced to both leads, IMO. The storyline is moving in all different directions and it's not even interesting. Watching the two leads be depressed is boring too. In other words, I'm realizing I don't care for this show, period. I'm dropping it for now and maybe I'll get back to it when I'm really bored and to pass the time. I've changed my rating from a 6.0 (from EP5) to a 4.0 (as of halfway through EP10) but it could change again if I ever finish this series.

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SHOWED PROMISE BUT FELL FLAT

This k-drama started off well but later fell flat. By the second half, I didn't find myself excited enough to watch each new episode as soon as they aired.

There was a mix of mystery/intrigue, comedy, and romance but eventually, the intrigue began to lose its pull, the comedic parts just weren't funny enough and the romance lost its charm.

I first started watching this thinking it was about a secret inspector who really wants to be a dumpling restaurant owner but his passion for cooking just appeared in a handful of scenes. It's more to do with him being a secret inspector but as soon as it all comes out in the open, the drama starts to lose its suspenseful appeal. As for the romantic parts, they were a bit too immature and cheeky. Others say it was "shallow" and I also agree. Some of the lip-pucker scenes were a bit too childish and repetitive.

Regarding the ending, it wasn't that it seemed rushed but just lacking. Some people died uselessly and as for the villains, the punishments were like "ya' whatever" kind of endings. Also, the "happy endings" felt like they were still missing that extra "something".

This is a light drama in all areas. This is something to watch on the side as you watch other shows because if you try to binge-watch this in one go, you may find yourself tuning out. I'm a fan of OK Taec Yeon but I think this wasn't a strong enough role for him and this is probably because I had higher expectations of him. I think that the actor who played the FL's childhood friend, Seung Yul, played by actor "N", had better chemistry with the FL and maybe would've been a better ML, (only because I think OK Taec Yeon was too big for this role).

Unfortunately, I say that overall this show leaves a lot to be desired.

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Good Until The Last Two Episodes...

I stuck through this drama from when it first aired right to the very end and I'm just late putting in my 2 cents.

I really liked this drama and most of the reviews I've quickly scrolled through are similar to the thoughts I've had.

I will say that the last two episodes felt a bit incomplete for me. Perhaps because near the end, the ML's supporters basically couldn't help him anymore. One got thrown off a building but miraculously survives although in a coma, and the other side characters were "benched" because they were forced to be transferred elsewhere by the "powerful" villain through his connections. So throughout the whole show, the ML had all his supporters helping him but in the end, they got pushed to the wayside. The villain made sure that the ML was "alone".

In the beginning, we see that the ML, a prosecutor, tries to take down a powerful villain and in doing so he gets murdered. Luckily, he is brought back to life by a grim reaper. A "second chance" as you have it, to go back to the past... we're talking even before he starts law school. So with all his future memories intact in the past, he uses all that info, to thwart and take down the villain and his connections.

I cheered the ML on whenever there was a scene where just when the bad guy thinks things are going well, the ML ruins it for him because he was always 2 steps ahead. But by the last episode, perhaps I was hoping that the villain would be taken down by the ML in some kind of dramatic showdown. Like with a big arrest, a swarm of reporters flashing their cameras and adding to his further humiliation. Nothing like that happened. Just like the ML in the 2nd last episode, the villain was just... lonely.

I wished there was more storytelling and mystery about the grim reaper and the ML's mysterious coming back to life storyline. Maybe like one episode should've touched on it. I mean, really, he basically traveled back in time and we're not gonna talk about it that mystery after episode 1? It was kind of weird how they did that.

I did enjoy the show and I agree with the other reviewer who wished we saw the ML end up with the reporter female character. I don't know why they introduced her to us first, if she wasn't the end game. She had better chemistry with the ML.

That's just my 2 cents. I would've rated this show higher if it hadn't been for the lacklustre ending episodes.

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Not so cute bodyguard and more like slave to employer trope...

For those of you who think this is like "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon" or "I Am Not a Robot", you're in for a rude awakening. It's nothing like these shows.

The FL just basically knows martial arts but so far, it doesn't seem like she has any "special" powers, and the ML has haphephobia, which is basically a strong dislike of people touching him. However, he doesn't suffer from any social anxiety disorders like being in large crowds or anything.

