Started with a bang, ended with a fizzle

If there was ever a K-drama that could have used 16 episodes, "No Gain, No Love" might be the one. For all its hilarity and touching moments, there were quite a few plot cracks that a couple of laughs and tears couldn't quite plaster over.

This is a long one, but let me start with the positives:

- Son Hae-yeong is definitely making my list of the most memorable female K-drama leads of all time. I loved it every time she was on screen. She was funny, assertive, good at her job, and true to her character from beginning to end. There was so much depth to her, especially when it came to displaying all the hurt from her childhood. Kudos to SMA for bringing this amazing character to life, this is my first time finishing a project of hers and I was really impressed here.

- The rom rommed, and the com commed. I genuinely laughed out loud at so many moments while watching this show, and I enjoyed the chemistry between Hae-yeong and Ji-uk. The second couple was cute too and had great chemistry, but I couldn't fully get into them.

- My girl Han Ji-hyun was soooo good and adorable in this drama. Loved her in Cheer Up despite the disaster that show became, and she shone even brighter here. Can't wait to see more of her in the spin-off.

- Isn't it amazing when adults behave like adults and communicate? It was nice to see the back of the noble idiocy trope in this show and that unnecessary misunderstandings were kept to a minimum or at least quickly addressed. And a lot of interesting themes were addressed too, although not always in a satisfactory way.

- The foster sister trio. There's nothing like an amazing girl squad in a K-drama that stays amazing and uplifting until the end. It reminded me a lot of the trio from King the Land -- they have their differences and squabbles, but they support each other all through. It was heartwarming to see.

Now, onto the negatives:

- The ending was such a letdown, especially coming off the penultimate episode. I figured that it would be a bit rushed, but I was disappointed in just how much was left unresolved, most especially when it comes to emotional closure for our female lead. It was sad to see how much her feelings about her mother were cast aside when it is at the root for her character and personality, and there's simply no resolution for her. For someone who doesn't like to take a loss, she lost quite a lot in this drama. There's so much else to talk about here but that will be too much of a spoiler.

- The second couple's relationship, while cute to see, not only took too much screen time away from the first couple (especially considering that they have their own spin-off), it also seems quite unbelievable at the heart of it and hard to root for. The second male lead, Bok Gyu-hyun, who also happens to be HY's boss, becomes quite the villain, especially towards HY, but also towards the second female lead, who is HY's younger (foster) sister, Nam Ja-yeon. And so it's hard to understand how quickly NJY forgives BGH and falls in love with him despite the gravity of what he's done (and he only apologizes for what he did to her, but not what he does to HY or Ji-uk), especially with how close she is to HY. Poor writing and characterization, imo.

- Too many extraneous characters and plot points to follow, which further made the lack of resolution in the final episode more glaring. I'm not sure why K-dramas are yet to fully figure out how many episodes they need for the plot points they have. 12 episodes was not enough to fully flesh all of these out and still leave room for character development, and it really showed.

- Young-dae's character Ji-uk was seriously shafted for a main lead role, probably worse than HY. So many parts of his story felt underdeveloped, and the other characters overshadowed him.

All in all, "No Gain, No Love" was a fun time but suffered from a weaker second half. There was a lot of material for it to be truly good and iconic, but sadly a lot of it was wasted. Still, the great parts were great, with a lot of laughs and shed tears and cool performances. It will probably not make it into my list of faves, but it was a good watching experience overall. 7/10.

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Should have made NGNL 2 episodes longer instead

All I can say about this is that you'll enjoy it if you were really rooting for the second couple in No Gain, No Love. I wasn't that much into them by the end of the original, but I was curious about this supposedly "spicy" short spin-off of a drama that I found to be an overall good time. At the very least, I thought it would give me more insight into why Ja-yeon fell for Gyu-hyun despite all he did in the main drama.

