Monthly House (2021)

101 ways to ruin the ending.

After dropping it twice... (in just one episode). I decided to give it try just for sake of my never-ending dropping list. Now at this point, knowing how it ended maybe I should just stop caring for my dropped list.. and let me take it to eternity.

Of course... this kinda story is sooo predictable, cliche, having many skippable parts, and garnished with many second-hand embarrassments moments with cringe-worthy scenes. The rich male lead who's arrogant, rude and not knowing many ways of living meets a bit silly, hardworking and poor (this is very necessary) female lead they end up being boss-employee ...fell in love.. then there's character development, some seasoning of every possible trope that any drama can have. I didn't really like some supporting roles, as some were very cartoonish, were some unnecessary.

The problem is not being predictable or tropey, it fails hard in execution. Why make leads in their 30s if their actions are not even near to their age, yeah anyone can have a child in their heart but when behavior is childish... I really can't take it. Plus many times it becomes a real estate commercial, I appreciate seeing well-architectured houses but not in drama lol if I want to see them I can easily watch shows related to it (trust me I've seen many of them lol).

Actually, I liked some aspects of the female lead's character, the main pairing had some really cute moments together and some hilarious scenes that I enjoyed fully. There's nothing wrong with casting as everyone did a great job while portraying their roles. I'll appreciate the camera work too. To be honest, I didn't notice music much, maybe only one ost 'Story Of Us' by Jo Yuri.

It was okay drama till it reached the last stage then it messed up hard... So I'll call it drop-worthy watch the first 14 episodes.. then you can imagine this is the ending.

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Last Episode was a Bomb!

Until the very last few minutes of the final episode, I would have given this Kdrama a 9.5 rating. The ending, although not sad, was lack luster and NOT worthy of all the previous wonderful moments. So, so sad! Why, why, Writers, didn't you have a better, romantic, full-of-love, live-happily-ever-after ending for the two main characters? You gave all the other characters complete happy endings.......in fact, there was too much focus on the auxiliary cast vs the main characters............Again, so, so sad! P.S. The astroturf in front of the Monthly Magazine Home building was really sad....shame on the set designers.

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Myung Soo Hyun, babe, we need to talk about that ending you wrote up cause what the fuc-

There are some people in the comment section who interpret the ending as a happy ending. They're right if you think about it, no one died, the characters all became successful ( all owning real estate they wanted which was the primary theme and focus of the drama) and even the leads met again. But boy oh boy do I have a bone to pick with this "happy ending". This is essentially a rant and not a critique. I will not be eloquent with my words, the ending has left me too frustrated for that.

I feel the need to let anyone reading this know how I watched this show. There were two episodes each week and for eight weeks I tuned in first thing in the morning to watch them before doing anything else. This show was a part of my life and routine for 2 months. And I loved it. The show was your standard Kdrama with lots of warmth, love, romance, laughter and in this case lots of pretty houses and many heartfelt insights of home owners living in those varied, beautiful homes. I think I speak for all of us when I say the the numerous cliches used were a bit much sometimes. But a lot of experienced watchers like me who have been watching since before kdramas became more ' refined' and 'palatable' for western/netflix watchers, are very much used to the cheesiness and predictablity of the plot details. I could certainly do without the numerous breakups, misunderstandings, sacrificing love for you friend/ family and all the little chiches in between but I don't hate them. And I certainly won't fault a romcom for being cliched.

SO WHY IN THE FUCK DID THEY NOT TAKE THE CLICHED ROUTE IN THE END????? I can only guess that they wanted the FL to be 'successful' and 'independent' on her own and prove that she did not rely on the ML in anyway for achieveing her dreams. And I suppose they wanted to explain them not ending up together due to their father ( being compulsed I must remind) to run away from paying back the ML 10 years before the leads met. Which the ML understood and acknowledged might I add. Sure, he'll be " reminded of the incident everytime he looks at the FL" but that's how it's supposed to be???? It doesn't mean he'll hate her and treat her badly for her father's mistakes. You can't cut an entire person ( your significant other in this case) just because you don't want to think about it. The show put all this emphasis on " money can't buy happiness" and " House+Love= Home" but at the end completely ignored it at the end. It showed the leads being sad looking loners who live in their big empty houses by themselves with their piles of money and presented it as a 'makeshift happy ending'. It was giving me " See? They can be happy by themselves too!". It's honestly a bit distasteful. These characters were always showed to be hardworking social climbers who always wanted a better llfe for them and their loved ones. And they were shown to be putting a lot of importance on relationships and love for their emotinal fullfilment and happiness. Particularly the ML was shown looking kind of depressed even after three years.