There are only two ways this drama goes... FL is either a slave to ML or a pathetic friend-zoned, "I have a crush" on the SML. The ML treats her like crap and the SML treats her worse than a younger sister. He's supposed to be her "senior" and is oblivious that FL likes him. Like, she just isn't so obvious.

The FL acts either sulky or kissass-y or pleads and cries like a 2-year-old. When she has fighting scenes, they give off the vibes like, "Oh okay, no biggie. So you know martial arts." You're not blown away by her fighting prowess. It's almost childish when they have scenes where they're being chased. Sometimes I wonder how interesting the floor must look to the FL because every time she has to explain herself, or gets berated or scolded, she talks with her head down. Bejezus... hold your head up and have some dignity!

The ML is so annoying. He makes the FL sign a contract as his "bodyguard" when really her main role is his slave. All he does is bosses her around... "Bring me this, bring me that, do my laundry and feed me food." If that's not enough, he holds her debt over her head whenever she even slightly rebels. Then he goes even further to sabotage and plays the third wheel on all the outings FL goes on with the SML. He has a blatant dislike towards the SML just because it's a one-sided love for the FL. Like seriously, you have no idea why the ML would care that the FL likes the SML since he himself treats the FL like crap, crap, and more crap. He even treats his assistant/driver like crap because apparently the ML can't think for himself. He expects his driver to come up with all the dating and courting ideas to make the FL fall in love with him.

WTF is this? Are we just supposed to enjoy this kind of BS as women viewers? And how many times are they going to have the FL and ML repeatedly bump in and be so close to each other just to slo-mo and play an OST in the background for like 10 lonnngggg slo-mo s....e...c...o...n...d...s...?

So far I'm watching this as it plays in the background while I do other things and the ML is still being the self-entitled jerk who is still going on sabotaging all the FL attempts to confess to the SML. Later on, we have to listen to the FL dumb herself down even more to the SML since she doesn't understand "literature" and apparently it only takes one day for her to get "over" the SML and all of a sudden they're back to being "siblings". Whatevs.

Later, we have to watch the second couple which includes the ML's male driver/assistant and the FL's best friend. The best friend's accepts a confession from the driver which actually wasn't meant for her and then even after finding out, she basically forces the guy to admit that he does have feelings for her. Later, when the ML's confession goes awry, the best friend thinks all the plans were made for her and now we have both women are acting so dumb and clueless even though there are subtle hints that everything is pointing to the FL. So now we have two dumb women. The SFL just being an already bossy gf in a brand new relationship and making assumptions as if the world evolves around her.

Sigh... I might update this later if I can soldier through more episodes.

Update:
I managed through Ep11 and I was done. I feel like this was aimed for a younger audience of 15 year olds. All the characters written poorly and the acting isn't that great either. The FL's parents really started to grate on my nerves. The drunk scenes were rubbish and the FL's character went downhill. Not only was she immature and childish but had no class whatsoever. Overall, the writing, acting and production was very poor.

At the first part of my review I was around EP7 and my rating was 5, I've lowered it a 2.

Don't waste your time on this one... I already did it for you. Major fail.

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An Obsessive Grieving King, a Lying Maid and a Dedicated Friend-Zoned Bodyguard

I agree with the other reviewer about not liking the storyline and where it's heading... I started off liking this and now, by Ep 6, I'm not. It's beginning to feel draggy and repetitive.

(Spoilers ahead):

I get it, the ML, (the King), and FL, (So Rang), are "supposed" to get together but it really sucks when you have a really good SML, (Shin Won). One of the worst love triangles of an FL being put between two best friends.

In the first episode, you know that the King and Shin Won, are like best friends and that the King mentions that of all people, Shin Won understands him best... meaning that Shin Won knows what it's like to lose someone precious.

