Started with a bang, ended with a fizzle, as they say...

It's 25 episodes long, but so much happened in the first few episodes. It started really well but seemed like they were blowing through the plot too fast. Everything in the plot summary seemed to happen in the first 5 or so episodes, and the series kind of fell apart.
~SPOILERS~
The whole taste exchange thing didn't make much sense because they never really investigated or explained it. Maybe I wasn't paying much attention to it, but I didn't understand why it was his taste. Was it just because he was her first kiss? Because he had perfect taste? Not sure. I chalked it up to "drama logic" and ignored it.
The murder plot was just too random and boring for me to care much about it. I knew the "villain" the first time he met the FL because he was acting too suspicious. No wonder he got caught. The last five episodes were murder-plot-heavy and just bogged down the whole series.

The reason I gave this such a high rating was because of the acting and the romance part of the drama. The acting was nice and the leads had enough chemistry to make an unbelievable plot slightly more believable.

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What's in your box?

Move to Heaven is a masterpiece, which I don't really say too often. I watched a lot of dramas before, and I've never seen something quite like this one. It explores complex relationship dynamics, mental health, and death on a deeper, more heartwarming level than most dramas today. I loved every bit of it. From the script to the pacing, everything had a realness from start to finish. While some episodes were more heart-wrenching than others, I found myself still tearing up during every episode. I was at episode 9 before I realized it was only 10 episodes long. It's so good.
It really makes you look around and wonder what they'd put in your box after you're gone.

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JJ's happy, I guess

I try to avoid spoilers when reviewing, but not this time so watch out. Also, I put off watching S2 because the ending was spoiled for me, but I finally got around to it.

Problems with S2:
-Everything felt rushed and fast-paced in places because it was only 6 episodes. I would have liked to see more, but I don't want to go through another season of JJ being confused by her own feelings again. It gets old.
-SO gets treated like HY in S1: you barely see him, and when you do, he's upset because JJ is in a relationship
-JJ's communication issues are worse now. HY is now her boyfriend, but she doesn't tell him about the shield. She just lets him think he's in a one-sided relationship, and it's really sad to watch. Whenever he rings her alarm, I just feel bad for him.
-The afterthought that is Brian Cheon and the whole Ringing World subplot. I didn't care for it. Focus on the romance or focus on the moral implications of Love Alarm. You can't develop both in just 6 episodes.
-Spear: Why tf couldn't he just take off the shield? I know the spear represents her autonomy/her ability to chose the ONE she loves instead of having technology tell her EVERYONE she loves/could love, but still. I guess a plot device will always just be a plot device.

About the endgame relationship:
Rewatching the first season before starting this, knowing she'll end up with HY, really changed my perception of S1 and her relationship with SO. It was so toxic, the only reason I rooted for them was because Song Kang is so damn handsome and such a great actor. He's selfish and stalkerish throughout the whole season and he has no respect for his best friend's feelings. It's horrible. It's good that they broke up because S2 shows that they're better for it.
JJ and HY's relationship: It's still a little messed up, and kinda toxic on her part, but it's a more mature, slow burn that gets better as they go along. I loved the photo scene in the beginning. Their relationship just feels more secure and lasting than anything she had with SO.

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The best drama of the year

MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD

Let me start by saying that I usually hate time travel dramas. They're tropey and tend to follow the same plot. The characters tend to spend too much time freaking out over the culture shock, etc. I also actively avoid shows that are currently airing. I have no patience, and I prefer binge-watching. This drama changed my perspective. While I initially started watching because of the Reply series vibes and Ryeoun's performance in Adult Trainee, I was quickly won over by the cast's chemistry, amazing acting, and the refreshing take on the recently overdone time travel trope.

This has to have one of the best cast chemistry of all time. They felt like childhood friends. The cast's acting was amazing, especially Choi Hyun Wook and Shin Eun Soo's performance. Yi Chan and Cheong Ah were my favorite characters and my favorite couple. Yi Chan as a character was so charismatic you couldn't help but fall for him. His bromance with Eun Gyeol was so funny and endearing. His romance with Cheong Ah was so sweet. You have to watch the drama just for their scenes. Shin Eun Soo shines in this drama with her ability to convey such emotions through sign language and expressions alone. Cheong Ah goes through a lot of highs and lows in this drama, and she becomes her own hero. The writers tug at your heartstrings throughout.

This drama had me emotionally spent by the end. I cried at least once per episode. The writing, acting, and OST worked together to just rip me apart. That ending was beautiful. The return to 2023 was a little jarring. Suddenly everyone was famous and rich. It was too different for me, but that all ended when the parents' friends showed up. Intersplicing the younger versions of the characters with the older ones brought back the wholesome and sweet vibe of the show.

I did like the changes made to Yi Chan's future. He still had his friends by his side and they all learned sign language for him and his wife. I appreciated that he still became deaf, despite Eun Gyeol's efforts, because it wasn't something that needed correcting. Eun Gyeol's impact was ensuring Yi Chan didn't abandon his friends and dreams.

