Love Mate (2023)

Sweet boy love office romance

I really enjoyed this twosome. I loved their chemistry and the support and care shown by the junior office worker for the team leader, especially at the end. I just wish it were longer, but that's the problem with most underfunded Korean BL drams like this one. I don't fault the series for not having more time to pursue their relationship in more depth. It's a little overly dramatic at times, but not so much that it got in the way of me enjoying their cutesy "date mate" relationship.

I loved the photobox scene where they start far apart but are quickly side by side. Plus, the photoshoot and fainting scene were pretty cute too. I liked the scared penguin and relentless polar bear analogy, where normally, those two animals would never meet, one being in the Arctic and the other being in Antarctica.

I just found this series to be an enjoyable, if not at times mindless, couple of hours well spent.

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aggressive pursuer/reluctant pursuee

Overall: although the writers tried to make the aggressive pursuer/reluctant pursuee a comedy, it did not work for me.. Aired 2 episodes per week on GagaOOLala and Viki. Same production company as Our Dating Sim and My Sweet Dear (you can see a poster of the series in the office).

Content Warnings: harassment, non con picture taking, kick, non con touching, punch, manhandling

What I Liked
- laughed a few times ("my love for you isn't unconditional, I care about your looks" great line/writing!)
- there are tropes but they are done well
- sweet moments
- the last restaurant scene in episode 8
- some good kissing/actual mouth movement
- turning bedroom lights on and off at appropriate times
- Lee Jun was able to separate his work life from his personal feelings
- Lee Jun did end up having some agency instead of just an object others fight over

Room For Improvement
- dislike this type of dynamic where someone won't take no for an answer, the harassment lasted way too long and was too much
- this couple's relationship is doomed, where is the trust, where is the communication, where is the respect?
- never any explanation for why Ha Ram was so aggressive/smitten
- a scene was during the day and then suddenly it was night time
- the ignoring thing was stupid
- what Ha Ram told to their coworker in episode 7 without first consulting Lee Jun
- I don't mind people who are just looking for the short term but that should be clearly stated before going on a date (that guy needs a spin off series)
- voiceovers

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A Refreshing Dive into Love's Many Layers

If you're looking for a warm and charming journey into the world of love, look no further than "Love Mate," a delightful 2023 South Korean romantic comedy drama. At its core, "Love Mate" is a life-affirming testament to love, showing how empathy and care can overpower fear and insecurity, and that opening oneself up to love can be a transformative experience.

The story revolves around the relationship between Seo Lee Joon, the inflexible team leader at So What Media, and Jeong Ha Ram, the company's newest, straightforward employee. Cho Hyun Min as Seo Lee Joon brilliantly captures the layers of his character - the stern exterior that hides a vulnerable heart. On the other hand, Cho Han Gyul as Ha Ram is a breath of fresh air, infusing his role with honesty and a passionate belief in love.

Lee Joon, with his self-imposed emotional barriers, initially struggles to comprehend Ha Ram's open-heartedness about love. In contrast, Ha Ram, ever the intrepid pursuer of love, is undeterred by Lee Joon's skepticism and focuses on cracking through his tough exterior. This push-pull dynamic sets up a fascinating and realistic exploration of their contrasting characters and perspectives on love.

But "Love Mate" isn't all about verbal exchanges. What sets it apart is how beautifully it employs non-verbal cues to let its characters express their feelings. The actors' emotive eyes and subtle gestures often speak louder than words, making the unfolding romance even more poignant.

The series is packed with endearing moments that will make you giggle and sigh. One particularly memorable scene is when Ha Ram teasingly calls out Lee Joon as a "relationship virgin," reflecting the camaraderie and affection between the two leads. It's also heartwarming to witness Lee Joon's transformation from a skeptic to someone who plans a romantic love proposal for a TV show, thereby discovering and embracing love's many possibilities.

Directed by So Joon Moon, "Love Mate" is a beautiful tapestry of emotions that weaves love, struggle, transformation, and humor with great finesse. It is a tender portrayal of two individuals learning about each other, letting go of the past, and embracing the potential for love, which makes it a must-watch for any romantic comedy fan.

In a nutshell, "Love Mate" is a heartwarming journey filled with laughs, tears, and life lessons that leaves you with a positive, love-affirming message and a grin that lasts long after the credits roll.

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Near perfect in its simplicity

After reading some of the reviews, I think the whole issue of "not taking no for an answer" doesn't apply as much within a typical BL context. People have become overly sensitive to the idea of workplace sexual harassment. That's not what this is.