What I got was nearly 2 hours of nothing really. Somehow, Ja-yeon had more chemistry with the guy who originally played Ha-jun than she did with Gyu-hyun. I'm not sure if it was a directorial decision or from the writing, but once Gyu-hyun became the male lead, all the sexiness and charm went out the window, and that is quite a feat because I find the actor very sexy and charming. Most of the time he looked like he was pleading for her attention.

I also was a bit confused by the writing. Not the "writing" of the story within a story itself — as the synopsis states, the drama is an isekai, where Ja-yeon gets transported into her own novel and becomes the female lead, and I found her writing to be pretty realistic in its tropey-ness and ridiculousness (you'll understand if you're a frequent reader of web novels) — but the mechanics of the drama.

Why did the male lead of the drama have to change? It's not like Gyu-hyun was transported into the novel with her. And why did the male lead's secretary become the former Ha-jun? Why did she keep seeing the convenience store owner everywhere? And most importantly, how does this all inform her sudden crush on Gyu-hyun back in NGNL? I suppose this spin-off is just meant to be a cutesy diversion from the main drama.

And despite how it's been advertised, there's really not much spice to be found, especially when Gyu-hyun becomes the male lead. It definitely didn't help with their (lack of) chemistry here.

Again, I think this will be appealing to anyone who enjoyed NGNL's second couple and wants to see more of them. Unfortunately I wasn't in that camp, so it really wasn't for me. Some highlights were seeing Hui-seong again; I really wish she'd been given a more fleshed-out storyline in NGNL, she was cool.

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One of 2024's hidden gems

Oh, Songwon Police Department 2nd Violent Crimes Unit, you are so precious to me. Thank you for bringing so much me so much joy these past few weeks.

Honestly, give me an ensemble cast with great chemistry, comedic chops, and one shared brain cell and I'll eat it up every time, and this show is no exception.

For me, the best part of this show is the team's chemistry and bond. I found most of the cases interesting (although the resolution the writers come up with sometimes requires some hand-waving), but this show is primarily character-driven and gives more attention to building and developing its characters and their relationships.

I also really liked how the case of the week gave more insight into each member of the team. The only person I thought got shafted in this regard is the maknae; I would have liked to know more about why he left his family to join the police force but it seems the writers forgot all about that part until the last episode.

I do wish the overarching mystery had been weaved in better with the rest of the story. The big bad's reveal and the clue that led to it also required a bit of a deductive leap.

Another thing I enjoyed was that, for all their silliness, these people are competent for the most part and dedicated to their work. Even the maknae showed great moments of brilliance that made me go, yeah, this is why he was hired.

This show isn't one of the flashiest releases this year and as such might go under the radar, but I fell in love from the first episode and recommend it to anyone looking for something light and funny with a lot of heart.

I'm really going to miss the thinking chair, Junghwan searching diligently for T-Rexes for his daughters, Joong-ryuk the one-punch man, and Yubin's weird facial expressions!

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Your mileage may vary...

This show is very polarizing in the sense that either you really love it or you really hate it. I think I fall squarely in the middle, especially now that some time has passed (it's been a couple of months since I finished it).

I'd suggest to anyone thinking about watching this show not to get sucked into the hype. Watch it with an open mind and no expectations. That's what I did, as I pretty much ignored this while it was airing and even for a while afterwards; I personally don't enjoy stories that feature time travel, I'm not a huge fan of the concept (and honestly watching this drama further cemented why).

It was during a lull between dramas that I finally decided to pick this up, and I pretty much inhaled it over the course of two days. It was just the right amount of fluff I needed at the time, with comedic moments and great chemistry from the cast. The leads really make you believe in the romance, that there really could be a love so strong and so powerful that not even time (and a very persistent serial killer) can do anything to stop it.

But as enough time has passed that I can say that while I enjoyed the bingeing experience of this drama, it will not necessarily hold up for me as time goes on. For me, the greatest draw of Lovely Runner is the charisma of its leads. They embody their roles so well and also play off one other quite well. However, not even they can save a weak script and characterization.