The SML, Shin Won has been looking for the FL for seven years. He actually became a chief inspector just so it would be advantageous for him to aid in his search to find her and then fatefully, he finally meets her again only to lose her to his best friend, the King. WTF kind of BS writing is that? He fell in love with her before officially meeting her and he was the only one who truly cared that she was missing. Dude had been searching for her for seven years... a woman he never officially met but yet he was dedicated and and remained faithful to their engagement all this time. When he finally meets her under a new name, he soon discovers she was his betrothed. He doesn't let her know that he knows who she really is because he somehow senses that keeping her real identity a secret protects her. Soon after, she realizes as well that he was her fiancé and she doesn't say anything either. So now both of them know that they were betrothed to each oher.

Shin Won still protects her and saves her a few times and just when you think he's so deserving of her, we have to put up with FL choosing the King. The King who was only giving the FL the time of day because she lied about being able to channel his dead wife.

Now, it's not the "Second Male Lead Syndrome" that makes me start to dislike this more and more, even though from the beginning of the web novel, it seemed like the SML should've really been the ML in terms of the direction of the storyline. Here are other things that I don't like:

-An FL put between two BEST friends and she was engaged to the SML who shows nothing but pure dedication to her
-So Rang lying about being a "channeler" and using the King's grief for her own gains and then stretching the lie further by saying that the Queen didn't love him
-How the King couldn't move on because either he was too grief-stricken or the women he did get close to, died
-You're telling me that every year they know there's going to be another murder and they can't catch the killer yet? It's a bit too much with the women and violent deaths
-So Rang constantly friend-zoning the SML who constantly risks his life for her and even though they both individually knew from the get go that they were betrothed to each other in the past. How long do we have to wait until they both know that they both know... you know?
-So Rang and her sometimes listless look... getting too repetitive for me
-How are the villains getting away with so much sh*t for years and no one was suspecting them? Like the King didn't have his own spies?

Even in the end, if the writers write that Shin Won loses his betrothed to the King, (if the FL does get together with the King), I hope the writers either kill off Shin Won so he doesn't have to see that BS unfold or at least, let Shin Won leave the palace and let him have his dignity. Who the hell would want to stick around to see your "ex" married off to your bestie? If they write that Shin Won is "okay" with it and that the King is okay with being with the FL knowing that his friend, Shin Won had been looking for her for seven years, that will be the biggest tragedy and travesty of all. Just sayin'.

I'm at EP6 as of writing and I'm very close to dropping this...

Update:
I've decided to drop this. I had high hopes for Shin Won and So Rang and I was looking for something new instead of seeing the same outcome. Maybe I'm just tired of seeing the same thing over and over again where the King or the Prince gets the girl all the time. I saw Shin Won as a great ML as well. I won't pick this back up. It's just recycling the same kdrama clichés.

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The back-and-forth between the main leads can be annoying...

I have several issues with this show and there are so many side stories going on that it doesn't flow easily and makes the drama messy.

First, let's talk about the Cheer Team's strict no-dating rule. When it's later revealed what happened to the previous captain and why she left and also the fact that the ML had a crush on her, you understand why the no-dating rule exists. But then we have to watch the ML, Jung Woo, a senior ("sunbae"), have a crush on the FL, Hae Yi, a freshman. There's all this push and pull and flirting back and forth, and then let's keep our distance from each other. I was scratching my head wondering why the hell would the ML, who is now the cheer team's captain, even think of crossing the no-dating rule line after what happened in the past. Not to mention all the suspicious and dangerous things happening in the present. It makes zero sense.

I don't even see any chemistry between the two leads. I'm just annoyed with their back-and-forth and the third love triangle trope keeps dragging on.

Then there's the FL, Hae Yi. I get annoyed at her childish behaviour when it comes to "chasing" the ML. One minute she's happy to chase after him and then when she feels rejected or ignored, her mood changes 180° and she's all sulky. This of hers goes back and forth quite a bit. Let's not even get started on her bad drinking habit and what seems like her irritable bowel syndrome.

Another very poignant fact about the FL is her stance and gripes about money. Her family doesn't have a lot of money so she works multiple jobs and does whatever she can to make money in order to help her brother study at an academy so that he can go to medical school. You can understand why her ex couldn't "handle" her with her penny-pinching and why her brother gets angry with her for always talking about money. The way she's more responsible than her useless mom is annoying too. I hated the scene when her brother ends up at the police station for some kind of fight he got into with another student. The first thing she does is walks into the police station and then goes up to her brother and slaps him HARD, and then kneels and begs for forgiveness from the other party. She doesn't even hear her brother out. That scene was just horrible.