I feel like I could spend hours listing all the things I love about this drama. It was such a sweet story and I'm definitely rewatching it whenever I feel nostalgic for a simpler time. It's one of my favorite dramas of all time.

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SVT was treated so poorly

Gosh, where to start? MBC sucks for this one. They used Seventeen's rookie status to bully them for entertainment. Some of the challenges were really degrading, and the whole thing with them taking away their food, because they didn't earn it through suffering (or whatever their standards were), was hard to watch. Most of their interactions with the staff were kind of awkward.
Seventeen, though, rose up to the challenge. They did better than anyone on that production team thought, and really stayed together as a strong team. They even handled their mistreatment with a grace that I don't posess. This show would never happen today with Seventeen being so successful. Carats would have a fit.
I'd only rewatch this to see baby Seventeen have fun together, trying to ignore all the BS they put them through.

End of rant.

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Still Waiting for Answers, Immortally Disappointed with the Writers

I never watch dramas as they air because I'm just so impatient, but this drama had so much potential. I waited until episode 13 or so came out before I started watching, and that's one of the only reasons I finished it. The writing just went downhill as the series progressed.

The story started so strong and witty. It was so enjoyable and refreshing to watch just a silly supernatural rom-com with all the funny cliches. The leads had perfect chemistry and all the vampire sidekicks were hilarious. I enjoyed the vampire guest house plotline too, but then the villains came into the story and sucked the fun right out of the drama. They were all bratty, spoiled, and the only one with a reasonable motivation, i.e. his potential death, still turned out stale. The villains were too cartoonish and just poorly written, I skipped over their monotonous dialogue that just got too repetitive.

Everything was rushed at the end. Vampire villain is suddenly powerless to a human's surprise attack. Rich girl gives up and runs to the U.S. ML decides to sacrifice himself to save the dying SML. Suddenly, FL is in fact the reincarnated first love. They spent so much time talking in circles in the middle episodes that they could have been setting something up for a plot twist finale or *anything* to happen. If they would have somehow resolved the turning human thing, even if it was in the most cliched way, I would have been so much happier. I'm just so disappointed because they could've done so much better. I would have loved a happy ending for them, but the writers opted for an ambiguous one. I guess they're hopeful for a second season (like I've been seeing many K-dramas do lately).

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Well acted

I wasn't expecting this to be as dark as it was. The only thing I knew going into this drama was that Kyungsoo was the main character. The acting is incredible which isn't surprising considering the star-studded cast. I enjoyed the slight comedy because it provided some relief from the plain brutality of some scenes. The drama went so dark, it was almost suffocating, but it pulled through in the end. The action scenes were the best part of the series because they were well-choreographed with interesting directing choices.

I thought the story arc was predictable initially. Jin Jung faces injustice and pulls clever stunts or heists with his criminally ambiguous friends to get one step closer to defeating the main boss. Until his luck runs out and his team is in jeopardy. This is all until the plot twist at the end. I never thought he'd turn up as a witness. It changed my mind about the series as a whole. I did find the writing a bit boring at times, and the strong emphasis on the importance of being a prosecutor felt forced at times, but it was a decent script. If it had been a 16-episode drama, I think the writing would have worked better. I wanted more from a script that landed such a star-studded cast.

I did have a few annoyances, besides the writing. The "villains" were so easy to spot, maybe it was because the actors they chose to play them are usually typecasted as such (at least in the dramas/movies I've seen them in). Great actors, just they're well known to be good at playing bad/shady people. No surprise who was the bad guys, or at least the ones involved in shady business. Speaking of shady characters, Oh Do Wan really annoyed me. He was constantly trying to leech off the most powerful person, but for what reason? A successful and influential career? He was a lackey, not a successor like he was made out to be. His last-minute, rushed redemption wasn't enough. This may be because all the good he does is shown in a quick flashback montage. Suddenly, he's fishing with Jung and acting like long-time friends.

Bottom line: I probably won't rewatch it. It was good but it suffered from its shortened episode count. I hope it gets a second season.

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Everything's cyclical

Ah, where to start?
Story: Great idea. A woman decides to follow her dream of violin at 29 and meets a famous pianist, forming a friendship over their common love woes that mirror Brahms' own love triangle. They form a relationship before they're truly out of their own love triangles, forming a polygon of romantic hardship for everyone involved. On paper, it sounds like enough for a 16-episode run, but the execution was less than ideal. Maybe it wasn't paced right, but the plot was spread too thin by episode 10, resulting in a recycled last 6 episodes and a last-minute plagiarism plight that seemed out of nowhere. The romance would be sweet if not for the constant barrage of issues they faced, and the FLs own insecurities about almost every decision she makes.
Acting/Cast/Music: Everyone was fantastic in terms of acting, and the music was absolutely beautiful.
Rewatch: Probably not.
I watched this at a time when I needed a break from other ridiculous dramas I've been watching lately. It's slow-paced and repetitive, but it's a good taste breaker drama. While the plot got boring pretty quickly, I still enjoyed watching it. I finished it in two days so that has to say something.