The ending didn't match with the overall theme/vibe of the show at all and was utter bullshit.

If you're going to watch it, go ahead and do until episode 15. I'm sure if you like this genre you'll enjoy it. It was done well and at times REALLY well until the ending. Personally I would like my 16 hours back and a compensations for the emotions I wasted. Thanks.

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a cliche story but alright until the finale

I started monthly magazine home on a whim and i'll tell you i had no big regrets at first but didn't enjoy how the story progressed and definitely hated the last two episodes
As a big fan of Jung so min she was my reason for clicking on that first episode, MMH focuses on
the lives of people who work in a real estate magazine and it shows how they go about in a workplace,
I learned a bit about real-state and some life tips for saving money xd The side characters did come off annoying at first but i still managed to like all of them, ok now the bad part...
I was enjoying this drama somewhat id say even though there were some obvious clichés I could get past that but the final two episodes ruined the whole flow of things, from unnecessary breakup to the very unwanted separation plot in the final episode i literally skipped through the last episode, I was going to give the rest of the drama an 8 but then I barely watched the last episode and hated the ending so I don't think that's fair so 7.5 it is.

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Highly Recommended Drama

This drama #Monthly magazine home is not just for entertaining. This is not like the usual romantic comedy that deals with love and hate relationship coupled with comical scenes. This drama tells the reality of life. It's funny but true for one whose source of living is the meager income earn from just a mere employee. I have read a review about this drama which was so negative. The reviewer doesn't even consider the effect of this drama to the viewers. I think the reviewer is very fond of the romcom which is unrealistic, fictions and just for fun with her artistic imagination. She failed to consider the lessons that this drama will convey to the viewers. For us viewers, it's very important that we have some inspirations in order to attain our goal. This drama gives us inspiration that we can reverse poverty through proper money saving measures and the various saving tips.
I find this drama worth watching for, as it offers life's lessons especially to starters or to the young generation for us to know that there is really a need to start money saving at an early stage to avoid misfortunes in life.
The casts here did their role so well. Jung So-Min's acting is superb. You will really enjoy watching this drama as you will laugh and cry but with lessons to learn.

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SOOOO CUTE

10/16 eps watched :I love shows that are light and fluffy with a bit of reality to balance it out. Jung So Min seems to be really good at picking shows like that. I really enjoy the casting of MMH because the leads are great together. The cast overall seems to have amazing chemistry. I have been looking for light rom coms all year and finally a new show releases! There is a really nice balance of comedy,friendship, love,and reality. This is a show with less serious conflicts and its a nice watch.

The show will make you laugh, relate to the characters, and laughing some more. I totally reccomend if you are looking for a light rom com.

UPDATE: 14/16 eps watched :The show got better with each episode and turned out to be more meaningful than it first let on. If you are afraid of the comedy spark dying out mid show, that does not happen in this show. It is hilarious all the way through, even when our main leads are going through hardships. It continued being lighthearted I really enjoyed this show.

LAST UPDATE 16/16 eps watched. I am not a fan of the ending, but then I looked at the show in a different perspective. This show is not groundbreaking, new in anyway. I don't think it would be right to call this a romantic comedy, Comedy is at the forefront of this show more than anything else. This show is centered around friendships, work life balance, life lessons, and romance is sprinkled in there.

Personally did not like where the end of this show went but I enjoyed the watch nonetheless. It was funny, cute, and I often found myself loving the episodes so much I was surprised at how an hour could pass so quickly. The romance was not the main component of this show which was a bit disappointing . Honestly, after watching the whole show the two leads had horrible romantic chemistry. The comedic friendships and amazing dynamic of office workers made up for it for me. This show was an easy to watch about friends, life struggles, and it was not relatable for me but I'm sure someone out there can relate to it. At the end of changing my perspective this show has an overall 8/10 rating from me.

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Not the cliche I thought it would be.

This story. I mean, reading the plot story sounds interesting yet it's so cliche? Now there's nothing wrong with cliches, but this one just didn't do it for me.

STORY/MAIN LEADS
The story is about a Rich CEO as the male lead and a "poor" female lead wanting to buy a house for herself. As I think that's her goal in life at the moment. They first meet when Ja Sung is kicking out her house, terrible meeting right? Well wait till you find out they actually work together! As a Boss/Worker relationship.
Now obviously, this is a cliche so the ML and FL are bound to date at some point. What opinions do I have on their relationship? It's cute! But when I think about it, both characters really have no personality?