Another horrible scene was one that happened with a female side character, another member of the cheer team. Her ex-boyfriend just walks up to her and slaps her really hard in public because she had "blocked" his phone calls. Sure, she managed to beat him off but still, in reality, in most domestic abuse scenarios, most abusive men are cunning and manipulative and a lot of the time, they don't beat their women in public like that. Most abusers privately beat their victims. I was surprised that the writers went in this direction. I feel like this side story wasn't even really necessary. As if the story was added in as a filler to pass time.

(In regards to both slapping scenes, you can tell the director wanted it really loud and emphasized and it did nothing but leave you hating both the FL and the angry ex-boyfriend.)

The FL has two rich guys who like her... Her ex-boyfriend, Jae Hyuk and a cheer teammate, Sun Ho. Her ex pines after her but is still ashamed of her being poor even though she's hard-working. The SML, Sun Ho, her teammate on the cheer team is really rich and popular and yet likes the FL as she is. He likes the fact that she's a diligent worker. I think that the FL has more chemistry with Sun Ho than with the ML. I dislike the fact that the writers made the FL such a money penny-pincher who works hard but yet doesn't think she can be in the same league or is good enough for Sun Ho because he's so rich. Of course, she doesn't like him for other reasons but her being "poor" shouldn't be a factor. I would rather have her empowered by feeling like she's good enough. Money or no money.

I can't help but keep thinking that the ML who is the FL's "sunbae" should just be that.... a respectful mentor and captain and clearly draw the line at no dating. It's so repetitive to see him try to keep his distance from the FL but as soon as he sees the SML with her, he gets jealous and almost competitive. And not to mention the FL's constant disrespect of Sun Ho's feelings for her. Sometimes she acts so oblivious around him especially when the ML is around. And then she wonders why he walks off or why he's upset. Like, get a clue. I think this is just poor writing and direction.

When they do the cheer practice montage, it's not interesting because the cheer moves look so repetitive with them waving their arms up and down and back and forth and back and forth and back... you get it.

There are all these different stories going on and different characters appearing here and there... the embezzlement, the prophecies, and the mysterious stalker, all the side crushes, he likes her, she likes him, no one likes the other, she's jealous, he's jealous, who is this person now, and back and forth and back and forth it goes... just like their repetitive cheering arms.

(EP 7 as of writing)

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Not Worth Watching

So just like the synopsis explains Su Jishi takes over for her twin sister in order to help her out. Right from the get-go, she's kidnapped by her sister's management team who convince her to help out. Why did the writers bother with a kidnapping scene? Who knows, but it was honestly not necessary. It didn't do anything for the storyline. They probably did it to attract viewers after reading the synopsis.

As the episodes progress, you appreciate the FL and her defiant and rebellious ways of doing things but later, she becomes so-so. Eventually, you see the two leads start falling in love but of course they deny their feelings.

The SML, and the SFL get a lot of screen time. SML Gao Ling is the ML's secretary and SFL Xiaoman is the ML's younger sister. Half the drama is about them and I absolutely disliked their scenes so much I fast-forwarded through all of them. I just couldn't stand Xiaoman who was nothing but an immature, whiny, pouty character. Her sole purpose was to basically stalk the SML and then some, acting like a crazy, obsessive girlfriend when she wasn’t even in a relationship. She was clearly a nepo baby whose main job was to stalk her brother's secretary. Her character pouted through the entire series. Why C-dramas insist on always glorifying stalking, childish women is beyond me. I also hated the mother. I definitely wouldn't want to marry into a family with her as a MIL.

FYI, the kisses between the ML and FL are okay in the beginning but later as the series progresses, you'll see fewer and fewer kissing scenes. I think this show got heavily censored as it aired. There was so much time spent on the ML trying to get the FL to tell the truth about her identity that it was getting tedious. Her drunken confession scenes were such a cop-out from the writers. You start to dislike her as much as both leads' fashion attire. Whoever the stylist was, some of the clothing for scenes like the camping ones, were out of place. How hard is it to put them in casual clothes? Ridiculous.