One of the common tropes that this BL follows is for a cute guy, in this case, Jeong Ha Ram, to unabashedly pursue an emotionally shut-offed love interest, Seo Lee Joon, not letting their insecurities stop him from slowly but surely helping the other to overcome their insecurities. I didn't really get the impression Jeong overstepped his bounds with Seo. He understood how Seo had cut himself off from the world from the onset. Someone had to pierce Seo's bubble. Seo was going on three years of continuously having one-off meetups with guys, never once giving them a chance, as illustrated from the very opening scene.

Jeong mainly pursued Seo by teasing him and giving him small gifts, which is very typical in the BL genre. Also, the BL followed the standard arc of Jeong confessing to Seo, Seo reluctantly agreeing, then the inevitable third act break up, where Seo lets insecurities get the best of him, and Jeong gently reassuring, rather than pressuring, letting Seo come to the conclusion they are meant to be together and that he no longer needs to let his fears get the best of him. How can you not say that's a positive, love-affirming message?

I think too often on MyDramaList, people judge these BLs without taking into account how Korean and other Pacific Asian societal norms differ from Western ones, repeatedly applying misplaced Western "woke" values. Unless the BL conforms precisely to their expectations of the standard boy-girl love norms, these BLs are inevitably dinged, often unfairly, for violating Western sensibilities. Part of the charm of BLs is that they skip past a lot of the ho-humming you see in your typical straight K-drama romance, where the leads spend forever dancing around their mutual attraction.

In the case of Love Mate, in the short time it has, it follows a delightful romance between Seo and Jeong and their journey, keeping their bonding sweet and simple without getting lost in unnecessary plot elements. The two have remarkable, unforced chemistry where the lead actors use non-verbal expressions and body language to convey their feelings.

I give this BL a slightly higher score than it might deserve in response to all the unfair negative reviews. Honestly, if you let them dissuade you from enjoying this cute romance simply based on the misplaced argument that it is nonstop sexual harassment, which it isn't, you'll miss out on enjoyable two hours.

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Not a fan of the “I’m not taking no for an answer” plot

I’ve seen some clips from the series, found them adorable, and decided to give it a try. I do feel like 20min and under episodes are a bit too short to really gives us enough background information or to really develop the story. It does seem pretty choppy at times, making it a tad difficult to really get a feeling on how the relationship between Jeong Ha Ram and Lee Jun is. I do think their interactions are sweet once they get together, but I am not really a fan of the whole “I’m not taking no for an answer” plot. It’s not cute, it’s actually quite scary. Which is why I have mixed feelings about the whole drama.

I might sound like a hypocrite, having watched quite a few series with toxic characters, but I think that is easier to swallow when you expect it. I wasn’t expecting that from this series, I really expected something sweet and adorable, but I got more than that. In a not exactly positive way.

All in all, it wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t great either. It was average and, sadly, not very really memorable.

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Workplace harassment is not cute. Do not let the fluffiness fool you.

It's difficult to rate this one. If you look at it from far away, the show is pretty cute. But if you look at it from close up, there's a pretty problematic message there.

I understand the appeal: Lee Jun has been hurt by love in the past and thusly, completely closed himself off to feeling any romantic emotions. Ha Ram, the new employee at the company, falls in love with him at first sight, and is eager to change Lee Jun's mind about love. It sounds sweet when you put it that way, and they definitely pushed a sweet narrative with plenty of cute moments. The issue however is, that sexual harassment in the workplace is not cute. Ha Ram is pretty aggressive in his pursuit of getting Lee Jun to fall for him, even if Lee Jun turns him down plenty of times, and tells him to stop his behaviour. If this happened in real life, it wouldn't be cute or swoon-worthy at all, and it wouldn't be comedic either, like the show often portrayed it to be. It would be an absolutely horrible situation to be in, and action would need to be taken. But because this is a BL, the show just looks right past that and romanticises the harassment. We've seen this happen in so many BLs before, and it's about time that we stop just accepting this as something that is cute or normal. It's disgusting behaviour, and even trying to hide it in-between adorable scenes, cute boys and comedy does not make it okay.

