BAD dubbing (and worse kissing) but okay if you want angst-free fluff

In the first few eps of this the FL's lines, although delivered from what looked like an ordinary college dorm, have a weird echo and sound like they are really coming from a deep, cavernous hole somewhere. That was very off-putting! -although it seemed to gradually improve. Anyway, this is a harmless little college romance with a gaming element, where the FL and ML, both top players, meet in a game. The in-game effects are... not something anyone would be watching it for, but that doesn't matter because it's all about the romance, and that is pretty solid in that they like each other, and only each other, all the way through. There are no love triangles, break-ups or heroically sacrificial partings, all difficulties are comfortably overcome, and nothing terrible happens to either of them - well, ML is in a car accident at one point, but he's fine and it speeds the plot along instead of blocking it. They're respectful to each other, and they never really argue. A bit of bromance, a bit of sismance, a tiny hint of a gay romance (pretty cute) and a little bit of rivalry keep it rolling along smoothly for 30 episodes to their marriage. It's not exciting, but it is kind of restful, if you're in the mood for that.

However, the core relationship was marred a lot for me by the FL freezing and looking absolutely petrified whenever a kiss scene happened, and as she clearly likes him and he obviously can kiss, this seemed very jarring and cringey and lost it points. More points dropped off for her role in the game company they form after school: basically just a pretty little assistant. I would have liked it a lot more if she'd beefed up a bit, but YMMV.

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Likeable show, but...

I found this a fun watch all the way, and wasn't as bored at the end as a lot of other reviewers seem to have been; there were some loose plot-ends, but they weren't crucial. And I liked the FL. Yeah, she's a yeller, but she's also a loyal friend and a hard worker, she gets a lot of personal growth in this, and I enjoyed her enthusiasm and good people-skills at work. I also liked that she knew her best friend was kind of flaky and loved her anyway: the sismance was solid here. The supporting cast was fun and the SML was an extremely fun and charismatic character who was really well-acted. I enjoyed him too, but I could also see why she wasn't likely to fall for him. What I wasn't so sold on was the main romance. It's sweet; it's totally plausible given their background; PSJ is a good actor, and he's undeniably drop-dead gorgeous. But it was also kind of boring, because although she obviously cared for him a great deal, I didn't feel the chemistry and I never got the impression that she fiercely wanted him. Ehh, could be my western predilection for strong passions, but I felt that the SML's feelings were dramatically stronger than the main couple's, and that left me feeling unsatisfied.

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Lots of potential.

This is a nicely shot, stylish short drama set in a college, where an OCD-ish loner student programmer developing a game needs a good designer, and finds one in the shape of a fashionable, popular, annoying boy who has beef with him for some reason that wasn't quite clear to me. The designer decides to piss the programmer off for payback/amusement by stalking him and being really irritating. Both of them: AAA YOU ARE ANNOYING AF! But also strangely attractive! Especially in a terrible wig.
And so... love story.

Overall, it's a fun watch and a good story, but imo the pacing could have been improved on. Stalking isn't my fav trope, and it's a pretty big feature for the first half of this - too much for my liking. Luckily, the eps are short, so the cute kicks in and beats out the annoyance fairly quickly. The kissing is good when we get to it, and I very much approved that there was no hesitation about it for either of them: no power imbalance here, they're equally into it, and that got me invested. Sadly we only got a little slice of time with them as a proper couple and working partners, and I would have liked to have seen more of that, as it felt like there was good potential here for interesting character development together, and that, with a gay couple, would have been really great. Some bonus episodes in Paris would have been great too (ha, not me who spent a chunk of the last ep yelling RUN OFF WITH HIM LETTUCE! PACK YOUR SUITCASE! SPEAK YOUR FRENCH!) Hope to see more like it, with bigger budgets.

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Surprisingly enjoyable

These kinds of fluffy rom-coms are often too cheesy for me, but I liked this a lot, despite the cheese, because it was just so overwhelmingly nice and relaxing to watch. Struggling? Feeling traumatized? This is for you: it's like a warm. pleasantly scented bath in a really clean, luxurious bathroom in the House of No Worries. Many have griped about Chu Li's cutesy voice, but I found it soothing, along with her calm and positive attitude, and really enjoyed her growth as an editor. Zhou Chuan is a brat, but he's cute and he improves, and I especially enjoyed the arc with his father. The second couple are wonderful eye-candy (let us take a moment here to appreciate the shirtless shots of the SML, because yum). They had a pretty good storyline too, there were many other nicely portrayed side-characters, and the setting of the publishing house/pro-writer world kept me engaged throughout. Yes, it takes a leisurely speed - it is a cdrama, of course it does - and the romances are slow, and while sweet, they're not particularly steamy. But if you are looking for a relaxing dose of niceness where everything works out, you should definitely try this.

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Top marks for pacing.

