No Gain, No Love (2024)

a fun, no loss no gain watch!

ignore the no gain comment tho lol. i gained my favourite second lead couple. a total win!

such an enjoyable watch 🥹 mondays were good again thanks to this drama. noona romance done right with the perfect mix of comedy, blended in with found family vibes that doesn't feel superficial.i loved the bond between the three sisters. all the characters are so lovely and even the side characters are fun and not easily forgettable.

ep12 the funeral scene was so real and natural like it felt like real life. shin mina broke me when she cried. i love hayeong realised the value her mom had on the foster kids and vice versa.
love they explored that topic.

lots of funny scenes, some emotional ones, a bit of action ( with a dildo no less lmfao), and some of the sweetest of romance with both the couples. heck even the third couple were sweet.

some semi bold topics explored right

small complaint being that they really could have done the ending better. kdrama writers have to insert a last minute breakup even if it's on the final episode like what did that even gain. fine jiuk got freed sure but the reconciliation could have happened earlier and we could have had some cute moments and even a reunion btwn all the characters!

anyway i was so focused on the second couple & squealing at how cute they were that i wasn't really bothered lol. gyuyeon are one of the best second lead pairing we have had in a while. can't appreciate the visionary who saw the potential and thought of the spin off enough! a real legend!

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SECOND COUPLEEEE

sooo cutie. started this just for the second couple and i was not disappointed. UGHHHHH HE LOVES HER SM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i watched this on 2x speed cuz i had to lfinish it in one night LOLL the main couple obvi not my fav, but the GUYYYYY SO HOT! anywhol. didnt like the girl... ABASOLUETMELY LOVED THE WRITER AND THE CEO, HOW FUCKING CUTE IS THAT. hes sso sweet, even tho he had the hatger comment blowout, he made sure to re read and rerate each episode, read all her sgtories over to cover, save her using dildos, care about her work, UGHHHHHH!!!!!!!! theyre so cutie and im so excitde to watach the spin off. also this was rly funny, like i found myself laughing a lot cuz some parts were just so unserious. ok anywho awesomeness.

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Brave characterization for an FMC, but finale left a couple of things to be desired

I truly haven't read any comments or any reviews because I can imagine what they'll say about Son Haeyoung. As it stands, for me personally, she is the most relatable FMC I've ever seen in a kdrama.

Typically, if there's a grumpy, seemingly cold MC, the love interest is warm and personable. Here's a story that takes place between 2 characters that grew up learning not to want things. For SHY, that made her resistant to taking anything from anyone and making sure to always get her fair share in every single aspect of her life, professional or personal. For KJU, it meant basically putting his own desires aside if it conflicted with anyone else's.

I love SHY. I don't think I've ever seen an FMC in a kdrama like her before. She's complex, flawed, intelligent, driven, and very protective of those she cares about. Her morals regarding loss/gain applied to everyone she cared about, meaning that she'd push someone in what she felt was the fairest direction, even if that caused her pain. I'd hope others could see how many things she did that were selfless and in defense of others, but I've noticed that these traits tend to be demonized in female characters. And in a show that clearly pushed other characters into more of a sympathetic light, I'm certain she rubbed other viewers the wrong way.

This show explored something very interesting in that I initially thought it was going to show a sympathetic take towards a child neglected while her parents served others. It explores that children growing up in the same household can have very different childhoods. SHY's mother was kind, generous, and attentive to *other* children. I could not understand why there was never a point where she's showing that same attention to SHY. It's implied the only parent that remotely did was her father. I couldn't understand why they bothered having a child if they weren't going to pay attention to them. I thought it was shaping up to be a rather brave story choice, but it didn't really stick the landing in my opinion. Not a single character validates that SHY was right to have wanted more from her mother. The narrative repeatedly pushes the idea that her mother was a "saint" and SHY is presented as selfish for wanting an actual childhood. If the show had shown at least one person understanding SHY's relationship with her mother, I probably would've given this a 9.5 and called it my favorite kdrama of the year. But... here we are.

To be clear, I think it's great SHY's mother was so kind to foster children. I don't think it's great the show implies SHY was selfish for wanting her parents attention. She says repeatedly that her mother was great to *others*. I don't get how anyone watching could fault her for not being super thrilled about her personal experience with her mother. Especially considering SHY still took care of her despite that.

Ultimately, I think it was a nice (intentional?) thing that the show highlights the many ways SHY was like her mother - helping foster kids, protecting abused children, protecting kids from bullies, and giving so much even when she suffered for it.

Anyway, I loved the relationship between SHY and KJU. It was adorable watching him flounder with relationship ups and downs and the misunderstandings were actually very funny to watch. I liked how SHY cared for him and encouraged him to seek his own desires and let go of the promises he made to his grandmother, birth mother, and foster mother. She was often more outraged on his behalf than he was outraged for himself. SHY fought for everyone and I just wished she had more people understanding of why she is the way she is without constantly pushing the "your mother was a saint" thing. It's honestly quite unhealthy when you think about it. Sidenote, the moment in the finale when he says he won't lie to her ever again, I laughed. To be honest, I lost count of how many things he lied about, but still, I liked them together.

