Managed to left me quite satisfied despite finding que big drama quite dumb

This review is truly full and complete with spoiler!

Just to put it out there, Eiji and Makki's age difference and stuff is fucked up, I hated it, but I sometimes, in order to enjoy a show, I disociate from certain facts while I'm consuming the piece of work, so it's not being taken into direct consideration while writing my next thoughts but it's yikes of the story and it needs to be mentioned.

I'd like to go step by step with my feelings on this serie, as they changed a lot during the course of the story.
First, isn't the synopsis kinda missleading? Or maybe it's the fact that I didn't read it ith that much attention? No idea, but the thing is that I LOVED the first 3 episodes (more or less, not sure of the episode, but 'til the christmas part), the way they interact the 3 of them, and kinda build a family, and even tho Eiji and Makki r a couple from a certain point (I love the naturality in which they r shown to get together,), it feels like the 3 of them are complete when together. It's not named directly which is a shame but Meiko is clearly ace and, as an ace person myself, I found so beautiful their relationship in the way it felt like the friendships where as important to each other as the romantic part. I could totally picture them still together celebrating christmas for many years to come, and maybe that's part of the reason the next part was so sad and kinda dissapointing to watch for me.
So, after absolutely loving all that, things kinda start to really go south imo when Eiji decides to work in his dad's company, because it shows who Eiji is trying to win his dad's aproval in expenses of his own desires for the future. But then it's the real shitshow when in response to the dad wanting for them to break up Meiko proposes to have a baby, and not only that, the both of them agree. First of all, I really am with the characters in thinking that neither of them was more at fault than the others, the 3 of them made the dumbest posible choice and just went with it, Meiko is forever lying to herself by saying she's ONLY doing this for them, bcs she doesn't want to watch them suffer, when it's clear she's doing it for herself (maybe it's also thinking of them at a level, but surely not exclusivly and totally), because she can't stand to thinking of her family breaking apart, and loosing them, and I think, in not realising that in time, she's unable to see the mistake she's making. The other 2 can be more simply described as dessperate and dumb, Eiji bcs he refuses to give up on anything in a situation that's sadly not gonna hold that, because we live in the society we do, and Makki's dessperation is the more simple a in a way, because he's just holding on to the people dear to him and is willing, in that moment, to do anything for them. All that to say, at the end of my long and dedicated analisis, the choice they make is so unberably stupid it's unrealistic, like, the thought process makes no sense whatsoever, like, how in the world did they think them coparenting a child they concived by sleeping the 3 of them together was gonna change the mind of an homophobic shit like the dad, they definitely weren't portraied as being as dumb as they ended up being (future me commenting that i now realized the original idea was for her to be a surrogate mother but the logic is still very flimsy, was rapidly forgotten and most of all, nothing is changing how i felt in the moment of watching all that). Other thing that i'm actually so glad Meiko mentioned, it's so awful to use a child as an instrument to your selfish desires, and the 3 of them are guilty of that.
The rest of the show get it's sense back and wraps up nice and logically, and that was a relief after the thing before. I found pretty that Makki eventually findis someone who loves him and (i think), he feels deeply for as well, even tho they clearly have lot to go yet in their relationship. I also liked that by the end Makki and Meiko were able to get at least a semblance of their previous relationship, that may never be as profound as it was, but it's stll beautiful to watch friendships persevering over time, and that part of this whole story that stuck to me more inmidiately. Finally, Eiji's ending was so very sad and heartbreaking, because one second it feels like maybe he is content and satisfied with his loved ones (who he truly truly loves) and with how his life turned out (maybe it was wishfull thinking on my side, wanting his ending not to be as sad as it is),w but then as we watch him break in tears it becomes clear he's not only not over Makki , but also afected by the more profound realization of his reality of being a cage in which he's never gonna be able to be truly himself.