JA SUNG (Male Lead)
Now. Geez. Is he the worst ML with no personality or what?! In the beginning of the show he's just rude as hell. Which isn't anything to like off a character. Sure you could say when they start dating he has personality but I agree to disagree. He's cute as it's his first time dating but other than that. No personality for me.

YOUNG-WON (Female Lead)
Two words. To Nice. Just to nice! I sometimes dislike leads that are way to nice and have barely anything to them! Sure you could say she has moments where she isn't being pushed over but dang do I just not like her. There's nothing wrong with being nice but just nothing special!!

SUPPORT CHARACTERS
Oh my gosh I got so much beef with these support characters, they're so annoying! Sometimes they're nice and other times they're just assholes! The one with the mask is SOOO IRREVERENT. Just SO un needed even though she tries to get in some scenes the last couple of episodes. The girl that's a fan of Young Won ain't thatt bad but so un needed! The ONLY support character I can say "i'll let you slide" is Ui-joo! (Young won's friend) Only likable side character for me! Maybe a bit of Editor Nam? But that idiot LITERALLY talks about his girlfriend (cutie pie) for HALF the show! Literally.

SECONDARY COUPLE (Young Won's friend and Editor Nam)
I actually like them to be honest! I think it was kind of obvious though from the beginning? But still! There's some flaws with em but they're still good!

YOUNG WON AD JA SUNG EPISODE 12 (Spoiler Obviously like what??)
This ESPECIALLY needed an category. Episode 12 Ja-sung breaks up with Young Won because Gyeom get's into a car crash over drinking way to much. Now, what was the point of breaking up? Because of that?! It's not that deep though?? Yes he got into an accident but his love for her will end, it won't go on for years, maybe months but not years. Then this idiot Ja-sung is basically in a slump Episode 13 and thinks he can get Young Won back that quickly after letting her go for a dumb reason?? Their breakup was mad stupid, at least make the breakup make sense please.

MUSIC
This. This! Is the only reason why I'm at least giving it a 7.5. Or less it would've been a 7. The music is really good! I loved most of the sound tracks. This is only thing I'll be missing besides Jung So Min

REWATCH VALUE
Most characters annoyed the hell out of me most scenes so I probably ain't rewatching.

ACTORS
Not bad! Watched some behind the scenes on YT. I personally started liking Jung So Min after this and now started watch more of her projects. Kim Ji Suk did good for never seeing him as a main before! Gum Joo did good! I liked him in extra-ordinary you so him being here surprised me.

SUMMARY
Honestly. This is just a kind of normal cliche with two couples both developing their relationship step by step. I won't judge people giving it a 10 or 9 but I think it's over-hyped for me, and NO I don't hate cliches! I actually gave SIMTAF an 8.5, don't think I'm being biased :)

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Meh.

First, I will start by saying this drama is not good. It's pretty terrible honestly, but it was somehow still amusing enough for me to want to keep watching. This is a romance with an unconvincing love story. It's a good concept with a weak plot. What kept me watching? The characters and the promise of a funny love story kept me wanting to watch each new episode, and I really hoped that the romance would eventually get better. It doesn't. It's like they threw a bunch of my favorite ingredients into a pot but the final dish was at best... just edible.

The first issue I had is with the leads. I love Kim Ji Suk & Jung So Min individually. Both are in kdramas that I consider my all-time favorites, and both are a part of couples that are among my favorite kdrama couples of all time. The problem I have is that they just didn't seem to pair well with each other. Kim Ji Suk is comedic and ridiculous, which is what I loved about him in "Oh Hae Young Again", and Jung So Min is great when it comes to emotion, which is why I loved her in "The Smile has Left Your Eyes". The problem here is that "Monthly Magazine Home" is a pretty silly comedy, not a serious drama, and it really seemed like they were acting in 2 different kinds of dramas at times. I think Kim Ji Suk was well cast as Yoo Ja Sung because of his over-the-top personality, but I could not take him seriously in any of the more dramatic, romantic, or emotional moments. Jung So Min is great and relatable as determined Editor Na and does have some funny moments, but she just doesn’t match the complete silliness of the rest of the cast and spends too much of this drama looking upset, apologetic, and out of place. They did have some good banter in the early episodes, and I liked their initial awkward scenes together, and Ja Sung's random motivational moments, so I thought they would have better chemistry but their dynamic becomes more cringy than cute over time. Ja Sung's weird “in love” smile and Editor Na looking like a confused hostage in their most romantic moments was a huge disappointment. I liked their characters individually but not together. I wasn't even convinced they really liked each other.