To be honest, I'm getting less and less enamored with crushes/attraction being propped up as "abiding love at first sight." What really does Sunjae see in Sol, and vice versa? How much do they really know about each other? BWS pulls off the pining quite well with his "melo eyes", but what really was there to wait 15 whole years for? KHY is effervescent and bubbly as Sol, but how much does she know about Sunjae to fall for him beyond his being the idol she wanted so desperately to save? Why are they so willing to go so far for each other?

I learned that the webtoon that Lovely Runner is based on didn't have Sol's disability or the killer plotline, and I think that perhaps the show should have stuck to the premise of the original. Especially because the disability erasure left a bad taste in my mouth, and maintaining Sunjae's death as a suicide would have given the show more opportunity to delve into some heavier, more poignant themes and develop the characters a little more.

I didn't like that Sunjae's passion for swimming and the subsequent loss of his career were just waved aside because of this supposed great love for Sol, and I didn't fully understand his relentlessness in trying to save her, especially when she'd rejected him so many times.

And where does Sol's love for directing/filming come from? We don't see any hints of that when she goes back to the past (apart from the video she did for Taesung I guess?). I also would have loved her to spend more time with her family and BFF, especially her grandmother. There just wasn't much else to their characters apart from being squee and in love with each other.

The rest of the cast was sadly underutilized (and in some cases, overutilized *ahem ahem* Imgeum and Hyunjoo, just had to skip over some of their scenes). I understand that it's a romcom and not a family drama and so the main leads are the focus, but that doesn't mean that side characters need to be caricatures either.

And poor Taesung; the actor is so good and so charismatic; I wished we could have seen more of his journey to becoming a police officer. I don't usually get SLS but I wanted more for him than just being the 2ML.

I don't even want to go into the inconsistencies with the fantasy/sci-fi/time-travel elements or how unnecessary the serial killer plotline was. I can only pray that the trend of inserting murder mysteries into romcoms dies in 2024 and we can maybe go back to focusing on character development. That's the strength of romcoms; they don't need to be plot-heavy, it's about watching how the leads grow and how said growth is reflected in their relationship with each other.

Maybe this review isn't very coherent but these are just the thoughts I've been wrestling with since I finished this drama. I suppose I can understand why people like this a lot. I'd even recommend this for anyone looking for something light that doesn't require too much emotional investment.

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Finally finished this show after so long. I started watching it back when it was airing and dropped it around episode 9 (17-18) and picked it up again this year after enjoying KHY's performance in Lovely Runner. But I still faced the same issue with the show this time around, almost abandoning the drama around the same spot. I wondered if I'd outgrown stories like this — I rarely watch dramas set in high school anymore with few exceptions, but after finishing the show I realize that's not the case.

Let me start by saying that this show has a very unique and interesting premise. Eun Dan-oh is a young spunky teenager with a terminal heart condition who becomes "aware" that she's a side character in a comic book doomed to die without her say-so. Then she meets Haru, a mysterious character who might be the only one who can help her change the story and her fate.

Sounds cool, right? We meet a fairly large cast of other characters at Dan-oh's school, including the A3 (a parody of BOF's F4), made up of Baek-kyung (Dan-oh's childhood friend and fiancé), Do-hwa (who also becomes aware and joins Dan-oh in her quest), and Nam-ju, the leader of the A3 and top dog at the school. There's also Ju-da, a scholarship student and Nam-ju's love interest.

The show cleverly parodies a lot of cliches from popular high school dramas and stories, and so the comic in which these characters all exist is as cliched as possible. Nam-ju is the revered, perfect ML of the comic with a hinted-at hidden depths, Ju-da is the pretty, Mary Sue-esque female lead with a tragic backstory, and Do-hwa is the second ML, doomed to lose the battle for Ju-da's heart. Baek-kyung also embodies several cliches as a potential love interest for Dan-oh; he's rude to her without cause, but it's okay because he has a tragic past.