Read More

Characters were messed up for plots sake

I really feel a 5 is a good number for how I felt watching this second season.
I would have left this whole story (1st and 2nd season) happier if I just stopped at the 1st, tho I don't know if I regret watching it all, at least I can be angry with all the info haha.
A person that liked this season said some very valid points in favor of this season, so I would recommend reading some good reviews, because I do feel is a matter of perspective and taste.
I've read other reviews and I think they sum up pretty well what was wrong with it, but here's a short (and spoilery) review.

*****Spoilers ahead*****

Things I liked:
- Hye-Young is such a nice and lovely character, and he was respectful with Jojo all the time and that was great so see.
- Jojo's university friend is the very best (I wish we've gotten more of here).
- Gul-Mi's character, she grows so much, but doesn't stop being quite shallow (I love consistency, it wouldn't make much she changed her base personality, ***like other characters did***).
-Duk-gu's appearance was perfect, he stayed true to himself, and helped everyone he had set up to help.
- Sunho and Jojo's goodbye was pretty, it made me cry (and it was totally not enough).
- The acting was great, I've already watched Kim So-Hyun in "School 2015" and I enjoyed her, she did very well, and Song Kang is amazing to watch, I'll definitely be following him more. Go Min-Si, Jung Ga-Ram and Kim Si-Eun also did a very good job. Someone said this in other review from this page, and it made lot of sense to me, an I quote: "I must admit actors did a great job portraying their characters with what was given to them".

I didn't like (at all):
- The obvious and mayor complain is about Sunho, for me is not even like they changed him, he was just dropped and left stuck in the saddness:
-He is kind of forgotten mainly by Jojo, who runs from him every chance, never gives him an explanation tho' she always seems to care for him in a romantic way (that at the end was just her being confused, other review said that he was pressuring her when she clearly didn't love him, and on this I have 2 things to say, one is that I agree that he pressured her too much, which I didn't like, but I disagree with the part of she being clear, I felt she wasn't really clear until episode 4-5, and when she finally is clear, he backs away), he ends up figuring out why she left him all by himself (and thank's god he did) and then we're supposed to be satisfied with the convo at the end, something that may have happened if it took place a bunch of episodes back.
-I also felt that his friendship with Hye-Young was totally wasted, they fight at the start (or last season? I can't remember), and from that they're basically strangers, and I hated it so very much, they recovering their brotherhood would have been a beautiful addition to the story.
-On the other hand he himself never does an effort to get over the heartbreak until the very end, and when he does it's following the awful advice his mother gave him (basically fake it til' you make it), which is so sad and unfulfilling. He really deserved so much better than what the writers gave him and it makes me so mad.
- Suddently the mother cares in this season, when the last she didn't show any sings whatsoever of it (and as I said, gives him terrible advice).
-Talking about weird changes of personality, with no reason Jojo's aunt doesn't hate her at all, and she even likes here, and it makes no sense (I wasn't that bothered about it as I was with Sunho's mother cuz at least Jojo's aunt is a little helpful).
- Jojo was overall just a mess, and tho part of it makes sense (and that I liked), other part feels forced to make things happen, the writers changed her so much I barely remember how she was the 1st season.
- The thing with the spear and the fight it created between J and H was so weird and I felt missed the point with the real issues, like, he thinks she's lying bc she decided to make his alarm sound? Like... that's how life works... Idk, maybe it makes some sense, but with all the repertory of stuff he had to be angry, than the writers chose that is a waste. On the same like, I have a similar issue with Jojo in regards to Hye-Young as with Sunho, and it's the fact that she never gives any explanation for her actions, and that's an issue she also has in season 1, but as I always percived it as a main problem, I was hoping it was something she learned, but we only get a tiny glimpses of it, she never really explains the more important stuff to anyone, and that leaves the relationship between her and HY with an unfinished feeling to it.
- Overall it feels like the writers had a story they wanted to show, but it didn't fit the characters they had, so they just messed up the characters.