As for the relationship between the two leads, there's just something missing. When the sister came back, they just wrapped it up easily and the ending was very predictable.

I definitely wouldn't rewatch this.

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I finally got around to watching this and honestly, Park Bo Gum's smiling face as male lead Kim Jin Hyuk was probably the only thing that got me through this.

While this was a nice, slow-paced romantic series, I was disappointed in the writing of the female character Cha Soo Hyun played by Song Hye Kyo. I felt like her character lacked any real depth or personality. She plays a guarded CEO mostly throughout the entire series. In the end, I wondered why Jin Hyuk even liked or fell in love with her. There wasn't enough to her personality to make her a loveable character. Most of the time, I either felt sorry or pitied her or just felt uninterested.

This is a story of a guy who chases a girl to the end of the world and you have no idea why.

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A Blue Whale Compared to other Kdramas

After reading all the reviews, I agree with them about loving this drama. I have a handful of k-dramas I've really enjoyed and this is becoming one of my faves.

A few clever things in this drama have poignantly allowed it to shine. The ingenuity of the FL's autistic mind and her "AHA" moments always include some form of CGI or videos of whales or dolphins. There are also a lot of comedic moments which are timed perfectly.

Another interesting take is how the FL innocently manages to make some characters "fall in love" with her, or side with her, and as a viewer, you quickly understand why too. Besides becoming surprised by the way her genius mind works, there are also scenes in which you take pity on her or emphasize with her. You also become more aware and educated on the hardships autistic people face in their daily lives.

I'm rooting not only for her but for all her supporters as well. I'm glad that they somehow managed to give her a love interest as well.

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Annoying Side Characters

I swear, I've never been more annoyed by all the side characters in a drama like this one. Seriously.

I just wanted to first mention that in the beginning, we have to put up with a widowed single mother who has to put up with her in-laws, especially the awful mother-in-law. She's so verbally abusive at first, that I just wanted to bitch slap her, and then we have to watch the grandmother treat that same mother-in-law like crap too. So the grandmother treats her daughter-in-law like crap and then that daughter treats her daughter-in-law like crap. Like this stupid cycle that goes on and on uselessly. Both these two in-laws are so annoying. Especially the grandmother who coddles her unfilial son.

-All the women I feel are stupid or bitchy on this show. The FL is a doormat at home and at work, who can't even open a water bottle, her cousin-in-law, Hae Mi, is a stalker who can't handle rejection from anyone and abuses her power, there's Hae Mi's mother who's pretty much clueless and useless, I've already mentioned the in-law grandmother and mother relationship, the FL's sister , Do Young, who crushes on her sister's (the FL) best friend's brother Eun Ho so bad that at one point, she leaves her own niece unsupervised in the park. But luckily the FL arrives on time. The ML's stepmother, VP Cha Yoon Hee is of course the villainess, the VP of the company, who hates both the ML and the FL. Her fashion sense is atrocious btw. Then there's the FL's best friend, Eun Jin, who quits her stable job when she gets sexually harassed at work by her supervisor.

-The FL should've left her in-laws the minute her husband died. Like she should've run, even with the baby in her tummy.

-The straw that broke the camel's back for was Do Sik, the FL's brother-in-law. That guy is so f*cking useless that I dislike his character so much. The things he did to his sister-in-law were completely outrageous and uncalled for. He's so good for nothing. He can't cook, isn't smart, and certainly isn't a good brother-in-law. 47 episodes in and he's totally useless. He's can't study and is unemployed and doesn't help at all. Not at home and certainly not in the family restaurant. He mooches off his own family or the FL's best friend's family. I get so annoyed every time he comes onscreen.

-The FL hides the secret that she's a single mom and the ML hides the secret that he's the president's son and rich and the writers had to go and ruin it by letting the most annoying side characters reveal their secrets so they hear it from someone else. So. F*cking. Annoying. I mean the way their secrets were revealed was so tactless and by side characters we hate.