We then find out that Dan-oh and Haru and basically a lot of other characters in this current story were actually recycled from a previous story, where they first became aware and tried to also change the story, but failed. This raises several questions: who is this writer? Why do they recycle these characters and their storylines? If Dan-oh and Haru already failed once to change their fate, how can they do it again, and succeed this time?

This set-up was really great, and I was looking forward to seeing how Dan-oh could change her fate and fight against the writer. But somewhere around the halfway mark, the story started to lose steam. The story begins to focus too much on the Haru-Danoh-Baekkyung love triangle (not really a love triangle because Baek-kyung was never really in the picture for the real Dan-oh), which didn't interest me at all. Dan-oh stopped wanting to change her fate and just wanted to spend all her time with Haru. Baek-kyung for whatever reason realizes he actually likes Dan-oh and hovers around her and Haru like a dark cloud, constantly claiming to be the one who can change her fate but basically doing nothing. Haru as a character just existed for Dan-oh's sake; no personality or anything even when he became an actual character in the story. The story became repetitive and boring because nothing of note happened; they just kept circling around the same thing.

At that this point, I had more interest in the comic's FL, Ju-da, who might have been secretly aware for a long time and might actually like Do-hwa instead of her fated Nam-ju, but even that became a dead end as she still eventually chose Nam-ju for a completely pointless reason.

The show's ending may seem romantic to some, but for me, it is quite bleak, or maybe bittersweet. The comic ends and a new one begins; this time the characters are in college, and Haru and Dan-oh reunite as extras who can run around and do what they like, I suppose. But they're still characters and subject to the writer's will. And it makes me wonder what the point of all their struggle was if the writer was still going to finish the story anyway and they would be recycled (not all, justice for Do-hwa and Ju-da!) in a new story. The "happy ever after" doesn't feel earned; it's just something that happened. I don't think that's a worthy ending of such a brilliant premise with such a dynamic FL.

And there's still so many unanswered questions. Again who is this writer, and what is their motivation? Why do some characters become aware and others not? Why was Haru the only one who could change the stage? And why was he still able to change the stage when he became a named character? I'm sure the writer would have noticed him messing up the story at that point.

I also think introducing the writer as a character would have improved the show a lot; it would have provided an actual antagonist that the characters could rally against. Instead they were all just circling the drain, unable to do much to change their fate.

I think this show had all the ingredients to be truly great; apart from such interesting concepts (I really liked the idea of the stage and the shadow), the casting was near perfect. KHY was great as Dan-oh; I can't imagine anyone else in the role, and while the cutesy act got a bit old after a while, I really loved the way she could switch between stage and shadow Dan-oh and the difference was clear. Her comedic timing and facial reactions were also amazing. The writing really let her and the character down in the second half of the show. LJW was amazing as Baek-kyung, even though I disliked the character, and I think that's a testament to his skill as an actor. He was a standout for me. I also really enjoyed Do-hwa and Ju-da and their actors are really good; they were probably my favorite characters and I'm sad that they were not utilized to their full potential, especially Ju-da. The OST also is one of my favorites.

But the show couldn't fully take it to the end. I feel like it would have helped maybe if it had been shorter and cut out all the filler so the plot was tighter and more coherent. But at least the first half was great and really had me; I only wish the show had stuck the landing.

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Season 2 is a need!

One of the best dramas of 2024. A Shop for Killers is thrilling and constantly keeps you at the edge of your seat. Stellar performances from the cast all around. Minhye is best girl. The villains are a bit cartoonish but still so well-acted; Bae Jeongmin's 180 into a completely repugnant individual was so well-done and actor Seo Hyeon-woo's switch-up from menacing killer here to a goofy scrooge in Seoul Busters is insane work.

My few gripes are with the writing and with the way some of the reveals were handled. I wish Jian had learned more about her uncle through well-placed clues in the present rather than us being spoon-fed with constant flashbacks that I feel slowed the pacing dramatically.