The rest of the cast was amusing, but definitely playing more for laughs than depth. The feel was a little (ok a lot-tle lol) like “The Office”, finding humor in the dynamics between these quirky work characters, lead by an egotistical boss who never quite gets it. These are the pettiest coworkers on earth, and how they support and then quickly turn on each other is the main joke. That gets pretty repetitive, and sometimes annoying, but I did grow to like them enough that I still found it mostly funny. What didn't work as well for me were the more serious moments between these characters, which included some pretty bad acting moments, especially Chae Jung An. I adore "Coffee Prince" but her acting here is really not on everyone else's level. Meanwhile, Kim Won Hae is always funny in any drama he's in, including this one, and Ahn Chang Hwan was a comedy standout as well. Sometimes his antics went overboard, but he was consistently good in his role.

I also feel the need to shout out Jung Gun Joo as Shin Gyeom, the obligatory 2nd lead. He's everything you could want in a 2nd lead... cute, understanding, rich, dimples... but boring. It's not his fault, his acting is fine, but it's like they gave up on his character midway and just had him react to the two leads instead of having a strong character of his own. He's a metaphor for the rest of this drama, It's like they gave up on everything midway.

Would I watch this again? No. It was fine for one viewing, but the story just kept getting worse. By the last episode, I kept pausing out of frustration and the better scenes did not involve the leads. There weren’t enough good moments in this drama to make me want to sit through this ever again, although I did appreciate the episode that paid homage to “Parasite”. Plus the ending was a complete letdown and included one of THE MOST frustrating final episode tropes. They definitely tried to rush to tie loose ends, but the story still felt unfinished. I didn’t care enough to want it to continue. In fact, it took me longer to finish this drama because I forgot I was watching it.

The soundtrack is kinda cute. Also forgettable, but cute.

Overall, this is not a horrible drama but it’s definitely a skippable one. I liked hearing the realistic savings and real estate tips, and getting a tour of some amazing Korean homes, and I appreciated Na Young Won’s determination to own a home of her own, but as a romance this just isn’t up to par. I don’t even mind the date your boss cliché, but at least do the cliché justice. As an office comedy it’s decent, but not LOL funny. The theme about what makes a home and the frustrations that come with securing a home was a good concept, but these stories didn’t get me to invest emotionally into it. This was definitely a dish that looked good on the menu but was unimpressive once I took a bite. I wouldn’t order it again or recommend anyone else eat it, unless you’re just hungry for anything, then his may assuage your hunger in the meantime. I guess I should have use a "home" analogy... umm... This drama is a home in a nice neighborhood that seems perfect for you initially but once you move in you realize how in desperate need of repairs it is, but you will make the best out of it for now until you can find a better place to live and can finally move on.
I’m ready to move to a better drama home.

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The Best Drama in 2021

When the pressure is on, whatever its inside of you will come out.
MonthlyMagazineHome is a nice
drama. I laughed, I cried because its a real life's struggles and I learned valuable life's lessons like money saving tips, information about real estate, etc. I highly recommend this drama to the young generation for them to realize the importance of savings at an early stage of life and even to the oldies in preparation of their retirement period. JungSoMin's versatility here is amazing as she is portraying different kinds of emotions. Best acting should not be based on crying scenes only but also on other mixed emotions that are being expressed in the plot. This drama is so nice to be dubbed in our language for the viewers to know and realize life's lessons and not just to be entertained. I wish that our giant local tv network esp gma7 will get this drama since they have already been showing us korean dramas for quite a long time now.

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Supposed to be a feel good slice drama but I didn't feel that good.

