I'll try to make this as brief as possible, but my bitterness might lead to some lengthy ranting.

First off, the soft reboot, or the new timeline as the fans have called it. It happened way too quick and fast--the sudden realization that the writers had made a TERRIBLE mistake. At first I think it's a funny callback; Can is almost run over by a car again and bows to the statue AGAIN. Ha, that's funny! Just like the first season. And then the feeling of deja-vu won't go away,a and it sinks in. The writers really thought they had enough time in 13 episodes to not only REDO the first season's story, but also continue it and fit in another storyline. Obviously, it didn't fucking work. You could barely make anyone feel like a real person in the 14 episodes of the first season, but you thought "Yeah, we'll do that and MORE in even LESS time" in the second. I want whoever thought of doing this to kick themselves in the ass, and I want whoever allowed it without saying a word to kick themselves in the face (however physically impossible that might be). Not only did they clearly not have enough time, they also quite embarrassingly WASTED it on product placements, of all things (by the third scene centered about how much they love snacks and juice and "VITAMIN C" I was rendered speechless and I had heartburn), and a new couple whose only real value in the show was to serve as eyecandy for their marketing material (they are not even characters; they are walking tropes with mouths and nice hair).

Let's not even get into how they did poor Ae's character. This man's only purpose in the show was to mope, shout and cry for 13 episodes. I'm not even exaggerating. The rest of the friendly and entertaining cast from the first? Reduced to one or two lines about how depressed Ae is or how wacky Can is, with suddenly no agency or even at least comedic value of their own. I'm not even going to mention the other couples, because they weren't even good in the first season, what's to like about their even EXISTING in the second season? I can't say. At all.

The reason why so many of us are angry is because it is such a waste of potential. The first season could've been the setup for more interesting and further developed dynamics between the characters. "Yeah but they have the novel as source material, they needed to follow the plot" I hear you say. Uh there's a reason it's called a live ADAPTATION and not a fucking audiobook, they can stray from whatever they'd like if it means making it more cohesive to fit the new medium and just overall a better experience. I haven't read the novel, and at this point I don't really care to. I just want to forget I even wasted my time on one of the worst sequels I've ever had the displeasure of viewing.