I loved Nam Jayeon. The actress is great, she did a wonderful job, and her story was very moving. I enjoyed her romance with the CEO, though it is a bit strange the show has her flip flop on being loyal to SHY after she was unfairly demoted. The fact that he screws SHY over and its never remedied is pretty messed up. Anyway, I'll check out the spin off show.

I didn't connect with Huiseong as much as the others, but I thought the actress did a great job.

Overall, I really enjoyed the show. It's paced well, I never really felt like the episodes were too long or just filler. This show does a great job balancing drama and humor. The humor of the "light saber" fight was a bit jarring after such a serious scene, but ultimately, it's one of the scenes that made me laugh out loud. The show discusses some very difficult topics. I found the handling of some aspects braver than others, but it's a clear recommend from me. I can't think of another kdrama I've seen with this many complex and interestingly written female characters.

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A Lighthearted and Enjoyable Show!

I have been waiting to write a review for this show, so now that I'm finally done I'm excited to do so.

Story: 7/10
Frankly speaking, this show is very on-brand with the current wave of Booktok-esque shows that have been coming out. It has lots of well-loved tropes: strangers-to-lovers, marriage of convenience, found family, and onwards. The premise of the show is interesting but nothing new--two strangers that get married for convenience. Even the subplots have a lot of familiar plots and cliches---enemies-to-lovers, rich-girl-rich-guy, and onwards. The show actually makes fun of its own cliches at different points, which adds to the lightheartedness of the show.

There are some more serious subplots, too, though which make the comedy more fun I find. There are plots about family abuse, foster family, what family really means. There is one quote I liked, which is when the FL states to the ML regarding her mother "just like you can like someone with loving them, you can love someone without liking them." I think it hits the nail on the head about one of the central themes of the show.

To be honest, overall, this show isn't anything really ground-breaking which is why I've only given it a 7 despite really enjoying the more "heavy" subplots too. The plot twists are all very easy to guess, which can get frustrating if you're used to watching heavier shows where you have to analyze or guess twists. I enjoy shows where I have to guess, too, but this was a relaxing change. Also, without giving spoilers, I must say that I found the last episode very rushed. I was hoping we could get more closure on some of the side couples' upcoming changes, the changing family dynamics, etc. I think if it had been 14 episodes instead of 12 we might have better closure. But that's okay too.

Acting/Cast: 8/10
I know I always say this, but I really enjoyed the acting of most of the characters on this show! Starting with the leads, this is the second show I've watched of Shin Min Ah's (the first being Hometown Cha Cha Cha) and I honestly have no notes. I love her comedic timing and her cute smile, along with how she deals more fierce lines and her emotional scenes. She's really a wonderful actress.

As for Kim Young Dae, this is the second show of his that I've watched to the end (the first being Penthouse seasons 1-3). To be honest, I tried to watch Shooting Stars but really coudn't due to the off-putting plot and his acting. I had my hopes up but unfortunately, I really did not like Kim Young Dae's acting in this show. His expressions are very stiff, he seems to have the same tone of speech in every scene regardless of the emotions his character is going through. I did find his crying scenes very good and his startled expressions in comedic scenes good, but in terms of classic rom-com ML energy, I didn't really get that.

In terms of chemistry between the leads, I disagree with people who said the age gap was too big. I don't think the age gap was the problem at all, I think both actors look good together. However, I think with KYD's acting being so stiff that SMA had to carry the show especially in their romantic scenes which was definitely a let down.

As for the side characters, I enjoyed everyone's acting. I really liked the acting of Lee Sang Yi in his role as the rich CEO (I've previously watched him in Hometown Cha Cha Cha, Bloodhounds, and more), I think his expressions and comedic timing are really good. I also enjoyed the portrayal of the characters of Ha-Jun, U-Jae, Hui-Seong, and onwards. I did have a bit of a hard time with Han Ji Hyun's acting (who plays Yeon Bo Ra / Nam Ja Yeon), I found she was also stiff at times and her line delivery wasn't always the best. But I also really liked her in comedic scenes and enjoyed her romantic chemistry with LSY's character.

Music: 8/10
I say this on all of my reviews, but I'm not really an OST person. The music was enjoyable, so 8/10.

Rewatch Value: 8/10
Full disclosure, I'm not really the type that re-watches shows, so it's always hard for me to give a rating in this category. But that being said, this show was fun to watch and a nice break from my day-to-day life. I also plan to watch the spin-off with the second leads. So, there's a good chance I may come back and re-watch it someday.