-I feel like all the men are coddled on this show while all the women are making all the unnecessary drama. Then of course, there's also that one jerk co-worker, Mr. Heo, that hates the FL and treats the FL like crap but kisses *ss with the ML as soon as he finds out that he's the president's son. There's also the ML's father who allows his evil second wife, VP Cha to do what she wants and he barely tries to protect his own firstborn son from his wife's evil machinations.

I'm watching this off and on between times when I have nothing else to watch so I'm taking my time. I think overall, I would've liked this show better with a different FL actress. I'm not too fond of this actress for some reason.

(UPDATE)
I never got back into this but after reading another review, i guess nothing changed. Don't bother wasting your time on this one.

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Dude Can't Catch A Break

I'll be honest... my feelings are a mixed bag with this drama. I reposted my same review that's on Viki with more add-ons on here.

First off, I'm tired of the majority of K dramas where there's always a very clingy girlfriend or female friend to the point where they're suicidal over the dude. It's sooooo annoying. Like the SFL is a straight up stalker with obsessive traits. She just cannot take no for an answer no matter what her manager or the ML tells her. She either refuses to listen or twists the ML's words so that she can continue living in fantasy land and justify her obsessive and possessive traits. The two men raise their voices at her and nope, she gets scared but doesn't change. Ugh. I just roll my eyes now with this overused trope.

It's time to write women better and stronger especially in any Asian drama because women deserve some empowerment without coming across as a stalker who can't live without the man she wants, or a woman of "lower class" pursued by a rich dude or a women who IS rich but then she's a cold-hearted b*tch. I wish some writers would read the book, "Why Men Love B*tches" and write about a drama about THAT. (Btw, every women should read that follwed by 'He's Just Not That Into You'". I assure you, it's a game changer.)

Another reason that I'm struggling with this show because like another reviewer stated, "There's too many obnoxious people on this show." Yes I get it, that's dramaland but this ML just can't cut a break. If it's not the ex's brother, it's a reporter, then the singer, then it's the exortionist, and the plagiarizing composer. Then the FL's ex will soon come into play too and let's not forget her mother. Anyways, someone is always invading the ML's privacy or space. Don't even get me started on when the FL took off the ML's face mask. O.M.G. That made me so livid. Can you imagine if the roles were reversed and the ML did that to a FL? I was so disappointed in that scene. Anyways, with all these toxic people, sometimes viewers just need a break from all them too.

Mind you, I like the ML and a huge fan of the FL but I gotta admit, the ML acts the same as he did in Alchemy of Souls. Same lost look at times and shy demeanor. But he did show some range when he was angry, so that was good but still could've been more pissed off. When he turned down the SFL, he had his mask on so you couldn't really feel the weight and seriousness behind his words.

There's a part where the FL finally catches the ML in a "lie" but I had to wonder why the writers didn't show the FL distancing herself from the ML after hearing what he "lied" about? That would've been a natural reaction. Instead, HE pushed her away.

Also, I'm not a fan of the way K dramas always use drunken scenes to bring the leads closer together. Like seriously? Getting black out drunk on a date is the biggest turn off. Then there's the trope where the lead has to carry or go with drunk person home, get passcode access to their place, and puts them in bed. If they're not drunk then they have a passed out kind of fever and of course, the opposite lead stays overnight to make sure they don't die. Lol. I mean, alcoholism can be a big problem folks. In some countries, we call that a "red flag" if you're getting drunk on the first three dates.

Anyways, I'll try sticking it out til the end but some parts seem draggy to me. I may change my rating later but so far it's a solid 8 from EP 6.

Update:
I dont know when I started to watch this in fast foward but it was getting really draggy. There just wasn't enough "oophm"... that extra mysterious-ness around the death of the ex or even enough excitement between the two leads. Not enough chemistry IMO. It just got messy because everyone was lying except the ML and SML. On top of that, it becomes difficult to tell the difference in sounds when the FL could hear the truth and the lie. You were basicallly waiting her "that-person-is-lying-look" or slight nod or the button press. It was becoming tediously repetitive. At this point, I was just waiting for the answer to come on who the murderer was.

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