I also understand that this is an action thriller and a certain amount of violence is required, but I felt it was a bit gratuitous at times.

Also, I really really hope that there's a season 2 in the works, because these 8 episodes raised a whole lot more questions than they answered (major spoilers ahead).

One major question for me was why Jinman would create the shop and code system if he wanted to leave the mercenary life behind? Didn't he realize just how much attention that would draw? Also, I feel like it was a bit naive of him to let his guard down if he wasn't completely sure he'd gotten rid of Bale, doubly so if he suspected foul play in his mother's death.

And the reveal at the end, while a bit predictable, raises the stakes immensely. I actually wouldn't have minded this show being a bit longer to fully flesh out all the details.

All in all an amazing show that no one should sleep on if anyone is.

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PSH, I apologize for not being familiar with your game

I'm loathe to ever say that any one actor "carried" a drama, because I believe that everyone contributes to the general success (or otherwise) of a show, but I must confess that Park Shin Hye's portrayal of Justitia/Bitna is the main reason why I finished this drama.

Justitia is irreverent and brash and sassy, and I thought PSH did really well in bringing the character to life and making her so fun to watch. This is my first time watching this actress and I know she gets a lot of flak for her acting, but I was impressed here.

Somehow though, I think the writers had too much fun make Bitna as crazy as possible and playing up those judgment scenes because the rest of the drama is absolutely chaotic.

First of all, the worldbuilding and lore are just laughable, to be honest. If you're going to adapt real-world religions and mythologies and change up stuff, at least put some care into it and have some internal logic. What do you mean Gabriel came all the way to rescue Justitia from Hell (her original home BTW) because she's suddenly a good person, when said angel didn't rescue Daon (was brought back by Bael) or the human Kang Bitna, who we never hear about again? Justitia is a DEMON and moreover the personification of justice. She shouldn't have to abide by human rules of good or bad. Also, Satan rebelling against Lucifer...? There were no other demonic names to use? And if Justitia was saved for being "good", which happened because she was becoming more human, why were other demons who were becoming human then being punished for doing the same? Mando can become a Christian, then later become Buddhist? To me, the writers were just doing whatever here, but I am open to any explanations.

Then when it comes to the plot, there were so many head-scratchers. Here are a few:

- Arong stopped chasing demons to become a full-time fan girl? Moreover, she was surrounded by demons who were practically human: Mando, the clean-up crew, etc, and she did nothing.

- What was the point in Bael asking Justitia to free J and send him directly to Hell? What would it have mattered to Bael in any case which murderers Justitia allowed to be punished by the law versus punished in her usual way? Also Justitia is apparently Bael's chosen successor but he sent an assassin after her?

- What was the point of the redevelopment plot if it played such an important role in finding the Kylum? All they did was mention it a few times until J revealed that it was where the Kylum landed.

- Speaking of the Kylum and Satan, both ended up being dispatched so easily, I can't believe they were set up as some kind of Big Bad and J the HUMAN serial killer ended up being so much more threatening (at least according to the drama's logic).

- I'm still wondering why any of the criminals' cases had to even make it to court before Justitia dealt with them in her own court? Once she knew who they were, she could have gone after them before their cases made it to trial and it wouldn't have mattered. Or she could have properly sentenced them then either have them broken out of jail or get them before they get to the prison like she did for the DID faker.

Also, you will never see shoddier police work and legal justice work in Kdramaland than in this drama. Honestly if you're hoping for some proper legal/cop drama action, think again.

I was also not a fan of the romance; I completely skipped their dating montage. I think the drama could have worked without it; I much preferred the flirty-hostile banter they had in the first few episodes. I really couldn't see what they liked about each other; all the FL did was look into the ML's eyes and her heart started beating. I'm not even sure at what point the ML fell in love. Not good enough. I think a slow, subtle attraction that came from them teaming up with each other would have worked better, and maybe they get together at the end or the drama leaves it open-ended.