And that's all! As always, no hate to any of the actors or team members, these are just my opinions :)

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a good romcom

This year wasn't great for us romcom lovers but this one actually does the job. perfect amount of drama, romance and comedy. It was entertaining from the beginning to the very end. The main couple are very interesting. they both seem kind of selfish and sketchy at first but as time went on I understood them better and my heart goes for them. Dysfunctional families is the main core in this drama so everyone was just trying their hardest to heal past wounds. There are also moment of laughter in between with 2nd couple antiques. All in all I liked it.
just a few problems that I had :
Shin Min al and Kim Yong dae have 0 chemistry. I've watched both of them before in other dramas and they do good jobs but the pairing wasn't right in my opinion.
Also, the story with the pregnant sister annoyed me so much. They were so beyond selfish its mind boggling. They don't want to know who the biological father is because they don't want to shatter their own selfish delusion of having a family. Did they even consider the other man? Does he know he MIGHT have a child somewhere? what if this child gets into an accident and need help with donation and stuff? Are they going to tell the kid the truth? if yes when? And the biggest what if, WHAT IF he gets a cold feet again?

I normally dont pay attention to OSTs so I made the score up.

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Love doesn't count any losses

To begin with, this drama had potential and started off with a great beginning that kept me wanting to see more. The leads had known eachother for a long time before they developed a romantic relationship but one thing that i didnt like is how they fell in love all of a sudden. I feel like enough time was not given to form a proper connection between the leads. The falling in love part happened a bit too quickly. I liked the second lead couple more their story was unique from the start. The main lead couple had too many misunderstandings towards the end and there were to many things to take within such a short period of time.

I did like the fact that 3 couples were portrayed in this show i think that made it even more watchable and enjoyable. If it was the main couple alone then the show would be plain boring. To me this show kind of lost its potential with the way they made the main couple approach into engaging into a serious romantic relationship. I couldn't read either of them and what they wanted.

No gain no love also explores the idea of relationships ( not only romantically), forgiveness, friendship and how you should do some things right now because you never know how much time you have. Towards the end things get messy but better in some ways.

There is a bit of mystery and murder in this show and that added another puzzle of entertainment to all the other elements. I would say overall this show is quite unique from the other 26 kdramas I've seen so far. Its good if you want to watch something new in the kdrama world. Its short so I'd recommend it personally.

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No gain, no love

At the beginning I have to admit that it was a little messy - but this is conclusion after finishing, cause I have watched it pretty fast and it is something easy to watch. It was light, cringe, cute, sweet, funny but there was also some sadness and mystery. I do not thing that there were any character without some trauma or need of therapy. It was somehow realistic even with some unrealistic moments. And all of this makes me think that this drama is really worth watching.
Chemistry was cute, age gap did not bothered me at all (although I was too lazy to check age gap between characters - but in case of actors, but let's be honest, both are adults and agreed to play so I do not see any reason to have any problem with age difference if they do not have). Also second couple was really cute - worth checking spin off Spice up our love. I wished there was more of third couple, I wished they would show us her child and how it work out. Also I am curious if Go Wook's&Jeon Hye Won's characters get divorsed - she deserved so much better.
I feel like last episode could go a little different way, all in all I thing it could work better with 10 episodes or just one more to not make it seemed so rushed.
I like easter egg of mentioning What's wrong with secreatry Kim (maybe I will watch it someday). Also wished that Kim Young Dae stayed with long hair a little longer.
To sum up - it is not the best drama out there but still really worth giving a shot, especially if you like anyone from cast.

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Fast paced, lots of themes, and enjoyable primary and secondary storylines make this a good watch . . .

There's a lot to recommend here. We get two couples with solid romantic chemistry and fun storylines, plus some themes on childhood wounds and how they carry over into adulthood. Interjected throughout is a really funny sense of humour, and a much more modern feeling to the characters. While a bit clumsy, this turned out to be one of my favorite K Dramas of this year.

The brilliance of this show is that realistic childhood traumas get in the way of forming romantic relationships. Unlike may dramas where poor communication is the result of unexplained immaturity, here there are understandable, justifiable reasons for

As with most dramas, as it nears the end the storylines get clumsy and the end is a bit anti-climatic. (So much so that I actually thought for a whole week more episodes were on their way!) Even so, I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

Sometimes having less budget/prestige pressure allows for more enjoyable watching. That was certainly the case for me. This drama was really a present surprise.

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Wasted Potential

The drama was interesting and had a lot of potential. However it wasted its potential. The story was long winded had too many plots happening at the same time. There was mystery, romance and family all happening at the same time. Now that it has completed, I see that it could have had alot more potential if they selected a main plot and not too many sub plot.

It was a new troupe and i enjoyed it. However, there were more things that could have been done. The acting by the actor and actress were great but it did not give me the feeling of enjoying waiting fir the next episode. I even missed a couple of episodes for weeks as it wasn’t a drama that was at the top of my head.

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