Well, I wanted to write a review about this drama in particular because I had this strong urge to express my feelings somehow after the last episode.
Let me just begin with my view about the concept and overall genre of this drama.
This drama would actually belong to a slice of life type but has strongly tried to input a comical feeling to it, which I would like to really point out as I personally think they have failed in both. Well, the whole idea had a huge potential even when the drama doesn't actually make one expect high ratings and viewing but still, there was some kind of expectations I had as a viewer when I started this drama. Obviously, the drama has shown what a mediocre house buying scene is like and how ordinary people struggle in buying or renting their own houses. They showed us houses and peoples struggles related to owning a home but it went in such a random manner and didn't really show how would one succeed in the end. Of course, I wouldn't say they definitely had to show success but to me, that was the whole point about this show. Also, the ending doesn't actually give us answers to the questions the drama itself raised, I think it was a bit disappointing.
If I move on to talk about the plot, as I have said that this is supposedly a feel-good drama so when I began watching this I didn't expect it to have a grand story or anything. So as episodes went on I was able to enjoy the essence and the lessons that this show was trying to give out. The way the cold male protagonist thought about the house as something related to business and on the other hand, the female protagonist saw the house as something of emotional value and how they influence each other, all really appealed to me. though I would say many cliches happen throughout the drama both with the protagonists and side characters, I really didn't feel disheartened about it. But what really made me frustrated was the ending. Though at many points I was about to drop the drama, I hung on in the hopes of getting closure. But in the finale, they really refused to give me the solutions to the problems they themselves showed. It was like that one math question you got the wrong answer for even after writing 2 whole pages of steps. I don't know to call this an open ending because the ambiguity is just not about the ending but about the whole essence of the plot.
As I move on to talk about the cast, I would say the performance was okay, just okay. The lineup is really good actors, no offence, I love them all from different dramas. I loved Kim Ji Suk from When the Camellia Blooms and My Unfamiliar Family while Jung So Min has been one of my favourites since Playful Kiss. And even the side cast Ahn Chang Hwan who had played the really funny role of a foreigner from the fiery Priest, and obviously one shouldn't call themselves an avid Kdrama fan without knowing Kim Won Hae. But the thing that didn't sit well with me is how their characters had this comical feeling one moment and serious feeling the next. Of course, most dramas do put this switch and actors handle it well too but for this one, I felt the timing of the switch was off. There were though it was of many unexpected comedy moments which was totally unnecessary and over the top. But one thing I want to mention the most is Jung Gun Joo. I really loved his character though it was of a cliched second lead.
As of production, I loved it. the thing that I looked forward to in every episode was the exquisite houses they showed. The places and facts about them were given as bonus cookies but even that was a bit sloppy towards the end.
I started this show at a point where I had stopped watching any kind of Korean shows for some time. And also I watched it along with some other dramas. The thing was that it didn't stand out but at the same time, it wasn't bad enough for me to give up on it. The show was the feel-good type to one point, maybe like till the second last episode. But the unnecessary open ending and a really messed wrapping up of the plot didn't do it for me. So I would seriously not consider rewatching this one. But if you ask me whether I would recommend this? Yes and do it only when you have time to kill.

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Building a house brick by brick in Trope City

Monthly Magazine Home starts on solid foundation, veteran cast from top to bottom, then it devolves into meaningless drama tropes. Either for laughs or for plot progression, tropes from love triangles to noble idiocy rear their ugly head. The fatal flaw with tropes is that it sacrifices uniqueness, and this is doubly applicable for MMH’s focus on strong individual characters. Overusing tropes hinders MMH’s ability to demonstrate meaningful growth in its characters.

Story:
Monthly Magazine Home is another character driven romcom that explores characters and their reactions instead of plots and devices of yesteryears. It is unfortunate that the character designs are painfully paper thin in MMH. Yoo Ja Sung is a rags-to-riches self-made man with a singular focus on financial success. The third leg of the love triangle is a well-mannered son from generational wealth. The entire cast of characters can be explained in simple one-liners, and their motivations, what makes them tick, are not expanded through the drama.

For example, YJS has the emotional intelligence of a small child. Next scene, he is the most thoughtful man of every woman's dream. Character behaviors are erratic and often played for laughs. Or even worse, queue noble idiocy. Monthly Magazine Home squanders the potential to empathetically examine modern millennial struggles for stereotypical romance-comedy.

Acting:
The cast immediately draws eyes to Monthly Magazine Home. The two main leads each have over a decade of experience. Kim Ji Suk’s performance in When the Camellia Blooms is exceptional, and he does not miss a beat in the more comical character in MMH. Jung So Min has been a romcom staple since Playfull Kiss in 2010. Highlights from the supporting cast are Kim Won Hae, who never fails to draw a laugh, and Coffee Prince star, Cha Jung An. With well over a hundred years of experience between the core cast, the actors make this broken drama.

Music:
The OST for Monthly Magazine Home pairs several kpop artists with staple OST composers. The music maintains the light-hearted atmosphere of MMH with familiar sounds. Jo Yu-ri’s song may be of interest to IZ*ONE fans after the recent disbandment of the reality competition group.

Rewatch Value:
Monthly Magazine Home may be an example of the weakness of pre-produced Korean dramas, which have become popular, especially with the rise of streaming services. The direction is set from the beginning without regular audience feedback. Perhaps it is pride. Expecting a veteran cast and crew to create success. Regardless, I will remember MMH as a what-could-have-been drama of 2021.

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Story dropped really bad

It was an amazing drama story and plot were good, however at the end the story dropped and it followed a weird lineup like break up time skip met again she's rich and just smile and talk, not getting back together or marriage it was a really but really bad ending. like c'mon they've could've done much better a better ending, not some weak ass ending like this I do recommend but you'll be disasaponted with the ending

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