The story could've been a heartfelt tale of regaining hope if they had handled it differently. Had Ha Ram and Lee Jun started off as friends, and then gradually fallen in love simultaneously, this could've been extremely adorable. They had all the ingredients to make this into something really great: The acting was really solid, the two main leads had plenty of chemistry, the side-characters were likeable (aside from the villainous ex, of course), and they know how to create comedic as well as cute moments. Everything was there, they just needed to create a story surrounding it that doesn't push a toxic narrative. Because the message of this show ends up being "Just harass your co-worker for long enough, and they will eventually fall for you as well!" which is obviously extremely messed up.

There's something I really did like about the show though. Right now, there's a boom of office romances. They're kinda replacing campus BLs at the moment. I don't really take issue with office romances if there isn't an inappropriate power dynamic at play. But what I do generally dislike about office romances is that the characters still feel like college (or even high school) students most of the time. It's like they had all these ideas for campus BLs, but people got tired of those, so they just put the characters they had come up with into an office setting, without altering the characters to behave like actual adults. With Love Mate, I was positively surprised about how the characters actually felt like adults, especially Lee Jun. He was hardened by life, behaved maturely, and kissing as well as sex weren't played up to be a huge deal. I really enjoyed that, and I hope we'll see more office romances that take into this direction. Hopefully with less problematic messages though.

The best thing about the show was Lee Jun's female co-worker. I have a massive crush on her. She's so kind, pretty, and cute. This has nothing to do with my review of the show, but I just needed to get that out of my system.

I cannot in good faith rate this any higher than a 2 since it promotes such a problematic message. I do want to give credit to the acting, the chemistry and the comedy though. With a less problematic execution, this could've easily been a 7 or 8.
Would I recommend this to people? Given the toxic message, not really. But I do know that many viewers look past problematic behaviour in BLs, just to enjoy the sweetness of two cute guys falling in love. So if you're one of those people, you're probably gonna like this. If you want BLs to stop romanticising toxicity, then maybe don't support this show in any way. If you want a cute office romance that is way less problematic, watch Our Dating Sim. Both shows were produced by the same studio, so they have very similar vibes.

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Lacks Substance. Harassing & Pushing = Love (apparently).

In reality it would be ick, as a fantasy I gave it a chance but it's lacking in many ways. The characters and story are poorly written and failed to engage me emotionally.

There are eight 20min episodes. The first 3.5 episodes are all physical/sexual harassment (that's weirdly encouraged by coworkers and manager), stalker-ish obsessive behavior, and ignoring what the other character says.

As a fantasy, the frequent close physical proximity does build tension and the lead actors seem comfortable with each other and have good chemistry. The intimate scene is surprisingly realistic, especially for a Korean BL. And sadly, that's the best thing I can say about this whole series.

There's not much to the story and the script is dull and full of clichés. Things became a little less shallow and more emotionally interesting in Ep 7-8 with the introduction of a certain character, but that was too little and too late for me. I couldn't really care at that point because the story had failed to get me invested in the characters.

Character words and actions contradict each other. Ex: "Your feelings aren't insignificant. They're very special." BUT, I'm going to ignore everything you say, especially every time you say you don't want something, and keep making you uncomfortable (even after they get together).

The actors did okay with what they were given, but no one was truly compelling.

Cinematography and music were generic (but didn't distract either).

I can't recommend this when there are many Korean BLs that are much better written. Love Class 2 is a great option if you're looking for realistic intimate scenes (the 2nd and 3rd couple have them). At the same time, there's more emotional depth and sweetness, naturalistic dialogue, and engaging stories. FYI Love Class 2 is a stand alone, not a sequal, so you don't have to watch the first series (which is good but not as good).

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The Scared and The Stallkey...

This is a not so cautionary tale, not really warning people to not tie other peoples shoe laces or else they may, just may end up getting more or less stalked by a polar bear. The polar bear is of course the sweetest guy ever, kind, loving, caring... And has luscious lips ,dripping of gloss and with the sweet, sweet taste of soju...

The story seams to be there to tell us that the way to heal a broken heart is by constantly attacking it with fluff, persistency, and following the person both online and IRL... some would call that borderline stalking but in this drama they make sure to show us that this is indeed necessary when love at first knot meets fright at first stare.

Our lipgloss polar bear male lead is very lovable, sweet, romantic, kind, funny, helpful, patient... sometimes the guy is even respectful towards others boundaries (rare but it does happen).

Our scared male lead is also pretty decent, he does seem to have some issues and may need to seek help with his need to control everything around him. He does not come off as bubbley and lovable as mr. lipgloss but there is something about him that I do find myself appreciating. I just can not really put my finger on it.