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Cute, but Emotionally Draining

This is one of the sweetest dramas I've ever seen. The love story is cute and the first half of the drama is almost perfect, in my opinion, but the drama does kind of stumble in the second half with a couple of unnecessary and dramatic twists. The last three or four episodes are just so emotionally exhaustive I almost had to pause mid-episode to process it all. I'll still probably rewatch this drama because, despite its frustrating ending, it's a cute love story. I'll just end the rewatch at episode 14 or so.


SEMI-SPOILER-FILLED mini rant:
Episode 16 is the worst. Why did he have to choose that lie?! Of all things, why the heck would he put everyone through all that? For. Five. Years. I understand that he didn't want to see her during that time, but damn. That's not the way to do it. For. Five, Years. Those last five minutes were disappointing as hell. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it turned out alright, but I thought they'd at least end it with her finally getting a proper wedding. It's so frustrating.

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Why the Winter Soldier plot?

*Mini rant with spoilers ahead*

I went into this expecting a healing/fluffy drama but was surprised by the mystery. It was unexpected and out of place. The story started as a light drama about airport employees. It sets up a romance between a woman plagued with bad luck and a mysterious man. The drama and romance was realistic and sweet. The side characters' storylines were my favorite parts. The acting was great too.

This drama suffered from one terrible plot point. Why did he have this bionic arm that gave him super strength? The drama could have been interesting without it. He could have just been disabled without the Winter Soldier superpowers. The mystery could have been the same, and the drama's tone would've been more consistent. I've rewatched this a few times and I always skip this plotline.

It's a good drama if you skip the sci-fi stuff which is why I rated this so high.

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One of my favorite dramas

At times, this is the typical contract relationship plot of the warm woman/cold/man variety, but it subverts expectations every episode. I've seen dramas like this and was pleasantly surprised by the screenwriters' choices, especially concerning the FL. Yes, she can be a little naive (especially when it comes to trusting people, wow), but she learns pretty quickly. The ML is also a little naive when it comes to romance, but the leads grow together in this aspect. They also have a natural chemistry and great communication. Whenever there's a misunderstanding, usually everything is resolved in an episode. The romance follows a realistic flow, and the plot isn't too forced.

That being said, I hated the FL's friends' plot which is why the story isn't a 10. They both jumped to conclusions left and right and I couldn't understand why they were together at the end. A breakup should have been their happy ending. I will definitely rewatch this, but I will completely skip any of their scenes because it's so frustrating.

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In an unrequited love with what this drama could've been...

Do you really love the 14-15th episodes of k-dramas when the leads break up and everything is moody and sad? If so, then this drama is for you!
Story: The idea of unrequited love being flipped onto the other person like a curse was actually a nice concept, but there was no evolution. None of the plotlines had much growth in general. The problems the couples had in episode one, were the same problems they had in episode sixteen. It just got old and overly drawn out. The drama had its cute moments and I enjoyed most of it, but I got tired of the same plot every episode.
Acting/Cast: They really did all they could with the script that was given to them. The ML's acting has improved since Moment of Eighteen.
Music: Wonderful
Rewatch Value: Probably not
Overall: Throughout the drama, I felt an indescribable feeling of sadness(?) like I was in an unrequited love too. Kind of depressing and you wonder why they all ended up happy together, but I'm not mad at it. Just a little disappointed with the writers.

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Too many problems to list

I started this because the trailers made this drama look like a badass revenge story (and it had Kang Ki Young in it), but only the first third of the drama held any of my interest. The acting was pretty good, but they suffered from terrible writing. You could tell the writers only made half of an attempt at fleshing out their story.

I only stayed for Kang Ki Young and the Solution couple. I just started skipping through the last few episodes because it was the same recycled plot as the first half of the drama.

The bad writing caused so many issues with the characters. No Yool Sung had a really strong start as a villain, but he just dissolved into a boring rich guy with mommy issues and a violent temper. The FL was so inconsistent as a character. She was so hesitant and weak, and, five minutes later, she was kicking someone in the face.

The cast deserved better.

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Healing drama with cute supporting romances

I started this drama on a whim, and I'm mostly glad I did. It's a slow ride, but it does have its moments. The supporting characters' love stories were cute. The "will-they-won't-they" nature of the two stories was engaging enough to avoid being overshadowed by the rest of the drama.
The main romance got kind of bland, to be honest, and I wasn't really invested in it towards the end. Don't get me wrong. The relationship was cute, but maybe it's because the subplots in the last few episodes completely eclipsed their romance. It's hard to focus on the fluffy romance scenes when you get sucked into a captivating domestic abuse/murder/cover-up/family secret plot. I just lost interest in the mains' romance.
Probably wouldn't watch again, but it's a nice break from other outlandish dramas out there. I might consider rewatching if I ever want a break from ludicrous plot twists and unrealistic love polygons.

P.S. I do have to write a small appreciation to Lee Jae Wook for subverting my expectations in yet another drama. After the ML revealed his crush, I kept waiting for the "I secretly love the FL too" fake best friend reveal (like in so many other dramas), but he remained genuine to the end. Favorite character by far.

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