I know the bar is extremely low for rom-com kdrama. But Into the ring is probably one of the winning horses in this genre. I don't know how much popular it is so can't say exactly if it's underrated or not but it deserves more attention for sure.

As for my quick review, as I mentioned earlier bar is extremely low but Into the Ring took some tropes and subverted them in a way that feels special.

1) Characters are not fucking virgins or sexually allergic.

2) Ex bf/gf or potential other love interests are not dramatically great/bad people, Neither they act out of character.

3) The vibe is extremely " muted " be it drama or romance. I don't have the right way to explain it but this show does a thing where they build up to a moment just to let the moment pass and focus on something else. It's a risky thing to do because it could ruin the pacing and flow. But it makes the show feel realistic and relatable. For example - They will show you characters fighting for election and it's extremely serious but 10 minutes later, it's been 1 week since the election and they are just vibing now and the election is irrelevant. I think succession does this too a lot.

4) The characters have lots of conflict and stuff, they don't fix it and none of the characters try to fix the other person. But the show does a good job keep it subtle while treating them as a real human with human problems.

5) Finally a fucking kdrama that doesn't look like wet cement and shit. I don't know why they use that yellowish Colour palette. And most of the time the camera usage is so boring that it looks like shooting a skit on stage.
But Into the Ring team probably had lots of fun on editing. The zoom focus for dramatic effect and then the cinematography around just a normal conversation scene are some of the biggest pleasures I have in kdrama. ( Minus Stranger & My Liberation Notes)

For flaws, the only problem I had was " Repeat scenes " like I know why they did that but it was so "spoon-feeding ". I mean I get it, 1 hour show you have to complete the runtime so you will add 5-6 minutes of filler. Also if you reveal something on ep13 which is hinted on ep2 then you have no choice but to show what happened in ep2, I wish shows do it in a way that it doesn't feel so stuffy.

Nevertheless, it was a very good show. Probably one of my favourite considering how much I drop highly acclaimed kdramas. An actual show that is made for young people.