An easy-going romance

Don't expect anything too serious or complicated, this is just something to watch if you want to keep smiling at two dorks that fell for each other. The main characters are lovable and the actors portray them well.

There's no cringy humor, nor anything too corny. There're cliches but they are mostly done in a self-aware way, which is refreshing, and if there's angst (concerning the leads), it lasts almost nothing, they don't dwell on that. I honestly just focused on the leads though, so I skimmed through all the drama the other couples went through.

Big plus, which made the drama so enjoyable, the heroine is smart and resourceful and hilarious in a really good way. The leads respect, trust and protect each other throughout the story consistently too, which doesn't happen often, so it's really good to see.

So it's nothing outstanding, but I often need this kind of drama, where everything bad breezes past and the focus is in the good times, so that's why I put a high score. Totally watchable too, in fact, perfect if you're seeing a melodrama and want a little dosis of silliness and happiness.

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My favorite thing was the ML, I loved everything about him. It was such a different kind of ML, it was absolutely refreshing.

I also loved a lot of relationships the FL had or built throughout the drama. That's the core of the story and what makes it alluring, in my opinion, so if you don't like stories that center on the relationships of its characters, then this isn't for you.

The only flaw it's some parts of the script.
There were things that were dragged that were unnecessary and a beautiful relationship with so much potential was destroyed and not treated properly which was the utmost shame (I'm not talking about a romantic relationship). They tried to fix it at the end, but they rushed it. In my opinion, it was really cliché how it was destroyed and it took from the story more than it brought. I wish the writer had made another choice, it would have been more interesting and heartwarming and much more in character.

Also, I would say that not every mother is the kind of mother this drama talks about. I get that in this case they are talking about mothers that are that way, but in the world there are plenty of women who shouldn't have been mothers.

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Read the novel instead

Funny thing is, I saw the author of the book this was based on and I instantly recognized them as the legend they are in the historical drama fiction novels. But I hadn't read this novel of them yet, so I went to watch first the drama, full of expectations and... yeah, I don't know WHY they didn't follow the novel 100%. Now, having read the novel, I can honestly say, it's SO much better.

Somehow, the ones who adapted the novel made the characters lose their shine somewhat, especially the FL, who is way more independent in the novel. They also practically changed the ending and added a lot of useless stuff that were absolute cliches when they had a more interesting development in the novel... which, why would they do that? I don't know.

As I said, go read the novel instead, you are better off that way. You'll have even more of the adorable quirkiness that the FL and her family have there.

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Experience it, don't just trust the comments

This drama had so many people said it was the worst development ever but... I DON'T SEE IT.

I think that some got so stuck in the love triangle aspect and that ruined everything for them, while I didn't and I got to enjoy everything else. Not to say that this drama doesn't have good romance, cuz it DOES.

I seriously didn't get the second lead syndrome at all... and I usually get it, but with this one, it felt like who would actually be the ML in most dramas was the SML here and it was quite refreshing, I wasn't mad at all. It's not like he didn't have anyone at the end either. Most SML have no one at all, but this one, he had a whole family waiting for him, he just needed to open his eyes. It happens to us all, tbh, sometimes we get so focused on what we don't have, we miss on what we do have. But he did open his eyes at the end, he saw what he had and we got shown that.

Was this show guilty of dragging a misunderstanding out in the most annoying manner? Yeah, it was. But it only gets like too much in one or two episodes, and then it gets resolved... does the way it got resolved feel a little anticlimactic? yeah, maybe a little, but it doesn't ruin the show at all. At least, not for me.

There are so many reasons to watch this show apart from romance: grandma being a BIG PART of it, along with family dynamic/development and friendships.

But the romance also gives us things... how it can make you hide yourself behind a mask because you don't think the other one will love you as you and how when you take out that mask and they still choose you, you still get confused as to WHY... the FL taught the ML so many things, it's no wonder he can't let her go and the FL always felt supported in a breathtaking way around the ML... it's also no wonder to me that she chose him.

At the end of it all, there's a line the SML himself said that explains it all... after reading her letters, he took 15 years to seek her out (and he actually kind of stumbled upon her) while the ML read a letter and went to her immediately to help her out, even though the letter wasn't even directed to him.

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Find your way to your own happiness, not others' version of it.

Is being in a position to rule the world and letting it go for a normal life not being ambitious and irresponsible?

A dynasty that was dethroned and the descendant that focused his life on revenge and taking back what's his, that story has been told a million times.
Here we have a dethroned prince who would have been emperor who tried at first but realized early on his temperament wasn't fit to being "the owner of the world". Why? Because he isn't cruel enough.
We meet him as a wanderer who is trying to find his place in a world, he has no "holy mission", he's just someone that wants to lead a happy normal life and a compassionate soul that will help those who he sees having a hard time.

A hero that takes every evil people as his duty to exterminate and always puts that above everything else, we've also been told that story.
But here we have a lead who just loves martial arts, she enjoys learning them, and more than fame or being the best or solving all the world's problem, she just can't witness injustice and pass it by. She just can't.
More than a mission, she has really strong no-negotiable principles that she's fully ready to die by.

What's most intriguing, this drama addresses that, it shows the character being aware of the risks and at time doubting and second guessing and I loved that. Is wanting a normal life not having ambition? No, you just have a different ambition than others. An ambition to be happy as you.

In this drama we encounter our leads helping others and becoming legends for it in their way to actually just live their lives, find themselves and their happiness. I personally think there's no grander mission than that.

The leads relationship also was addressed in such an splendid way. I love how this drama didn't shy to show them facing their own disagreements even when these were born out of qualities they love about the other. It's also one of those rare relationships where there's no really any stupid misunderstanding, these two know and trust each other and that is a constant throughout the story.
There's no passionate kissing though, but there's kissing, and I honestly loved their relationship development. First, they are friends and family. Second, they are absolutely head over heels for each other. It's that order. Is there longing? There is. Are there difficulties? There are. But even when they are apart (very briefly), they stand together. Is there jealousy? Very little, and almost in jest, but there are some moments too... even so they trust and respect each other too much to be overly possessive of the other.

Apart from the leads relationship, there're a lot of characters worth knowing in this drama. The secondary couples' love story was "meh" to me, but every other master or guide along the way was precious to me. And the friendships made along the way were too.

I loved this, I wish it had a better rating for it deserved it.

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