It's always great to find a drama that manages to keep all the narrative balls in the air (on a first watch anyway) all the way through 18 episodes. I was hooked from the start, I binged it like a delicious pudding and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has some genuinely original characters and some genuine surprises, it has some excellently meaty moral dilemmas, and I think I might be a little in love with the scriptwriter right now. WELL PLAYED, LADY. Big hearts for you.

What might put you off: it's a noona romance and the FL is pretty much a female tsundere, which delighted me, but might not be everyone's cup of tea. The actress did a great job with her though and all the cast were great: the fantastic mom and the baddie deserve special mention. I liked Yoon Sang Hyun a lot in Secret Garden, and he was very likeable in this too. But it gets a 9 and not a 10 because I wasn't 100% sold on the romance. Not sure why exactly: the actors were both good, but maybe their chemistry wasn't quite up to the script? I shall probably watch it again at some point and see how it hits the second time round.

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Disappointing end

Visually, this is quite stunningly beautiful, in a deeply satisfying way. Ahhh the color. Every single scene was a jewel: they could have made the whole thing silent (and kept the orchestral part of the soundtrack, which I also loved) and I would still probably have watched all 16 episodes. The storyline switches between the ghost hotel's current incarnation in present-day Seoul and monster-of-the-week-style tales of its residents as its new young non-ghostly manager adjusts to his job, and historical flashbacks to the story of the immortal, 1000-year-old owner Jang Man-wol and how she got the curse which ties her to the hotel. She was a great character, wonderfully played by IU - I had never heard of her before this, but she was marvelous, and so was her wardrobe, which must have filled a warehouse. I loved both the flashbacks and the ghosts and unlike some reviewers, I liked the ML, who grew on me, and in fact all of the cast. And it was so very good in parts, especially the flashbacks. I'm sad that it's finished and out of my queue.

But the storyline was undeniably patchy and messed up: there were too many arcs, which felt rushed, badly paced and not sufficiently filled out, and the end fell very flat for me, as did both of the romances. I felt similarly about The Master's Sun - that it started so well and could have been absolutely brilliant - so I'm super curious now about the Hong sisters' writing process: how much is pre-outlined, how much is done on the fly as it's filmed? Because it feels like they just started pantsing it at some point because they were out of time. If anyone is reading this who has better Korean than me (not hard) and can link to any interviews with them, that would be great. Anyway. In short, could have been a 10, but it gets an 8. Still definitely worth watching though.

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Excellent acting in a fun slice-of-life.

This is more of a comedy than a romance, despite the title. The ML, Kuwano, is SO WEIRD, but it's great fun to watch his weirdness. His family and co-workers are fond of him despite it, help him out with the situations he gets into because of said weirdness, and hope that someone will come along and love him and sort him out. There are a few candidates for this: a nice doctor he meets, the nice manager in his office, and his neighbour, who has a dog called Ken that's probably the best character in the whole thing - Ken and Kuwano have a dog-mance which is utterly adorable. It's beautifully shot, laugh-out-loud funny and marvelously acted. I thoroughly enjoyed it and downloaded its cheery intro theme. If you're looking for something light and funny with no angst, this show is for you.

There's a sequel series - Mada Kekkon Dekinai Otoko, the man who still can't get married! - which is also pretty great, definitely worth watching if you liked the first one, and has (maybe!) a slightly more romantic end.

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Overall: enjoyed this a lot, will probably watch again

Liked:
The main romance. It felt natural and believable and funny and sweet. Both actors were adorable and excellent. So Ji Sub has this 'vulnerable' face he does that just... melted me. Shin Min Ah's dimples and 'determined' face were very appealing too. They didn't do the 'frozen kiss' thing, and had fairly realistic, nice love scenes; and they didn't do too much of the self-sacrificing thing, aside from his hospital trip, which was kind of weird but made at least some dramatic sense given that he'd always dealt with pain alone - and that wasn't dragged out for too long.
The buds. Loved the boys. Her best friend and the 'growing sprout' were nicely done too, and his relationship with his secretary/minder/whatever was quite touching.
The families - her mother was very cute, his father and grandma were believable (I didn't care much about the rest)
Her job. She had a good reason for becoming a lawyer and had worked hard and struggled for it, and was supporting vulnerable women.
Her 'health journey' - I found it believable and fairly inspirational (I ate a few cleaner lunches while watching it) and liked that it focused (mostly) on improving her health.
The make-up for both leads - she looked genuinely chubby and he looked genuinely as though he had been ill a lot.

Disliked:
Way too many flashbacks. So much use of the skip button. Worst thing about it.
The secondary romances. Ex-bf and ex-friend were really annoying and boring, and the girl who kept hitting on RFC Champ dude just felt like a stalker.
The music was overdone in a lot of scenes, but most especially with the flashbacks.
I have a personal beef with 'just eat it!' for foods that might make a person sick.

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