No Gain No Love- while everyone praised tf outta this drama, I highkey hated it. spoilers ahead
An above average drama, which leaves a very bitter aftertaste because of such terrible writing towards the end. Very unsatisfactory indeed.

This drama certainty could have been a masterpiece, if the writer hadn't completely thrown the plot out the window.

Things I liked-
Progressive writing for the most part.
A strong headed, kind and compassionate FL.
Green Flag ML.
The sisters and their relationship with each other.
Adults acting like adults instead of throwing tantrums and shying away from topics of sex like pre-teens.
Pointing how important it is to be a good parent, and not having a kid if you aren't ready to have one coz the damage parents can cause their kids.....

Things which I didn't like-
Most of the cast's acting was good but ML's bad acting was actually jarring to see, and it sucks coz he was THE ML
No backstory for ML??? Like hellooo, he is the male lead??? He didn't even have a personality except being a "green flag" tbh.
Second couple overshadowing the first couple in their own story? What was the writer even thinking-
No resolution for FL's ex?? He just took her credit and suffered no consequences for plagiarizing and cheating.
While for more than half the drama, getting promotion was FL's goal, in the climax she was left just a struggling start up CEO, worse than before??????!!!!!!! She just took her demotion like a doormat without doing anything when she was all like LET'S FIGHT TILL THE END. It was so out of character for an otherwise very assertive FL who doesn't take shit and always takes a stand.
And also lest we forget, what was the HR doing here when they were so quick to jump on a report of FL abusing a newbie? What were they doing right now? Sleeping?

The shitty ending- In the end she was left begging to SML, her boss who unfairly demoted her through abuse of power and gave her idea and rewards to someone else(her ex). And SML's audacity to call HER the bad guy for leaving his company????
Things that made no sense- On that note, how were the SFL and SML even together? Like how did SFL not mind that her boyfriend has demoted an extremely talented employee unfairly, that too HER SISTER (what about all those claims of loving and wanting to protect your sis)?? Like how did SFL not mind any of that?!! It absolutely makes zero sense.
In the end, SML seems like a jerk, a bad guy to me. So I can't even be truly happy for SFL and SML moments which sucks coz their moments overshadowed and took up the time of ML and FL too.

Usage of stupid tropes- What was that stupid noble idiocy trope in the LAST episode? For a drama, that was only subverting tropes since the starting, the last episode was just filled with stupid tropes. Very ironic.
Filial Piety Propaganda- No suffering for FL's mother and all the shit she put FL through by neglecting her? In the end, she is looked on as the angelic mother who fostered so many kids, while FL and her suffering is ignored, no one acknowledges or even validates FL's mother neglecting her unfairly and how FL was the one just left suffering. (dad died, mom got dementia) Even during the funeral, the vibe was that the mom was right to foster so many kids (at the expense of neglecting her own very daughter). Very very disappointing for a show that was trying to put across the message "only have kids if you're ready so that you don't traumatise them for life."
No resolution for SML's parents?
No backstory for third sister and why she even stuck with FL all these years?
And the way I may actually be forgetting even more plotholes.

The writing was a full on mess to say the least. I have no idea what the heck was the writer even thinking in the last third of the drama. And I have no idea how people are even singing this drama's praises by overlooking the jarring, blatant, in your face plotholes.

Just one word- ridiculous, that's what the last third of the drama is. Even the first third and second third of the drama was downright boring, objectively speaking, at least there were no issues with writing that time. And for a drama that's named "because I want no losses", the main leads certainly took a lot of losses. I believe "Because I want losses" is more of an apt name. Certainly don't recommend this drama.

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A good drama, could have been better.

I have Really mixed feelings about this drama.
On one hand, the drama was good, I really liked it but on the other hand, there were some ick-y things here and there. There was so much potential but the writer just didn't go down that route.....
The drama is kind of boring and draggy, cause I guess, it's slow paced, but I really liked how they showed how the lives were affected by the Gwanju uprising, how innocent people lost their lives to achieve the democracy South Korea has today, how scary death is, and how terrifying and traumatising the uprising would have been and how brave and courageous these fighters were to not give up even after being faced by these horrendous things and it's so inspiring to know that they did win in the end, after years of struggle. These all things make you really grateful and feel the responsibility of the privileges we normally take for granted.

The chemistry between the leads was amazing, I could really feel their love and it was heart wrenching to know how the female lead won't survive. This made their happy scenes 10x sadder for me and I'm not complaining, I like to know beforehand if it will be a sad ending.
The things I feel ick-y were like when both the leads were so devastated and that was how it was portrayed to us to, like it's the end of the world and they can never meet again and all that.... but.... the next episode, the second female lead so easily tells the male lead to go to the female lead and it was like, the viewers were made all that sad for....... nothing. Weird.

Then the climax, I feel like was really really rushed. Also, I really feel like the drama didn't do Myeong-Hee's character justice at all. She just died..... so easily. There was no drama, nothing. Like Are you kidding me? It's the fricking female lead!
They should have made it distressing, disturbing, upsetting, heart rendering, tragic, the kind where you sob and sob and can't stop sobbing. They should have made Hee-Tae be with her in final moments, with both of them crying and us viewers, bawling the heck out of our hearts. It was honestly really disappointing, how the drama failed to make me cry, I remained completely dry eyed, and especially cause I picked this drama for a good cry, but alas the drama completely failed at that.
But I guess, this was what made it sadder and more tragic too, the fact that he suffered so long trying to find her or at least her body and had no idea where she is or what happened to her. The fact that this may have happened to lovers or people in general, that so many of them must have lost their loved ones this way. Not knowing what happened to them or where they are is actually the saddest thing.
Then, we also didn't get to know about or what happened to Soo-Chan or Soo-Ryeon or Hwang Ki-Nam or the protesters or how did the uprising ended, etc. In short, the ending just felt Really rushed, incomplete and dissatisfying. I feel like they had to leave out parts to adjust it all in 12 episodes.

The cinematography was good, I really liked the whole old school, nostalgic vibe with a tinge of sadness all the time.
The OSTs were fine, okay-ish. They complemented the drama really well, with the same old school nostalgic sweet and sad vibe, but the problem is majority of them were really forgettable and mediocre, at least for me. "I regret" and "Winter of May" really stood out to me though, you could feel the pain through the lyrics.

This drama teaches you a lot of things about life, hardships, freedom, democracy, dictatorship and especially, how precious freedom is. This drama will stay with me for a long time cause of the stories it portrayed and the lessons it taught.
Over all, the drama was good, could have been better though.

P. S. Y'all listen to Bigger Than The Whole Sky by Taylor Swift! The lyrics fit the leads perfectly, it's like Taylor really, actually wrote it from Hee-Tae's perspective for Myeong-Hee!!

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