Surprisingly fresh with real life characters

Okay so apart from the ML's one drama (Psychopath Diary) I haven't seen any other dramas by either of the leads. Honestly, I started watching this drama while I was waiting for the weekly episodes of Its okay to not be okay and Backstreet Rookie. Hence I began with zero expectations or idea about story, lead actors, reviews.

This is such an underrated gem of a drama. So many of the 2020 big actor dramas have been kind of disappointing or not really left a lasting impression. However, this drama and its main characters leave a mark and I was sad to have the drama end.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS DRAMA. One of my most favourite in 2020 and will also make it to my All-time favourites. The acting is so fresh, goofy yet natural. The comedy is not forced, great flow of storyline with perfect transition from one plot to another. While having the element of politics this drama is not over-the-top with confusing political sub-plots and schemes. The romance part is also great and I liked the fact that the FL takes matters in her hands most of the time while dealing with their relationship. ML is good in supporting the FL and yet not overbearing as some other K-drama ML characters. A special mention about the 'camera angles' which some people might find unsettling but you get used to it and in fact it adds an interesting storytelling facet especially in the comic scenes.

I urge everyone to watch this drama for its story, acting, comedy, romance, politics and slice of life vibe. Its a must watch of 2020.

Read More

Beyond Expectation! Dont give it a second thought just watch and enjoy!

I stumbled upon this gem of a drama by sheer chance. I found this drama to be beautifully directed and all the actors played their roles to perfection. I became such a huge fan of this drama that even while the drama was airing I was also re-watching past episodes. I usually never watch currently airing dramas but after having exhausted most of my 'to watch list' thanks to the pandemic I went with the flow for this one. The wait every week was sheer agony but it also gave me enough time to get over the pain the actors were displaying in the episodes which was probably why I felt even more deeply for this drama. Both the main leads played their roles beautifully. Some may find this drama a bit slow but I loved the pace of this drama and the 1 star that I deducted from overall rating was coz I wanted to see a bit more of the fun part of Song Ah and Park Joon's relationship. Their relationship was more fraught with sadness while their happy moments lasted for a short while. I was glad to have stumbled upon this drama as it helped me get over my disappointment with Record of Youth. Although I thought that once ROY starts I would lose interest in DYLB as I had been reading about Record of Youth for quite a while. I couldn't finish watching RoY !!! And that says a lot about the beauty of DYLB. All things said and done this is a lovely drama with great actors, acting, story and OST. In fact I also enjoyed watching the BTS of each episode. Oh and I fell in love with the piano pieces and especially Traumerei <3 <3

Read More

I was looking forward to watching this drama as I have only recently started watching the historical dramas (was not keen about them). Since this drama has been topping most charts I thought it would be great but it was beginning to put me off historical dramas so I could not finish it. Things that I didn't like: Over the top acting at times, confusing storyline, flat chemistry. I stuck to the drama till episode 16 and yet did not finish it was because I just could not take the torture anymore. I was expecting that at some point I would understand why everyone was raving about this drama !!! Alas I got sick of it and its storyline.
Being a historical drama newbie I would suggest you to start elsewhere as this one is painful to keep up with. I quite enjoyed Scarlet Heart, Love in the moonlight, Hwarang, Arang and the Magistrate !!

Read More

I am not a huge fan of high school dramas and so I kept putting off this drama. But one night when I was not enjoying the crime drama that I was watching I decided to give this a try. And I DO NOT Regret my decision at all. This drama has a very slow, delicate, soft, melancholic vibe to it but it also has its cute, funny moments as well. So it is not boring at all.

It was a beautiful story to watch unfold with a very realistic ending as well. The drama leaves you with a few tears and a soft smile at last. This was the main male lead's first main role drama and I must say he did a brilliant job of staying quiet yet acting..played the introvert to perfection !! I read some reviews here that said they were not happy with the story and there were some plot holes they could not let go off. But for me nothing was wrong with this drama. In fact they touched upon interesting issues in the drama from bullying, study pressure, school transfers, interfering parents, friendships, dating, career path, loneliness, homosexuality and the confusion that comes with it ! I enjoyed all the characters from the teens to their overbearing parents and the adults who save the day ! I must also commend Kang Ki for his role as the bumbling yet caring homeroom teacher. He deserved the excellence award he received for this role at 2019 Korea Drama Awards.

Oh and I quite enjoyed the OSTs of this drama. Moments by Christopher and 'Our Story' by One Seong (main lead) were hauntingly beautiful.

Read More

While searching for my next watch I stumbled upon this and liked the fact that the protagonist was a veterinarian (although major professional plot holes!!). I absolutely loved my decision to go ahead with this drama. No drama is without plot holes and so I will not deduct points for that. The storyline was very interesting and the suspense unravelled slowly without making the viewer wait too long or have it guessed already! The pace of the drama is good and when I began I was unsure if I'd be satisfied by just 12 episodes and whether it would leave an impression or not. I was proven wrong and the 12 episodes are just right and its better to end sooner than drag on extra storylines to stretch the drama for 16 episodes. Jang Ki Yong's acting was spot on and he was able to relay a lot even without speaking. I also liked the character of Seul-gi and her scenes with Seo-hyun (Jang Ki's character) were fun and entertaining. If you are looking for a romantic crime thriller this may not be it but for me it was just the right amount of romance that was shown for a thriller drama and everyone should give it a go.
Since its a thriller I don't suppose it has much of a rewatch value !

Read More

Although I became quite the fan of Joon-gi and was excited to watch all his historical ones ! However this one was a bit painful to get through and so I dropped it. It just goes to show that a drama cannot be carried off by just one great actor. While Joon-gi was a great character and he acted well. The villain was just not capturing enough to actually feel much of the scare or angst or whatever you can feel while watching a drama. I could not connect with the story although it was an interesting take on vampires. The chemistry between the lead pair was also severely lacking. So disappointed that I could not get myself to finish this one.

Read More

I went into this drama not expecting much from it. If, like me, you want to give yourself a break from the romantic kdramas and like mystery, suspense, thrillers, etc this drama is great. I just landed on this drama after I watched Tale of Nokdu and wanted to see more of Jang Dong Yoon's acting. I did not read about this drama in any article or must watch list but I think it is a must watch. The adults are not always right and not all adolescents are clueless is something this drama shouts from the rooftops.

The story is a whodunit (complex who committed the crime) set in a high school and covers a lot of issues ranging from school bullying, study pressure, strict parents, mental health, corruption etc. And being a mystery it does not have much re-watch value. However its a great drama. I felt the male characters in this drama had strong storylines and were portrayed beautifully by the actors. So woo despite having limited screen time left quite an impact on me and his expressions were bang on with the character. Ji Yoon (Jang Dong Yoon) also brought in a very interesting mysterious element to this drama. Even Joon Yeong had a great role and I guess it has elements similar to what he has portrayed in Meow the secret boy (2020). The boy who plays the judge also did a great job. Coming to the female lead and other female actors. I am not completely disappointed in the FL but her face sometimes comes across as so stiff and deadpan. In fact the main FL, her friends, the other two school girls with important roles are all kind of annoying. This drama is strongly driven by Dong Yoon and I think he could not have asked for a better role for his first main lead drama and he has played the role extremely well.

I read somewhere that most of the young actors who played the important characters were playing their first main roles. Despite all of them being rookie actors I was amazed to see them in this drama.

Read More