For utter transparency, let me preface this review by saying that I went into this drama a fan of Kim So Hyun and romcoms. I have followed KSH's career trajectory with interest and have a feeling that she is capable of much more than her recent spate of dramas suggest. RADIO ROMANCE had a strong start. I was immediately intrigued by the hero who seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve where the heroine was concerned and the heroine who was so determinedly positive. There were hints of depths and potential for rich conflicts as the two find their rocky way to a romance.

But though the drama teased at a richer story, it failed to deliver. There are many reasons for this but the major one would be that the writing failed the story and the direction didn't do great either. The actors, bless them, tried but when the source material is so cringe-inducing, there is little you can do. A lot of the scenes could have been fleshed out more, elaborated upon to harvest as much emotion out of them as possible but alas. The dialogue was truly atrocious and there was not much of a story once the romance had been established. I feel like KSH got the short end of the stick once again as the female MC had no character/personality beyond the superficial positive/cheerful girl as seen in so many other dramas. There's no depth to her and this is not the actor's fault, mind you. In so many scenes, she has nothing to do but smile and she does so, prettily, but there are only so many scenes this will work in.

Do Joon's character, on the other hand, is richer, more dynamic and grows exponentially from the beginning to the end. Geu Rim, on the other hand, becomes the wish fulfillment of Ji Sooho's character. She has opinions but doesn't voice them and goodness, the romance could have been so much better had the actors been allowed to let their natural chemistry shine through. Instead, whatever chemistry they had was suffocated by the bad dialogue and unnecessarily melodramatic conflicts. However, KSH's inexperience with romance is pretty visible in her acting and I reckon, once she has been in a relationship or two, her acting will improve dramatically. Right now, it felt like she was grasping at depths she didn't really comprehend, if that makes sense.

The love triangle--let's not even speak of it. I feel like this could have been a much drama than it ended up being. Let's hope that whatever KSH picks next delivers what the script offers.