Read More

Cute, fun and well done, but fell flat with things

I have quite clear in my mind what I liked and what I didn't so here it goes .
I think I liked Da On's storyline the best. The character we get presented is super clear and well made, and that's followed by staying coherent in every decision he makes in the story, but my probably only complain is that I felt that he fell a little flat toward the end (he like, did almost nothing for 2-3 episodes) and it felt like it was on purpose to elevate a little the other relationship.
Shin Woo is also a great character, and made me angry, happy and also sad, he also made sense to me so I enjoyed watching him lots. I didn't love of him that the only explanation we get of him being mean to TK is that he's awkward and shy, didn't feel like enough.
Both this actors did amazing jobs with their characters and I loved to see that.
Tae Kyung is nice to follow, also very coherent and I love how direct he is with his thoughts, but it did feel like the character was a little flat, so I didn't get to develop a deep conexion with him (like I did with Da On), and added to that the acting wasn't that impressive so that's that.
I didn't feel romantic chemistry between TK and SW at all, they always gave me more of a friend's vibe, so I wasn't quite satisfied with the ending (even tho it made sense, so I'm thinking it's more a thing of the actors lacking that chemistry). I did feel chemistry between TK and DO so that's that.
Namgung was super fun and wise but didn't have much to offer so that was kinda sad.
So Hee was, imo, a badly made character, she's the only girl and she's the bad jealous not girlfriend, she doesn't offer anything good to the story, and she proceeds to do something awful (out someone) and then it's all fixed super cleanly and at the end they're all friends like it's nothing. It's depressing that she's the only female of the story.
The teacher was cute and fun and wise and his participation was enough and well thought. I'll be looking forward to a series for him! That ending got me excited.

Read More

Amazing characters

I'm a bit lazy, so I'm not writing a big thing, but this show is amazing in it's portrayal of different people, and i love it so much. I actually wish we had gotten an even deeper dive into the characters past, than the one we got.
It looks like i can't make a super short review, so, I'll have to add some more. This show kept me on my toes in a way i havent experience in a show for a good while, the urge to watch just one more chapter and then i find myself at 4am still awake is so much fun (when you have the rare luxury of sleeping til late).
I would recommend 100%

Read More

Too much in the story took away from the quality

Accidentally erased my whole review so this is take 2.
Starting with the good (that is way less that I would like), I really appreciated the amazingly tidy way they developed the whole plot. At the beginning it very much felt like they were throwing random shit to make the story exiting but senseless in the long run, but by the end it was made clear that whoever made this really thought this through, it ties up so many thing in a very perfect way that left me impressed, biggest example being that they explained the reason behind almost only good school achievers to become gifted when it's never implied before to have a correlation. The other good thing is that it was very obsessive to watch, finished it in 2-3 days.

Going to the bad, the best place to start is the beginning, which was so underwhelming, so many things gone wrong. First is that we start with a character we've never seen before, and that with passing episodes proves to have no purpose of personality other that having a character that drives the plot forward, second we just jump over 2019 and give it like 10 minutes, thing that causes a sense of distance from the characters, that given the absolute lack of attention and development that was given to the side characters, these end up feeling like add ups that have no purpose and I really just didn't care about any of them (sad specially in Ohm'and Mon's cases for me). The main characters get saved because they have enough screen time and care to make me feel connected all over again (Wave def gained a special place in my heart).
Following with the characters, and specifically going to Pram, I really hate how they handled him, the other characters deposited on him every big choice but then half of them left him to do things alone or blame him for everything and never take responsibility, and then he fails and fails and fails so he "gives up" and everyone but him solves the issue it feels like all importance is taken away from him (even tho we discover he never really gave up and all, is such a small time and feel given to the screen it left me very dissatisfied), but then the again put almost all responsibility over him, like... it doesn't make any sense with the number of time they disregarded him (choices that were kinda logic at the time so this actitud of making him leader lost it's cohesion with the story).
My final complain is with Grace and the Director's powers. Grace's because it's so convenient to the plot it ends up being the cause they solve everything, like, it's totally a plot convenience to fix everything that was hard to fit in the technical aspect of solving the story. Then the Director's powers is used in a similar way but to make sense of any and all times a character acted some way that was off their personality, examples being Korn and Chanon (the most confusing and ridiculous), so it's another plot convenience to tidy up loose ends in the plot.

Read More