As for what I did like about the drama, I liked Justitia's character development in realizing that justice could be achieved in other ways. I think the drama did an okay job exploring what true justice means using the FL and ML as foils, but IMO they could have done more. Also, the side characters were really good, especially the victims' families. They brought me to tears quite a few times.

KJY did good as Daon, but his character was downgraded to a puppy as the show went on. He's supposed to be the straight man to Justitia's insanity, but he was kind of overshadowed by her dominant personality. I don't think he was utilized as well as he could have been, but then again it's not really his show.

Criticisms with the story aside, the show really was an entertaining ride thanks to Justitia, even though it kind of petered out in the last few episodes. At least I'll keep hearing the word "Gehennaaaa" ringing in my brain for the next few weeks.

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Curb your enthusiasm

I know that there are many people who thought that Love Next Door was going to be another hit romantic comedy from tvN - blame the marketers for advertising this show as Jung Hae-in's "first romcom".

However, Love Next Door is NOT a romcom. It is a family drama with romantic and comedic elements. And if you go into it looking for a romcom, you'll be disappointed (as many people watching the show as it aired were).

And so I'll be reviewing this show as it is and as what it tries to achieve, many of which did not hit the mark, at least for me. From the synopsis, what I expected from this show was the story of two life-long friends who find love and comfort in each other as they navigate the ups and downs of life. Unfortunately, what I got was a show trying to balance a million storylines and ending up doing none of them any justice.

(Possible spoilers from here on out so beware)

Love Next Door tries to follow an episodic, slice-of-life format. Each episode is somewhat self-contained with a particular theme it seeks to explore. However, what the drama doesn't do as well is linking these different mini-plots together so that there's a main plotline that takes us through the whole sixteen episodes. So these plot points and themes feel like they really serve no purpose other than filler rather than furthering the plot in a meaningful way.

We also don't see a lot of the characters grow in any organic way; their characterization is as the plot demands. This is not to say that characters need to be perfect; in fact, I loved how all the characters were flawed in many ways. But it's expected that they should develop as the story progresses. What we get instead is some growth at the end of an episode, and by the next episode, they're back to square one, and this pattern continues until the last two episodes where all the growth is seemingly jam-packed. As a result, none of their realizations seem natural or earned, especially because of the writers' obsession with using illness and/or catastrophe (combined with illogical fake-outs) and miscommunication tropes to force character development.

The romance aspect was also poorly developed. The biggest error they made was centering the romance on Seung-hyo's POV and not giving us any gradual build-up in their romantic tension. Even until the end, it felt like Seung-hyo was carrying Seok-ryu along in their relationship. And no, flashbacks to their high school days aren't enough to establish Seok-ryu's feelings, especially when she was literally engaged after the fact and would have married her fiancé if not for her cancer. For me, this resulted in a distinct lack of chemistry in their romantic scenes.

The second couple aren't any better to me, even though it seems they're popular with a lot of people. Mo-eum is one of my favorite characters from the show, but I'm still a bit weirded out by her obsession with that little girl? It feels like she was all their relationship was built on. And did the writers forget that Mo-eum's dream was to go to Antarctica before trying to shove her into this family that already has death/abandonment related trauma?

Even the dialogue was so overwritten. There were often these clever or touching moments, and then the characters would keep talking and beating you on the head with the themes instead of said themes being shown to us organically through the story and their actions.

My favorite part of this show, and basically all I stayed for, was Seok-ryu following her dream of becoming a chef, and I really liked how they tied that into the cancer plot. I also like the Lavender crew, even though I could have done with less of their scenes. And there were some truly standout emotional and comedic scenes.

I'm sad to give a review like this to a show I anticipated highly, because I really love So-min and while I've not watched any of his stuff, I know Hae-in is an amazing actor. To be honest, the cast did well with what they were given, but I don't think the writing wasn't as great as it could have been.

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