Easily becoming my favorite contemporary Chinese drama, "Falling Into You" does the Noona-romance trope right. Coming on the heels of "Why Women Love", Gina Jin again plays as the "older" woman being courted by a much younger man, it's no wonder that she has this role down pat. It's my first time watching Wang An Yu and he's pretty convincing as a love-sick puppy who's chasing around his master/mentor. Bonus points that he also acts the part of an all-around "jack-of-all-sports" who has to overcome the prejudices of being short-statured to compete in an event that usually favors taller profiles.

This drama maybe about the romance between an unlikely couple, but it focuses on the hard work and determination of athletes to turn their dreams into reality despite obstacles. I also liked the fact that they included a secondary pairing that's based more in realism, where Jiang Tian and Yu Xia gave up their dreams of competing nationally to open a noodle shop.

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This show definitely exceeded the hype surrounding it, what's not to love?!? Park Eun Bin is damn amazing as the autistic attorney who was struggling to fit in a cut-throat industry where everyone sees her diagnosis as a hindrance, rather than as a gift. Young Woo's tenacity to be self-sufficient was partly thanks to her father who has devoted his life encouraging Young Woo to be the person she wants to be. Kang Tae Oh delivers as Lee Joon Ho, the kind litigator who does not hold any prejudices (unlike most people in their society) and sometimes find Young Woo's quirks endearing. I love the camaraderie among the legal crew although some of them may have ulterior motives in befriending Young Woo, but in the end, they put aside their selfish wants to become better people. The drama is nail-biting to watch as Young Woo unravels case after case with the help of her colleagues, and it was fascinating to see how Young Woo matures and overcomes her social disability to reach her full potential.

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I love my fair share of Noona romances, but this somehow didn't work for me, and it's not because of the step-siblings factor (that didn't bother me at all), but I felt the drama so uneventful that it lulled me to sleep half of the time. Fast forwarded most scenes with the second and third pairings, they were too dull for my taste. Only watched this for the main couple until I realized later that this was a remake of "Something in the Rain" after the iconic "hand under the table" scene.

Sure it didn't have the annoyingly repetitive soundtrack of the Korean version, but it also didn't have the same nostalgia as the original. The Korean version at least tried to get a pluvious motif running, although sluggishly executed. I couldn't connect to the characters that are mostly one-dimensional, and there's not enough meat in the story for me to rate this higher. It seemed to me that the insertion of many plot arcs are just fillers, with no real contribution to the drama except for hitting the 30 episode quota they set for themselves.

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A gender-bender drama about a woman disguising herself as an eunuch to escape unfortunate circumstances. The pure luck that she had escaping detection was a bit of a fantasy in itself but the suspension of disbelief in watching this drama wasn't too farfetched. Park Bo Gum was great as the stoic, playful and yet righteous king who wants to rule his kingdom in a more democratic way, quite different from the dirty traditional politics that was enveloping his nation. I was rooting for their love and as well as for their fight for truth and freedom in the midst of turmoil.

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This drama is such a fresh take on villain protagonists. Song Joong Ki is perfect as the badass consigliere who takes justice in his own hands. Vincenzo has one rule: do not punish the innocent. Contrary to this rule are the corporate vile monsters who won't stop at nothing (even stoop to murder) to reach their goals. The acting is phenomenal, especially by Taec Yeon as the psychotic genius behind Babel. Not many Korean crime dramas infuse it with dark humor, although yes, sometimes it can be over-the-top and cringey. The funny scenes, I believe, try to give some humanity in a drama that showcases evil, nefarious deeds.

The juxtaposition of comedy and cruelty works well in this case, the comedic relief mostly provided Vincenzo's oddball crew, namely the tenants of Geungnam Plaza, who have different quirks that may look ridiculous in most instances but their heart in protecting their building and their earnestness in helping other victims of corporate greed are endearing.