The pacing in this is pretty odd... and it could have used a few more episodes in the middle to really work with the story.

The chemistry between the leads is decent, the gazes, kisses etc. range from dead fish to somekind flambéed fish.

The acting ranges between bad, really bad, ok and could be better, especially with the side characters.

There are not a lot of conflicts in this, the overall feel to it is fluff and stalking a guy out of his shell.... So the few added twists and spice don't really add much to the story but do not take away much either. So its really an easy binge for those moments you just need fluff (as long as you do not dig in to the whole boundaries issue ).

P.S. There are a lot of shots by a pool and those are just gorgeous, I do not really know their purpose but I love em and would like to encourage more dramas to incorporate pool side shots.

Also: There are those who actually do not seek couple/romantic love without beeing scared of it.

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Cutesy w/ a Slice of Angst

Another cute K-BL that was able to fill my void of boredom before I begin school again. Classic office romance, perfect bubbly seme and stern uke trope (even though that stereotype isn't as visible with these two), and super soft domestic shit. Love Mate has all the right components and then some.

Let's Dive In.

I think what I liked most about this series is that it stepped out of the realms of a traditional Korean drama while also being exactly that. It gives a sort of Thailand-esce with its humorous background music and overall tropes that I would compare to Thailand and only Thailand. However, it's still that classic Korean feel, with the photo booth, the ramyeon joke, and the busy bus scenes.

They had me eating their lovey-dovey shit out of the palm of my hands. I fell for it each time. The bus, the date, the office, the house -- anywhere they were, I was also their giving out heart fingers. They had great chemistry, the actors took their characters and meshed them well together.

I few hiccups here and there, I didn't like how wishy-washy Jun was, and Haram was a bit too excessive in pursuing Jun, but all in all, I think this series was really cute. It could've been a bit more fleshed out had they had a longer run time, but overall, I enjoyed it, I had fun with it, and it made me giggle in yearn and because it was decently funny (Also, some really good kissing which is always a bonus with Korea).

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - It's a classic office story! Cute, a little angsty at the end, and then it's happily ever after. I think with the run time they had, everything ran really smoothly. I wasn't a huge fan of the "Ex-returning" trope, felt a bit rushedly added in like they needed a reason for Jun and Haram to have beef. Otherwise, I would've liked it had the ex always worked at the office or maybe was the boss' younger brother, something that's more of a wow factor.

Acting: 8.5/10 - Good! Both the actors did well in understanding their characters and played off of each other well. Not the best acting that I've ever seen, but they sold me on being in love, and isn't that really what matters at the end of the day?

Music: 6/10 - Didn't distract me so it was good!

Recommendation Value: 7.5/10 - Super cute! it's a fast watch so it can be done within a few hours, and most of it is them being super adorable and in love and I love watching love.

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The Good Things Came too Late...

That's my feeling about "Love Mate".
Why the heading? The drama had to step into the 'character growth' aspect much earlier. The first few episodes was just plain cute stuff to satisfy viewers and it did not help that both the leads were exactly that. Cute and fluffy.

Lee Jun is an uptight Team Leader and planner. His disdainful view on dating and love is reflected in his proposal for a game depicting why single life is the best. However, his idea is thwarted and scoffed upon by a rookie, Ha Ram, who makes it his personal goal to irritate him. {I personally liked how Ha Ram questioned Lee Jun. He sort of deserved that as his proposal seemed to make people who are couples seem weak.}

They agree to a strange option: try dating each other to see if Lee Jun's mind changes.

I liked Lee Jun's character a lot. He is the first person, both in books and TV, who openly expressed his "exact" emotions to the people involved. No mincing of words, no false hopes. Ha Ram was more easy going and childish as compared to Lee Jun. But, all the serious moments in 'Love Mate' came a bit too late, or rather, they were stuffed into the final two episodes.

Other than that, this is an okay watch. Not the best, but I really needed something short to complete my 52 Week Watch Challenge, to be honest.

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it could have been better...a lot better!

I liked the story or the intended story however I don't feel like it ever really manifested into a cohesive story that was believable and convincing. I liked the character Ham a lot, but Jun did not come off to me as believable. Jun also changed without any reason or drama to make it seem like an event. I believe that was mostly due to bad script writing. In a few words it could have been better...a lot better! Also, This is a short that wasn't short enough and wasn't long enough. Secondary characters were not particularly important or scripted well in my opinion.

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