There's not much to be said about Vincenzo in the romance department though, as Song Joong Ki seemed to have more chemistry and more skinship moments with the other male actors than with Jeon Yeo Been. Even Inagzhi the pigeon has more chemistry with Joong Ki so if you are looking for romance, this isn't the right show for you, But if you want to see hotness in the form of a Mafia kickass-master flicking a lighter in every episode, then this is a must-see if you try to overlook some loopholes.

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This is really a refreshing drama despite its youth theme, normally they are so cringey to view for older viewers like me, but it goes deeper than highshool romance. Not a fan of slice-of-life, I am impressed at how the show treated family relationships, childhood friendships and teenage drama. The social teen group are comprised of characters that are multi-dimensional, with their own flaws, but their tenacity to wade through their problems are endearing. They came across as being more mature than even some of the adults in the drama. Despite only in her mid-teens when filming, Ancy Deng's performance is on point. The decision to cast her in spite of her age is a wise one: because teens should be played by teens, and not by older actors who may not necessarily have that youthful naivete. I read reviews that many were disappointed there wasn't a kiss scene in a romance drama (due to Deng's minor status, and her age gap with the ML), but it should not detract from the story.

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Story and characters are adorable. Cinematography and music timing is also pretty impeccable. The sizzling chemistry between Kim Soo Hyun & Jun Ji Hyun propels the drama into another dimension, and arguably, there are no other actor/actress that could play these lead roles so well as they brought the quirkiness of the characters to life. Some loopholes/questions remain unsolved though. It seems like a hodgepodge of secondary characters and events skimming the surface with not enough backstory, thrown in for convenience sake. Not as airtight or compact as it could be and a little drawn out at the end. This is more of a drama that tugs at the heartstrings rather than cater to logical reasoning (even on the non-fantastical elements).

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For the reasons that many picked this up because of "It Started With a Kiss" vibes, I dropped it because it gave me ITSWAK vibes. I seriously dislike people (not just females) who don't have the dignity and follow a guy around just because you saw him for like five seconds and devote five years of your life chasing that demon, ahem, I mean, dream. What if the guy's married? What if the guy's a junkie? And I hate the disparity of dumb, clingy female chasing, a good-looking, smart guy who thinks he's all that so it's okay for him to be arrogant. Being a pathetic loser ain't cute. Putting down someone isn't hot. This is clearly an incurable case of toxic behavior.

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I dropped this drama after watching a few episodes because the pace is soooooo freaking slow and characters so one-dimensional. The acting is also stiff. I also checked the kissing scenes and blah they're like mosquito bites. ...if it's romance, I'm expecting the kisses to be good or at the very least, decent. I don't expect any good kissing scenes like from Healer or any dramas that focus on thriller or political themes....but if a drama is touting itself to be a romance, decent kisses are a must. Save yourself the misery or take the risk. I feel this drama is overhyped and its popularity questionable. If the only reason why this drama got a high rating and became popular is because it is a social commentary on the standards of beauty and the plastic surgery industry and trying to give a message that girls need self esteem ...that beauty is in the inside....yada yada yada..... then I don't need to watch a Boring drama just to know that.

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Dropped after 3 episodes. I could not stand the manipulative FL who chases around a guy, like the entitled spoiled brat that she is. I get it that it that she's assertive because that's how successful CEOs should be, but this is not an excuse for someone to continually harass another, especially if that said object of affection has explicitly said he’s not interested. And when she doesn’t get her way, turns around and does exactly what she was asked not to do, and exposes the debt owed to her to the ML’s family, dangling it overhead like a carrot. If that’s not a veiled threat, then I don’t what that is.

Then am I supposed to suddenly believe that, because he finds out that he has known her as a child, that the ML changes his mind suddenly and agrees to said marriage proposal, after lecturing the FL about said morals and principles about not exchanging love for money? I think there’s a word for that…hy…hypo…crite…
Or as his mother said, prostitution.

I also have had enough of those remarks in the first few episodes about how girls needing to get married and have a child to be really considered as a full-fledged woman. Not even Gong Jun's pretty handsome face will convince me to sit through a drama that spouts such outdated sexist ideologies. Plus, I heard later things that happened in the show that did not make a good case for me to continue this without me bursting a blood vessel.

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